INTRODUCTION. 1" 



snd in view, but also how they can send their produce to market 

 in the best manner and reach the consumer most directly and 

 rapidly. We have said that this second class can " help them- 

 selves and then assist others." Both of these are equally import- 

 ant, and, fortunately, in helping others the farmer can help him- 

 self. A man who takes up the matter intelligently will find that 

 his neighbours, who are not so far advanced, seeing his success, 

 will come to him for stock, and he will be enabled to obtain in 

 this way better prices than his competitors. We have known 

 farmers in Britain and France who make a good income in this 

 way. They have first educated those around them that poultry 

 do pay if properly managed; they have stimulated them to secure 

 better stock by the force of comparison, and, as a result, have 

 found a constant demand for both cocks and hens for stock pur- 

 poses. Therefore it is not merely a question of philanthropy, 

 but of simple £, s. d. 



Third, we come to the class who regard their poultry-keeping 

 more for the pleasure derived from the pursuit than for the profit. 

 Chiefly found in or near the large towns or amongst the more 

 wealthy country residents, they are a class we hope to see largely 

 increase both in numbers and influence. First, their existence 

 indicates some amount of leisure which, in the working portions 

 of our community, is itself a good sign of the times. It shows 

 that there is an aspiration for something more than the daily toil 

 and the mere labour of life. Recreative poultry-keeping is a valu- 

 able feature of modern life which ought to be encouraged Fre- 

 quently it commences in a desire to supply the table with A few 

 eggs or a chickea now and again, in itself worthy of the highest 

 commendation. Then there comes a greater attention to, and 

 liking for, the birds. Their ways are studied, the varieties of 

 domestic poultry are scanned, and the man or woman, by select- 

 ing one or more breeds, becomes what is not very happily termed 

 a " fancier." For these the modern system of shows is largely 

 conducted, and these exhibitions in turn stimulate others to follow 



