CHAPTER XXXII 
FOWLS THAT PAY 
egg-laying figures from the humble backyarder. So splendid 
are some of these records that doubt is being continually 
cast upon them, not only by the poultry journalist, but by the 
commercial egg-farmer, for it is a surprising fact that in many 
instances the man who keeps from half-a-dozen to a score of fowls 
in a back-yard or small garden gets better relative returns than the 
professional poultryman. 
For myself I kept an open mind on the matter, and I was always 
prepared to believe the sensational figures of backyarders when 
proof was forthcoming. It is very difficult to get proof in regard 
to these matters, for one can only hear of them when they are 
accomplished, and even the sworn testimony of the owner is not 
necessarily convincing. 
The only real “ proof ”’ is to have all the facts in one’s possession. 
One must live on the premises, as it were, to see the eggs from 
day to day as they are laid. Fortunately I am in that happy 
position. 
One day my wife asked me to breed a dozen or so of pullets for 
her own use. It so happened that I had an odd half-dozen of 
Salmon Faverolles which I bought as pullets at four shillings each. 
They had laid very well without doing anything remarkable, but 
as they were to be placed in a small house in a cold, bleak, exposed 
position I thought it necessary to provide a good big, comfortable 
heavy breed that would stand the rigours of the winter on a hill 
400 feet above sea-level. I mated the six Faverolles with a nice, 
spirited White Wyandotte cockerel. It is, of course, better to 
breed from two-year-old birds, but in this instance I bred from 
birds that were exactly one year old. I put twenty-six eggs under 
261 
1: my capacity as a journalist I frequently get remarkable 
