78 FIRST OUTLAY. 



taken up by the million— so long will the money which should 

 be kept in the country be sent out of it for eggs and chickens, 

 more particularly for the former articles. 



Poultry-farming on a large scale has been tried often in America, 

 of late years more especially, but hitherto it has not proved very 

 successful; it does not do so, though, in other countries. When 

 fowls are massed they become unhealthy; this has been proved 

 very frequently. It is not poultry-farming on an extensive plan, 

 however, that I advocate, but general fcwl-Jceepiiig. I would 

 wish to see every laborer with his few fowls, 'makingf'a little 

 extra money by the eggs and chickens they produce. To do this, 

 however, profitably there must be thr0, and in this valuable 

 quality I fear the Americans as a nation are found wanting. Our 

 cooking is by no means good or economical; this is a well-known 

 fact. Where a French peasant's wife will setherhusba£tt down 

 to appetising food, be it only a tasty potage, an American mecha- 

 nic's wife will'put before hers ill-cooked food costing far more, but 

 l^ss nourishing froqi the fact of its being so badly dressed. Here 

 is a decided want of thrift. So in poultry-keeping, peasants in 

 France keep a cock and a few hens as a matter of course, but 

 fieed them very economically on. household and garden scraps, 

 various odds and ends, and so make them not only pay their 

 way, but help in the housekeeping besides. Unfortunately we 

 as a nation do not care to trouble over small matters, or 'attend 

 to the merest details, as the French do ; yet it Is just this atten- 

 tion to trifles which makes poultry-keeping on a small scale pay. 



ItiS'far better to attend to everything yourself-^in fact, unless 

 you have plenty of money and can have an experienced man or 

 woman to look after your stock, you must do so. Leave nothing 

 undone for the comfort of your birds, and go through your daily 

 work in your poultry-yard regularly and methodically. 



