2lO 



THE AGUICU LfVUAL JOURNAL 



"But flesh and not fowl is what is 

 mainly desired to widen the possibilities 

 of the dinner talde. Fatted swans, or 

 peacocks, or American turkeys, might be 

 increased and multiplied without afford- 

 ing more than an occasional relief to the 

 monotony of the menu and brain-searching 

 of housekeepers. What is wanted is some 

 new and large animal whose flesh has a 

 character of its own which would readily 

 distinguish it from beef or mutton and 

 an excellence which shall make it inde- 

 pendent of any special treatment in 

 cookery — something which shall combine 

 the game flavour with the substantial 

 solidity of a leg of mutton. An increase 

 in the quantity of vension reared in this 

 country naturally suggests itself, and it is 

 not impossible that in neglecting the pro- 

 duce of our deer parks we are hardly less 

 careless than in losing sight of the 

 culinary possibilities of the swannery. 

 Good doe vension may be bought 

 in the neighbourhood of some large 

 parks at a much lower price than mutton ; 

 and the quantity of first-class venison 

 which finds its way to London is surpris- 

 ingly little considering the number of 

 parks and private herds in the country. 

 It is objected that deer can never pay to 

 fat for table, because the animal growth 

 of the horns reduces them so much in 

 condition as for a time to make the 

 venison worthless. But this applies only 

 to the bucks ; stags might be kept like 

 bullocks, and doe venison might still be 

 remunerative. As early as 1740 an 

 enterprising Jersey squire of the name of 

 Chevalier, who had succeeded to an estate 

 in Suffolk — whose descendants still con- 

 stantly sit in Parliament— had formed a 

 small park for fattening deer and sending 

 them up to London. His accounts of the 

 cost and profits of the enterprise are still 

 preserved, and he abandoned the scheme, 

 not from difficulties encountered in fatten- 

 ing or selling the deer, but because of 

 the uncertainty of carriage to London. 

 Venison even when reared under the 

 present unscientific method, or rather 

 want of method, varies greatly in quality, 

 that from certain parks being much 

 BU])erior to that grown on lefcs suital)le 

 l)astures, and it is not too much to hope 

 that if Ijred and fattened solely for the 

 table venison would be in demand as 

 something more than an occasional luxury. 



" But swan, peacock, and venison are 

 after all only revivals of the old bill of 

 fare which was available in the house- 

 holds of old England, To find a new 

 meat we must take stock of the world's 

 resources of animal food, and enquire 

 after due survey if there does not 

 still exist some neglected quadruped 

 which will furnish what we seek. 

 Roughly speaking, our main supply of 

 'animal 'food is drawn either from the 

 rodents, the ruminants, or the pachy- 

 derms, represented by the rabbits, the ox 

 or sheep, and the pig. To vary the 

 supply at our disposal we shall probably 

 not be able to go beyond these limits, for 

 the general experience of civilized man 

 has already pronounced judgment on the 

 question and science supports the verdict. 

 It is no good to eat a wolf, for the wolf 

 has already got the benefit of eating the 

 lamb, and left no surplus for us. Of the 

 three great tribes the rodents may be dis- 

 missed from our search ; for those that 

 are not already used as food are either too 

 small to be used, as the lemming or the 

 guinea pig, or too repulsive in appearance 

 like the capybara, or in habits like the 

 rat. Of the pachyderms we find only one 

 which is domesticated for food, the dear 

 familiar Berkshire or Yorkshire piggie. 

 The large pachyderms are too big ; the 

 smaller like the peccary too sa^vage, the 

 wart hog and other African varieties too 

 repulsive. Clearly, then, we must have 

 recourse to the list of ruminants if we are 

 to find one to add to this British bill of 

 fare. At first the choice seems wide 

 enough. It embraces all the deer tribe, 

 the wild sheep and antelopes, goats and 

 ibexes, which are numerous, but all have 

 a rank and disagreeable flavour which 

 must prevent their coming into the list 

 of first-class food. The possibility of 

 extending the supply of venison we have 

 already considered. The wild sheep 

 would probably differ too little in flavour 

 from mutton to make it worth while to 

 domesticate them, though those of the 

 Himalaya will breed freely in confine- 

 ment. The antelopes therefore alone 

 remain, and it is among their number that 

 the animal wanted must bo found if it is 

 to be found at all. If the accounts of 

 African hunters are to be relied on, the 

 venison obtained from the larger kinds 

 of antelopes found in South and Central 



