f \ 



THE JOURNAL 



OF THE 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Vol. XL No. 5. 



AUGUST, 1904, [NEW SERIES.] 



POULTRY REARING AND FATTENING IN 

 IRELAND. 



A large proportion of the table poultry produced in Ireland 

 is consumed at home, but a still larger share is sold in the 

 English and Scotch markets. Irish poultry-keepers, therefore, 

 need to study closely the requirements, not only of the home,, 

 but also of the British markets if they want to hold their own 

 against the various Colonies and foreign countries which are 

 now supplying the British markets with fresh and frozen, 

 table poultry. 



In the matter of taste for fine fowls, London leads the way, 

 and it is the duty of poultry-keepers to study the London taste 

 and to aim at producing an article suited to it. It is my pur- 

 pose to show what the London market requires in the way of 

 table fowls, and also to indicate what is being done amongst 

 Irish poultry raisers to supply the demand. 



Of all the fowls which are sent from various parts of the 

 United Kingdom into London the far-famed " Surrey fowl " 

 commands the highest price next to " capons," of which latter 

 comparatively few are raised in these islands. An examina- 

 tion therefore of the Surrey fowl, as sold in London, should show 

 what class of birds ought to be produced to meet the demand 

 for poultry of the highest class. 



Very few so-called " Surrey fowls " are raised in Surrey, the 

 greater part of the industry of raising and fattening these 

 fowls being carried on in the neighbouring counties of Sussex 

 and Kent. However, all the fowls become " Surreys " when 

 they reach London, and their distinctive qualities are : (1) large, 



