30 



Poultry Fattening Centres. 



[APRIL, 



quires a strong incentive to induce farm poultry rearers, 

 who form the backbone of the supply, to depart from old 

 methods; and only when a local object-lesson assures them 

 of an increased profit will the great majority make any 

 change. 



The existing fattening centres of Surrey and Sussex have 

 grown through a succession of generations, and now benefit 

 by the advantages that have accumulated in the past; and 

 it is the lack of this combination of favourable factors that 

 militates against the success of the majority of new ventures. 

 New fattening centres must, as far as possible, commence 

 with the necessary combination of advantageous circum- 

 stances. Modern conditions do not allow a waiting margin, 

 but once a reasonably constant and sufficient supply of lean 

 birds can be depended upon, the chief disability is removed* 



The difficulty does not lie so much in the quality of the 

 supply as the quantity. English farmers of the present day 

 understand the requirements for table poultry much more 

 generally than was once the case, and any levelling up in 

 quality would be easily and quickly effected through the 

 agency of those locally responsible for the fattening. The 

 crux of the matter is the adequacy of the supply as regards 

 quantity, and this will probably never be secured until the 

 fattening centre in any district is an accomplished fact. Suf- 

 ficient numbers of fowls for the purpose will never be reared 

 until the collector and the improved price are in evidence, 

 or at least until some understanding between rearers and 

 fatteners gives promise for the future. 



Local Supply of Feeding-stuffs. — The suitability of the 

 feeding-stuffs that may be locally procurable involves ques- 

 tions of milling and carriage that require careful considera- 

 tion, because in many cases the products of the mills in 

 an otherwise favourable locality are not the best possible for 

 the purpose, and the addition of the cost of carriage to a 

 really desirable meal prepared at a distance is often prohibi- 

 tive. Although theoretically other preparations may appear 

 of almost equal value for fattening, it is a matter of everyday 

 practical experience that Sussex ground oats give the best 

 results, a fact that is due to the presence of a greater pro- 

 portion of the grain and husk in a digestible form than is 



