Poultry Farm School at Gambais. 



machine holding food for some 50 fowls is now commonly 

 employed, by which it is said the work is much facilitated. 



With respect to profits, the following- figures are given ; 

 they do not, however, include the cost of labour. Taking 

 100 fowls at four and a-half months old, when they are ready 

 for sale the outlay has been roughly as under : — 



Amount. 



1 ten of flour, of sorts, at 8s. per cwt. - -. -^800 



33 lb. of lard at 5^d. - o 15 o 



Prime cost of farm chickens hatched in incubator - 140 

 Dairy produce and other delicacies - - - - 1 12 O 



Total - - - - • /11 11 o 



Or, say, 2s. 4d. per head, while the fowls can, it is said, be 

 sold at an average price of 4s. to 4s. 5d. 



At Messrs. Roullier's establishment at Gambais, the 

 number of chickens hatched annually used to be 40,000 ; 

 when they were sold as soon as they were three days old. 

 Now that the pullets are reared until they are three weeks 

 or a month or more old, the production is reduced to 25,000, 

 owing to want of space. 



To refer to the Gambais School of Aviculture itself, there 

 are three terms of three months each, from February to 

 October. Pupils of either sex are received alternately. 

 Candidates must not be under the age of 15 years, and must 

 have received a certain amount of general instruction, such 

 as would entitle them to a certificate from the primary 

 schools. The fees are ^14 for the three months' course, 

 including tuition, board and lodging. 



On leaving the School, pupils who have shown capacity 

 to act as instructors in aviculture receive a certificate of 

 competency, which, it is said, enables them without difficulty 

 to obtain employment in this line of industry. Some 500 

 pupils have passed through the School since its foundation 

 in 1888. 



[Foreign Office Report, Annual Series, No. 2,737. Price $d.~\ 



