32 



Russian Poultry Industry. 



are only of inferior quality, for the poultry in winter have to 

 live on chaff and husks of buckwheat or linseed, and in the 

 summer on grass, worms, snails, insects and their larvae, etc. 

 In the black soil districts, where there is often superabundance 

 and cheapness of grain, the fowls present a much improved 

 appearance. In the non-black soil regions, it is only in well- 

 watered governments, such as Novgorod, Pskov, Vitebsk, and 

 Wologda, that geese and ducks, more especially, thrive, and 

 are often kept. The fowls of the middle and south western 

 districts are fairly large, with larger eggs, and fatten well, 

 and have consequently proved a greater attraction to the small 

 farmer. But even here there are scarcely any signs of 

 " commercial" breeding, although, in consequence of the 

 small local demand, there is always a surplus which in part 

 ultimately finds its way out of the empire. 



The principal centres of this trade are St. Petersburg and 

 Moscow. Very few eggs are drawn from Archangel, Finland, 

 or the Baltic provinces : far more come from the territories 

 served by the Nicolaieff and Warsaw railways to St. Peters- 

 burg, and by water from the Kazan direction, where 

 Kozlorka forms an important centre for their collection and 

 expedition. 



The eggs are usually purchased by dealers going round 

 the villages, payment being made either in cash or kind. 

 The price varies according to quality from 2s. 2d. to 2s. yd. 

 per iod in the spring, falling to is. gd. in the summer, but 

 rising again to as much as 4s. gd. in the autumn. When the 

 dealer has sufficiently laden his cart, he takes the eggs to a 

 merchant on a larger scale, who has a depot near a railway 

 station. Wholesale merchants, especially at St. Petersburg, 

 usually have such depots distributed almost throughout the 

 Empire. 



The small dealer buys the eggs, large and small together, 

 just as they are offered, provided they be fresh, and brings 

 them all to the depot, where they are sorted. The first test 

 is the colour of the yolk, which is ascertained by holding the 

 tgg up to the light. The yolk is of a reddish hue if the fowls 

 have fed upon natural food, which they have to find for them- 

 selves, and which is generally but a poor diet ; on the other 



