OF POULTRY. 
277 
garret into a poultry-yard, and by this means sometimes 
get a new-laid egg for breakfast ; for it is a well-known fact 
that some of the finest specimens of these birds have been 
rod need in this way ; that is to say, the lowls themselves 
have been hatched and reared in the garrets of London. 
Spanish Dorking Foivls. 
You may now perhaps be anxious to know what kind of 
fowl I should choose for the good ladies of the farm ; and I 
tell you, before all fowls in the universe give me a breed 
between the Spanish and Dorking ! The cockerels make the 
most noble, handsome, dashing birds that can be desired, 
and as strong as lions ; while the pullets make most hand- 
some, full bodied, sprightly hens, looking more like small 
turkeys than barn-door fowls. For laying and breeding 
they are not to be equalled ; and for the table they may 
challenge anything that can be produced. They are both 
large and plump, delicate as a curd ; at the same time short- 
eating, juicy, sweet, and tender. In a word, I believe thena 
to be the most delicate and delicious fowl, whether as pullet 
or capon, that can be jDlaced upon a platter. 
I have had some of these birds that lay the entire year 
round, not stopping even to sit or moult ; but these of 
course were extreme cases. The May chickens would all 
lay at or befoi^e Christmas ; and some of the June birds 
have done the same. The hens would each lay from 120 to 
150 eggs in the year, regulated of course according to their 
sitting and moulting ; and their eggs would average six to 
the pound, or, if you picked them, five would weigh a pound 
weight. But I must tell you, that there was as much credit 
due to Aunt Jane's management as there was to the birds 
themselves ; for it does not signify one rush what the breed 
may be. If they are badly managed, there is no pleasure or 
profit attending them. I have known some silly people 
who, having a few pent-up fowls, strive to make them pro- 
fitable by what they called economizing the food ; that is to 
say, half starving them. isTow, to sa}?- nothing of the cruelty, 
just let such wiseacres take an egg in hand, and tell us how 
it is possible for a fowl to produce such a large substance as 
that, four or five times a week, when, in the same period, it 
