188 
Notes  on  Continental  Poultry-keeping. 
the  white  being  sent  to  the  manufacturing  districts  in  the  north, 
and  the  yolks  being  employed  in  dressing  skins  for  gloves. 
The  yolks  not  required  by  the  pastrycooks  are  salted  down,  and 
find  a sale  in  Belgium.  With  all  this  large  surplus  production, 
the  agricultural  writers  are  continually  urging  that  more  atten- 
tion should  be  paid  to  poultry-rearing.  They  declare  that  the 
production  might  be  easily  doubled.” 
In  the  “Enquete”  previously  quoted  the  official  character  of 
the  figures  is  thus  announced:  “ Les  donnees  suivantes  ont  ete 
i’ournies  pai  la  statistique  municipale  de  la  Ville  de  Paris  it 
Vannuaire  du  Bureau  des  longitudes,  pour  les  objets  de  con- 
sommation  soumis  aux  droits  d’octroi  et  entres  dans  la  capitale.” 
To  these  official  figures  should  therefore  be  added  the  number 
of  eggs  which  are  the  produce  of  Paris-kept  fowls  ; but  this 
element  in  the  question  does  not  add  more  than  one  or  two 
eggs  consumed  per  head  of  the  population  per  annum,  to  the 
number  already  given.  Before  casting  any  doubt  upon  the 
returns  relating  to  eggs  on  account  of  their  being  below  the 
popular  estimate,  it  may  be  well  to  consider  what  the  official 
statistics  reveal  respecting  the  consumption  of  poultry  in  Paris. 
It  appears  that  this  amounted  to  about  22  lbs.  (10'05  kilos) 
per  head  in  1859  (about  double  that  stated  by  Madame  Millet- 
.Robinet  as  the  consumption  of  poultry  in  1853),  and  to  more 
than  25  lbs.  in  1878.  Considering  that  this  means  about  i lb. 
of  poultry  per  week  spread  over  the  whole  population  of  Paris, 
and  that  it  equals  one-fourth  of  the  consumption  per  head  of 
butchers’  meat  in  England,  the  quantity  must  be  regarded  as 
exceedingly  large. 
Passing  from  this  matter  to  the  practical  details  which  are 
more  especially  the  subject  of  this  paper,  I would  make  a few 
prefatory  remarks  on  the  number  of  eggs  which  an  average  hen 
may  be  expected  to  lay  in  the  year  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances. The  last-published  Agricultural  Statistics  of  France 
give,  as  already  stated,  the  average  number  as  91  eggs  per 
laying  hen  per  annum;  but  they  vary  from  133  in  the  depart- 
ment of  the  Bouches  du  Rhone,  with  its  southern  climate  and 
aspect,  in  addition  to  its  rich  soil,  down  to  62,  or  less  than  one- 
half,  in  the  central  and  arid  department  of  the  Creuse.  Many 
circumstances  contribute  to  the  laying  qualities  of  hens  in  dif- 
ferent districts,  more  especially  breed,  soil,  and  climate;  but 
when  all  other  circumstances  are  equal,  the  age  of  the  hens  is  a 
factor  of  the  first  importance.  M.  Barral  has  calculated  that  a 
hen  produces  80  eggs  in  its  first  year,  120  each  in  its  second 
and  third,  and  80  in  its  fourth.  After  this  period  its  produc- 
tiveness rapidly  decreases,  and  in  France  hens  are  rarely  kept 
after  their  fifth  year.  Taking  into  account  all  the  circumstances 
in  France,  I do  not  believe  that  in  our  climate  an  average  of 
