Notes  on  Continental  Poultry -keeping. 
191 
placed  in  a suitable  box  almost  entirely  covered  by  a board,  and 
some  dummy  eggs  are  put  under  her.  She  is  generally  kept  in 
the  dark.  She  soon  takes  to  the  dummy  eggs,  which  are  then 
removed,  and  twenty-five  fowls’  eggs  are  placed  beneath  her. 
She  is  taken  off  the  eggs  once  a day  to  feed,  and  carefully  re- 
placed, not  on  the  eggs  but  in  front  of  them,  and  she  then,  after 
the  manner  of  turkeys,  carefully  hooks  them  underneath  her 
with  her  beak.  When  the  chicks  ( poussins ) are  hatched  they 
are  removed  from  under  her,  to  be  either  sold  or  sent  off  at  once, 
or  to  be  brought  up  by  another  turkey  hen,  which  is  perhaps  an 
indifferent  sitter,  and  which,  in  lieu  of  sitting,  has  from  80 
to  100  chicks  given  her  to  bring  up.  Orders  are  kept  on  hand 
for  these  poussins,  which,  within  twelve  hours  of  being  hatched, 
are  despatched  all  over  France  in  well-ventilated  boxes  holding 
from  twelve  to  twenty  each,  and  at  the  following  prices,  viz.  : 
one  dozen,  12s.;  25,  22s.  5 d. ; 50,  44s.;  100,80s.  The  hen 
turkey  which  hatched  out  the  chicks  is  then  provided  with 
twenty-five  more  eggs,  upon  which  she  at  once  sits,  and  this 
process  I was  assured  is  carried  on  six,  seven,  and  eight  times 
in  succession.  Young  turkey  hens  are  preferred  to  old  birds  for 
the  purpose.  Such  a thing  as  a coop  is  rarely  to  be  seen.  In 
the  morning,  as  soon  as  it  is  light,  the  doors  of  the  sheds,  in 
which  the  young  chicks  with  their  foster-mothers — the  in- 
differently sitting  turkey  hens — have  passed  the  night,  are 
thrown  open.  The  inmates  are  driven  out  mostly  by  old 
women  with  long  poles,  who  conduct  the  whole  lot  gently  into 
some  covert,  or  along  the  country  lanes,  where  the  chicks  can 
find  plenty  of  insect  life,  the  old  ladies  sitting  with  their  work 
and  keeping  careful  watch  over  their  charges.  The  food 
consists  chiefly  of  barley-meal  and  buckwheat  meal  for  the 
chickens  that  are  being  fattened,  and  sometimes  mechanical 
contrivances  are  adopted  for  administering  it.  Such  a machine 
on  a large  scale  may  be  seen  at  work  at  the  Jardin  d’Acclimata- 
tion  in  Paris.  At  thirteen  weeks  old  the  chickens  are  sold  fat 
and  alive  in  the  Houdan  market  to  the  Paris  merchants,  who 
live  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Houdan,  and  who  kill  and  forward 
them  to  Paris.  At  the  time  of  my  visit  (March)  they  averaged 
2J  kilos  (5£  lbs.)  at  four  months  old,  and  the  market  price  for 
such  a fowl  at  Houdan  was  8^  francs  (6s.  9c?.),  and  at  Paris 
12  francs  (9s.  7c?.)  Twenty  francs  (16s.)  are  sometimes  obtain- 
able in  Paris  for  a veritable  poularde  du  Mans.  From  the  profit 
of  the  Paris  merchant,  however,  it  is  calculated  that  at  least 
20  per  cent,  must  be  deducted  for  the  expenses  of  freight,  Paris 
octroi  (3d.  for  each  2 lbs.),  salesman,  storing,  &c.  In  April  the 
price  at  Houdan  is  as  high  as  10  francs  (8s.).  After  that  and 
through  the  summer  the  price  descends  to  5j  francs  (4s.  5c?.). 
“ When  fowls  are  kept  in  store  condition  their  food  consists 
