196  Notes  on  Continental  Poultry-keeping. 
houses  are  on  poles  about  a yard  above  the  ground  ; their  floors 
are  strewn  with  ashes.  M.  Lemoine  considers  that  several 
matters  are  essential  to  the  successful  rearing  of  poultry.  Clean- 
liness is  the  fi^st,  dryness  in  every  way  is  also  very  important  ; 
light  and  ventilation,  not  neglecting  warmth,  are  also  necessary. 
“ The  fowl-houses  are  cleaned  out  twice  a week,  and  the  turf 
in  the  little  paddocks,  as  well  as  the  gravel-walks,  are  renewed 
every  other  year  to  prevent  them  from  becoming  sodden  with 
excretions  and  from  giving  rise  to  emanations.  The  Houdan 
is  considered  by  M.  Lemoine  to  be  the  best  breed  in  every 
respect,  except  that  the  hens  are  bad  mothers  ; therefore  Cochin 
China  hens  are  kept  to  sit  on  Houdan  eggs.  Each  breed,  how- 
ever, has  its  special  excellencies  and  defects,  and  requires 
special  treatment.  La  Fleche  is  the  breed  which  is  said  to 
fatten  most  easily,  but  Houdan  chicken  can  be  fattened  for  the 
market  at  three  to  four  months  old.  M.  Lemoine  exhibits 
largely,  and  has  won  an  immense  number  of  prizes  both  for  his 
fowls  and  his  method  of  housing  and  managing  them.” 
In  the  notice  of  his  home  farm  prepared  for  the  ‘ Concours 
Regional  of  1868,’  the  Marquis  d’Havrincourt  gives  the  follow- 
ing brief  account  of  his  poultry-keeping : — 
“ I am  extremely  fond  of  this  part  of  the  farming,  which  is 
so  often  neglected  in  the  north  (of  France)  ; but  as  1 cannot  make 
it  a speciality  I am  obliged  to  confine  myself  to  the  breeds 
which  are  the  most  profitable  and  the  most  hardy.  The  breeds 
which  I keep,  then,  are  the  Houdan,  la  Fleche,  the  Dorking,  la 
Caussade,  Hergnies,  as  well  as  various  crosses  between  them. 
The  beautiful  Crevecceur  does  not  succeed  here,  because,  owing 
to  the  dust,  their  crest  becomes  charged  with  earth,  and  destroys 
their  eyes.  Ordinarily,  as  on  all  farms,  the  poultry  are  in  the 
farmyard,  on  the  manure-heap  and  the  roadways,  and  under  the 
sheds,  as  well  as,  in  my  case,  under  the  small  special  shelters 
for  them  which  I have  constructed  over  sandy  places,  and  where 
they  can  retire  at  any  time.  In  these  they  always  find  open 
troughs  full  of  water,  and  covered  ones  which  are  used  for  their 
food. 
“ Immediately  after  harvest  I shut  up  the  ordinary  fowl- 
house,  and  bring  close  to  it  a travelling  one.  The  fowls  roost 
in  the  latter,  and  the  following  morning  they  and  their  habita- 
tion are  transported  to  the  fields  in  charge  of  a woman,  being 
brought  back  again  in  the  evening.  The  number  of  eggs 
rapidly  increases,  and  as  a rule  soon  becomes  doubled.  The 
fowls  find  in  the  fields  corn,  green  food,  and  insects,  and  become 
extraordinarily  healthy.  Sometimes  I send  them  also  into  the 
fields  which  are  being  ploughed,  and  there  they  eat  the  larva; 
