Notes  on  Continental  Poultry-keeping. 
199 
spring.  In  each  compartment  I place  a cock  and  six  hens  of 
the  same  breed,  chosen  as  the  best  specimens  in  my  yard.  The 
eggs  of  these  hens  I have  hatched  in  order  to  preserve  the  pure 
breeds,  only  that  I take  care  not  to  use  for  this  purpose  eggs 
that  have  been  laid  until  after  an  interval  of  at  least  six  weeks 
after  the  separation  of  the  breeds ; because  the  breeds  are  all 
mixed  in  the  farmyard,  and  the  influence  of  the  male  remains 
at  least  six  weeks.  Similarly  I take  care  to  cut  one  wing  of 
each  fowl  to  prevent  its  flying  over  the  paling.” 
The  Marquis  finds  this  arrangement  equally  serviceable  for 
rearing  and  for  breeding,  as  all  the  chicken  are  well  under 
control,  and  can  be  kept  separate  according  to  age,  or  breed,  or 
any  other  category  required.  Later  in  the  year  he  also  uses  it 
for  fattening  ducks,  geese,  and  turkeys,  which  are  rarely  con- 
fined entirely,  as  fowls  generally  are  for  that  purpose.  He  adds 
that  the  great  difficulty  in  his  district  has  been  to  find  servants 
who  understand  the  rearing,  and  especially  the  fattening,  of 
poultry.  In  fact,  he  states  emphatically,  “ Ce  type  ny  exists 
plus .”  Consequently  he  engaged  a woman  from  the  district  of 
Bresse,  who  has  produced  on  his  farm  the  true  “ poulardes”  of 
her  own  country.  To  blanch  their  flesh  after  they  have  been 
killed,  her  practice  has  been  to  wrap  them  in  linen  very  tightly 
sewn,  and  then  to  soak  them  for  ten  or  twelve  hours  in  weak 
milk  and  water. 
I should  add  that  when  I visited  the  Marquis  d’Havrincourt 
in  1878,  I found  that  his  system  of  poultry-keeping  was  re- 
markably successful,  and  quite  worthy  of  any  eulogy  that  he 
had  claimed  for  it. 
The  following  quotation  from  my  Report  on  Denmark  to 
the  Royal  Commission  on  Agriculture,  illustrates  in  a some- 
what different  fashion  the  same  principle  that  the  habitation  of 
fowls  must  be  systematically  changed  ; and  it  may  be  further  re- 
garded as  a favourable  example  of  the  manner  in  which  poultry- 
keeping might  be  profitably  extended  in  this  country.  There  are 
many  thousands  of  acres  under  wood  and  underwood  where  a 
large  stock  of  poultry  might  be  usefully  as  well  as  profitably  kept, 
if  once  the  cardinal  and  essential  principles  of  the  business  were 
thoroughly  grasped  by  the  managing  mind.  But  without  such 
a clear  idea  being  inculcated  into  the  person  in  authority,  if  not 
previously  possessed  by  him,  it  need  scarcely  be  said  that  any 
attempt  to  increase  the  rental  of  woodlands  by  poultry-keeping 
would  end  in  disaster.  Still,  a perusal  of  the  following  extract 
will  show  how  simple  is  the  process  when  once  it  is  understood, 
and  how  successful  it  has  been  in  the  instance  mentioned. 
“ At  the  present  time  the  attention  of  English  farmers  is  being 
