92 
The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 
poultry are at their best, and from such small raisers are the vast numbers of foreign eggs collected 
(by travelling dealers) and sent to this country. The existen-ce of this system must be always 
remembered in any inquiry as to how far the £ 3,000,000 per annum paid by England for foreign 
eggs could be retained by her own producers ; and the necessity for the mechanism, as well as for 
the production, must be constantly borne in mind. 
It is as difficult to get at any actual figures relating to poultry production in the United 
Kingdom as in France. A few years ago poultry were attempted to be included in the agricultural 
returns, but the attempt was soon abandoned, on account of the absolutely glaring inaccuracy of the 
statistics so obtained. Experienced statisticians have, however, made careful computations from 
such scattered facts as they could pick up, with the general result that the consumption of eggs in 
England is probably not less than 100 per head per annum. As the foreign import alone now 
amounts to 34 per head per annum, an allowance of somewhat less than double this for native 
production certainly appears to err, if anything, on the side of moderation ; but if it be true, the 
number of fowls kept to supply such a quantity must be far greater than is generally supposed. In 
1884 the agricultural authorities estimated the number at 29,000,000. But it must obviously be far 
greater than this, if anything near the supposed quantity of eggs be consumed ; for the 65 per 
head per annum left to be supplied by native fowls will, on the average, require at least one fowl to 
produce them, which alone would need at least 30,000,000 ; but besides these, we must allow a very 
considerable quantity both of eggs and poultry for regular breeding purposes and the supply of 
chickens for table. Many practical poultry-keepers would consider that the stock should be increased 
50 per cent, on this account ; but on that head every reader of these pages will be competent to 
form his own opinion. 
With such a large native stock and production, it will appear the more surprising that there 
should not have been sufficient expansion to supply the demand, without paying three millions 
sterling per annum to foreign producers. For this, however, there are various reasons, not always 
sufficiently weighed in discussing this question. The first of these is the question of price, connected 
with the fact that a large portion of the consumption of eggs in large towns is by the poorer classes 
or for the commoner cooking purposes, and an appreciable portion by manufacturers. Large 
dealers have told us that directly the retail price goes over a penny each — even as little over as yd. 
for half-a-dozen — the demand falls off rapidly and enormously. Eggs are also largely used in 
dressing the softer leathers, especially the various kinds known as “ kid,” and by bookbinders and 
others. Such also must buy cheaply. Now, for eggs to be sold so cheaply retail, after going 
through so many hands, the price to the original producer must be very low indeed ; and, in point 
of fact, the Italian producers get a price only equal to about one shilling for forty, and Swedish 
and Danish even less than this ! French get rather more. But home raisers can hardly be expected 
to produce at such prices, and could get no possible profit from them if they did. So far, 
therefore, it is the old story of home producers being hopelessly under-sold, under the present 
fiscal system, at prices quite unremunerative to them ; and so far as these cheap eggs answer the 
purpose, it must be a work of time for the markets to so find their level (the gradual rise in price 
has already been noticed) as to make the balance more even. 
There is, however, another reason. The British farmer is proverbially slow to move in any 
fresh direction, and the demand has undoubtedly been increasing of late years faster than he has 
been able to cope with it. For there is no doubt that the home supply really is increasing. Our own 
inquiries have convinced us that there has been a steady increase in demand for eggs since about 
1865, and a more sudden increase since about 1880. A more luxurious habit of living might partially 
account for this increase, but scarcely as regards the last few years of trade depression ; and after 
