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1 Ave., 1901.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 199 
Poultry. 
POULTRY RAISING IN BELGIUM. 
THE “POULET DE BRUXELLES.” 
Every industry can profit by what is being done in other countries in the 
same business. If people do not look beyond their own fence and find out what 
their neighbours are doing, they must not expect to get out of their own narrow 
groove, or to increase the production of any given article by profiting by the 
more enlightened methods adopted by others. Thus the coffee and rice planter 
do well to study the cultivation and preparation of these products in India, 
Africa, Java, Brazil, and other tropical countries. The sugar planters have 
eagerly availed themselves of the Hawaiian experience of Dr. Maxwell. 
In the same way poultry-breeders in this State may think they know all 
that can be known about chicken rearing, egg production, feeding of fowls, 
preparing them for exhibition, &e. Still, they do not know everything, and 
many a good hint has been picked up. by them from English and foreign news- 
papers. Now, here is something from Belgium which will be of interest to 
practical poultry-breeders. 
The American Consul-General at Antwerp, in a report on poultry raising 
in Belgium, says :— 
The succulence of the “poulet de Bruxelles” has a very widespread 
reputation, not only among gourmets, but among all who have had the good. 
fortune to travel upon the Continent and meet the same on the table. 
The difference in quality between the fowl above mentioned and one of 
the same age and size of the ordinary variety is shown by the fact that the 
first is sold in nearly all the markets in this country at double the price. For 
example, a young “ poulet de Bruxelles,” which we should consider about the 
size sufficient for a meal for two persons, is sold to-day for 5f. (4s. 03d.), 
whereas one of the ordinary variety can be purchased for between 2f. and 3f. 
(1s. 73d. to 2s. 43d.). 
The excellence of the fowl seems to depend, as far as can be ascertained, 
on the careful manner in which the sitting hen is treated, the cleanliness 
observed about her, as well as the careful feeding of the young chicken until 
sufficiently developed for eating purposes. Whether or not the methods 
pursued here differ from those followed by careful breeders in our country, it 
is impossible forme to say. Travellers almost invariably express their 
astonishment at its tenderness and juiciness. 
The choice of eggs for sitting purposes is considered a matter of great 
importance, and the freshest obtainable are almost invariably used. The best 
breeders seldom take eggs older than eight days for raising the best quality. 
Care is taken that the eggs given to one hen should be of the same age. The 
eges, when collected, are kept at a very even and medium temperature until 
given to the hen, and are turned daily. This measure is taken, I am informed, 
to prevent the yolk, which is lighter than the white of the egg, from adhering 
to the top of the shell. The eggs chosen for the purpose above mentioned are 
also of an average size, those above medium being rejected, as they often 
contain double yolks. Eggs received from a distance, and consequently exposed 
to more or less shaking, are allowed to stand a day or two before being put 
under the hen. Great care is also taken that the eggs should be perfectly 
clean. 
The nest is prepared of straw or cut hay, perfectly clean, dry, and 
odourless. . As a rule the sitting hens are located in corners where the greatest 
quiet is obtainable, and are not exposed to great light. When so located they 
are not disturbed for any other purpose than the placing before them of their 
