Always have good and fat poultry where possible; in the country you may command it. About three weeks before you want to use them, six or twelve fowls, according, to your consumption, should be put into the coop, and as you kill one or more replace them to keep up the stock; for the first week feed them alternate days with boiled rice and soaked bread and milk: the remainder of the time mix Indian meal with the skimmings of your stockpot and a spoonful of moist sugar. The windows of your poultry house must be darkened.

Fowls should be carefully drawn, so that the gall bladder is uninjured, and this should only be done through the vent.

Boast with a brisk and clear fire. A capon will take five-and-thirty minutes; smaller fowls a less time in proportion. A turkey of fourteen pounds will take two hours; the time will increase or decrease with the weight. The same rule applies to geese: a large one will take an hour and a half; chickens take half an hour, pigeons ten minutes less. It must be understood that the adherence to the time will depend on the state of the fire, etc.; a slow fire will make a longer time necessary, and at the same time spoil the poultry.

The French adopt the following method to make old poultry eat tender: - Let the bird soak in cold water for twenty-four hours, with a handful or two of wood-ashes; pick off the feathers, and let it hang for another twenty-four hours; truss it, and let it boil for a quarter of an hour in a little veal-broth; take it out, lard, and roast it; when nearly done, baste it with very hot butter. By observing these directions, you will impart to an old bird all the delicate flavor of a young chicken.