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THE HENWIFES KALENDAR FOR SEPTEMBER. 



IF the hatching season has been good, and 

 the coops unthinned by disease, the hen- 

 wife will find it no easy matter to supply corn 

 to fill the crops of the pullets and cockerels, 

 which as chickens were so easily satisfied ; 

 she will, therefore, be easily persuaded to 

 send to market, without delay, those which 

 are not required for keeping up the stock. 

 Previous to this, however, she will select from 

 her numerous families those which she means 

 to grace her own pen. Her choice will, 

 doubtless, fall on healthy, handsome, full- 

 bodied, sprightly hens, whatever be the breed 

 she may fancy. Taste varies in this as in 

 other things. The high esteem in which 

 Cochins were at one time held has been found 

 so utterly ridiculous, that a reaction took place 

 and sunk them far below their proper level. 

 From this, however, they are beginning to 

 rise, and a short time, doubtless, will place 

 them in'^their true position. Where one kind 

 of fowl only is kept, better than Cochins 

 could not be had, especially if the accommo- 

 dation is limited ; for they thrive in a small 

 place, do not wander, are too heavy to fly 

 over enclosures, lay far on in the season, and 

 fatten easily for the table ; any want of delicacy 

 in their flesh is compensated by the additional 

 quantity supplied. The frequent desire of 

 the hen for incubation is her great fault ; in 

 order to remove this desire when she is not 

 wanted to sit, put her into a dark cellar with- 

 out any nest, and keep her on low diet three 

 or four days : at the end of that time she may 

 be returned to the yard, and in a week or so 

 she will recommence laying. Should the cure 

 not be efiectual at first, repeat it until it is so. 

 When the principal object in keeping fowls 

 is to have a supply of fine eggs, the Spanish 

 hen is to be preferred before all others. Her 

 eggs are very large, and she produces them 



in great numbers also, for she wastes no time 

 in brooding, seldom shewing any desire to sit. 

 The chickens are very delicate, and difticult 

 to rear ; the hens are hard moulters, and bad 

 foragers. By crossing them with the Dorking, 

 a kind is produced which, for laying and 

 breeding, cannot be surpassed ; and which, 

 for the table, may challenge anything that can 

 be produced. Pure Dorkings are highly es- 

 teemed by fowl fanciers. The great weight 

 to which they attain makes them valuable for 

 the table ; they are good foragers, good layers, 

 and good mothers, but their eggs are in general 

 smaller than those of the Spanish hen ; and 

 where the accommodation is limited, they are 

 very unsuitable, for they are great rovers, and 

 require a fence of great height to keep them 

 within bounds. 



Whatever be the kind, breeding in-and-in, 

 as it is called, must be avoided ; the very best 

 breed will soon degenerate by this means. 

 To avoid this, the cock should be procured 

 from a totally different strain ; he should be 

 in his second year, and changed every two 

 years. He should be lively and sprightly, 

 the best of his kind that can be had. In in- 

 troducing a new one, he should be quietly 

 and stealthily placed on the baulks after dusk. 

 If introduced in full day-light, the hens might 

 attack him in a body, and injure or even kill 

 him. Should two be brought into the yard 

 at once, they would be sure to fight, and the 

 hens will be found to take to the victor, and 

 unanimously discard his vanquished foe. It 

 is wonderful to see how a good cock will 

 forage for his hens ; how he Avill " luck-luck " 

 to them when he discovers any treasure. We 

 remember how a noble chanticleer of ours 

 once on a time refused to share the corn on 

 which his mates were feeding; how he kept 

 restlessly moving about, looking all the while 



