POULTRY. 243 



what a great source of profit and satisfaction they could find in 

 poultry. It was sliown that hecatombs of fowls of every de- 

 scription, and quintillions of eggs, were annually consumed in 

 every State ; yet the supply was not equal to the demand, and 

 the profits of the raisers were from thirty to one hundred per 

 cent, upon the capital invested. Societies were at once formed, 

 on the genuine mutual admiration princij)le, for the encourage- 

 ment of poultry fanciers ; exhibitions of fowls were held, to 

 which the most distinguished statesmen contributed, and which 

 thousands visited ; periodicals were established for the sole pur- 

 pose of aiding cunning venders to dispose of their monstrosities, 

 and we doubt if the archives of humbuggery has a cliapter 

 equal to the "History of the Hen Fever," as chronicled by one 

 of its arch promoters. 



This foirl play is now over, — we learn that the demand for 

 giraffe cocks and chaise-top hens is slight, — the hoarse croak of 

 the ill-favored Shanghae is seldom heard in the land; and many 

 a deluded victim sighs when he comes across large bills for 

 Botherempootrums, Phlapdliudles, or Chittacochas. Political 

 parties may logically prove that they are not dead, but the "hen 

 fever" was fatal; nay, it is hard to secure a respectable attend- 

 ance at the "wake." A portion of our fellow laborers refused 

 to come lip to the scratch. Perhaps they feared that this com- 

 mittee, like the invaders of Rome, might be troubled by a Hiss 

 from the valiant geese, or that the qnack of the ducks might 

 interfere with our regular practice. But those who did respond 

 to the clarion-calls of the " cock that crowed in the morn," 

 were in full feather, and on the ifjzrtir, until the most wide-awake 

 pigeon had gone to roost, endeavoring to judge impartially, and 

 to emulate the peacock in displaying a tale. 



The committee found a long array of well-filled coops, con- 

 taining a goodly number of domestic and fancy poultry. Yet 

 there was only one flock of turkeys, (although a second lot was 

 exhibited on another portion of the field the next day,) and 

 but one lot of geese, called "Bremen," but much smaller than 

 the many fine specimens of the same race, descendants of those 

 imported by Judge Sisson, some thirty years ago, which are to 

 be seen in various parts of the county. A flock of ducks, of a 

 cross between the wild and tame races, showed the utility of 

 domesticating our native fowl. The show of pigeons was ex- 



