280 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



[ March 28, 1872. 



20 ozs. ; and in some cases eggs in the market will uot ■weigh 

 over 15 ozs. to the dozen. No law can be made to reach the 

 fowls and compel them to lay eggs of a imiform size ; and if 

 the attempt were made, there is no secui-ity but that a hen- 

 ConTention would adopt resolutions not to lay any more eggs 

 until the obnoxious bUl was repealed. But the State regulates 

 the weight of a bushel of grain and a loaf of bread, and why 

 not say how much a dozen eggs shall weigh — say 22 ozs. ? 

 Such a law would protect consumers, and at the same time do 

 a great deal towards improving the stock of poultry in the 

 country. The poultrymen would not allow it to be said that 

 they had to give four-teen eggs for a dozen, when by the sub- 

 stitution of the Brahma, Dorking, Houdan, Black Spanish or 

 some other choice breeds, they could sell eleven eggs for a dozen. 



Bad versus Good. — WTiile there may be, and undoubtedly is, 

 a difference in the flavour of eggs of different breeds of fowls, 

 and also in those of the same fowls at vai'ious seasons of the 

 year, there axe really only two kinds of eggs, the good and bad. 

 These terms admit of qualifications. An egg is good so long 

 as it remains in a state fit to use for cooking pxrrposes ; but 

 the egg which the baker will often use is often wholly unfit for 

 the table. 



The Egg Trade. — The demand for eggs as an article of food 

 has given rise to an immense trade in furnishing supplies re- 

 quired by large cities ; and by means of raih'oads ancl steam- 

 boats they can be transported long distances with safety and 

 dispatch. There are thousands of dollars invested in the busi- 

 ness in this city, and a great deal of attention has been given 

 to the means of 



Transportation. — UutU within two years past, it was cus- 

 tomary for country dealers, who receive eggs from the fai'mers, 

 to pack them in hay, cut straw, or oats, in barrels or half- 

 barrels. Two years ago, a man named Josef, in New York, in- 

 vented a carrier, consisting of covers in a box, so made as to 

 form a cavity for each egg. This cai-rier is very expensive, and 

 has not come into general use. Another man in the West 

 soon brought out an improvement, in which the divisions are 

 foi-med by pasteboaa-d. These patent car-riers answer very well 

 for carrying eggs, and render their counting and delivery easy 

 work, but they ar-e expensive, costing from 90 cents to 5 dols. 

 each. Some of the egg-dealers in this city have a thousand of 

 them in use ; but while they use them, nearly all give the pre- 

 ference to eggs packed ui barrels in dry old oats. 



^ The carriers hold from thirty dozen to sixty dozen, while 

 eighty dozen to one hundred dozen can be packed in a barrel 

 with safety. When eggs are to be sent a short distance, with- 

 out a transfer in transitu, they can be sent in half-barrels, 

 packed in hay ; but oat straw, chaff, or sawdust should not be 

 used if anything else can be found. Paper can be used with 

 good effect, but is somewhat troublesome. In using oats, 

 2i bushels are generally used for a bar-rel, and the purchaser 

 allows 75 cents for the oats. 



Consumption of Eggs. — The consumption of eggs of coui'se 

 depends somewhat upon prevailing prices, but not so much as 

 one would suppose, for low prices prevail when eggs cannot be 

 depended upon, and most people help to increase the propor- 

 tion of the supply to the demand by refusing to buy. £i most 

 fa mili es, eggs ai-e eaten as a rarity, and appear on the table as 

 a dainty, hie cheese ; and at most seasons of the yeai' they 

 are looked upon with disagreeable suspicion. The people of 

 other countries Uke eggs, and in Great Britain the home pro- 

 duction is put down at 75,000 tons, valued at 15,000,000 dols. 

 The importations in 1857 amounted to 126,818,600. In Paris, 

 during the year 1853, it was estimated that 175,000,000 eggs 

 were consumed, being 175 for each person, and costing each 

 person 1.35 dols. The people in the provinces ate 350 eggs per 

 head dm-mg the same time. There are plenty of men in 

 Chicago who never eat less than two eggs per day the year 

 round, and it will be found that they are strong, healthy 

 people. Ar-chdeacon & Eussell, of this'citv, use a great many 

 by preserving them with ham. At the present time there ai-e 

 no means at hand for arriving at the number of eggs consumed 

 in Chicago, but it must be enormous if it bears any relation to 

 the receipts. Every grocery deals in eggs, and most of them 

 receive more or less from the country.— {lYad'o/iai Live-Stock 

 Journal.) 



TAKING TO BEAHMA KEEPING. 



Makv times of an evening, as we sat by a cosy fireside after 

 the business of the day, would the " gudewife " and I discuss 

 the most profitable use to which we could put our few yards of 



freehold ; but the knotty question was settled for us by the un- 

 expected and somewhat premature arrival of a hamper contain- 

 ing a brood of Brahma chickens about thi-ee months old. Curi- 

 ously we peeped into the basket to have our first look at our 

 Uving treasm'es ; and with what tender care — but, oh ! how 

 clumsily — we bandied them, tongue can scarcely tell. But they 

 had travelled long and far, and siu'ely they must be woefully 

 hungry and thirsty. Now came the rnib. What should we give 

 them, and how should we feed them ? The " gudewife " sug- 

 gested bread soaked in ale. " Capital," said I, and quick as 

 thought the compoirud was prepared, but to our dismay they 

 wouldn't touch it, despite om- anxious efforts of cajolery and 

 compulsion. We had to give it up, and expected certainly 

 nothing less than death for the whole troop by the following 

 morning, when we gave them an early call. They were, how- 

 ever, all right, but, oh! what objects! "Aye," said the wife, 

 "what on earth are they?" "Don't know," said I, "except 

 they may happen to be scarecrows." Such lanky w^-etches I 

 thought I had never seen. Call these Brahmas ! Here are 

 things that have no likeness to any mortal fowl I ever saw. 

 Remember, I had never set eyes on a Brahma before, and was 

 so "well up " in their natural history, that when my wife, with 

 pardonable and natural curiosity asked me their sex, having, 

 no doubt, a keen eye to the egg question, I unhesitatingly re- 

 plied, " What are they ? Why, they are all pullets, to be sure ; " 

 whereas, in fact, they were nearly all cockerels ! 



However, I was now fairly stai-ted on the expedition, deter- 

 mined to explore all the mysterious depths and scale all the 

 wondrous heights of poultry knowledge ; and though I set out 

 on the journey with uncei"tain step, I gathered courage as I 

 proceeded, spent the midnight oil in pouring over poultry lore, 

 became a subscriber instanter to your Journal, and resolved to 

 master my task. Well, notrwithstaudiiiL^ sijitie ludicrous mis- 

 takes, my wife and I persevered, ami 1 uvrd hardly teU your 

 readers with w^hat interest we watclitMl (.lur htuky scarecrows 

 gradually feather, and settle down upon their legs, becoming in 

 due time, in our eyes at least, unapproachable in beauty and 

 excellence ; and wasn't I proud when, on the appearance of the 

 first pair of cockerels on my supper table, an agricultural friend 

 seriously asked if they were a pair of young Turkeys ? Enough 

 to say that quantity and quality were ad mir ably combined. 



But who shall describe our sensations on the appearance of 

 our first egg ? I do not know which was more astonished, the 

 pullet that laid it and afterwards looked so curiously at it, or 

 oui'selves. Never was seen such an egg before as this. I must 

 not tell you all the adventures of that never-to-be-forgotten egg 

 or you'll laugh. Well, let those laugh who win. My three 

 pullets laid beautifully all through the cold and frosty winter 

 their average of six eggs j)er week each, despite snow 12 inches 

 deep on the ground, so that we congratulated oiu-selves on 

 having possession of a .splendid breed of bii-ds that were not 

 only hable to be taken for young Turkeys at the table, but 

 could produce a good supply of eggs when oiu- poultry-keeping 

 neighbours had none. 



The winter passed away, but in the meanwhile I had invested 

 in, amongst other books, " The Brahma Fowl," by Lewis Wright, 

 after reading which the fever set in hot and strong. The birds I 

 possessed, and which I had thought so superlative in quality, 

 began to pale their light before the visions of roseate hue in which 

 I indrUged as I contemplated the prospect, as yet but faintly 

 dawning, of having exhibition bii-ds, and then — and then — yes, 

 and then a first at Bingley Hall, who knows ? But the prudent, 

 careful, better-half arrests for the moment the airy visions, and 

 reminds me, "Handsome he that handsome does;" and "surely 

 we may say that of oxrr first stock." " Aye, but you just read 

 that book of Lewris Wright's," I said in apologetic tones, "and 

 tell me what you say then." She did read it. Need I tell you 

 what followed '? Thi'ee sittings of eggs booked at aguinea each ; 

 but we scarcely ventured to speak of it, it seemed so awfully 

 extravagant. 



I will not th-e yoiu' readers with details of further exi)erience, 

 except to say how gradually and surely we yielded to the fas- 

 cination, and of all birds Brahmas are fascinating, so gentle, so 

 noble, and, when properly cared for, so productive of both flesh 

 and eggs. To my mind there is no prettier sight in the poultry 

 world than a batch of first-class Brahmas on the bit of grass by 

 the side of the house ; the fine, majestic, fearless-looking cock, 

 a very king of birds. Our feathered tribe grew and increased, 

 but if our first egg produced such a sensation as th.at which I 

 have just described, the appearance of our first brood of chickens, 

 seven in number out of nine eggs, was simply overwhelming. 

 We got over it at last, and then set earnestly to work, studied 

 the peculiarities of the birds as they grew, fed and cared for 

 them well, combining what we were beginning to consider our 

 practised judgment with the information we could derive from 

 the best authorities. We felt ourselves fairly within reach of 

 the cUmax of oui- ambition on being informed by a very know- 

 ing poultry friend that we possessed some most promising " ex- 

 hibition " bii'ds ; and as a comment on the soundness of his 

 judgment, I may mention that, to our no little satisfaction, our 



