486 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICXJLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAHDENEE. [ December 26, 1867. 



birchen above, blue under. Blue cocks are rare. The eyes 

 and legs should be the same as the hen's. — Newmaekei. 



MY POULTRY YARD.— No. 2. 

 My first thorough-bred birds were some Silver-pencilled 

 Hamburghs, a cock and two hens. These were bred from prize 

 strains, and were good birds. I received them in Jannary, 

 and the account which I kept of the eggs they laid me in 

 twelve months was as follows : — 



January 13 i 



February T ' 



March 40 | 



April 27 



May 43 | 



June 41 



July 85 I 



Au!?ust 34 



September 11 



October S 



November 



December 2 



Total 270 



One hen wanted to sit, so I unadvisedly placed under her 

 sleven eggs ; but she only sat on them three days, and then 

 deserted them, so I never again put a Hamburgh to sit. I found 

 that the eggs of my Hamburghs that I hatched produced 

 weakly chickens, so I purchased a cock of another strain ; but 

 still my Hamburgh chickens did not do well. I placed them 

 on fresh runs, and adopted various plans to improve their 

 health ; but one by one my chickens died off. 



I then thought 1 would try a cross for table fowls, and bought 

 two Black lied Game hens, and let them run with my Silver- 

 pencilled Hamburgh cock. This time my trouble was repaid, 

 for every egg from the Game hens brought forth a stroug 

 healthy chick, which grew and did well. Of course they never 

 made large fowls, but they answered veiy well for the table, 

 though they had blue legs, but I did not miud that. The 

 chickens from this cross used to be generally black and white 

 speckled, as if enveloped with cobwebs. They had rather long 

 blue legs and long tails, and were very precocious. A curious 

 result was, that the chickens, with one or two exceptions, were 

 cocks. Have any of your readers ever heard that an egg with 

 a rough shell at the smallest end produces a cock? I have ; 

 but I do not say I believe in it. Nevertheless, strange to say, 

 nearly every one of my Game hens' eggs had this rough-ended 

 shell. 



^ The hens I bred from the above-named cross (only two), did 

 sit ; but it was very badly. 



I kept this breed two or three years, but gave it tip even- 

 tnaUy, as my birds would roam, and, besides, the eggs and 

 chickens were very small. 



I attributed my not rearing the Hamburgh chicks to the clay 

 soil ; but to those who want fowls for beauty, and have a 

 dry run, and who do not mind small eggs, I can with every 

 confidence recommend the Pencilled Hamburghs ; and if it is 

 desired to cross them, try a Game hen, provided rather small 

 chicks are not objected to, and the result will be a good, hardy, 

 fast-growing cross. 



The next fowls which I tried were White Dorkings. These 

 I had from a celebrated breeder. I had a cock and two hens 

 of this breed. My number of eggs for one year from them 

 was as follows : — 



January 



Februai-y 2S 



March 44 



April 45 



May 23 



June 21 



July 42 



.\u^ist 37 



September 19 



October 5 



November 



December 



Total 264 



So my two White Dorkings laid six eggs less than the Ham- 

 burghs, both varieties having the same amount of food, and 

 the same kind — viz., whole best barley once a day, ground oats 

 twice. 



I had no better luck with my young Dorking chicks than I 

 had with my Hamburghs — all the young ones died ; so I bought 

 fresh hens from one place, and a fresh cock from another place. 



My chicks had the best of food and the greatest care ; but 

 still I saw them dying before me. I was truly put out, and 

 said to myself, " I shall never do anything in the poultry way." 

 I read books and thus obtained some information about the 

 soil ; again my day soil was the cause. 



I could not alter the soil, so I thought I had better alter the 

 breed, and then I bought some Grey Dorkings, thinking they 

 would be hardier than their white brethren ; but again I was 

 doomed to disappointment. 



Next time I tried Spanish ; but there I was completely 

 beaten, for my old birds died as well as my young ones, al- 

 though every imaginable care was taken of them. My cold, 



bleak situation and damp clay soil seemed to undermine my 

 Spanish fowls' constitutions, and slowly they all faded away. 

 So again I found that clay soil would not suit the Spanish 

 breed. 



I then thought of trying the French breeds, so I bought some 

 Crcve Ca>ur eggs and began again. — E. S. S. W. 



TROUBLES OF A NEW FARM. 



" Well, now, really Frank, why should we not have a little 

 farm of our own ? Of what use is this rambling old manor 

 house with its innumerable out-buildings, if they stand empty ? 

 We had better have lived on in the town, than have tried to 

 make a town house in the country," 



" A farm, indeed ! Make ducks and drakes of your money ; 

 is that what you intend to do, Mrs. Weston ? " 



" No, I intend to have cows, and piga, and geese, and ducks, 

 and poultry." 



" Your cows will die of rinderpest, and your pigs never grow 

 fat. Your geese will fly away over the wood to the canal, and 

 be picked up by the boatmen. Your little ducks will be drowned 

 iu the pond, or stick fast in the sides all among the mud. And 

 your poultry will cost far more than they return, and probably 

 be all cleared out some dark night when you are off to a party." 



" I must take my chance. I like the sound of living things 

 about me. Nothing sooner make a strange place feel home- 

 like than the crowing of cocks, and the quacking of ducks." 



" They are an intolerable nuisance. I would rather have the 

 noise and bustle of Market Street." 



" They would lessen the solitude of this quiet, and if there 

 is any profit to be had, why should I not go in for it ? " 



" You will miss the profit, Sophy, because you do not under- 

 stand such matters, i'hey were not a part of your education." 



" I suppose I can learn." 



"You will learn how to lose your money ; and then, too, it is 

 a hobby fit only for men and boys." 



" I do not agree with you. On the contrary, I often think a 

 man would look better, and might spend his time and strength 

 better, among sheep and cattle, than eggs and chickens. A 

 woman is busier often, every minute being employed, and she 

 has little opportunity for such things — at least, in the way of 

 hobby making ; not that she is unfitted. Iu former times the 

 farmer never thought of meddling with poultry, it was beneath 

 his notice, and belonged to his ' women folk.' " 



" Then why did not the ' women folk ' keep it iu their own 

 hands ? Few of them appear to care for such matters now ; even 

 those who are wanting something to fill up their time." 



" Perhaps they were turned away from it in their young 

 year.s, told it was neither proper nor profitable." 



" There, there, do as you like, only do not trouble me with 

 your losses. But I would strongly advise you to hire some one 

 to take the entire management of them." 



" Indeed ! Frank, would you ? How much wiser should I be 

 at the end of any given time ? It would be all loss then, and 

 no mistake, without the gain of experience. Keep a henwifefor 

 my poultry, who would, probably, if I dared to feed the chicks, 

 ask me, as Mamma's cook did, when she mixed up the Christ- 

 mas pudding, ' whose the kitchen was ? ' No, I will try what 

 I can do with Martha's help ; at least, in the bird way." 



" Then your best plan would be to buy two broody hens, and 

 a few egss of a right good sort ; the hens would settle down 

 during the hatching period, and then, however far they might 

 wander, would be sure to come back for the sake of their 

 chickens, which otherwise might be lost in the long grass of 

 the wood." 



" And be the spring and summer without eggs. No, the 

 first market-day I will go into the town and buy a lot ; stock 

 my farm. I will take Wilson with me to see I do not buy old 

 birds for young ones." 



" You may safely trust Wilson with cows and pigs, but as 

 for other things I do not believe he could tell a goose from a 

 gander." 



A few days afterwards there was a great arrival to the house 

 in the wood. A cow, two pigs, geese, ducks, and poultry. 

 What was to be done with them ? The cow and pigs had their 

 appointed houses free from intrusion. The man had taken 

 care of that, they were to be in his charge ; but no one had 

 thought of the birds. The fowl-house was full of rubbish and 

 garden tools, but nothing in the way of perches ; and then what 

 was to be done with the ducks and geese ? 



" Let them all out of their hampers into the unnsed stable," 



