FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



SILVER-SPANGLED HAM- 

 BURG. — These fowls arb among 

 the most highly developed of 

 all the spangled varieties. They 

 are valued as egg producers and 

 rank among the best. They are very 

 impatient of confinement and are said 

 to succeed best when they can have the 

 run of a clean pas.ure or common. A 

 large grass walk is recommended by 

 the most successful breeders. Six-foot 

 fences, where they are intended to be 

 restricted to certain limits, will not be 

 more than sufificient for the safe cus- 

 tody of these chickens. The hens, if 

 young, lay nearly throughout the year, 

 but the eggs, which are white, are 

 small, weighing about ij4 ounces each. 

 As they are such abundant layers they 

 seldom want to sit. The chickens are 

 healthy and strong requiring no unusual 

 care. When first hatched they are 

 cream-colored. They feather early and 

 the barred character of the penciled 

 birds quickly appears. In the rapidity 

 of their movements they are said to 

 rival even the active little Bantams. 



It has been observed that both sexes 

 of all the varieties continue to improve 

 in appearance after each moult until 

 they are 3 years old. Birds of i year 

 old have never attained to their full 

 beauty, this being especially apparent 

 in the more ample development of the 

 tail-feathers of the cock as he becomes 

 older. At from five to six months old 

 they are fit for table use, their meat 

 white, tender, and well-flavored. 



The Silver-Spangled Hamburg, or 

 Silver Pheasant, as it is commonly 

 called there, is a breed that has for 

 generations been known in England. 

 In Lancashire this variety had been 

 brought to a very high standard of ex- 

 cellence years before poultry shows 

 were thought of, and, as Wright ob- 

 serves, all our modern skill and careful 

 breeding have been unable to improve 

 upon the old breed of Mooneys, as 

 they were called, which were abso- 

 lutely perfect in point of feather. The 

 spangling, so large, round, and rich in 

 color, was really something to be won- 



dered at and shows a skill and enthu- 

 siasm in breeding which has about it 

 something of the marvelous. 



Plymouth Rock Hen and Chickens. 

 —In March, 1873, Rev. H. H. Rams- 

 dell thus describes the origin of this 

 valued fowl: 



"Some thirty years since John Giles, 

 Esq., introduced a fowl into this vicin- 

 ity — Putnam, Conn. — called the Black 

 Java. Its plumage was black and 

 glossy, its size large, pullets sometimes 

 reaching 11 pounds in weight. It was 

 an unusually hardy bird, with a dark, 

 slate-colored, smooth leg and the bot- 

 tom of the feet yellow. The hens 

 proved good layers and of extra qual- 

 ity for the table. I sold a few of these 

 birds to a Mr. Thayer of Pomfret, of 

 whom Mr. George Clark of Woodstock, 

 Conn., purchased some he supposed 

 the same. Mr. Clark, passing Mr. Jo- 

 seph Spaulding's yard one day, noticed 

 his fine flock of Dominiques and pro- 

 posed bringing a few of his Javas over 

 to cross with them to increase the size. 

 Mr. Spaulding accepted the offer, and 

 when the chickens were grown rejected 

 the black ones and those with double 

 comb, reserving to breed from only the 

 single-comb birds, which retained the 

 Dominique color, or near it. One of 

 the first products from the eggs of this 

 cross was a hen which weighed 9^ 

 pounds. We soon had a fine flock of 

 them. Thefowlswere spread around the 

 neighborhood and were much sought 

 after, but had as yet no name. A gen- 

 tleman asked me what 1 called them. 

 I said * Plymouth Rock.' The name 

 passed from one to another and they 

 were soon generally known by that 

 name." 



The general characteristics of the 

 cock are: Comb single, upright, and 

 neatly arched, notched, or serrated; 

 body large and deep; back broad and 

 short; breast deep, broad, and full; 

 thighs large and strong; size very 

 large, ranging from nine to twelve 

 pounds; general shape massive, but 

 compact; carriage upright and com- 

 manding. 



