458 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



rambling, flying,, and scratching, and, being more pestless in disposition, do not make as good, 

 careful mothers as the former. 



The Brahma pullets frequently lay when six months old, and usually lay from thirty to 

 forty eggs before sitting. We have known instances where the pullets began laying in the 

 fall and did not stop until the time of moulting, though this is not usually the case; 

 individuals differ in some respects, but as a breed, they are among the best layers known; 

 as winter layers they have no superiors. One writer says (writing at the last of November), 

 that he has a hen which has laid forty-five eggs during the last forty-eight days, while others 

 of his Brahma flock are but little inferior to this. 



Brahmas are very hardy and grow uncommonly fast: they are therefore desirable for 

 table use. They have an abundance of breast meat, and the meat generally is of fine texture 

 and flavor, though the Dorking is considered, by common consent, to be a little superior to 

 all others in this respect, yet the Brahma ranks very high. On the whole, we know of no 

 fowl that we could recommend with more certainty of success and satisfaction than the 

 Brahma. 



COCHINS. 



&quot;HV T breed of poultry has ever attracted so much attention, or such high prices for so 

 ^J long a time as the Cochins, on their introduction to this country. They were 

 1 i introduced from China about the year 1847 or 48, and created a great sensation at 

 the time, which has been humorously termed the &quot;poultry mania, 1 1 or &quot; hen fever .&quot; So great 

 was the desire to possess them, that fabulous prices were paid. In England, a hundred 

 guineas was often paid for a single cock, and equally high prices in this country. A reaction 

 must of necessity follow, as a natural result, and the breed is not now as fully appreciated as 

 it deserves, for it possesses really great merit. It is in the main, now superseded by those 

 of greater merit, the Brahmas. The mania attending its introduction, however, absurd as it 

 was, resulted in great benefit by awakening a general interest in the whole poultry subject, 

 which has never since died out. They come next to the Brahmas in size. 



The cock will weigh ten or twelve pounds, and sometimes will reach even fourteen when 

 three or four years of age ; the hen from eight to ten pounds. The principal varieties of this 

 breed are Buff, Black, White, Partridge, Pea-Combed Partridge, and Silky Cochin or Emu 

 Fowl. They are of gentle disposition, more hardy than any other breed, except Brahmas, 

 grow fast, and are prolific layers, especially in winter, bearing confinement well. They can 

 not fly, consequently can easily be kept within a limited enclosure. The chickens feather 

 rather slowly. 



Bllff Cochins. The Buff Cochin is one of the most popular varieties of this bi-eed. 

 Its color, as the name indicates, is a clear, uniform buff, sometimes light in shade, and often 

 deeper, the deep buff being considered the most desirable in color. Black penciling in the 

 tackle is considered very objectionable, and a disqualification at a poultry exhibition, but we 

 often find birds with a little marking of darker shade well defined about the neck, where it is 

 not considered decidedly a grave fault, though the greater the uniformity of shade, the better. 

 The hackles of the cock, back, wing coverts, and saddle feathers, are generally a rich gold 

 color. The hackle flows well over the back and shoulders. The tail, which is nearly con 

 cealed by the cushion in the hen, is quite small, and usually buff in color; that of the cock 

 is also small, short, and full, and not carried very erect; the most desirable color of the tail, 

 is a .rich, dark chestnut, or bronze-tinted chestnut mixed with black, though the less black 



