THE FARMER AT BOMB 



333 



broken colors, it is said by some, show a cross breed. The Poland 

 hens, by many, are esteemed the best layers, seldom wanting to set. 

 There is a white variety of top-knots, without a feather of any other 

 color. These are very beautiful, but not quite so hardy as the black. 

 And there is also a gold and black, or pheasant colored variety. But 

 these are scarce in the United States. 



POLAND FOWLS. 



POMEGRANATE. The pomegranate is a fruit in the form of 

 an apple or quince, full of seeds or kernels, inclosed within a reddish 

 pulp, sometimes sweet, sometimes acid. It is so called either from 

 the abundance of its grain or kernels, pomum granatum, a kernelled 

 apple, or from the country where it was anciently produced, viz. 

 Granada. The pomegranate is, however, a native of the south of 

 Europe, and grows to the general height of an apple tree ; the 

 branches are a little prickly ; the leaves resemble those of the great 

 myrtle ; and the fruit, which is composed of red angular grains, is 

 inclosed in little distinct cells, the whole of which are enveloped by a 

 thick and highly astringent outer rind. Pomegranates are by some 

 esteemed. Of the kernels are made syrups and preserves ; the peel 

 contains a considerable quantity of astringent matter. 



POND MUD. Small ponds, into which is conveyed the wash 

 from the circumjacent hills, often contain, at their bottom, a thick 

 stratum of very rich, unctuous sediment, which if removed at times 

 when the water is dried up by the powerful heat and continual eva- 

 poration which occur during the su Itry months of summer and early 

 autumn, makes a most valuable ingredient in compost, and is even a 



