THE DORKING FOWL. 193 



Well might Aldrovandi caution his poultry-loving readers : 

 "Therefore, he who wants to enjoy a profit from these birds 

 ought, in the first place, to select some faithful body. For. 

 unless he who has the care of the Hens remains honest towards 

 his lord, the gain will not cover the expenses. An attendant 

 of this sort, namely, who climbs into the hen-house, and col- 

 lects the Eggs, and turns by hand those which are incubated, 

 will rightly be called the Hen-keeper, or Gruardian." 



As to the casualties arising from the neglect or ill-temper 

 of servants, every farmer who has live stock to be tended, has 

 had abundant proofs. There is a peculiar idiosyncracy in 

 some individuals, which fits them to take charge of certain 

 animals. Some female servants in the country have quite a 

 passion for bringing up poultry, and by their care and kind- 

 ness will rescue apparently moribund Chickens and Turkeys 

 from the threatening jaws of death. A groom or stable-man 

 almost always despises poultry. A gardener thinks it beneath 

 him to look after them. Even in public Menageries the man 

 who has charge of a Lion deems it a condescension to tend a 

 few harmless birds. A clever little girl often makes an excel- 

 lent poultry-tender : boys are as mischievous and untrustworthy 

 as monkeys. When there is any thing in hand requiring 

 peculiar watchfulness, it is not a bad plan, if possible, to at- 

 tend to it one's self. 



Pure Dorking Hens are sometimes barren. I had one, a 

 perfect model to the eye, short, square, compact, large, with 

 plumage, comb, and weight all that could be wished the very 

 Pullet that a fancier would have chosen to perpetuate the 

 breed. But she never laid, nor showed any disposition to sit, 

 and, in consequence of her uselessness, at about two years old 

 was brought to table. The carving-knife soon demonstrated a 

 mal-formation of the back and side bones, and showed that the 

 models of the breeder may sometimes be too highly finished. 

 This certainly might be a case of breeding in-and-in. But the 



