124 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



— such as the Wild Mountain Malay and the jungle-fowl — 

 have produced all the sub-varieties. A cross, we have said, 

 may be accidental in the first instance, but judicious selection 

 afterwards is necessary, for generations, to overcome the 

 tendency to throw back or produce chickens unlike the 

 parents, but like some ancestors. The necessities of com- 

 merce, the transfer of large numbers of emigrants from differ- 

 ent countries to places where fowls (the result of one of these 

 accidental causes) have been isolated, and the caprice or 

 fancy of their owners, may be sufficient to account for the 

 gradual formation of distinct breeds. 



. And here opens a vast field before us, which makes the 

 breeding of poultry a fascinating and intellectual pursuit, 

 which is worthy of the attention of all who have the leisure 

 and taste to investigate this department of natural history. 



To poultry-fanciers the farmer is indebted, though- he 

 may not know it, for the vastly superior poultry of the 

 present time ; for, except in very rare instances, it is only 

 those who have the perseverance and leisure to follow out 

 a series of logical experiments. 



And yet these experiments are so interesting that we 

 wonder that more of our farmers have not turned their atten- 

 tion to them. 



By way of illustration, let us propose an experiment, 

 which we are , not aware has been thoroughly tried. The 

 White Cochins, for example, are a large, fine race, weigh- 

 ing from eight to twelve pounds and upwards, very hardy, and 

 particularly good as winter layers. The White Leghorns 

 are unsurpassed layers, except in the coldest months of win- 

 ter, but so small that, as poultry, they are a failure, rarely 

 weighing, dressed, over three and a half pounds. Now why 

 would not a cross of these breeds produce, by careful selec- 

 tion, a breed that would combine the excellences of both 

 and breed true ? We have no doubt of the success of the 

 experiment, though it might take ten years of careful selec- 

 tion to perfect it. The Green or Silver Dorking is, with- 

 out doubt, the best of the table fowls, and also is an excel- 

 lent layer, but has one drawback, at least in this country, — a 

 liability to roup and a certain delicacy of constitution. Now 

 cross this with the Dark Brahma, one of our hardiest fowls, 



