ESSEX SOCIETY. 23 



some nutriment to the invalid ? And the puddings, and good 

 old-fashioned pumpkin pies, that cannot be produced without 

 their share in the matter ? It is not our purpose to recommend 

 any one particular variety to the exclusion of all others, but we 

 would earnestly request each one to prove by personal experi- 

 ence the merits of many, if not all of the different varieties of 

 our standard fowls, and of such of the fancy ones as he may 

 have time or inclination, so as to be able to impart information 

 of benefit to others, who are, or who may wish to be interest- 

 ed in the subject. 



If any should feel inclined to doubt the importance of poul- 

 try, as one of our products, we would point his attention to fig- 

 ures, not fictitious ones, but those gathered from the most reli- 

 able sources. For instance, from the Montreal Pilot, we learn 

 that there were shipped from Montreal to the United States, 

 from May 1st of the present year, to June 16th, two thousand 

 and seven hundred barrels of eggs. In the year 1848, the sales 

 of poultry in the city of Boston, amounted to over one million 

 of dollars, and the sale of eggs to as much more. In the face 

 of such facts, who will say it is a matter of little consequence 

 whether we keep fowls or not, or whether they are good, bad, 

 or indifferent ? In conclusion, the committee do not hesitate 

 to assert, that with proper attention, fowls can be reckoned as 

 profitable stock for every farmer, and with pleasing satisfaction 

 they confess that the show of poultry in the present instance, 

 far exceeded in number and quality, their most sanguine expec- 

 tations. Let each contributor also, feel the satisfaction of 

 having had a part in this exhibition, and resolve that, fine as 

 the display for 1850 was, he will try and eclipse it in 1851. 



The whole number of contributors was forty-nine. Whole 

 number of fowls five hundred and forty-eight, of which forty- 

 three were water fowls, four turkeys, and also two fine lots of 

 pigeons. 



For the committee, 



E. B. LITTLE. 



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