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REARING FOWLS FOR MARKET AND EGGS. 



THE BEST BREED TO REAR FOR MARKET. 



THE best breed of fowls to rear for the market, or as egg-producers, de- 

 pends upon locality ; for while, in some places, one variety is deemed the 

 best, in others it would prove the reverse. Our own opinion is, that, for a 

 market fowl, the Brahmas and Cochins will, under almost all circumstances, 

 prove the most desirable, they being less liable to disease, feathering up 

 quickly, and can be bred to weigh, at from four to six months of age, 

 eight to ten pounds. Another good table fowl is the Dorking (cock) crossed 

 with the Brahma (hen). The flesh of this cross is sweet and nutritious, and 

 acquires at early age the plumpness of the Dorking at maturity. There are 

 other breeds, however, which are said to be desirable to rear for the table. 

 Many claim that the French breeds of fowls are of this number ; but this we 

 very much doubt, as their flesh lacks the buttery, golden color that attracts 

 the eye of the epicure. They may prove valuable as egg-producers, but 

 they lack many good qualities as a table bird. Dorkings are undoubtedly 

 at the head of the list as table birds, but of late years have become so subject 

 to disease that we question the feasibility of rearing them profitably for mar- 

 ket in our changeable northern climate. 



THE BEST AS EGG-PRODUCERS. 



As egg-producers the Hamburgs are claimed to stand at the head of the 

 list. This claim we are prepared to dispute ; for, as winter layers, we 

 find that the Brahma, Cochin, Leghorn, Poland, and Houdan stand rela- 

 tively in the position here named. That the Hamburgs are good egg-pro- 

 ducers we admit ; but that they are any better than a number of non-setting 

 fowls, so called, we deny. The richness and meatiness of their eggs are not 

 to be compared with those of the Poland, Leghorn, Houdan or Brahma ; and 

 their eggs lack the size of those named. All things considered, we have no 

 hesitancy in saying that for eggs we should name the Polands ; for the table, 

 Dorkings, and for early marketable chickens, Brahmas and Cochins. 



A correspondent of Moore's Rural New- Yorker, who has had consider- 

 able experience in rearing fowls for profit, says : " The Farmer's Breed is 

 the breed for profit. It consists of Brahma hens and colored Dorking 



