POULTRY. 381 



backward ; the legs straight and tolerably small ; the skin soft 

 and smooth, with thin, fine bristles. 



" It should be borne in mind, however, that all these points 

 do not indicate an animal best adapted to every situation. 

 The thin skin and absence of bristles, though favorable to the 

 accumulation of fat, when the animal is well sheltered and pro- 

 tected, do not denote the hardiness which may be necessary 

 under exposure. If the animal is destined to support himself 

 in a considerable degree, under the various transitions of 

 weather, instead of the thin hide and scanty bristles of the 

 refined varieties, he must be clad in covering which will afford 

 the requisite protection against the elements, and the tendency 

 to fatten must, to a certain extent, give way to a habit of 

 activity and a tendency to muscular fibre. Even in ordinary 

 farm management, there may be too much regard paid to the 

 points which denote a tendency to fat only, to the neglect of 

 those which denote constitution. A proper balance of these 

 must be kept constantly in view, or the stock which will be 

 found most profitable, cannot be bred." 



Eben Wight, Chairman. 



POULTRY. 



Remarks by Dr. Eben Wight, of the Norfolk Society. 



Since public attention in this country has been specially 

 drawn to the subject of poultry, citizens of the county of Nor- 

 folk have taken a conspicuous lead in the introduction and pro- 

 pagation of the most esteemed kinds. This was particularly 

 evinced at the far-famed exhibitions of poultry held within a 

 few years at the New England metropolis, where a large pro- 

 portion of the best specimens in the different classes, hailed 

 directly from this territory. The new interest in this branch 

 of husbandry has been chiefly manifested in reference to varie- 

 ties of the bird to which the term fowl is commonly applied. 

 One variety of this bird, of oriental origin, has in fact been 

 regarded with a degree of enthusiasm not inaptly characterized 



