92 THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



or doth creke and scrape to help the same, ye shall 

 pluck off the greatest fethers of her wings and give 

 her millet-wheat to eat." To this I will add, they 

 should be of middling size, of robust constitution, with 

 bright eyes, pendent combs, yellow or bluish legs and 

 feet, and not over three or four years old. As regards the 

 color of hens, except for appearance' sake, it is quite 

 immaterial, unless we discard white on the ground that 

 they are less hardy, and are in an abnormal state. 



PAIRING. 



WITH good management, peace, and plenty, just 

 before they are full-grown, the combs of both the young 

 cocks and pullets will be observed to become of a more 

 brilliant red ; the former will crow more lustily ; and 

 the pullets will grow animated, restless, and full of busy 

 importance, as if a new idea had lately broke in upon 

 their minds. By-and-by, they will commence prating 

 and cackling, and in a few days the delighted pullet will 

 lay her first egg. And when, time after time, this first 

 instalment is followed by similar deposits, she thinks 

 herself, and is thought by her amateur owner, a perfect 

 paragon. Such are the pleasures of productiveness. 



RELATIVE NUMBER OF HENS TO BE ALLOTTED 

 TO EACH COOK. 



IN order to keep fowls with advantage, attention must 

 be paid to the relative number of cocks arid hens com- 

 posing the flock. On this point, there is some differ- 

 ence of opinion. M. Pafmentier considers that one 

 cock is sufficient for twenty hens, which, in France, 

 perhaps, may be the case, but not in the cold and vari- 

 able climate of many parts of the United States. 

 Indeed, it has been found by experience, that if a cock 

 be placed over a numerous flock of hens, the chickens 

 produced are feeble, and the breed soon degenerates, or 

 runs out. The old breeders of game fowls allowed only 

 three hens to one cock; and where renovation of a 

 breed is required, this proportion, it is thought, should 

 not be exceeded. 



As a general rule, from eight to twelve hens may be 



