

126 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Board be instructed to confer with the Secretary 

 of State in regard to the publication and circula- 

 tion of the proceedings of this association, and to 

 make such application to the Legislature as may 

 be deemed expedient. 



Voted, That the Executive Committee be also 

 instructed to take such measures as they may 

 deem expedient to secure a more general circula- 

 tion of the abstract of agricultural societies, pub- 

 lished by the State. 



Resolved, That the Executive Committee be au- 

 thorized and instructed to make arrangements with 

 Prof. Fowler, of Amherst, who contemplates a 

 voyage to Europe, to procure a Report from him 

 to this Board on the agriculture and agricultural 

 institutions of the countries he may visit. 



The President introduced and read a paper from 

 the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society, ask- 

 ing the co-operation of other States in calling a 

 National Convention of Agriculturists, at Wash- 

 ington, to take measures for the establishment 01 

 a National Agricultural Society. 



And, upon motion, the following preamble and 

 resolve was adopted. 



Whereas, This Board, at their last meeting, 

 holden Jan. 14, passed a resolution proposing a 

 National Agricultural Convention, and whereas 

 they have received a communication from the State 

 Agricultural Society of Pennsylvania on the same 

 subject, 



Resolved, That said communication be referred 

 to the President of the Board for his consideration 

 and correspondence. 



Resolved, That the Executive Committee arrange 

 the subject of premiums to be recommended to 

 each county Agricultural Society. 



Voted, That the Executive Committee be au- 

 thorized to call a future meeting of this Board 

 whenever business of sufficient importance may 

 seem to them to require it. 



This session of the Board was particularly for 

 the transaction of business, and no discussion of 

 importance took place. After the passage of the 

 above vote the Board adjourned to meet in the 

 Representatives' Hall at half-past three, P. M. 



[For the conclusion of the report of the above 

 meeting, see page 130.] 



DISINFECTING LAMP, 



A note, from a medical friend, reminds us of a 

 beautiful, simple, economical apparatus, for over- 

 coming bad odors and purifying any apartment 

 where the air is loaded with noxious materials. 

 A description of it has already appeared, but the 

 reference in the note alluded to, has unfortunately 

 been mislaid. The whole matter, however, is 

 simply this. Take one of any of the various kinds 

 of glass lamps — for burning camphene, for ex- 

 ample — and fill it with chloric ether and light the 

 wick. In a few minutes the object will be accom- 

 plished. In dissecting rooms ; in the damp, deep 

 vaults, where vegetables are sometimes stored, or 

 where drains allow the escape of offensive gases ; 

 in out-buildings ; and in short, in any spot where 

 it is desirable to purify the atmosphere, burn one 

 of these lamps. One tube, charged with a wick, 

 is quite sufficient. This suggestion is really 



worth remembering for the comfort of a sick 

 room, because it is easily accomplished, agreeable, 

 and more economical for purifying than any other 

 process now known. — Boston Medical Journal. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PALMER'S SECOND IMPORTATION OF 

 SHANGHAES. 



THE RIGHT KIND OF HENS. 

 BY W. CLIFT. 



Of the breed of domestic fowls, imported into 

 this country from Shanghae, in China, and bear- 

 ing the name of that city, much has been said and 

 written. Hen literature has abounded with their 

 eulogies, and occasionally has been marked with 

 their anathemas. Opinions, that did not reach the 

 press, were conflicting, and it was difficult for a 

 man without the fever, to get at any very satisfac- 

 tory results in regard to them. 



Living in the vicinity where they were first im- 

 ported, I necessarily heard something of their 

 fame, but found the farmers who had tried them 

 differing very much in their opinions concerning 

 them. Some thought highly of them as a pure 

 stock ; some thought them very good for crossing 

 with the native hens, making a larger fowl and 

 one more prolific ; while others discarded them al- 

 together, as a great, coarse fowl, enormous eaters, 

 poor layers, and the flesh insipid for poultry. 



It was worth an effort to get at the truth in this 

 matter, and I determined to make an accurate ex- 

 periment to test their value. Capt. A. Palmer, 

 who imported the Dixon stock of Shanghaes in 

 1846, made a second importation, in the spring of 

 1850. He was very successful with them during 

 the summer, and raised a large number of chick- 

 ens. Oct. 31st, 1850, I procured a cock and two 

 pullets, by special favor having the choice of the 

 flock. To start them under good auspices, and to 

 keep up with the spirit of the times, the cockerel 

 was named Barnum, and the pullets, Jenny Lind 

 and Juliet. They were about five months old when 

 procured, and Barnum weighed nearly six pounds. 

 The pullets were not weighed. Barnum and Jen- 

 ny Lind were of a fawn color, and heavily feath- 

 ered upon the legs. Juliet was parti-colored, with 

 few feathers upon the legs. 



They grew finely, and I find in my fowl book an 

 entry Jan. 1st, 1851. Barnum weighed nine pounds 

 Jenny Lind six pounds. May 1st, 1851, there is 

 another entry. Barnum weighed ten pounds, Jen- 

 ny Lind eight and a half and Juliet eight and a 

 half. December, 1851, Barnum weighed eleven 

 and a half pounds strong, and the pullets about 

 seven. 



The fecundity of the pullets will explain this 

 falling off in weight. Jenny Lind began to lay Jan. 

 16th, and Juliet Jan. 23d. The following record 

 will show the date of the beginning of each litter 

 of eggs, and the number. 



JENNY LIND. 



1. January 16 21eg?s. 



2. February 22 17 " 



3. March 24 23 " 



4. April 25 19 " 



5. May 25 15 " 



6. June 24 16 " 



7. July 28 13 " 



8. August 18 14 " 



!). September 13.. .-...9 " 



10. November 8 16 " 



Total 163 eggs. 



JULIET. 



1. January 23 6 eggs. 



2. March 2 17 " 



3. March 30 23 " 



4. May 3 18 " 



5. June 1 14 " 



6. July 14 15 " 



7. August 8 15 " 



8. September 1 13 " 



9. September 25 19 " 



10. November 4 17 " 



11. December 4 14 " 



Total 171 eggs. 



