NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



127 



Juliet set once, and with this exception they and other races of fowls, the reader will judge for 

 were not permitted to incubate, as they strongly [himself. With the writer they have passed a 

 inclined to, at the end of each litter. They were 



nearly all the while kept with a large flock of 

 fowls, and confined in a yard during the summer, 

 so that they had no special favors. Had the eggs 

 been sold at the market price, they would have 

 come to five dollars. The eggs weigh about one 

 pound and a half a dozen, which makes the 

 whole weight of eggs nearly forty-two pounds. 

 They have therefore laid three times their present 

 weight in eggs. It will not be wondered at, that 

 they lost something in flesh. 



I had heard it stated that this breed of fowls 

 had a tendency to run out in this climate. To 

 test this opinion, I have kept account of the 1st 

 clutch of chickens which were hatched March 

 24th. There were six pullets out of the ten which 

 nearly grew up. One died at about five months 

 old and one was killed for the table at about six 

 months. The remaining four laid as follows :- 

 One sent to David Jackson, of Taunton, Mass 

 began to lay at the age of five months, and in a let- 

 ter received in Dec, he informed me that she had 

 been laying constantly since the first of Septem- 

 ber. This one was out of Juliet. Another of 

 her chicks began to lay Nov. 1st, at seven months 

 old, and laid 31 eggs, up to the 7th of December, 

 when she inclined to sit. She was then presented 

 to a friend. The third of the clutch out of Jenny 

 Lind was named Catherine Hays. She began to 

 lay Oct. 11th, and up to this dato has laid eighty- 

 three eggs, without inclining to sit. The fourth, a 

 bird too unpromising to have a fancy name, and 

 from whom nothing good was expected, began to 

 lay Dec. 17th, and has finished her first litter of 

 12 eg^s 



From these statistics it is manifest that in lay- 

 ing qualities, the second generation is an improve- 

 ment upon the first. The cockerels have been 

 weighed occasionally, and fair specimens have 

 gained about a pound a month up to the age of 8 

 or 9 months. One weighed 9 pounds at 8 1-2 

 months, and the largest weighed ten pounds at 

 nine months. They have been more healthy than 

 any fowls I have ever kept, and I have raised all I 

 wanted, 



I have made no accurate experiments of the ex- 

 pense of keeping them, but have this general re- 

 sult : — In 1850, when the larger part of the flock 

 were of the native breed and crosses, the expense 

 per head was more than in 1851, when the great- 

 er part of the flock was of the Shanghae breed. 



Now if somebody else will give us accurate ex- 

 periments of other breeds of fowls for the year 

 1852, we shall be able to tell which are the right 

 kind of fowls. I have some of the Dorkings and 

 white Shanghaes of Dr. Wight's stock, Dedham, 

 and have put them on trial for this year. Will not 

 some fowl breeder test the Black Spanish, the 

 Chittagongs, the Brahma, Pootras, &c, and help 

 us to the fowl facts, which is the only remedy for 

 the hen fever 1 



The only peculiarity of this importation of Shan- 

 ghaes is a tuft of stiff feathers or quills projecting 

 c rom the thigh very much like those of a Bantam, 

 "n some specimens the mark is hardly noticable ; 

 a others, the feathers are three or four inches in 

 ength. As the importer has never sold any of 

 hese fowls, they are at present in very few hands. 



f their merits compared with other Shanghaes 



good examination and are admitted to the first 

 class for size, hardiness, fecundity and profit. 

 Whether or not they are the right kind of hens, 

 remains to be seen. We shall hold on here, until 

 our own experiments or those of some other breed- 

 er point out a better. w. c. 

 Stonington, Ct., Jan. 15, 1852. 



OFFICERS OF AGRICULTURAL SOCI- 

 ETIES. 



North Kennebec (Me.) Agricultural Society. 

 — The Eastern Mail, Waterville, of last week, gives 

 a list of the officers of the North Kennebec Agri- 

 cultural Society for the ensuing year, as follows : 



Robert Ayer, of Winslow, President. 

 Isaiah Marston, of Waterville, ) Vice 

 Amasa Dingley, of Winslow, $ Presidents . 

 W. Dyer, Secretary and Librarian. 

 Joseph Percival, Treasurer. 

 Efhraim Maxham, Agent. 



Bennington County (Vt.) Agricultural Socie- 

 ty. — The officers of this Society for the present 

 year are 



Charles Hicks, President. 

 Jerome J. Hall, ) 

 Martin Wheelock, £ 

 Norman Bottum, Treasurer. 

 P. M. Henry, Secretary. 



Vice Presidents. 



Plymouth County (Mass.) Society. 



Seth Sprague, President. 

 Joshua Eddy, ) r p residen(s , 

 Benjamin IIobart, $ 

 Jesse Perkins, Secretary. 

 William Latham, Treasurer. 

 Horace Collamore, Supervisor. 



Orange County (Vt.) Agricultural Society. 

 — The officers of this Society for the present year 

 are, 



Geo. P. Baldwin, of Bradford, President. 

 J. S. Morse, Strafford, > Vice 



Alvin Smith, Williamstown, ) Presidents. 

 Bcrnam Martin, of Chelsea, Secretary. 

 B. T. Blodgett, of Chelsea, Treasurer. 



A Rouser ! — A gentleman just from California 

 handed us a potato this morning which weighed 

 three pounds and a quarter ! Now, gentlemen 

 doubters, be kind enough to believe that a single 

 potato grows large enough in California to give 

 half dozen men a good dinner — especially if they 

 have plenty of good beefsteak with it. This is a 

 great country — decidedly ! 



The Trade Looking Up.— We have before us the 

 first number of a paper bearing the pleasant name, 

 Green Mountain Farmer. It is to be published at 

 Bradford, Vt., twice a month, at $1 a year. It is 

 well filled, and take it altogether is a very comely 

 child. 



