NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



11 



THE BANKIVA COCK. 



These fowls are remarkable for their spirited and 

 wild appearance, and some writers upon the subject 

 consider them as the foundation of all the races of 

 domestic fowls, as they are traceable to this original 

 breed. But such statements need confirmation ; and 

 as it will be a ciirious matter in natural history to 

 know what race is the parent of all breeds, we should 

 like to see the evidence in favor of this position. 

 But to establish the fact beyond doubt, that the Ban- 

 kiva fowls are the progenitors of all others, it will be 

 necessary to show that they were all the gallina- 

 ceous race that emigrated from Noah's ark. 



Our beautiful portrait of this fowl is taken from 

 the American Fowl-Breeder; and from the same in- 

 teresting work we copy the following description: — 



•'The Bankiva fowl is a native of Java, and is 

 characterized by a red, indented comb, red wattles, 

 and ash}--gray legs and feet. The comb of the cock 

 is scolloped, and the tail elevated a little al)ovc the 

 rum]), the feathers being dis;?osed in the form of tiles 

 or shingles ; the neck feathers are gold-color, long, 

 dependent, and rounded at the tips ; the head and 

 neck are of a fawn color ; the v.ing coverts a dusky 

 brown and black ; tail and belly black. The color of 

 the hen is a duskj- ash-gray and yellow ; her comb 

 and wattles much smaller than those of the cock, 

 and, with the cxcejition of the long hackles, she has 

 no feathers on her neck. These fowl are exceedingly 

 wild, and inhabit the skirts of woods, forests, and 

 other savage and unfrequented places. These Ban- 

 kiva fowl arc very like our Bantams, and, like those 

 pretty little birds, are also occasionally to be seen 

 feathered to the feet and toes." 



Tea has been successfully cultivated by Dr. Smith, 

 of South Carolina. 



SMALL POTATOES. 



Some years ago, a gentleman, visiting a farmer in 

 Tolland, Connecticut, took from his pocket a small 

 potato, wliich somehow had got in there at home. 

 It was thrown out with a smile, and the farmer tak- 

 ing it in his hand to look at it, a curious little boy of 

 twelve, at his elbow, asked what it was. 



" O, nothing but a potato, mj- boy. Take and 

 plant it, and you shall have all you can raise from it 

 till you are free." 



The lad took it, and the farmer thought no more 

 about it at that time. The boy, however, not de- 

 spising small potatoes, carefully divided it into as 

 many pieces as he could find eyes, and put them into 

 the ground. The product was carefully put aside in 

 the fall, and planted in spring, and so on until the 

 fourth year, the yield being good ; and the actual prod- 

 uct was four hundred bushels ! The farmer, seeing 

 the prospect that the potato field would by another 

 year cover his \\holo farm, asked to be released &om. 

 his promise. 



With the same calculation, prudence, and industry,, 

 how many who are disposed to regard the trifling 

 things on which fortunes are built, as too small 

 potatoes to receive their attention, would have been 

 independent in circumstances, if they had husbanded 

 small advantages. Small potatoes should not be de>- 

 spiscd, even though there be at first but few in a hill.. 

 — Selected. 



Naturalists tell us of one advantage which instinct 

 has over genius, evinced in the construction of a 

 bird's nest, inasmuch as the first nest built by a bird 

 of any species, was as perfect as nests constructed at 

 this dav are. 



Stiring water is to be introduced into London, by a 

 mpany mth a capital of £350,000. 



company 



