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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



RED SHANGHAE FOWLS. 



For the New Englceiid Farmer. 



Mr. Editor : The Red Shanghae fowls have, •n-ithin 

 the last three years, been introduced into the New- 

 England States, from Shanghae, a port in China, but 

 recently opened to the commercial world, situated 

 on the River Moosong, north-east from Canton : the 

 climate corresponds with that of Baltimore or Phila- 

 delphia. 



In the year 1 848, Capt. A. S. Palmer, of Rhode 

 Island, imported direct from Shanghae the red and 

 white varieties, and in the same year, (^apt. Daniel 

 S. Fuller imported the Red Shanghae, which res^cm- 

 bled those imported by Capt. Palmer, so nearly as 

 not to be easily distinguished, when placed together 

 in the same yard. In 1849, a gentleman of this city, 

 Daniel G. Bacon, Esij., imported, in the ship Van- 

 couver, some Red Shanghaes for his own yard. 



The portraits, which head this article, were on- 

 graved lEom a drawing made by Mr. S. E. Brown, of 

 this city, of a pair of the imported fowls last men- 

 tioned. The cock has a large, upright, single comb, 

 deeply indented ; the wattles are large ; the neck is 

 long, and is covered with hackles of a dark golden 

 color, extending to the upper part of the hack ; the 

 hackles on the rump are of a dark reddish yellow 

 color, and are long and droojjlng. The feathers of 

 the tail are black, shaded with a dark and glossy 

 gi-ccn ; those on the under part of the ba<.ly are of a 

 pale yellow color, intermingled with black" feathers ; 

 the bieast is covered with dark red and black feath- 

 ers, and the legs of the cock, which are stout and 

 short, are covered to the toes with downy feathers, of 

 a light buff color. The voice of the cock is coarse 

 and harsh, resembling more a croak than the clear 

 ringing notes of fowls of other breeds. 



The form of the hen is correctly shown by the 

 engraving; the neck is covered with dr^rk brown 

 hackles, and the feathers on all other parts of the body 

 are of a dark brown color, tipped with, the most 



glossy black. ITie comb and wattles are small, and 

 the tail is short and small. In the background are 

 introduced the head and neck of a young cock but 

 four months old, the progeny of the imported cock 

 and hen, which now weighs eight and a half pounds. 

 These fowls are now in the possession of Mr. Johu 

 Fussell, of Jamaica Plain, Mass. 



Among the first importations, and prior to those 

 of Captains Palmer and Fuller, was that of Capt. 

 Forbes in 184S. Of the Captain Forbes stock, a 

 writer in the Massachusetts Ploughman, Dr. J. C. 

 Bennct, of Plymouth, Mass., says^ " Capt. Forbes, 

 imported sixteen pairs, and a great proportion of 

 them were of mixed blood. With the exception of 

 one lot, none of the pullets of this bi-eed which have 

 been forwarded to me as full bloods have proved ta 

 be more than three quarters blooded, and some of 

 them only half bloods ! This probably anses from 

 the fact, that a part of the original importation were 

 impure." Most of the hens of Capt. Forbcs's importa- 

 tion have dark chestnut- colored hackles on the neck ; 

 the body is covered with feathers of a light buff 

 color. 



The following is an extract from a letter written 

 by Mr. Christopher B. Marsh, of West Roxbury, 

 Mass., giving an account of the Red Shanghaes im- 

 ported by Capt. Fuller. 



Mr. Marsh says, " I have one rooster and two 

 hens, which (^apt. Daniel S. Fuller brought out from 

 Shanghae in May, 1848.. 



"The rooster and one of the hens, v^-ith some of 

 their progeny, were exhibited at the Norfolk Agri- 

 cultural Fair in Dedliam, Oct. 1849, and obtained 

 the highest premium. They were also presented at 

 the exhibition of fowls at the Public Garden, Bos- 

 ton, Nov. 1849. The rooster was admitted to be the 

 largest among the great numbers and varieties shown 

 on the occasion. Probably there is not his equal iu 

 this country. The hens have thus far done them- 

 selves grea.t credit as layers ;, they pjre very domestic 



