268 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



For the Neio England Farmer. 



PALMER'S IMPORTATION OF SHANGHAE 

 FOWLS. 



Mu. Cole : As much has been said in your excel- 

 lent journal, and elsewhere, res])ccting the Shanghae 

 fowls, imported a few years since by Capt. A. 8. 

 Palmer, for the lion. Nathan F. Dixon, and also 

 with regard to Mr. Dixon's present stock, that has 

 not always been in accordance with the truth, I have 

 deemed it important to place before your readers, and 

 especially amateur fowl-breeders, a few facts, to cor- 

 rect the erroneous statements, false insinuations, and 

 ■wrong impressions, that have come forth from your 

 journal, to say nothing of any other. 



After the publication of the articles alluded to, I 

 addressed a note to the Hon. Mr. Dixon, calling his 

 attention to those articles, and making inquiry Avith 

 regard to the purity of his present stock, &c., &c. 

 The following letter is his reply, and will set the 

 matter in a clear light, and we trust supersede further 

 conjecture : — 



C. H. Pendletox, Esa. Dear Sir : Yours of the 

 26th lilt, has been received, and it should have re- 

 ceived an earlier rc]ily, but other engagements have 

 prevented. You call my attention to several articles 

 which have appeared in the New England Farmer, 

 upon Shanghae fowls, of which you have given me 

 extracts. All I can say of them is, that those per- 

 sons who have spoken of my fowls, have been very 

 careless in the collection of their facts. Capt. Alex. 

 S. Palmer brought me from China (I think in the 

 spring of 1845) three cocks and three hens, which 

 he procured and selected himself in Shanghae ; and 

 from these fowls selected and brought by Capt. 

 Palmer I have bred. 



I have kept them entirely pure, and where there 

 was no possibility of their mixing with other fowls. 

 The fowls which I gave you were the direct descend- 

 ants from those which Capt. Palmer procured in 

 Shanghae ; they are the pure blood of that stock. 

 The plumage of those I received was from very 

 light to very dark red, no one of them white. 

 Many of the chickens from that original stock, how- 

 ever, were white, and they were of all colors, from 

 white to very dark red. I always bred from those 

 of the same color with the original stock. 



From the first year I received them, I have always 

 kept twelve hens and a cock by themselves, from 

 which I have bred, and (as you know) in a place 

 where they could not mix with otlicr fowls. Tlie 

 eggs and the chickens from that pure stock I have 

 given to my friends all over the country. 



Whether they are the best and purest of Shanghae 

 fowls I know not, and care not ; but they came from 

 Shangliae, and were selected with great care, and 

 those presented by me to you were their pure de- 

 scendants. Yours respectfully, 



Nathan F. Dixon. 



Washington, July 12, 1850. 



The information contained in Mr. D.'s letter is 

 corroborated by the statement of Cajit. Alex. S. 

 Palmer, who informs me, that in 1845 he visited the 

 port of Shanghae, and was particularly struck with 

 the uncommon size of these fowls. He immediately 

 determined to procure some for his friend Mr. Dixon, 

 who, on leaving the United States, requested him to 

 bring him something in the shape of live stock. He 

 accordingly put on board two large coops of fowls, 

 but succeeded in bringing homo only eight fowls, the 

 rest having died on their passage. The fowls, Capt. 

 P. informs mc, were not the "remnant of store fowls 

 put on board his ship," as Mr. Morse incorrectly 

 infers, or was informed, but were selected with great 

 care, and imported expressly for the Hon. Mr. Dixon. 



None of those fowls, however, were of white plu- 

 mage. 



It was stated in one communication in your jour- 

 nal, that thoy ate fowls on board of Capt. Palmer's 

 vessel, that weighed eleven pounds dressed. These, 

 the captain informs me, were capons. 



Thus much for Capt. Palmer's importation. In a 

 future number I may say something with regard to 

 the merits of Mr. Dixon's stock of Shanghae fowls. 

 I will only add in conclusion, that the Hon. Mr. 

 Dixon, to my knowledge, has kept his Shanghae 

 fowls, from which he breeds, in a place where they 

 could not come in contact with other fowls ; and 

 with his characteristic generosity, has gratuitously 

 presented the eggs and fowls of his pure Shanghae 

 stock to his friends all over the country. 



CHARLES H. PENDLETON. 



Pendleton Hill, Ct., July 23, 1850. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 "FARMERS' CLUBS." 



Mr. Cole : " The plan of creating public senti- 

 ment by means of popular assemblies seems to be 

 the only one which promises success." 



The above borrowed language is worthy of many 

 illustrations. Virtuous principles and moral acts 

 have accomplished much in the world's prosperity, 

 and wherever virtue has strewed her seed, there the 

 slow, steady progress of success has brought forth a 

 rich liarvest. Kecall to mind any act in the annals 

 of prosperity, retrace its history from its origin, and 

 it will bo seen that popularity and virtue has wrought 

 in that its lovely masterpiece. 



It is not our object at this time to portray a brief 

 outline of historical events which virtue has accom- 

 plished. We wish to call the attention of your read- 

 ers once more to a subject that may be found on the 

 45th page of the present volume of your valuable 

 paper. We there gave our opinion, in a limited 

 manner, on the vast importance of forming " con- 

 versational meetings," or " farmers' clubs." 



The merchant, the mechanic, and ahnost every 

 grade or class of profession have their associations ; 

 but the farmer, that most useful and important of all 

 other temporal employments, upon the fruits of 

 whose labors the world subsists — his associations, 

 like others, are limited. What class of men is there 

 whose energies should be more combined, more har- 

 monized, and more universally diffused, than the 

 hardy sons " who till the soil " ? This work was 

 given to mankind by nature ; it was man's first em- 

 ployment upon earth, and has been pursued with 

 eager intensity ever since the days of our father 

 Adam. It is, then, a merited vocation, and should 

 and must be sustained with universal magnanimity. 

 Unlike many other vocations, the farmer's work has 

 yet never attained unto perfection. His work is 

 slowly and steadily progressing, gradually ascending, 

 but has never reached the summit. !Much has been 

 done, and much is doing, to promote agriculture; 

 but there is yet room for much more to be done 

 before this work is brought to perfection. Can per- 

 fection in agriculture be attained? is an unsettled 

 question. Whether it can be done or not, there is 

 much advocated by agriculturists that would tend to 

 accomplish this great end. 



We have said, by way of comparison, that the 

 farmer's associations are limited, or, in other words, 

 " few and far between." This should not be. The 

 topic for remark which here presents itself is very 

 extensive, and were it not for the fear of trespassing 

 ujjon the reader's patience, and the want of space, 

 we would feebly attempt to elucidate some essential 



