22 



Poultry better than Pork or Beef. 



Vol. VIII. 



Poultry better thau Pork or Beef. 



In this age of improvement in the produc- 

 tion of animal and vegetable food, if there 

 is any good reason why all the science, 

 skill and enterprise of agriculturists, editors, 

 chemists and philosophers, should be applied 

 to the melioration and refinement of one or 

 two classes of animals, to the exclusion of 

 others as good by nature, we should like to 

 know it. The hog and tlie bullock, dubbed 

 Avith the English titles of Berkshire, and 

 Durham, seem to walk over the land with a 

 sort of John Bull swagger, that has com- 

 manded all attention, and left all their brute 

 brethren in their uncultured native deform- 

 ity; while those foreign tilled gentry have, 

 in the eyes of some, become absolute per- 

 fectionists. Now, in the language of our 

 declaration of rights, " we hold these truths 

 to be self-evident, that — by their constitu- 

 tion — they are all created equal." 



We are aware that the noble Berkshires, 

 by their elaine and stearine, have kindled 

 up a great light in the West, which, we 

 hope, may dispel the black cloud of repudi- 

 ation that hovers over that region, — and are 

 about to monopolize all the care and labour 

 of the farmers thereabouts ; but we can see 

 no reason why the delicate, feathered race, 

 should thereby be debarred from sharing in 

 the benefits and perfectionisms of cross 

 breeding, in-and-in breeding, and all other 

 scientific advancements in the world. The 

 noble and ancient family of Chanticleer, 

 whose clarion note has been the world's 

 time-piece so long, that the memory of man 

 runneth not to the contrary ; and has never 

 failed to sound the approach of every rising 

 sun; the bird that saved Old Rome from 

 conflagration, by its warning voice in the 

 dead of night, — shall these lose their old 

 established rank, and give place in man's 

 affections to " herds of sioine" and the 

 sturdy bulls of Bashan ? What are all 

 their uncouth grunts and frightful bellow- 

 ings about the farmer's cottage, compared 

 with the music of the cheerful chirping, 

 chatting, cackling, crowing, gobbling, quack- 

 ing, squeaking, and squalling, with which 

 his poultry-yard resounds from day to day? 

 But, to come to more sober matter of fact, 

 we think this branch of the farmer's con- 

 cern, is deserving of more attention than it 

 has generally received. The profit derived 

 from a well arranged, well managed poultry 

 yard, is greater, in proportion to the invest- 

 ment, than that of any other stock, bees ex- 

 cepted. More attention has been devoted 

 to poultry in the vicinity of Philadelphia, 

 than any other part of our country. The 

 Bucks county poultry has acquired a good 



degree of celebrity, even in the New York 

 market, where it is sometimes found in 

 abundance. The hens are, however, but 

 moderate layers ; but their eggs are large 

 and well flavoured. Yet they are not con- 

 sidered equal to our dung-hill fowl in all 

 respects. 



The Dorking fowl stands first in the esti- 

 mation of those who have raised them. 

 They will weigh from five to eight pounds. 

 Their bodies are large, and better propor- 

 tioned than any others, being long, full, and 

 well-fleshed in the breast. They have short 

 legs, and beautiful plumage, with five, in- 

 stead of four toes ; are good layers, good 

 sitters, and good nurses. Their eggs are 

 large, clear white, and of excellent quality. 

 When caponed, in the English mode, they 

 weiyh from ten to twelve pounds. Mr. L. 

 F. Allen, of Buffalo, to whom we are in- 

 debted for the Dorking history, has them 

 for sale. 



Our object in writing this article at this 

 time, is chiefly to suggest to our agricultu- 

 ral societies the propriety of offering liberal 

 premiums for the best specimens of the va- 

 rious kinds of poultry, at their next annual 

 fairs. We need say nothing in favour of 

 the richness and delicacy of this luxury of 

 the table. Good premiums will soon bring 

 out new species and valuable improvements 

 in this, as in any other branch of agriculture. 



A writer in the Maine Cultivator, says 

 his experience tells him, that the best mode 

 of fattening poultry is, to shut them up 

 where they can gel no gravel — keep corn 

 by them constantly — give them dough once 

 a day, and skim-milk for drink. Thus they 

 may be fatted in ten days. If kept up 

 longer, they should have some gravel, or 

 they will fall away. — Farmer^s Gazette, 



Cockroaches. — The following method of 

 destroying these detestable intruders, is at 

 once simple and effective : — Procure from 

 the apothecary a small quantity of that odo- 

 riferous vegetable, called poke-root ; boil it 

 in water until the juices are extracted, and 

 mingle the liquor with good molasses; spread 

 the mixture in large platters or soup-plates; 

 place these wherever the cockroaches visit, 

 and the enemy will be found slain by fifties 

 and hundreds, in the following morning. A 

 gentleman to whom we are indebted for this 

 information, states that he slaughtered 575 

 cockroaches in one night, by the above pro- 

 cess, and that the root which had been 

 boiled, being thrown into a closet thickly 

 infested by the enemy, the place was quitted 

 entirely in a few days, great numbers being 

 letl dead upon the field. — Boston Gazette. 



