THE GENESEE FARMER. 



11 



A FEW WORDS ON POULTRY. 



On opening the last number of the Quarterly 

 Journal of Agriculture and the Transactions of 

 the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scot- 

 land, one of the ablest agricultural periodicals of 

 Great Britain, we were considerably surprised to 

 •find the leading article devoted to Poultry ! 



The farmers of England have looked upon poul- 

 try raising as rather a small business. There are 

 plenty of amateur chicken fanciers, and nowhere 

 have game-cocks re- 

 ceived more attention. 

 But as a branch of 

 rural industry, as a 

 remunerative pursuit 

 furnishing wholesome 

 food for the people, 

 poultry, as a species 

 of live stock appro- 

 priately connected 

 with farm manage- 

 ment, lias hitherto as 

 a general rule been 

 neglected. . Stevens, 

 in his unrivalled Booh 

 of the Farm, speaks 

 of this neglect in 

 terms of censure. 

 " Tiie supposition," 

 he says, "that any 

 farmer should devote 



a part of his time to creveoeur cock. 



the consideration of poultry, is regarded by him as 

 an unpardonable affront on his manhood. Women 

 only, in his estimation, are fit for such a charge — 

 and doubtless they are, and would do it well too, 

 were they not begrudged of every particle of good 

 food they may bestow on poultry." 



We do not think American farmers are quite as 

 bad as this, but still poultry does not receive as 

 much care and attention as might be profitably be- 

 stowed upon them. 



There is such a thing, however, as keeping too 

 much poultry. They do not thrive when kept to- 

 gether in too large numbers. The most profitable 

 way is to keep only as many as can obtain a good 

 portion of their food from worms, insects and the 

 waste of the house, stables and barnyard. They 

 will need additional food at some seasons, but the 

 main supply should be derived from sources that 

 would otherwise run to waste. 



The chicken fever of 1851-5, though ridiculous 

 enough in some of its phases, had nevertheless the 



effect of inducing a more general attention to the 

 raising and management ot poultry. The rage for 

 pig 'chickens has subsided., We hear little of the 

 wonderful feats of roosters that can eat corn off the 

 top of a flour barrel without stretching their necks ; 

 but nevertheless the influence of the large Asiatic 

 breeds is still felt — and felt, we think, on the whole 

 for good. They have improved the size, if not the 

 quality, of our common fowls, and given us better 

 layers and larger eggs. There is still room, however, 

 for the improvement 

 of our stock of fowls 

 by the introduciion 

 of new breeds and by 

 the judicious crossing 

 of the old. The 

 rapidity with which 

 fowls multiply soon 

 enables the breeder to 

 correct any defects 

 that may appear in 

 his stock, and a few 

 years attention to the 

 subject would enable 

 anyone to change his 

 coarse, large-boned, 

 profitless fowls into a 

 race possessed of ev- 

 ery desirable feature 

 of form and quality. 



M. Lavergne, an 

 able French writer, 

 and author of a work on the " Rural Economy of 

 England, Scotland and Ireland," after admitting 

 that England is far ahead of France in nearly every 

 department of agriculture, says : " But France re- 

 taliates in another branch of animal products, 

 which is hardly reckoned in England, but is very 

 considerable with us — that of the poultry-yard. 

 We have long done for our poultry what the Eng- 

 lish are now doing for their cattle, sheep and pigs. 

 We have developed them with respect to preco- 

 cious fattening, and general tenderness: we have 

 atMed to their fineness, whiteness and exquisite 

 flavor." 



The dryer climate of France, as compared with 

 England, is one reason assigned by M. Lavergne 

 of the superiority of the French poultry, and for 

 the same reason we ought to excel in this coun- 

 try, as our climate is even less humid than that of 

 France. The Journal of Agriculture demurs to 

 the opinion of Lavergne, and thinks that want of 

 care and skill in breeding, rather than humidity of 



