o',i 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



AVGUST 26, 1S35 



[From the New Ycirk Farmer.] 

 PROFIT AISD BEST VARIETIES OP POULTRY. 



Mr Fleet, — I observo in the January niirnher 

 of the Farmer for 1835, a communication froM. 

 L., reqiicstins; from nie information on ])ouhr.v. 

 It is a branch of rural economy i but seldom sec 

 introduced in the))agcsof tlie Farmer, and though 

 I acknowledge it is one of its minor appurtenan- 

 ces, yet 1 do not think it so insi<riiificant as to be 

 entirely unworthy of attention, for a very little 

 care will supply in abundance lliose very e.ssen- 

 tial articles in domestic cookery, new laid eggs, 

 and tliese too, in the middle of winter, when most 

 peoide's fowls are shivering on the bare tree lops, 

 or moping about for a ^varm corner. Hardy as 

 the common dunghill fowls are, they cannot suffer 

 this neglect and furnish the egg-basket all the 

 time. If L., or any other of your readers, wish 

 to have eggs, and those in plenty all tlie year 

 round, they must provide a warm house foi them, 

 where they can have screen and shelter summer 

 and winter. In bad weather the doors of the 

 fowl-house should be closed, and the fowls con- 

 tined, plenty of clean water often renewed, plenty 

 of good food, the house kept clean, and then we 

 may calculate on plenty of eggs. 1 think I liear 

 the reader draw a long breath at this; but pray, 

 consider, is it such a dreadful trouble; ten min- 

 utes or less per diem will tend 200 fowls. In this 

 manner, allowing ten hens to one cock, there 

 would be eighteen cocks and one hundred and 

 eighty liens ; now these ought to produce an 

 average of 90 eggs each in the year. This is 

 giving them nine mouths' holiday. Now, then, 

 we ought to have 16,380 eggs, which at 2 cents 

 each would make .$327,60 ; and I would keep 

 them till they did fetch this. Suppose they only 

 sell for half the money, surely this would pay for 

 a few Albany boards, and a littio time, or even if 

 the boards were thought too expensive, fagots of 

 cedar brush, and a little straw or sedge for thatch, 

 would answer ; these any handy man would soon 

 form info a warm house ; a few poles for perches, 

 and a few jilaces for nests, would complete the 

 job. They will find all or a great part of their 

 own food from May to November, and clear the 

 land of grassho|.pers, grubs, and other destruc- 

 tive insects, 'and by having for them a yard or 

 enclosure conmiunicating with the fowl bouse, 

 and with one wing cli])ped, they may be secured 

 from injuring crops at seed-time and harvest. 

 There are other modes of making poultry piofit- 

 able as well as by their eggs ; but as I have treat- 

 ed the subject at length in my " Cottage Comforts" 

 I shall now only briefly recapitulate two or three 

 varieties, for without a good stock no certain cal- 

 culation can be made. The common or " Dmig- 

 hill-fowl," I need scarcely remark, may be seen 

 everywhere, of all colors and shapes, and having 

 been so crossed in breeding, no dependence can 

 be placed upon the stock ; even if by chance one 

 turns out an excellent layer, the good quality may 

 end with her. The position set ibrth in our glo- 

 rious constitution, " that all men are born equal," 

 is certainly not applicable to our ])0ultry yard — 

 here almost everything depends on the careful se- 

 lection and continuing the stock ; and in furnish- 

 ing mine, I would not only take care to obtain 

 the exact likeness, but endeavor to ascertain if it 

 came from similar birds for previous generadons. 

 On a farm where several varieties are kept, it is 

 almost impossible to preserve any ijarticular breed 

 true. I liave known much disappointment ensue 



from inattention to this particular. Recently an 

 acquaintance of mine purchased a stock of Poland 

 Fowls, and disposed of all his others. They 

 were very handsome, |!i ifectly black, ha'.ing the 

 King David's crown, a;. il large white to])-k!:i;l ; 

 but behold, all the season not one perfect individ- 

 ual h:is been hatched ; many came out speckled, 

 some jierlectly white, some with scarcely any 

 top-knot; ami instead of finding the old hens 

 everlasting layers, they appear to be everlasting 

 barren. Probably an indiscriminate collection 

 would produce as many eggs as the same number 

 of any selected variety without due care, but as 

 the most worthless consume as much food, and 

 require as nuich care, as the best, it will surely be 

 better to feed and protect good layers of large 

 eggs, and provide something more for the table 

 than head, neck and legs. Well-bred Poland 

 fowls combine all these advantages, particularly 

 the plentiful production of large eggs. Indeed, 

 such is their propensity for laying, that they will 

 not always sit ; and it is usual to hatch their 

 eggs imder other fowls. Observe, these fowls 

 ought to have a pec\diar spiked comb, and five 

 toes on each foot. Game fowls lay very early in 

 the season, when eggs are scarce and valuable, 

 make good mothers, and may be kept to rear the 

 young Polanders. The large Malay are nmch in 

 request ; they attain an enormous size, and when 

 dressed look more like a turkey than a chicken. 

 My experience will not permit me to say much of 

 their laying quality ; i)Ossibly a cross with these 

 would make an eligible variety. The white 

 Darki;;g are a fine description of fowls, full sized, 

 large long body, short legs, excellent layers and 

 niu-ses, but they are very scarce ; they should 

 have the fifth toe. The grotesque little Bantam 

 will produce a very large quantity of eggs, and 

 taking size and consumption of food into consid- 

 eration, will, perhaps, afti^ all, be found the most 

 profitable in this particular. I am not prepared 

 to s:iy where fowls may be had, I have none to 

 spare ; a market purchase is hazardous, but per- 

 haps at present the only chance. I am preparing 

 to hatch some artificially, and may have a few 

 Polands and Darkings to spare next fall. 



D. F. Ames. 



is, to such farmers as will obtain the breed, an< 

 not suffer it to deteriorate by bad management. 



I, am" convinced, that in a short time, the arti 

 cles of wool, cotton and silk, will ' form the per 

 mauent basis of the farming interest in this coun 

 try, and the chief staples of coiiimerce. 1 believe 

 also, that any breed of animals may be improvet 

 or deteriorated, by good or bad treatment, to ar 

 amazing degree ; and from the improvements ef 

 fected in the South-down sheep, by Mr Ell 

 man, T think him entitled, besides his own profits 

 to at least the gratitude of. the public, wherevei 

 his breed pi* sheep may extend. I think there is 

 no quality which can enhance the value of sheep 

 in this country more than their hardiness, in which 

 from Mr Roteh's letter, and from the appearance 

 of the sheep, as described to me by Mr Bement, 

 after a stormy passage of 50 days, they must be 

 allowed to excel any other breed. Were evei'y 

 farmer such as MrF. Rotch, or his lather, hardi 

 uess would not be of so much importance, as. 

 they would improve their sheep in that and every 

 other good qualification ; but a? that is not the 

 case, and as a majority of them will do well, ii 

 they get a good breed of shee|>, and do not suffer 

 them to run down, it is certainly of the first im 

 portance to introduce a breed that will bear hard 

 ship ; and esj)ecially, as I understand Mr R.'s 

 sheep are very respectable as to the quantity and 

 quality of the wool. I hope, therefore, you will 

 give tiiiitfi due notice. S. BiiTDENBURGH. 



.many, May 13, 1835. 



P. S. — Barley and buckwheat ought to be giv- 

 en, with cracked corn, and gravel or sand. 



IFriim the New York Farmer. I 

 SOUTH-DOWW SHEEP. 



Mh MiNOi: : — Sir — From what had been told 

 me by Mr Bement respecting the South-Down 

 Sheep, then supposed to be on their passage from 

 England in the ship Samson, which breed of 

 shee|) i understood had been imin-oved vvitli gre^it 

 care and attention by a Mr Ellinan, in England, 

 and after having obtained the first jirize at Smith- 

 field the year past, were now coming here to Mr 

 B., I* promised myself a treat in seeing them 

 when they should come tiirough this place ; and 

 I intended to have sketched a likeness of the best 

 of them, if there had been any choice, and have 

 sent it to you for the Farmer ; but as ill luck 

 would have it, I was out of the city when they 

 came through here. But from the description 

 "iven me by Mr Bement, and from what I learn- 

 ed of their history by a letter to him from Mr 



Francis Rotch, of , their owner, I am in 



dined to think they must be an important acquis! 

 tion to the farming interest in this country. That 



ScBENECTADy, JoNE 18, 1835. 



WiKE WoRM.-^In many parts of this country 

 the wire worm and grub have injured the corn, 

 oats and barley, growing on land that had jirevi- 

 ously been in grass. Does ploughing grass land 

 in the fall kill the worm .' 1 am inclined to think 

 it does not, because a meadow on our Mohawk 

 flats, containing four acres, was ploughed last fall 

 and planted this spring with corn previously 

 soaked in a solution of copperas. The corn 

 planted on three of the acres was also smeared 

 with tar. The worms have been much more 

 destructive among the corn' that was tarred, than 

 that which was not. This was probably owing 

 to their being more numerous in that part of the 

 field. A few days since, in reading one of the 

 late numbers of that valuable English periodical, 

 the Farmers' Serii s of Useful Knowledge, I found 

 that in England they destroy these worms in grass 

 lands in the following tnanner: — Knowing that 

 the worms come above ground in the night, they 

 at that time spread quick lime in a state of pov. 

 der, over the grass, ^vhich is evenly done by 

 throwing it with a shovel high in the air from the 

 rear of the cart, wliicli is driven across the field. 

 The worms crawling about at that time are cov- 

 ered with lime, which soon kills them. 



C. H. T. 



Remarks. — The wire worm, we think, does 

 not come to the surface at night — it remains fixed 

 in the corn upon which it preys. It is the alka- 

 line property of the lime, carried down by water, 

 which destroys them, if anything. Tar is no 

 preventative, nor fall ploughing, nor any ap))lica- 

 tion that we know of. "fealt, at the rate of two or 

 three bushels to the acre, is said to be eflicacious. 

 The grub or cut-womi comes to the surface at 

 night. — Conductor of Cultivator. 



