162 



Poultry. 



Vol.V 



Poultry. 



We are confident most of our farming 

 friends would find that more attention to 

 their poultry yards, would add essentially, 

 not only to the comfort of themselves and 

 their families, but also to the aggregate of 

 their annual farm profits. Without any par 

 ticular effort, or any extra buildings or yards, 

 from 50 to 100 fowls may be kept on every 

 farm of a hundred acres, and the contribu- 

 tions they will make in eggs and chickens 

 to the products sold, will amount in the end 

 to a very handsome sum. It is true, to be 

 made a source of profit they must receive 

 attention ; the eggs must be gathered daily, 

 two or three hens must not (as is frequently 

 the case,) be allowed to sit on one nest; 

 coops must be provided for the chickens, as 

 they are hatched, and they, as well as other 

 domestic animals, must be fed. Fowls will 

 sometimes, perhaps, do a little mischief; if 

 allowed access to grain fields, they will break 

 down and destroy more than they will eat, 

 and if they find the planted corn, they will 

 show a perseverance and dexterity in trac- 

 ing out the rows, and extracting the plants, 

 worthy of any featherless biped that lives by 

 his wits and the plunder of the public. The 

 true way to put an end to such troubles at 

 once, is to confine the depredators, when you 

 do not wish to kill them ; and then a little 

 extra feed is all that is necessary to save 

 both your crops and your fowls. 



Domestic poultry usually do much better 

 that run at large, than they will if restricted 

 to narrow limits in the coop or yard. Their 

 health is improved, their flesh is finer and 

 better tasted, and they will produce more 

 eggs, at large, than in confined situations. 

 The turkey, in particular, is a strenuous ad- 

 vocate of the largest liberty. Hens in a 

 garden are a pest, but there is no necessity 

 of being troubled with them there. A com- 

 mon picket-fence five feet high will effectu- 

 ally exclude them ; it being well known that 

 fowls rarely attempt flying over such a fence, 

 and when made plain, such a fence costs 

 perhaps as little as almost any other. 



To have the poultry-yard profitable, the 

 fowls should not be kept until they are old. 

 There is no objection to preserving a favour- 

 ite cock so long as he is active and lively, 

 but hens after three years will not produce 

 as many eggs as those of one or two years. 

 Much, however, is depending on the breed 

 kept, but more on the manner in which 

 they are kept, so far as good layers are con- 

 cerned. 



The Game cock breed and the Bantum 

 breed, are not generally kept, except by 

 amateur poultry breeders; rarely by farmers, 



as they afford little profit as layers or re 

 ers of chickens. The chickens of the ga 

 cock breed are so pugnacious as to be i 

 stantly fighting with one another, and 

 this way sad devastation is made among ' 

 broods : the Bantums are so small as to 

 undeserving of notice, except as objects 

 curiosity. 



One of the most beautiful of our fowls 

 the Hamburg, or Poland Top-knot, and ii 

 also one of the best with which we are 

 quainted. Both Mowbray and Boswell, 

 their works on Poultry, speak highly of t 

 breed ; the first saying, " they are one of i 

 most useful varieties, particularly on accoi 

 of the abundance of eggs they lay, bei 

 least inclined to sit of any other bre 

 whence they are sometimes called everlt 

 ing layers, and it is usual to set their eg 

 under other hens;" and the last remarki: 

 " this is a kind we esteem above all othe 

 both for their appearance and usefulness, e 

 we regret they are so seldom to be met w 

 pure in this country." Mr. Bement sa 

 " they are hardy, enduring well the extren 

 of heat and cold, although they are not 

 thickly covered with feathers and down, 

 some other breeds. Their colour is oi 

 shining black, or a deep glossy changea 

 purple, with a large white top-knot of f 

 thers, covering so much of their head as 

 most to blind their eyes, and often requ 

 clipping. The contrast of this perfectly wh 

 crown with the black plumage, is truly be: 

 tiful ; but that of the cock differs from 1 

 hen, hers being broad and erect feathe 

 while his are narrow and hanging down 

 every direction." We have seen a few 

 stances, in which a small tuft of brilliant i 

 feathers existed in the centre of the wh 

 knot, almost realizing the appearance oJ 

 splendid flower. — Cultivator. 



How to boil Irish Potatoes. — Good a 

 indifferent potatoes depend very much up 

 the manner in which they are prepared 

 the table. Some cooks always have hea^ 

 hard, watery potatoes ; while others for t 

 most part have them dry, mealy and exc 

 lent. This difference depends generally up 

 the difference of cooking. The common w 

 is to put the potatoes into cold water, b 

 them by a slow fire, and cool them as slo 

 ly ; the better way is to put them in boili 

 water, keep up a brisk fire till they are^'i 

 done, take them out immediately, throw 

 wet cloth around them, and gently squee 

 each with the hand till it cracks open, : 

 the watery particles to escape in form 

 steam, then peel them, and they are exact 

 right. By this method, almost any potat 

 will do well. — Nashville Ag. 



