THE BRAHMA POOXRA FOWL, 83 



From the New England Cultivator for June, 1852 : 



" Dr. Bennett, of Great Falls, N. H., publishes a long article, lately, 

 in the Northern Farmer, on the origin of the ' Brahma Pootra ' fowls. 

 ' " Now these fowls are grey Shangkaes ; that is to say, they originated 

 in the city of Shanghae, China, and are grey in plumage. They have 

 single comb form like all good Chinese birds of a large size, and are 

 feathered or smooth-legged, as the case may be. Ihe Chittagongs 

 and these are perfectly identical ; and all are of the great Chinese 

 variety the gallus gigantem of ornithologists. 



" Call these particular birds by whatever cognomen yon please ' a 

 rose by any other name will smell as sweet ' and still they are beau- 

 tiful specimens of poultry. But why not designate them correctly, 

 and call them what they 'really are 'grey Shanghaes ? ' 



" We suggest this, in all candor to Dr. B., and all others who are 

 making these mistakes. As for our friend Dr. Bennett, personally, we 

 respect him, highly and are free to admit that no man has done 

 more for the benefit of the New England Society than himself. But 

 the best of us are liable to commit errors ; and we think the matter 

 alluded to is a very decided mistake. 



"The original pair took the premiums at two successive fairs in Bos- 

 ton, and were called the ' Chittagongs'' at that time. That cock and 

 hen now weigh about twenty-one pounds the pair. 



" This stock has been largely bred the past year, however, and there 

 is a good demand for the better specimens, at $15 to $25 a pair say 

 at a year old. " 



From the Northern Farmer for September, 1852 : 

 George P. Burnham, Esq., of Boston, has recently asserted 

 in the New England Cultivator, that Brahma Pootra fowls are 

 grey Shanghaes. He also says that "the Chittagongs and 

 grey Shanghaes are perfectly identical" thus, at a single dash 

 of the pen, annihilating the Chittagong variety of fowls and 

 merging them in the grey Shanghaes ! This will be news to 

 the poultry breeders of the United States, that there are no such 

 fowls as Chittagongs! Verily, Mr. Burnham should have 

 informed the world of this fact before, and not have suffered 

 them to appear in all our recent works on poultry, and in half 

 the papers in the country for years as Chittagongs. 



Dr. Bennett, of Great Falls, N. H., is the gentleman assailed, 

 as having mis-named these fowls, and the writer of their his- 

 tory in our May number. The Doctor desires us to insert the 

 following proofs of the origin and correctness of tfre name 

 of these fowls on his responsibility : 



Mr. Miner :-r-In the New England Cultivator, for June, Is an article 

 on " Grey Shanghae Fowls," from the pen of George P. Burnham, Esq., 

 confounding that breed with the Brahma Pootras, and as he has used 

 my name most liberally, I beg leave to make a short reply. Mr. 



