38 THE BRAHMA POOTRA FOWL. 



of my readers as fabulous, yet I assure them it is strictly so. I 

 have, myself, sold seven pairs and one cock of this breed, lately, 

 for $110 ; but they were chickens, from two to four months old 

 only. 



At the present time (November, 1852), this breed is nearly, 

 if not quite out of the market, all having been bought up 

 throughout New England at very high figures. 



In regard to hardiness, I can truly say that nothing in the 

 way of poultry can excel them. The chicks are the most easily 

 raised of any I ever saw. Few, or none die of disease, as far 

 as my own experience goes, and what I learn from others who 

 have bred them. They are covered with a soft down that pro- 

 tects them, similar to that on young ducks, and the morning 

 dew or wet grass has little or no effect upon them. If you 

 have a brood hatch you can count upon raising every chick, 

 unless killed by accident, vermin, or some other enemy. The 

 feathers of these fowls equal those of geese. 



During the summer season they feed on grass to such an 

 extent that they consume no more food than our smallest com- 

 mon breeds. This occurs when they have a good range to grass. 



This breed of fowls was wholly unknown in England, till Dr. 

 Bennett sent a pair to Mrs. Hosier Williams, Eaton, Mascott, 

 near Shrewsbury. Mrs. Williams is a lady of distinction in 

 England, and one of the most ardent fowl fanciers in that 

 country. She writes, that she constanly took prizes for all the 

 fowls she has exhibited at the great Poultry Fair in Birmingham. 

 She read Dr. Bennett's work on Domestic Poultry, and noticing 

 that we possess some breeds not known there (the Brahmas are 

 not described in that work), she wrote to the Doctor to do her 

 the favor to procure them for her. He then sent her a descrip- 

 tion of the Brahma Pootra fowls, in the Northern Farmer, as 

 she requested him to advise her, if any new breeds had been 

 introduced not mentioned in his work. On the receipt of the 

 paper she wrote back to procure a pair of this breed at any 

 cost. Here is an extract from her letter on receiving the fowls.: 



"Sir Last night only, I received safely the pair of Brahma Pootra 

 fowls, per steamer America. I must say, they more than realized 

 my expectations, and are truly splendid. I never saw young fowls of 

 so gigantic a size and weight, and they have many decided peculiari- 

 ties which distinguish them from every other breed 1 have hitherto 

 seen. I am, indeed, not a little proud to be the only possessor in 

 Europe of such a pair of fowls, and I can not sufficiently thank you 

 for so perfectly complying with my wishes by sending them." 



