130 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



adopt a system involving the least expense, both of labor and 

 money. 



At the time when the " hen fever " raged so terribly in this 

 country, a few years since, a great variety of breeds was intro- 

 duced, some of which were undoubtedly valuable, but the most 

 of them nearly worthless for general use. Undoubtedly, the 

 mixtures of these breeds have been of great benefit to the com- 

 mon stock of the country ; but we are in the days of Jerseys, 

 Ayrshires, and Devons, and nothing but pure foreign breeds 

 will do ; for in cattle husbandry, the result of careful breeding 

 and culture is that the Ayrshire and Jersey are best for the 



Bolton Orats. Bred by S. & W. S. Allen, Vergemies, Vt. 



dairy, and the Devon and Durham for beef; so in poultry .hus- 

 bandry, the most careful and accurate observation and experi- 

 ment prove that the Black Spanish and Hamburg fowls are the 

 best breeds for laying, and the Dorking, and, perhaps, the game 

 fowls for breeding and the market. Of course there are many 

 other good breeds ; for instance, the Polish Topknots, Spangled, 

 Polish, Bolton Gray, Leghorn, Creeper, and Dominique ; but 

 there arc objections to all these breeds, in some cases serious 

 ones, far surpassing any peculiar to the others I have named. 

 The different varieties of the Malay fowl — such as the Shanghai, 



