POULTRY. 221 



old plastering I pound that up with the oyster shells. Fowls 

 kept in this manner are always ready for market, and in condi- 

 tion to lay as well in the winter as they arc in the summer. 



Wayland, September 1, 1868. 



BRISTOL CENTRAL. 



From, the Report of the Committee. 



There is evidently a much nicer discrimination in the selection 

 of breeds, as is evident from the greater proportion of the valu- 

 able varieties of pure-blooded fowl over the mixed and compar- 

 atively worthless races which predominated a few years since at 

 our annual festivals. The Leghorns, Black Spanish and Ham- 

 burg varieties, all of them valuable for their laying qualities, 

 seem to have the preference over the old Asiatic varieties, for 

 which there was such a popular rage a few years since, the 

 Brahma Pootras being the only variety which has deservedly 

 survived the short-lived glory of the race. 



Our farmers are beginning to understand that while weight 

 and size are of some importance, it will not do to sacrifice to 

 these other more useful qualities. We are aware that too many 

 agriculturists ignore to a great extent the question of distinct 

 breeds in poultry, and regard the subject as too unimportant to 

 merit any considerable attention. Such do not imagine, per- 

 haps, how much they are indebted to the poultry-fancier for the 

 excellence even of such breeds as they possess. 



The same principles which apply to the raising of other farm 

 stock are applicable here ; and it will be found, generally, in a 

 series of years, that no other part of the annual yield of the 

 farm will equal this in point of profit proportionably to the sum 

 invested, where there is careful and judicious management. 



Let us briefly consider a few principal points in the good 

 breeds of poultry. It has been universally admitted, we believe, 

 by poultry-fanciers and breeders of distinction, that the nearer a 

 fowl approaches to the partridge in form, the better adapted it 

 will be for the table, because that bird has more meat on the 

 breast in proportion to its weight than any of our domestic 

 poultry, the turkey excepted. Tried by this test, let us examine 

 a few of the principal breeds. Let us take the Asiatic variety, 

 and we observe a want of compactness in their shape. Their 



