396 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



ing the year, and especially about Thanksgiving time, is a point 

 about which there is probably very little dispute ; but when we 

 come to the question, whether, in view of the dollars and cents, 

 we can actually afford to have them, the subject seems at pres- 

 ent to be an open one. 



That there is as much pleasure to be derived from the prose- 

 cution of labor in this department as from any other connected 

 with the farm, we believe to be susceptible of abundant proof. 

 Indeed, what can be more beautiful than a flock of fowls, where 

 every tint and shade of color are presented in the very perfec- 

 tion of beauty to the eye of the beholder ? And yet this perfec- 

 tion, with comparatively little care in " crossing,'" is easily ob- 

 tained. Again : what farmer would be willing to dispense with 

 the call of the noble " farm cock " at the earliest dawn of each 

 returning day ? Or who can be insensible to the value of a 

 flock of fowls in destroying worms and insects, which other- 

 wise might exert a very deleterious influence on the growing 

 crop? 



One of the competitors at the fair remarked to the commit- 

 tee, that, in his opinion, (and he has devoted as much time to 

 this subject as any man in this vicinity,) " the good thus accom- 

 plished would more than compensate for the damage which 

 they would naturally do to the crops, either in the garden or 

 upon the farm." 



But is there an actual profit in raising poultry ? "We are 

 constrained to answer this question in the affirmative ; and, in 

 confirmation of our views, we wish to introduce some statistics, 

 very kindly furnished by Mr. L. P. Warner, of Sunderland, 

 showing the value of his flock of hens during the past year. 



On the 1st of January, 1853, Mr. Warner valued his stock 

 of hens at $23. 25, and at the close of the year at $24, He 

 thinks the average number through the year would be about 

 sixty. His largest number of laying hens at any one time was 

 seventy-five. The largest number of eggs in any one day was 

 seventy. 



To these hens he fed, during the year, food worth $39.45, 

 consisting of corn, potatoes, meat and bone meal. The whole 

 number of egu - s produced was live thousand four hundred and 

 fifty-one, which were sold for $00.70. The receipts for poul- 



