194 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Shepaed. Will the gentleman please- toll us how to 

 cook an old fowl so as to make it tender? 



Mr. Weld. An old fowl boils very well. If it is well 

 boiled, it is very good eating. I prefer chicken. 



Mr. Shepard. We all do. I did not know but you 

 could tell us how an old fowl could be made tender. 



Mr. Weld. I am not a professed cook, but I know that 

 I often eat old fowl that is very good, and it makes a good 

 soup ; there is no doubt about that. 



The Chairman. Cut it up, stew four hours with a good 

 piece of salt pork, and turn it on to some toast in a dish. 

 That is the way to do it. 



Mr. Shepard. We have done that year after year, and 

 the old fowl will be tough. 



The Chairman. They are better than chickens if you 

 cook them long enough. 



Mr. Ware. I will tell you how to cook an old fowl, and 

 keep it whole, and have it very nice. It should be put in 

 no more water to boil than will leave enough, after the fowl 

 is cooked until it is tender, to make a rich grav}'^ ; because, 

 in boiling a fowl, or any other meat, the goodness of the 

 meat is drawn out into the water ; and if you have a great 

 deal of water, enough to cover it, for instance, you get all 

 the goodness out of the fowl, and the water, unless you use 

 it for soup, is thrown away. The secret is, to have only 

 water enough, as I say, so that when the fowl is done, the 

 water remaining shall be only sufficient to make a good 

 gravy. The length of time it should be boiled depends 

 upon how tough the fowl is when you commence. A piece 

 of pork should be put in with the fowl to boil. Of course 

 you must have a tight cover over the kettle while it is boil- 

 ing. I don't know but a chicken may be better, but an old 

 fowl that has been well fed, cooked in this way, makes a 

 very excellent dish. 



Mr. Shepard. Old fowls have a disagreeable odor. I 

 think it is the oil comins; out. I did not know but there 

 might be some way of boiling out that oil and getting rid of it. 



Mr. Ware. You want to start with hot water. 



Mr. . I understood the speaker to say that a cross 



of brown Leghorn and Plymouth Rock made excellent 

 broilers. I wish to ask if hens of this cross excel as layers? 



