1876.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



35 



LIGHT BRAHMAS. 



LiKht Bralinias are imiliably the most jiiipu- 

 lar lit' all fowls. Lately there has ln'cii iiiiieh 

 di.seussioii in poultry eireles as to the orii;iiiof 

 this eeleliiated variety, liiit as a reiietitioii of 

 tills could be of no interest to our readers, we 

 will confine our remarks to the merits of this 

 breed. 



Certain it is, that whatever tlieir orijiin, 

 tliey are now a well-established breed, widely 

 disseminated and universally esteemed— af- 

 thouu'h as there is no fowl adapted to all 

 situations, to all tastes, so there are men who 

 loathe, as it were, what they clioose to call 

 the clumsy, stupid ways of the IJrahma fowl. 



They are readily conline(l, and especially 

 adapt themselves to narrower (luarters. A 

 fence four feet hijjh will easily keep them 

 within bounds. They are lazy, care not to 

 fora^'e much, are readily handled, of a tame, 

 quiet disposition, and hence are esiiecially 

 suited to small city yards. They (^an be tired 

 in exceedingly small lots, if the young chick- 

 ens are allowed a considerable range when at- 

 taining their growth. They nnist be well fed 

 when young, or they will grow u]i small and 

 stunted — thus solely miprolitable. If a far- 

 mer intends to breed 15rah- 

 mas he must expect to feed 

 more grain than is re- 

 el ui red by the common 

 fowls or smaller breeds of 

 thoroughbreds. Hut what 

 is the result y The lirahma 

 will take on twice as nuich 

 Hcsh, and hence is really 

 the more profitable. They 

 are good for broilers when 

 from two to three months 

 old, and are just the thing 

 for early .spring markets. 

 When full grown they will 

 thrive satisfactorily on the 

 same amount of food that 

 is necessary to keep Leg- 

 horns 01- other small 

 breeds in couliuement, for, 

 although twice the size, 

 there is little muscular ac- 

 ti<iii, and hence scarcely 

 any waste, while, on the 

 other hand, the Leghorns 

 are very active. But if 

 both are allowed free 

 range, the Leghorns will 

 almost entirely seek their 

 own food, while the ]5rah- 

 mas will dust themselves 

 and idle the whole day, 

 waiting for their meals. 

 A cross of the Brahma 

 and Leghorns makes an 

 excellent farmers' fowl — 

 b<ith (lesh and the supply 

 of eggs being thus im- 

 proved. 



The necessity of proper 

 cannot be too stronglj- urged upon the would- 

 be breeder. The best of stock will degenerate 

 and become worthless as mongrels if allowed 

 to shift for themselves. Bralmias are good 

 layers, and give an especially abundant sup- 

 ply in winter, when most needed. They are 

 inveterate sitters ; when this propensity mani- 

 fests itself the hen should be innuediately 

 peimed u]), for the longer it is delayed the 

 greater will be the difficulty in preventing it. 

 The perches for fowls should be broad, slightly 

 curved, and not too high from the ground. 

 Especial care should be taken as to this point, 

 for there is no more fruitful source of badly 

 shaped, deformed fowls than im]n'oper roosts. 

 A very common fault with I^ight ]5rahmas is 

 a tendency to become "leggy." Xow it does 

 not jiay to produce long-legged shanghais. 

 The days of Burnham's fowls, that " ccndd 

 eat otT of the top of a Hour-barrel and all that 

 was in in it,'" are past. Now good taste and 

 sound judgment are prevailing. The heat 

 of the/iimre is past, and the fowl imiting the 

 greatest economies of form, size, shape and 

 eggs rules the day. Size is a point that must 



not be underrated. The whole country is 

 Hooded with misi^rable, dwarfed specimens, 

 poorly feathered, that are styled Light Brah- 

 mas, and vended as such. It is easy to luo- 

 duee a small, well-marked bird, but Kidy the 

 best and most carefully bred strains wili pro- 

 duce birds i)erfcct in feather and colos.sal in 

 size. We do not advocate over-fei'ding, but 

 size in the hhiad ; and this alone wii.i, tell 

 in the olTs]iriMg. 



Again, in our extensive corresiioudcnee we 

 occasionally have calls for '• white liralunas. " 

 Now such a)e only degenerated specimens, 

 and in no cousidiMation to be tolerated. Let 

 US stick to the Light and Dark Hrahmas as 

 the only genuine varieties, and here we will 

 lind sullieient employnu^nf for the exercise of 

 untiring jiatience, skill and zeal in the im- 

 Jirovemeut and perleetion of the American 

 Brahma. Our cut reiiresents birds belonging 

 to Mr. Miner, of Illinois. — ^Y. Alice Bui-jhc, 

 Pliiladeli)liia, Pa. 



ANCIENT GARDENING. 



Philip Miller says : ''We have likewise m.any 

 of the famous gardens of the ancients elegantly 

 described by the poets and historians as the 





care of Brahmas 



pensile ones of Semiramis, those magnificent 

 ones of King Solomon, the Ilfsperian, with 

 those of Arlonia and Alrinmis, the latter of 

 which, described by Homer, and beautifully 

 translated into EmjJish b\' Mr. Pape, I shall 

 take the liberty to transcribe." 



" Close to the gates a spacious irartlen lies, 

 From storms defeiuU-tl and iiicleiiirMit sliies; 

 Four acres was the iUlntteil spaee ol"irrouiHl, 

 Fene'il witli a green enclosure all arnunil; 

 Tall tliriviiiir Irees eonfess'd the fruitful nioiihl, 

 The red'ninii- n/>p/f' rijx'us here to jjoM; 

 Here the hlne.rt'/ with luscious juice o'erllows, 

 With deeper reii the full ponit't^ruit'tti' jjlowe. 

 The hraneh here heiuls beueatli the weii^hly y>e<ir, 

 The vei'dant dUrts tloiu'ish round I he year, 

 The halmy spirit of the western srale. 

 Eternal breathes on fruits unlausrhl to fail: 

 Kaeh droppiuc: ;»'*!/• a followini^y^a/" supplies, 

 On ajij)lrn tipplr.'<, ^tii/n nujhjs arise; 

 The same mild season i,'ive8 the blooms to blow, 

 The buds to harden and the fruits to grow. 

 Here order'd I'ims in eiinal ranks appear, 

 With all th' united labors of the year. 

 Some to uidoad the fertile branches rini, 

 Some dry the blaek'nlnij clusters In the sun; 

 Others to tread the li(iuid harvest join, 

 The groauiiii; presses foam with tlooils of wine. 

 Here are the vines iu early flow "r descry 'd, 



Here grapes diseolored on tlie gunny side, 



.\iu\ these in autumn's riehest purple dy'd. 



Beds of various /wr'u forever uri'en, 



In beauteous order terminate the scene. 



Two pleuteous/uiJHdiiii* the pros|)eel erowu'd; 



Thin thro' llie nanlent leads its stream around, 



Visits each plant, ami waters all the ground; 



While llml in pipes beneath the palace Hows, 



.\nd theiiee its lurrenl on tlielown bestows; 



To various use their various streams they bring, 



The /i(o/(/p one, and one supplies the klnj;." 



Sir WitUnm 7Vi)i;i/r siiys, "that this descrip- 

 tion contains all the ju.stesi rides and provi- 

 sions which can go toward composing the best 

 gardens. Us extent Wius four acres, which, in 

 those times of simplicity, was looked upon a-s 

 a large one. even for a ;>ri?irf. U wa.s inclosed 

 all round for defence, and, for convenience 

 joined close to the gates of the pularr. This is 

 from the prifnre of Philip Miller's "Gar- 

 dener's Dictionary," aipiaint old roytil (piarto 

 volume of about onethou.sjinil pages.' dc^dicated 

 to .Sii; ll.ws Si,o.\NK, Jinrl,iinil published in 

 Lemdon some time previous to the year 17.")0 

 or 17.")J. as the latter is the year in which Sir 

 Hans Sloanc died. Miller died in 1771. 



The foregoing is, however, not a description 

 of an iietual garden in Slonne'n, Milter'.i, or 

 Temjjka^ times, but a far prior date—a garden 

 • in the liiiu's of IIoMEU. 

 Authors, however, do not 

 agree as to vhtn or trhere. 

 lloiner was born ; seven 

 cities claiming that honor, 

 and at Jis many different 

 ejiochs, in which there is 

 a difference of faur /lun- 

 dred' jfturn. The greatest 

 weight of testimony, how- 

 ever, .seems to he to the 

 efTcct, tliat he Wius blind, 

 and was born at Smyrna, 

 an Ionian city on theco.a.st 

 of Asi;i Minor, about onff 

 thousand years before the 

 Christian era, according to 

 which this description ap- 

 plies to a g;irden of three 

 tliouxund t/ear.'i ago. 



From this we may be 

 able to form some idea of 

 the antiquity of horticul- 

 ture and systematic gar- 

 dening, ami jil.so what im- 

 provement has been made 

 thereon. "The dropping 

 pear a following pear sup- 

 plies," might indicate that 

 oratifjes or lemon.s, and not 

 ._ jicnrs are ii eant, that lie- 

 '" ing about the manner in 

 ■,'" which that ripening fruit 

 succeeds each other. Four 

 y^ acres would 1k' considered 

 =? a very respectable fruit 



^' : garden for a private fam- 



ily, even at the present 

 ^^^ — day, and taking Lancaster 



county as an example, there are, perhaps, more 

 below that size than above it. Fnst as the 

 present age is, we tltid tluit, after all, we are 

 traveling but slowly down the coui-se of 

 time, and that many iirir things have their 

 archetyi)es in things of old. 



■ ^ 



The Slaughter of Birds for their Plumage. 

 .Mr. Alfreil Xewton writes a striklni; proU>l lo the 

 Tiineg ajrainst the wholesale slauirhler of blnls for 

 the sake of ornamental feathers. Hequotes the pro- 

 ceedings of a sin^rle sale of feathers to show that to 

 supply that sale aloue !),T00 herons (or egrets) must 

 have been destroyed. .\ll these feathers are said to 

 haveeonu- from India last autumn.' Mr. Newton ob- 

 serves that no country eould supply tO.OOO herons In 

 a siiiRle breeilinir season without niMirly rootinj; out 

 the sleek. Moreover, l.t.OOll Huininini; birds and 

 upwartl were Included in the sale, of which 7+0 were 

 of a sinirle kind. .\s far as we know, none of these 

 birds really diminish the stock of fmid available for 

 man, so that in destroylnir them for mere show wc 

 empty the world absolutely of a certain |iortlon of IU 

 beauty and happiness— « Idle the beauty is cerlalldy 

 by no means made up In the ornamentation of femi- 

 nine toilets wbieh is thus pro<'ured. In this aire of 

 tine moralities, does no one really Ik'stow a thoucht 

 on the morality of such reckless spoliation of life as 

 this ? — London Spectator. 



