The Lancaster Farmer. 



Prof. S. S. BATHVON, Editor. 



• 



LANCASTER. PA.. MAY, -1876. 



Vol. vra. No. 6. 



HOUDANS. 



The French people, always SI) widely reputed 

 for eCDnniuy, have well altaiued their f;ood 

 name in the poultry line. No nation upon 

 earth is so widely eiiiiajjed in the rearinji of 

 chieks and produetion of e<;!;s, niu' so sueeess- 

 ful. Tlu; eliniatc of France beinj; especially 

 suited and very mild, we lind lack of liardiuess 

 and a delicate constitution prevalent aniou<; 

 the so-called " French ISreeds.'' 15ut of these 

 the lloudansare the most hardy and are really, 

 when properly bred, a strong and hearty fowl. 

 They are ea.sily reared, mature early, \vriij;liinfj; 

 about four and a half pounds at four mouths. 

 Their llesh is juicy and very desirable for the 

 table, on account of which they are very ap- 

 ])roi'i'ialely desij^nated "The French Dorkinsi" 

 (for edible qualities of which see last luunber 

 of The Faioiioi:. ) lloudansare very prolific, 

 the cock is a lively fellow and should lie allowed 

 a goodly number of hens. These need not be 

 all lloudans, but some should be Brahmas, 

 Cochins, riymouth Rocks, or some other good 

 setting variety, 

 for in this respect 

 the lloudans are 

 not to l)e relied 

 upon. They are 

 first class layers, 

 and may be rank- 

 ed nearly with the 

 Ilambiirgs in 

 number of eggs, 

 while in size, both 

 of eggs and fowls, 

 they are far ahead 

 A Iloudan's egg 

 is as large as a 

 Brahma's, a u d 

 often larger. It 

 is to be lamented 

 that lloudans .are 

 not very popular 

 in America, but 

 such is the case. 

 We have a friend 

 who devotes all 

 hLstimcandniucli 

 expenditure to 

 produce fine spe- 

 cimens of this 

 breed, and yet he 

 scarcely has a 

 market for sur- 

 plus stock. How- 

 ever, it only re- 

 quires that the! 

 merits should be 

 more gen(>r,ally 

 know^n and they 

 can not fail to 

 "take," as pos- 

 sessing superiorities which should give them 

 distinction as a " Farmer's Fowl." Wc give 

 lierewith a tine illustration which wc luul re- 

 engraved by Mr. Price for our new descriptive 

 catalogue f)f poultry, now in preparation. 



As will be apiiarent, lloudans not only claim 

 economic i)rai.ses, but also demand a second 

 glance as a ''thing of beauty." The cock isa 

 stylisli bird, his head being sumiounted by a 

 large crest and also bearded and whiskered so 

 as to nearly hide his face. Comb bright red 

 and antler-like. Ilis plumage throughout, as 

 also that of the hen, should be nicely inter- 

 mixed with white and black. J^ike the Dor- 

 kings they have tire supernumerary fifth toe. 

 — W. Atlee Btirj^e, I'hiladeljjhia, >Va(/ (5, 187(5. 



SELECTING FOWLS FOR BREEDING. 



The siguilicancc <if the words at the head of 

 this article should be studied and fully compre- 

 hended by all breeders. The coimnon, tliu 

 average l)ird, should not be used to breed from 

 if yon wish to attain the best result. Don't use 

 a cockerel or a pullet only bi'i'ause it is a pure 

 specimen of this or that variety, hut because 

 it is tile, best specimen of this variety within 

 vour reach. The rule should be to breed only 

 from the best. Every farmer, as well as tlie 

 fancier, should select those he. intends to keep 

 for breeding. Selection is none the less neces- 

 sary because common barn-yard fowls are kijit. 

 Tlie best of common breeds iseVen more ahead 

 of the averag(^ than the best of tlii^ pure bloods. 

 The beaut iful birds seen at our best shows liavc 

 been produced by carcfidselection. Tlu!sliort- 

 horns that sell for such enormous prices were 

 produced by long and ))ainstaking selection. It 

 was breeding from the best. This long breed- 

 ing from the best produces prepotent animals 

 that will repeat their excellencies to their pro- 



Wrttk for The Faioiei:. AVe desire to 

 make it the exponent of the practical expe- 

 rience of farmers, gardeners, fruit-growers, 

 bee-keepers, stock-raisers and housekeepers. 

 Give us your ideas. We will see that they are 

 put in proper form. 



geny. This law applies to all our domestic 

 animals-t-chickeus as well as horses. 



Scmie good farmers think the common barn- 

 yard fowls just as good for prolit, on a farm, dn 

 fancy varieties. Upon such we wish to impress 

 the necessity of constant selectitui, each year, of 

 those to be kept f<n- future breeding. One who 

 should follow this rule for ten years, would have 

 a tiock of fowls lit to exhibit; and his prolit dur- 

 ing the ten years will have Ijeen much greater 

 than by theconunon jilan of keeping any fowls 

 yim happen to have. 'J'he flock is redu<'ed every 

 "year by killing ; let those for market always be 

 the niost undesirable in form, etc., retain 

 those that have been healthiest, hardiest, mo.st 

 thrifty growers and the line.st in form. This 

 will cost you nothing. A jwmul of chicken 

 from the least desirable of your flocks will sell 

 in the market for about the same money, al- 

 though these cost you more in proportion to 

 weight than the best ; yet yon should always 

 get rid of an undesirable chicken at the lirst 

 opportunity. A few years of proper selection 



will give you breeders that jiroducc nearly uni- 

 form ihickens. The lust feeders cost less per 

 liound, and from their uniform growth look 

 iM'tter when dressed and bring a iM'lter price 

 in market. liCf every farmer lulopt this systeiu 

 of seli:ctioii, and hewillHoon l)ean enthumaHtic 

 believer in blood. 



NEW USE FOR CHICKEN FEATHERS. 



" According to statistics very can^fully com- 

 piled," says a writer in La Nuturc, "we throw 

 away yearly a<|uantity of chicki'ti feathers, the 

 intrinsic- value of which is ecpial to the money 

 which W(' pay out for cottoti." A startling 

 .statiiuent, hut tlie author considers it true ; 

 j and he proiteeds to explain how tlie featliera 

 are prepared to make them valuable. The 

 i operation is to cut the plume portions of the 

 feathers from the stem, by means of ordinary 

 hand scissors. The former are pla(;ed in nuan- 

 tities in .a coarse bag. which, when full, is 

 close<l an<l subjected to a thorough kneading 

 with the hands. At the end of five minutes, 



the feathers, it is 

 stated, become 

 disegregated and 

 felted together, 

 forming a down, 

 perfectly homo- 

 geneous and of 

 great lightnes.s. 

 It is even lighter 

 than natural eider 

 down, because 

 the latter con- 

 tains the ribs of 

 the feathers, 

 which give extra 

 weight. The ma- 

 terial thus pre- 

 pared is worth, 

 and readily sells 

 in I'ari.s, forabout 

 two dollars a 

 pf)uiid. Alxjut i 

 troy ounces of 

 this down can be 

 obtained from the 

 feathers of an or- 

 dinary sized pul- 

 let ; and thi.s, on 

 the above valua- 

 tion, is worth 

 about 20 cents. 

 It is suggested 

 that, through the 

 winter, children 

 might collect all 

 thefcathersalMiut 

 a farm, and cut 

 the rilwout. as we 

 have stated. By 

 the springtime a large quantity of down would 

 be prepared, which could 1k' disposed of to up- 

 holsterei-s or employed for domestic uses, 

 (ioose feathers may he treated in a similar 

 manner, and thus two-thirds of the product of 

 the bird utilized, instead of only about one- 

 fifth, as is at present the case. 



The chicken down is said to form a beautiful 

 cloth when woven. For about a square yard 

 of the material, a pound and a half of ilown is 

 reipiircd. The fabric is said to be most inde- 

 structible, as, in |>lace of fraying or wearing 

 out at folds, it only seems to fell tighter. It 

 takes dye readily, and is thoroughly waterproof. 

 There appears to be a good opportunity here 

 for some ingenious person to invent machines 

 to cut and UcM the feathers. 



This statement must lie received as simply 

 suggestive. Peojile are not so much iuteresteil 

 in what the feathers thus prepared will l)riug 

 in Pari.s. but at the nearest jioint of disposal. 

 But we imagine that the feathers can be util- 

 ized in many way.s, and that they can be dis- 



