84 POULTRY. 



public were informed what a great source of profit and satisfaction 

 tliej could find in poultry. It was shown that hecatombs of fowls 

 of every desription, and quintillons of eggs, were annually con- 

 sumed in every state, yet the supply was not equal to the demand, 

 and the profits of the raisers Avere from 30 to 100 per cent upon the 

 capital invested. Societies were at once formed, on the genuine 

 mutual admiration principle, for the encouragement of poultry 

 fanciers, — exhibitions of fowls were held, to which the most distin- 

 guished statesmen contributed, and which thousands visited. — pe- 

 riodicals were established for the sole purpose of aiding cunning 

 venders to dispose of their monstrosities, and we doubt if the ar- 

 chives of humbuggery has a chapter equal to the "History of the 

 Hen Fever," as chronicled by one of its arch promoters. 



This fowl play is now over — we learn that the demand for girafie 

 cocks and chaise-top hens is slight — the hoarse croak of the ill-favor- 

 ed Shanghai is seldom heard in the land — and many a deluded 

 victim sighs when he comes across large bills for Botherempootrums, 

 Phlapdhudles, or Chittacochas. Political parties may logically 

 prove that they are not dead, but the "hen fever" was fatal ; nay, 

 it is hard to secure a respectable attendance at the ."wake." A 

 portion of our fellow laborers refused to come up to the scratch. 

 Perhaps they feared that this committee, likethe invaders of Rome, 

 might be troubled by a Hiss from the valiant geese, or that the 

 quaek of the ducks might interfere with our regular practice. But 

 those who did respond to the clarion-calls of the "cock that crowed 

 in the morn," were in full feather, and on the iiing, until the most 

 wide awake pigeon had gone to roost, endeavoring to judge impar- 

 tially, and to emulate the peacock in displaying a tale. 



The committee found a long array of well-filled coops, contain- 

 ing a "goodly variety of domestic and fancy poultry. Yet there 

 was only one flock of turkeys, (although a second lot was exhibited 

 on another portion of the field the next day) and but one lot of 

 geese, called "Bremen," but much smaller than the many fine 

 specimens of the same race, descendants of those imported by 

 Judge Sisson some thirty years ago, which are to be seen in various 

 parts of the county." A flock of ducks, of a cross between the 

 wild and tame races, showed the utility of domesticating our na- 

 tive fowl. The show of pigeons was excellent, and from what the 



