INTRODUCTION. 



21 



in studying the habits and profits of each kind 

 of fowl, and the best modes for their treatment. 

 It is to be hoped that their labors may prove of 

 value to the community. The subject in this 

 country, as we have said before, till very recent- 

 ly, has attracted little or no attention. It may 

 at first be viewed as too insignificant to merit 

 consideration. This is natural. Little things 

 are frequently treated with contempt, although 

 in the aggregate they assume magnitude sur- 

 passing credibility. This is literally so with poul- 

 try. Because a fair stock of hens can be bought 

 for two dollars or so, they are regarded as be- 

 neath the rank that entitles them even to kind 

 treatment, especially if viewed in connection 

 with expected remuneration. But although 

 the winter stock of hens on a common farm may 

 be estimated at two dollars only, the fair valua- 

 tion of these hens in the country gives them a 

 commercial importance ranging with some of 

 our best products. 



We have estimated the profits of the hen at 

 one dollar per year> in addition to paying for 

 her food. But she must have good accommo- 

 dation, suitable food, and enough of it; then 

 our estimate is a low one, provided, also, that 

 she is of any good common breed. To show 

 this we give a few statistics on that point. 



A correspondent in the New England Farmer 

 says that " one of his neighbors kept fifty-four 

 liens, three geese, and nine turkeys, which he 

 Aalued at thirty dollars and fifty cents. The 

 money received from eggs and the carcasses 

 sold was one hundred and seventy-four dollars 

 and fifty-nine cents, or a clear 'profit of eighty- 

 five dollars and fifty-one cents." A correspond- 

 ent of the Genesee Farmer, who kept twenty-five 

 hens, says that "the profit from them in the 

 year, after paying all expenses, was twenty-five 

 dollars and ninety-two cents" a trifle above 

 our estimate. J. H. Austin, of Canton, Con- 

 necticut, has stated the net profits for one year 

 on fifteen hens to have been twenty dollars. Mr. 

 Crocker, of Sunderland, New Hampshire, had 

 a net profit of sixteen dollars and ninety-seven 

 cents from seventeen hens in a year. Colonel 

 M. Thayer has also stated that he can make 

 more profit from one hundred good hens than 

 from his farm of two hundred acres. His farm 



is called a good one, and he has been accus- 

 tomed to poultry for fifty years. Of this clas,> 

 we might extend the number to an almost in- 

 definite extent. 



And yet there is another consideration to be 

 offered in favor of the poultry-yard. Is there 

 nothing in the feathered tribes that dwell there 

 to gratify the eye or the ear of those who watch 

 over and nourish them ? Can not the lover of 

 natural beauty see any thing for admiration in 

 the well-rounded breast and the gradually ta- 

 pering and gracefully curved necks of these 

 well-chosen and well-fed birds? Is there no 

 beauty in their infinitely variegated plumage ? 

 Can human art successfully imitate the silky 

 fineness and lustre of their feathers? Where, 

 it may be asked, is there in the broad creation 

 aught so much to delight the eye as in the poul- 

 try-yard filled with a choice collection of beau- 

 tiful fowls? And is it possible, with all the 

 dye-stuffs in the land or in the sea, for human 

 skill to produce such an assemblage of delicate 

 and brilliant colors, combined and commingled 

 in ten thousand aspects, as are any day display- 

 ing themselves in the poultry-yard to the gaze 

 and contemplation of their admirers? If the 

 mansion of the farmer is not ornamented, like 

 the drawing-room of the rich merchant, with 

 costly drapery and tapestry, he may have a 

 poultry-yard exhibiting specimens of beauty 

 that would be the envy of princes. 



A. B. Allen remarks : " Some look with re- 

 gret upon the recent poultry mania which orig- 

 inated in New England, where most of our new 

 notions are hatched. But we regard it as a 

 downright blessing to the country. It has set 

 people to thinking, to comparing, and finally 

 to importing ; and we have thereby greatly im- 

 proved the quality of our poultry, and advan- 

 tageously and largely augmented their number* 

 the direct and inevitable consequence of this 

 excitement. 



"There is another important matter," con- 

 tinues Mr. A., "connected with this poultry 

 subject, not to be estimated by dollars and cents, 

 but of far more consequence than either. It is 

 the social and moral influence they exert, espe- 

 cially on the junior members of our families. 

 The flower and vegetable gardens, ornamental 



