INTRODUCTION. 



Whenever witnessed there can be no stupid lan- 

 guor, no lugubrious dullness for want of objects 

 to inspire a feeling of interest, no painful sen- 

 sation of solitude and loneliness. The human 

 being that gives no responsive emotion to the 

 rounds of this scene must have a heart as im- 

 penetrable as adamant, affections as frigid as 

 the ice of the poles, and is, indeed, an outcast 

 from Nature's temple. 



Yet far more important in a social or sympa- 

 thetic view is the pleasure experienced in feed- 

 ing poultry, and thus making them, as it were, 

 companions. Animal nature, is full of social 

 impulses, and these impulses are not confined 

 in their operation to the particular species in 

 which they severally originate. These impulses 

 belong to other animals as well as to man. 



In the advancing state of agriculture a pecul- 

 iar interest is, at the present moment, thrown 

 around every means calculated to advance the 

 interests of rural economy; domestic poultry, 

 though last, not least, now comes in for a share ; 

 and we are pleased to perceive that more atten- 

 tion has of late been directed to this subject. 

 There is scai'cely an agricultural paper which 

 reaches us that does not contain some inqui- 

 ries in regard to their management, properties, 

 varieties, etc., etc. 



"He who adds," says Boswell, "to the pro- 

 ductiveness of any object of nature, which can 

 add a unit to the sum of human subsistence, 

 and which can render that available for the pur- 

 pose which was wasted or useless before, must 

 be deemed a benefactor to his species. In this 

 light even the rearing a few poultry may be 

 viewed ; for by them much of the refuse of the 

 kitchen may again appear on the table in a 

 new and better form ; and if to them can be 

 added the rabbit, the pig, and the cow, there is 

 no necessity that any thing be lost or thrown 

 away." 



The industrious mechanic can easily associ- 

 ate the poultry-yard to add to the comforts of 

 his family, to render his leisure hours more 

 profitable, and to convert his recreations into 

 a reward. With proper arrangements and at- 

 tention he may either in a village or city, at a 

 trifling expense, keep at least twenty hens that 

 will furnish each year from ten to fifteen hun- 



dred eggs and not far from one hundi-ed chick- 

 ens, plump and full-grown for the table. 



Among all nations throughout the globe, 

 eggs and poultry have been long used and 

 highly prized as articles of food. But the lack 

 of information, or the want of proper atten- 

 tion in the management of fowls, the small 

 quantity and high price of eggs in our markets 

 during the winter season, cause most persons in 

 moderate circumstances to do without them, 

 while those of larger means use them as expen- 

 sive luxuries. 



" Poultry," says an able author, " has been too 

 much undervalued as a means of study and field 

 for recreation. Insignificant and, to us, value- 

 less wild animals, brought from a distance, about 

 whose history and habits we care little or no- 

 thing, are received with respectful attention by 

 men of education and ability, and embalmed in 

 spirits, treasured in museums, and portrayed 

 by artists ; but a class of creatures inferior to 

 few upon the earth in beauty, useful, compan- 

 ionable, and of great value in an economical 

 point of view, are discarded and disdained." 



The importance of raising poultry in a pecu- 

 niary point of view, has been little appreciated 

 by the farmer, and on most farms very little 

 attention is paid to the rearing and breeding a 

 greater number than can subsist by picking up 

 waste or refuse grain, or what might escape the 

 pigs and be lost. They are considered unprof- 

 itable, and a very insignificant part of live stock 

 on the farm ; still, they should not altogether be 

 neglected, for there are very few persons who 

 do not like a fresh-laid egg or a fine fat pullet ; 

 and these are some of the fine things which 

 happily can be had in perfection by the farm- 

 er or mechanic, with very little trouble or ex- 

 pense. 



A writer in the Cottage Gardener says, "Look- 

 ing at the chicken merely as a machine for the 

 conversion of cheap materials into a costly arti- 

 cle of animal food, the point to be considered 

 by those who have this object in view, and 

 would be guided by motives of economy in 

 their selection, is not which machine will con- 

 sume least of the raw materials (for in any 

 case the equivalent in the manufactured article 

 will be in fixed proportion to the amount of 



