ASIATIC FOWLS. 



Ill 



requisite time, as is the case in his native land, 

 and you see perfection ; his mammoth form and 

 lengthy proportions are filled in with flesh and 

 fat a wonder and a pleasure to look at. 



" However, utility should precede beauty, and 

 in the estimation of many ' handsome is that 

 handsome does,' and here the Shanghai fowl 

 will not be wanting. As has before been said, 

 they are excellent layers, and arrive at maturity 

 earlier than any other large-sized fowl, the 

 Cochins excepted. By the term ' maturity' is 

 meant the age at which a bird will commence 

 laying eggs, and thus perpetuate its race. They 

 will also prove hardier than most other fowls 

 except the game breed. They will also improve 

 the general race of farm-yard poultry by judi- 

 cious crossing. The pullet from the cross be- 

 tween a Shanghai hen and Dorking cock, pos- 

 sesses, in an eminent degree, the special quali- 

 ties of both. It grows up rapidly and to a large 

 size. The yellow legs of the Shanghai are 

 often displaced by the white foot of the Dork- 

 ing, and moreover, the flesh is almost as juicy 

 and as good as the last-named bird ; while when 

 alive, it produces more eggs than the Dorking, 

 of equal size, and of a richer color." 



The introduction of the Shanghai fowls is a 

 national benefit, for the farmer who keeps Shang- 

 hai hens and Dorking cocks will always be sure 

 to have good-sized fowls, and a good supply of 

 eggs, at a time when most needed for the market. 

 But let him beware of breeding from this cross ; 

 for as sure as the young mongrels would chirp, 

 so sure would they reverse the excellent proper- 

 ties of their parents. 



Now let us hear the other side. A writer in 

 the American Agriculturalist says : "I next tried 

 the Shanghai, and of all the breeds of fowls I 

 ever saw tried, I think them the most abom- 

 inable, unprofitable, and unsightly brutes ever 

 introduced into the poultry-yard. They are 

 gross feeders, making for the same food, and in 

 the same space of time, less than any breed 

 with which I am acquainted. The chickens are 

 never chickens, in an epicurean sense of the 

 word ; not filling out the first year, but the 

 growth being expended in the bone and stature ; 

 and when fatted, if, indeed, they do ever get fat, 

 I have found the meat coarse and dry. I have 



not found their laying qualities so vastly supe- 

 rior to other breeds. 



"We are averse to all large overgrown ani- 

 mals. We never knew a big hog, or ox, but 

 had cost more than he come to, in making him 

 grow up to his size. So with big fowls ; and 

 in reply to a Shanghai friend afflicted with de- 

 clining purse, we have given it as our opinion 

 that two, like the Game and Dorking, will sus- 

 tain and keep in a better condition more flesh 

 and feather, on the same food, than one, on a 

 pair of gouty stilts under a modern Chinaman. 

 And, too, careful comparison, deduced from the 

 realities of cause and effect, teaches us that, as 

 scratching is one of the elements of good living 

 to a cock, the smaller breeds, in this particular, 

 have greatly the advantage over the automaton 

 monsters of the poultry-yard. With bountiful 

 crops and good seasons they may do ; but give 

 us a Dorking or Game for the spit a Bantam 

 to crow a Guinea-fowl for eggs, and we will 

 give up all the giant fowl fancies to those who 

 choose to indulge in them." 



It was the Shanghai which created the " Fowl 

 Fever" a few years since, and it was on the 

 shanghai that the bubble burst. They are no 

 longer the aristocracy of the fowl-yard; their 

 day has passed, their race is run. 



BRAHMA FOWLS. 



To the banks of the Brahmaputra a river that 

 waters the territory of Assam are we indebted 

 for the fowls bearing that name, lately intro- 

 duced into this country. 



The first appearance of the Brahma fowls 

 was in the city of New York, in the possession 

 of a sailor, who sold them to a mechanic of 

 that city, who again sold them or their prog- 

 eny. 



The editor of the Northern Farmer says, " The 

 origin of the Brahma fowls can never be traced 

 farther than has already been developed, true 

 or fabulous, and at this day it is quite useless to 

 attempt to arrive at any new facts pertaining 

 thereto. We profess to know about as much in 

 regard to their origin as any one, having heard 

 the views and statements of all parties from the 

 beginning to the present day. We, therefore, 

 are prepared to make the following state- 



