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THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



CHAPTER VI. 



FARM- YARD FOWLS. 



THE day is beginning to dawn when each 

 variety of fowls must stand or fall by its own 

 individual merits ; the fictitious bolsterings of 

 fancy give preference to the stern realities of 

 utility, and the most valuable for table purposes, 

 for laying, and for incubation, must wrest the 

 laurels from their opponents. It is well it 

 should be so, for these are the considerations 

 that should alone bias us in choosing our favor- 

 ite variety to breed from; for as, when fowls 

 are used for the legitimate purposes of the ta- 

 ble, an ideal value can never be maintained, so 

 it is equally certain that when an amateur has 

 purchased dearly-bought experience, the im- 

 pression fixes itself tenaciously on the mind, 

 and does much to prevent unchecked demands 

 on the pocket for the future. 



Dr. Bechstein, of Germany, seems not to have 

 been far from suspecting that several distinct 

 varieties might be detected among the ordinary 

 fowls of the farm-yard. It might answer the 

 purpose of the amateur or dealer to rear a pure 

 stock of some of the handsomest and most use- 

 ful of these, and send them forth with appro- 

 priate names, determined by competent per- 

 sons, fixing the appellation of the variety. 



The common domestic cock, the well-known 

 chieftain of the farm-yard, is subject to innu- 

 merable varieties, scarcely two being found to 

 resemble each other exactly in form and plu- 

 mage. At what time this valuable bird was first 

 brought under the control of man, it is now 

 impossible to determine; but as the forests of 

 India still abound with several varieties of the 

 fowl in the wild or natural condition, it is quite 

 reasonable to conclude that the race was first 

 domesticated in the East, and gradually extend- 

 ed thence to the western world. The earliest 

 date of poultry-keeping is supposed to be coe- 

 val with the keeping of sheep by Abel, and the 

 tilling of the soil by Cain. Indeed it would 



seem that we are indebted for a stock of fowls 

 from the ark itself. Aristotle, who wrote about 

 350 years before Christ, speaks of them as fa- 

 miliarly as a modern historian would. 



GAME FOWL. 



We place at the head of the Farm-yard fowls 

 the Game fowl, which is supposed to be the first 

 reclaimed, and of course the most ancient of 

 all the varieties of domestic fowls. 



Our portrait is copied from an English print, 

 and called the Shawl-necked, or Irish Gray. 

 They are the largest sized of the Game fowls, 

 and are highly prized by the " fancy." 



The Jungle fowl of India is regarded by 

 most authors as the common ancestor of all our 

 fowls, and the Game fowl is naturally suggest- 

 ed as the first link in the geneological chain. 

 Some assert that the Black-breasted Red birds 

 are derived from what is commonly called the 

 Bengal Jungle fowl, while others claim a sepa- 

 rate descent from the Duck-wing fowl which 

 inhabits Southern India, known as Sonnerat's 

 Jungle fowl, whose more varied plumage bears 

 a very close resemblance to this beautiful varie- 

 ty. Others again, think the race from whicli 

 they sprung, like that of the Dodo, are extinct. 

 But we will leave inquiries of this kind, though 

 very interesting, to the Naturalist. 



It is also supposed by some that the English 

 Game fowl originated from a cross between the 

 common barn-yard fowl and the English pheas- 

 ant, as the latter is known to be so quarrelsome 

 and detei'mined a character, that when two 

 cocks encounter in their wild state, they sel- 

 dom separate until one or the other is killed. 

 Many of the Game fowls certainly much resem- 

 ble them in their plumage, color of their legs, etc., 

 for the best are mostly red, dark brown, brass- 

 colored wings, and black breast. 



Mowbray says the progeny between the com- 



