1860. 



NEW E^^GLAND F2VIIMER. 



545 



TEE FEIZZLED JPOWl,. 



This fowl, more curious than useful, is said to 

 be a native of Japan, and other parts of Eastern 

 Asia, and is frequently called the "Friezeland 

 fowl," from confounding the proper term frizzled 

 with Friezeland. Captain Steadman has observed, 

 in his "Voyage to Surinam and the interior of 

 Guiana," that the natives rear a very small sjie- 

 cies of fowls whose feathers ai-e ruffled, and which 

 seem to be natives of that country. 



"This fowl," says Layard, in a letter from Cey- 

 lon, "is called by the Ceylonese Caprikuladlo. It 

 is found here but rarely, and the natives say they 

 came from Batavia." Sonnini and Temminck 

 agree that it is a native of Southern Asia, but 

 that it is domesticated, and tlirives well in Java, 

 Sumatra, and all the Philippine Islands. It is 

 the gallus crispus (Frizzled fowl) of Brisson. 



Martin says, "this breed is originally from. 

 Eastern Asia, and is often seen in Java, Suma- 

 tra, and India. It is a new variety, and not a 

 distinct species, as some have supposed." It is 

 occasionally met with in this country, but is not 

 common. It is called by some "French fowl." 

 It takes its name oi frizzled, from the feathers — 

 with the exception of the tail — being turned or 

 curled towards the head, giving it the appearance, 

 as has been facetiously remarked, of having been 

 "drawn through a knot-hole." Here, at the north, 

 our climate is even too severe for the grown 

 fowls. They are tender — the feathers do not af- 

 ford protection against wet, and they are unable 

 to bear exposure. "The open, ruffled appearance 

 of their feathers," says another writer, ''suggests 

 the opinion that they must be unsuited to our 

 climate ; but those best acquainted with them in- 

 form us that they are hardy, and do not suff.-r 



more tnan other fowls from the weather of this 

 country. They have the power, it seems, to bring 

 their feathers close together during the occurrence 

 of rain. 



Characteristics. — Temminck states that the 

 prevailing color of the wild race is white, and 

 that in these the legs are smooth ; but there are 

 many specimens variously colored with black and 

 brown, and some of them have feather-ed or booted 

 legs. ^ 



The cock has a beak much hooked ; hackle 

 slightly tinged with yellow ; comb cupped and 

 toothed ; ear-lobe white ; feathers over the entii-e 

 body white, and projecting from being curved 

 back from the body, so as to give the bird an ap- 

 pearance of being ruffled, and of having its feath- 

 ers rubbed in the wrong v/ay ; tail ample and well 

 sickled ; legs bluish ; height 18 inches ; weight 

 4^ pounds. 



They are not good layers, and their eggs aver- 

 age little more than 2 ounces in weiglit. The 

 liens are good mothers, and the chickens are har- 

 d}'. Though small, they are good table fowls. — 

 Bemenfs Poulterer's Companion. 



Drought in Minnesota. — A correspondent 

 of the New Hampshire Journal of Agriculture, 

 writing at Vv^'inona, Min., Sept. 3d, says : "To- 

 day I have been back into the country, sixteen 

 miles. Wheat is in abundance, and is the prin- 

 cipal crop. The drought is very severe on the 

 rolling prairies. At one hotel, in Stoton, they 

 are obliged to use brook water, and to draw even 

 that five miles, for both man and beast." 



