514 Transactions of the Amebic ax Institute. 



are hardy. I have succeeded well with Dorkings, but they are more 

 inveterate setters, and not so easily broken up as the Brahmas, are not 

 so heavy at two years old, not so prolific layers, and are more tender. 

 Doubtless the very best fowls for common use, to commence with, 

 are good young native hens, supplied with Brahma and Dorking- 

 cocks each year alternately. But there is a great variety of opinion 

 in this respect, and beginners should experiment till they are suited. 

 It is impossible to say here, how a man who is an entire stranger to 

 the business should handle fowls to the best advantage. But it is 

 entirely safe to say to beginners, commence to go into this business 

 gradually, and learn as you go along ; and as success comes, increase 

 as may be desirable. A new beginner will inevitably fail if he com- 

 mences on a larger scale than with fifty to one hundred fowls. Almost 

 any poultry book will give the necessary information, and the " Poul- 

 try World " is certainly a good periodical for any one interested in 

 the subject it treats ot. 



Mulching Meadows. 



A correspondent, Reading, Pa. — Top-dressing meadows and winter 

 crops with fine manure or compost is a most useful operation, which 

 is sadly neglected or not appreciated by most farmers. By my own 

 experience, and from considerable observation of others, I have proved 

 three special advantages from this practice, beside others of less value. 

 I found it to cause good and poor meadows to yield twice as much 

 and better hay in a season, and with less injury and exhaustion by 

 frequent mowings ; I have found it to prevent winter wheat and rye 

 from killing out by severe winters, while producing a better yield in 

 quantity and quality ; and I have found it enabling me to raise good 

 crops of winter grain, in localities and on farms where it was not 

 possible to secure winter crops without this mulching. It shelters 

 the young plants of grass and grain from severe sudden changes of 

 temperature ; it prevents the soil from heaving and sinking by these 

 changes ; it prevents the moisture from evaporating and the ground 

 from baking by the first hot suns, and helps to smother down weeds 

 which are liable to spring up. 



A correspondent, Chapel Hill, Va.— The following experiment 

 convinced the writer of the superior advantages of mulching: The 

 1st of April, 1871, I planted fifty, one-year-old and ill-grown apple 

 trees in a stiff, rather thirsty soil. A portion of the land had already 

 "been seeded in oats. The remainder was Avell manured and cultivated 

 in potatoes. The trees in the oat land were mulched with rotten 



