Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 533 



certain requisites are necessary. The white Leghorns lay a great 

 many eggs and are good to eat ; they are tender and juicy. The 

 poultry raisers of Monmouth prefer a cross of some English breed 

 ■with the Brahma. Some think the Dorking is the best extant ; they 

 give good, rich eggs. If it is intended to raise capons, Dominick is 

 the best. 



Mr. Dodge — In my opinion, for eggs, the best breed is Black 

 Spanish and White Leghorn ; for the table, Dorking and Bolton Grays ; 

 fur market, coarse, fast growers, as Cochins or Brahmas. 



The Chairman — I took great pains to have all breeds,. and keep 

 them, as the sexes at the Shaker. Community are said to live, " strictly 

 apart." This was troublesome and didn't pay, so I let down the bars, 

 and since this amalgamation have had good success. Bat I follow 

 brother Braen's practice, and give good care and good feed, and 

 oyster shells and dust, and so forth. 



Dr. J. Y. C. Smith — Dr. Trimble has accomplished notable results 

 with poultry on a city lot. Let us hear from him. 



Dr. Isaac P. Trimble — I keep poultry for but one object — unmis- 

 takably fresh eggs the year round — and in this I have had satisfactory 

 success. With some breeds the setting propensity is a great annoy- 

 ance, and I have been trying many breeds, so as to find the least of 

 this propensity. The Black Spanish, the Hamburgs, and some of 

 the French varieties answer well, but for the last two years I have had 

 several well-bred white Leghorns, and so far I prefer them to all others. 

 I keep a pretty exact account with my hens, and I find they average 

 about a bushel of grain each a year, and give me near 130 eggs in 

 return. Corn and wheat are the chief food ; sometimes buckwheat, 

 cracked corn or barley are given by way of variety. The grain is 

 always sound and sweet. I do not approve of giving hens damaged 

 grain because they will eat it. I never teed them ; they feed themselves 

 from feed-boxes always plentifully supplied. I have now thirty hens, 

 and during January, February and March they supplied us about 

 seventy-five dozens of eggs. Of course, they are comfortably housed, 

 and the flooi's of the stables are covered about a foot deep with earth — 

 here they can dust themselves in all weathers. I once took home from 

 this Club a contrivance for watering poultry. It is perfect and saves 

 much trouble. A constant supply of broken oyster shells is another 

 recpiisite of a well-managed poultry-yard. As to the setting instinct, 

 I certainly should not keep hens at all if we had none but the old 

 kinds. I have tried many ways of breaking up this propensity. I 

 have placed snow balls in their nests ; they would patiently melt- 



