FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



SETTER DOG "GROUSE." 



(illustrated.) 



Our illustration represents the well-known setter dog 

 "Grouse," owned by Messrs. Schreiber & Son, photogra- 

 phers, of this city. The dog and position were thought to 

 be so good, that the "Sportsman's Club" of this city adopted 

 it as a seal for their Society. 



" Grouse " was born June, 1868. Color, orange and white. 

 When in good condition, his hair is from 5 to 7 inches long, 

 of very fine silky texture. He stands 24J inches high, and 

 is 41 inches from the end of nose to the root of tail ; 31 

 inches around the chest ; length of head 10J inches ; cir- 

 cumference of head 18 inches. His sire and dam were raised 

 in New Jersey from imported parents. He has a fine dis- 

 position, and is thoroughly broken on all the game birds of 

 this section of country ; will stand, back, and retrieve Eng- 

 lish snipe, woodcock, quail, and partridges. As an instance 

 of his good qualities, when three years old, during a sport- 

 ing trip in Virginia, he pointed within half an hour on 

 woodcock, quail, and English snipe. 



much for my first year's experience in the poultry business. 

 In the next number I shall give my experience with the 

 different breeds in regard to laying qualities, profits, &c. 



Thos. S. Armstrong. 



Trenton, N. J. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



WHAT FOWLS PAY THE BEST. 



I shall endeavor to give through the Fanciers' Journal 

 and Poultry Exchange my views and experience in regard 

 to what fowls pay the best, how to make them pay, &c, &c. 



My first investment in poultry outside of the common 

 dung-hill breed, was made in the spring of 1865, by pur- 

 chasing six or seven spotted fowls, called by their former 

 owner Silver Pheasants, at one dollar per head. A few 

 weeks later I called at the residence of Mr. Benjamin 

 Haines, in Elizabeth, N. J., and added one trio of silver- 

 spangled Hamburg's, and one trio of White Leghorn, to my 

 "choice" collection. So much for a start in the poultry 

 business. My object this week is to show, to the best of my 

 abilit}', and by my own experience, the foolish idea of ama- 

 teurs in not selecting the best stock, and seeing what they 

 get before paying for it. Of course there are numerous in- 

 stances where parties have been knovm to get good stock by 

 answering some of the many advertisements that crowd the 

 agricultural and stock papers of the present day, but I truly 

 believe that the poultry fancy has suffered more, in this 

 country, by the rascality of unprincipled parties, than by 

 any other way. However, we will return to our subject. 

 I had the hen fever badly ; Burnham was nowhere. Never 

 shall I forget with what anxiety I watched and waited for 

 the necessary twenty-one days to elapse, when the careful 

 old dung-hill (selected expressly for the occasion), should 

 present me with my first clutch of Ham burgs ; but as 

 everything must have an ending, so it was in my case. But 

 oh, horror I what was my dismay when going into the hen- 

 nery one morning, to find my much-looked-for brood of 

 Hamburgs almost black! What could have been the 

 cause? I had kept them separate, the Hamburgs in one 

 coop and the Leghorns in another ; so where did the mon- 

 grels come from ? and they were mongrels of the first 

 water. But I was young, and trouble did not sit long upon 

 me. The Leghorns had to report yet. Perhaps I may have 

 better luck in that quarter; they certainly cannot come 

 Mack ; neither did they ; but out of fifteen eggs the hen 

 hatched twelve chicks, five white and seven Dominique. So 



MARKETING POULTRY. 



All poultry intended for market should be well fattened, 

 especially that sent for the holidays. The best manner of kill- 

 ing fowls is by bleeding in the neck ; never wring the neck. 

 Poultry intended for market should be dry picked, and if the 

 feathers are plucked before the bodies are cold, this can be 

 easily done. If poultry is scalded in the old-fashioned way it 

 lessens the value full one-third. After the fowl is dry picked 

 plunge it in a kettle of very hot water, holding it there only 

 long enough to cause the bird to plump, then hang it up, 

 turkeys and chickens by the foot, and ducks and geese by 

 the head, until thoroughly cooled. This scalding makes the 

 fat look bright and clear, and the fowl appear nice and 

 plump. In packing, use clean packages, lining the sides 

 and ends with paper and cover over, between the layers, 

 with clean rye straw. Pack as closely as possible, so there 

 will be no chance for the poultry to move about and be- 

 come bruised. Good poultry will always sell for a full price, 

 while common and inferior grades invariably sell low, and 

 in most cases at a loss to shippers. — Rural Home. 



PECULIARITIES OF BIRDS. 



Recent adepts in natural history state some curious facts 

 about birds. It is said that among other " mental qualities" 

 which our winged friends possess, they have a wonderful 

 power of " calculating distances." As new weapons of de- 

 struction are invented, many species of birds narrowly ob- 

 serve their range, and keep out of the dangerous distance, 

 without troubling themselves to fly farther than necessary. 

 Some birds, an English authority maintains, have studied 

 " rifle practice," and give themselves a longer distance from 

 a rifle barrel than isneeessary when a "smooth bore," is 

 pointed at them. This may be true, for the wonderful 

 sagacity which animals possess may be admitted within 

 bounds. 



Domestic poultry, losing much, do not still lose all their 

 aptness, though " Tiff," in the story, pronounces them 

 "shallow things." They will avoid a carriage-wheel, at 

 the last moment, seldom moving more than three or four 

 inches out of the way. But their aptness at " calcula- 

 tion," when a steam-engine is the " motor," is not credita- 

 ble. Railroad trains through rural districts immolate large 

 numbers of chickens. The birds can "time" a horse, but 

 not a steam-engine. 



Birds have a fine eye, it is noted, for beauty and adorn- 

 ment — domestic fowls always excepted — and some varieties 

 are great imitators. Their character is summed by the 

 writer already referred to as follows : " It may be safely 

 said that birds seem to have more capacity for perceiving 

 beauty, much more gift for social enjoyment, a finer knowl- 

 edge of distance and direction, and more power of vocal 

 imitation, than any other order of animals of which we know 

 anything. On the other hand, they have less sense of power 

 and sympathy than the dog, and therefore much less sense 

 of responsibility to their superiors, whom they often love 



