ANCIERS' JOUR 



AND 



POULTRY EXCHANGE. \L J4N 2 ' 1 m ). 



i'fiftARIES 



Vol. I. 



PHILADELPHIA, JANUARY 1, 1874. 



No. 1. 



INTRODUCTION. 



It is no now idea with the Editor to publish a " Weekly 

 Fanciers' Journal," but it has been under consideration for 

 many years. Being one of the pioneers in the poultry and 

 almost the pioneer in the pigeon fancy of later years, I 

 have long seen the necessity for more frequent visits of a 

 Journal devoted to the interests of the Fancier. Not only 

 that of poultry, pigeons, and dogs, &c, but a Journal that 

 will treat on every subject relating to the breeding, manage- 

 ment, and treatment of pets of every description. Hence, 

 the name " Fanciers' Journal," which covers everything 

 pertaining to the fancy. Every human being has a fancy of 

 some kind. The boy's first pets are usually white mice, 

 which are soon replaced by guinea-pigs, then rabbits, finally 

 •pigeons. Should he become a mechanic he will be content 

 with the toys of moderate price. But should he be more 

 successful in life, he will soon have his loft stocked with 

 something better, such as almonds, carriers, pouters, &c. 

 Almost every lady has her pet canary ; some have many, 

 and will carry their fancy so far as to keep goldfinches, and 

 probably a piping bullfinch, talking parrot, &c, &c. The 

 Journal will be illustrated by the best English artists 

 from time to time as circumstances require. And the Edi- 

 tor has the promise of the assistance of some of the best 

 writers in this country. Foreign writers will be secured as 

 soon as practicable. It is hoped to make the Journal a 

 welcome weekly visitor to every household. The advertiser 

 cannot fail to see the advantage in a weekly for offering his 

 surplus stock to the public. Hoping for a generous share 

 of patronage, 



I am most respectfully yours, 



Jos. M. Wade. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



FANCIES. 



"We all have our fancies. Some of us fancy beautiful 

 women, others fine horses, and many others poultry and 

 pigeons. Sometimes these fancies occur at different periods 

 in the life of the individual, at other times they all exist at 

 the same moment. Then we pity that individual. He may 

 humor himself in his fancy for the poultry, the pigeons or 

 horses, but that other fancy: ah! we cannot always humor 

 ourselves there. Too much depends upon the creature her- 

 self, and we all know the uncertainties, the vagaries of a 

 capricious beauty who knows herself the fancied of a lord 

 of creation. Put from you as soon as you can such a fancy ; 

 the heart may throb, the hand may tremble when you hoar 

 her voice, but root it out ; let not your happiness depend on 

 one. Go to your horse and down the road you fly ; click, 

 click, click ; steady, boy, now and away. The open nostril, 

 flashing eye, and flying hoofs yield to the touch of the finger 

 as does the lightning to the point of the rod. There is a 

 fancy for you, from which you return with the live blood 

 bounding through your veins, and the glow of health 



painted upon your cheeks. But all have not the inclination 

 or means to indulge in a fast horse, and some fancies run in 

 a quieter channel. There arc the chickens ; first among 

 which we place the Game fowl, with his glorious crest and 

 undaunted eye, the monarch of the farmyard ; then the 

 golden, silvered Poland, and Hamburgs, diminutive 

 Bantam, and immense Brahma and Cochin. You are hard 

 to please if among the list of poultry you cannot find one 

 variety to reach your sympathies. Do you want vigorous 

 action, gorgeous plumage, and a spirit that will dare all ill, 

 you find it with the Game. Do you wish your lawn 

 illumined with gold or silver, accept the Hamburgs or 

 Polands. Have you a ten-foot yard and wish a trio of pets, 

 take the Brahma or Cochin, and your neighbors will admire 

 your birds and curse j'our " volcanoes of crow." 



But you have no yard or may have no such fancy; go 

 then to the pigeons. An unused room or a few boxes by 

 your window and your enjoyment is insured. Do you wish 

 a familiar friend who will wink a comical eye at you from 

 over his bag of wind, he can be obtained from the Pouters. 

 The Eantail will fly to your shoulder and bend its graceful 

 neck to eat the corn from your lips. A whistle, and the 

 Tumbler mounts the air and wantons among its billows as 

 a fish does on the waves of ocean. The most exquisite 

 coloring is to be found with the pigeons ; the most quiet 

 placid enjoyment is obtained from watching their move- 

 ments. A beautiful woman may turn your life to bitter- 

 ness ; a grand horse may dash you in pieces ; but your 

 chickens and pigeons are always ready to settle on your 

 knee, peck corn from your hand or lips, and cultivate in you 

 that contented disposition which insures happiness, regard- 

 less alike of east winds or financial panics. 



Dr. W. P. M. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



CHICKEN CHOLERA. 



Probably no drawback, roup excepted, proves more dis- 

 couraging to one anxious to rear fine poultry than the above- 

 named disease, and the most discouraging part of it seems 

 to be the fact that there is no infallible cure, though there 

 may possibly be preventives. 



I felt sure at one time that I had found a cure, and in 

 individual cases it worked well, rarely failing; but when 

 half a dozen or more of the flock became diseased, all efforts 

 to cure them became ineffectual. It is not a pleasant thing 

 to find, morning after morning, for a week or more, from 

 five to eight of your best fowls lying stiff, the victims of 

 this scourge. To say nothing of the value of fifty or more 

 well-marked Cochins or Brahmas, it makes one feel a little 

 gloomy to find the size of his flock so suddenly and so un- 

 ceremoniously diminished. Did this disease always take the 

 weakest and poorest specimens it were perhaps no bad thing, 

 but it does not discriminate. Tour fifty dollar cock is just 

 as likely to fall by it as the scrawniest specimen in the yard. 



