FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



91 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



REMINISCENCES OF THE "HEN FEVER." 



BY G. P. BTJRNHAM. 



I am an old man now ! 



When I was five-and-twenty, and that was over five-and- 

 thirty years ago, I " loved pigs and chickens." In the long 

 period that has elapsed since then, I have never parted with 

 one jot of my early regard for the beautiful and useful among 

 the Creator's goodly gifts to man. 



In my time I have, in one way or another, been in pos- 

 session of some of the choicest breeds and broods of domestic 

 poultry ever seen in this or any other country. I have had 

 my fun, paid its cost (roundly), enjo3 T ed the pleasures and 

 comforts of raising chickens, submitted to the abuse that 

 success in any enterprise of this character entails, contended 

 with sharp competitors, made a respectable fortune in the 

 business ; first and last, had " a good time," and am content. 



I propose to write, for the Fanciers' Journal, an occasional 

 reminiscence of former days, upon the topic of poultry and 

 fowl-raising in America. And though the theme is not a 

 little hackneyed, I shall submit, in this first paper, some ac- 

 count relating to the true history of what is nowadays known, 

 the world over, as the Brahma fowl. 



The " Brahma " is so good a variety — it has always been 

 so good — and breeders everywhere, at home and abroad, are 

 so unanimous in giving it the preference, par excellence, 

 when well managed, over all others, as a single variety, that 

 what I may have to say about this fowl, even at this late 

 day, may prove readable to thousands who are now begin- 

 ning the laudable undertaking of breeding poultry, on a 

 large or a limited scale. 



When, during the years 1848-9 to 1856-7, I bred this 

 variety most extensively, I called them " Gray Shanghais," 

 which, as I have often said before, I conceived the most 

 appropriate cognomen for this breed, since the first birds of 

 this tribe which I ever owned were light gray in color, 

 which I purchased in Pennsylvania for $25 the pair, and 

 these came from Shanghai, China. 



This cock and hen were identical in form, size, feathered 

 leg, and all other characteristics, with the Brahma of to-day. 

 Tet the party of whom I bought them, Dr. Kerr, of Phila- 

 delphia, denominated them " Chittagongs." I bred these 

 one year, then obtained a few similar birds in New York, 

 from on board a ship direct from Shanghai, through the late 

 William T. Porter, of the old Spirit of the Times. This 

 last lot were lighter colored, however. And fanciers who 

 used to come to see my stock in Eoxbury, and afterwards 

 (twenty-five years ago, in Melrose), pronounced them too 

 white to suit their then uncultivated tastes. 



Dr. John C. Bennett, of Plymouth, Mass., in those days 

 a shrewd and enthusiastic breeder of all kinds of fancy- 

 fowls, who originated the famous "Plymouth Bock" vari- 

 ety, made me a fabulous offer for my pair of ' ' Gray Chitta- 

 gongs " (the Philadelphia birds), and took them away. He 

 bred them with a very light drab or buff Shanghai hen he 

 had (I think of the Forbes' importation), and produced a 

 clutch of fine, showy chickens, which he exhibited at the 

 second or third Boston fowl show, to which he desired to 

 give a specific name. 



In those long ago days of the "hen fever," a good name 

 for fowls was "a big thing" towards success, among fan- 

 ciers, in disposing of the stock they produced. The Doctor 

 consulted me on this point, and in my own library, at Box- 



bury, he took down an atlas. Turning to the Eastern coun- 

 tries, he pored over China, Cochin-China, Hindostan, &c, 

 and his eye lighted upon the Burrampooter Biver, in India. 

 "Eureka!" cried the amiable Doctor, "I have found it 1 

 Here it is, and it's a stunner I" 



And he pointed me to that unpronounceable word — Bur- 

 rampooter — upon the map. 



" What is it?" I quietly asked. 



"The name for my birds. Do you see? Grand, expres- 

 sive, stylish, capital 1" he continued. 



Thus it began. He shortly varied it to " Brahmah-pootra," 

 the first portion of this term being the name of the chief 

 deity of the Hindoos. But this compound was too lengthy. 

 Then it was cut short to Brahmah, and finally, by universal 

 approval, became Brahma. A very good name for a, very 

 good fowl, though I continued for years to call my stock — 

 precisely like his, and bred originally from the same pair of 

 "Chittagongs " with the lighter birds I got on shipboard in 

 New York, from China — what they really were, to wit, 

 " Gray Shanghais." 



Under this name, in 1852, I sent to her Majesty, Queen 

 Victoria, the cage of mature birds, pronounced by the Brit- 

 ish press and fanciers there "the finest domestic fowls ever 

 seen in England," and the first of their species sent from 

 America. These were the Light Brahmas. A few months 

 afterwards, I sent to John Bailey, of London, a trio of 

 Dark Brahmas (or dark gray Shanghais), from this same 

 stock, which he put into the Birmingham Poultry Show, 

 alongside of my fowls sent previously to the Queen, and 

 contributed by His Royal Highness, Prince Albert. Mr. 

 Bailey's, trio carried off the first prize, Her Majesty's the 

 second, and a pair of my birds, sent to Bailey, were sold at 

 that show to Mr. Taylor, of Shepard's Bush, for one hun- 

 dred guineas ($500) ! Mr. Bailey paid me $100 for this trio. 



Mr. Tegetmeyer, in his splendidly illustrated work on 

 Poultry, furnishes admirable portraits of both these con- 

 signments of Brahmas from my yards, and credits me with 

 being the first to introduce these superb varieties into Eng- 

 land, which is fact. Her Majesty sent me a beautifully- 

 framed copy of her portrait, by Winterhalter, which now 

 hangs in my parlor at Melrose, and, as may well be under- 

 stood, I was not set back on the Brahma question much 

 after this episode in my chicken experience. 



This, in brief, is the true history of the original coining 

 of the name "Brahma." The theory set up by one writer, 

 that "the first pair of Brahmas were brought from Lucki- 

 poor up the Brahmapoutra Biver, in a ship to New York, 

 by a sailor," whose name has never been given, is sheer ro- 

 mance and nonsense. But this is simply " a part in the 

 play " of the hen fever. 



It is not my purpose now, however, to enter into any con- 

 troversy upon this subject. I will occasionally write a rem- 

 iniscence of the old days, but always good-naturedly and 

 truthfully, hoping that these contributions, if you choose to 

 use them in your columns, will serve as a pleasant variety 

 in the contents of your very agreeable weekly, Fanciers' 

 Journal. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



BEE-KEEPING. 



I presume it is true, that "every one has his fancy," 

 although the fancies of some are very odd. We have a man 

 out here in "Hoosierdom," who has a fancy for lawsuits. 

 His name is seldom off the dockets of his county courts. 



