Hay 9, 1865. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETIOULTTTRE AND COTTAGE GAEDBNEE. 



367 



METEOROLOGICAIi OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of London for the Week ending May 6th. 



Date. 



BAROMETGB. 



THERMOMETER. 



Wind. 



Bain 



in 



inches. 



.00 

 .08 

 .00 

 .04 

 .18 

 .04 

 .01 





Air. 



Earth. 



Geherai. ReUAR£S, 



Max. 



Min. 



Max. 



Min. 



1 ft deep. 



2 ft. deep. 



53 



52 



51 



52 



62 



52i 



53 



Son. 30 

 Mon. 1 

 Tues. 2 

 Wed. 3 

 Tburj. 4 

 Sat 5 

 Sun. 6 



Mean 



29.985 

 29.950 

 29.970 

 29.972 

 29.848 

 29.743 

 30.004 



29.975 

 29.924 

 29.940 

 29.846 

 29.7S2 

 29.650 

 29.927 



66 

 6t 

 67 

 70 

 68 

 74 

 71 



23 



38 

 36 



47 

 50 

 42 

 29 



54 



53 



53i 



53 



54J 



55 



56 



N.E. 



E. 

 S.W. 

 S.W. 



s. 

 s. 

 w. 



Light clouds and fine; cold N.E. wind ; sharp froBt towards 

 Overcast: cloudy; fine; rain at night. [morning. 

 Cloudy ; fine ; windy ; dry air, and fine. 

 Very fine, with clouds ; rain at night. 

 Overcast; rain; showery, mild at night. 

 Very fine throuchout. 



Very fine ; low white cloud, and deep hlae sliy in intervals ; 

 [very fine ; slight frost at night. 



29.924 



29.863 



66.71 



37.85 



54.14 



53.21 





0.35 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



APPRECIATING CHICKENS' MERITS. 

 It is among the great charms of our pursuit that it 

 bi'ings us in contact with many very amiable and excellent 

 men — members of the clergy. We were lately talking to 

 oue who said he has certain sermons he always preaches at 

 certain times of the year, and when some of his hearers tell 

 him the sermon is an old acquaintance he asks them if 

 they have acted up to its requirements, or if they have 

 derived all possible benefit from it. We are somewhat in a 

 similar position ; there are subjects that belong to seasons, 

 and this is one of them. Letters come in upon us, asking 

 how soon an accurate judgment may be formed as to the 

 merits of chickens, and suggesting the obligation that would 

 be conferred by us on amateurs if we published some papers 

 on the subject. We have done so every year and we do so 

 again. 



It is of no use to look for perfection, and if all faulty 

 chickens are to be drafted you may make a clean sweep, but 

 there are deformities and defioiences that say plainly the 

 subjects of theiu are fit only for the market and table. 

 Have no mercy upon them. That which is sickly or 

 deformed always seems to have a claim on the sympathy of 

 those who are in a position to protect it, and the crooked 

 chicken, or tlie poor little darling of the brood, are sure to 

 have protectors among the ladies of the family. We have 

 known a crooked tail to save the life of a chicken, and the 

 greatest favourite we ever saw was one that had a habit 

 of carrying its head as though it were continually looking 

 round a corner. It is useless to save such animals. Chickens 

 sell well at this time of the year — fatten them and send 

 them to market, or, if you prefer, eat them. Nothing is 

 nicer than a spring chicken. It is of no earthly use to sup- 

 pose they will die. Such creatures seem to be endowed with 

 longevity. Eats wo' n't kill them ; if there is an incursion of 

 these pests into the poultry-house they always take the best. 

 Thieves wo'n't steal them — -in fact the only use these poor 

 " creturs " can be is to prove a robbery. They form a link 

 in evidence, it is hard to swear to a fowl picked and trussed 

 ■with the head cut off, but easy when there is a particular 

 foot, or a crossed bill, or a crooked tail. The pest of the 

 neighbourhood in a lonely parish was brought to justice by 

 one of these " cripples." He was the planner of all the 

 roost robberies, and the receiver of the goods. His instruc- 

 tions were never to bring away a pet or a cripple, but they 

 did once; they brought away a screaming, flying, very 

 hump-bacted Hamburgh hen. Every one knows how they 

 scream. She was taken with a lot of choice Dorkings that 

 ■were in the house. The receiver broke out into a passion 

 ■when he saw her, and while abusing the thieves and trying 

 to kill her let her get away. She became a second edition 

 of Bid Sykes's dog in more senses than one ; she was a 

 means of conviction and recognition, and she would neither 

 be caught nor killed. No amount of food would tempt her 

 down, but, like a feathered Cassandra, she sat on high and 

 prophesied woe, which most assuredly came. Through her 

 the man was taken, and is now enjoying penal servitude. 

 As the thief and the receiver were leaving the dock, the 

 latter soothed his wounded spirit by saying, " This comes of 

 people saving pets." 

 i'our-toed Dorkings, five-toed Hamburghs, crooked-combed 



Cochins, eccentric chickens of every kind should now pass 

 into food or market. "Well, but," says one, "they are such 

 little things." Granted. Then it becomes a matter of cal- 

 culation whether they wiU pay for the food they consume. 

 If that is not likely, eat them. "But they are so small,-" then 

 make four do the duty of two. Eschew the curse of ordinary 

 English cookery, the plain roast and boil, and make what 

 some people call " a mess." Many who, in what we Hamp- 

 shire people call " pig-kQling time," when like " Eomford 

 Facey," " we live well," can enter into the merits of "liver 

 and crow," or fried " griskin," or "lean meats," at other times 

 eat veal and bacon, and never dream of frying these little 

 chickens. They hate cookery. Well, let us teach them a 

 little of it. It is of no use to trj- to fry them whole. Let them 

 form part of a dish; but how to cut them up, they are all 

 joints and bones. A very clever writer on cookery says, " If 

 you do not please the eye, you will not please the palate." 

 He is right. We dare say some of our readers know the 

 feeling when reading of a terrible surgical operation, or an 

 accident, or something of the sort, there is a shudder begins 

 at the extremities, and runs c'aiUing up to the head. We 

 felt something of the sort, when in our poultry experiences 

 we visited a kitchen to view the operation we are advising. 

 Our evening's conversation had been pretty much in the 

 style of our present writing, and our fair hostess, while 

 listening to our instructions, constantly repeated to her 

 " other moiety," " Now, mind you recollect. Prank." After 

 breakfast the good lady left the room, and " signalled her 

 consort," who directly asked to be excused, and followed, we 

 fancied, rather reluctantly. . We make it a rule to go away 

 from loud voices, but we are attracted by a merry, cheery, 

 and ringing laugh. We heard such, and after a time we 

 went to it, and found an unhappy chicken on the board. It 

 had suffered we know not how many incisions in the endea- 

 vour to carry out our instructions. The lady very wisely 

 had given up the task to her husband, who after vainly en- 

 deavouring to cut crosswise through the breast gave an awful 

 chop just as we entered and certainly divided it, but in such 

 a style as justified his wife's laughter, and gave us the 

 chilling shudder we were speaking of. We do not believe a 

 husband ever likes to be laughed at by his wife, and, there- 

 fore, it was with something of vexation he said, " There, 

 that looks tempting, certainly." His wife said something 

 about being cut to pieces by a railway train, and to prevent 

 a continuance, we volunteered again to describe the whole 

 process, as follows : — First, draw the chicken, take a sharp 

 knife and divide the merrythought in the centre, then cut 

 from the point of the breastbone straight along towards the 

 neck, keeping the edge of the knife against the bone that 

 no meat remain on it. When it has reached the end of the 

 breast let the knife keep along the bone till it reaches the 

 joint of the wing, which must be divided. Detach the under 

 part of the breast by cutting it from the bone with the point 

 of the knife, and you wUl have that which is termed a 

 "fillet." There is oue, of course, on each side of the breast. 

 Cut the legs off at the knuckle ; then take off thigh and 

 drumstick, which you will divide. Tou have now the side 

 bones to remove. Then cut the carcase in half lengthways j 

 divide the back just below the oyster-pieces, and with a, 

 broad heavy knife or chopper fiatten both pieces. Try two 

 or three little chickens fried in this way, with some thin 

 slices of cherry-coloured bacon, and we promise you a good 

 dish. Some good judges, who like fiavour, fry a few aromatic 

 herbs with them. Do not forget the neck, gizzard, liver. 



