COCHINS, on SHANGMJEI^. 87 



be increased in size by the intermixture of fat between the fibres, which gives 

 rise to the marbled appearance seen in prime beef. This, however, cannot be 

 done in the case of birds, their muscles being always destitute of fat, which is 

 deposited under the skin, or in the interior of the body only. 



"The great value of Cochins as furnishing poultry for home consumption, is 

 not to be defiled. They grow rapidly when chickens ; they are so exceedingly 

 hardy that they can be reared at all seasons, and in winter with a lack of accom- 

 modation under wliich Dorkings would perish. Broody Cochin hens are always 

 to be obtained; and eggs for sitting are not wanting, even in the coldest weather.' 

 Their flesh, though inferior in shortness to that of the Dorking, and of a more 

 game-like flavor, is juicy to a high degree. For family use tbey are, hardly to be 

 surpassed, although as furnishing first-class fowls for the markets they are value- 

 less. It is frequently said by their partisans that the pullets are at least equal to 

 those of other fowls (a tacit acknowledgement that their cockerels are unequal) ; 

 but it mnst be borne in mind that there is a tendency in Cochins to produce an 

 extraordinary number of cocks in nearly every brood. Another reeommendar 

 tion they sometimes receive is that the feathers are nearly or quite as valuable 

 as those of the duck and goose. If old birds are killed, or chickens after they have 

 perfectly completed their autumnal moult, and become fuU-plumaged birds, this 

 statement may have some weight; but at this period of their lives they are value- 

 less, or nearly so, as market fowls; and if killed at the age when they are in the 

 highest condition, it will be found that the feathers are mixed with stmbs, con- 

 taining so much blood, that their value is very small ; whereas, in a duckling 

 of from eight to ten weeks, the feathers of the breast are perfectly formed, and 

 consequently valuable. 



" To sum up, it may be said that th« Cochins are chiefly valuable as a family 

 fowl from' their hardihood; from the ease with which they can be kept in a small 

 space, and the manner in which they bear confinement ; from their great pro- 

 lificacy, in winter especially; from their docility, and the readiness with which 

 they sit in any place, and at any time of year ; and from the quickness of their 

 growth, and large size ; but as a first-class market and table fowl, it will be found 

 that any attempt to breed them for this purpose will terminate in disappoint- 

 ment. 



" When Cochins were first introduced, many persons turned cocks of this breed 

 into their poultry-yards with a view to the improvement of the ordinary farm- 

 yard 'stocks' Never was there a more fallacious idea; fowls that are bred between 

 Cochins and the common barn-door breeds are about the least useful variety of 

 poultry that can be imagined ; gaunt, weedy, stilty, big-boned, angular, yellow- 

 legged birds are the produce of such a cross ; and it is only requisite to ask the 

 opinion of the poultry salesmen at LeadenhaU, and of the higglers who collect 

 the fowls for them from the country, to know the' estimation in which such birds 

 are held." 



The original " Cochin Chinas " of England, or " Shanghses " of America, prob- 

 ably more nearly resembled the Partridge Cochins of to-day than any other of 

 the sub-varieties into which the breed has been split np. Being so much larger 

 than any breed of fowls which had previously been known to- civilization, as 

 well as so different in habit and disposition, it is not surprising that they were 



