THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 139 



it,) he manifests nothing of a vindictive spirit, 

 and is easily induced to allow the companion- 

 ship of other cocks in a subordinate position. 

 The dunghill and other birds — the Hamburgh 

 in particular — will renew their combats day 

 by day, and the victor of one hour is often the 

 fugitive of another. But with game fowls the 

 cock of the walk claims and receives general 

 homage; and not only abstains himself from 

 these scenes of strife, but insists that his com- 

 panions also shall exhibit the same peaceable 

 demeanor. The younger birds, it is true, do 

 not always settle among themselves who is the 

 best man ; but woe betide them if their appeals 

 to arms are witnessed by their senior. 



In suitable localities game fowls are kept at 

 very small cost; for when indulged with a good 

 grass walk, a little corn, morning and evening, 

 is found sufficient to keep them in good order; 

 they are thus well suited to the farmer's present 

 system of poultry-keeping; for after ten weeks 

 or three months old, the greater part of their 

 food is procured abroad, and their owners' corn 

 but sparingly required. Yet, kill a game fowl 

 when you will, it is always in good condition ; 

 and thus, where fowls are not put up to feed, 

 they afford a ready supply whenever they may 

 be wanted. 



Mr. Roscoe tells that game chickens at five 

 months old, if well fed, should weigh [dressed] 

 5 lbs., the couple. This supposes good feeding 

 and attention while young, and a good run so 

 soon as they are able to profit by it. There 

 certainly can be no question of the superiority 

 of such birds as dead poultry, over the stuffed 

 and crammed tenants of feeding coops; they 

 truss capitally, and their plump, full breast will 

 bear comparison with any occupants of the 

 poulterer's counter. 



If any of our readers should desire the ne 

 plus ultra of excellence in a fowl, let him eat 

 and pronounce his opinion on the wing of a 

 well-fed game pullet, and we would have no 

 fear of his disagreeing with this expression of 

 our judgment on the good qualities of these 

 birds for the table. A celebrated physician at 

 Liverpool once declared his conviction that 

 there was more nutriment in one of Knowsley 

 [Derby] game fowls than in the largest capon 

 that the London market could possibly produce. 



As Exhibition Birds. — The Birmingham 

 exhibition of 1852, contained the best collec- 

 tion of game fowls that probably were ever 

 collected together at one time in one place. 

 Continuous wet weather had greatly marred 

 the beauty of most of the classes on that occa- 

 sion ; but the vigor and hardihood of the game 

 seemed to have carried them well through what 

 had evidently proved so severe a trial to many 



of their neighbors. A game fowl, too, steps 

 out of his basket, after a journey by sea or 

 land — which would test most severely other 

 fowls — as unconcerned and apparently as in- 

 different to fatigue as if brought from his walk 

 but half an hour previously. 



Diseases. — When we come to speak of dis- 

 eases peculiar to game fowls, our readers' pa- 

 tience need not be severely tested, for of all 

 fowls none appear more exempt from the usual 

 maladies of the poultry-yard, either as chickens, 

 or in their more matured state ; and even when 

 attacked, their great constitutional strength 

 generally carries them through their maladies 

 with few casualties. They* require, like other 

 chickens, to be watched when feathering, and 

 distemper to be guarded against by careful 

 housing and protection from wet, administering 

 their food in small quantities, not less than 

 three or four times daily. 



From the Boston Cultivator. 



CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT OF TOBACCO 

 IN CONNECTICUT. „ 



To persons who have not given some atten- 

 tion to the culture of tobacco in New England, 

 it may seem strange that the crop should be 

 here regarded of so much importance as to 

 justify the publication of an article under this 

 head. But if we look at the census returns 

 of 1850, we shall find that the amount of the 

 crop in Connecticut and Massachusetts is by 

 no means trifling. The total product for the 

 United States is put down at 199,739,746 lbs., 

 of which Connecticut produces 1,267,624 lbs. 

 and Massachusetts 138,346 lbs., making an ag- 

 gregate for these two States of 1,406,070 lbs., 

 which was probably worth to the producers, 

 $140,607. When we consider that nearly the 

 whole of the latter amount was produced in a 

 small district along the Connecticut river, and 

 that it furnishes this (or a greater) annual in- 

 come to a few cultivators, the details relating 

 to the management of the crop cannot be un- 

 interesting. 



In a late visit to the residence of Paoli La- 

 throp, Esq., South Hadley Falls, we obtained 

 from him much information in regard to this 

 subject. Mr. L. has been for several years 

 engaged in the tobacco culture, in which he has 

 been highly successful, and as the entire ma- 

 nagement of the crop is under his immediate 

 supervision, the particulars which we furnish 

 may be fully relied on. 



The seed is sown as early as the state of 

 ground will admit, on a moist, rich soil, pre- 

 pared as for a bed in the garden. It is scat- 

 tered broadcast at the rate of a table-spoonful 



