THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



77 



mon locations, the last of April or first of May 

 is early enough for a full raising. 



If I am correct in my view, (and I think I 

 am,) we shall not only have double the number 

 of chickens, but many more eggs. 



As we have failed in chickens, we have turned 

 our attention to ducks. Last spring we had a 

 pretty good supply, and find them good for the 

 table; that is, both the Muscova and puddle 

 ducks. Seeing it recommended in the Planter 

 to permit chickens to have the run of the gar- 



den, we trained about forty ducks to this habit, 

 and found them much more dexterous than 

 chickens in catching insects, and they neither 

 scratch nor wallow as chickens do, to the injury 

 and destruction of the vegetables. They inter- 

 rupt nothing until late in the fall, when they 

 will commence pecking cabbages ; then they 

 may be turned out, and no danger of their flying- 

 in again, as chickens do. 



W. TlMBERLAKE, 



Belle- Air, Jan. 22, 1845. 



SIAMESE SOW. 



We have here a very spirited cut, copied from 

 " Low's Illustrations," of the Siamese, or China 

 hog. It is by the cross of the small, compact, 

 Eastern hog upon the large open roomy swine 

 of Western Europe, that we have derived the 

 improved breeds of modern days. At the head 

 of these different varieties, in point of fashion 

 and public favor, the "Berkshire" has, until 

 lately, stood unrivalled. This stock was un- 

 doubtedly obtained by crossing the large, reddish, 

 well made boar of the county of Berkshire, in 

 England, upon just such a sow as graces our 

 columns, and in the playful litter with which 

 she is surrounded may be seen the blended beau- 

 ties of sire and dam. 



The violence of public prejudice against the 

 Berkshire stock, which has been exactly in pro- 

 portion to the exaggeration of its merits, has 



sufficiently subsided to enable us to address a 

 word of reason to our readers on the subject. 



There are strong reasons for thinking that the 

 stock to which we have alluded above, known 

 in this country and in England as the " Berk- 

 shire," possesses, in a remarkable degree, those 

 qualities which are most estimable in this spe- 

 cies of domestic animals. Why then is the cur- 

 rent of testimony in this country, especially in 

 this Southern country, so adverse to their claims? 

 Simply because we have erred egregiously in 

 our experiments with it. If a valuable stock be 

 created by judicious crossing, it can only be per- 

 petuated by judicious selection. It is a well 

 known fact that not more than one individual in 

 a hundred is calculated to propagate the choicest 

 properties of his race ; therefore, to keep a stock 

 up to high water mark, not more than one indi- 



