266 



THE SOUTH 



ERN PLANTER . 



Present value of farm from $75 jfco $85, hav- 

 ing expended $1,100 in farm buildings. Have 

 never used 500 weight of artificial manures, 

 relying mainly on barn-yard manure, clover, 

 and plaster as fertilizers. 



I have not charged, or given credit for what 

 has been consumed on the farm in the form of 

 corn, meats, provisions, &c. 



Respectfully j^ours, 



A SUBSCRIBER. 



Jefferson County, Va. 



The Game the most Profitable Breed of 

 Stock. 



T well know the sentiment here advanc- 

 ed will meet, with many who will doubt 

 its truthfulness. Some will imagine they 

 can, from their experience, prove to the 

 contrary. I will ask, have you ever rais- 

 ed the game with your brag fowls, the 

 same year and under the same circum- 

 stances? If not, then you must hold your 

 peace. 



Others know it is false, for naturalists 

 say of all fowls the game is the most bar- 

 ren. In reply to this, I will say the fowls 

 we now get from England as game, are 

 very different from that barren stock which 

 Goldsmith says " will not cluck more than 

 one brood of chickens a season." 



I will now prove that I have not jump- 

 ed at conclusions, by showing that I am 

 well fixed for raising more than two or 

 three species of fowls the same year. And 

 secondly, that the treatment is the same 

 with all. 



In the first place, I have eight hen 

 houses, four separated by a paling fence, 

 the others by distance. In each hen house 

 I have the boxes for nests made of plank 

 twelve inches wide, with partitions ten 

 inches apart; the nests are made three 

 times a year, of nice grass and trash to- 

 bacco ; the feed is alike at every lot ; the 

 fowls, being of a different breed at every 

 lot, all have the same attention paid them. 

 They are well fed, and have water in the 

 summer twice a day ; and in every lot I 

 have calcined bone for them to eat, as 

 they cannot get lime enough in the lots. 



I like to set as many hens as possible in 

 February and March, though I never put 

 more than thirteen eggs at this season un- 

 der a hen unless she is very large, for in 

 cold weather the eggs should come in con- 

 tact with the body of the hen, to insure a 

 good hatching. 



After the chickens are hatched I put 



them with the hen in a hovel, and keep 

 them stopped up for two or three days, 

 unless it is warm weather; then they may 

 be turned out for three or four hours a 

 day, until they are strong enough to fol- 

 low the hen. Some trash tobacco should 

 be put in the hovel, and if they have ver- 

 min, grease the hen with lard and spirits 

 turpentine stewed. The chickens should 

 not be greased unless they are covered 

 with vermin and over a week old. I feed 

 three times a day with dough made up 

 with grease from the kitchen. Now this 

 method is followed at every lot, and I can 

 truly say the game will compare favoura- 1 

 bly with any other breed of fowls I ever 

 saw. To show I believe what I write, I 

 have this year seven kinds of game, and 

 with the exception of one stock, they will 

 lay as many eggs, set as well, and raise 

 their young better than any fowls I have 

 ever seen. 



I know it is said the game do not grow 

 fast enough, for chickens hatched the same 

 time, of the larger species, such as the 

 Shanghai, Chittagong, or Black Spanish, 

 will be a fourth larger at the same age, or 

 by the time the first named are large enough 

 to eat. I admit this: but the price com- 

 manded by the game will, when they are 

 marketably, justify you in keeping them a 

 week or so longer, and this is not all, for 

 the game may be sold to amateurs from 

 $2 to $10 per pair. Many are prejudiced 

 against the game on account of their fight- 

 ing qualities. If you turn out two or 

 three young cocks the same year, they 

 certainly will have a battle the next spring. 

 But I would advise all who can to build 

 two hen-houses, and put a dozen hens and 

 one cock in each, I will insure it if you 

 pay any attention to them, you will get 

 more egars, and raise more chickens than 

 you commonly do by having thirty or forty 

 Jhens crowded in one hen-house. 



I will close by asking for this a place in 

 your paper, and in the future I will write 

 an article on breeding in and in, and go 

 into the rearing of fowls more fully. 



I am yours, respectfully, 



J. McL. ANDERSON. 



Baked Tomatoes. — Tomatoes, pealed and 

 baked on a flat dish, as we bake apples, (or even 

 baked without pealing), when done seasoned 

 with salt, butter and pepper, is, we think, the 

 most luscious way of preparing this excellent 

 fruit. 



