17; 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
LMat, 
tand about 3 or 4 inches high, going close to 
the plant, leaving the middle of the row until 
you have gone both ways of the rows, and the 
beaus have fresh loose dirt about the hills ; then 
go through and clean the middle with a cultiva- 
tor or plow. "When the stalk is 7 to 10 inches 
high,go through and thin, out, leaving one stalk in 
a hill; then plow 
or cultivate as 
corn, only be care- 
ful not to plow 
after the stalk 
is so high that 
the whiffletrees 
will break the 
branches and thus 
injure the plant. 
In fact, when 
the plants aver- 
age 12 to 18 inch- 
es high, they can 
take care of them- 
selves if the weeds 
are kept from the 
middle, between 
the rows. No 
stock will eat them 
excepting young 
colts, and if the 
land is grassy it is 
often well to turn 
in sheep or hogs. 
I planted last 
year on the 9 th of 
May (rather late) ; 
and began to gather the 14th of August. One 
can easily tell by watching, when the spikes 
are ripe enough to cut, viz. : when the bottom 
pods begin to crack; then cut the spikes and 
draw to a dry house— drying yards are nui- 
sances. St. Louis, New Orleans, or New York 
are good markets— either of the latter preferable. 
[This plant is a native of tropical countries, 
and where no frost stops its growth, attains the 
size of a small tree. The leaves are very large, 
and the contrasts of color in the leaves, steui3 
and leafstalks, make it quite ornamental. The 
fruit is borne on spikes growing in the axils of 
the leaves and branches, and the seeds are in- 
closedin burs somewhat like miniature horse- 
chestnut burs. These, when ripe and dry, explode 
or "pop," throwing the seeds to a distance 
when spread out to dry. They are spread thin, 
and turned occasionally. In case of rain, the 
spikes are raked up and covered, and the beans 
are swept up. When all the pods have dried 
and shed their seeds, they are raked off, the beans 
winnowed, put in sacks and kept in a dry place. 
Ten acres of castor beans will justify the build- 
GROUP OP IMPORTED CREVECCETTR FOWLS. — Drawn from life for the American, Agriculturist. 
ing of a drying house of 12 x 20 feet. — Ed.] 
Drying; House or Kiln. — The kiln or dry- 
iug house is usually a frame or log building, but 
the material is unimportant. The one figured 
is about 20 feet long by 12 wide. The drying 
floor is 6 feet iu the clear above the ground floor, 
and is made of slats a quarter of an inch apart. 
The floor above the stove is tight. The stove 
is set near the door and a 6 x 6 foot space is left 
around it. A pipe passes under the floor to the 
rear, where it passes through the floor, and re- 
turns above the spikes, and both the space 
around the stove and that through which the 
pipe passes, are surrounded by a boxiDg. The 
spikes being frequently stirred, the beans drop 
through the floor and accumulate below. 
There is a window above the drying floor for 
taking in the green spikes and removing the dry 
ones, which are used as fuel ; and there is for 
convenience a window also, below the floor. 
OASTOB BEAN DRYING HOUSE. 
of 12 or 15 feet, sometimes. When the gather- 
ing takes place, the spikes are cut when brown, 
and the bottom pod begins to crack open, and 
are spread in the sun, when no kiln or drying 
house is at hand. The ground where they are 
dried is called a "yard," and is prepared by 
leveling and rolling hard a piece with a good 
southern exposure. The ground so prepared is 
fenced with boards, to prevent the loss of seeds, 
or it is made to extend 13 to 15 feet on every 
side wider than the space covered by the spikes 
The Crevecaeur Fowl, 
This breed derives its name from Crevecceur, 
a town of Normandy, France, where for several 
years past, they have been extensively raised for 
the Paris markets, being highly valued both for 
weight and delicacy of flesh. The hens are low 
on the legs, with large fleshy thighs, the wings 
large, and the body square ; the abdomen is 
voluminous and pendant, especially in those 
which are more than a year old ; they walk 
slowly, scratch but little, and rarely fly. Their 
plumage is black, except white feathers may 
appear in the tuft on the head ; the tuft is large, 
and the comb small, upright, two-horned ; while 
a large cravat of feathers UDder the neck gives 
to them a matronly air, the tuft and singularly 
shaped comb present a grotesque but not un- 
pleasing appearance. They are very tame, 
ramble little ; in this resembling the Brahmas. 
The cocks, which are similar in form to the 
hens, have a brilliant black plumage; their 
heads are handsomely surmounted with beauti- 
ful tufts, and large toothed, two-homed combs, 
which together form a kind of crown ; they 
have also dense cravats of feathers, and are 
adorned with pendant wattles of large size. 
The chickens are of great precocity, being 
frequently put up to fatten at the early age 
of three months. 
The hen pro- 
duces large eggs, 
and is an excellent 
layer, but scarcely 
ever sits. Such 
is the description 
given in French 
works on fowls. 
So far as the ap- 
pearance is con- 
cerned it is cor- 
rect, as seen in re- 
cent importations. 
The accompany- 
ing illustration 
■was made from 
pure bred birds, 
imported from 
the Jardin d'Ac- 
climatation, Paris, 
and owned by A. 
M. Halsted. Mr. 
Jas. E. Mallory of 
Tarrytown,N.T., 
who has some of 
the same stock, re- 
gards the likeness 
as quite faithful. If the breed proves to be as 
hardy and valuable here as it has in France, it 
will be an excellent addition to our present stock. 
Baskets for Sitting Hens' Nests. 
The use of baskets for hens' nests is mention- 
ed by some of the very earliest writers upon 
agriculture iu our language, and in some respects 
they are peculiarly advantageous. Boxes are 
very apt to get musty and damp ; baskets on the 
contrary, give free ventilation to the nest and 
its contents. They afford no safer lodging places 
for vermin than boxes, and may very easily be 
moved, cleaned and washed. The one which 
we figure is in the style of those in common 
use in France, where poultry are reared so much 
more systematically than in this country. It 
represents a home-made willow or wicker affair 
with a cover to shut the hen in, she being taken 
off or allowed to go off once a day to feed, and 
a label is attached for aDy memoranda which 
may be desirable — at least, for a record of 
the kind of eggs and the date of setting the hen. 
