2-46 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
it may be so judiciously mixed up with healthful 
labors that the toil will not be irksome. The boy 
may as well pull on his first boots, as have another 
do it for him. If he is taught that it is manly to 
help himself and to keep his clothes and person 
clean, he will glory in the use of brushes for the 
hair, the teeth, the clothes, and boots. He will 
soon learn to measure manhood by usefulness, and 
not by the amount of dirty work other people do 
for him. Some people indeed, get too much ont of 
their children, but that is not the tendency or per- 
il of American Society. They can be made much 
more helpful with pleasure and profit to themselves, 
and to the world. 
Buy Labor-Saving Machines. — A large part of the 
labor in the family can be saved by them, and they 
pay for themselves many times over every year. 
It is difficult to see how a housekeeper can get 
along without them. Most people are too poor to 
do without them. They save what is more prec- 
ious than money — health and life. We forbear to 
say more, lest there should be nothing left for the 
woman with the eight small children to say. We 
yield the floor until she speaks. 
Experience with French Fowls. 
We have published several articles concern- 
ing the important additions made to our poultry 
yards, in the introduction of French breeds, but 
more particularly referring to the Crevecceurs 
and Houdans. This has produced testimony 
for and against these breeds, from those that 
have them. That they are non-sitters can hardly 
be held as a disadvantage. Moreover, it is said 
that the Orevecoeur is not as hardy as the 
Houdan. This appears from the following ex- 
tract from a letter of Mr. J. L. S., of Cincinnati, 
one of our most successful amateur poultry rais- 
ers: "My yard is in a thriving condition, ex- 
cepting the Crevecceurs, and they, -wretched 
chickens, ar» trying to see how fast they can 
die. No disease comes amiss to them, be it old 
and common, or new, and, what, renders this 
more strange to me, is, that my young ones are 
large, better feathered, and, up to a certain age, 
easier to raise than any chickens I have. I be- 
gan the season with fourteen ' Creve.' hens. I 
now have five left. They average about an egg 
and a half a day. They do not bear confine- 
ment well." Our impression is that Crevecceurs 
suffer from dampness, and this is strengthened 
by the fact that in Holland^ a damp country, the 
breed does not thrive. A dry bank, fully ex- 
posed to the south, would suit them best. 
Another party gives his experience as follows : 
" I am greatly pleased with my Crevecceurs, hav- 
ing made two importations, and have not as yet 
lost a bird. When the first lot arrived, 3 of them 
were sick with roup ; one hen seemed a hope- 
less case, but by good care she recovered, and 
is now presenting her egg per day with great 
regularity, and all are thriving. With decent 
care, I see no reason why they should not prove 
entirely satisfactory as to hardiness. Fifty-five 
of the J'oung chickens are coming on finely ; 
have lost none by disease. My second importa- 
tion of hens laid all the wa}', and are at it yet." 
A third part}', having both the Crevecoeur and 
Houdan, is of opinion that both will succeed 
well, judging from his own trial thus far. It is, 
however, too early to form any decided opin- 
ion. Several seasons must elapse before the 
point of hardiness can be determined satisfac- 
torily. The reputation for early maturity, large 
size, excellence of flavor, and fecundity, gained 
by these breeds, in France and England, seems 
to be sustained here thus far. 
The Houdans are preferred to the Creve- 
coecurs by Mr. Turhorst, one of the oldest and 
most experienced of poultry breeders in Great 
Britain, who declares them a most valuable ad- 
dition to the poultry yard. Mr. John Baily, one 
of the contributors to the poultry columns of 
the Journal of Horticulture and Cottage Gar- 
dener, says, Aug. 17, 1866: "I have never had a 
case of illness with a Houdan, and believe them 
to be hardiest of fowl." And again, April 25th, 
1867, " We have kept them for many years ; 
they are very hard)', more so than the La Fleche 
and Crevecceurs. They bear close confinement. 
A National Tax on Dogs. 
Among the 16,000 articles taxed by our Solons 
at Washington, it seems strange that so large 
and important an interest as dogs should have 
escaped notice. A more legitimate object to 
raise revenue from can not be found in the 
whole list. Our Government very properly 
taxes luxuries, with a view to bring the burdens 
of taxation upon those who are best able to 
bear them. Among these luxuries are brandies, 
wines, silks, gold watches, gold and silver ware, 
carriages, pianos, etc. Dogs are a luxury, as 
we see in the white-haired poodle, that rides out 
with his mistress and sleeps in her boudoir upon 
the softest of cushions, and has his hair daily 
perfumed with the choicest extracts of Lubin. 
They are considered the appropriate appendage 
of every genteel establishment; setters and 
pointers for sporting gentlemen, whether they 
fancy hunting or not; and the big speckled dog 
under the carriage, the admiration of small boys, 
and a terror to all evil doers among smaller 
dogs. The Government also taxes nuisances 
with a view to abate them. Dogs are a nuisance 
of the most troublesome and expensive kind. 
We have in the nation, according to the best 
statisticians, one to a family, or about 7,000,000. 
We think a hundred thousand of these may be 
occasionally useful and ornamental— well bred 
dogs— that pay their way. The rest are pests 
and abominations. They run mad and bite 
multitudes of men, and every season we have 
deaths from that dreadful disease, the hydropho- 
bia. The public health suffers every season in 
all our large cities from apprehensions of mad 
dogs, and the citj r authorities have to make open 
warfare upon the race. They are a burdensome 
pest, costing the nation at least seventy millions of 
dollars to support them, a very large tax upon 
an over-taxed people. They are a very destruc- 
tive pest — killing at least a half million of sheep 
every year, worth at present prices at least two 
millions of dollars, and ruining others to the 
value of a million dollars more. They make 
sheep raising so insecure, that large tracts of 
land lie waste for waut of this stock to crop 
them, and every man has to pay a heavy tax in 
the shape of dear wool and mutton on account ' 
of dogs. But for these wretched curs, our forty 
million of sheep could be doubled in a short 
time, and cheap wool and mutton be made the 
heritage of every American citizen forever. If 
our legislators want to tax luxuries and abate 
nuisances, they will accomplish both objects in 
taxing dogs. 
Another object of the Government should be 
to afford incidental protection to home interests. 
A heavy tax on dogs will help several import- 
ant interests. It will give us a better race of 
dogs. Of course, only the best breeds will be 
spared, and the best specimens of their kind, 
and the canine race will be perpetuated in these 
lines — purely bred— well trained— well cared 
for — used legitimately, and a nuisance to nobody. 
It will also give us cheap wool and mutton, 
two very great blessings for any nation. What- 
ever the tariff may be on foreign wools, we can 
compete with the world on any kind of wool, 
if the Government will only clean out the race 
of curs. We have untold acres that are lying 
waste for want of sheep, and men dare not in- 
vest in them, for fear of the dogs. 
Other Governments very wisely legislate 
against dogs, both to abate a nuisance and to 
protect the wool grower. Great Britain lays a 
tax of twelve shillings (three dollars) on dogs, 
and derives a handsome revenue from this 
source. In Bavaria, the canine population has 
been very much reduced by taxation. In Baden, 
the dog-revenue amounts to a hundred thousand 
thalers. France has a dog tax, and on this 
point Bismark agrees with Napoleon. At the 
International Congress of Veterinary Surgeons, 
in Vienna, in 1865, the subject was discussed, 
interesting statistics of hydrophobia were pre- 
sented, and a resolution was adopted favoring 
taxation, and recommending that the tax be as 
high as possible. The foremost States of Eu- 
rope appreciate the relation of dogs to wool and 
mutton. In most of our Northern States, laws 
upon this subject 'have been passed, and in 
Massachusetts and Connecticut, which have the 
best laws, the number of dogs has been greatly 
reduced, and a corresponding security given to 
sheep. It is demonstrated not only that dog 
laws are needed, but that wise legislation will 
be sustained by public opinion, and accomplish 
its object. National laws need not interfere 
with State laws, or supersede them. Properly 
drawn, they would work harmoniously with 
them, and by making curs expensive luxuries, 
help to exterminate them. Perhaps the only 
thing needed is a tax of three dollars. 
This course w r ould infringe upon no man's 
rights. We concede to the American citizen 
tbe largest liberty consistent with the public 
good. It is the undoubted privilege of the citi- 
zen to keep panthers if he fancies them, but he 
should keep them in a cage, and not in his 
neighbor's barn-yard. We have as good a right 
to raise calves as he has panthers, and he must 
take care of his wild beasts, or we can not get 
along peaceably together. He may keep rattle- 
snakes, if he pleases, but he should keep them 
where he can have the exclusive enjoyment of 
their musical rattle. We do not like the music 
too near — sudden death by poison is not pleas- 
ant. He may have dogs if he likes. We con- 
cede that it is none of our business whether he 
has a legitimate use for them or not, whether 
he can afford them or not. But he must not. 
compel us to board them on sheep that cost a 
thousand dollars a carcass, and that are more 
valuable to us living than dead. If clogs are 
worth having, pay for them and take care of 
them like a man. Sheep raisers have rights as 
well as dog owners. Let us have fair play in 
this matter, and a national dog law that will 
give us both cheap wool and cheap mutton. 
Wool Grower's Associations,State and County 
Agricultural Societies, and Farmer's Clubs 
should move early in this matter, and demand 
suitable legislation at the next session of Con- 
gress". Whatever reluctance there may be 
among Congressmen to offend dog owners who 
have votes, they can not withstand an enlight- 
ened public sentiment. The friends of cheap 
wool and mutton are in the vast majority in this 
country, and they have only to make their wish- 
es known by united action to secure the needed 
legislation. Whatever measure ought to be 
carried, can be, by the activity of its friends. 
