42 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
unsymriietrical forms ; all combine against .success, btill 
all these obstacles do not prove the object impracticable. 
1 first sought to cross an excellent Rooster of the com- 
mon fowl on a good Shanghai Hen, in accordance with 
the theory of Professor Ciine, that the females in such ca- 
ses, should be proportionably larger than the male Here- 
in, for two years I failed to effect copulation, simply be 
cause the Hen was too long in the body for the Rooster. 
Trials were frequent, and failure so enraged the Rooster 
that he would have killed rhe Hen had they not been se- 
p!- rated, 
I then, six years ago, procured a well made Shanghai 
Rooster, weighing eight pounds, which I put with my 
Hens weighing about three and a half pounds, light— 
that is when a batch ofegijsis laid out. These and their 
progeny I have bred together promiscuously, until this 
time. The first year the offspring varied greatly, some 
nearly resembling the male and some the female parents ; 
■while others were a good medium between the two, and 
still others very ugly and resembling neither. The next 
year there was more uniformity, but none either so well 
or so ill formed as before. Since then, asa generrl thing, 
they have gradually improved ; and now they are as fine 
a stock of fowls, according to my pre-determined model 
as can be found. They have not diminished in size, but 
have preserved a medium between the original parents 
Owing to careful selection, their legs are now free from 
feathers — small and clear — their heads small— their combs 
generally quite small and inclined to the rose formation ; 
though some are yet single and seri'ate, contrary to the 
model to which I have di signed to bring them. Their 
tails are a medium between the two. 
If there were others trying this same experiment, it 
might be conducted upon the principles which all practi 
cal breeders follow -rtnd recommend. We could exchange 
wi'h each other, and cross our stock with others of the 
same kind or breed of more remote kin ; thus enlarging 
our field for selection, and avoiding the mischief supposed 
to result from close in-and in breeding. 
Another idea permit me to suggest : cannot the pure 
Asiatic fowl be converted to our common fowl, by strict 
breeding together and selecting with reference to that 
end '? Windsor. 
Atlanta, Dec 27, 1858. 
WINE AND FRUIT IN PORTUGAL. 
Port Wine. — The Portuguese have four modes of cul- 
tivating the vine : — 1, In the provinces of the Minho, 
Estremadura and Beira Baixa hanging in festoons from 
or twining round, poplars or oaks, planted for the espe 
cial purpose; 2. In the Alto Douro the vines are planter 
on terraces, and never allowed to grow higher than thre^ 
or four feet; 3 In the interior of Trasos- Montes the vines 
planted like gooseberry bushes, covering extensive fieldi- 
in rows about eight feet apart, so as to admit the plougf 
to pass between them; here little care is given either ir 
pruning or rearing the vineyards, so that when there is 
abundance of fruit the grapes literally lie on the ground 
and imbibe an earthy taste; 4 Almost everywhere, to a 
small extent, in villages and near large towns, and ii. 
gardens (but particularly in the Minho, near Monees 
and the river Lima) vines are trellised at a height of eign 
or twelve feet from the ground. Up to the year 1853 
when the Wine Monopoly Company was in existence 
the export duty on port wine was jGG per pipe for wines 
exported to England. 
Only a particular class of wine was allowed to be sen 
to the English market, and persons belonging to th- 
company visited the wine districts and told off certain 
wines as solely for English consumption, for which certi 
ficates or “ bilhetes,” were granted to the farmer. The sam 
system exists, to a certain extent, in the present day, wuth 
this difFt-rence, that those who select tfie wines no longer 
belong to the Wine Monopoly Company, but are ap- 
pointed by a body called the “ Commercial Association,” 
at Oporto. The export duty on port wine is now re- 
duced to an uniform rate of three milreis per pipe to all 
countries, but »he system of bilhetes” still exists. These, 
however, by no means insure that all the wine which ar- 
rive at Villa Nova the depot for wines exported, oppo- 
site Oporto) is of the growth guaranteed. There is a good 
deal of fraud and trickery. Mr. Paget thus describes it ; — 
“ What takes place is this: — There is a certain district in 
the Alto Douro which is supposed exclusively to grow 
the wines of first quality. After the vintage, about the 
month of November, a commission, appointed by the 
Commercial Association at Oporto, proceeds to this dis- 
trict for the puroose of ascertaining the quality of wine 
produced. Having made inquiries on this bead, in the 
month of January, a commission of tasters, composed as 
above mentioned, again visits the same localities, and on 
approval of the v/ines submitted to them, the ‘ bilhetes’ 
are given to the farmers, which enables them to dispose 
of their wines, which are then conveyed to Villa Nova. 
Vv^ithout this ‘ bilhete’ no wines~are admitted to the depot 
in question. But there is much trickery in obtaining 
them, for it often happens that a grower will declare that 
he has 40 or 50 pipes of the wine of which he produces a 
sample, Vwdiereas in reality he may not be possessed of 
more than 'hree or four pipes. 
The deficiency is made up of wine, which he purchases 
beyond the limits of the prescribed district, o*- else he 
sells his ‘ bilhetes’ to a farmer whose geographical posi- 
tion would disentitle him to the privilege of sending his 
wine to Villa Nova, but who, provided with the ‘ b'lhetes.’ 
is enabled to do s > by passing his wine with the ‘ bil- 
hete’ to a merchant at Oporto. The price paid for a ‘ bii- 
hete’ varies between ^£3 and £i. Under this system, 
therefore, it is extremely difficult to ascertain the real 
amount of wine produced in the privileged district. 
The amount officially declared for the last season was 
15 000 pipes, but 1 have heard it doubted, on the best au- 
thority, whether as much as 6,000 pipes was really pro- 
duced. It is not to be understood, however, that the wine 
grown outside the district is necessarily of an inferior 
quality. Prejudice and ancient custom are also a good 
deal mixed up in judging this question, and 1 have been 
told by competent persons that some of the wine grown 
beyond the boundaries is quite equal to that produced 
within them.” “It is a fallacy,” adds Mr. Paget, “to 
suppose that such a thing as what is termed pure port 
wine— that is, without an admixture of brandy — exists. 
On the first arrival of each pipe of wine at Villa Nova, a 
certain quantity of this spirit is immediately added, for 
without it the witie would not keep.” The failure in the 
crop of wines last year (1857) was very calamitous, and, 
of course, prices rose accordingly. 
The produce in the Alto Douro district, ordinarily 
100,000 pipes a year, fell off to 15,000. The price of a 
pipe of port from a farmer is now about i:30 ; before the 
failure it was less than one moiety of that sum. The 
same as regards all the wines of the country. The com- 
mon wines of the country were formerly drunk by the 
peasant at about one halfpenny the pint ; the same quan- 
nty now averages two pence. 
The failure in the crop of oranges and lemons has like- 
wise been most disastrous in its consequences. Several 
'cmedies, particularly sulphur, have been tried for the 
•ure and prevention of the malady ; but the success has 
aeen very limited, and should the blight continue for a 
ew years more v/ith the same virulence, the result must 
e the utter ruin of a vast proportion of the agricultural 
community? Under these circumstances, it becomes more 
han ever necessary to give assistance and encouragement 
to this class of the population. Portugal, as before sug- 
