104 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
American Agriculturist. 
New-Yorir, Wednesday, April 26, 1854, 
Bound Volumes. —We have a few sets (20 
numbers) of volume eleventh, bound and un¬ 
bound. The price, at the office, of the unbound 
volumes is $1.00. The bound volumes are neatly 
put up in cloth covers, gilt backs, at $1.50. 
We can also furnish the covers separately, 
gilt and all ready for putting in the paper, for 
twenty-five cents each. With the covers thus 
prepared, any bookbinder can complete the 
binding for twenty-five cents. Volumes sent to 
the office will be bound complete for fifty cents. 
We are having printed a new edition of the 
first ten annual volumes of the monthly Agri¬ 
culturist, which can be supplied for $1.25 per 
volume or $10 for the set of ten volumes. 
Back Numbers. —We have taken the precau¬ 
tion to print each week a large number of extra 
copies, so that we can still supply new subscri¬ 
bers with full sets from the beginning of this 
volume, (March 15.) Any copies accidentally 
lost by a subscriber, will be freely supplied. 
Specimen copies sent to any person, whose ad¬ 
dress is furnished post-paid. 
Our Paper. —On the first page will be found 
an article of considerable importance on the Tur¬ 
nip Disease. On the fifth page is a fine cut of 
a Fir Tree. Our usual variety of agricultural 
and horticultural articles adapted to the seasoi^ 
will be found in different parts of the paper. 
Several letters have been received from Cor¬ 
respondents which we have not space for insert¬ 
ing or noticing this week. 
- 9 Q O - 
WHAT IS THE BEST KIND OF BARN-DOOR 
FOWL FOR ME TO GET? 
This pregnant question is asked us nearly 
every week in the year, by persons about to 
stock their premises with hens for their own 
family use. They do not wish to embark in 
the chicken trade; neither have they caught 
the hen fever. They have heard great stories 
of the Shanghais, and read others equally aston¬ 
ishing of many more breeds or varieties. Our 
inquirers are not ignorant people, yet they don’t 
believe every chicken story they hear, or read. 
They have a reasonable share of common sense, 
some fancy for nice things; and want to pro 
vide themselves with handsome, well-formed, 
prolific, hardy, plump, good-sized birds, for 
which they will pay a round price, as hens go; 
but are not disposed to venture the fifty-dollar- 
a-pair figure upon them. 
For people of such reasonable desires as these, 
we are willing to devote time to impart a por¬ 
tion of the results of our own experience, per¬ 
mitting them to apply it as they choose, with¬ 
out wishing to obtrude advice upon them. 
Our first essay at hen-keeping c >mmenced at 
the age of ten years. Residing then in a large, 
rambling, country village, where most of the 
houses had “home lots,” with deep front yards, 
and neighbors at several rods distance, every 
one could keep barn-door fowls without annoy¬ 
ance to others. To be sure, as there was a 
large garden attached to the house, our parents 
objected to the poultry; but as they pretty soon 
found out that it was better for their boys to 
amuse themselves with something about home, 
instead of running at large in the streets, the 
chickens were admitted without further objec¬ 
tion. There were no poultry books in those 
days, at least in America—so our father to ldus, 
after ransacking the entire city of New-York 
for a copy in one of his visits there some forty 
years ago. Thus we had to live and learn. We 
had an eye for a chicken, if not for our school 
lessons, and after a week’s ransacking of the 
various farm-yards in the neighborhood, we be¬ 
came possessed of a dozen of the prettiest birds 
that could be got together. They seem beauti¬ 
ful, even now, as we cast a longing, lingering 
look back to the sunny days of our boyhood. 
There were no “ fancy” fowls in those days, at 
least in that quarter, for this was in the interior 
of Massachusetts, where foreign fashions in such 
things seldom intruded. These chickens bred 
finely, and for some years; and every autumn 
we were sure to introduce some new bird into 
the yard, possessing the important qualities of 
stamina and beauty, which we so much admired. 
We had eggs in abundance; and the fowls 
served up for the table were plump, tender, and 
juicy. The neighboring boys often came to us 
for a “ swap” to better their own flocks of fowls; 
and now and then a sturdy firmer, on looking 
at them, would propose a “ dicker,” and offer a 
dozen, or half dozen eggs “to boot” in the ex¬ 
change of a “rooster.” In short, our chickens 
were of the best in that region, and so they con¬ 
tinued while we bred them. 
For twenty-five years past we have experi¬ 
mented with almost all sorts of chickens which 
have come under our knowledge, and with the 
assistance of all the chicken literature of the 
day. Our experiments have been attended with 
varied results and success, and the upshot of 
the whole matter is, that, in our opinion, a 
hardy, plump, well-feathered, short-legged, me¬ 
dium-sized chicken, for a northern climate, is 
altogether the most satisfactory for common 
house-keeping purposes. The speculators and 
fancy breeders may not say so, but for ourselves 
we know it. 
Twelve years ago last autumn, we imported 
five Dorking fowls direct from London. There 
was no error in their breeding, for we selected 
them from the coops of a regular Dorking poul¬ 
terer. In color, they were beautifully speckled, 
chocolate, and white, the same as a coop of their 
descendents recently sold by Col. Sherwood, of 
Auburn, to Mr. McCormick, of New-York, and 
exhibited at the National Poultry Show at Bar- 
num’s Museum. We bred these very satisfacto¬ 
rily until the autumn of 1844, when we introduced 
a cock and three hens, just brought out for us 
in one of the London packet ships, by Cap¬ 
tain Morgan. These were noble fowls—finer, 
if possible, than those we already had — but 
most unfortunately, they had the roup on board 
ship, and not being quite cured of it, gave the 
disease to the other fowls, and we lost thirty or 
forty of our best birds by it. The disease, 
however, came to an end after a few weeks, and 
for several years we bred as fine flocks of Dork¬ 
ings as were ever seen together. We bred cocks 
that at eighteen months weighed 9J lbs., and 
hens that weighed 7 lbs. alive, and of the finest 
models and plumage. Candor, however, com¬ 
pels us to say, that although they were unri¬ 
valled in the beauty of their plumage, and in 
the richness, tenderness, and juiceness of their 
flesh, which was well and abundantly laid on at 
the side bone and breast, they were moderate 
layers, and thinly feathered; consequently less 
hardy than we wished them. They were very 
high hred, however, and we bred them in-and-in 
deeply, being unable to obtain others to cross 
upon them without making another direct im¬ 
portation. From this cause, probably—for we 
cannot imagine any other, as no fowls could 
have been better kept—they ceased, measurably, 
to lay, and not one-half their eggs hatched when 
set. Fearing total ruin in our chicken depart¬ 
ment, two years ago we displaced the Dorking 
cocks, and introduced a thorough-bred, spirited, 
shawl-grey game cock into the yard. The im¬ 
mediate consequence of this was the fecundity of 
the eggs, almost every one hatching that was 
set, the rearing of almost every chicken, and the 
replenishing of the yard with a fine, robust 
stock of beautiful young birds, possessing the 
valuable qualities, although somewhat lessened 
size of the Dorking, with the vigor, hardihood, 
and fecundity of the Game. Selecting our best 
pullets, we disposed of the game cock—-for he 
was a pugnacious and vindictive rascal we 
brought back two or three young Dorking cocks, 
bred from a part of the old stock at another 
yard, to which we had removed them, as we still 
wished to retain a preponderance of that blood. 
The last year, we raised over a hundred as good 
chickens as ever graced a barn-yard, yielding as 
fine, delicate, and juicy flesh as the original 
Dorkings. They are abundant layers, of good 
size, beautiful plumage, and altogether, please us 
exactly. How long we may keep them so, is to 
be tried, as they are mongrels; but alternating 
between the Game and Dorking, as necessity 
may appear to demand—and wanting no otheis, 
so long as they breed satisfactorily—we hope to 
keep them as they should be. 
Both the Dorking and Game are ancient 
breeds. Columella, who lived in the middle 
of the first century, accurately described the 
Dorking, as we now have it, as being the best 
fowl of his time; speckled in color, of great 
beauty in plumage, and possessing the fifth toe, 
which last, however, we consider as a mere 
superfluity, and none to its advantage. The 
Game cock is said, on good authority, to have 
existed in England with the Romans, who pro¬ 
bably introduced it there; and to renew the 
flagging energies of the one, we cannot do better 
than to resort to a cross with the other. Indeed 
we would recommend a well-bred Game cock in all 
cases, as the best cross to infuse stamina, hardi¬ 
hood and fecundity, into a decaying stock of 
fowls, where pure blood is no object. 
But as our inquirers may not be able to ob¬ 
tain Dorkings with which to commence their 
stock of fowls, we would say, take the very best 
plump, smooth-headed — for we would by no 
means have croppled crowned chickens, unless 
the thorough-bred Polands were adopted at 
once— ichite- legged, hardy hens you can get. 
Breed to them an active, thorough-bred Game 
cock, also having white legs, if you can get him. 
To the pullets of this cross, introduce a good 
Dorking cock, it you can get one—or if not, still 
take another cross of the Game, but not further 
than a second one. Keep up the size as much 
as possible, holding the bodies near to the 
ground, selecting, continually, your most robust 
pullets for breeding, and there can be little 
doubt you will have a yard of good fowls. 
