1884] 
AMEEIOA:^ AaEICULTUEIST. 
245 
Houdan Fowls. 
It is very interesting to see what different styles 
of fowls the varions peoples of the world have pro¬ 
duced, no doubt chiefly by selecting those for 
breeders, which have been for generations regarded 
ns best adapted to their own use or for market. 
This has doubtless been to some extent influenced 
by the original stocks which they had to work 
upon, largely also by climatic influences, but chief¬ 
ly by the needs, fancy and caprice of the people. 
Thus the French fowls differ from the English, the 
Dutch from both ; the Spanish and those of the 
Mediterranean Coast are of a very different type, 
and so they vary throughout India, China, and 
Japan, There is often a style and air about the 
back, and these are bound with bandages (that leave 
no mark), upon a properly formed board to get 
cold and ready for shipping or exposing on the 
market stand. They look worth several cents a 
pound more than if shipped and exposed for sale 
in the common New York way, which is the way 
of the greater part of the country, except New Eng¬ 
land, where fowls are drawn before marketing. 
Poultry Keeping as a Business. 
We are constantly in receipt of letters like the 
one below, from persons who, with a very small 
capital, seek to better their inode of livelihood, and 
become more independent. Far be it from us to 
off by scores. The approved plan is to use very 
early hatched pullets as layers, and to begin as 
early as February to kill them off as they stop lay¬ 
ing, and to clear the yards before broilers are plenty, 
and the price of fowls falls very much. Third: 
As to capital. A good lot of young fowls for win¬ 
ter laying, could hardly be obtained for less than 
one dollar a head, and those from which one would 
expect to raise chickens for next year’s layers, 
ought to cost double that. So really the three hun¬ 
dred dollars would not go far, still, if a person ha.s 
a year or so to get ready in, and can live arid work 
for that time without encroaching on his capital, 
perhaps a start might he made, even on three hun¬ 
dred dollars. The things to do would he to put up 
a building for the fowls, light, dry, and warm, half 
A HOUDAN HEN. 
Engraved for the American Agriculturist, 
A HOUDAN COCK. 
fowls, which reminds one of some type of character 
among the people, and this is especially true of 
the French and Spanish fowls. 
We select for illustration one of the best known 
and most useful French breeds, the Houdan (pro¬ 
nounced hoodon —the last syllable like don in don’t). 
This breed combines three exceedingly useful 
characteristics. The birds have few if any supe¬ 
riors as table fowls ; the eggs are large, white, and 
abundant, the hens being persistent layers and 
non-sitters, and the chicks develop very rapidly 
and are early ready for market as broilers. In 
point of hardiness and general utility there is dif¬ 
ference of opinion, but all agree that they are the 
hardiest of all the French breeds, both in this 
country and in England. The idea that they are 
not hardy comes from the fact, that imported fowls 
do not acclimate easily if at all, but American bred 
Houdaus appear to be as hardy as any. It is not 
difficult to get such. 
TheHoudans are white-skinned fowls, with pink¬ 
ish or mottled legs, and a useless fifth toe, like the 
Dorkings. This is no serious objection to them, 
and is one of the criterions of purity of blood. 
Our illustrations show the fowls very well. They 
are above medium size, with black, white, and gray 
or mixed feathers, evenly but irregularly mingled. 
They are well formed, full-breasted, have moderate 
powers of flight, are domestic, but good foragers. 
They have top-knots of medium size, which do not 
obscure the sight as do those of the Polish fowls. 
Their combs are branching, somewhat like the 
antlers of a stag, and thus help to keep the crest- 
feathers out of the fowls’ eyes. 
They will do well with reasonable care in any 
dry, warm, clean location, and give great satis¬ 
faction, being fully equal to the Dorkings for the 
table, though not so large, and quite as hardy. 
These fowls, when well fattened by a French poul¬ 
terer. surpass anything we ever see in onr mar¬ 
kets. They are drawn, the thighs thrust back 
beneath the skin, the wings tucked behind the 
discourage them, but before undertaking poultry 
and egg raising as a new business, they should 
know for certain that they will find it very hard for 
a time, and may exhaust both themselves and their 
capital before they get started. Mr. D. J. Quinby, 
writes from Philadelphia, Pa., as follows : 
“ I can control about one acre and a half of good 
grass land in Central New Jersey, with a small 
barn, dwelling house, and a good well of pure wa¬ 
ter on it. The land in question slopes to the north¬ 
west, and to the south. How many chickens can 
be raised profitably on an acre and a half of land? 
Could a person get a moderate living from them, 
making a business of it? How much money would 
be required to start a run of dimensions given, in¬ 
cluding incubators, etc.?—I can raise about three 
hundred dollars. What stock of fowls do you con¬ 
sider preferable, all things considered? ” 
In answer to these questions we have to say, 
first, the profits of poultry raising do not depend so 
much on raising chickens, as upon the production 
of eggs. This season is too far advanced to do 
either this year, but summer or autumn is the 
proper time to prepare for keeping laying hens, and 
for a harvest next winter. No one can give an ex¬ 
act answer to your question, but we say in general 
that thousands of chickens may be raised with 
proper appliances and care. The matter of profit 
depends upon so many contingencies, that it is im¬ 
possible to say whether one hundred or ten thou¬ 
sand could be raised with profit. Second: A thou¬ 
sand laying hens could be kept through the winter 
on the surface named, and ought to lay thirty eggs 
each on an average, and these should net the raiser 
two cents each, which would amount to six thou¬ 
sand dollars. Still though one thousand hens might 
do very well in winter, keep one another warm, 
and with care and cleanliness be healthy, yet one 
hundred and fifty hens would overstock the place 
in summer. It would be easy enough to raise one 
thousand chickens, unless they should suffer from 
some epizootic malady, which might sweep them 
underground perhaps, and well banked up with 
earth iu winter; to secure chickens whenever it is 
possible. You would have to do your own carpenter 
work, and then a house for two hundred hens 
would cost you fifty dollars. A winter house for 
that number of hens, need not be more than twelve 
by twenty-five feet on the ground, and high enough 
for a man to stand up in. In close quarters they 
keep one another warm, and lay better. Fourth: 
The best fowls for eggs, all things considered, are 
Leghorns. Probably the best for general purposes 
are Plymouth Koeks. 
The Eatable Podded Peas. 
W. B. Jones, Henderson, Ga., writes us with ref¬ 
erence to the eatable podded peas, figured and des¬ 
cribed in April last, that a variety of them has been 
aultivated in his vicinity for eighty or a hundred 
years. Besides the names given in the article re¬ 
ferred to, it is with him called “salad pea, ”and“snap 
pea.” Mr. J. gives a method of cultivating these 
and other peas, avoiding the trouble and expense 
of “ bushing,” which will be useful to many others 
in the Southern Stgtes. The peas are sown along 
the rows of cotton stalks of the growth of the pre¬ 
vious year. In the latter part of December, or iu 
January or February, the soil is plowed away from 
the stalks, running close to them; the manure is 
distributed in the furrow, and the earth turned 
back over it. In },he bed thus formed, the peas are 
drilled in, a row ^n each side of the stalks, and as 
near them as pra’ctieable. The stalks are strong 
enough to bear tlie pea vines until the crop is ma¬ 
ture. Mr. Jones} says that they have their first 
picking about Aji'il 10th, and that the pod is veiy 
brittle, snapping off short like a German Wax-bean. 
The peas are used^hen young as a salad, and when 
sufficiently rnaturd, are shelled like ordinary peas. 
When the crop is allowed to ripen, the stalks and 
vines are pulled up, and removed to a shelter. 
