76 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
THE COCHIN CHINA FOWL. 
We copy the following amusing article 
from the Derby Reporter (English). It is the 
best defense of this breed of fowls we have 
yet seen ; and if the pullets will lay so well 
at five months old, and when the thermome¬ 
ter is 18° below freezing point, and in addi¬ 
tion make so perfect a cross with the Dork¬ 
ing, we will patronize the beauties to a cer¬ 
tain extent. Another year we will experi¬ 
ment with them and the Dorkings, and give 
our readers the results. 
A brother member of mine in the Royal 
Agricultural Society, and a most active mem¬ 
ber of its council, states somewhat com- 
plainingly, that Mr. Penchard has made more 
money from a few Cochin China hens, than 
he (Fisher Hobbs) has been able to do from 
a choice flock of six hundred ewes. Very 
likely. “ There is nothing new under sun.” 
A lucky Dutchman once sold a tulip for a 
dozen sheep, eight fat swine, four fat oxen, 
tw'o hogsheads of Avine, a suit of clothes, and 
a silver drinking-cup. Nay, more—5,000 
florins was a common price for the rarest 
kinds of tulips, such as Semper Augustus and 
Admiral Liefken, and even so late as 1835, 
Dr. Mackay informs us, that a tulip root was 
sold in London for £35 sterling. Such is 
the infatuation which sometimes besets the 
public mind. Forty guineas for a Cochin 
China cock is not, therefore, an unparalleled 
folly, for so long as a feather-bed is in re¬ 
quest, a dead fowl will be a better thing than 
a rotten tulip; and the poultry mania of 
1853 not so hazardous a speculation as that 
which beset the Dutchman in 1636. A 3,000- 
florin tulip-root Avas once munched Avith 
great relish by a hungry sailor, in Amster¬ 
dam, who mistook the bulb for an onion, and 
quietly pocketed it Avhile talking to its in¬ 
fatuated owner. We opine that a Cochin 
China fowl could not have been pocketed so 
easily, although the nether garments of a 
Dutchman are always very capacious. 
But can this popular “ fancy ” continue l 
Will the Cochin China, or Shanghai fowl, 
sustain its reputed preeminence over the 
“ natives ” of these islands ? A gallant naval 
captain uttered the folloAving prophecy in 
1852: 
“ Yes, Sturgeon’s breed may be forgot, 
And Punchard’s called a worthless lot, 
And Andrew’s fame be less ; 
But still in Poulterers’ shops so neat, 
In Leadenhall-market or Mount-street, 
The Dorking breed shall long compete 
AVith triu.nph and success.” 
And, alas! the prophecy is will-nigh fulfilled. 
Cardinal Woolsey fell not more rapidly from 
the favor of “ my king,” nor the dashing Dev- 
ereux, the proud and lordly Essex, from the 
heart and smiles of The Maiden Queen, than 
has the short-tailed buff Cochin, from the 
admiration and esteem of John Bull. It was 
really painful to Avatch the indifference Avith 
which this popular favorite of yesterday Avas 
treated at Birmingham. 
“ But yesterday a king 
And armed with such to strive, 
And now thou art a nameless thing 
So abject, yet alive.” 
It is too bad. The Hallelujahs of yester¬ 
day Avere more deserved than is the con¬ 
temptuous indifference of to-day. Granted 
(for a moment) that they are tough when on 
the table—granted that they are ugly in the 
yard—granted that they eat like an aider- 
man, and crow continuously and disagree¬ 
ably; yet the fact remains that they are 
hardy, and lay eggs in considerable quanti¬ 
ties. They lay, too, at a time when eggs 
are worth something, and when other fowls 
find it quite as much as they can accomplish 
to supply the materials of warmth and 
groAvth to their oivn bodies, without furnish¬ 
ing eggs for the breakfast-tables of their 
liege lords. 
These fowls have, moreover, an excellent 
quality, Avhich we should be glad to see cop¬ 
ied by some bipeds without feathers. They 
stay at home, and attend to their oivn business. 
So little of the wandering, gossiping propen¬ 
sity do they possess, that they are invalua¬ 
ble to the citizen in confined quarters.* The 
smallest fence will suffice to keep them from 
trespassing ; a wire net, three feet high, is a 
sufficient indication to them of the rights of 
property, for which they have a most con¬ 
scientious respect. 
They arrive at maturity early, frequently 
laying eggs Avhen only five months old ; and, 
from their frequent desire to incubate, are 
most useful to the farmer who wishes to 
bring chickens into the market at an early 
date. They will also improve the general 
race of farm-yard poultry by judicious 
crosses. A pullet from a cross between the 
Cochin China hen and a Dorking cock pos¬ 
sesses, in a large degree, the special quali¬ 
ties of each bird. It grows rapidly, and to a 
large size. The yellow legs of the Cochin, 
so suggestive, when on the table, of oil-cake- 
beef, and other gross compounds, are often 
displaced by the white foot of the Dorking, 
and moreover the flesh is almost as juicy 
and as good as the last-named bird ; Avhile, 
Avhen alive, it produces more eggs than the 
Dorking, of equal size, and of a richer color. 
Although the thermometer stands at 10° be- 
Ioav freezing-point, a hen of this breed, Avith 
no especial advantages of warmth or shelter, 
witli no “greaves,” fat, or animal food, is 
supplying us five times a Aveek Avith an egg 
of good size (six to the avordupoise pound), 
as beautiful in color as those of her dam 
from the Celestial Empire, and rich in flavor 
as the eggs Avhich her great paternal grand¬ 
mother deposited upon the sunny slopes of 
Dorking, in Surrey. She performs this duty, 
too, in a true Wellingtonian spirit, coming 
off her nest with quiet dignity, making no 
grand cackle about the glory of an achieve¬ 
ment, which might Avell inspire the lazy hens 
around her Avith envy, if not Avith admira¬ 
tion. Therefore, the introduction of these 
fowls from “ The Flowery land” is a nation¬ 
al benefit, for the farmer who keeps Shang¬ 
hai hens and Dorking cocks will always have 
large foAvls, and a supply of handsome eggs 
for the market. But let him not think to 
perpetuate the race by breeding from the off¬ 
spring of this cross. Better to sell their 
eggs at forty for a shilling, for the patriotic 
purpose of pelting a political renegade, than 
place them under a hen to be warmed into a 
bundle of bones, muscles, and feathers, into 
a walking, eating creature, that Avould re¬ 
quire the genius of Adam himself to supply 
it Avith an appropriate name. For as sure 
as the young mongrels Avould chirp, so sure¬ 
ly Avould they reverse the excellent proper¬ 
ties of their parents, and, by a rapid process 
of degeneration, their offspring would grow 
up more ravenous than a distorted Cochin, 
and almost as eggless an an Ornithorhyncus 
or a Kangaroo. 
The Gingf.r of Commerce. —The ginger of 
commtrce is the produce of a plant growing 
in both the East and West Indies. In its 
appearance it resembles a reed, but the stems 
arise from a root similar to the root of the 
garden sweet flag, or iris. Like the root of 
this flower, that of the ginger plant spreads 
and increases in size every year. From the 
upper surface of the ginger-root arises in the 
spring, a green red-like stalk, about two feet 
and a half high, which bears narroAV lance¬ 
shaped leaves. The flowers of the plant, 
which are white and lilac, grow on a sepa¬ 
rate stem. The ginger we employ as a spice 
is the root, to obtain which the plant is cul¬ 
tivated in much the same way as potatoes 
are, and Avhen the stalks have withered, the 
roots are dug up. The best of white ginger, 
being scraped in preparing it, is less in size, 
not being so thick or knotty, its color is of a 
light yellow, and its taste is much more pun¬ 
gent and aromatic than that of the black kind. 
[Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine. 
HENS EATING THEIR EGGS. 
Pen your foAvls up for fattening as soon 
as you please, after they have once com¬ 
menced eating their eggs. There is no cure 
for them. We speak from experience, says 
the editor of the Boston and South Guardian. 
Two years ago our entire ornithological 
establishment, consisting of a dozen Dork¬ 
ings, was condemned in like manner. We 
fear that we had taught the fotvls habits of 
cannibalism by giving them the shells of 
their own eggs to eat. We tried mild cura¬ 
tive measures first. We gave them boiled 
eggs, scalding hot, eftid after a first taste 
they cooled their bills in the gravel, turned 
the egg over and over a feAv times Avith their 
feet, and then, Avhen it Avas ready for eating, 
fought and scratched over the dainty morsel, 
and swallowed it before our eyes. The 
cockerel, Avho, as the father of a family 
ought to have knoAvn better, and set a good . 
example, strutted about as if he highly ap¬ 
proved the transaction, and occasionally se¬ 
lected a dainty morsel of the yolk for him¬ 
self, thus becoming Avorse than an accom¬ 
plice in the infanticide. After this Ave 
adopted another expedient. We got an egg 
blown, and filled the shell Avith a composi¬ 
tion of mustard, vinegar, aloes, salts and 
other horrible associations. The fowls got 
one good dose, and ran up and down the 
walk, chattering, and shaking their heads, 
Avith an expression of intense disgust Avhich 
Avas very ludicrous to Avitness. Like Mr. 
Samuel Weller at the HarroAvgate Spa, they 
only tasted the liquor once ; but the punish¬ 
ment Avas useless, as we got no more eggs. 
PERPETUAL MOTION. 
The Journal of Commerce says, that Mr. 
James G. Hendrickson, of Freehold, Mon¬ 
mouth County, New-Jersey, after 40 years 
of patient “ Avhittling,” has made a machine 
that will not only “ go of itself,” but will 
compel divers other bodies, to which it is at¬ 
tached, to go likewise ; in short it has power ! 
The success is in the direction in Avhich so 
many have long labored in vain, viz., by the 
use of arms and balls attached to a cylinder 
so as to keep the extra Aveight always on one 
side, and therefore to give the cylinder a 
constant inclination to turn round. The ma¬ 
chine requires no starting; take away the 
blocks, and it goes off, “ like a thing of life.” 
The model Avas in our office yesterday, and 
attached to some clock work, which it 
turned without stopping to breathe. We see 
no reason Avhy it would not go until Avorn out. 
Whether on a larger scale the principle 
Avould be available, Ave are not prepared to 
say ; it Avould be rather awkward to manage 
at first, as the power could not be turned off, 
and it would have to be- managed like a skit¬ 
tish horse, i. e. either “ hitched” or held by 
the bridle. If it should “ take to going fast,” 
Ave think the centrifugal force acquired by 
the balls would prevent their rolling back to 
the center; but of this we can judge better 
Avhen it is put to its speed. Mr. Hendrickson 
Avill take some steps to remunerate himself 
for his years of trial, and it is probable Avill 
before long exhibit his model at some place 
in the city, Avhere the curious may satisfy 
themselves of its merits. After a careful 
examination, we can safely say, in all seri¬ 
ousness, that the propelling power is self- 
contained and self-adjusting, and gives a 
sufficiently active force to carry ordinary 
clock Avork, and all Avithout any Avinding up 
or replenishing. 
