308 
AMERICAN AGRSICULTJJRIST!. 
POULTY CHEAPER THAN PORK. 
Allow me to say a few words in your pa¬ 
per in behalf of that much neglected class of 
stock that are usually found upon a farmer’s 
premises without “ a location,” if they have 
a name. They are not thought worth enough 
to have quarters of their own, and so shift 
for themselves upon the first fence, tree, or 
out-house that affords rest to their feet. 
Even in these days of hen-fever, and of 
feathered stock imported from the farthest 
India and heyond, there are thousands of 
farmers who have no shelter for their fowls 
betterthan an apple-tree oropen shed. “ The 
merciful man is merciful to his beastand 
it would be a good lesson for the improvi¬ 
dent owner of these abused bipeds, if he 
could exchange places with them for one 
December night, when the thermometer 
stands below zero. The stye must have a 
place and the grunters be made comfortable, 
with a water-proof room and a warm bed ; 
for pork can not be made to good advantage 
without proper attention. Pork-growing is 
a main reliance to pay the rent of their hired 
hands. Poultry is more plague than profit, 
and the less care bestowed upon them the 
better. We intercede for the “ biddies,” and 
beg for them a little of the attention that is 
lavished upon their more gross and less at¬ 
tractive neighbors. Give them a fair trial, 
and they will pay any farmer for his care 
much better than pigs, arid will supply his 
table with greater luxuries, and at a cheaper 
rate. And to establish this position, we will 
tell you a tale quite as literally as some 
others founded on fact. 
In the year 1850 my poultry-yard cost me : 
In stock..$39 96 
In food for fowls. 39 81 
Total.$79 77 
It produced in eggs. 34 92 
“ in manure.A. 5 00 
In stock at close of year. 60 00 
Total.$89 92 
Deduct expenses . 79 77 
Profit.$10 25 
It produced about this time 91 chickens 
and fowls, weighing about 300 pounds. In 
other words, the yard paid three cents a 
pound for all the poultry used in the family. 
When did a porker ever pay you for the 
privilege of eating him 1 Even Charles 
Lamb’s roast pig will have to knock under 
to the biddies. 
In 1851 my yard cost me : 
Instock. $54 50 
In food. 65 56 
Total.$120 06 
It produced 268 dozen eggs. 48 76 
“ five loads manure. 5 00 
Stock on hand at the close. 113 00 
Total.$166 76 
Deduct. 120 06 
Profit . $46 79 
Besides this profit, it produced 61 fowls, 
weighing about 200 pounds. In other words, 
it gave 23 cents per pound for the privilege 
of being eaten. Was roast pig ever so gra¬ 
cious as this 1 We have tried pork-growing 
for the same two years, and dealt as liberally 
by the stye as by the poultry-yard, but with 
a very different, result. The account stands 
thus: 
Bought a pig May 13, 1850 . $4 80 
Food . 15 02 
Total.$19 82 
Deduct 8 loads of manure— 8 00 
that there is no advantage in producing it ? 
except as it makes a valuable manure upon 
the farm. The farmer who can make pork 
for nothing, or what is better, can make it 
pay him thrice the market value for being 
eaten, is a man yet to be heard from. The 
best husbandry will probably never be able 
to accomplish this with any breed of pigs. 
But the fowls will pay their own way, 
with proper care, and will give you a certain 
amount of poultry, without other cost than 
your own trouble in rearing them. Each 
hen, well cared for, will yield a clear profit 
of at least $1, or, in other words, will give 
you eight pounds of poultry for nothing. 
We say, then, especially to the boys, take 
care of the “ biddies.” Let them have a 
warm place for a roost, a dry cellar, if pos¬ 
sible, in winter, a variety of grain and a lit¬ 
tle animal food, clean water to drink, and 
lime in some shape for egg-shells. Take 
care of the fowls, and they will take care of 
you. [Cor. Plough, Loom and Anvil. 
ABSTRACT OF REPORT OF WESTERN HOUSE OF 
REFUGE. 
The sixth Annual Report of the Managers 
of the Western House of Refuge was laid 
before the Assembly. 
The report commences with a description 
of the farm and buildings, which are said to 
be productive as to the former, and hand¬ 
some and convenient as to the latter. The 
additions to the buildings, for which an ap¬ 
propriation was made at. the last session of 
the Legislature, are progressing rapidly, and 
will add much to the comfort and facilities 
of the institution. 
The boys are variously engaged, in mak¬ 
ing cane chair-seats, children’s shoes and 
willow baskets, and some are employed on 
the farm and in the tailor’s shop. They are 
all diligent, contented and happy. Three 
hours and a half each day are devoted to 
school study, and a sufficient time is allowed 
for recreation. 
The whole cost of the institution will not 
much exdeed $110,000 when the additions 
now in progress are completed. It was 
opened August 11,1849. The officers of the 
institution are enumerated; Fred. F. Barkus, 
being President, and John Greig, first Vice- 
President. 
No death has occurred among the inmates 
during the past year, and but few cases of 
sickness have been reported. The farm has 
yielded a fair return, although not so pro¬ 
ductive as it has sometimes been, owing to 
the drouth of the last summer. 
The number of boys in the Refuge on the 
1st January, 1855, was 263—fifty more than 
the building now completed was designed to 
accommodate ; but it is thought the comple¬ 
tion of the additional buildings now in pro¬ 
cess of erection will provide sufficient ac¬ 
commodation for the inmates for some years 
to come. 
The provisions made for the instruction of 
the boys are thought to be the most efficient 
means of thorough reformation. The duties 
of the principal teachers are, however, said 
to be arduous, and an additional assistant will 
be soon needed. 
The amount received and to be received 
for the labor of the boys for the year is over 
$8,000. This may be considered a large 
sum, when it is remembered that the aver¬ 
age age of boys is only about 13 years. 
three-parts bred sire, let his individual excel¬ 
lence be what it may, it is a mongrel and 
nothing else ; and it is against every calcu¬ 
lation of probability to assume that he will 
perpetuate his own good qualities to the ex¬ 
clusion of the baser elements which exist 
in his pedigree. 
Or, to view the subject for a moment un¬ 
der another aspect. It is quite possible that 
the great grandsire of the three-parts bred 
stallion may have been a cart-horse. It is 
notorious that in numerous cases the off¬ 
spring partakes less of the character of its 
immediate parents than of its remoter an¬ 
cestors. Who then shall guarantee the off¬ 
spring of such a sire from exhibiting one or 
more of the undesirable qualities of such a 
cross, either the heavy shoulder or the defi¬ 
cient courage of the cart-horse ? Let no au- 
hority then, however high, tempt the far¬ 
mers of England so far to depart from sound 
principle as thus to breed; for they may be 
assured by so doing they are, in a matter 
sufficiently dark and intricate, throwing 
away every guide and land-mark which 
might otherwise aid them in their course. 
The only method of increasing the num¬ 
ber of really valuable horses which can be 
depended upon, is for every man who has a 
good mare, of whatever breed, (always ex¬ 
cepting those only adapted for the dray) to 
send them to the best thoroughbred stallion 
within his reach. If a mare is worth breed¬ 
ing from at all, she will in this manner pro¬ 
duce abetter foal than any other. Suppose, 
for instance, that she is a cart-mare, at once 
powerful and active, a good bay or brown, 
quick stepping and with a roomy frame ; it 
is highly probable that her offspring by a 
well selected thoroughbred horse will turn 
out a handsome carriage-horse, or one well 
adapted for artillery service. Suppose, how¬ 
ever, that her owner does not desire to sell 
her for either purpose, and only wishes to 
breed for the purpose of recruiting his team. 
Well, in that case he will obtain an animal 
which will accomplish, if well kept, at least 
one-third more work than an ordinary farm- 
horse. Were the teams of my Staffordshire 
and Derbyshire neighbors thus bred, they 
might diminish their number by one-third 
without impairing their real strength. The 
old-fashioned prejudice that because a horse 
is fit for a higher occupation than drawing 
the plow, therefore he is not fit for that, is 
deeply rooted over a large portion of the 
kingdom; but it must yield at last to the 
force of truth, and ocular demonstration of 
the contrary. Or take the case of a mare 
of somewhat inferior grade—such, for in¬ 
stance, as the farmer drives in his trap, or 
the tradesman in his light cart; what useful 
and valuable horses might we not expect 
from their union with a thoroughbred horse ? 
It is from animals so bred, that horses for 
almost any conceivable purpose are fur¬ 
nished. According to individual peculiarities 
exhibited by each, will one colt make a hun¬ 
ter, another a light or heavy cavalry horse," 
another a hack, or another still a brougham 
or cabriolet-horse. In one, power may pre¬ 
dominate, in another action ; of some, their 
figure may be the chief recommendation ; 
while a fortunate few will possess all three 
in due and happy combination. These are 
the high-priced hunters or the guardman’s 
chargers. Willoughby Wood. 
Mark-Lane Express. 
Evenings at home are among the most de¬ 
lightful and most profitable privileges the 
business and working men can enjoy, if they 
are judiciously provided for. A frolic with the 
babies—a quiet chat with wife, an agreeable 
book, nuts and apples, may be—all around a 
bright fire in a cosy room. On that “bill of 
fare,” let the bachelor consider and resolve 
to “ mend his ways.” 
$11 82 
He produced 206 pounds of pork. Divide 
the cost by this, and it gives a little over five 
cents per pound as the cost of production. 
He must be a very skillful farmer who can 
produce pork for four or five cents a pound. 
Most of the pork made in New-England costs 
six or seven cents, the full market price ; so 
“ Mother, this book tells about the ‘ angry 
waves of the ocean.’ Now, what makes the 
ocean get angry 1” “Because it has been 
crossed so often, my son.” 
Why is a horse half way through a gate 
like a cent 1 Because there’s a head one 
side and a tail on the other. 
