124 
POULTRY INQUIRIES. 
place fifty years ago,” and I can assure him 
that he will meet with a hearty welcome from 
Mr. Stevens. 
Mr. S. has erected, during the last summer, a 
new and capacious dwelling house, which, for 
architectural beauty, is not surpassed by any 
private residence on the north shore of the 
sound. It lies pleasantly embosomed among 
every variety of fruit and ornamental trees. 
The view from it is extensive and imposing; and 
from the tower, the beholder looks down, as it 
were, upon Fairfield, Bridgeport, and other 
towns to the eastward ; while to the north and 
west, the vision rests upon a long succession of 
hills and dales. It commands a view of the 
waters of the sound for many miles both to the 
east and west, and, also, of Huntington, and 
other places on Long Island. Every one who 
has visited the spot has not failed to be impress¬ 
ed. with the beauty of the scene; and competent 
judges have declared it to be the most pleasant 
location on the shores of Long-Island Sound. 
* 
Noncalk, Feb., 1850. 
POULTRY INQUIRIES. 
Will you be good enough to inform me, 
through the Agriculturist, the reason of your 
opinion, in one of the late numbers of your pa¬ 
per, that a large number of hens, say 1,000 will 
not succeed together; whether you have ever 
known it judiciously attempted, and if unsuc¬ 
cessful, the cause? 
I have been very successful on a small scale, 
having raised 160 chickens last year, without 
losing one, but have been cautioned by others, 
not to attempt to increase my stock. If you had 
plenty of land, how many would you put to¬ 
gether, and how much land would you allow 
for each lot, to be enclosed with a picket fence ? 
E. W. 
New York, Jan., 1850. 
There is one principle in fowl-breeding, the 
truth of which has been known from the days 
of Columella, (more than eighteen hundred 
years ago,) down to the present time, which is 
this: “ The more densely poultry are congre¬ 
gated, the less profitable they will be ; the more 
thickly they are crowded, the less they will 
thiive.” We do not wish to be understood, how¬ 
ever, to say that a large number of fowls placed 
together will not, in any case thrive; for, on the 
contrary, there are well-authenticated instances 
where they have succeeded to the number of 
several thousand. The chief objections to confin¬ 
ing 100 or more in a limited space, are the liability 
of contracting contagious diseases from each other; 
the quick exhaustion of natural resources of food, 
such as worms, insects, seeds, &c., which in a 
small number often will constitute their entire 
sustenance, while the ground is bare; and the 
havoc they sometimes make on garden and field crops, 
when suffered to run at large. One gentleman 
informs us of an instance where 1,000 fowls 
were placed together, provided with ample food 
and accommodation, and less than six months 
after, nearly all had died of the “gapes,” or 
some similar disease; another says that fifty 
hens, with their broods, devoured more green 
corn, cabbages, melons, &c., in the space of 
two months, than their carcasses were worth 
when sold. 
We would say that farmers, or others, who 
have plenty of land, such as pastures, lawns, 
or cuitivated fields, in which their fowls could 
run at large, could safely and profitably keep 
from 20 to 50 brooding hens, and a proportion- 
able number of cocks. With proper care and 
ordinary luck, these would produce from 200 
to 400 chickens, and twice as many eggs, at a 
comparatively small cost. 
NEW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
At the Annual Meeting of this society held 
at Albany on the 17th of January, the Treasurer 
read the yearly report showing the following 
general results:— 
RECEIPTS. 
Bal. in the treasury, Jan. 17, 1849,.433.55 
Sale of mortgage given for money previ¬ 
ously loaned,.2,000.00 
From the State Treasury,.883.23 
For memberships at annual meeting,.97.00 
Interest on investments,.350.00 
Temporary loan,.593.61 
Receipts at State Fair at Syracuse,.8,144.55 
John A. Taintor, Hartford Oonn., for extra 
prize on sheep,.100.00 
Sundry other sums amounting to.72.50 
$12,674.44 
PAYMENTS.-- 
Debts of 1848,.$2,037.15 
Premiums,. 4,397.66 
Salary and travelling expenses of the 
Secretary, and salary of Messenger,... .1,410.88 
Expenses connected with the State Fair,.792.79 
Repayment of loan,.600.00 
On account of Library and Museum—Re¬ 
pairs of Agricultural Rooms—Incidental 
Expenses, &c., &c., . 1,334.66 
10,573.14 
Balance m Treasury, Jan 16, 1850,.2,101.30 
$12,674.44 
The following is a list of officers appointed 
for the ensuing year:— 
President. —E. P. Prentice, Albany. 
Vice Presidents .—Ambrose Stevens, New York ; 
Lewis G. Morris, Westchester; Anthony Van 
Bergen, Greene; Z. C. Platt, Clinton; J. B. 
Burnet, Onondaga; E. C. Frost, Chemung; 
Oliver Phelps, Ontario; Nelson Van Ness, 
Chatauque. 
Corresponding Secretary. —B. P. Johnson. 
Recording Secretary. —J. McD. McIntyre. 
Treasurer .—Luther Tucker. 
Executive Committee. —B. B. Kirtland, J. J. 
Viele, H. Wendell, A. Thompson, Henry Wager 
Barley for Soiling. —Mr. Moore, of Georgia, 
considers this grain one of the best that he uses 
for that purpose. It should be sown on good land, 
and may be sown from September to February, 
in this latitude, and cut any time before ripe. 
