190 
REVIEW OF THE APRIL NUMBER OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 
Spanish,” a good-looking black chicken, with 
an enormously large, troublesome, useless comb; 
the “Plymouth Rock,” a bastardised Malay; 
the true “ Malay,” “ Cochin-China,” “ Shanghae,” 
“ Imperial Chinese,” “ Merino,” or “ Great Bur- 
rampooter,” as you may please to call them, of 
all colors, shape, size, and fashion, except the 
right one, (some of them, in fact, first cousins to 
friend Solon’s “ red Shanghae,” in your Febru¬ 
ary Agriculturist, if not more closely related,) 
“black Poland,” “white Poland,” “African 
Bantam,” “ Bolton grey,” “ Creole,” “ English 
pheasant,” and the latest Yankee mixture, no 
matter what; besides any quantity of “ Jersey 
blues,” and “Bucks-countys,” sometimes all 
running in the same yard together, (every fresh 
specimen of bastardy, making a “ new breed” 
with the hen doctors,) and ranging from $5 to 
$50 a pair! 
In their selection of these fowls, I question no 
man’s taste nor fancy; and all may enjoy their 
opinions. Yet I prefer the true Dorking, to any 
and all of them; and still, with all my good 
opinion of the latter, except in the superior 
quality of their flesh, and their magnificent 
plumage and shape, they are not equal to the 
best dunghill fowls, for profit to the farmer; 
but, a cross of the Dorking on a good variety of 
the common hen, say half to three fourths Dork¬ 
ing, produces the best of barndoor fowls. It is 
a matter of little moment to me, whether I ever 
sell a chicken or not, for it costs all to raise 
them that they will bring, in the long run; and 
my only object in this long story is, to tell the 
truth, and expose one of the most arrant hum¬ 
bugs, in a small way, that this im-excitable 
country has ever had practised upon it. 
Black Rock, N. Y., 1851. Lewis F. Allen. 
(a) Our correspondent is aware that the 
Shanghaes, &c., are well feathered, and in this 
respect, differing greatly from the Merinos. 
(0) This was the appearance of the Malays 
when first imported. They have since been 
greatly improved here, and are now well formed 
and well feathered; and among the large birds, 
rank, in our estimation, next to the Dorkings. 
(c) Some varieties which we have seen have 
yellow legs, but whether they are a true breed, 
we are unable to say. 
( d ) Notwithstanding this unfortunate cock of 
our correspondent’s, very fine white Dorkings are 
now raised in this vicinity and at Boston. 
Manure For Fruit Trees. —Pounded bones 
are excellent for apple trees. A peck to each 
tree will not be amiss, either pounded or burnt. 
REVIEW OF THE APRIL NUMBER OF THE 
AGRICULTURIST. 
Pork — Bacon — Ham. —The greatest interest I 
take in reading this article, is the reflection that a 
hog in the country where the writer lives, is nev¬ 
er suffered to run at large in the public high¬ 
ways like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may 
devour. Ah, but that is England. This is Amer¬ 
ica, the land of freedom—for hogs. 
Fish Ponds on Long Island. —And why not 
transplant fish and grow them for market as 
well as oysters ? 
Southern Wines. —Mr. Weller makes out a 
very profitable business of the grape culture— 
on paper. Is it so in fact? A good many at¬ 
tempts have been made, and few succeed, and 
in my opinion never will, while cotton bears 
such prices as it has averaged during the last 
half century. To change the agricultural sys¬ 
tem of a country, requires very palpable advan¬ 
tages to be presented. Perhaps Mr. Weller’s 
statement does that. We shall see. 
Squash- Vine Borer. —This article of Dr. Harris^ 
independent of its scientific information, is of 
great value in a practical point, as it gives such 
directions about fastening down the vines to 
make the joints take root, that none but a squash 
head can mistake the way to raise squashes in 
spite of the borers. 
California Hens. —Old Joe says this is not half 
so remarkable an account of the domestic qual¬ 
ities of Miss Biddy, as one we once had on board 
the ship Elizabeth. She used to come every morn¬ 
ing into the galley and deposit an egg in a par¬ 
ticular sauce pan, which he always boiled in 
the same vessel without removing it, for my 
breakfast. Are not these hens of a new breed 
worthy the attention of the Boston folks ? 
Plant Trees. —A precious iittle item I should 
think, from the way in which other papers ap¬ 
propriated it without credit, as a lucubration of 
brainless craniums, which, unfortunately, rests 
upon the shoulders of some editors. 
Economy of Grinding Corn for Feed. —It has 
been proved, has it, by actual experiment, that 
corn, when ground and cooked, is 30 per cent, 
better, &c. ? Well, that was proved a hundred 
years ago; and yet, not one in thirty do it. It 
has been proved, too, that it is 30 per cent, 
more profitable to use manure and buy good 
tools to farm with; and yet, look at the way 
that 30 per cent, of the farmers of America cul¬ 
tivate their land. Economy ? They don’t know 
the meaning of the word. 
Manual-Labor School at Jerusalem. —If it suc¬ 
ceeds in the Holy Land it is more than it has 
ever done in our own land. 
