POULTRY RAISING NO. 5. 
207 
ed and rendered white and soft, capable of 
being spun into the finest yarns, for less than 
two cents more, being then in the condition 
which you so aptly term ‘flax cotton.’ This 
can be spun for about the sum required for cot¬ 
ton, thus reducing the price of linen yarns far 
below that of cotton. From this time forward, 
as you proceed in the manufacture of fabrics, 
th f « expense is about equal, the recent improve¬ 
ments in power looms for linen, having entirely 
removed all the difficulties which were experi¬ 
enced in this branch of manufacture some time 
age, and from the great purity and whiteness of 
the linen fabric by the new process, the bleach¬ 
ing is rendered quite as simple and cheap a 
process as with cotton. By the new process, we 
are enabled to produce finer quality than here¬ 
tofore. It was common in Ireland, when hemp 
was low and cotton high, to rise the American 
dew-rotted hemp as a substitute for flax, but it 
could not be run to finer numbers—rarely finer 
than 30s. It can, however, by the new process, 
be easily run as fine as 100 leas to the pound. 
I have produced yarn much finer, in a small 
way, from hemp, both rotted and unrotted, 
though the latter is preferred. 
“ I observed the London press delighted with 
the prospect of English independence of Amer¬ 
ican cotton growers. It is very true that England 
may not be obliged much longer to import raw 
cotton from the United States, but she will hard¬ 
ly like, in the place of it, to import manufac¬ 
tured goods, as she must do ere long. Flax 
cannot be transported far, in the unrotted state, 
i n the stra\V, and farmers will not readily estab¬ 
lish factories upon their plantations, for the 
purpose of producing ‘ flax cotton ’ for expor¬ 
tation. They will cut it, take off the seed, 
(which pays for the crop,) and haul it a few 
miles to a flax mill or linen factory, where they 
will sell it at a moderate price. When a manu¬ 
facturer once begins to manufacture flax, if he is 
wise he will go through with it, and turn it off 
in the shape of either yarns or fabrics. Grow¬ 
ing flax for the seed, alone, is considered, in 
many parts of the western states, a profitable 
branch of husbandry. What the farmer gets, 
then, for the straw or lint, now thrown away, 
he considers so much clear gain. It is proposed 
in Ireland to pay twelve pounds sterling, ($60,) 
per acre for flax straw, leaving the farmer the 
seed; and who shall say that we cannot com¬ 
pete successfully with Ireland in manufactur¬ 
ing linen, when we can purchase quite as good, 
and quite as much flax, for less than one quar¬ 
ter of the money ?” 
POULTRY RAISING- No. 5. 
The species of fowls known as Chittagongs, 
Shanghaes, Great Malays, etc., are without 
doubt fowls that will weigh, when mature, from 
15 to 20 pounds per pair, (male and female,) and 
their flesh may be equal to our common varie¬ 
ties, in some cases, but oftener not so tender and 
delicate. Now, in order to have those fowls as 
profitable as our common varieties, they should 
produce double the number of eggs annually, 
or at least, double the weight of eggs that the 
ordinary breeds produce; but instead of such a 
result, we get but about two thirds the number, 
and the same weight produced by the common 
fowl. Dr. Bennett says in his treatise on poul¬ 
try, (page 30,) of the Chittagong breed—and 
what is applicable to this breed will properly 
apply to all large breeds, in regard to their pro¬ 
ductive powers: “They do not lay as many 
eggs in a year as smaller hens, but they lay as 
many pounds as most of the best breeds.” A 
pair of any species or breed of the large fowls, 
will consume double the quantity of food, or in 
the ratio of their weight, that a pair of common 
fowls consume, and only produce the same 
weight in eggs. From this fact, it follows that 
we can raise two pair of common fowls for the 
same cost of one pair of large ones; and yet, 
double the weight of eggs, and more than doub¬ 
le the number of eggs in a year, than such large 
breeds will produce. 
Now, it puzzles me to ascertain where the 
profit is in large breeds over small ones. If one 
never sells any eggs, a pound of large ones is 
worth as much for family use as a pound o't 
small ones; yet, but very few persons, compar¬ 
atively, use all the eggs that their fowls pro¬ 
duce, and in the market, an egg is an egg, and 
large ones will not generally command a higher 
prise than small ones. It appears to me that 
two pairs of round, plump, fat Dominique fowls, 
or any other good breed, when dressed, would 
be preferable to one pair of Chittagongs or 
Shanghaes of double their weight; that is, for 
the table. If this is a fact, and I firmly believe 
it is so, will some one be so good as to inform the 
public, through this medium, where the advan¬ 
tage or profit lies in large breeds over small 
ones? We want information on this point, and 
if some gentlemen who can tell a good story, 
and pocket $5 for a pair of such breed, will 
come out and show from good, positive, incon¬ 
trovertible authority that they are more profita¬ 
ble than small ones, he will be a public bene¬ 
factor. It is my belief that most of the owners 
of large breeds at the present day, feel inter- 
