Vol XLI. No. 1718. 
NEW YORK, DEC. 30, 1882. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1882, by the Rural New-Yorker, In the office of the Libiarlan of Congress at Washington J 
PRICE FIVE CENTS. 
$2.00 PER YEAR. 
^M/oulu 
Poulin} gar!?. 
BREEDS OF POULTRY. 
In order that those of our readers who are 
not familiar with 
the external char¬ 
acteristics of the 
different and lead¬ 
ing breeds of fowls, 
may be enabled to 
note them at a 
glance we present 
the accompanying 
illustration parti¬ 
ally re drawn and 
re-engraved from 
the London News. 
The cuts here given 
are from photo¬ 
graphs of the 
p r i z e-w inning 
birds at the last 
annual exhibition 
of poultry and 
pigeons at the 
Crystal Palace, 
London, but our 
piesenc purpose is 
to speak briefly of 
the characteristics 
of the various 
breeds here shown. 
THE DORKINGS. 
In Fig. 492 No. 
I is a Dorking 
Cock; No. 2, a 
Dorking Pullet; 
No. 3, a White 
Dorking. These 
fowls are favorites 
in England and 
are considered su¬ 
perior by some 
fowl-fanciers here; 
but they cannot 
be raised to ad¬ 
vantage here as 
they are not suffi¬ 
ciently hardy. Yet 
they are not by 
any means with¬ 
out good qualities. 
They are suffi¬ 
ciently large to 
suit even the most 
fastidious, for the 
table; the flesh is 
considered superi¬ 
or to that of other 
breeds except the 
Games; the beus 
are steady sitters 
and good mothers; 
the chicks quite 
hardy and mature 
early, and the 
cocks are fine- 
looking, having a 
stately appear¬ 
ance. The fifth 
toe is a character¬ 
istic of the Dork¬ 
ings. To raise this 
breed successfully 
a good run way is 
required on clay 
or gravelly soil. 
The White Dork¬ 
ing Bhown at No. 
8 is a fair repre¬ 
sentative of its 
class. These are 
very good layers, H^'.VbuVg.'ben" 
but if they lose in 16 . Golden 
quantity they make up in the quality of the 
eggB produced. It is said their eggs average 
about seven or eight to the pound. In the 
Dorking classes the competition at the recent 
English show was very close, this old English 
breed still maintaining its place as supplying 
the best birds for the table, whether pure¬ 
bred or crossed with Games or Brahmas. 
THE BRAHMAS. 
Perhaps no breed is better entitled to the 
name of the “ farmer’s fowl ’’ than the Light 
Brahma. ItB merits are everywhere known 
and its praises are worthily bestowed. It is 
without doubt the first fowl for eggs, chickens 
and flesh, and it is, furthermore, a handsome 
bird, and its docility together with its inabil¬ 
ity to scale fences commends it to all poultry- 
men. Especially as a market fowl does the 
Light Brahma ex- 
cel; its yellow 
flesh and legs are 
attractive to the 
popular eye. The 
hen is a Winter 
layer, and the 
chicks are remark¬ 
ably hardy. But 
there is less in 
favor of the Dark 
Brahma, shown at 
No. f > of the figure, 
as it is less pro¬ 
ductive and less 
hardy- than the 
Light; it is quite 
unpopular with 
poulfcrymen in this 
country, though 
in England, as the 
report of the re- 
c en t poultry 
shows says, “ the 
improvement has 
been very great.” 
THE HOUDANS. 
The H o u d a n, 
No. 6, Fig. 492, 
holds as high a 
rank in France as 
the Dorking does 
in England. It is 
a peculiar-looking, 
crested fowl, with 
mottled plumage, 
a good layer of 
fair sized eggs; the 
quality of flesh is 
fine. The fifth toe 
is also found on 
this breed and at¬ 
tempts have been 
made, especially 
in France, to breed 
it off, as by many 
poultry-fanciers it 
is considered an 
ugly excrescence 
simply. The same 
may be said of 
the Dorkings. The 
Houdans are easily 
reared and fat¬ 
tened and are 
worthy a more 
general adoption 
into the poultry- 
yards of this coun 
try. 
[ THE HAMBURGH. 
VARIOUS I1RKEOS OF FOWLS. 
1 DorkluK Cock. 2, Dorking Pullet 3. White Dorking, 4, Frnlinia (Sir Henry Thompson.) 5. Dork Brahma. 6. Houdan. 7, Golden-spangled Hamburg. 8, Silver s 
’ hen 9 Plymouth Rock. 10, Andalusian. 11, Buff Cochin. 12, Silver-spangled Hamburg. 13, Silver spangled Polish. 14. Game Uentam Cockerel (black-red.) 1 
-spangled Hamburg. 17 , Plymouth Rock.' IS, Runt Pigeon. 19, Antwerp non pigeon. 30, Pouter. 21, Owl Plgeou, 32, Antwerp. 2a, Black East Indian Duck. 
This is one of 
the most useful 
breeds of fowls 
the farmer can 
keep. The hens 
are excellent lay¬ 
ers, being accred¬ 
ited with an aver¬ 
age of 150 per an¬ 
num in the tables. 
At Nos. 7 and 16 
the Golden-span¬ 
gled Hamburgs 
are shown, and at 
Nos 8 and 12 are 
the Silver-span- 
OTsSSen el®*- The general 
color of the former 
