DEC 30 
880 
is a golden or orange-yellow, the feathers 
being tipped with a glossy dark brown or 
blackish point. Of the latter, the base color 
of the feathers is a silvery white, tinged with 
straw color and margined with black. It is 
said that the spangle of the feathers in this 
breed is most perfect of any. Besides these 
there is the Black Hamburg, with plumage of 
glossy, greenish-black. All these fowls are 
impatient of confinement and to do their best 
they need extensive runs of clean pasture; 
tney are great foragers. They are plump, 
compact and well-formed and beautifully 
marked, mature early and their flesh is ten¬ 
der, juicy and of a fine flavor. 
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK. 
This bird is a great favorite with the farmer 
since, next to the Light Brahma, there is no 
fowl that combines so many desirable quali¬ 
ties for bis use. These fowls are figured at 
Nos. 0 and 17, and are becoming so well 
known as to require but little comment. It 
is a heavy-bodied, plump fowl, cockerels of 
eight months weighing as many pounds, as 
some have reported. The hens are good lay¬ 
ers of large eggs, varying from white to a 
reddish brown. The pullets are early layers 
and the cocks are fit for the table at an 
early age. 
THE ANDALUSIAN. 
The Andalusians are a Spanish fowl and re¬ 
semble in figure somewhat the Black Span¬ 
ish; see No. 10. They differ, however, in the 
color of their plumage, which varies from a 
light slaty blue to a dove color. The carriage 
is upright and the tail held very erect. This 
bird is considered in England, where it is more 
common and admired than here, as ranking 
next to the Dorkings as a table fowl. 
THE BUFF COCHIN. 
The birds of this breed are well esteemed 
on account or their hardiness and good laying 
and breeding qualities. The Buff Cochin, 
Fig. 492, No. 11, is of a light cinuamon color, 
the cocks having a somewhat gayer plumage 
than the bens. Some poultry breeders claim 
that no fowl is better adapted to our change¬ 
able climate than this, and that they require 
less care and pay better for their feed in flesh 
and in quality of eggs than most other varie¬ 
ties. The Partridge Cochins are beautifully 
feathered, color a rich brown with darker 
pencil lings. There is also a black variety that 
is not often seen except in tanciers’yards. 
THE POLISH. 
For ornamental fowls the Polish—White- 
crested Black, White-crested White, Golden- 
spangled, Bearded silver and Black—are 
especially desirable. At Fig. 432, No. 13, the 
Silver-spangled Polish is represented. The 
ground color of the plumage Bhould be a silver 
white, with blaek spangles. In the cock the 
hackle feathers are white, edged with black. 
The crest should be fuil and regular. These 
fowls assume their peculiar characteristics 
at an early age, making them interesting 
miniature fowls for the fancy breeder. They 
are the oldest known variety in Europe. 
THE GAME BANTAM. 
The Bantams are among the most pleasing 
fowls for ornament, being especially the de¬ 
light of the children. The Game Bantam, No. 
14, of the figure, suould have a bright red 
plumage and red eyes, denoting purity of 
blood. The hen should be of a rich partridge 
brown with red, fawn-colored breast. There 
is, of course, not much profit in these or any 
of the Bantams. 
TOULOUSE GEESE. 
The Toulouse is probably, for all purposes, 
the best breed of geese that we have. They 
are large, sometimes attaining a weight of 20 
pounds or more. Pairs have been known to 
weigh as much as 50 or 60 pounds. As to egg- 
producing qualities they are held by some to 
be inferior to the Chinese or Poland fowls. 
At No. 15 of the figure is shown a cut of a 
Toulouse gander, 
EAST INDIAN DUCK. 
The East Indian duck. No. 23, is also ! 
nown as the Black Labrador and also 
the Buenos Ayres duck. It is a popular duck 
in England but is little known bore. It has a 
habit of laying black eggs in the first of the 
season, the coloring matter which consists of 
an oily pigment that can bs scraped off, dis¬ 
appearing after a few eggs are laid. The 
drak? is a handsome bird notwithstanding its 
somber shade, which, however, is relieve i by 
purple and green shadings and reflections. 
The bill is also black with a tinge of green. 
“ Tue duck is very modestly attired in plain 
black.” The flesh of this variety has a high, 
gamey flavor which is so much desired by epi¬ 
cures. 
ANTWERP, RUNT AND POUTER PIGEONS. 
The Antwerp pigeon, Nos. 19 and 23 of 
the figure, is the carrier or homing pig¬ 
eon, known and valued for its instinctive 
love of its home to which it returns with 
out delay, even when it is carried hundreds 
of miles away. This kind of pigeon has been 
found of inestimable service for carrying news 
and despatches in time of war, as its powers 
of flight are enormous, covering as much as 
a thousand miles a day, or for short distances 
60 to 70 miles in an hour, or even more. 
I The Runt, shown at No. 18, is of several 
hinds, but they are all short, stout birds. 
One variety has its feathers sticking out 
the wrong way; another has feathers growing 
on its feet. There are some fanciers who 
like them, perhaps because of their nnusual 
ugliness. The Pouter, No. 20, is both a grace¬ 
ful and a graceless bird, having a bad habit of 
sporting itself by its vain attempts to seem a 
big bird, It has the curious power of inflat¬ 
ing its crop to an enormous size, and is fond 
of doing this most of the time. In its ordin¬ 
ary condition it is a large, elegant bird of up¬ 
right carriage and of varied coloring, black- 
blue, yellow and red pied. It is quite possible 
that this habit of inflation is used as a means 
of lightening its relative weight in proportion 
to its bulk as an aid in flying. The Owl, No 21, 
has a purl upon its breast and is r handsome 
bird when well colored. The colors of this 
variety are red, blue, yellow, black and silver. 
Some of the best colored and handsomely 
formed owls are valued very highly by the 
fanciers. 
<i!)C l|crt)smau. 
pigs, and no doubt the results obtained were 
different from those usual with ordinary pigs. 
The trade in Chicago dressed beef is looked 
upon with envious eyes by Eastern cattle men; 
but it is nothing new. It is about a dozen 
years ago since we went through the very 
same experience. I was then invited by some 
Texan shippers from Denison to inspect a train 
of refrigerator cars loaded with beef from that 
town. The beef looked well and the advantages 
of this method of bringiug beef to the East 
and all the savings in freight, etc., etc., were 
fully discussed and enlarged upon. But the 
speculation soon collapsed. The losses were 
more than the profits, and now the usual cycle 
comes round again after the usual interval, 
and tbo3e who have grown up in the meantime 
thiuk it is all up with the live cattle trade this 
time. It is always safe to wait and see, and 
Eastern cattle men and sheep men, need not be 
in a hurry to thiuk “ their occupation’s gone.” 
The West is a big thing. There’s no doubt 
of that. But the young folks of to-day are 
too ready to push the old fulksto one sideaud 
think they—the young ones—are all the world 
now. And the sturdy young West feels just 
like that all the time. But the old folks are 
not all dead yet, and until they are they will 
be heard of now and then, at least. And so 
this new idea is not likely to kill off the old 
| methods of business all at once. 
NOTES BY A STOCKMAN. 
The question of feeding is obviously one of 
the greatest importance to stock owners, be¬ 
cause on it depends the return of profit from 
their in vestments. And yet the uncertainty 
in regard to it is so prevalent and overwhelm¬ 
ing that no one can tell what to do in regard 
to feeding his stock with the most profit. 
Just now owners of hogs are greatly exercised 
in regard to how they should feed their ani¬ 
mals with the best effect, and if you should 
ask their opinions upon this most important 
point every one—to a mau—would say, “I 
don’t know.” American pork is made from 
corn, and the bulk of it is made from corn on 
the ear, thrown out to the hogs in a field or a 
lot. It is prob ible that a bushel of corn thus 
fed does not make more than half as much 
pork as it could be made to do under a better 
method. But I must take that word “ better” 
back; for how do we know if this rough and 
cheap method is not the best and the pork so 
made the cheapest possible ? For corn is 
cheaper than labor and even than shelter under 
the most common circumstances in the West. 
What is the chief advantage gained in feed¬ 
ing cooked corn to hogs ? That has not been 
made very clear by the advocates of cooking 
hogs’ food. In nearly every case these persons 
claim that there is less danger of the food be 
ing bolted without proper mastication when 
it is cooked or mashed. Now this is a popular 
fallacy. It is broadly stated in a Western 
stock journal that, so far as regards bran fed 
to a cow, thia is true. But even this authority 
is wrong. To test it I gave a cow two quarts 
of dry bran and watched her eat it—with my 
watch in hand. She occupied 17 minutes in 
the chewing process, and a good deal of saliva 
was seoreted during the process. The next 
day at the same hour—noon—I gave her a 
mash of two quarts of bran which had been 
scalded and steeped five hours. It was all 
swallowedand the trough licked in three min¬ 
utes. I have not timed pigs in this respect, but 
I know that a quantity of boiled meal or corn 
will be eaten in half the time that dry meal or 
corn will. The dry meal cannot be swal¬ 
lowed until it is well mixed with saliva and 
reduced to a soft paste. And herein is the se¬ 
cret of it all. 
It is the food that is digested that makes the 
flesli and fat. Now water is not any aid to 
digestion, nor is the softening of the food be¬ 
fore it is eaten. On the contrary, it Is a hind¬ 
rance to it because the soft, pulpy food sooner 
passes out of the stomach. Saliva is a digest¬ 
ive agent, and not only softens the food but 
makes the starch soluble, and there ia no ques¬ 
tion that in the chewing of the dry food a very 
large quantity of saliva is secreted and mixed 
very evenly with the food. Let any one give 
a mesa of boiled oats to a horse that has been 
used to have the grain dry, and the soft oats 
will be found quite plentifully in the dung the 
next day, _ 
But there are so many varying circumstan¬ 
ces in all the experiments that one reads of in 
regard to feeding, and I -nay say so many al¬ 
most impossible statements made, that it is no 
wonder but little respect is given to them. 
Here is a case in point: An Ohio agricultural 
paper relates a case In which eight pigs a week 
old (11) were put np and fed for nine months. 
The first month these tender infants consumed 
15 bushels of corn, which was more than two- 
thirds of the quantity they eat in their ninth 
month. The second month they eat 24 bushels. 
These must have been extraordinary young 
The great fat cattle show at Chicago which 
opened Nov. 20 was nearly twice as large as 
that of last year. There were 431 entries this 
year against 211 last year, and 106 five years 
ago. The effect of these exhibitions is already 
marked. Ic has greatly stimulated improved 
breeding and improved the quality of the 
cattle now coming to market, indeed if the 
stockmen go on as they have begun, the in¬ 
ventors must soon look for a substitute for 
horn; for one already begins to miss the great 
spreading horns of the erewhile Texan steer, 
and the Bhort horns of the improved cattle 
will very soon take from the polled cattle men 
their greatest claim for superiority of their 
favorite “moolies.” 
Beef cattle have advanced in value, in the 
herd, about 140 per cent in the past five years, 
and when the reasons for this are looked for 
they are found to be various. Improvement 
in quality is credited with 40 per cent of it. 
This is unquestionably true. Better facilities 
for marketing have added 40 per cent more. 
There is no doubt of that, too. The entrance 
of great capitalists into the business and the 
concentrations of interests and consequent 
economy in business due to this Hdd 30 per 
cent or more. The remaining 30 per cent is 
clearly due to the increased demands of con¬ 
sumers over and above the natural increase of 
the herds. But this is all a one-sided business. 
Where do the poor consumers get their share 
of the benefits of better and cheaper transpor- 
1 tation and of improvements in other ways? 
The great grazing grounds are public propercy 
and the artisan or laborer in the great cities 
owns a share of the grass upon which these 
cattle are fed, and may justly claim a share 
of the stakes—or steaks—as we may like 
to put it. 
Probably' the best type of the Merino 
sheep is found in the Rambouillet flock be¬ 
longing to the French Govermneuc. This 
flock was founded in 1786 and lias been care¬ 
fully bred and improved for the purpose of 
supplying breeding animals to the French 
farmers. The best blood of our American 
Merino has been derived for this flock and it 
is worthy of note that 53 choice animals from 
it arrived here from France a week or two 
ago. This is the largest importation ever 
made of French Merinos, and the first since 
1S46, when Mr. Taintor, of Connecticut, im¬ 
ported some of them. The present importa¬ 
tion is made by a Texas sheep owner. This 
class of Merinos produce wool three inches 
long used for combing and known as "de¬ 
laine” wool, and the fleece contains very 
little yolk. 
As the Kieffer has come to stay, and is sure 
to be extensively planted, a few words on its 
demands and characteristics may not be out 
of place. If grown in an indifferent situa¬ 
tion, on poor soil, with little or no manure, 
and improperly gathered and ripened, it un¬ 
doubtedly will disappoint the grower. On 
the other hand, give the Kieffer a fair situa¬ 
tion, plenty of plant food, and it will yield an 
elegant fruit. Its tendency is to overbear, 
and often it should be effectively thinned. It 
may not possess the highest excellence of 
quality, neither does the Baldwin apple nor 
the Concord grape; but a pear like the Kief¬ 
fer that comes into bearing young, and pro¬ 
duces big crops of quick-selling fruit, is bound 
to be popular. 
The past Fall, in our Philadelphia markets, 
the Kieffer wholesaled for from 85 to 810 a 
bushel, and retailed from 10 cents to 50 cents 
each. As Downing aptly says; "To have it 
in perfection, it. should be gathered when 
fully grown, end ripened iu the house.” I 
can readily see how there may be differences 
of opinion regarding the quality of the Kief¬ 
fer, for a poor Kieffer certainly is poor eat¬ 
ing. On the other hand, a good one is excep¬ 
tionally good eating. It may be claimed 
that even when properly grown and properly 
ripened, the fruit is variable in quality. It 
doubtless is, but I think no more so than the 
Duchesse d’Angouleme. As a cooking and 
canning pear, to my taste it has no equal, sur¬ 
passing even the Bartlett for this purpose. 
While perfection in pear growing may not 
have been reached by the introduction of the 
Kieffer, it oertaiuly most take front rank as 
a profitable market fruit. The most exten¬ 
sive and successful pear grower in this neigh¬ 
borhood stated to me la«t Summer that, judg¬ 
ing by the way the Kieffer was doing for him, 
there was more money in it at 50 cents a bushel 
than in any other fruit that be could raise. 
Philadelphia, Pa. Howard A, Chase. 
-*—♦- 
THE WEALTHY AND OTHER APPLES. 
From the extravagant praise the Wealthy 
Apple has received, l expected a fine-flavored 
fruit that would keep into Winter. But 
while the apple is large and fine-looking— 
sometimes with pink flesh—I think no one 
would use it for dessert if he could ha ve Jona¬ 
than or Sncw, and with mo every Wealthy 
apple had rotted before November 1, while I 
can keep Snow until Christmas. The tree 
makes a clean, smooth growth like Ben Davis, 
and 1 judge it is a good bearer on sandy soil, 
as one tree bore a bushel for its first crop. 
Grimes’s Golden is, with me, on abundant 
bearer and the fruit is as large and fine flav¬ 
ored as the yellow Bellflower, which it some¬ 
what resembles, except at the calyx, but it 
falls from the tree early and only beeps with 
the Minister or Bellflower. G. w. 
PARASITES OF THE COLORADO 
BEETLE, ETC 
During the past season this neighborhood 
was blessed with the presence of a large num¬ 
ber of insects which, if given anything like a 
fair chance, promise to exterminate the potato 
beetle. I first noticed the parasite three years 
ago, but during the growth of the last potato 
crop it was so plentiful that three or four 
might have been found on every potato hill. 
It makes its appearance about the time 
the larvse begin to hatch, and if these are 
not found ia sufficient numbers to satisfy 
the demands of appetite, it devours the eggs, 
taking a whole batch at one meal. It will at¬ 
tack the larvse at any stage of its growth, 
though it seems to prefer those from one-third 
to one-half grown. It is my opinion that if 
Paris-green and London-purple had never 
been ussd for the destruction of the Colorado 
beetle, its parasitic enemies would long since 
have exterminated it, or at least would have 
checked its increase so that it would now be 
rare and comparatively harmless. Its foes 
feeding on the poisoned larvae are themselves 
also destroy ed. 
To show that my crops, without the use of 
poison, compare favorably with any grown in 
the county, I need only state that I have 
grown an average of five acres of potatoes 
per annum, and in all that time I have never 
used an ounce of poison to get rid of the 
beetles, preferring to destroy them by hand¬ 
picking. In no season since its appearance 
here, have the Colorado peat and its eggs been 
so numerous as the last. I will give the time 
consumed ia gathering the larv® (I pay no 
attention whatever to the beetle) from two- 
and-a-balf acres of potatoes, and I am sure 
the vines were more free from insects and 
their ravages than any patch of like size in 
Lycoming County, on which poison has been 
used: On Saturday, June 23d, it took one 
hand three hours to go over two-and a-half 
acres and collect the larva? by carefully 
bending the hills infested u ith them over a 
wide-topped tin bucket and giving a sudden 
shake which, when one has had a little prac¬ 
tice, results iu causing all to fall to the bot¬ 
tom of the bucket. On Wednesday, June 
27th, it took five hours to do the same work, 
the young having been hatched on a greater 
number of hills. Ou Saturday, July 1st, it 
took 8lx hours. After that the parasites 
above referred to kept them sufficiently in 
cheek to prevent any damage to the crop. 
Could Paris-green have been applied in less 
time than was consumed in collecting the bugs? 
A few years ago I raised at the rate of 476 
bushels per acre of Early Vermonts, having 
at that time taken the $100 premium offered 
