294 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
and three months old, which last spring weighed thir¬ 
teen and one-fourth pounds .” 
Now, do not these descriptions by Dr. Kerr, and ‘-'Asa 
Rugg,” and Dr. Bennett, refer to one and the same fowl? 
Was not the “.hen” which these writers called Chitta¬ 
gong, and “Imperial Chittagong,” in 1850, the “pul¬ 
let” which, in 1851, Dr. Kerr says, (in his book, p. 143,) 
was “a mixture of Malay, Cochin-China, and perhaps 
Shanghae,”—and was she not of the same stock which, 
under the head of Chittagong, (p. 270,) he declares is 
“ mongrel, and comparatively worthless?” 
From the length to which this article has been already 
extended, it is impossible to notice the work under con¬ 
sideration as fully as was intended in the outset. There 
are one or two more points, however, which ought not 
to be passed over. One is the manner in which Dr. 
Kerr has put the matter of this book together—it is so 
dove-tailed and mixed, that a person who is not tho¬ 
roughly acquainted with Dixon’s and other works, would 
not know who to charge, or credit, with the language. 
First, we have a brief preface signed J. J. Kerr ; next 
Dixon’s preface to his first edition, and next his preface 
to the second edition,—both “condensed.” Next we 
have “ Chapter I. The Domestic Fowl,” which opens as 
follows: 
“ Preliminary to a description of the different breeds 
and varieties of fowls, some general account of them, 
and their management, will be appropriate; and I know 
of nothing better than the following, which I quote from 
Mr. Dixon. He says, in answer to the question, What 
is the earliest date of poultry keeping? Nobody knows. 
My own belief is, that it is coeval with the keeping of 
sheep by Abel, or the tilling of the ground by Cain,” &c. 
This is transcribed point for point. Now what is 
“quoted” from Mr. Dixon? Perhaps it will be said 
“'the following.” But where does “ the following” be¬ 
gin, and where does it end? There is nothing in the 
book to show—no marks of quotation, no difference of 
type, nor anything else. It can only be ascertained by 
examining Mr. Dixon’s book. The third chapter, (on 
eggs,) appears to be entirely from Mr. Dixon, but noth¬ 
ing is said or intimated as to its authorship, and for 
aught that appears to the contrary, the reader might 
think it was written by Dr. Kerr. The fourth Chapter, 
(continuing the subject of eggs,) begins thus: “ I have 
taken some pains to ascertain the best means of preserv¬ 
ing eggs.” Who says this, Mr. Dixon or Dr. Kerr? 
The book does not tell. True, a little further along it 
is said— 
“Mr. Dixon, quoting Mr. Cobbett, says, 'Preserved 
Eggs are things to run from , not after.’ Perhaps so, per¬ 
haps not, as the case may be. At any rate, many arti¬ 
cles of cookery which cannot be made without eggs, are 
not things to be run from,” &c. 
So it goes on to the end of the chapter. Who, with¬ 
out Mr. Dixon’s book, can tell what is quoted from him 
in this case? Nothing is credited to him except the ex¬ 
pression of Mr. Cobbett! So it is all through the book— 
the examples of this kind of twistification are “too 
numerous to mention.” 
A large portion of the work consists of letters obtain- 
tained by Dr. Kerr from persons who own the fowls 
whose “ portraits” are here given. Some of these let¬ 
ters contain useful information; the character of others, 
Sept. 
in some respects, admits of neither approval nor apolo- 
gy—at least, 
‘Immodest words admit but this defence, 
That want of decency is want of sense.’* 
From what has been said, it must not be supposed 
that it is the intention of the writer to endorse, wholly, 
Mr. Dixon’s own book. The present, however, is not a 
convenient opportunity to speak of that work; it is suf¬ 
ficient on this occasion to say, that whatever defects it 
may be thought to have in a scientific view, it has a good 
claim to originality, is written in a chaste and agreeable 
style, and evidently from honest motives. Observer. 
The Milk Establishment of Geo. E. Adams. 
Editors of the Cultivator— When in the city of 
Boston a few days since, a friend invited me to ride out to 
Medford, some six miles distant, and look at Mr. Geo. E. 
Adams’ stock of cows, and at his management of the 
same, for the production of milk for families residing in 
the city. 
Mr. Adams has a well arranged barn, large enough to 
stable 60 cows, and to hold the hay annually consumed 
by them. The barn has a floor or drive-way extending 
through its entire length, with a bay on one side, and on 
the other side stables for the cows and a scaffold over 
them. Platform scales are set in the floor near one end 
of it, for the convenience of weighing loads of hay, and 
other bulky substances, and for weighing anything else 
bought or sold. Underneath the barn-floor and stables 
is a cellar, for the making and storage of manure. The 
cows are made warm and comfortable in winter, and by 
means of ventilators in the roof and upper regions of 
the barn, pure air can be furnished the cows, without 
subjecting them to currents of cold air. The barn can 
also be made cool and comfortable in summer. 
The stock of cows varies in number from 40 to 60 
head; they are mostly bought in the fall, milked 8 to 12 
months, and then sold to the butchers for beef, at a 
price about $5 per headless than their cost as new milch 
cows. Some superior milkers are kept along for three 
or four years, producing calves each year; but as a 
general rule, it is considered better economy to sell 
most of the cows for beef at the end of 8 to 12 months, 
and purchase new milch cows fresh from the country, 
than to allow them to be in calf, and incur the expense 
of keeping them while dry. 
The cows are pastured about four months of the year, 
commencing the first of June. They are stabled nights 
during the time, are milked at evening and morning in 
the stables, and have green feed, such as clover, corn¬ 
stalks, &c. in their mangers, evenings and mornings. 
The rest of the year they are stabled night and day. 
Once a day they are turned into a warm shed erected over 
a well of water with a pump in it, the shed containing a 
long water-trough, with stanchels in front of it, where 
the cows are fastened until the stables are cleansed, and 
until they have drank their fill. Aqueduct water was 
formerly brought to the barn for the cows, but was found 
to be inferior to well water because of its greater cold¬ 
ness in winter. Experience has taught that the cows 
* In some copies, a portion of page 268 has been taken out, and the 
hyatus marked by rows of asterisks. On other pages, as 254, 264, 
words have been changed, or blanks substituted. 
