THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 29. 
i 
or nearly so, in their plumage. The former, how¬ 
ever, which is supposed by some writers to be a 
variety of tho latter, has a shade of dark green 
through it, and a white check, which distinguishes it 
in particular. The legs are lead coloured. The 
comh and wattles of the cock are very large. 
SPANISH COCK. 
SPANISH HEN. 
Both the cock and hen of the Poland kind have a 
shining black plumage, and white tufts on the head. 
To those who can afford to pay the high price usually 
asked for these fine birds, they are to be specially 
recommended for the size and quality of the eggs, 
their regular disposition to lay, and then grand ap 
pearance. But we repeat our preference of the Dork¬ 
ings for the general purposes of producing many 
eggs in the year, sitting steadily, and supplying a 
profitable and well-flavoured bird for the spit. The 
great size and high quality of the eggs of the former 
large breeds render them so profitable that, whether 
they be sold for the table or for hatching, they fetch 
such a price as soon repays their original cost; and 
we think that even the cottager cannot better invest 
any spare capital he may possess than in the pur¬ 
chase of a stock of those breeds as long as they are 
scarce, and, therefore, worth a high price. Large 
fowls, it is true, will consume more food than small 
ones, but the difference is not very important. Gar¬ 
den refuse, boiled turnips, and small potatoes, beet 
115 
leaves, lettuces, chopped leeks and cabbage leaves, 
assist in the keep of all poultry, and corn has never 
been cheaper than now. Damaged lice may some¬ 
times be bought on very cheap terms, and this, when 
boiled, increases, like barley, so considerably in bulk, 
that a much smaller quantity suffices when boiled 
than if it were given raw. Barley swells to so great 
a bulk by boiling, that half the quantity, it is said, 
may be saved thereby. 
To have a reasonable supply of eggs between Oc¬ 
tober and February, warmth and feeding are not 
alone sufficient. There should he some pullets of 
the early spring preceding among the hens, for these 
pullets, if they had been well kept, will lay while the 
hens are casting their feathers, and suffering from 
derangement of the secretions. The hens, too, should 
be of different ages, in which case the younger ones 
; will begin to lay early in the winter. By good 
j management in this way a continued supply of eggs, 
excepting in very severe weather, may be constantly 
obtained. The laying hens should be always well 
! fed with stimulating, nutritive, and, during winter, 
warm food. In the ordinary feeding of fowls with 
corn, it is desirable to scatter the grains amongst 
loose gravel or grass, to afford them occupation and 
exercise in scraping and searching for the grains. 
In the last month’s calendar it was mentioned 
that the fecundity of the poor man’s hen is chiefly 
attributable to the warmth she enjoys on a rafter of 
his cottage; but nearly the same advantage may be 
attained by the cottager for his fowls, without the 
uncleanliness of having them inmates of his habita¬ 
tion, by erecting a roosting shed against the chimney 
gable, if no other house adjoins it. The fowls roost¬ 
ing with their backs to the warm wall will he as 
comfortable in their sensations as if they were in the 
interior of the cottage. 
Every one who has laying fowls will be now col¬ 
lecting eggs for the Christmas plum-puddings. The 
eggs to he kept should be greased, in order to close 
their pores, with butter, lard, suet, or any oily sub¬ 
stance, on the days on which they are laid, and then 
placed, on the large end, in bran or saw-dust. The 
reason for putting the egg on the larger end is, that 
the yolk keeps itself in this position of the egg from 
touching either of the sides, by which contact it 
would become sooner tainted. 
The operation of making capons, and the process 
of fattening them, and all fowls for the table, should 
now proceed steadily. The large breeds are the best 
for the purpose. Large capons appear on the table 
as full-sized as turkey poults The autumnal broods 
of chickens will now be forward for the table. By 
three weeks’ feeding in the coop, or confined in a 
I room, with boiled rice, barley, or Indian meal and 
I milk, or curds, and a small portion of potatoes, they 
will become fat enough without cramming with pel¬ 
lets of meal paste. The troughs should be kept very 
clean and free from a sour smell. 
Turkeys. —The black Norfolk breed is considered 
the best; it is more hardy than the white, and larger 
and preferable also to the copper-coloured; it fattens 
more readily than either of these kinds. If the run 
of a poultry-yard and field, with corn two or three 
times a day, be not considered sufficient feeding for 
| them, they may be crammed with pellets of meal. 
; Mr. Richardson says that 201bs. is a fair weight for 
any fat yearling turkey, and 30lbs. for one of any 
age, and that few, except the Norfolk, ever exceed 
401bs. The latter sort has been known to attain the 
enormous weight of OGlbs.; it was, no doubt, an old 
! cock bird. The observations respecting them in the 
