THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Januai:^ 1-’3. 
2ft8 
lironght nj) a family wit.liont once Inmlening the parisli. 
She wasi now advanced in life, broken in licalth, and quite 
unlit for out door labour, to which she had never been nsod. 
I lint there was no appeal. Siie had children—they must 
support her. Her children were alt scarcely able to support 
tlioir own large families, and she said so ; but there was 
notliing to be done. A loaf and a shilling a-week was 
granted while she was on the doctor’s hands; but wlien she 
no longer was sicic that relief was to cease, and jioor Phoebe 
was to ho thrown upon those who have large families, and 
barely enough for themselves. Is there not utterly a fault 
among us ? 
Three or four oilier cases of this kind have passed under 
my notice. One of the widows is the mother of nine sons. 
They are as kind as they can bo to her, but still, like Phoebe 
Edwards, she is a painful burden to them, and every parent 
must feel it bitter. 
Phoebe is beginning to look cheerful, nevertheless. She 
has the worldly comfort of being perfectly free froin debt, 
and that some of my readers can, I dare say, fully enter 
into. She has, moreover, a good hope through “grace,” 
and that is a wondrous sweetener of the ills of life. She 
speaks with energy of the blessings of adversity to her soul, 
and the hedp and strength she has found in Him in whom 
she -trusts. Her eye kindles as she speaks, and when she 
smiles, it is a sunny smile, and not a watery one. Still, she 
is penniless; and although her child and son-in law work for 
her, and make her welcome, she is but a pauper in their 
house, and she knows that every bit of food she eats is 
taken from the mouths of the children. 
Blessed are those children who “ honour ” their parents 
as Sarah does I and blessed are the sons-in-law who rise up 
like Bill to succour and protect the widow I Blessed is the 
widow wlio trusts in the Lord, and cheerfully submits to 
His Holy Will. Slie will find the arm of the Lord is not 
shortened, but mighty to save. Stilt there is utterly a fatdt 
among us in tliis matter, for surely widows are special 
objects of consideration and care to all 1 If we profess 
Christianity, if we consent to take the Bible as our rule of 
faith and practice, the widow should bo honoured and sus¬ 
tained, and shielded from want, in our congregations. But 
as it is, at least in some places, I humbly venture to submit 
to my readers, that the blessing of Hod is not regarded, nor 
can be expected, for there is utterly a fault among us in this 
thing. 
BRAHMA POOTRA FOWLS. 
In a recent valuable contribution to The Cottage Hae- 
DENER, in which the “ vexed question ” of the respective 
merits of the Shanghae, Spanish, and Dorking fowls seems 
to bo discussed with admirable judgment and impartiality, 
an extract is introiluced from a Canadian paper, wherein 
mention is made of two or three breeds of fowls hitherto 
unknown in this country, and in reference to which new 
breeds, your contributor (who signs himself “Cochin”) 
expresses a wish for information. Perhaps the following 
l)artieulars respecting one of them, “ Brahma Pootra ” fowls 
(taken from the “ Northern Farmer,” published in Oneida 
county, U. S.), will be acceptable to him, and to the 
generality of your readers, who are interested in kindred 
subjects; the more so, as they will, I believe, have an 
opportunity, at the approaching Metropolitan Show, of 
seeing a fine young pair of birds of this breed, belonging to 
Mrs. Hosier Williams, of Katf)n Blascott, near Shrewsbury, 
to whom they were sent by Dr. Bennett, of New Ham]i- 
shire, IT. S., a name known, probably, to many of your 
readers, as the author of an excellent American book on 
poultry. Before giving the extracts froin the “ Northern 
Parmer,” I may observe, that this breed appears to have 
been imported into America only ivithin the last two or three 
years (having been brought by some sailors from a district 
on the great river in India, from which they derived their 
name), and tliat the American fanciers are as yet divided in 
opinion as to whether they are entitled to be considered a 
distinct breed, or only a superior variety of the Gray 
Shanghae, or, as some think, the Chittagong breed; some 
maintaining that the breeds are identical; others, with Dr. 
Bennett at their head, affirming their conviction that, even 
apart from the consideration of the widely-separated loca¬ 
lities in which the respective breeds have their origin, they 
present sufficiently well marked characteristics and points 
of diversity to entitle each to he considered a distinct lireed. 
Whatever truth there may be in these opinions, certain it is, 
tluit there is a rage among transatlantic amateurs for what 
are supposed to he real Brahma Bootras, which rank liighest 
of all the large breeds, in the estimation of those who 
would seem to have had the host opportunities of judging ; 
of tlieir real merits. Indeed, the mania there for the best 
varieties seems just now as prevalent, and (piite as fierce, as ; 
with our amateurs for tlie clioicest breeds in this country, i 
And a pleasant jest of the facetious editor of the “ Northern | 
Farmer ” would seem to point to the inference, that the j 
prices realised for them is not less lictitious than those j 
frequently obtained with us for the most approved siieei- i 
mens of Buff Shanghacs. After giving a few instances of j 
the sums at which good specimens of Brahma Bootras had ' 
been sold ('seventy-live dollai's per pair for grown birds, and 
sixty tive dolliirs for cliickens), he adds—“ This will do, we 
think. By the way, if any one has a good snug farm that 
he, will dispose of for a pair of these fowls, we shall he 
disposed to trade, if api)lication he made soon 1 ” 
The following is a description of this breed, as given ! 
by Dr. Bennett, in a communication to the “Northern ' 
Farmer ” :— | 
“ The cock is mostly white, with the neck hackles pen- : 
qilled with black; the rump hackles of a gold or yellow 
colour ; the tail black, with glossy green plume feathers; ! 
wings slightly pencilled with black. Bullets white, with ! 
black tails, and neck hackles pencilled with black. The 
comb is small and serrated, though frequently they have the , 
perfect pea comb of the Sumatra Pheasant Game fowl— 
always a rare indication of fineness of flesh. The wattles 
are small, but the ear lobe extremely large and pendulous. 
The legs are yellow, and usually very heavily feathered, 
though [ have seen some excellent specimens with smooth 
legs. T'heir weight, at maturity, is from 22 Ihs. to 2u lbs. 
per pair, and they are quite symmetrical in their conform¬ 
ation. As layers they are \nisiiri)assed Iiy any breed. I 
have tried them side by side with the Imperial Chinese, and 
the Shanghae, and finil the three breeds about equally 
prolilic. They lay a larger egg than any otlu-r Asiatic fowl, 
not excepting the great Hoang-Ho fowls recently imported 
from Shantung and Honan, in the valley of Hoaiig-Ho river, i 
On an average, their eggs are fifty per cent, larger tlian ; 
those of the Shaughaes or Imperial Chinese. They dill'er [ 
from the Gray Slianghaes in the following respects :—They 
are iighter-coloured, shorter-legged, more compact in form, | 
have larger ear-lobes, and smaller combs and wattles, 
deeper-bi'easted, hut sliorter-quartered. Tliey are more ' 
active, and better layers.” ] 
Mr. Miner, the editor of the “ Northern Farmer,” says :— j 
“We presume that there are no larger nor better-sliaped ] 
fowls in existence than the Brahma Bootras, nor any that j 
lay so large an egg. 'They equal the best in laying, and 
some contend that there is no fowl that can equal them in 
this respect. They can he confined by a fence four feet 
high, eflectually, not being able to fly at all, in consequence 
of the shortness of their wings. They are not disposed to 
ramble, if allowed, hut remain constantly near home. 'Tliey 
are particularly fond of grass, and seem to live almost as 1 
much upon it as geese. We have been surprised at the j 
small quantity of food they consume. One quart of corn, j 
and the same of corn meal, ground in the cob, is as ranch 1 
as one pair of old Brahma Poorias, one ditto of Hoang-Ho | 
fowls, and twenty-one chickens from three to four months 1 
old, now consume daily.” 
The Rev. R. W. Fuller, of Massachusetts, in a letter to 
-, says :—“I liave a pair of Brahma I’ootras of tin- 
same breed as those of Dr. J. C. Bennett, and I consider 
them decidedly the most beautiful and splendid fowls ever ] 
imported into this country. 'Their colour is white, inclining | 
on the back to a rich cream colour; the hackles on the neck - 
slightly streaked with black. The legs are yellow, heavily 
feathered with wliitc, and shorter than the Chittagong or 
Shanghae, giving the fowls a more beautiful proportion. 
'They are very gentle and peaceable in their disposition, 
and have a stately and graceful gait, &c.” 
The committee of judges on the ditl'erent classes of fowls ; 
