210 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, June 30, 1857. 
ARE FOWLS PROFITABLE? 
Without doubt, many readers of The Poultry Chronicle 
will be amazed at the sight, of this question, hut I aslc more 
for information’s sake than any other. I have kept fowls 
for some time, and have kept in that time many sorts, and 
I have now got from Barn-doors, with which I commenced, 
to Hamburghs, which fowls, by the by, I find lay more eggs 
than any of the others, hut still I cannot lind any real profit 
belonging to them. Now, what I want some one to inform 
me through your columns is, the way to keep fowls with a 
profit. I feed mine chiefly on barley, for which I give say 
5s. a bushel (by this you will perceive I have not the ad¬ 
vantage of a farmyard for them to run in), and they eat 
about half a bushel a fortnight, besides pollard and potatoes. 
They have the run of about two or three acres of grass, a 
good yard, and place to roost in, but still I do not find any 
profit as yet. I do not know what I may do when I come 
to show; but, however, that remains to be proved. As you 
will perceive, what I want to know is, leaving showing out 
of the question, the way to keep fowls where there is not a 
farmyard, say nothing about getting a profit, without losing 
by them. I do not wish any one to think I say it cannot be 
done; I only want to know the way to do it. I do not 
write this to teach, but to be taught. But even if it is 
proved to me I cannot keep them without losing by them, I 
should still keep them on, if only for amusement, as I do 
not keep them with a view to profit; but still I thought, if I 
could keep them without losing by them, I might as well 
learn the way.—A Poultry Fancier. 
I be produced from the Red cocks of both sorts (1 and 2) 
! and the Grey hens of both sorts (3 and 4). “ Duckwing 
! Bantams,” which bid fair at present to realise a great price, 
1 can be reared by putting a small late-bred Duck wing Game 
stag (not cock) with even a Black-breasted Red Bantam hen, 
i if hens of Duckwing-coloured Bantams are not procurable: 
they are rather rare, as is known. I have bred them this 
way for the sake of experiment, but never obtained more 
than half a brood of the right colour, the others taking 
after the Black-breasted Reds, The first three varieties 
I have enumerated should have a yellow ball to the foot.— 
Newmarket. 
Cure for Gapes.— Perhaps you would like to know of a 
cure for gapes in chickens. It is having tobacco smoke 
puffed down their throats. In bad cases it should be done 
two or three times a day. I have tried it both last year 
and this with great success.— An Irishwoman. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
| French Rabbits. —In answer to the note inclosed to me, the 
Angola or French Rabbit is subject to having its hair knotted, and if 
i this is required to be removed, and if the owner cannot wait till it 
; casts its coat, the only remedy is cutting it off; that is to say, if the 
! coat be too much knotted to be combed out. A King Charles or. Skye 
' terrier dog often may be seen with its hair thus knotted. I never had 
one so much knotted that it could not be combed out, though I have 
seen them so. I knew a man that had one knotted at the sides so much 
that it gave quite the appearance of wings.— Percy Boulton. 
[That poultry-keeping is profitable is beyond any doubt, 
as many in the poultry counties, Surrey, Sussex, and parts 
of Kent, make considerable sums yearly by it; but it must 
also be understood that they make it a business and chief con¬ 
sideration. Few persons can make money by a bobby or an 
amusement. Photography, for instance, affords a good 
income to many professors, while the amateurs are the cost 
out of pocket. The first grasps every occasion that presents 
itself for making money by it; the other follows it only as a 
recreation. 
It is impossible for a person living in a town, where lie 
lias everything to buy, to make poultry profitable by at¬ 
tempting to rear fowls for market; but as a good amateur 
can always manage to have eggs in the winter, and towns 
are the places where these sell best, and as for about two 
months they will make from threepence to fourpence each, it 
will not be difficult to make them pay for their food. Many 
carry over a balance of profit; but then you must be 
honest, and you must debit yourself with those you eat. 
Exhibitions afford a certain profit to any one who under¬ 
stands the breed of liis birds, and who manages them well. 
There is always a sale for good pens, even if they get no 
prize, and the sum they make will pay for much food. If 
you will try meal instead of whole corn you will reduce your 
expenses one-third. Although you cannot attempt to rear 
fowls for market, yet by breeding carefully you may always 
have good birds, and there is a sale for such to be depended 
upon at remunerative prices. We would say, then, fowls 
are profitable in many instances, but with good manage¬ 
ment should always pay all expenses attending them.] 
Black Game Chickens with White Feathers ( Mury McDvff). 
—You need not be disheartened about your chickens. The Whites have 
thrown back to some Pile blood there is in them. A White flight is 
common in Black fowls—in Spanish, for instance ; but it always dis¬ 
appears when they get full-feathered. All Black fowls, more particularly 
the cocks, are liable to throw a few red feathers in the hackle and 
saddle. It is by no means desirable, but it does not indicate impurity 
of breed. 
Philoperisteron and National Columbarian Clubs.— The 
Secretaries of both these Societies having written amicably and fully in 
our columns, we think their respective claims may now be left to the 
decision of experience, and we quite agree with this paragraph in a note 
just received from Mr. Twose. “ I do not think it will do either 
Society any good by trying to prove which is the best. It might create 
an unfriendly feeling between them, which I think is far from being the 
wish of any of the members.” 
The “ Sir Harry” Strawberry. —Some splendid speci¬ 
mens of this famous Strawberry have been this week 
exhibited in the shop of Mr. C. G. De Fraine, in Silver 
Street, Aylesbury. Those accustomed to the small Straw¬ 
berries exhibited a few years since must indeed be surprised 
when they see such fruit as that grown by Mr. De Fraine. 
We have been told that the “Sir Harry” could not be 
properly cultivated in this neighbourhood; but all doubt on 
the subject is now removed. For size and flavour, in our 
opinion, no Strawberry equals this .—Bucks Chronicle. 
LONDON MARKETS.— June 29th. 
VARIETIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF 
THE GAME FOWL. 
COVENT GARDEN. 
A good supply and marked improvement in the trade. The usual 
J consignments from the Continent and west of England reach us in 
excellent condition. 
The true and chief varieties of the Game fowl are, as I 
have reason to believe from long experience, as follow:— 
1. Black-breasted Reds, legs yellow or willow. 
2. Brown-breasted Reds, legs dark olive or bronze. 
3. Silver Duckwing Greys, legs willow. 
4. Dark Greys, legs dark olive or bronze. 
5. Duns (or Blues), legs a palish yellow. 
(i. Blacks, legs very dark bronze colour. 
7. Whites, legs a very pale yellow. 
Beaks ought to match the legs; upper mandible always 
darker than the under one. The nails of the claws as near 
the upper beak as possible. The Red Duns can be 
produced from a Black-breasted Red cock and a Dun hen. 
All the Yellow, Birchen, and straw-coloured varieties can 
POULTRY. 
There has been a good supply of poultry during the past week, but 
there has also been a great demand, which keeps up the prices. 
Large fowls.. 7s. Sd.to 8s. Od. each. 
; Smaller do.4s. Od. to Os. ,, 
! Chickens .. 2s. 9d. to 4s. Od. ,, 
Goslings.Os. to Os. 6d. ,, 
Ducklings.. 3s. 6d. to 4s. 3d. ,, 
Guinea Fowls Os. Od. to Os. Od. each. 
Pigeons.8d. to 9d. ,, 
Rabbits.... Is. 5d. to Is. 6d. ,, 
Wild ditto.6d. to JOd. ,, 
Leverets.... 3s. Od. to 58. Od. ,, 
j London: Printed by Hugh Barclay, Winchester High-street, in 
, the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published for the Proprietors 
| at The Cottage Gardener Office, No. 20, Paternoster Row, in 
! the Parish of Christ Church, City of London.—June 30, I 857 . 
