AMERICAN Live Stock. 
463 
rOULTRY. 
To descend to a smaller, yet quite indispensable, item of food 
consumption in our households, as well as ornamental accompani¬ 
ments of domestic life, the varieties of our poultry'- may well and 
profitably be mentioned. They, too (the turkey excepted), came 
over with the early settlers of our American colonies, and have 
been the intimate associates of our people ever since. They con¬ 
stitute an important part of the luxury of our tables, both in their 
flesh and eggs, the aggregate commercial value of which, were it 
accurately reckoned, amounts to millions of dollars annually. The 
poultry literature of our country is voluminous, both in books and 
various agricultural periodicals, to which those in search of inform¬ 
ation may readily refer. As a general remark, it may suffice to say 
that importations from foreign countries, of various breeds of them, 
have been frequent and of rare quality, both in the estimation of 
the economist who propagates them for profit, as well as the ama¬ 
teur, for the gratification of his taste in their selection and exhibi¬ 
tion. Poultry societies have become numerous throughout the 
land, and the annual exhibition of their various specimens have 
been marvelous in excellence, beauty and variety. The cultivation 
of the finer varieties has arrested the attention of men and women 
of taste, wealth and refinement to such an extent that the perfec¬ 
tion of our poultry may even be classed among the fine arts of ani¬ 
mated nature, and challenge competition with any portion of the 
universe. 
Least and last of the domestic creatures which engage our atten¬ 
tion may be named a small insect, 
THE HOXEY BEE. 
Time, long before and ever since the bee made its honey in the 
carcass of the dead lion slain by Sampson, has noted this useful 
insect in its companionship with man, as well as in its wild habita¬ 
tions in the wilderness, where climate and vegetation favored its 
propagation. It furnishes us the most luxurious of sweets in its 
honey, and an important commodity in its wax. The aggregate 
annual commercial value of our bee product is probably hundreds 
of thousands of dollars, being difficult to determine, from the want 
of current statistics; yet all who choose to investigate may-be as¬ 
sured of their importance. Of bee literature, we have public jour- 
