148 
FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 


SOME FACTS. 
THE tendency towards perfection through improvement 
is one of the characteristics of the present age. No sooner 
has an inventor secured a patent on any manufactured arti- 
cle, and began to introduce it, than others have made im- 
provements on that article. A forcible illustration of this 
fact is apparent in the sewing machine, which resulting from 
the ingenuity of one mind, has had added to it the improve- 
ments of others, and to such an extent that at the present 
time a purchaser is puzzled in making a selection from so 
many of different named machines, each claiming in itself 
a superiority over all the others.. 
This same tendency not only manifests itself with me- 
chanical but with scientific occupations, and farming being 
now acknowledged a scientific pursuit, one of the strongest 
evidences we have in support of our statesmen is the desire 
among farmers to become educated in their calling, which 
fact is attested by the patronage bestowed on agricultural 
journals throughout the country, and furthermore, the benefit 
derived by farmers by the agency of the press is evident 
through larger quantity and better quality of crops, resulting 
from a knowledge of the experiments of others, and in be- 
coming educated as to the manner of a proper selection of 
soil, the use of suitable fertilizers, and the mode of cultiva- 
tion adapted to the nature of the product desired. 
The field for improvement in live stock is so vast, and the 
desire so popular, that many are turning their attention to 
cattle breeding as a business, and journals throughout the 
country are awakening an interest in the matter, by setting 
forth the merits of the Jersey or short-horn breeds, showing 
the decided advantages in possessing one thoroughbred, 
rather than keeping two of an indifferent breed of cattle, 
and by less labor and expense reap more satisfactory results. 
The interests of poultry breeding has only within the past 
few years received that consideration that the subject war- 
rants, and it is only through the appeals of publications de- 
voted to poultry raising, and by poultry exhibitions, that 
the public are brought to a knowledge of the amount of im- 
provement made, and still capable of being made, by im- 
portation and judicious interbreeding of fowls. Asan article 
ot flesh food, perhaps, there is nothing else that possesses as 
many good qualities in being as palatable, as healthful, as 
easily prepared for market, and which commands through- 
out the entire year as high an aggregate price and ready 
sale, as chickens. They are to be found in our markets in 
all seasons of the year, a fact which proves a demand and a 
belief with providers for families of their fitness for con- 
sumption in midsummer as well as in midwinter. 
It can be safely said, however, that fowls have more popu- 
larity with consumers (when upon the dinner-table) than 
with those capable of becoming producers, through opinions 
which perhaps originate from a prejudice to rearing, or more 
probably from a lack of interest in, or fancy for them, the 
contrary of which the editor of the FaANncrERs’ JouURNAL’is 
striving to establish, by causing a new interest, in admitting 
a new light on the subject through his own practical 
knowledge and the experience of others. 
To the well as to the sick, a fresh egg is a decided luxury, 
and we can purchase nothing else for the money (even at 
five cents apiece) that when properly prepared, will afford 
as much nourishment, be as acceptable, contains in its com- 
position as many of the requisites in the formation of flesh 
and blood, and with all the more be as easily digested as an 
egg. Through the winter months it is no uncommon thing 

for eggs to command fifty and sixty cents a dozen, and still 
at double that price would be in demand, from the fact that 
nothing has yet been discovered as a substitute ; so as an in- 
gredient of pies, cakes, puddings, and many of the more 
substantial dishes our appetites crave, eggs are indispensable. 
This being the case, eggs must continue in demand, and no 
fears need be apprehended that they will outgrow their pop- 
ularity, or that the field for poultry raising (like some of the 
professions) become overcrowded. 
In setting forth the merits of fowls, with a view of in- 
creasing their production and improvement, some of the 
facts to be looked at are: 
1st. The small amount of capital needed to enable many 
of limited means to delight in becoming possessors. 
2d. The small amount of room required (provided they 
receive proper attention) to keep them in. 
3d. With proper management the large return realized as 
interest on the amount invested. 
4th. The healthful recreation afforded to the owner in at- 
tending to their wants. 
5th. The pleasure derived from the possession of fowls in 
a healthful and profitable condition. 
6th. The trivial amount of actual expense incurred in 
feeding them, in comparison to the great advantages afforded, 
in fresh eggs, in the satisfaction of knowing, when we come 
to partake of their flesh, that being fed by our own hands, 
prepared for consumption under our own eyes, that they are 
in every way edible, and that we can enjoy them without 
thought or question as to how they have been cared for, how 
long they have been killed, and, finally, when we come to 
partake of them, find, to our disappointment, that through 
their great age they have lost their flavor and desirable quali- 
ties, and we our appetite for them. : 
Tt is not unusual with those whose experience is insufficient 
to detect bad qualities in fowls to be deceived in them, as a 
purchase is made through a dependence upon the judgment 
and recommendation of the seller, an article is often bought 
that is misrepresented, and the deception only discovered 
when it is too late to be remedied ; but these evils can be ob- 
viated in our becoming rearers of fowls, and in that event 
we can enjoy (at a comparatively low price) a fresh, reliable, 
and desirable article. 
In view of all that has been said and done relative to 
poultry raising, one conclusion can be safely arrived at, and 
that is, that suecess in the business depends on a proper man- 
agement, resulting, Ist, from a fancy for fowls; 2d, the keep- 
ing of a desirable breed; 3d, a knowledge of how to treat 
poultry; and 4th, a determination on the part of the owner 
to improve his pets, and where these qualifications (if so 
they may be termed) exist, results must be satisfactory. 
Innumerable instances might be given as regards the 
profits derived from poultry raising, but at this time I will 
merely cite two of such for the benefit of the incredulous. 
A gentieman of one of the principal towns in New Jersey 
commenced the season with 60 chickens, which produced 
during that season 667 dozen eggs, and from the sixty fowls 
realized a net gain of $83.32, besides (as he says) their drop- 
pings, which I consider the most valuable of all domestic 
manures. Again, a breeder in an adjacent Western State 
realized in three consecutive years, on prizes alone awarded 
at different exhibitions, the snug sum of $2500. 
To be conyinced as to the improvements made in fowls 
during the last decade, one need only attend a poultry exhi- 
bition of the present day, as did an acquaintance of the 
a a 
