Report of the Secretary of Agriculture ...

During the early spring an average of a dozen eggs may be placed under your fifty sitters, and, with good luck, five hundred chickens may be produced, and this from the earliest broods. These may be removed in due time to the open" houses, and another fifty hens may be placed upon the nests vacated by the first ones, who, with proper care, will bring out another five hundred chickens, more or less, say in six weeks after the earlier sittings.

It will be understood that upon the removal of the first broods the sitting boxes should be nicely cleansed before the second hens are placed upon the nests. By the time the second broods come off it will be the last of March or the first of April.

All the young stock may be safely transferred to the open houses by the beginning of May, where they can thenceforward be fed and cared for as previously directed, and fitted, like their predecessors of the year before, for the summer and fall market.

From the new stock the best samples of pullets are selected again, to add to the next year's breeding stock, as before; the old fowls (two years of age) are killed, the young cocks are all put in separate houses, to be used for the earliest maturing and largest chickens, and affairs go on during the fall as during the season previous.

By adopting the plans thus laid down, with the buildings and appointments herein suggested, a thousand chickens can be readily and profitably raised for the summer market annually, while ample conveniences are thus afforded, also, for at least one hundred laying hens during the winter months in the glazed house, (Figs. 7 and 8.) If the desire be to raise more, increased space must be accorded to your fowls, and more buildings should be erected.

It will not answer to increase the huddling of the birds under one roof. If the buildings are smaller even than those described, and more numerous, being scattered over acres, instead of confining the stock mentioned to half an acre, and to a building of the size given, it will be all the better for the general health of the birds undoubtedly. Crowding fowls into too narrow a space is one great cause of the fatalities attending the attempt to breed them.

Fresh air, light, cleanliness, varied fare, pure water, range, grass or occasional green and animal food, shelter from wet and raw winds, with plenty of gravel and ashes to roll themselves in, are all requisite to success.

With these advantages and fair attention, provision being made for the warmth and comfort of the laying hens in winter, chickens can be raised for the table and for market in any quantities, and to highly satisfactory profit; and eggs in abundance may also be had in any dry location within reasonable distance of the larger cities and towns of America, as has been proved througb years of experience and of successful experiments.

POULTRY.

BY D. S. HEFFRON, OF UTICA, NEW YORK.

AT this age of the world poultry and eggs have almost become a necessity; and from reliable data it seems probable that their annual production and consumption in the United States exceeds $15,000,000. The assertion is hence warranted, that the production and rearing of "domestic fowl" is not sufficiently appreciated, and that it should receive more encouragement. Poultry and eggs not only add one item of wealth to the country, but they contribute greatly to

fifty hens can be conveniently set at one time-say, in the ten apartments five each-who will not interfere with each other if properly cared for daily

Fig. 7

During the late fall and winter months this building will accommodate, in its ten divisions, over a hundred laying hens comfortably.

With these advantages and fair attention, provision being made for the warmth and comfort of the laying hens in winter, chickens can be raised for the table and for market in any quantities, and to highly satisfactory profit; and eggs in abundance may also be had in any dry location within reasonable distance of the larger cities and towns of America, as has been proved through years of experience and of successful experiments.

POULTRY.

BY D. S. HEFFRON, OF UTICA, NEW YORK.

the convenience and comfort of its citizens. Besides, they are produced, especially among agriculturists, with little care and expense; and by a little extra care it is reasonable to suppose that the amount now annually produced might be trebled.

The unusual interest, amounting almost to a mania, which existed in this country and in England a few years since on the subject of domestic poultry, although somewhat ludicrous in itself, had, on the whole, a beneficial influence, as it was the means of extensively disseminating several varieties of land and water fowls of superior excellence. The attention of the public was also directed to the improvement of our native stock of poultry, by judicious crosses, by better winter protection, and by a more liberal and more suitable quality of food.

In this article it is proposed to give a popular description of all the really good and distinct varieties of domestic fowls which are known in the United States; a few others more curious than useful will receive a passing notice; while the main object will be to give a few plain, practical directions for housing, breeding, and rearing domestic poultry. While the words used in this article should be such as can be easily understood by all, it may not be amiss to give the scientific names of the several genera to which our domestic birds belong. The genus "Gallus" includes all our dunghill fowls, from the sprightly little Bantam to the lazy, enormous Shanghai. The jungles of Asia and the islands of the eastern archipelago still possess at least three wild native species of this genus. Each wild species is distinguished by its uniform size, form, and color; but in the domestic state we have every shade and mixture of color, from the pure white to an intense black. But we are not to suppose, merely from the great variety of colors among our domestic birds, that they have descended from a large number of wild species; for we find that other fowls have quite recently undergone great changes in color through the influence of domestication, as is illustrated in the Turkey and the Musk Duck. The largest fowls of the genus "Gallus" are

The Asiatic.-Under this head are included all our very large fowls, such as poultry-books designate by the names of Chittagong, Cochin, Shanghai, and Brahma. Naturalists think these are merely sub-varieties of one species, and that they have descended from a large, coarse bird yet existing in the islands of Sumatra and Java, in a wild as well as domestic state, and known as the Great Malay fowl, or Kulm Cock. And it is supposed that the slight differences that exist among these sub-varieties mentioned are mainly due to the influence of domestication, being more or less affected by difference of climate, food, and frequent crosses.

The stock of our large fowls came from the southeastern part of Asia, in the vicinity of Shanghai; and hence the propriety of calling them all by the general name Shanghai, or Asiatic. The first were brought to this country about forty years ago, and their descendants gave size and character to the fowls of a part of eastern Pennsylvania, which have long been known in the New York market and elsewhere by the name of the "Bucks County Fowl." But numerous importations that were made about twelve years ago awakened a new interest for large fowls, and they have since spread all over the country.

Of these Asiatics, some have feathered shanks, some smooth, some dark, some yellow, and others greenish; some have long legs, others short; the most have single combs, while a few have combs more or less double. The plumage is of various colors; but the combination of colors that distinguishes the Brahma is generally preferred. All have short wings and tails; while the crow of the cock is remarkably prolonged, loud, and hoarse. The young chicks are slow in feathering, getting to be quite large before they are fully feathered. Earlyhatched pullets, when well cared for, frequently commence laying when about five months old, and will continue to lay all winter. Their eggs are more or

less buff-colored. The weight of the mature cock bird is from ten to thirteen pounds; the hens are about two-pounds lighter. They are peaceable and quiet, rambling but little if they have an abundance of food at hand. They are easily fenced against, both on account of size and shortness of wings. They are large feeders; have coarse-grained flesh, which becomes quite oily and rather rankflavored in old birds; and by some they are thought to be more liable to disease than our common fowls. Our markets of late show a decided improvement in the size of the poultry offered for sale, owing to the influence of Asiatic blood. The Hamburg is so named because the English in the seventeenth century, first received this fowl from the Hamburg merchants, who had previously imported it from some part of Turkey, or the East.

This beautiful family has numerous representatives in this country, as there are five distinct sub-varieties-the Silver Pencilled, Silver Spangled, Golden Pencilled, Golden Spangled, and Black Hamburg. The Silver Pencilled is commonly known by the name of Creole, or Bolton Gray. They all have certain points in common, as smooth heads, without a trace of a crest; low, broad, bright red, double combs, covered with small points, and terminating with a single long point turned upwards; roundish and rather large wattles, and tapering blue or slate-colored legs. The cocks have full-sickled tails, and an erect, sprightly carriage. The Hamburg hen has been known to lay 240 eggs in a year, a greater number than any other variety; but her eggs are quite small, weighing only from a little over an ounce to two ounces. The hens seldom sit. They are all small; the males weighing only from four to six pounds, and the hens from three to five. They are also quite tender, and rather difficult to raise, and should have drier and warmer apartments, especially in the northern States, than fowls usually receive. They are all impatient of restraint, and require a large range to do well. They are all beautiful, and as savory to the taste as pleasing to the eye.

The Crested or Polish Fowl has four sub-varieties-the Black, the White, the Golden Spangled, and the Silver Spangled. They are all distinguished by the crest or top-knot, which should be large, compact, and of good shape. The White and the Black have white caps. All have clean slate-colored legs or shanks. The hens of this family are good layers when young, seldom wanting to sit before three or four years old. The chickens are not as easily raised as the common fowl, and should be kept out of dews and showers. None bear confinement well, while all have white, tender flesh, of about medium quality. Weight, from four to six pounds. The Polish, like the Hamburg, should be considered as fancy birds, and not suitable for general use in the northern States. Both ought to do well south of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The Game Fowl undoubtedly exceeds all other barnyard fowls in elegance of form and brilliancy of colors, while its "carriage is graceful and majestic." Its flesh is fine-grained, tender, and of superior quality. Some English authors enumerate over thirty sub-varieties of the game family. They are all small, the cock weighing from four to seven pounds, and the hens are correspondingly lighter. The body is rather long, quite round, tapering slightly towards the tail. The Earl Derby game, formerly so highly prized in England, has pure white legs, while most other games have either yellow or dark-colored legs.

All games have great power of endurance, are hardy and easily raised, except, perhaps, the Sumatra and Malacca. The hens are fair layers, good sitters, and the most vigilant of mothers. They mature early, are restive when restrained, not laying in confinement as well as the Shanghai and the Spanish. For eggs, the table, and for crosses, the English Black-breasted Red stands prominent among games, being one of the largest, most hardy, and handsomest. The Dorking, for all purposes, has long been considered the best domestic fowl in England; and of late years, since it has become better known, is growing in favor in this country. If the Dorking was as hardy and as easily raised as

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