Poultry

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7526, 28 August 1886, Page 5

Poultry

'. THE GENERAL PURPOSE FOWL. To day if you start out to visit the j comfortablo surroundings of our rural t kings you will find thoir ynrds dotted i mostly with puro-bred fowls of some [ leading variety. Here you will meot - tho Brown Leghorns— tho queens of egg t producers — there you will discover the . stately Binhma — the king of table fowls ■j — and again, the broad-brcastod Cochins, i Langshaus, the Wyandoties, the Javns, r the Plymouth Eocks, or tho Hamburgs, i, and many othor worthy brocd9, bufc it h i genorally found, now-a-days, that the ;. farmer has learned to appreoiato thi •, advantage pf having only pure stock

r whether ifc is in horse, cattle, bogs, or 1 chickens. First as to egg producers, 3 tho Leghorns, from experience, accra to r stand at the bead of the list, closely foli lowedby tbo Spanish and Hamburgs. For - a purely meat fowl the Brahmas, Cochins, i and Lnngshan seem to fill the bill to per- , fecti.n, .while they are also good layers, i and better winter layers than the lighter i breeds. Although thoy do not lay so well " all the year round," yet from tho time "they aro three or four months old they are always ready for tbe table and make a full .reagted, fino roast. But for the "general purposo fowl," as I understand it, we want one which shall combine, as near as possible, the best qualification's of both layers, marketers, and sitters. Now I think theso merits aro combined in most desirablo proportions in the Plymouth Rooks and the Wyandotts, both essentially American breeds, and both having come rapidly and boldly to the front on account of ) thoir many praefcial traits. In the first place, they are a hardy fowl, well able to stand the varying climate of America. They develop rapidly, begin laying very soon, nnd lay almost equally well in winter as in the warm weather. Thoy are faithful bufc not tho most persistent sitters. They make good mothers, ever careful and attentive to their young broods, and willing to relinquish thorn at the proper timo. For marketing and for table use they cannot be excellod, and the color and flavor of thoir meat is excellcut. They grow to a good sizo, averaging from six to nine pounds, and mako fine broilers at three to four mouths old. They are easily kopt, as they eat nearly everything, and are tame and tructablc. _>'or will they fly over a high enclosure. In a word, wo could recommend thorn as the truo " general purpose fowl," nnd especially tho "ideal farmer's" fowl.— J. 0. Haheis, in the Ohio Farm. \