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THE

AMERICAN POULTRY YARD;

COMPRISING THE

ORIGIN, HISTORY, AND DESCRIPTION

OF THE DIFFERENT BREEDS

OF

DOMESTIC POULTRY;

WITH

COMPLETE DIRECTIONS FOR THEIR BREEDING, CROSSING, REARING
FATTENING, AND PREPARATION FOR MARKET; INCLUDING SPE-
CIFIC DIRECTIONS FOR CAPONISING FOWLS, AND FOR

THE TREATMENT OF THE PRINCIPAL DISEASES TO

WHICH THEY ARE SUBJECT; DRAWN FROM
AUTHENTIC SOURCES AND PER-

SONAL OBSERVATION;

ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS.

BY D. J. BROWNE

AUTHOR OF THE SYLVA AMERICANA.

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WITH

AN APPENDIX,

EMBRACING THE COMPARATIVE MERITS OF DIFFERENT
BREEDS OF FOWLS,

BY SAMUEL ALLEN.

NEW YORK:

PUBLISHED BY C. M. SAXTON.

5F457

AGRIC.
LIBRARY

MAIN LIBRARY AGRIC. DEPT.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by

EPHRAIM BLANCHARD,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE "American Poultry Yard" being now completed, the publisher has thought proper to offer a few preliminary remarks on its design and the manner in which it has been got up.

Actuated by the most liberal motives, he has, in the first place, endeavored to keep pace with the improvements of the age, in obtaining the best information on the subject, that could be procured, suited to the general reader, and answering, at the same time, the purposes of practice and economy.

Mr. Browne, the ostensible author of this work, was bred and brought up a practical farmer, and was favorably known as editor of "The Naturalist," a monthly periodical, published in Boston some twenty years ago, and more recently as a civil engineer on our public works, and as the writer of a treatise on American trees. He is an enthusiastic devotee to the natural and exact sciences, particularly to agriculture and rural economy, having travelled and resided for a considerable time in various parts of North and South America, the West Indies, Europe, and Western Africa, with the express object of practically investigating the agriculture and natural features of those countries. From his intimate knowledge of the history and habits of our domestic animals, having devoted, probably, more attention to the subject, as a whole, by reading and observation, than any other individual in the country, the task of preparing this work was assigned to him.

Mr. Allen, who has very generously looked over the proof sheets, and favored the public with a valuable Apppendix, is well known as the father and co-laborer of the editors of the " American Agriculturist," and as an experienced and successful breeder of stock, as well as of the choicer varieties of domestic fowls.

The publisher, therefore confidently presents the "American Poultry Yard" to the public with the full belief that it combines the utmost economy and utility, united, at the same time, with elegance and the facility of obtaining the desired end.

NEW YORK, January 2, 1850.

M118063

C. M. SAXTON.

PREFACE.

THE Scope and intention of the present treatise, perhaps, is sufficiently declared in the title page. Therefore, to waste the reader's time by further details would be as impertinent as unnecessary. The hasty manner in which these pages have been compiled, the want of a more intimate knowledge of the history and pedigree of the varions breeds of our domestic birds, of which but few records are to be found, together with the limited nature of the work itself, are the only apologies the author has to offer for any errors and deficiencies with which he doubtless may be charged. Without great aid from those who have written before him, the volume, though not large, never could have appeared; yet, most of the current books on poultry are but compilations of matter, valuable only to those practically acquainted with the subject, and many of them unsuited to our economy as well as to our climate, and full of errors and confusion, that would be obvious to the attentive reader, even though he never had seen a fowl in his life.

In order to write a perfect work on poultry, two important desiderata would be required for its attainment; one or the other of them would be indispensable-the first, a complete set of full-sized colored figures of every variety, giving both the male and female, the egg, and the newly-hatched chick, with accurate and technical descriptions of their plumage and their characteristic properties; the second, a collection of stuffed specimens of the representatives of every breed for comparison and reference. The first of these might be accomplished by a person, or an association of persons of fortune, by procuring a complete collection of all the varieties whose characters are decidedly distinct, both of this country and from abroad, and breeding them in-and-in for a series of years, as well as by judicious crossing with one another. An enterprise of this kind, conducted with proper intelligence and experience, however trivial it may appear in the eyes of many, would be worth millions to the country, and prove a boon to mankind.

In order that he may not be accused of the reproach of "strutting in borrowed plumes," the author has the candor to confess that he has made a free use of the labors of Pliny, Columella, Cuba, Aldrovandi, Mascall, Réaumur, Moubray, Parmentier, Flourens, W. B. Dickson, J. J. Nolan, W. C. L. Martin, and the Rev. Edmund S. Dixon, particularly of those of the four gentlemen last named, without giving them, in numerous instances, such credit as the punctilious critic would seem to demand. Be this as it may, the author has endeavored not to deviate from established custom, except in cases where he deemed it expedient to change the language, in part, for the sake of brevity, elucidation, or Americanising the subject, or adapting it to our climate, economy, and social condition. Much of the matter, however, and several of the illustrations, he claims to be original. With this avowal, he will declare no more than his full trust in a candid consideration of whatever merit his book may deserve. D. J. B.

New York, December 26th, 1849.

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