180 



JOUr.XAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ February 22, 1872. 



for them the highest honour. With the limited time at the 

 disposal of the Judges, they are misled by the unfah- preference 

 conceded to birds with, perhaps, slipped wings concealed and 

 wry tails during the time they examine them remaining erect ; 

 thus they take precedence of the half-famished, late-arrived, 

 but more perfect occupants of the adjoining pen. 



To meet this soui'ce of complaint a rule ought to be in force 

 compelliug all persons, whether owners or attendants, to de- 

 liver up their specimens at the doors of the exhibition, and on 

 no pretence ought an exhibitor to be allowed to enter the show 

 before the awards are given. 



I endorse every word Mr. Kell uses as to exhibiting against 

 dealers. Only give us an assurance that gentlemen of 

 abihty who, like one or two of our oldest Judges, exercise a 

 courteous neutrality to the interest of exhibitors of every grade, 

 and a guarantee that the same measure of advantage will be 

 conceded to aU exhibitors alike, and I am sure the result will 

 be that the winning pens will contain the best birds, and that 

 the "wide-spread dissatisfaction" will materially decrease. 

 "Unless some such steps be taken to check the system of " tout- 

 ing," which has increased so rapidly of late, many honourable 

 and ardent fanciers wiU be aUeuated from the pursuit of a 

 fascinating and pleasant pastime. — Yebitas. 



NEW BOOK. 

 The lUiistrati'd Book of Poultry. By L. Weight, Author of 



" The Practical Poidtnj-Kfcper," dr. Illustrated with Fifty 



Coloured P/ofcs of Celebrated Pri^c Birds of Every Breed, kc. 



London : Cassell, Fetter, & Galpin. 



Most heartily and sincerely do I recommend this work 

 (Part I. of which is now before me) to our poitltry-fanciers, 

 breeders, and exliibitors. The size of the number is just that 

 of our Journal — a convenient size ; and when the fifty numbers 

 are bound it will form an ornamental as well as suitable book 

 for the drawing-room table. To speak of Mr. Wright's powers 

 as a writer is imnecessai-y, but he has evidently become even 

 clearer in description than formerly. He begins with a chapter 

 on Houses and Accommodation, giving woodcuts to illustrate 

 his ideas ; woodcuts of various yards — the smaller ; the larger, 

 as Mr. Tudman's ; and the largest. Lady Gwj-der's at Stoke 

 Park. Then we have a plan of Mr. Beldon's poultry house, 

 once a factory. All these plans are large in size and well drawn. 

 Chapter II. takes the important subject " The Selection of 

 Stock." This is a thoroughly practical chapter, and deserves 

 being studied by those who are not feather-fanciers or exhi- 

 bitors, but persons desirous of making an honest penny by 

 poultry ; and I venture to think that poultry as a food question 

 ■will be more and more considered in days when all butcher's 

 meat except pork Is at a famine price. Chapter HI. speaks of 

 "Feeding and General Treatment of Fowls," in the middle 

 of which the number ends. 



And now a special word for the coloured illustrations. They 

 are di-awu by Mr. Ludlow, whose spirited and specially life-like 

 and character-giving Pigeon portraits have adorned our pages. 

 I have laid the portraits of the Buff Cochin cock and hen in 

 this No. 1 side by side with every former portrait of the birds 

 published, and it is wonderful how superior they are. Not 

 only the outline is accurate, but the expression of the Cochin 

 face is given with marvellous fideUty. li all the portraits 

 equal these two, fanciers will have acciuate models up to which 

 to breed. The tj^ie of the work is bold and clear, and the 

 printing goes straight across the page, which is always a gain. 



Part I. is to be ready for general distribution with the March 

 jnagazines. No doubt the work will have a large circulation 

 in both Britain and America. In the latter country poultry is 

 beginning to be specially studied. — Wiltshire Rector. 



Poultry and Pkeon Show at Oxford. — It is proposed to 

 hold a Show in Oxford some time in October. It is supported 

 with great zeal by several influential gentlemen. Three cups 

 are already promised. Oxford, from its central situation, and 

 having railway communication with all parts of the country, 

 possesses unusual facilities for fanciers sending their stock. A 

 meeting was held on the 21st, in the Town Hall Buildings, to 

 choose a committee, elect officers, and provide a guarantee fund. 



Eaebits at Northampton. — To show we appreciate the energy 

 displayed by the Northampton Committee, I have started a 

 subscription towards an extra cup for Babbits, to be given as 



the majority of subscribers think best, and to be competed for 

 by subscribers only, so that, whatever small amount may be 

 given, it will enable them to compete for the cup. Let me at 

 once appeal to all fanciers to help me forward, as the time is 

 getting on. I have, I am happy to say, met with good success, 

 and have the f ollowuig promises already made : — Mr. J. Boyle, 

 jun., 10s. ; Mr. A. H. Fasten, Hull, 5.s. ; Mr. Charles King, 

 London, 5s. ; Mr. J. Irving, Blackburn, 5s. ; the Northampton 

 Committee, '7s. 6d. All subscriptions to be forwarded to — Mb. 

 J. Boyle, jun., Blacliburn, Lancashire. 



SILVEE DEAGOON PIGEONS. 



Having been requested by several fanciers to state my opinion 

 on the colour of the bar of a Silver Dragoon, I emphatically 

 state it should be dark brown. In support of this the winning 

 birds at the following Shows were Silvers, and had dark brown 

 bars — namely, Birmingham, Any other colour- class, first 18G7 

 and 1868, first and second 18C9 and 1870, first 1871 (Silver 

 class) ; first Manchester 1867, Blue or Silver ; first Wolver- 

 hampton 1868 ; first Bristol 1870 ; second Aberdeen 1870 ; 

 second and highly commended Southampton 1871 ; second 

 Portsmouth 1872. At the last five Shows all colours competed 

 together. If this is any precedent to go by, and certaiidy it 

 must be, then brown, and not black, is the proper colour for 

 the bar of a Silver Dragoon. Surely no one will say that the 

 whole of the gentlemen who have judged these Shows gave 

 prizes to birds that have had wrong-coloured bars ? 



Further, I have for the last six years confined myself, as 

 regards Dragoons, to breeding Silvers, and my experience is, 

 that to produce a bird with a hght body (nearly white) it is 

 next to an impossibihty -to obtain the black bar. Moreover, 

 the winning bhds at such Shows as those I have enumerated, 

 especially when shown by leading men, ai'e often purchased by 

 fanciers as stock bu'ds, and when pairing like to like, or even 

 crossing the Silver and a Blue, their progeny to a certainty 

 have brown bars ; and as the Sdver is acknowledged as a dis- 

 tinct colour, and at Birmingham has a separate class, I main- 

 tain that a Silver should be as distinct, and as far from a Blue 

 as a Yellow is from a White. — H. Allsop, Birmingham. 



MELEOSE POULTRY SHOW. 



The sixth annual Show of the Waverley Association was held 

 in the Corn Exchange, Melrose, on the 15th and 16th inst. The 

 Hall is well hghted fi-om the roof and very suitable for the pur- 

 pose. It was quite full of birds, and although some showed 

 signs of the severe treatment they have had during the season, 

 the quality was, as a rule, very good. 



Adult jborkings were at the head of the list, and the first 

 prize was awarded to a fine pair of Dark Greys, which also won 

 the cup, the second prize going to SUvers, which were correct 

 in all points. In the young class the prizes were awarded in 

 the same order, both winning pens standing clear of all the rest. 

 The Spanish class was for birds of any age. The first prize 

 went to an excellent pair of chickens, and the second to adult 

 birds; the cockerel in the first-named pen was extremely good. In 

 Cochins the cocks were by far the best. The hens did not show 

 so well, but the cup for these and the Brahinas was awarded to 

 the first-prize Buffs. Only the winning Brahmas were of high 

 merit. 'The second-prize cock was too yellow. In Game both 

 the winners were Black Eeds, the second-prize pair being best 

 in quaUty, but sadly out of feather in tail. In single Game 

 cocks the first was a Pile cockerel, and the second a Black Eed 

 cock ; the quahty of both was all that coidd be desu-ed, and the 

 contest for honours keen. The entries of Golden-spangled 

 Hamburyhs'v;eTe not numerous, but there were some good birds, 

 notably the first-prize pen; the hen in this pair was of ex- 

 traordinary merit. The Silver-spangled were more or less out 

 of condition, but the Pencilled, which were of both colours, 

 were exceedingly good. The first-prize birds were Golden, as 

 nearly as possible faultless, and the second prize went to SUvers. 

 The piece of plate for Hamburghs was awarded here. In the 

 "Variety" class Creve-Cteurs were first, and Silver Polands 

 second, both pens being very good ; the cock in the first-prize 

 pen was such as is seldom equalled. 



All the Bantam classes were large, but many of the birds 

 would have been quite as well on their walks. In Black Eed 

 Game the winners were very good, and were the only pens that 

 were placed at a disadvantage as to hght. In the " Variety " 

 class. Piles wou both prizes, the first-prize pens being chickens 

 of extraordinary merit, and the piece of plate was won by them. 

 In the Bantams, any other variety. Blacks were first and 

 Japanese second. Among single cocks. Black Eed Game was 

 first, and a pirre Silver Sebright second. 



The Aylesbury and Eouen Ducks were good. The piece of 



