JOUENAIi OF HOKTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE G.ARDENER. 



[ MiU-cii 7, 1872. 



Fjntails.— 1 and 3, J. Walker. 2, J. W. Edge, Erdington. he, H. Adams, 

 Beverley. 



Barbs.— 1, F. Smith. 2, J. Fielding, Jan., Rochdale. 3, E. W. Richardson, 

 Beverley. 



Almonds.— 1. H. .\dams. 2. J. Fielding, jun. 3, J. Peace. 



Balds and Bzaeds.— 1. J. W. Edse. 



Short-faced — Any oikrr Variety. — 1 and 3. H. Adams. 2. J. Watts. 



Owls.— Forp){7n.— 1, J. Fieldine. jun. 2, R. W. Richardson. 3, J. Watts. 

 Xnglish.—l, J. W. Edge. 2, J. Watts. 3, G. F. Whitehouse. 



Tdbbits.— 1, J. W. Edge. 2, R. W. Richardson. 



NnN8.-l and 2. R. W. Richardson. 



Jacobins.— 1, Cnp, and 5. R. G. San'lers, Beverlev. 2 and c, E. E. M. Eoyds, 

 Grcenhill, Roctidale. 3, 4. and 6, F. Waitt, King's Heath, Birmingham, he, R. 

 W. Richardson. 



Trumpeters.— 1, J. F. While. 



DiUGoo.vs.— B/hc— 1, C. Gamon, Chester. 2, W. H. Mitchell. 3, J. Watts. 4, 

 F.Smith. r<-»oir.-I»nd2.W.H. Mitchell, c, J. Watts. TT'/ii(c-l. H. Adams. 

 % 3. Watts. 3, W. H. Mitchell, c, W. Reddihough, Kelbrook, Colne. Any 

 other Colour.— 1. W. H. Mitchell. 2, J. Watts. 



Dbaooons (Singlel —Blue.—l, W. H. MitchcU. 2, J. Walts. 3. R. W. Richard- 

 son. Any other Colour.— 1, H. Adams. 2, J. Peace. 3, R. Reddihongh. 4, W. 

 H. Mitchell. 



Antwerps.— B(« — 1, W. H. Mitchell. Sinole Cockt.—l, J. Watts. 



Ant Variety except Carriers, Pouters, Ant^verps, or Dragoons (Single 

 Birds!.— 1 and 2. H. Adams. S, R. (i. Sanders. 



Badges.- JJ/ncfc.— 1, J. Masney, Lozells. Birminffham. Bliie.—l, J. W. Edge. 



Saddles.— B(a«l-.—l. G. While. Blue.—l, 3. F. While. 



EosEwiNGS AND Redbreasts.— I, J. W. Edge. 2, J. Watts, c, J. Massey. 



Tumblers.— .,4ny other variety of Muff-legged.-l, 3. Massey. 



Balds and Beards.— 1. J. Watts. 



Clear-legged.— .4Hy othfr Variety —1, J. Watts. 



Selling Cla-s.— 1, R. W. Richardson (Black Barbs). 2, 5. and 6, H Yardley, 

 Birmingham (White Pouter. Black Carrier, and Bine Fantailal. 3. J. Peace, 

 Bnrton-on-Trent (Silver Owls). 4, J. W. Edge iBlack Barbs), he, H. Yardlev 

 <I5) ; J. F. While (Carrier and Dnn Carrier) : H. Adams (2) : G. F. Whitehouse 

 Carrier) 12); J. Walker; J. Watts, e, H. Yardley (6); R. G. Sanders (Jaco- 

 bins) : J. W. Edge (Owls and White Dragoons) ; J. F. WhUe (Carrier); W. H. 

 Mitchell (Silver Dun Antwerp); J. Watts. 



SILVEE DKAGOONS' BABS. 



Tour correspondent, Mr. Allsop, states that he has si^c years' 

 «xperience as a breeder of Silver Dragoons to support his 

 opinion that the colour of their bars should be " dark brown," 

 backed by the decisions of sundry judges at shows which he 

 enumerates. After what has been done in this way about Dra- 

 goons I, as an old Dragoon-fancier, pay no attention to judges' 

 decisions about them. I have seen some that convinced me the 

 judge did not know what a Dragoon is. But Mr. AlLsop and I 

 differ; and as I consider that the bars of Silver Dragoons, as 

 well as those of every other Silver of what may be called 

 English Pigeons, should be black, perhaps you will allow me, 

 in support of this opinion, to state something of my experience, 

 also reasons which every experienced breeder, I am sure will 

 endorse. ' 



Dragoons are not included in the " high-class " fancy, con- 

 ■sequently there are many good judges of " high-class " Pigeons 

 who know nest to nothing about Dragoons, and this, doubtless, 

 accounts in a gi-eat measure for the ridiculous opinions, deci- 

 sions, and treatment which this gallant bird has for so many 

 years experienced from judges who are chieflv high-class 

 fanciers. I have been a Pigeon-fancier for upwards of thirty 

 years, and have kept and bred most varieties ; my tastes have 

 always been those of a "breeder," whom I define as a man who 

 watches every match of his Pigeons, stud-s-ing the result in the 

 T)irds bred, in order to increase his knowledge in breeding for 

 colour and configuration. As a boy I had a passion for Pigeons, 

 nsed to haunt Pigeon shops, and eagerly devour all that I heard 

 irom old men fanciers on the points, kinds, and breeding of 

 Pigeons. My breeding bias, as my experience grew, enabled 

 me to check, prove, and find out the truth from the errors I 

 heard. 



Thirty years ago the Antwerp was comparatively unknown in 

 tills counti-y, and the Dragoon, being the vei-y best Pigeon we 

 had here, was the rage with " flying men," and had received at 

 ttieir hands great attention for more years than I can speak of 

 with any certainty, for all the old men said it was then as the old 

 men of their time knew and treated it. I myself hold the 

 opinion, that if the Dragoon had received the same attention in 

 selection and training (and been kept as a pure breed) as his 

 gallant descendant the Antwerp has in Belgium, where the 

 facihties for training are incomparably superior to those we 

 have m this countrj', he would have equalled, if not surpassed, 

 the deeds of the Antwerp. There are old " flying " men who 

 say now that the young Dragoon will both stand and do more 

 work than the j\jitwerp up to a certain age ; but certain it is 

 that no young .^ntwerps -n-ill fly in this countrv such distances 

 as we are told they do in Belgium. Of course this can be from 

 nothing but the climate, which is so much against the birds in 

 continuous training. It is, therefore, among the old " flying" 

 fanciers and breeders, instead of the "high-class" fanciers, that 

 we must look for the correct knowledge of what a Dragoon is. 



In my time I have kept and bred every colour of Dragoon, for 

 of these birds I was very fond, and having paid them "so much 

 attention, and heard so many old fanciers' opinions on them, I 

 could with the greatest confidence affirm that if a jury of old 

 Dragoon-fanciers of forty or fifty years' standing were em- 

 panneUed — it would be easy to do' this, as they coufd be readily 

 found — they would unanimously say that black was the proper 

 colour, and black it had ever been in the me'nory of the oldest 



fancier they knew. They would also give the breeding reasons 

 for this, founded on the very remark that Mr. Allsop makes, but 

 wrongly applies — viz., that in " breeding Silvers it is next to an 

 impossibility to obtain the black bar," as conclusive proof that 

 black is the proper colour. These reasons I will, with your per- 

 mission, give in another letter, as they will take up some space. 

 As I am standing up for the bold bird who has been so shame- 

 fully treated and neglected for so many years, I will try to do it 

 thoroughly. — Cakbier. 



PHEIsrOMENA IN POULTRY-KEEPING. 



"Would the following facts be worth relating in your Journal ? 

 A man keeping a livery stable here injured a Brahma hen with 

 the wheel of his fly, so much that he killed her. On the second 

 day after he opened her and found two eggs, one soft-shelled, the 

 other perfect; he put this egg under a hen that was sitting on 

 Spanish eggs, and it produced a fine chick, which is now a 

 cockerel weighing 9 or 10 lbs. 



Secondly, the Kev. Dr. Harris, of this place, has now a Silver- 

 spangled Hamburgh hen, fifteen or sixteen years old, which pro- 

 duced eggs last season. I saw her this morning, and she appears 

 healthy except in the whiteness of the head. She has never 

 been out of a space about 14 feet by 12 feet. — J. N. Whitehead, 

 Torquay. 



VENTILATION OP HIVES. 



In October last, when preparing stocks for the winter, I had to 

 deal with a wooden bar hive having glass sides made in accord- 

 ance with Taylor's directions. This hive, with its glass sides, 

 giving peculiar facihties for inspection, is a favourite, but it has 

 always been troublesome from its hability to damp in winter, and 

 consequently the "bees to disease. Once in particular, some 

 years ago, I almost lost a valuable Ligurian stock in it, which 

 had nearly succumbed to dysentery in the spring, and was only 

 saved by joining the queen and last handful of the bees to a 

 queenless black stock. 



I resolved, therefore, to adopt a plan which, although not new, 

 does not seem to have been much practised. I took an empty 

 hive, one of the same series of Taylor's boxes, and divested it of 

 everything except the sides ; I then stretched a thin woollen 

 cloth secured with tacks over the bottom ; the box thus made was 

 then filled, but not pressed, with clean dry straw, cut short to 

 make it lie smooth and close. It was then placed with the cloth 

 side next the bees on the top of the hive in place of the crown- 

 board, which had been taken off to make room for it. The onter 

 wooden covering, rather larger than the hive with the sloping 

 roof ventilated under the eaves, was then put in its place, and the 

 whole left till a few days ago, when the straw-filled box was re- 

 moved and the crown-board replaced. A minute inspection 

 showed that the arrangement had acted perfectly. There was no 

 trace of damp inside, on the combs, hive, or floor-boards ; the 

 glass sides were undjmmed, and only three or four dead bees 

 were found on the board. The straw, while acting as a protection 

 from cold, appears to have absorbed the damp, which eventually 

 found its way out through the apertures in the outer cover. — J. B. 



LADY GWTDYE'S POULTBY ESTABLISHMENT. 



No. 1. 



This, the most complete, and one of the largest, poultry 

 yards in the kingdom, is situated at Stoke Park, Ipswich. 

 Its site was formerly a farmyard ; the numerous cow-houses, 

 stables, and other appurtenances usually found at well-ap- 

 pointed farms, with many additions, have all been converted 

 into poultry pens and runs. The greater part of the immense 

 range of buildings is built on the side of a small hill. The soil 

 is very light and sandy, so that the drainage is unusually 

 good ; and no matter how heavy and continuous the rain may 

 be, with the aid of the complete system of drainage adopted in 

 all the yards it passes away very quickly, leaving them free 

 from water, which is carried into the valley below, there form- 

 ing the Duck ponds. Mr. F. Wragg, the manager, has his 

 residence in the midst of the buildings. A road running 

 through the middle of the place divides it into two distinct 

 yards, the show yard and the working yard. 



We now propose to describe the first of these — viz., the show 

 yard, of which our engraving* gives a general view. On the 

 right-hand side, by the tree, we obtain a glimpse of the manager's 

 house ; in the distance is seen the mansion belonging to Lord 

 Gwydyr. On entering the yard through the gateway at the 

 further side, and turning to the left, we find eight pens of 

 various sizes, from 15 to 20 feet wide, and 25 feet long. The 

 roosting places are in the sheds at the back of these runs. At 



* From a photograph by Mr. Vict, of Ipswich. 



