March 21, 1872. ] 



JOTJENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENEE. 



tion of one teaspoouful to tiventy-five hens. They must also at 

 this their first meal have a small portion of liver, horse-flesh if 

 obtainable, sheep's pluck, &c.; indeed the refuse of a butcher's 

 slaughter-house contains the very best winter food for poultiy. 

 It may be giveu raw, but in moderate quantities, and must be 

 cut down into small pieces. If too much is given it will create 

 an unnatural desire in the hens for such food, and they will 

 denude each other of their feathers, swallo'^'ing them entire, to 

 the great disfigurement of the stock. The midday and evening 

 meal must consist of a variation of Indian com, barley, small 

 wheat, and buckwheat. 



Half a bushel of gi'ain, taking one week against the other, 

 will be amply sufficient for fifty fowls for that time. The rice 

 may be bought wholesale at about 8s. per cwt. I have bought 

 it at 6s. 6d. The meat may be had at a trifling cost from the 

 butcher who supphes the table. The cottager who makes his 

 weekly purchase at the same place wiU always find himself 

 liberally suppUed for the outlay of a few pence. No fowl fed in 

 this way will cost more than Id. per week, and ^-ill be kept in 

 fine couditiou, and in full egg-producing powers. 



Fresh water is indispensable, and shoiild be given in a fountain, 

 as it wiU then always be perfectly clean. 



The young chicks must be fed abundantly. I would highly 

 recommend the use of the " food protector," it being an ad- 

 mirable mode of keeping a constant supply of food always ready 

 for their use. This useful nttle appendage is made by con- 

 structing a fi-ame of narrow wooden laths, or of wire netting. 

 The wide mesh is the best, as it admits more hght ; the length 

 may be about 4 feet, and the width 2 feet at the base, with an 

 aperture at either end only large enough to admit the chickens. 

 The top must be covered with roofing felt. There should be 

 several of these food protectors in use where many chickens 

 are reared ; they can then be fed often, and with better food 

 than the hens. 



I believe the great secret of success in rearing chickens is to 

 teed often in small quantities. The henwife should know 

 exactly when her young charges have had sufficient. During 

 the first week of a chicken's Ufe its food should be hard-boiled 

 egg minced, and mixed with sharps, or oatmeal, and a little 

 gi-ain. Small wheat is the best. One egg is sufficient for fifteen 

 chickens, never forgetting an ample supply of green food. Do 

 not allow the chickens to leave the hatching house for a few 

 days unless the weather is veiy warm and fine. 



When fattening fowls I use aji equal mixtui-e of barleymeal 

 and oatmeal. When this last cannot be obtained except at a 

 high price, Indian meal may be substituted. They should be 

 mixed with skimmed milk if obtainable. Ten days are a suffi- 

 cient time for fattening, for all fowls if intended to pay should — 

 indeed must — be always keijt in fine condition, and, therefore, 

 will not require long to fatten. Some authorities do not advise 

 water to be given after fowls are cooped for fattening, but I 

 always allow them to have a drink once a-day. Where hens are 

 confined, and where they have not access to hme or mortar, 

 frc, burnt oyster shells are an excellent material to give them. 

 Put them into the fire for about half an hour-, and when cold 

 they will break easUy, and will be much relished by the fowls. 

 Without this, however well fed in other respects, no hen can 

 lay from lack of material wherewith to maie the shell of the egg. 

 Chalk is also good if broken down and mixed with their food. — 



ViN'CENT SKINNEK. 



DRAGOON PIGEONS. 



Is yonr issue of March 7th we find remarks upon the abovo 

 subject from a con-espondent who signs himself " CiSBiEE," 

 and in addition to his observations upon the colour of Silver 

 Dragoons' bars (in reply to Mr. .^llsop), he gives yotrr readers the 

 benefit of his experience upon Dragoons generaUy, and very 

 kindly promises to " try to do it thoroughly." We tnist he will 

 do so, for the Dragoon is an admirable kind of Pigeon, though 

 somewhat neglected, owing, no doubt, to the differences of 

 opinion which exist as to the points of excellence at which to 

 aim. 



Now as " Cakkier " promises shortly to make his subject 

 complete, we at present refrain from any observations, but in 

 order that we, in common with our fellow fanciers, may know 

 the amount of importance we should attach to such views, and 

 also to whom we should be grateful, we would suggest that he, 

 too, like the " bold bird " of which he writes, ought to sign his 

 real name, and then we wiU take part in the controversy; but 

 having tried fairly to meet a " C.uirier " on a former occasion 

 in a contemporary paper, we are not again disposed to direct 

 our observations to anonymous writers. — ^BrRiiiNGHAM Colum- 

 E.1RIAN Society. — J. W. Ludlow, Secreiari/. 



Cabbiebs. — ^We had the pleasure, on the 11th, of inspecting a 

 private exhibition of Cai-rier Pigeons, the property of a veteran 

 fancier, Mi'. William Siddons, sen., Birmingham, w-hich was 

 held in compliance with a request from a nuiuber of admirers 

 of that noble variety. The display was made in the large club- 



room of the "Victoria Inn, Lichfield Eoad, Aston, the residence 

 of Mr. John Siddons, and a greater peristeronic treat in its way 

 has never been placed before Birmingham fanciers. It com- 

 prised about fifty birds, in fine condition — Blacks, Duns, Blues, 

 and Silvers — all of the highest quality, and many of surpassing 

 excellence, in length of face, eye and nose wattle, colour, and 

 contour ; in fact, the collection as a whole presented the nearest 

 approach to what has been termed the classical style of Carrier, 

 cultivated by our predecessors, than anything which has been 

 seen for years, and its value was estimated by several competent 

 authorities at upwards of j£300. The coarse heavy bird now so 

 much in vogue, and which is the result of breeding for size, was 

 absent, and in its place was the lighter and more graceful bird, 

 with elegant neck, well-defined shoulders, plenty of length and 

 strength, well-developed wattle, and the good stand-up carriage 

 of the true old English Carrier. Much of this was owing, no 

 doubt, to the time Mr. Siddons has been a breeder — now reach- 

 ing to upwards of half a century — together with the combined 

 exertions of his sons, who naturally have followed in his steps. 

 Now, in a green old age, Mr. Siddons is still as ardent a lover of 

 his feathered favourites as ever; and not the least of the 

 attractions of the gathering on Monday was a chat with him 

 about their characteristics fifty years ago, when all fancy 

 Pigeons are supposed, though we imagine erroneouiily, to have 

 been better than those of the present day. The Exhibition was 

 in every way a most gi'atifpng oue. and was numerously 

 attended throughout the afternoon and evening by visitors, who 

 expressed their rmqualifled satisfactiou. — {Midland Counties 

 Herald.) 



WAITING FOR THE JUDGE AT A CANARY 

 SHOW. 



The Bradford Ornithological Society held its first exhibition 

 of birds on February 24th, at the Miller's Arms, MiUer Gate, 

 Bradford. On entering the house (writes the reporter of the 

 Bradford Observer), we encountered some members of the 

 Ornithological Committee in the passage, from whom we received 

 the inteUigence that Mr. Gough, of Huddersfleld, who was the 

 Judge, was then upstairs examining and passing judgment 

 upon the feathered prisoners. It was then two o'clock, and the 

 exhibition was advertised to open at one. We made ourselves 

 master of a printed catalogue, and went and sat in the bar, 

 where we were told there was some " respectable " company. 

 The bar was full, and the clean wood tables presented a formid- 

 able array of glasses of ale. From adjoining rooms came the 

 sounds of rough mirth and heavy drinking ; but the bar custo- 

 mers were, perhaps, a trifle less boisterous. We sat next to 

 thi-ee boon companions, who had evidently called in just when 

 leaving work at an adjacent brewery. They were sUghtly under 

 the influence of alcohol, and spent most of their time in chaffing 

 each other about "pennorths o' bacca" and drinking each other's 

 ale. One of them had a fine-looking dog, with what he called 

 " a bit o' masty " in it, lying at his feet. He offered to sell the 

 animal for a sovereign, and explained that he had found it some 

 days previously, and had been so honest as to advertise it. The rest 

 of the bar company were bird fanciers, exhibitors, and dealers. 

 Complaints against the dilatoruiess of the judge were frequently 

 uttered, one knowing individual asserting that he himself would 

 undertake to pass judgment on five hundi'ed bh-ds in half an 

 hoiu-. Coming across to our end of the room, this clever gentle- 

 man proceeded to deliver himself of a piece of wisdom, which, 

 if not original, was nevertheless good, though we failed to see 

 its appropriateness at that moment. " If you would nob-but do 

 to other fowk as ye'd like to be done by there'd be no gammon 

 about it ; but when a man says one o'clock and means five, he 

 isn't a man." With that he sat down, and a coimtry woman 

 sitting near the fire asked her companion if they remembered 

 Mr. So-and-so being the judge at such a place. They all re- 

 membered the fact, and each in his turn described the judge's 

 manner of judging, which must have been very peneti-ative. 

 " That's t' first and that's t' second, and that's highly coni- 

 mended," spoken as fast as possible, was represented as this 

 famous judge's manner. 



Then they began relating their bird experiences, one of them 

 teUing a story of having once had a fine Canary, whose plumage 

 became suddenly deficient, just as he was about to obtain a pro- 

 fitable sale. To remedy this he had tried to introduce a few 

 brilliant feathers into the bird's body, but it died under the 

 operation. The clever individual before referred to shufiled 

 about uneasily while this anecdote was being related, and 

 uttered a few expletives to himself. His neighbours then began 

 talking about a Persian dye which had " just come up," and 

 otherwise hinted at various bu-d-improving processes which had 

 recently come into use. The clever one was evidently unable 

 to stand this torturing conversation, from some reason or other, 

 so he jumped to his feet in a rage and walked to our end of the 

 bar again, and gave utterance to words of -n-rath. "If a mans 

 a man, why doesn't he say so ? To [the infernal regions] with 

 such wark. I wodd'nt care if it were my own brother ! " He 



