June liJ, 1372. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORXICULTDRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



489 



had to theirs, for the hens' chignons were not pinned to their 

 lieads, but gi-ew there, and no cocoa-nut fibre stuffing was under 

 them ; they had not robbed a door mat. In this tent I remained 

 until three o'clock, seeing absolutely nothing, jammed, jolted, 

 crushed ; seeing the rain over the forest of umbrellas at either 

 end, umbrellas of those desirous of entering but unable, and I 

 saw it was still raining just as heavily as ever. But at three 

 came a sudden change, Mght first, then less rain, then none, 

 then gorgeous, clear sunshine. The mob dispersed, for the baud 

 began to play, and, with very few in the tent, I began my 

 pleasure and my work, for I soon found iien No. 1, Class 1. 

 Spanish cock. The atmosphere grew pleasant, the sun seemed 

 to be verUy licking up the wet, the spirits of man and bird 

 revived, and what under his genial influence I saw shall be told 

 next week.T— WiLTsHiRr. Eectok. 



BEDLINGTON POULTET SHOW. 



In last week's Journal "Bedlingtox Teekier " says, "If 

 this bird fpen 27.5. White Owl) was not in its pen when that 

 class was judged the fault is not mine, and does not interfere 

 with the accuracy of my report." It as certainly, however, 

 plainly enough purposely reflects on the decision of my colleague 

 and myself, when coupled with his former statement — " The 

 Owls were all poor except pen 27.5, which was unnoticed." 



" Bedlin'gtox Terrier " now says, " In the Barb class Mr. 

 Orange's bird had a red card upon which was printed * first 

 prize ' tied on its pen, No. 301 ; and in substantiation of this 

 fact I refer Mr. Hewitt to the list of awards whicli was published 

 in the Newcastle Daily Chronicle. Tliis paper had a reporter 

 on the gi'ound, and if the card was put on a wrong pen by 

 mistake I had nothing to do with that." I myself never assumed 

 for a moment that " Bedlingtox Terrier " had anything " to 

 do with that," and why this unsolicited denial I know not ; but 

 this I do know, that both of the prize cards in the Barb class 

 were properly tied on Mr. Van Haausbergen's pens about an hour 

 before he says his report was written, and Mr. Orange's pen 

 was then unnoticed. The error of the Newcastle reporter cannot 

 surely be urged to falsify the actually con'ect award as made ; 

 and i must here contend arliitrators are not at all responsible 

 for mistakes inserted in local newspajjers. 



Most persons will no doubt be surprised to hear that " Bed- 

 LiNGTON Terrier " and Mr. John G. Dunn, 55, Westmoreland 

 Hoad, Newcastle-on-Tyne, are one and the same person : and 

 "with this fact perhaps his criticisms on the Variety class will be 

 read with greatly increased interest. Mr. Dunn writes, " Those 

 two pens, 325 and .326 in the Variety class, belong to me." In 

 Ms criticism, when writing as "Bedlixgton Terrier," he 

 reports thus of his own birds — " The "\'ariety class was strong ; 

 the two pens containing Yellow and "^"hite Dragoons, Nos. 325 

 and 326, were undoubtedly the two best pens shown, and richly 

 merited the honours of first and second prizes, which they did 

 not receive." For the direct information of Messrs. " Bedlixg- 

 ton Terrier " and Dunn & Co. I need ouly here add, when 

 these Dragoon Pigeons were penned I was present, about an 

 Iiour and a half after the class was judged, and stated to the 

 man then putting them into the pens, *' Well, it does not much 

 matter, for they would not have interfered with the prize birds." 



For the exposition now given I am indebted to the sponta- 

 ■neous letters of personally unknown correspondents who were 

 ■on the spot whilst "Bedlingtox Terrier" was engaged in 

 •compiling items for his report ; and again (now publicly) beg to 

 thank both those parties for this and other information conveyed 

 l)y them of a far more startling character, which in due time, 

 df conclusively proved to be correct, shall receive my best atten- 

 tion. At present I think, however, it is scarcely ripe for dis- 

 closure. — Edward Hewitt. 



[To the above reply we shall insert no response, nor shall we 

 add any comment. We have communications relative which 

 we shall not publish unless similar conduct renders publication 

 needful, and others which we shall publish after malang further 

 inquiries. — Eds.] 



Oxford Poultry and Pigeon Show. — We think that the Com- 

 mittee in introducing for the first time, on an extensive scale, 

 ^ Show in Oxford of poultry and Pigeons, are justified in believ- 

 ing that from the very general and increasing interest taken in 

 poultry in this neighbourhood, the distinguished patronage 

 already promised, and the excellent railway accommodation pos- 

 sessed by Oxford, an exhibition much above the average may be 

 fairly anticipated. Subscriptions to a handsome amount have 

 been promised; eight silver cups have been presented as prizes; 

 the Mayor and Corporation have kindly gi-anted the use of the 

 Com Exchange for the Show. The competition will be open to 

 all England. 



Ip.swich Poultry Show. — We find that Mr. W. B. .Jeffries, 

 ■Secretar}' and projector of this local Show, has assumed for it a 

 new title — viz., the Suffolk and East of England. As this title had 

 lieen previously adopted for exhibitions of considerable import- 



ance held in the eastern counties, and another to take place as 

 per advertisement in our columns, in conjunction with the Suffolk 

 Agricultural Society's next annual meeting, we consider it fair 

 to Mr. W. Groom, of Ipswich, under whose management these 

 successful exhibitipns are conducted, to state that that gentleman 

 is in no way whatever connected with the Ipswich Poultry Show. 



LIABILITY OF POULTRY SHOW COMMITTEES. 

 I thixk the case Fearon v. Chorley, copied in last week's 

 Journal, is one of very great importance both to committees and 

 exhibitors. I believe I have seen reports in back numbers of our 

 .Journal where -Judges have given decisions directly opposed 

 to the one quoted above, notably the case of Messrs. Jennison, 

 of Manchester, where the bird (a Pigeon, I think), was stolen 

 from its pen during the hours the exliibition was open. It seems 

 odd to me, when the law is so distinct, two Judges should give 

 such opposite verdicts. Is there not some higher CotU't where a 

 case could be taken, and a decision got. by which ordinary 

 County Court Judges would be bound ? For if committees are 

 to be held responsible absolutely where no culpable negligence is 

 proved, it appears to me poultry shows must collapse, for no body 

 of men would care to get up an exhibition, knowing as they do 

 that in nine cases out of ten they barely pay expenses, and in 

 addition are at the mercy of anyone who chooses to swear he 

 has not received his own birds back again. We all know there 

 are plenty of black sheep in the fancy, and what could be easier 

 than for one of them to send a pen of birds to a show for the 

 express purpose of denying them when returned to him, and 

 coming on the committee for £10, £20, or even i50 according 

 to the elasticity of his conscience ? Will some of our leading 

 committees take the matter up ? I am sure most of our old 

 exhibitors would assist in having a case, should another occur, 

 tried by a higher tribunal. — Ax Occasion.il Exhibitok. 



BIEDS VARYING THEIE NOTES. 



In a late number of the Journal I find the following observa- 

 tions on the Trumpeter Pigeon, page 451—" There is a peculiarity 

 in the coo of this bird, distinct from any other breed." This 

 difference in the note of Pigeons leads me to observe a curious 

 difference in the note of the Cuckoo here and in the south of 

 France. The Cuckoo abounds in the woods about Paris, and its 

 note is cuck-cuck-coo, instead of our bird's cuck-coo. I sup- 

 posed they were talking French, but is it common for bu-ds in 

 different countries to adopt a change of note ? — C. W. H. 



'The Cuckoo varies its note at certain periods of the year. 

 When it first arrives in England "the wandering voice" 

 is " Cuck-oo," but now in Sussex and elsewhere we hear 

 " cuck-oo, cuck-oo, cuck-cuck-oo, cuck-cuck-oo." — Eds.] 



TUMBLING— VOLUNTARY OR INVOLUNTAEY ? 



" Scotch Thistle " seems to attempt the solution of this 

 knotty point with the confidence of one who knows his way to 

 the truth " hid within the centre." I for one shall be delighted 

 to follow him as far a? I can see him, and I have no doubt there 

 are hundi-eds of readers of this Journal who will also follow; 

 but an experience with Tumblers extending over twenty years 

 tells me we had better tread cautiously, or we may find our- 

 selves up to the eyes in mud. 



I submit that unless the words " voluntary " and " involun- 

 tary " be taken to mean, in a loose sense, natural and unnatural, 

 we have no means of arriving at what we call knowledge. The 

 clown at a circus would, no doubt, say that the action of tumb- 

 ling was voluntary in his case ; but though I have kept all the 

 grades of tumbling Pigeons referred to by " Scotch Thistle," 

 as well as some which he has not named, no bird has ever 

 confided the secret to me of whether it tumbled voluntarily or 

 involuntarily. t™. , 



In endeavouring to guess the truth, perhaps the difficulty of 

 valuing the evidence of those incapables called Ground Tumb- 

 lers, wiU be less, if we carefully consider what a Ground Tumb- 

 ler is. A Tumbler which cannot rise from the ground, or does 

 so after several futile attempts, is a nervous bird, possibly from 

 breeding-in, or one which has been incarcerated in a coop ; or, 

 perhaps, it has been shut up in a dark place untU, coming into 

 the light of day, the poor thing is dazed ; or, it may be the 

 offspring of parents labouring under these drawbacks to vigorous 

 health. ° In any ease it is what we call a well-bred Tumbler. 

 Its ground-tumbling arises not from any added power of tumb- 

 ling, for a good Air Tumbler -n-ill do more tumbling in half an 

 hour's time, but from a state of nervous indecision ; the bird 

 wants to tumble and it wants to fly, and in its eagerness to do 

 both it begins to tumble as soon as its wings are spread. Habit 

 is second nature, and by a little drilling, and some trickery, this 

 eagerness gives place to despau-, and the poor bird becomes a 

 " first-class " incapable, and is often sold at a gi-eat price. 



The most successful breeder of Ground Tumblei-s I ever knew 

 was a lame, unlettered man who lived in a little hut, and whose 



