September 11, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



205 



ground with stones dressed for the purpose, bo flue that the husk 

 and corn form a smooth flour that will when wetted work into a 

 paste or liquid. The ordinary ground oats when slaked with 

 water mix as though they were made-up partly of chaff. Fowls 

 will not eat this latter, hut they are greedy for the former. 

 They do better on it than on any other food. It makes the best 

 morning and evening meal. The midday one may be Indian 

 com or whole barley; or, better still, the scraps from the house, 

 pieces of fat, the meat from beef-tea or mutton broth ; the dry 

 skin of any joint, the knuckle of shoulder or log of mutton 

 chopped small and thrown down, are all excellent food. For 

 small chickens these may be added to chopped egg, bread and 

 milk, and such hke. They will not giow so fast as their pre- 

 decessors have done. The nights are getting longer, the days 

 shorter, the sun has less power. The difference is not felt so 

 much in the middle of the day, but the mornings and evenings 

 are cold, they require to be fed at dawn and sunset, and these 

 two meals should be the best of the day. All chickens that 

 have not left the hen, or those that do not yet roost with the 

 adults, should be got under cover every night. Exception may 

 be made sometimes in favour of the hens under rips, but they 

 should be so placed that they are safe from cold winds and 

 driving showers. It will likely be said. Thousands of chickous 

 are reared without all this trouble ; granted, but we only hear 

 of the survivors, and know nothing of the unfortunates who die 

 in the process. Our object is to give such advice as shall pre- 

 vent disappointment. We feel sure we have done so, and we 

 have endeavoured to cai-ry out our unvarying rule of making all 

 plain, and advising only that which we have ourselves tried. 



PUBLISHING JUDGES' NAMES. 



I AM also of Mr. Wright's opinion that Judges' names should 

 1)6 published before the closing day of the entries, and of late 

 I have taken the determination not to show unless I know the 

 gentlemen's names who are to of&ciate. My reason for so doing 

 is simply because the opinions are so different. For instance, 

 I have a pair of birds of a certain class which I have shown with 

 great success under several good Judges — the same birds have 

 i>een entirely passed over by other well-known gentlemen, 

 whereas birds I do not like in certain points took the honours ; 

 and as I have birds of the same class to suit those gentlemen 

 also, I can suit them all. 



I do not mean to intimate that the latter Judges are not 

 efBoient gentlemen, only their opinion differs, and they prefer 

 certain points the former reject, and vice versa. 



In answer to several letters I wrote to secretaries of shows a 

 few days before the entries closed, the schedules being published 

 too long beforehand to mention the Judges' names, I always 

 had for reply that the committee were not quite decided as to 

 their selection, but thatgentlemen of well-knowu character were 

 sore to officiate ; and the consequence was that they lost my 

 'entries. My opinion is, that if committees cannot publish the 

 Judges' names with their schedules, they should do so through 

 the Joomal as soon as they decide. — A. A. Vander Meersch, 

 Tooting. 



A1.THOUOH I never exhibit fowls I take great interest in them, 

 and on perusing Mr. Wright's letter in your last week's Journal, 

 it appeared to me that publishing the Judges' names at poultry 

 shows would in no way assist breeders to attain the desired 

 knowledge — viz., the proper standard to aim at in breeding for 

 exhibition, but that whilst Judges held such diametrically 

 opposite opinions as those mentioned in Mr. Wright's letter, it 

 would simply tend to start two or more classes of the same breed, 

 each said to be perfect specimens, according to whichever Judge 

 they chose to follow. This I consider would undermine much 

 already accomplished. In my opinion the remedy would be for 

 all Judges to award by one recognised standard, then I should 

 say that most of the in-and-out judging now complained of 

 would be done away with. — Spectator. 



With reference to, and in connection with Mr. Wright's com- 

 manication on page 181, 1 would direct the attention of poultry 

 exhibitors and breeders to another matter which appears to me 

 to be of paramount importance. Of my own knowledge, more 

 dissatisfaction arises from the incompetence or peculiar fancy 

 of the Judge than from the mistake of an admittedly good Judge, 

 an accident which distresses the Judge fully as much as the 

 losing exhibitor. But why should there be any difference of 

 opinion between really good Judges ? or why should any point 

 be left to their fancy ? To me it appears most anomalous, that 

 such a number of persons should be found willing to submit 

 their birds to competition and adjudication when there is no 

 recognised standard of excellence to bind the Judge. It is not 

 only very convenient for Judges that there is not such a standard, 

 and that many points should be left to their taste or discretion, 

 but it is eminently unsatisfactory to exhibitors, unless, perhaps, 

 to those favoured few who know exactly what the Judge likes, 

 And naturally take advantage of the knowledge ; but it is equally 



convenient to unconscientious persons who, when getting rid of 

 their faulty birds, are ever ready to shield themselves under the 

 pretence of " disputed points." 



Judging at poultry shows wiU never give anything like general 

 satisfaction until there is a recognised standard of excellence 

 • — a staudard, too, in which the points will be much more nu- 

 merous and with a higher figure set to each than iu the old 

 standard. Armed with such, amateurs would soon be sufficiently 

 skilled to deal with experts, and any intelligent fancier after a 

 year or two's experience might give satisfaction as a Judge. 

 Besides, a recognised staudard would have another merit — it 

 would keep points from shifting, a matter which causes much 

 annoyance at present. If what I have endeavoured to set out 

 above is true, it surely would not be expecting too much of the 

 gentlemen who are at preseut at the head of the list of Judges, 

 to sink auy differences of opinion that may exist between them, 

 and uuite in pubUshing a staudard which, I have no doubt, 

 would be hailed as a boon by every true poultry fancier. — 

 0. P. H. Z. 



DEALERS AS EXHIBITORS. 



The letter which appeared a few weeks ago from the pen of 

 Mr. L. Wright was read with much interest and attention by all 

 poultry exhibitors, and must have carried conviction to the 

 minds of every disinterested and impartial observer of the con- 

 troversy. Merit is the one thing needful, whether in the pen of 

 the dealer or amateur, at our poultry exhibitions, and merit 

 ought to and must bear off the palm ot victory. By excluding 

 dealers from exhibiting, in most cases if not iu all we should be 

 excluding merit also ; but at the same time it is an incontro- 

 vertible fact that when they do exhibit they are sure to take 

 almost all the prizes, " for what is the use of showing," as 

 "Obser\'i;k" truly said, "when Mr. Fulton is sure to be there?" 

 One way of moderating, if not removing the grievance, would 

 be to confine each exhibitor, be he either dealer or amateui', to 

 only one entry; for then amateurs, knowing that they would 

 stand some chance of obtaining at least a second or third prize, 

 would take courage and send their birds, and thus the number 

 of entries would be largely increased. Although at first sight 

 this plan would seem to injure the pocket of the dealer, yet in 

 the long run he would be a gainer. He would be able to transact 

 much more business than he does at present, and the increase 

 in the returns of his business would amply compensate for the 

 loss he would sustain by not being able to take more than one 

 prize. The greatest amount ot dissatisfaction and grumbling is 

 caused, not by dealers exhibiting, but by their carrying all the 

 prizes away. — A. T. W. 



ALDBOBOUGH AND BOROUGHBRIDGE 

 POULTRY SHOW. 



The pretty little town of Boroughbridge was 01 fcic on Au- 

 gust 22ud, when the Show was held, and the receipts at the gate 

 were just double the amount taken last year. The poultry on 

 the whole were very good, but the adult birds showed the eft'ects 

 of the season in their ragged plumage. Dorking chickens were 

 a very good class. The first-prize peu had only the advantage 

 of age to secure its position, the second being in many respects 

 better, but much younger. Spanish were a treat to see. The 

 first-prize cook was in splendid condition, his face being so 

 white and smooth. In Brahma chickens a pen of very fine 

 Lights secured the first honours against their darker brethren, 

 and if they are kept growing will bo difficult to beat. In the 

 Variety class a splendid pen of Crove-Ca;urs, very large and iu 

 good condition, were first, and Black Hamburghs second. 



Turkeys and Geese were very large and good, and the Ayles- 

 bury Duck classes such as we seldom see at the largest shows. 

 In the Variety class Widgeons were first, and Muscovy second. 



Pigeons were very good, the most noteworthy being the 

 Carriers, Trumpeters, and English Owls. The prize Babbits 

 were aU Lops with good ears, which measured well. 



We published the awards last. week. 



ALFORD POULTRY SHOW. 



Few committees can boast of so successful a first attempt at 

 carrying out a poultry show, every attention being paid to the 

 most minute detail that could ensure popularity. Two very 

 large tents were provided, the one being devoted exclusively to 

 poultry, the other containing a well-arranged display of Parrots. 

 Cage Birds, Rabbits, and domestic Cats. The latter portion of 

 this collection was much improved in ajipearance by Mr. Billett 

 providing with the pens a bright-coloured plush ottoman for 

 each cat, which in every instance formed a favourite and very 

 comfortable resting place for the animal exliibited. Unfortu- 

 nately it proved very wet early in the morning of the 2nd, but 

 as the day wore on the clouds broke, and a bright sun soon 

 rendered everything as pleasant as possible. A general feature 

 of the Show consisted in the majority of the old birds, from 



