JOITEITAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October C, 1S63. 



head of this article, we are indebted to the politeness of 

 Mr. J. R. Page, of Sennet, Cayuga County, who is a suc- 

 cessful breeder of them : — 



" Of the origin of the Cayuga Duck," says Mr. Page, " I 

 cannot give anything reliable. This Duck has been bred in 

 the county so long, that aU positive trace of the origin, so 

 far as I can leam, is lost. Tradition says they aie descended 

 from a sort of wild Ducks that stop in Cayuga Lal;e and 

 Seneca Eiver, on then- passage north and south, faU and 

 spi-ing ; yet irom hunters I have never been able to obtain 

 or hear of any closely resembling them, either in weight or 

 feathers. Yet they are called the ' Big Black Duck,' 'Cay- 

 uga,' or ' Lake Duck.' The feat I ever heajxl of them was 

 ■between twenty and thirty years ago. A farmer uear Mbn- 

 tezuma, on Seneca Eiver, had a. Sock of Ducks bred from 

 wild Ducks that he had caught,, and- they were very large 

 and fine. Another tradition is, that- they are a atotlc 

 brought from one of the Hudson Eiver counties " (probably 

 those mentioned. by Dr. Bachman), "but the general belief 

 is as above, that they originateifr'oiu a wild stock. 



" The Black Cayuga Duet in perfection, is black- ivith a 

 white collai- or neck, or white flecks on: neck and liroast — 

 rarely black mthout white, and as the white seems incUned 

 to increase, we usually select them nearly or quite black for 

 breeding. The Duck has a faint green tint on head, neck, 

 and wings. The drakes usually show more white markings 

 than Ducks, and the green tiiit on- head and neek ia more 

 strongly marked. They differ from, the East Indian and 

 Buenos Ayrean Ducks very materially, are much lai-ger, 

 longer in body, and shorter in leg, better feeders, but are 

 not so intense in coloiu-; indeed, beside the East Indian 

 (and I have the latter), the Cayitga looks brown." 



" The jdumage of the Cayuga Duck," says another writer, 

 " is of great richness, much resembles the Wild Duck ; the 

 drake's especially is magnificent, its head and neck being 

 a rich lustrous green, with a white ring at the base of the 

 neck, breast of a reddish-brown, the remainder of the body 

 and wings partaking very greatly of the Wild Mallard." 



Chaeaotebistics. — " When well fed," continues Mi-. Pago, 

 "the Duck begins to lay about the 1st of April, and usually 

 gives an egg every day imtU she has laid eighty or ninety, 

 when she wQl make her nest and sit if allowed ; if not, win 

 generally lay a litter in September. 



" The Cayuga Duck is hardy, good size, and for the table 

 is superior to all other Ducks or poultry of any sort ; flesh 

 quite dark and high-flavom-ed. If well fed they become very 

 fat; they can be readily made so fat that they cannot step 

 over a broomstick ; they cannot raise themselves from the 

 ground by their wings, a foot-wide board keeping my Ducks 

 from my little trmit-pond. My flock last year weighed — 

 Ducks, one to thi-eeyeai's old, 7 lbs. to 74 lbs. each ; Drakes, 

 Slbs.; Ducks, 81bs., orlTlbs. the pair; yet these are extreme 

 weights, and only reached by careful feeding, and in very 

 small flocks ; 12 lbs. to 14 lbs. the pair would be a good 

 average in lai-ge flocks. I once had a small flockthat averaged 

 at sis months 16 lbs. the pan-, but they had been forced to 

 their utmost, and never gained weight after six months." 



Another -nTiter says — "the Cayuga Duck is very quiet in 

 its habits, cannot fly, rarely able to rise from the ground ; a 

 fence 1 foot high will turn them ; not disposed to wander 

 from home ; commence laying about the last of March ; lay 

 fifty to ninety eggs, when they wish to sit if everything is 

 convenient; sit well; careless mothers; cross readily with 

 other Ducks, and produce is certain." 



" One of my Ducks," continues Mr. Page, "showed a dis- 

 position to nest early this yeai-; sat on fourteen eggs; 

 hatched tlm-teen young, and bids fair- to raise all of them, as 

 they are now (July) several weeks old, yet the Duck and 

 young ones are more often seen apart than together."^ — 

 C N. Bement.- — {Alhany Country Gentletiian.) 



LOST FOWLS AT WAXEFIELD SHOW. 

 In- reply to Mi\ William La-wrenson's letter respecting his 

 pen of Bantams at Wakefield, I at once ad-vised biin of the 

 loss, and also advertised them in your JoiuTia), and wished 

 him to charge a reasonable price for them. He at once 

 replied that he would have the ftiU amount, or he would 

 sue the Committee, and write a letter to your Joiunal, if his 



claim were not paid. I thought we had a right to pay him, 

 and having but £i in my office at the time I received his 

 letter, I sent it to him on account, and said I would bring his 

 ease before the next Committee-meeting. I did so, .and -was 

 ad-vised by one of the Committee to ask him to take the 

 claiming price, less 10 per cent., as per rule of the Society, 

 and allow us for the hamper I retiuned. He refused to 

 comply, but \vrote to Mr. Wainwright, and he brought the 

 letter before the Committee, and they thought Mr. Law- 

 renson was too hard with them not to take the claiming 

 jwice. Mi\ Wainwright was requested by the Committee to 

 infomi Mr. La-m-enson that Mr. Crosland had met his case 

 in a very manly way, and they trusted he would be satisfied 

 with the £i. I am yet out of pocket the money I paid, as 

 several of the Committee think we had no right to pay. 



Ml'. William Lawrenson ought to have the management of 

 an out-door show. It woidd put him about to keep an eye 

 on all. I engaged three men to feed and water the fowls, 

 and the bu-ds were aU right at four o'clock, and then a very 

 heavy storm of wind and rain came on. I quite expected 

 all the Pigeons to be flying into the aii', and they woidd have 

 done so had I not placed boards on the top of the pens to 

 keep them dry ; but I am glad to say I got them all hamp- 

 ered. Several Bantam and other pens were blo\vn partly off 

 the platform, and were penned -wrong. This took place at 

 the time I was penning, the Pigeons. The men engaged in- 

 formed me that one of the Duckwing Bantams had been out. 

 It was only the end pens, and they were Black Reds. I 

 wonder if Mr. La-wreuson could have made the -wind and 

 rain obey his commands ; if he could he would have been 

 worth iSSO to us on that day. As soon as the rain came on 

 all the exhibitors commenced to pen their o-wn birds, and tho 

 only fowls left for us to jien were those that came by rail. 



Mr. La-svrenson ought to attend a few Yorkshu'e shows, 

 then he would form an idea what the Committee has to do 

 with out-door shows. It is impossible to prevent parties 

 penning their own birds. If Mr. Lawrenson was Seoretaay, 

 as I was, to take down the amounts and pay all the prizetakers 

 on the ground, as I had to do, he would have plenty of time 

 to look after penning the buds. After all we had but two 

 mistakes, and we wish to do as neai'ly right as we can. I 

 have had no other complaints. I sent all the birds off from 

 the ATakefield Station the same night, and all the prizes 

 were paid within three days of the Show, and I doubt if any 

 one coidd act in a more straightforward manner than 1 have 

 done. After hearing my reply I think your readers will not 

 find much fault -with the Wakefield Committee, and I can 

 safely say we are out of pocket above ^6100. Mr. Lawrenson 

 can have my post nest year, as I intend to give it up. — John 

 Ceosland, Jun. 



[With tMs reply fr-om Mr. Crosland the conti-oversy must 

 cease from oui- jjages. It is very evident that the Wakefieltl 

 Committee left all the labour' for Mi'. Crosland, and so fer 

 did not do their duty. It is quite equitable that 10 per cent, 

 should be deducted from the price affixed to the pen by Mr. 

 La-wi'ensou ; and under the cu'cumstance of the Show causing- 

 a heavy loss to the Committee, we think Mr. La-wrenson 

 would only do as he woiild -wish to be done by, if he accepted 

 the £-i in full of all demands. — Eds.] 



OSWESTEY POULTEY EXHIBITION. 



Altho-cgh the just-closed Meeting is the first ever held 

 by this Society, in the hope of directing poidtry-keepers to 

 the most remiuierative breeds for market purposes, and to 

 also bring into local notice other kinds of the more sti'ictly 

 fancy-feathered varieties, it must not for a moment be con- 

 ceived that the district around Oswestry is not deseiwedly 

 renowned for its market fowls. On the contrary, for a long 

 succession of years, even prior to the institution at alii of 

 poultry shows elsewhere, Oswestry market has supplied, an 

 amount of live poultry to various districts in quautitiBB 

 weekly that if here stated would to many of our readers 

 appear altogether fabulous. On the We'lnesday, which is 

 the market day, consequently are num-jrous dealers to be 

 regulai-ly seen plying earnestly their avocation; and on 

 -visiting the railway station at the conclusion of the market; 

 few strangers would be prepared to see the many r.Tilway 

 truckloads exclusively of poultry thus being fbi-wardcd tp 



