December 15, 1863. ] JOUENAL OF HORTICULTXJEE AND COTTAGE GARDENEE. 



4S3 



with a very large portion of the whole of England ; then 

 for some years past, a railway has been opened to Salisbury, 

 and by it the extreme south has been joined to Chippenham ; 

 and only the other day a railway from Calne commenced 

 muning into the Chippenham Station. As another advan- 

 tage let me add, that the station is very large, and, 

 however many pens of poultry might arrive, at any rate 

 there would be abundance of room for them all. Then, 

 too, the place for exhibition is not very far from the station ; 

 and as I heard an exhibitor remai'k, " Mi'. H. Gale, who 

 has the care of the poultry, is among the most civil and 

 careful of men." Yet, strange to say, that with all these 

 things in its favour, the Show at Chippenham (which is 

 a very stirring striving town, by no means " a grass- 

 grown place of the ancients"), is as yet among the smaller 

 shows, perhaps this arises from its not being advertised. 

 For some years past poultry has been regularly exhibited 

 at the annual meeting of the Agricultural Association, held 

 in the spacious covered cheesemarket, behind the new hall. 



About the origin of this Show there is a little tale to tell. 

 A gentleman in advance of his neighbours in poultry matters, 

 suggested at a meeting of the Agricultural Society that 

 prizes should be awarded for good specimens of the domes- 

 ticated fowls. "What!" said another gentleman, "would 

 you give a prize for a goose hiss-hiss ? " Tliis was uttered 

 in perfect good humour, though with a feeling of real sur- 

 prise. But the gentleman stood his ground and said man- 

 fully, " Yes, for a good goose, certainly." Hence arose the 

 Chippenham Poultry Show. " All honour to those who try." 



This year there were ninety-nine pens in all. Those of the 

 fowls were arranged in the Market House; those of the 

 Turkeys, Geese, and Ducks, at the sides of the wide space 

 at its entrance, in which, by the way, there would be abun- 

 dance of room for a middle row should the Show become 

 larger. 



As usual at Chippenham, the Game was the predominant 

 class, there being twenty-two pens and seven single cocks. 

 I was glad to see this tnily English breed, and by far 

 the most beautiful of all fowls, in such high favour. For- 

 merly, when cock-fighting was customary, it was impos- 

 sible to sever the idea of cruelty from the sight of a 

 Game cock ; now, happily, our admiration has no such 

 drawback. Almost all the pens contained good birds, so 

 that this prize was the blue ribbon of the Show. The first 

 prize was obtained by Mr. H. Waller, of Calne ; the second 

 went to a Chippenham breeder, Mr. H. Stevenson. Mr. 

 A. Heath's prize bu'd among the single cocks was almost 

 perfection, so neat, so close-feathered, and in head so snake- 

 Uke. The Dorkings mustered strongly ; but I was sorry to 

 see only two pens of Spanish, two of Goldeu-pencUled 

 Hamlurghs, and two of SiLver-pencUled ; and worse still, no 

 entry whatsoever of SUver-spangled. Let me recommend 

 these classes to fowl-lovers in and near Chippenham. Why 

 should not some one at least adopt as his fancy those strik- 

 ing-looking birds, and excellent layers into the bargain, the 

 SUver-spangled Hamburghs ? he wovild have a great chance 

 of success, and gratify the eyes of the many visitors at the 

 Show. Mr. Jacob Phillips showed a good pen of Polands; 

 there being four pens in this class it was represented better 

 than we had hoped, as Polands seem at most shows on the 

 decline. Among the Cochins, Miss J. Milward took first 

 prize ; and among " Any other distinct or cross breed " Dr. 

 Colborne, of Chippenham, exhibited a pair of Creve Caiurs, 

 a new sort at Chippenham, the cock a very " Diabolus " in 

 appearance but not in disposition, as his owner tells me. 

 Neai- Diabolus was a brother fiend, in looks at least, Mr. 

 J. J. Fox's Malay Cock, but stiU all praise to Mr. Fox for 

 keeping up an old and once highly esteemed breed. The 

 Malay Cock might aptly possess the soul which once inha- 

 bited the body of a Eomish Inquisitor. " Gratify me, please, 

 with another sight of the rack ! " seems to say Mr. Malay. 

 And, now, for the pretty pretty Bantams, which mustered 

 stronger than ever before — there were ten pens. Doubtless 

 Mr. "R. Brotherhood's great success with his now famous 

 Blacks, which began their career of conquest at Chippenham, 

 has acted as an incentive to his neighbours. The prize 

 Black Reds, Mr. F. Bailey's, of Calne, were good; while Mr. 

 F. Phillips' Duckwings were as to the hens very excellent, 

 but the cock was scarcely their equal. As to the Turkeys, 

 Geese, and Ihicks, the first were good, the second very good, 



the last not so very good ; the Blacks (Miss MUward's) and 

 the Rouens being better than the Aylesbm-ys. 



As I walked round and round enjoying the sight of the 

 beautiful birds, thus brought so pleasantly before me — for a 

 poultry show must be allowed on all hands to be a pretty 

 sight — I could not but wish that prizes were offered at 

 Chippenham for Pigeons ; they are always attractive, and 

 ladies especially gather round their pens. At one show I 

 could not get my fill of enjoyment out of the Pigeons, for 

 alas ! crinoline barred my vision. Indeed, I would venture 

 to prophesy, that commercially the Association would be no 

 loser by offering fair prizes for these beautiful bh-ds, as they 

 would be sure to " draw." Let me just add, in conclusion, 

 that I had the pleasure at this Show of making Mr. Eodbard's 

 acquaintance, who, after the prizes had been awarded (please 

 to mark the after, good exhibitors), most kindly walked round 

 with me, and we discussed the merits of various pens, and 

 as poultry-lovers are wont to be, we were friendly at once. 

 Wiltshire Hector. 



WASPS AS PAPEE-MAKEES— MALES OP 

 INSECTS HAVE NO STINGS. 



I AM inde'oted for the following very interesting particu- 

 lars regarding wasps to my friend Mr. F. Smith, President 

 of the Entomological Society. It is completely decisive on 

 the question recently mooted in The Journal of Horti- 

 culture with regard to the non-possession of stings by male 

 wasps. — A Devonshire Bee-keeper. 



" I think I see in the ceUs of bees a mode of construction 

 quite different to that of the wasps, and should expect to do 



so when we consider the fact that bees use a material soft 

 and ductile at all times ; wasps very different materials in 

 different genera. All are paper-makers, but some manu- 

 facture tissue, others I must call note-paper-makers, then 

 we have brown-paper-makers, and we have pasteboard- 

 makers; the latter construct beU-shaped nests that often 

 swing on the biancli bell-wise. These wasps complete the 

 bell and also the floors, upon which they subsequently build 

 cells, before a single cell is formed, as above, or, probably, in 

 most cases when four or five floors are laid down.they begin 

 at the top to erect a few cells whUe the lower chambers are 

 being finished. 



" No male wasp has a sting, neither has the male of any 

 known species of insect." 



FOUL BEOOD. 



I MUST fling my experience into the scale of those who 

 think and assert that foul brood is a disease, and not pecu- 

 liar to the Ligurian race of bees. Without doubt I had it 

 in one of my hives this year, and I entertain as little that 

 the disease once was the cause of destroying a hive of mine 



