126 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTDEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ Augnst 16, 1867. 



POITITRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CEROKICLE. 



HOUDANS AT EXHIBITIONS. 



In your last issne I noticed that the Manchester and Liver- 

 pool Agricultural Society, at a committee meeting recently held, 

 have decided to offer special prize.s for Spangled Hamburghs at 

 their forthcoming Exhibition, and I am glad to perceive that 

 justice has been meted, tardy though it be, to the numerous 

 admirers of this pretty and useful variety ; but I do complain 

 of the slight which has been cast upon the French breeds, 

 which are now deservedly coming into almost universal favour. 

 Surely national antipathies have not prejudiced the Committee 

 against these fowls. I do not wish to say one word against the 

 merits of any other distinct varieties, but I insist that the 

 French breeds — more especially the Houdan, of which I can 

 particularly spenk — possess valuable qualities unsurpassed by 

 any other breed, and which deserve recognition at our poultry 

 shows, which were ostensibly established for the purpose of 

 encouraging the cultivation of useful and fancy varieties. 



As egg-producers, Houdans are, I have no hesitation in affirm- 

 ing, unrivalled ; my hens, hatched in 18G6, although shedding 

 their feathers, laying at the present time, as well as in early 

 spring, and I have a pullet hatched in the middle of March, 

 which presented me with her first egg on Sunday, the 4th inst. 

 Houdans arrive at maturity at an early age, are extremely 

 hardy, will prosper in a limited space, and their deep, full 

 breasts render them especial favourites with the ook. I trust, 

 then, that you will raise your voice in behalf of the French 

 breeds, and endeavour to secure distinct classes for them at 

 the Birmingham aud oilier winter and autumn shows. 



Can any one tell me whether it is indispensable that Houdans 

 should have a mufViing or beard ? I had always understood 

 that it was so.but at the showof the North Lincolnshire Agricul- 

 tural Society held at Barton last week, an extra prize was 

 awarded to a pen of Houdans, neither of the hens in which 

 possessed this, as I think, necessary appendage. The birds, 

 too, lacked size, though their plumage was all that could be 

 desired. I take it that size should be the principal recom- 

 mendation, then crest, muffling, and plumage. — Linddm. 



POULTRY PRODUCE. 



Tke following is the result I have obtained from thirteen 

 hens — viz. : — 1 Cochin, 1 Brahma, 2 Game, 3 Dorkings, 1 Ham- 

 burgh, 1 Cii've Cffiur, and 4 Cross-bred. I have two cocks, 

 two pens, and a grass plot, upon which each cock alternately 

 parades every fine day, but I generally keep them in the slated 

 roosting-house when it is very wet. 



The following statement, I think, will bear comparison with 

 that of " CocKEEEL," and I fancy if he can inform me the 

 total weight, I may probably exceed his, as I have only one 

 Hamburgh (a breed that lays a great number of very small 

 eggs), and he has three — 



Enos. 



January 82 



February 67 



March 127 



April 181 



Eggs. 



May 198 



June les 



Total 753 



If thirteen hens lay 753, twenty-two hens should in the same 

 proportion lay 1274, and " Cockeeel's " have only laid 1008, 

 266 less. 



I am sorry to say that my financial statement will not bear 

 comparison with his, as I consider that I have been a loser of 

 £1 19s. in the six months. I fear I am not taking " my eggs 

 to the best market." My cook requires all I can find, and is 

 very particular in ascertaining the market price. How am I 

 keep out of the Gazette ? — An Amateur Breedek. 



BADMINTON SHOW. 



Theue ia always something to be learnt by a journey, and therefore 

 always pleasure in journeying, whether it be a long journey or a short 

 one. Talte the former case. You enter a nearly-full railway cairiage, 

 and are accordiugly looked at as an intruder; but in a few minutes 

 you are forgiven and received into the brotherhood, especially if at the 

 next station you manage to keep oat another intruder. If it be morn- 

 ing you may notice how each man is engrossed in his newspaper, 

 reading, steadily reading, every column, not Bkimming the page as at 

 home. Then, each having fiiiiehed his own paper, there comes the 



mutual exchange, every one hoping that evei-y other one's paper may 

 contain an additional scrap of news ; but at length all the papers are 

 exhausted, and the readers look doleful enough. Some try to sleep, 

 but do not succeed, and then the hours drag slowly on. If one traveller 

 eats his sandwich the others eye him for amusement, and consequently 

 be eats in restraint and awkwardly. Hours go on. If one unlocks his 

 portmanteau and struggles energetically to force iu his newspaper, 

 thi.'; simple act is regarded by his fellow travellers with great attention 

 and interest. 



Then there arc the people one meets with when travelling. Recently 

 I sat opposite on Italian gentleman, and he amused me infinitely. 

 He related that when he first came to England he met a man who said 

 iu passing, '* A fine day ! " and said he, " I looked up and around, 

 and could not see it was a fine day." He said tliis with a shrng and 

 turning up of the eyes which was delicious. " Then," said he, " I met a 

 second man who said, 'A fine day!' hut after a while I learned that 

 such days were fine by comparison. But oh for the blue skies of 

 Italy I " To continue, speaking of journeys, there were one's boyhood 

 journeys — getting up and driving off in the paternal vehicle while it 

 was yet a summer's night, and the chilliness before dawn ; and how a* 

 we advanced — 



'* Up leaped on a sudden the sun, 

 And flgninst him the cattle stood black every one, 

 To stare through the mist at ns quick driving past.'* 



"Well, yesterday I drove as of yore, but not in early morning, for 

 poultry shows are as a rule not open before noon ; and I drove along 

 tlie same road on which William III. went on his visit to the Duke of 

 Beaufort of his day — the road the same, and the villages much the 

 same. I noticed as I left Wilts and entered the high table land of 

 Gloucestershire near to Badminton, how the marks of largo ownership 

 became visible in fine timber and exquisitely neat hedges. Badminton 

 village entered, what model cottages I beheld, with such model gardens ; 

 and then the village street was more like a park carriage-drive than a 

 street. If in a coming democratic age the law of }>rimngenituro should 

 cease, and with it large properties cease, England will be reduced to 

 what Robert Hall said Cambridgeshire is, " a mere rich mealtub," 

 with no hedges, no trees, nothing to overshadow one blade of com ; 

 for a poor owner, which a small owner would be, could not afford to 

 let the fine trees remain. Heuce the beauty of the counti-y would in a 

 great degree bo at an end. 



So musing. I enter the portion of Badminton Park appropriated to 

 the Show. Entrance money paid and catalogue bought, I prepare to 

 investigate all before me. Clearly the feature of the Show is the horse 

 department, and particularly the horses sent as " extra stock" by the 

 Duke. I glance at the fiowers, vegetables, and fruits. Some wer* 

 ccttagers' prizes, others amateurs" prizes, and (I liked this), prizes for 

 schcol children *' for the best nosegays of wild flowers." Then prizes 

 for the best collection of fiowers in pots suitable for a cottage window ; 

 then various other local prizes. Amid the Roses I see in a very fair 

 stand one marked '* Glory de di John!" The owner did not gain a 

 prize, but orthography and success went together. A lady near me as 

 I write says that poor " Gloire de Dijon '' is often called in her county 

 " Glory be to thee, John ! " 



Proceeding through the Show, looking at the horses, sheep, and 

 cattle, and not looking at tlie pigs, I reach a corner where is a barri- 

 cade, and a man with a money-or-your-life air demands Q>d. before 

 entering the poultry tent — this, mark you, in addition to the shilling 

 already paid for admittance into the Show ; and, furtlier, this fearful 

 man demanded 3r/. more for each re-entrance. Now, this was a great 

 mistake, and must be altered. Englishman-like I grumbled and paid, 

 but on re-entering twice afterwards I was not (thanks to the courtesy 

 of a clerical steward), retaxed by the ten-ihle money-demander. 



There were 104 pens of poultry and 36 pens of Pigeons. This was 

 the first show, and I hope that next year will be larger. The Brnknur. 

 class was the best, and then the Spani.sk. I was sorry not to see any of 

 Mr. Hinton's or Miss Millward's birds ; Mr. Heath'.'^ fowls and Pigeons, 

 though entered, did not ari'ive. and there was no Bristol bird at Bad- 

 minton. All this was very unfortunate ; and the result was, the 

 poultry was not too good, and the Pigeons less valuable than the 

 poultiT. Mr. Hanks, of Malraeshury, and Mr. Maggs. of Tetbury, 

 had it therefore all their own way. Rev. R. H. Mullens showed a good 

 pen of Ihnnhiin/hs, and Rev. A. K. Cornwall a good pen of Game 

 Bantama, though the cock was not in its full beauty owing to moulting, 

 its hackle conspicuous by its absence. The Gome fowls were numerous 

 but inferior — like the roughs of Lon<lon, a vei-y undeserving class. 

 Duels were abundant, and could almost quack down the fowls, so 

 numerous were they. The pens were sadly small, but are to be altered 

 next year. Those prejmred for the Pigeons were narrow dark dens, 

 not pens. The Carriers seemed to me to be Dragons, and the Dragons 

 might better have been called Carriers. Next year I hope in the 

 larger pens to see much better bii-ds : still this Show, remember, is but 

 the first, and we walk before we run. At the refreshment stall I could 

 only obtain confectionery. May I next year hope to find beef and 

 ham, or a good hit of Wiltshire cheese? 



Leaving the Shuw I enter, armed with a " garden ticket," his Grace's 

 private grounds, kindly made public for the day. Not so much <rf 

 beauty as of vastness of extent characterises all at Badminton. We 

 do not stop and say "How exquisite!" but rather '"What a noble 

 domain!" The kitchen gardens look like walled fields, the pleasura 

 grounds are those of a palace. On and on I walk, hearing not far 



