October 24. 1867. 1 



JOURNAL OF HOUTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



323 



monded.J. Hlncks, juo.. (Black Doe); H. Yardley (Fawn Doe); G. D. 

 TomlinsoD, BinninRliaoi {Blue Back) ; M. Millio^uD, York (Fawn Buck). 



Ant CoLorn not Pueviodhlv Mentionkd.— First, M. Miltin^ton, Ynrk 

 (Blaeand White Doe). Second, W. Wornvll, Smrthwick {Tortoiaoshull 

 Doe). HlRhly Common.lod, H. Yardley {Blue iind White TiurM) ; W. Kow- 

 .somo (Bluu aiKl Whito Doe). Commended, J. Uincks (Gruy and White 

 Doc); Mu>>brti. \ViiHHtatT Oi: Hauson. 



Wkioiit.— First, C. Gravil. jun., Th'^mp, near Doncaster (Spanish 

 Tortoise u hell). Second, K. Uales, ^YolverhamptoD (Block and White 

 Back). 



Kdwnrd Hewitt, Esq., of Sparkbrook. Birminf^ham, wfts the Jadj^o 

 for Poaltry and Pitjeons; those for Kabbits wore Mr. G. Lawrence 

 and Mr. Guest, of nirmlngham. 



CHELMSFORD POULTRY SHOW. 



WiTfiovT doubt the Cora Kxt-banf^o at Chelmsford is one of the best 

 baildiiign in the kingdom for a poultry show, being as good as the 

 Crystal Palace itself as to the tjoneral diffasion of light, and an haWng 

 .HoUicieut capacity to accommodate with ease some seven or eight hun- 

 dred pens of poultry comprising every variety. With these peculiar 

 advantages, supported by a very hardworking Committee, thia Show 

 stands very high in the ranks of onr poultry eshibitions. Fine 

 weather, too, this year was a great advantage to this meeting. 



In Grey D-'.-kiu'is. the competition was extraordinarily good — so 

 mnch 8o, that ont of a very large entrj' only five pens escaped mention 

 in the list of premiums. Even when subjected to so severe a compe- 

 tition, however. Dr. Campbell succeeded in the unexpected feat of 

 decnring the whole of the three prizes for this variety with birds that 

 will no doubt compote for a considerable time if now carefully 

 attended to. The Silver-Grey Dorking class was not so good, as most 

 of the peni proved not true to feather. Wliite Dorkings were superior, 

 bat by no mean^ numerous. The generality of the Gumr fowls shown 

 were excellent, and we much regretted to find one of our most success- 

 ful general exhibitors thrown completely out by competing with old 

 birds. This evidently arose from mistake, and not from any dispo- 

 sition to deceive ; for these pens were exhibited naturally, and the 

 •Jadges were convinced of their age at a glance, thoagh the competition 

 was restricted to chickens of 1867. They were infinitely the best pens, 

 but here again the evil of not carefully perusing the prize schedule 

 before making entries was fully exemplified. Cochins and Spnmsh 

 wore remarkably pood, as also were the Dark Brakmas. T\iq Ilnm- 

 hurfihs and I'nHnh were excellent, as well as many of the Buntnms. 



It was in the useful kinds of poultiT that this Show was chiefly re- 

 markable, (t'r-sc of 12 lbs. weight the pair, Turhj/s of nearly 26 lbs., 

 Aylesbury Du<H of 164 lbs. weight, and Rouens of 14 lbs. weight the 

 couple, being actually very closely pressed by competitors that were 

 less successful in taking preminms. 



To thia Show a most useful addendum was made in the shape of 

 separate classes for dead poultn.-. '' dressed, bat not drawn." A brief 

 reierence to weights will prove how closely these preminms were con- 

 tested, all being birds of the year. The pairs of dead chickens weighed 

 respectively Iba. 9 ozs., 1-J lbs. 10 ozs., Ki lbs. 12 ozs., 12 lbs. ozs., 

 13 lbs. 8 ozs., 10 lbs. 4 ozs., 10 lbs. 1-1 ozs., and 11 lbs. 7 ozs. ; whilst 

 the dncklings ranged from 11 lbs. 4 ozs. to 13 lbs. 4 ozs. The prize 

 chickens, and also the Ducks, were, however, the product of the same 

 breeder, Mr. Dowsett. The chickens were a cross between a Light 

 Brahma cock mated to a Grey Dorldng hen, and singularly enough, 

 whilst exceedingly small in bone and exquisitely delicate in flesh, were 

 all four perfectly white-legged, and without the slightest approach to 

 an inclination to feather on the leg as in the Brahma, though not 

 one of the four prize birds showed the extra Dorking too. They 

 bad not been purposely fatted as is the case with the Surrey poultry, 

 which makes t!io weights more remarkable. \Vc gave the prize list in 

 last week's issue. Messrs. Hewitt and Tegetmeier were the Judges. 



NEW BOOK. 

 Science xcith Practice. A Series of Agricultural Papers. Vol. 1 

 London : Longman & Co. 



The tide of the volume before us ^ives an imperfect idea of 

 its c utents, lliouRh it is quite true that the contents are a 

 combiuntion of Science and Practice on miscellaneoua subjects 

 for the improvement of Agriculture. The volume, in fact, con- 

 tains the two first numbers of a serial, occupied by lectures 

 delivered at the Agricultural College at Cirencester — an educa- 

 tional institution well deserving encouragement by the farmers 

 of Eugland, for it can give their sons not only a sound general 

 education, but, iu addition, an education appropriate to the 

 cultivation of the soil. 



As long since as 171)0 Marshall published a proposal for the 

 establishraeut of a College of Agriculture: but it was not until 

 1S,'5'.', when .Mr. I>nppa revived the subject that any attempts were 

 made to found such an Institution, and they resulted m the esta- 

 blishment by private enterprise, during 1S4.5. of the Agricultural 

 College at Cirencester. It does not fall within our province to 

 detail the system of educatior, or of cultivating the farm an- 

 nexed to it, thcic pursued, but we may observe that both are so 



successful, and the names of the lecturers whoso teachinga 

 appear in this volume are so favourably known, that we regret 

 that the lectures are not systematised. Such men as Bailey 

 Denton, Bansome, Church, Harrison, Welford, Wrightson, Sec, 

 might under the general supervision of the College Principal, 

 the Rev. Mr. Constable, produce "A System of Agriculture" 

 that would be accepted as a text book. 



The Lectures in the volume before us are on Drainage, 

 Ploughing, Wheat culture. Dairying, Leases, notation of crops, 

 and other topics, but we will confine ourselves to one appropri- 

 ate to our columns — " Farmyard Poultry, profits and manage- 

 ment. By John Algernon Clarke." It may be characterised in 

 one sentence — It is a record of the sound practice of the writer. 

 The management of fowls from the building of the hen-house 

 to the fattening for table use is detailed, and we have scarcely 

 marked a sentence of the teaching from which we dissent. A 

 few extracts will enable our readers to estimate the contents of 

 the Lecture. 



" The trnth is, that only a triding portion of what poultry eat at a 

 farm homestead involvea any outLay, tbo birds picking up off the 

 gronnd ttud redeeming from waste probably one-hulf of their living ; 

 while the greatest proportion of the other half consists of the tail and 

 refnse com, which is of only nominal value. I am speaking of coarse 

 of ordinary cases, where fattening heavy and early birds ia not made a 

 regular bnsiness, to which other departments of farm management 

 have to give place. I know, for instance, of a yard where the mistress 

 sella over £20 worth of eggs, beside famishing a plentiful house con- 

 smnption, raising pullets for keeping up her stock of one hundred hens, 

 and feeding a few birds for her own table. The purchased food costs 

 but a few shillings per year ; the collection of eggs being the chief ex- 

 pense. I could name another yard where, for years, the proceeds from 

 a brood stock of sixteen cross-bred hens with two cocks, and six 

 ordinary brown Ducka with one Drake, have been over £25 per 

 annum, in addition to the household supply of birds and eggs ; no 

 food honght excepting a few pounds' weight of chicken rice, only a few 

 eggs sold, and the birds disposed of at the country market price of 

 2s. 6*/. to 3.f. Gd., and occasioually 4s-. 6d. per couple. The henwife 

 has been paid one-third of the gross receipts ; but if the fanner's wife 

 herself attended to the fowls, of course this deductiou would all be 

 saved." 



" A good profit may he made by the farmer's wife when selling eggs 

 and birds at common market prices ; and though the total income from 

 this source may be not very large, yet it is too important to be sacri- 

 ficed for lack of a little wholesome interest and attention." 



"The door is not so well of brick or stone slabs as of earth, well 

 rammed down and covered with loose gravel. This ia to avoid har- 

 bouring the great pests of the henhouse, fleas. Dimensions will bo 

 very much matters of fancy, but shun overcrowding. Architects often 

 plan roosting houses with perches one higher than another, rising like 

 a ladder from floor to ceiling, taking care that one is not placed directly 

 over another, as in that case the droppings of the upper row would fall 

 upou the birds below. But all lofty perches are objectionable ; heavy 

 fowls injure their feet in jumping down ; for though they will fly up 

 or walk np a ladder to bed, they will generally take the shortest cut 

 down in the morning. The best plan is to have perches all on a level, 

 2 to '2h feet from the ground; the best perch being a wooden bar of 

 B or 4 inches in breadth ; and if supported by legs like a stool, so as 

 to be readily moved, so mnch the better. Clumsy biida like Cocliina 

 prefer a roost at even lower elevation, unless a verj- easy ascent is pre- 

 pared for them. It is not necessary to have a separate house for laying, 

 provided the nests be at the side, far enough from the perches. Bnta 

 sitting-house should be prepared, in order that the sitting hens may 

 not be disturbed by the other fowls. I need scarcely urge the import- 

 ance of cleaning out the houses, say twice o-week, and of once or twice 

 m the summer cleaning and liniewashing the whole of the interior. 

 Various notions are seen in the matter of nests. Some poultry-keepers 

 have a number of wooden cells, like pigeon holes on a large scale, with 

 a hinged flap or door, or a sUde, in front to fasten in unsteady sitters 

 and to keep out iutraders. The nests iu my own hen-house are 

 simplv rectangular cells made of board 20 inches high, and 18 to 

 20 inches lona and broad, set upon the floor and close to the wall — a 

 bar running along the front edges of the boards, to keep the eggs from 

 rolling out. But round shallow dishes of wicker arc good ; so also are 

 shallow pans of earthenware half tilled with sand; and some managers 

 prefer simple cells of loosely laid bricks. As to the proper fibrous or 

 other material for bottoming the nest, avoid long straw, for this is 

 liable to pull eggs out of the nest by getting entangled about the hen's 

 Ics. Hay, again, is safer, but baxbonrs abundance of vcmun. The 

 best materials are cocoa-nut refuse or short straw, dusted with flowers 

 of sulphur to expel the fleas ; wbilo a sod with rough grass on it makes 

 a gooa and moist foundation for all." 



" A common error is to coop successive broods in the same small 

 enclosure, probably because this is near to the kitchen door, and con- 

 venient for the constant attention which is required, lint separation 

 is a main point in rearins healthy birds. Distribute your coops abont 

 vour yards, of course choosing safe and sunny places ; and if your 

 early broods occupy a space before your house, you may pot the later 

 broods on a plot behind, and so on, always allowing a considerable in- 



