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JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEE. 



[ December 0, 18G7. 



and the catalogne, not being printed, would not have made me 

 write "black" for "brown." If " An ExmniTOK " refers to 

 the catalogue he will 6ee they are there called "Black Reds," 

 and it was following the latter without really thinking of the 

 birds themselves that led me into the error. " An Exuiiutor " 

 himself falls into a very great error when he imagines me witli 

 milimiteil time at my disposal. This is far from the fact. I 

 assure him that " T. B. A. Z." is never so f.-rtunate as to have 

 " the whole period of the Exhibition for bis oljservatiiin,' but 

 is forced to make his " Dottings " far more rapidly. I do not 

 think I spent more than three hours and a half in the Drill 

 Hall. I was there, however, almost as soon as it opened, and 

 I can assure "A Snnsci-.niEr. " that the prize White Dorking 

 cockerel was tailless then. 



This brings me to another point that I should very much 

 like to understand— namely, whether the attendants on "birds— 

 I mean the servants of the owners, are allowed to enter the ex- 

 hibition before the time open to the pubhc ; whether they 

 deliver up their specimens at the doors of Ihe exhibition; or 

 whether they follow them within the threshold and give a help- 

 ing hand to penning their birds. It the latter, all exhibitors 

 are not placed on the same footing. — Y. B. A. Z. 



As I feel assured that poultry culture and poultry shows are 

 unquestionably among the most popular features of the present 

 day, I trust a very brief comment on tho suggestions made 

 with respect to my remarks a few weeks ago on the brevity of 

 time allowed for judging, ■will be permitted me, as I must ex- 

 press my entire disbelief, from personal practice, in the reme- 

 dies suggested by your correspondents, " Y. B. A. Z." and 

 " An ExHiBiTon." 



I desire to take up as little of your valuable! space as pos- 

 sible, and trust that though I must differ from both of the 

 contributions referred to, the writers will give me credit for the 

 anxious desire to attempt any practicable improvement that 

 either of these gentlemen, or any other individual, may yet 

 suggest to meet the difficulty, 



It is, perhaps, prudent again to remind those who are willing 

 to give a helping hand, that though the insufficiency of time 

 given to the arbitrations was the matter I complained of in tho 

 remarks I sent to you, yet it was coupled most intimately with 

 the fact, it was the after abbreviation of the period at first ap- 

 pointed that I more especially referred to. Every one knows 

 suiHciently well that a largely increased number of arbitrators 

 might be reasonably expected to prevent this unpleasantness, 

 and that classes might be appointed so as to meet the views 

 and efficiency of the various judges engaged. This, though 

 quite apart from the gist of my former communication, can 

 most unreservedly be admitted, but it inevitably brings with it 

 a result looked upon by most committees with whom I am ac- 

 (luainted, as of still greater dread than heretofore— that even 

 when confined to travelling expenses, several additional calls on 

 the society's coffers must be made, which cannot be entertained. 

 My position was, that tho stipulated full time originally allotted 

 to judges ought, under every circumstance, to be invariably the 

 rule enforced on all parties alike, be they who they may, and 

 that thus arbitrators might proceed to duty without deviation 

 from the original arrangements, that, if broken, necessitated 

 ofttimes three hours' work being attempted at the last moment 

 in one hour. 



The suggestions for improvement in the saving of time, if I 

 rightly comprehend them, made by " Y'. B. A. Z." and " An 

 Exhibitor," have, undoubtedly, originality about them ; but 

 their sufficiency on application appears to mo worse than ques- 

 tionable. The first-named writer seems to indulge the hope 

 that an after-scrutiny by, as it were, a second iavestigation 

 fi'oin a judge in the rear of those making the awards, would ex- 

 pedite matters ; but as calling back for reconsideration seems 

 a most unlikely expedient to produce so very desirable a result, 

 I need not say more on that point. 



On the other hand, " An Exeibitok " has his remedy. Dare 

 I say, it suggests " out of the mud into the river "—viz., to 

 stop and leave all remaining classes unjudgod it the time is 

 not sufficient, rather than make the attempt at completion. 

 For only one moment indulge in the supposition that this 

 latter course was obeyed to the letter. The arbitrator, the 

 committee, and any other official that happened to be present, 

 might well esteem deafness a blessing, and very probably he 

 would need almost the covering of the rhinoceros itself to 

 escape even bodily injury from the infuriated and neglected 

 portion of the exhibitors, who would, I fancy, quite fail to re- 

 cognise the justice of carefully judging one portion of the 



classes and leaving the others entirely neglected. I feel at 

 present unconvinced that any ///ViT-remedy can supply the want 

 of an insufficieuoy of time for arbitrations. Why, then, un- 

 necessarily abridge it by want of punctuality at the beginning ? 

 — Edward Hewitt. 



RIUMINGHAM POULTRY SHOW. 



Tun short time that elapsos betwoDn the opeuiug of the Show and 

 our going to press, necessitates a short and hurried review. This will 

 bo made more apparent when we say that our paper is issued before 

 the Show is closed. Wc may. however, state that we speak of the 

 best, and we hcIieTc the hu-g'est, Shov,- on record — upwards of '2600 

 pens of Poultry and Piseons. The siihit of innovation does not lag 

 in this great city, but, wise in their generation, they make their inno- 

 vations to be improvenjeuts. While they meet tho views of exhibitors, 

 they increase their profits. Thus one of the great nses of these Shows 

 ii to enable breeders to choose birds for tho introdaction of fresh 

 blood ; another is to buy stock birds. The first wanted either a cock 

 or two, or more pallets; the second a stud to start with, but tho 

 latter wished to have birds of different strains. Uoth were unattain- 

 able under the old rriiimc. At the outset, pens were composed of cock 

 end three hens or pullets. Whoever wanted a cock was obhged to 

 take three hens he did not want. whUe ho who wanted a couple of 

 pullets had to take an extra one and a coek. To obviate this, classes 

 were introduced for single cocks. They were an accommodation, but 

 the publie asked for something more; therefore, last vear the clas.ses 

 were divided into those for single cocks, two hens, and two pnllets. 

 Some doubted whether these classes wonld be a success : this year 

 has proved that they are. The novelty of the Show was the attempt 

 to sell by auction all tho prize-taldng and commended pens. Wc 

 must speak of this next weet. If it succeed it will be profitable, as 

 the surplus above the price at which the pen is entered will be divided 

 between the exhibitor and the Society. We will now suggest the 

 extension of the alteration to the Turkeys. The cock Turkeys are 

 always m request. The prize Ust wo pubUsh will give the Iisl"ot tho 

 successful, and we will, therefore, content ourselves with noticing the 

 prominent features of the dih'orent classes. 



Wo begin with Durkii/r/.^. New names aj^pcar here, and increased 

 weight was the rule. Prize cocks wore 12i and some 13 lbs. each ; 

 hens weighed R lbs. each, and upwards in many cases ; pullets 7 and 

 7t lbs. each. An old exhi'oitor. Admiral Hornby, was unsuccessful, 

 owing to a mistake in having two cocks, the old being put among the 

 young, and the young among the old, disqualifying both. Many of 

 the successful bhds were of high merit; Messrs. "White, Fox, Statter, 

 Campbell, with many others, deserve every credit for the qnaUty of 

 birds they showed ; they deserve their success. Many of the same 

 names come iirst in hens and pullets. The Hon. Mr. Fitzwilliam 

 was especially successfnl. The Sdver-Grey pallets were very beauti- 

 ful, nothing could surpass them ; but tho cocks bore out the old 

 opinion as to the difficulty of getting them able to answer all require- 

 ments. White feathers in the tail, white spots on the breast told 

 their tale in the absence of commendations in a large class. White 

 Dorkings were very good. These end this breed — 320 pens. In no 

 classes do we find so many of the nobility and gentry exhibitors as in 

 these. 



Cochin-C/unas brought 3,"1 pens. Here, again, we can sjX'ak in 

 terms of high commendation. Kxtra prizes of plate in many of the 

 classes stimulate exhibitors. The Hon. Miss Pennant, Messrs. Taylor, 

 Mapplebeck, Whito, Tudman, and Dawson deserved all they gained. 



Due hundred and forty-iive pens of lirnhma Pootra-g testified to tho 

 popularity of these beautiful and useful birds, and must tend to con- 

 vince those who m.alignod them years siuce, and denied their purity, 

 that they were in error. Manj' of them, however, were not as good as 

 we have seen ; Messrs. Tomlinson, Boyle, and Colonel Lane, with Mrs. 

 Hurt and other prizetakers, were, however, exceptions. The Light 

 were very good. Two silver cups were offered in those classes. They 

 were gained by Messrs. Dowsott and Crook ; while Mr. Pares added 

 to his many laurels by taking two first and a second prize. 



The Malays were good in both cla::3es, hut they were not namerons. 



The Crcvc Ctrnrs and Ilmulans were numerous and good, but tho 

 La Fliche were few and indifferent iu quality. We do not hesitate to 

 say so many good La Fleche cocks were never before shown in Eng- 

 land, many of them were perfect ; pullets the same. In all these 

 classes Colonel Stnart Wortley was very sacoessful, taking three first 

 prizes and two silver cups. 



Twenty-three !<iKnu!ih cocks were named in the prize list. The 

 worst of them richly deserved the distinction. Improvement is tho 

 rule ; the faces are smoother, the combs are better in shape and 

 firmer. Praise must not bo coaiined to the cocks, tho hens and puilets 

 were equally good ; wc canuot speak too highly of those shown by the 

 Hon. Miss Pennant, who took the first prize iu each class. AU these 

 classes were especially even, and were tilled with good bh-ds. Thay 

 also introduced many new names. 



Bingley Hall is now tho only place where Black Ilamhurfih^ are to 



ho seen in any numbers. They formed a goodly array, and wero 



unquestionably beautiful birds. The Golden and .Silver-pencilled wero 



worthy of their best days. Twenty-seven pens were noticed in the 



1 prize list. We recognised many old names, but tho onward progress 



