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JOURNAL OF HORTICDLTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



r April 23, 1867. 



THE POULTRY CLUB. 

 Having been applied to for my subscription to the Poultry 

 Club, before paying it I sbouia'certainly. like to know what 

 prospect there is of obtaining some retnm for my money. 

 Hitherto it has been a very one-sided a^air. Tha Club may 

 have done good, which I am not awai-e of; the only benefit 

 that I have derived from several years' subscription has been 

 " The Standard," value Sa. : therefore, before continuing my 

 subscription, I should like to know for what it is wanted, 

 and what benefits are derivable from being a member hence- 

 forward of the Poultry Club ? Perhaps some one may see fit 

 to enlighten my darkness. — Bella. 



FOOD FOR CHICKENS. 



In last week's number of the Journal I noticed a communi- 

 cation from a " Weekly Suescrieer " complaining of inatten- 

 tion on my part in forwarding the receipt for chicken food as 

 per advertisement. I can only say that I have not in one 

 single instance omitted forwarding' either the receipt or the 

 condiment as soon as it was possible; but we have a mail 

 only three or four times a-week, per steamer, and if the 

 ■weather be boisterous it is sometimes detained for as many 

 days, thus causing a delay which may perhaps have been unac- 

 countable and annoying to some of my numerous correspon- 

 dents. 



With respect to a " Weekly Sttbsckieer," if his was an 

 application dated the 23rd of Jlarch, and headed Kingstown, 

 Ireland, having exhausted my stock of receipts, I was having 

 a fresh supply printed, and was thereby delayed a couple of 

 days. I forwarded one in due course, and the following day 

 received another letter from my Irish correspondent complain- 

 ing that he had not received the receipt, and demanding 

 either it or the stamps. Having sent the receipt the previous 

 day I did not think it necessary to answer this letter : hence, I 

 suppose, the communication to your Journal. 



If a "Weekly Subscriber" will send me a directed enve- 

 lope, I shall be most happy to forward the receipt, and I will 

 also send him a packet of chicken condiment by way of com- 

 pensation for trouble and expense. — A. Le Cheminant. 



BREEDING DARK BRAHMA POOTRAS. 



I HAVE read much in the Journal of late in reference to 

 breeding Dark Brahma Pootras. I fear if we endeavour to 

 come to the standard of the correspondents, we shall so mix 

 and deteriorate this really good and handsome breed of fowls 

 that in a few years we shall be unable to recognise our fa- 

 vourites in the wretched mongrels to which we shall have 

 reduced them. 



" Nemo " will have it, there are two schools of Brahma 

 breeders and exhibitors, and he has been pleased to attach my 

 name to one of these so-called schools, and hinted pretty 

 broadly that I lean to the brown shade of colour in the hens 

 rather than the silver-grey. This, I will grant ; I will there- 

 fore try to give my reasons for the preference. When the 

 chick of the Brahma first makes its appearance from the shell, 

 what colour is the down on its tiny back ? Is it not brown ? 

 I care not whether it is bred from birds professedly of the 

 bluish-greyer not; this down gradually gives place to ifeathers, 

 which in ground shade are of a dull whitish colour, minutely 

 but distinctly pencilled throughout with dark pencilling. As 

 they grow older, the pullets gradually develope themselves 

 into the very shade (bluish-grey) which so many advocate ; 

 but wait awhile, watch those very pullets that possess that 

 true shade, they moult again, and as hens their ground colour 

 is brown, not a reddish Ijrown, but a clear brown without the 

 reddish tinge. This can but prove one thing— viz., that a 

 brown ground shade is the correct and only colour. The red I 

 abominate, and I maintain that it will never exist where due 

 care is exercised in the selection of breeding stock. 



Mr. Richard Teebay was the most successful breeder and 

 exhibitor of Brahma Pootras in this country. I think he will 

 bear me out in saying, there was no silver-grey about his 

 hens; they were generally quite dark, but most beautifully 

 and distinctly pencilled. This gentleman has told me him- 

 self that he likes to see a slight bronzing on the wing of the 

 cock, as this helps to develope the desired shade of colour. 

 The very gentleman whom "Nemo" professes to say belongs 

 to the " silver-grey school," purchased the whole of Mr. Tee- 



bay's stock, and has exhibited hens quite as brown as any 

 exhibited by me. 



The gentleraea who desire to introduce this abortive silver- 

 grey in Brahma hens will have many difficulties with which 

 to contend. I will enumerate a few — viz., size, small ; light 

 breasts with muddled pencilling, or white breasts with no pen- 

 cilling whatever ; white heads, the pencilling only commencing 

 half way down the neck hackle ; bad combs ; an insufficiency 

 of fluff, and badly-feathered legs. They will also have to rear 

 a large number of chickens in order to have a few compara- 

 tively good pullets, which will, in spite of every effort, moult to 

 the natural colour, which they wish to avoid. 



I have paid particular attention to Brahma Pootra fowls for 

 the last fifteen years, having kept them in large numbers both 

 in this country and America ; and I must say I have made 

 but poor use of my advantages of studying them in both 

 countries, if I advocate a colour that is foreign to them. 



In conclusion, I wish my fellow breeders and exhibitors to 

 fully understand I do not wish to speak disparagingly of their 

 fowls. All I want is fair play, competent judging, and let the 

 judges prove to us what is the correct colour. I should not 

 have written had not my name been mentioned, and hinted at 

 pretty broadly by some correspondents. I have been, and still 

 am, a successful exhibitor, as reference to the Journal will fully 

 corroborate, and I fully intend to maintain my position. — ■ 

 Henky L.act, Lacy House, near Hebden Bridge. 



GAME FOWLS— VARIETIES OF COLOUR. 



The different sorts of Game cocks have always been con- 

 sidered as showing the most beautiful variations of colour. 

 The gorgeous, glossy, and royally-coloured red-eyed Black- 

 breasted Reds, tinted and shaded with crimson, or nearly 

 crimson, and blue (the royal colours), showing bright red, 

 golden red, dark blue, steel blue, and dark green ; and his rich 

 red Partridge Brown, golden-hackled hen, present the highest 

 type of feathered beauty of all ; also, the Red Golden Cinna- 

 mon Black-breasted Red with his bright red eye, yellow legs 

 and beak, and beautiful Cinnamon hens to match. The Black- 

 breasted Red is undoubtedly the noblest of all the sorts as to 

 his colour. Then the splendidly-shaped, fierce, and spirited 

 Brown Red, with his rich dark brown red colour, and hard iron- 

 like appearance, and beautiful, dark, hard-looking, fierce hens. 

 The rich-coloured and often gaudy yellow or Birchen Duck- 

 wing ; the high bred, neat, and chaste-looking Silver Duokwing 

 Grey with his beautiful Silver hens ; the keen-looking bright- 

 red blood Pile, a parti-coloured bird, the type of quickness and 

 activity : the spotless milk-white breed with their fierce bright- 

 red eyes like the Pile ; the bold, noble-looking. Brassy-winged 

 Black or Sable, with his glossy jet-black hens ; the hard, strong, 

 and savage-looking Dark Silver Grey, looking nearly as hard as 

 granite, so to speak, with the Dark Silver hens ; the hardy 

 and strong-looking Dark Birchens, or Bark Birchen Greys, with 

 their dark hens ; the beautiful yellow-hackled Blue Dun with 

 orange shoulders in the cock; the beautifully-tinted Red 

 Dun or Ginger Blue Red ; the curiously-marked Polecat or 

 Dark Tawny, often light-coloured underneath the body; the 

 gay-coloured Spangles and Red Furnaces ; the sharp, fierce, 

 and fiery Ginger Reds, as quick as the keenest Pile, and also 

 the type of quickness and activity ; the very yellow Yellow 

 Birchens ; the neat Mealy Grey breed ; the tufted and muffled 

 breeds so seldom seen; the "true Black Reds," dark port- 

 wine coloured, bred from Blacks and Black-breasted Reds (the 

 term "Black Red" being wrong for Black-breasted Reds), the 

 homely hen-tailed cock with his partridge short feather like 

 his hen ; and many other handsome crosses and mixtures, one 

 of which is the spirited cross between the Brown Reds and 

 Blue Duns, throwing cocks ginger-breasted with blue thighs, 

 wings, and tails, and yellow-hackled blue hens. (This cross 

 beats all colours in fighting in some places, not excepting 

 Brown Reds and Dark Greys, though not so hard as these, but 

 faster birds. The Dark Grey also crosses well with the Blue 

 Duns for fighting. Blue Dun cocks with Brown Red hens 

 produce most of these, but the Brown Bed cock and Blua 

 hen is most used.) All these colours present a picture of all. 

 the variations of feathered beauty and colour that no other 

 poultry can possibly present, surpassing even Pheasants of 

 sorts and colours. No wonder amateurs are fond of their Game 

 breeds, long may they be so ! The above-named cross is tbff 

 "Ginger-breasted Orange Blues," called Birchen Blue Beds, 

 or Brassy Bine Reds. 



