June 6, 1867. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICUIiTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



399 



POULTBY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



BOYAL AGRICULTUR^VL SOCIETY'S POULTRY 

 SHOW AT BURY ST. EDMUNDS. 



It appears that the Committee do not intend to pay any 

 attention to the appeal of " Nemo," either by postponing the 

 date of entry or rescinding the rule which imposes a fine of 

 10s. per pen if the poultry is not sent. 



I thought I would try them, and so sent an entry, but refused 

 to '• engage to forfeit and pay a sum of £20 if the birds should 

 prove on entering the yard to be suffering from any infectious 

 disease," or " to pay a fine of 10s." if they were not sent, the 

 "only exceptions to the fine allowed being death or disease." 

 As"Neuo" says, "a thousand circumstances may occur " in 

 that time to prevent one from sending them — " the hens may 

 be broody," or some of them may be stolen, &c. Some thieves 

 paid me a visit a fortnight ago, broke into my Duck-house, and 

 cleared the place. I might have had them entered, and, to 

 make amends for my loss, I should have had to have paid a 

 fine of IOj. for losing them ! Further, the exhibitor is called 

 upon to state exactly the very pair of birds he intends to send ; 

 their exact age to a " day " must be stated separately, and lest 

 he Ehonld not be able, or willing, to state the precise age, the 

 Committee ask for the date of their hatching ! I suppose they 

 think poultry fanciers keep a " register of births," or that, if 

 they happen to have a dozen cocks and hens of the same kind, 

 they f hali not be able to send any but the identical pair entered, 

 althongh the others may at the time of the Show be far more 

 eligible than those it was first intended should be sent. There 

 is neither sense, reason, nor good policy in such regulations. 

 Do the Committee think poultry fanciers as a class are so short- 

 sighted as to send valuable birds from home to be penned up 

 for a week when they know they are suffering from disease ? 

 The probability iathe birds would be dead long before the end of 

 the Show. Or do they think that after paying an entrance-fee 

 of 0.'. per pen every one would not try to send his fowls if at 

 all practicable ? 



Well, I sent an entry, but stated I would not " engage to do 

 anything so absurd " as to subscribe to those rules, but would 

 agree to " forfeit the entry money if not sent, which was enough 

 for all purposes." Mark the result. My entry money is re- 

 turned to me with a note to the effect that the Committee 

 " cannot accept my entry unless on the terms printed on the 

 certificate." Surely such policy is suicidul, for, as " Nemo " 

 says, " he and many others " will, no doubt, " keep their fowls 

 St home." — J. E. J. 



COMB OF THE DORKING HEN. 



Tour, statement that " the comb of a Dorking hen should be 

 moderate in size, well serrated, and should hang over the 

 side," seems to me to reveal a weak point in the present system 

 of judging, upon which I should like to have the opinion of 

 Mr. Hewitt, or some other good authority. 



Nothing is more essential in a Dorking cock than that his 

 comb should be straight, and yet the comb of the hen " should 

 hang over the side." Ton are not alone in this assertion. Mrs. 

 Arbnthnot states that the comb " should fall over on either 

 Bide." If this rule be correct, how, let me ask, are you to breed 

 perfect birds ? If I wanted cocks with perfect combs, surely I 

 ought to obtain hens as well as cocks whose combs do not fall 

 over, either on one side or the other ? Yet yon say, that " those 

 who are skilled in, and very observant of poultry, look ' awry ' 

 on very upright combs in hens." 



It seems, then, to me, that a straight comb ought to be no 

 drawback to a Dorking hen, but rather one of her nualifi- 

 cations, provided it be correct in other respects. Unless, 

 indeed, the present rule be modified, I do not see how you can 

 expect to breed prize cocks from prize hens. — E. M. B. A. 



[We forwarded the preceding to Mr. Hewitt, and this is his 

 reply: — "In giving my opinion as to the formation of the 

 comb of a Grey Dorking hen, I quite agree with your published 

 statement, that the comb should be of moderate size, well- 

 serrated, and hanging over the face on one side. The theory 

 propounded by ' E. M. B. A.' of breeding from what is com- 

 monly known as a ' prick-combed,' Grey Dorking hen, has been 

 again and again attempted, but I never yet knew a single in- 

 dividual who persisted in the experiment a second year, for 



disappointment was the invariable issue, and the chickens thus 

 produced proved utterly useless for exhibition. If your corre- 

 spondent purposes breeding Dorkings, I would strongly advise 

 him to adopt the very plan he repudiates at present — viz., mate 

 together a cock having a perfectly upright comb with hens 

 whose combs fold and then turn over the face, it matters not on 

 which side. He will then find, if well-bred stock bird.<, that all 

 his chickens will have combs exactly of the same formntion as 

 the parent birds. In Spanish fowls the same rule again holds 

 good. It is only great age or want of health and condition 

 that will cause the combs of either Spanish or Dorking cocks to 

 fall over, if they are truly-bred birds. In the latter case, it 

 very frequently happens that restored constitution causes the 

 comb to become again as erect and firmly fixed as ever. The 

 different formation of the comb is, in the breeds referred to, 

 simply characteristic of sex, as is the mane of a lion or the 

 antlers of a buck. — Edward Hewitt."] 



POULTRY AT THE BERKS AND 

 AGRICULTUR-AL SHOW. 



H.\NTS 



"We are glad to note an npward tendency in this Show. Th-^ experi- 

 ment of moving from town to town is a success, and enUsts new snp- 

 portera at every place visited. In common with other agricnitnral 

 meetings this suUered by the absence of cattle ; but the show of sheep, 

 horses, &c., was so good that the yard was tilled, and no ugly gap in 

 the rows told of the existence of the " Pest " in some parts. Hamp- 

 shire is. fortunately, free from it. These shows are now so thoroughly 

 understood, that they become training schools for farmers who are still 

 in search of knowledge and anxious to learn. Thng, the mowing 

 machines are no longer exhibited in a row in the implement yard, but 

 they have their trial at actual work one against the other. No one 

 can overestimate the importance of seeing machinery in motion, and 

 we believe that more can be learnt by spending an hour with the 

 machines in action, than by a great amount of study of diagrams and 

 lectures. 



The progress, however, is not confined to horses, sheep, pigs, or 

 machinery. Our department also increases, and the notabilities of 

 the poultry world meet for a friendly joust at Basingstoke, Heading, 

 or Winchester, as the case may be. We have published the prize list, 

 ■which will afford an earnest of the quality of the birds. Colonel 

 Lane's Dorhings were of the highest merit, as were also the second- 

 prize birds. These latter owed their position principally to the 

 fact the hens were unequal, one very good, one very inferior. The 

 White Dorkings were unusually large and good. There was a bird of 

 great size in pen 15, but so decidedly yellow in his hackle and saddle that 

 he could not be considered a white bird. The CochiTis were r^n/ good, 

 especially Miss Millward's prize pen. Goiiv'. left nothing to desire, 

 the Brown-breasted Reds being the best birds. This Show has a name 

 for I'olajids. Mrs. Pettat's Golden and Mr. Edwards's Black with 

 white tops maintained their old reputation. The Spanish were the 

 best that have been ever shown at this Show. Mr. Pittis's first-prize 

 pen of Golden-pencilled is among the best we ever saw. Though we 

 connot say as much for the Spangled, yet we are warranted in saying 

 the first and second prize pens were very meritorious. There was 

 great competition in Brahma Footras, some of the best yards being 

 represented. The prize birds were nearly even, and a pen of chickens 

 shown by Mr. Fowler deserves notice. They were early, and we 

 thought them birds of promise. We come now to a class that fairly 

 demands an increase of prizes. Two are not enough for twenty pens to 

 compete for. There were eight deserving prizes and only two to 

 award. We have seldom seen so many good Duckwings as at this 

 Show. The Variety class, comprising Andalnsian, La Flcche, Malay, 

 Gnoldres, Silkies, Crt-vo Cceur, and nondescript, was amusing as 

 well as attractive- It may give rise to discussion some day. There 

 was a dumpy La Flcche, all the points well developed, save that she 

 seemed a gallinaceous " Widdrington," and stood " upon her stamps." 

 Then we had a vulture-hocked La Flcche cock. This is the fii-st time 

 we have seen such a mooster. We make no doubt that in I'^tJO there 

 will be a party declaring that vulture hocks are the correct thing for 

 a La Flcche cock. We hereby enter our protest. The Malays were 

 excellent. 



Then we came to Diu-is. .A.}lesbnry and Eonen took thtir places 

 first and second. Some beautiful small Buenos Ayrean, and a cage 

 of veiy tame and graceful Pintail were obUged to be content with high 

 commendations. 



I'iiietms are daily becoming greater favourites. The present Show 

 was no exception. The Carriers, Tumblers, Fantails. TmmiKters, 

 and Mac-pies, noticed in the prize sheet, were all highly merilorions. 

 In the Magpie class, one pair that took second prize was of EuiiiassiBg 

 beautv. The Various class showed Nuns, Barbs, Jacks, SwaUowf, 

 and White Jacks. 



Then large downv Itnlhits, with ears dropring and trading on the 

 ground, called for our attention, the first-prize one measuring 19i inches 

 'in length, and 4J in width ; the second. ISJ in length, by i\ in width. 

 Foreiim brought pretty Himalayans, but we doubt whether any of the 

 rough-haired are really "Fore'ign." '^^•' "'•'* "»' «- '"'^ '"'»''= '•"• 



The next was a large class for 



