Febrnary 10, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



115 



and harden well off The plants may be had strong by potting them into 

 6-inch pits, when the first are full of roots, and again into 8-inch pots, 

 growing them on 'n cold frames, protecting from frosts, but at oth«r times 

 giving plenty of air. You may thus put out strong plants which will 

 bloom finely at the time you requiro. Give your orders early, and when 

 you get the plants pot theni off in very small pots, and grow them on for 

 a time before planting out, hardening off well previously. Plant out from 

 the 15th to the end of May. 



Bedding Plants in Rose Beds fr»^i)i).-Onr correspondent advises 

 Gladioli to be planted between the Roses. ,l They bloom just when the 

 Rose is out of flower." 



Names of Fruits (H A. P. Partonl. — Yonr Apple appears to be Gogar 

 Pippin, but we are not quite sure. (Rev. T. woodroojfej.—'Wyken Pippin. 



Names of Plants (E L. J.),— Wild Liquorice, Abrus precatorius. The 

 roots are sweet-flavoured ; th* seeds are user! to form rosaries, hence the 

 specific name. Flowers papilionaceous, pale purple. A delicate twining 

 shrub requiring hothouse cilture. Native of the East Indies and other 

 tropical countries. Tho seel must be sown in a hotbed. A mixture of 

 one-third sand and two-thirds loam suits it. 



POULTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 



POULTRY- SHOW REFORMS, &o. 



Now that poultry shows are drawing to a close, peimit ma 

 through the medium of your Journal to offer to the various 

 committees and secretaries a few suggestions which I trust 

 may not altogether be disregarded, when I state that they are 

 offered in no dictatorial spirit, but purely out of the interest 

 which I take in all things pertaining to the feathered tribe, 

 and with a sincsre wish, as an old exhibitor, to further the 

 poultry cause. 



Allow me, then, first, to suggest that when entries are made, 

 the secretary should always acknowledge them, for till the 

 labels for the hamper* arrive, one is often left in the dark as 

 to whether the entries have been received or not. Then, again, 

 the labels sometimes arrive on the very morning that the birds 

 have to be sent to the exhibition ; surely they might be for- 

 warded a few days earlier. 



The rules of various shows set forth that " Catalogues will 

 be forwarded on receipt of thirteen stamps." How often they 

 arrive on the last day of the sbov, thereby preventing those 

 who are unable to attend from becoming purchasers of birds ! 

 And I speak from experience when I say that one is always 

 anxious as soon as possible to know whether the specimens 

 sent have been successful or not. As entries have to be made 

 three weeks or a month before the show takes place, would it 

 not be as well for the committee to have a proof copy of a 

 catalogue from the printer, in order that they may revise it, 

 and mistakes thereby be prevented ? Exhibitors' names and 

 addresses would then be rightly given, and the prices of the 

 birds correctly stated, which is often not the case. Then let a 

 separate sheet be printed containing the awards of the judges 

 in full immediately after their decision. The rules set forth, 

 also, that " Birds enterel in a wrongclass will be disqualified," 

 yet Silkies are to be found in the same show competing in the 

 " Any other variety class " for fowls, and also in the "Any other 

 variety class " for Bantams." Padue Chamois are to be found 

 competing in the " Any other variety class for fowls," although 

 there is a distinct class for " Polish fowls of any variety." 

 These mistakes might be rectified by the secretary when the 

 entries were received, or disqualification should ensue. 



When sales, too, take place the exhibitor is sometimes not 

 informed of the fact till after the show, and thereby put to 

 much inconvenience by needlessly sending to the railway sta- 

 tion (often a long distance from his abode), for birds which he 

 expects to return. Considering thit the sale3 bring in a goodly 

 sum to the exchequer, no time should be lost in letting the 

 exhibitor know which of his pet>s hive been claimed. 



When birds arrive home, the card containiDg the priza 

 awarded is sometimes t-> be found in the lumper ; this is, 

 undoubtedly, a good plan, as it is the only means of letting 

 some exhibitors know what their favourites have done. Bir- 

 mingham first, I think, set the example of having the prize 

 birds sold by auction ; would it not be worth the while of com- 

 mittees to take into consideration whether it would not save much 

 crowding and inconvenience at the sale office, if not only the 

 prize birds, but also the highly c ommended and commended, 

 were put up to auction during the first day of the exhibition, and 

 20 per cent, deducted from any sum realised beyond the price 

 stated in the catalogue ? 



Birmingham, t >o, is now, I believe, the only exhibition 

 where Mikys have a class to themselves ; may I, then, plead 

 In them, as they are a distinct breed, and ask. the various 



committees to take them also into their consideration, and 

 kindly give them a place in this year's prize lists ? They are 

 gradually coming into favour again, in proof of which eighteen 

 pens were exhibited at the last Birmingham Show, five pens 

 in the " Any other variety class " at Bristol, and there is 

 hardly a show at which they do not put in an appearance. — 

 G. A. Brooke, Ruyton XI. Towns, Salop. 



" Justitia,'' on page 72, has touched upon the reforms 

 required at poultry shows ; much that he writes, I would 

 thoroughly endorse — indeed, every exhibitor must agree with 

 him and my old friend " K. M. B. A." as to the necessity of 

 having the backs of the pens covered in with a smooth surface. 

 I am quite certain no exhibitors would send to some shows if 

 they only saw beforehand the pens in which their birds were to 

 be placed ; they are certain destruction to any future distinction, 

 at least till the next moult. Then as to the size of the pens, 

 a very large number of the pens are not only too small, but so 

 low that the cock cannot stand upright without touching his 

 comb, and to crow he has partly to crouch ; this is certain to 

 injure the carriage. We want a definite size of pen for the 

 large breeds — Dorkings, Brahmas, Cochins, French varieties, 

 and Malays ; a next size made for the largest of the moderate- 

 sized birds, say the Spanish ; and then Bmaller pens for Ban- 

 tams, which often have far too much space as compared to their 

 larger brethren. The "Any other variety" class should be 

 shown in single pens, the size being varied according to the 

 breed. At Bristol the second-prize Malay cock (if I mistake 

 not, the first-prize Birmingham cockerel), had certainly no 

 room to stand upright, and looked miserable. 



At the smaller shows I am not at all prepared to go with 

 " Justitia" asto the treatment of Hamburghs ; they are a va- 

 riety which is offered a large share of the prize money, at several 

 minor shows obtaining four or even five classes, while Polands 

 have none whatever ! and arguing as I have always done for 

 variety, I think committees act more justly in making Spangled, 

 Pencilled, and possibly, if mean3 permit, Black classes. There 

 is no very great difference in the Spangled or Pencilled varie- 

 ties, save the colour of the ground ; certainly nothing like the 

 difference that exists between a White-crested Black unbearded 

 Poland and the Silver or Gold varieties, yet even at Man- 

 chester, even at Bristol, Polands had only oue class. 



I may be uttering notions perfectly heterodox, but I confess 

 I am not prepared to state that the present plan of the division 

 of cocks and hens is altogether the best. In the first place, as to 

 the appearance of the show, give me the cock and one hen. 

 Ench sets off the other. At the same time I trust we shall 

 never go back to the cock and two henB. I confess to an in- 

 ward satisfaction, especially as I have contributed somewhat 

 to the change, at every schedule where one hen is shown, and 

 I think how much the railways have lost, by their mean penny- 

 wise-pound-foolish treatment of poultry committees, from this 

 substitution of one for two hens. But, secondly, I am not so 

 certain that the division of cocks and hens pays the committee, 

 for are there not two classes for two sets of prizes? and in 

 the case of the hens, the old difficulty of matching two birds 

 militates in many of these classes against the entries. Take 

 the entries at the leading shows, although every exhibitor has 

 more hens than cocks, yet the classes for the latter are almost 

 always better filled. For instance, Birmingham had 83 Coloured 

 Dorking cockerels, 50 Buff Cochins, 74 Dark Brahmas, and 

 35 Spanish, against the following numbers of pullets :— 65, 64, 

 51, 16. Taking these rather haphazard, I find the Buff Cochins 

 I mention an exception; that was required, as our French 

 neighbours say, to prove the rule. At Bristol the same breeds 

 are, cockerels 32, 25, 32, 30, against pullets 29, 2G, 25, 15. 

 Strangely enough, again, Cochins the exception ! S'ill I com- 

 mend the entries to the careful attention of committees and 

 framers of schedules. I feel certain that in most of the classes 

 they will find my remarks correct. It may be urged in favour 

 of the division of sexes that you often bought birds closely 

 related : this objection is more apparent than real, and there 

 are worse evils than in-breediug. The single cock classes have 

 always been useful, and I do not write against them. It shows 

 an utter ignorance of the characteristics of birds when a sche- 

 dule makes a class for a pair of Game hens or a pair of Malays, 

 yet, unless I write in error, the great London Show did this ! 

 They, however well matched at starting, are anything, but a 

 match in appearance when they return. 



I have incidentally mentioned the railways, and I sympa- 

 thise with my good friend, " E. M. B. A.'s," misfortune. The 

 non-arrival of three or four pens together is, I fear, often the 



