Jane 16, 1570. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



431 



down like those of other Bantams. Those that did this least were the 

 prize pens. On the whole I may say, that considering the time of 

 year the ponltry show was very good. 



Next came the Pigeons. Carriers (cocks any colour) — fortunately 

 for the other exhibitors, Sir. Ord's pens were empty. Among Carrier 

 hens Mr. Ord's pens were again empty. The " Any other variety " 

 class was a large one. Toys were of many varieties. Mr. Bulpin first. 

 Mr. Loder, who exhibited three pens of Frillbacfcs. was second, and 

 Messrs. Baily, of Mount Street, third. This was a very pretty class. 

 Indeed, the poultry and Pigeons, amounting in all to 362 pens, 

 formed a very good show. 



One thing I must not fail to notice. The refreshments were 

 excellent. Mr. Dickens did not write " Mugby Junction " in 

 vain. 



Just a peep, for time pressed, at the beautiful flowers and 

 the paintings, and a stroll back through the town to the 

 station, yet I must notice the stand of Messrs. Sutton. 



Messrs. Sutton's stand near the poultry department and 

 horse ring was one of the most interesting objects in the show- 

 yard, being, indeed, an agricultural museum. I especially 

 noticed a most interesting collection of grasses and grass. seeds 

 in their dried and growing state, as taken from Messrs. Sutton's 

 experimental farm, and which presented a valuable opportunity 

 of obtaining useful information as to the sorts best suited to 

 the various soils of the country. There was also a collection 

 of several hundred kinds of seeds in glass cases, distinctly 

 labelled, as well as some fine specimens of agricultural roots. 

 Messrs. Sutton were among the first seedsmen to send their 

 collection of seeds and plants to the Bath and West of 

 England Society, and their stand is visited by thousands every 

 year during the exhibition. 



Taunton is, indeed, a pretty place, situated in a beautiful 

 Tale, and the holiday garb it was in, and the weather, showed 

 all to advantage. I saw a most ornate and beautiful church 

 tower, and one less ornate, and a mouldering tower being 

 restored. The ornate tower is a fac-simile of its predecessor. 

 This is the right way to restore a church. The advertisement 

 was not altogether a puff, as far as I could judge. I had no 

 occasion to try the doctors or lawyers, but I can imagine them 

 to be like their town, very excellent. — Wiltshire Rectoe. 



In' Carrier cocks and hens, Blacks were first and second, the winning 

 birds being excellent specimens. The Ponters were good, also the 

 Almonds ; Jacobins coarse, Fantails good, as also were the first-prize 

 pair of Owls, but I consider the highly commended pen of Mr. P. H. 

 Jones should have taken second. In Trumpeters the worst pair was 

 first. Mr. Fulton most certainly should have had that place. Barbs 

 were a good class ; in the opinion of several competent judges, as well 

 as myself, the prizes should have been reversed. The winning Turbits 

 were anything but good, and in bad condition ; the unnoticed pen of 

 Mr. Bulpin should have taken that position. Nuns were good ; the 

 winning Dragoons coarse. In Archangels there were some good birds, 

 the first-prize where they should be ; but there were three better pairs 

 than the second. In Any other variety Black Magpies were first, Frill- 

 backs second; but the third-prize birds were, I think, the worst pair 

 I ever saw in a show, and caused some merriment to the fanciers 

 present. — A Visitor. 



PACKING EGGS FOR TRAVELLING— THE 

 LARGE END DOWNWARDS. 



In a former number of this Journal I gave what I then 

 thought the best mode of packing eggs for rail. Since then, 

 however, chiefly at the strong recommendation of Mr. Teebay, 

 I have altogether discarded bran for hay, as described by Mr. 

 Glessal a week or two ago, and believe this material, if the hay 

 be nice and soft, to be about the best that can be used. 



Twelve eggs require a round basket or hamper about 12 , 

 inches across, and not less than 6 or 7 inches deep. A good ! 

 layer of hay, not rammed down, but left springy, should be put 

 in the bottom, and some hay all round the inside ; then the ! 

 eggs should be nicely bedded in one layer only. Each egg ; 

 should be wrapped singly and loosely in a piece of paper a 

 quarter the size of a newspaper page, in such a manner as to 

 leave the ends square, not the shape of the egg. Then a good 

 wisp of hay is wrapped round each, and the eggs are put in 

 juBt tightly enough to prevent them shaking about, and no 

 more, as Buccess depends on the elasticity being preserved. 

 Another layer of hay at the top being put on, the cover should 

 be tied down, which is easily done with a packing needle. 



But the immediate object of the present paper is to speak of j 

 the advantages of both storing and packing eggs with the large 

 end downwards, cqntrary to the usual plan. When fresh eggs ! 

 are sent as above described, I have not found any appreciable 



difference between the two positions ; but after careful trial 

 I can state positively that eggs will keep good for hatching 

 much longer and better when placed on the large end. 



It is only just to say, that in his well-known pamphlet Mr. 

 Geyelin advocates this position for eggs intended to hatch ; 

 but so many of his other recommendations were utterly op- 

 posed to all practical knowledge of the subject, that I never 

 paid much attention to this one ; and the first occasion of my 

 devoting any serious attention to the subject, was the receipt 

 of an interesting letter from a lady at Wickham Market, just 

 two years ago, giving her reasons fur the position now recom- 

 mended. She said, "Keeping eggs on the small end appears 

 to me to cause the air-bubble to spread, detaching it from the 

 shell, or rather from its mernbrai" u- lining; and after being 

 so kept for a fortnight the air-bubbl. ^:11 be found to be much 

 spread, and the egg to have lost much of it3 vitality, though 

 still very good for eating." She then described her succesE 

 with keeping the eggs in the contrail, position, saying, " Owing 

 to this method of storing, such a tbii>g as a stale egg has never 

 been known in my house ; and at i^iids success in hatching, 

 for several seasons when I whs aMe to attend to my poultry 

 myself, of many broods set every etv produced a chicken." 



From the time that has elapsed it, can be seen that I have 

 been by no means hasty in adoptu k '.Lis view ; but after con- 

 siderable and patient testing of botn methods throughout two 

 seasons, I can now say without hesitation that there really is a 

 marked difference between the vitality of eggs kept more than 

 a few days, according to the position in which they are placed. 

 It will be found, as this intelligent lady states, that the air- 

 bubble in one case is much moie spread than in the other. 

 This can be tested at once, but of course of itself proves nothing. 

 The great point is — and it is in this way the matter is especi- 

 ally interesting to all fanciers — that eggs are perfectly good for 

 hatching at a month old when stored with the large end down- 

 ward ; and thus the eggs of valuable birds may be kept till a 

 hen is ready for them, or eggs may be sent from distances 

 which under the old plan would give little hope of success. 



As a proof and final illustration of what I mean, I enclose 

 you a letter I received a week or two since from a gentleman 

 in the State of Ohio, U.S., to whom I shipped thirty eggs early 

 in March. He writes, " The eggs you sent me came to hand 

 March 30th, twenty-two days on the way. They had been sub- 

 mitted to rather rough treatment, but every egg was sound and 

 unbroken. I have now eighteen chickens as lively as crickets, 

 and am very much pleased." "We have seen the letter. — Eds.] 

 These eggs were packed in a deal box 15 inches deep, in three 

 layers of ten each, all wrapped in hay as above described. As 

 I had not many hens laying at the time, many of the eggs must 

 have been eight or ten days old when sent, and fully a month 

 old when set ; and I think, therefore, the simple fact that they 

 hatched in the proportion of six to every ten will be sufficient 

 warrant for my now recommending to other fanciers with full 

 confidence the adoption of this position for packing and storing. 

 — L. Weight. 



ANNALS OF MY POULTRY- YARD.— No. 4. 



I last gave you a brief descrii';on of my common little 

 housing, so far as the quality and capacity want ; the fittings 

 of the interior were of a no less ordinary kind. Three perches 

 running the whole length, and p3;H!!tl with the sloping roof, 

 occupied considerable space in the small chamber. Eleven 

 laying-boxes in a row along the back wall nearly filled the 

 remaining space. In the first instance I made these a foot 

 square and a foot high ; but I soon found my Dorkings and 

 Cochins were unable to use them coiotortably, so enlarged them 

 to 15 inches in height and in depth, leaving them a foot wide 

 as before. This increased room was quite ample. 



In addition to these little premises, I began my fourth year 

 of poultry-keeping with very large, commodious, airy buildings 

 attached to an old homestead, where there was sufficient space 

 for every kind of poultry. The existing tenants of these 

 spacious old buildings passed into my care also ; and forthwith 

 I began to manage my previous and my present premises 

 under one system. 



The larger part of my increased stock consisted of Silver- 

 Grey Dorkings, bred expressly for the table, which with my 

 few Hamburghs and Cochins made a total stock of sixty-four 

 head. A very massive octagonal Pigeon-house— "cote,'] I 

 cannot call it — completely cased with their tiny boxes, to which 

 one had easy access by means of a revolving ladder, contained 

 sixty of the most pure-bred Blue Rocks. It is admitted that 



