March 8, 1877. ] 



JODBNAL OF HOBTIOULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



183 



great a harry, bat that time ehoald be given to oolleot the 

 opinions of all interested in the matter. 



We hear that a meeting for the purpose of forming snch a 

 club was held on the last day of the Aiiaarium meeting, and 

 that certain resolutions were adopted aud a gentleman ohoseu 

 to act as Honorary Secretary ^iro tern. We cannot help much 

 regretting, as do so many more, that this meeting did not take 

 place on an earlier day in the Show week, for by Friday so many 

 of the fancy who are interested in the matter had left for home 

 again, and surely the more that could attend a meeting where a 

 sabject of snch general importance was to be discussed would 

 have been the better. Still the resolutions passed, we hear, are 

 not to be made public until they have been before another 

 meeting, and so those who were present on that first occasion 

 have still ample time to consult the opinions of others who 

 were not present ; for we know several importint breeders and 

 fanciers who will never allow themselves to be "ridden over 

 roughshod," and so if this meeting, held the other week, is to 

 be thennolena of the United Poultry Club, perfect openuess and 

 no secrecy must be employed. 



We have seen a letter in a contemporary written by some 

 one who was present at this meeting, saying that it was his 

 " privilege to receive an invitation." We confess this word 

 " privilege " astounds us. If this meeting was for the private in- 

 terests of particular persona we can imagine the writer con- 

 sidering it a privilege tj join such a coterie; but when it was 

 held to consider the wisdom of establishing a poultry club to 

 embrace all real and loyal fanciers, surely at a first meeting 

 for the purpose no publicity could have been too great nor no 

 number of fanciers too large to carefully take into consideration 

 Bach an important matter. We say openly and with certainty, 

 that once the matter is conducted secretly and among certain 

 parties only, the Club will do ten times more harm to the cause 

 than ever it will do good. 



From the general tone of the letter to which we have referred 

 we should think that it was written with the full approbation of 

 the gentlemen present at the said meetinp, although no names 

 are yet announced. Whether this is so or not, we still take 

 this opportunity of most fully concurring with one paragraph- 

 namely, "It was deemed essential for the prosperity of the 

 Association that it be entirely unconnected with any journal 

 published in the interests of the fancy." We assent most cor- 

 dially, for we are sure that this ia important. There are, we 

 conclude, however, persons in existence who read daily a penny 

 paper and who do not see the London Titn,-s : that again there 

 are fanciers who read our pages who read no others which are 

 devoted to poultry culture ; and so we agree with the corre- 

 spondent of our contemporary, and say that, fatal as it wonld be 

 to make one journal /aciZeji/'ejuvj/s the organ for ventilating the 

 Club movements, still it would be as damnatory to it not to 

 allow all journals to fully recognise the movement, and by ven- 

 tilating the sabject and recording the movements to help to 

 form, collect, cement together, and amalgamate fanciers of 

 poultry and of Pigeons. It is unison that we want — the joining 

 together, for one common purpose, of all fanciers ; and only by 

 the absence of petty jealousies, by shelving former disputes and 

 quarrels, by working together in true harmony, will the poultry 

 fancy in their Club succeed. Most earnestly do we trust that 

 this may be the case ; and fairly, firmly, straightforwardly 

 started, we do believe a poultry club which properly considers 

 all subjects laid before it, will work a real benefit in thepoixltry 

 world.— W. 



THE LIABILITY OF EAILWAT COMPANIES. 



A CASE of considerable interest to poultry and Pigeon exhi- 

 bitors was tried at the Bradford County Court on the 23rd ult., 

 before Mr. Daniels, Q.C., in which Mr. Thresh of Bradford sued 

 the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company for XI, which 

 he alleged he had lost by the ntglect of the defendants. Mr. 

 Terry appeared for the railway company, and Mr. Thresh con- 

 ducted his own case. The plaintiff stated that on the 22nd of 

 September laet he sent a pen of Spanish fowls to Chaddertou 

 Agricultural Show, Moston station, by the Lancashire and York- 

 shire line, at 9. in p m , but instead of the birds arriving in reason- 

 able time they were delayed until 12 10 p.m. next day, when the 

 judging was over. The plaintiff now claimed i'l, the amount 

 of the first prize, and he called Mr. Dixon the judge, who fctated 

 that if the birds had been in time he should certainly have 

 awarded them the first prize. Mr. Terry, for the defendants, 

 contended that the company had entered into no contract for 

 the delivery ot the birds at any sp.-cified lime. Mr. Daniels 

 ruled, however, that the defendants, by allowing the fowls to be 

 booked to the show, had bound themselves to deliver tbem in 

 reasonable time, as otherwise it would have been useless sending 

 them. He therefore gave a verdict for the plaintiff for the 

 amount claimed with costs. 



was quite a financial speculation on the part of Messrs. Barnes 

 and Co. of Portsmouth ; and being held before the Winter 

 Garden Company was in existence, or rather before the Winter 

 Garden was built, it could have no possible connection with it. 

 The Dog, Cat, aud Rabbit Show held by the Company in No- 

 vember last reflected great credit on the promoters, and all 

 claims were settled within a short time ; I believe to the satis- 

 faction of the exhibitors generally. — Geokge Billett. 



BODBNEMOCTD ShOW OF PoHLTRY, PiGEONB, AND CaOE BiECS. 



— The defaulting Show to which " Wiltshire Kector " referred 



THE PATAQONIAN RABBIT. 



The Patigonian Rabbit is the giant of the Rabbit tribe ; tower- 

 ing above all the other breeds, it stands unsurpassed and un- 

 equalled for size and weight. A fine full-grown and fat speci- 

 men of this breed will outweigh three small Dutch Rabbits. At 

 this period, when butchers are " piling on tbe agony " and even 

 passing the shilling-per-pound price, surely everything that can 

 with advantage be brought into the meat market should be, aud 

 what can be more advantafCously introduced than the mammoth 

 Rabbit species ? The Patagonian is not a Rabbit that a lady or 

 child would select as a pet, as it grows awkward in appearance 

 —the larger, and hence more valuable, it becomes the less 

 graceful it appears. Still appearances are often deceitful, and 

 " beauty is only skin deep," so I think we are right if we affirm 

 what is correct when we say that this is the most valuable 

 breed of Rabbits extant. 



The Patagonian is indieenous to France and Flanders, and 

 probably never saw Patagonia. The only possible claim it can 

 have to the name is its size, and even this cannot be advanced 

 as a very cogent one. Its importation into this country baa 

 never been accompanied with much success, as Rabbit fanciers 

 are such thoroughgoing conservatives that as long as the Lop 

 is present for them to experiment upon they will not welcome 

 a stranger. So the Patagonian has been nourished and cul- 

 tivated by a few only, and their cultivation has not resulted in 

 improving the breed much, as it is no better now than it was 

 ten years ago, and foreign blood has been so freely introduced 

 that the thorough-bred Patagonian is seldom seen in a rabbitry. 

 In France, however, it is different. The peasants do not carry 

 away many francs for their wages, and so, instead of grumbling 

 and joining unions, they save what they can, rent a small piece 

 of ground, and keep such animals on it as they can. If large, 

 some of the larger and more valuable animals are kept ; but if 

 the land aud resources are at once small Rabbits are taken to, 

 and found to pay admirably. In this case Patagonians are almost 

 always selected because of their great size, and because they 

 eat but little more than their smaller brethren, and certainly 

 require much less attention than their fastidious relatives the 

 Lops. 



Having briefly mentioned the nature of the breed as an article 

 of commerce, we come next to its characteristics. The Pata- 

 gonian should be as large as possible — large all round — that is, 

 long and broad. Controversies on the size qitestion are very 

 fashionable among Rabbit keepers, but it ia an admitted fact 

 that size in a Patagonian is the great criterion. But this is not 

 all. We must have something more besides size ; we must have 

 shape. The frame of the Patagonian should he roomy and 

 bulky. The head should be large and bull-doggish— that is, the 

 face should bo broad and the nose somewhat stumpy. When in 

 condition the cheeks will swell out a good deal, presenting a 

 heavy look from the front. The eye should be large and bold, 

 and if it does not glow, sparkle, aud look full, it is certain that 

 the animal is in bad health. Tbe ears should be very long and 

 heavy. In a Lop length, thinness, and grace are the attributes of 

 the ears of a good specimen, but with a Patagonian it is diffe- 

 rent; length, breadth, and thickness— or, to sum up in one word, 

 massiveness- are required. I admit that in an animal reared 

 for pot purposes the ears are not of vital import, but still as 

 indicators of breed they require attention. They must stand up 

 from the forehead in an upright position, the muscles being 

 strong enough to effect this. The ears, however, are too heavy 

 (top-heavy fs perhaps the correct word) to remain perfectly 

 upright, so that they gradually drop outwards. Thus a person 

 standing in front of a Rabbitof this breed can see between these 

 organs with ease. The neck is generally short and heavy, and 

 the shonldets are set wide apart. As a matter of course the legs 

 are similarly placed. From the shoulders to the hips the sides 

 gradually extend outwards, and the back rises. The hind legs 

 are very'long, and are set a considerable distance apait. They 

 are also very thick and heavy. The whole formation and shape 

 then, is heavy aud massive. 



The fur is very thick, and about the same length as the Lops, 

 or perhaps a trifle shorter. The ears are covered with a pro- 

 fusion of hair ou the outside, and on the inside are generally 

 blackish, and not very pretty. The fur on the head is not so 

 long as on the body, and generally of a softer quality. 



The Patagonian presents neither beauty nor variety to the 

 eye, but is of one regular colour— a dull heavy grey, or more 

 correctly speaking, a very dark greyish brown. A wild Rabbit 

 is generally called grey, but it is not really grey at all but 



