506 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDBNEB.' 



[ December 31, 1868. 



apparently made their first appearance dui-inR the past summerl, ia th^ I must he attacked in the same way as the common cockroach. BoUing 

 Blatta lapponica, a small species of cockroach, common in Lapland and water or phosphorus paste, to be had at any chemist's, will destroy them, 

 the north of Europe, which is occasionally met with in this country. It ' — W. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of London for the week ending December a9th. 



POTLTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



PROTEST AGAINST TRIMMING FOWLS FOR 

 EXHIBITION. 

 We, the nndereigned exhibitors of poultry, desire to record 

 onr emphatic protest against the widely prevalent and fast in- 

 creasing practice of trimming or altering the plnmage of fowls 

 for exhibition. We cannot but feel that such practices are not 

 only in themselves fraudulent and UEJupt, but tend to place all 

 real amateurs at the mercy of a few skilled and nnscrupuloua 

 individnals ; and if unchecked by ocmmiltees and judges, must 

 ultimately so degrade the character of poultry exhibitions that 

 no honourable man will take part in them. 



We consider that to make any alteration in the plnmage or 

 appearance of fowls beyond washing and cleansing, or the re- 

 moval of an occasional damaged feather, with the sole ex- 

 ceptions of dubbing Game or Game Bantams and dressing the 

 faces of Spanish, is fraudulent, and should be dealt with in 

 every case by disqualification, and publication of the offender's 

 name— such penalty to be as far as possible inflicted by the 

 judges themselves, but to be enforced by the committee of a 

 show in case of oversight, if proved to their satisfaction, even 

 after the awards are made. 



And without binding ourselves at present to any specifio line 

 of action, we pledge ourselves in general to oppose both judges 

 and exhibitions which shall refuse to carry out these moderate 

 conditions, and to support by all means in our power such as 

 shall, by their action, prove their anxiety to promote fair and 

 honourable ct.mpetiiion. (Signed) 



Elizabeth Allsopp, Hindlip Hall, Worcester. 

 •T. W. Amis. 



William Blinkhom, Waterdale, St. Helen's. 



John Bowen (the Rev.), Llangorse Vicarage, Talgarth. 



M. Brookbbank, Manchester. 

 •Louisa Cbarteris (Ladj), Eccles Hall, Attleborougb. 



A. K. Cornwall (the Bev.), Bencombe, Dursley. 

 •Frederick Crook, Forest Hill. 



James F. Dixon, Cotgrave, Nottingham. 



James Ellis (the Eev.), Bracknell. 



W. Baker Etches, Wbitchurch Salop. 



H. W. Fitzwilliam (the Hon.), Wentworth Woodhouse. 



W. C. W. Fitzwilliam (the Hon.), Wentworth Woodhouse. 



John Gardiner, Beaufort House, Terrell Street, Bristoh 



L. Harvey, Miss, Sarisbury, Southampton. 



Francis B. Heald (the Kev.), Whitemoor, Nottingham. 



Alfred Heath, Calne. 



A. Herbert. Egham, Surrey. 



Edmund Herbert, Powiek,' Worcester. 



Sarah E. Herbert, ditto. 



•Joseph Hinton, Hinton, near Bath. 



Alice Hurt, Alderwasley, Derby. 



J. E. Jessop, Beverley Eoad, Hull. 



Keith Jopp, Aberdeen. 



H. B. Lane (Lieut.-Col.), Bracknell. 



Edward Leech, Greave House, Eochdale. 



Henry Lingwood, Barking. 



Horace Lingwood, Martlesbam, Woodbridge. 



G. Leicester Macpherson, Bracknell. 



H. M. Mnjnard, Holmewood, Ejde, Isle of Wight. 



John F. Newttn (the Eev.), Kirkby-in-Cleveland. 



John Pares, Postford, near Guildford. 



•F. Powell, Knaresborough. 



John Eobinson, Vale House, Garstang. 



John E. Eodbard, Aldwick Court, Wrington. 



H. Sbumack, Southwell, Notts. 



Oriah Spary, Dunstable. 



Henry V. Story. 



Thomas Stretch, Ormskirk. 



John Stuart, Thistlebank, Helensburgh, N.B. 

 •M. Sugden (the Hon. Mrs ), Wells. 



♦Frank Taylor (the Eev.) Kiikandrew's Eectory, Longtown. 

 • F. Tearle (the Eev.), Gazeley Vicarage, Newmarket. 



W. H. Tomlinson, Newark. 

 •Tumour (the Eight Hon. Viscount), Shillinglee Park, 

 Petworth. 



Eichard White, Broomhall Park, Sheffield. 



Eobert B. Wood, Woodland Park, Uttoxeter. 



Lewis Wright, Kingadown, Bristol. 



William Wjkes Wolvey, Hinckley. 

 The exhibitors whose names arc accompanied by an ajterisk (*), 

 have specially requested that they should be distinguished as includ- 

 ing the dressing of Spanish faces in their protest against trimming ; 

 and I have reason to believe that half the remainder wonld have done 

 so bad there been time to consult them on the point. Having the 

 chief resijonsibility of drawing up the terms of the above, I can only 

 say that in inserting the above exception, I was guided solely by 

 what I thought practicable, being perfectly conscious that the practice 

 of trimming Spanish is in itself utterly incapable of defence. But 

 there are some peculiar facts in this special case. An exhibitor who 

 signs this document, some time since protested repeatedly against the 

 practice in vain. He did more, he persevered (heroically, I consider), 

 in showing undressed birds, losing invariably, for a long time. It is 

 within my own personal knowledge, that a wcll-tnown judge expressed 



hid opinion at a first-class show, to the effect that Mr. " deserved 



to lose for not trimming his faces Hke the rest did." [!] Whether this 

 opinion came to that gentleman's ears I cannot say, but at length he 

 got weary of protesting, and publicly announced, through the recog- 

 nised organs of the fancy, that he should in fnture trim, as he found 

 it was no longer considered dishonourable. He immediately began to 

 take prizes, and after trying both plans, wi-ites me in the note ac- 

 companying his signature, he does not consider that " the beauty of 

 the birds ran be seen witho\;t it." Now, remembering the facts stated 

 above, which may be new to some, I can hardly put him on the same 

 level with a man who fastens a false tail to a Game Bantam. He 

 was literally driven into trimming by the judges themselves. At the 

 same time I must express my entire concurrence in the opinion, that 

 Spanish fowls, equally with others, ought to be shown in a natural 

 state, and that, if not hopeless, this practice also should be put down. 

 But while I believe we have trimming in general very much in our 

 own power to stamp out, even if judges will not act. this particular 

 point seems to me, so far as regards the possibility of abolishing it, 

 to rest entirely with the judges, seeing that there is no sense of fraud 

 on the part of Spanish exhibitors to appeal to. 



I wish also to say, that '' publication of the offender's name " we only 

 regard as possibly necessary if honest exhibitors be driven to extre- 

 mities. If judges, now their attention ia drawn to the matter, nee 

 their power and influence legitimately, as we trust they will, the 

 simple ticket of disqualification on the pen at a show will be enough. 

 The pen may even, as I have been reminded by an eminent judge, and 

 an equally eminent exhibitor, have been just previously purchased, and 

 shown quite innocently, and in any case I w ould never debar an offender, 

 however gross, from acknowledging his error, and showing again. 



I am most anxious to disclaim any idea of casting censure on those 

 gentlemen who perform the arduous duties of either judges or com- 

 mittees. The evU practice in qnestion has been so gradually and in- 

 sidiously increasing, that it was very possible till quite lately scarcely 

 to notice it. Then, one of our best judges did express to a friend of 

 mine his intention to " disqualify right and left," at Birmingham, if 



