Apiil 30, 1S6S. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTDKE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



331 



wo woold not repot them, bat grow them on slowly, forwardinu or retard 

 ing thorn as occasion might reqaire. We could nut well give a more de- 

 finite opinion unless we saw the plants and know when they last Uowered. 



BlLSAUS AND CF.I.0SIA9 FOR AUOUSTFLOWEBINO (/,i»'m I.— Now is the 



best time to sow B;ilsams to flower tinely in August. The plants will be 

 fresher in foliage and stronger in bloom than those sown in March. The 

 Coiosias are best raised from seed sown in March ; hut we would sow 

 more seed now, and encourage the plants, making a selection of the best. 



Select Variegatec Zonal Pelaeoonicms ()('. H. .V.).— Excluding 

 the most expensive. Ooldcn : Mrs. Pollock, Sunset, Sophia Cusack, 

 Lucy Grieve, Lady CuUum, and Mrs. Benyon. Silmr ; Italia I'nita, 

 Argus, Beauty of Guestwick, Impvratrico Eugenie, Burning Bush, Silver 

 Star. Bronze : Beauty of Oultou, Bronze Queen, Mrs. Longflcld, Canary 

 Bird, Luna, Circlet ; but instead of these, if not too expensive, select 

 some of the newer varieties. 



Royal HoETicrtTrRAL Societv (Constant Suhtcriber).— It you write 

 to Mr. Richards, .^ssistaiit Secretary, lioyal Horticultural Society, South 

 Kensington, ho will send you full particulars of the steps needful for 



becoming a Follow. Tho Secretary, Royal Botanic Society, Regent's 

 Park. wiU also give yon the information yon need. 



Double Polvanthcs (Fellon •(■ aolijai/).— This ia one of the finest 

 double flowers wo have seen. In former days wo used to see a doable 

 nearly black Polyanthus. This variety displays tho crimson and yellow 

 colours of the ordinary single flowers, which makes it very attractive. It 

 will, doubtless, make a very fine spring decorative plant. We had 6d. to 

 pav for the carriage of your parcel. 



Nasies of Plants (B. Jlf. H.)— Spir.-ra barbata, sometimes called Hoteia 

 japonica. (F. it. L.).—!, Corydalis lutoa ; 2, Aubriotia deltoidea ; 3, Pul- 

 monaria oftlcinalis ; 4, Dielytra formosa ; 5, Saxifraga caispitosa. (G. R. F.), 

 — 1, Anemone apennina ; 2, Draba aizoides ; 3, Phlox subulata ; 4, Saii- 

 fraga ctespitosa; 5, Doronicum caucasit-um. (A.L.L.W.). — Escallonla 

 moutevidense. [w. C). — Fuchsia splendeus, {Ada\. — Better specimen 

 needed. (Natal). — Amaryllis sp. ; Ccreus flageUiformis ; Dendrobium 

 nobile. (Sencj).— Wo have no specimen of a climbing plant either with 

 the above signature, or with your initials, " A. F.'* (/).).— Wo cannot 

 as yet discover the names of the Pine and Oak ; should we succeed we 

 will state what they are next week. 



METEOROLOGIC^Ui OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of London for the week ending April 28th. 



POULTRY, BEE, and H0USE30LD CHRONICLE. 



GAME FOWLS. 



With reference to the two articles on Game fowls in yonr 

 last Nnmber, in which the name under whieli I write is men- 

 tioned, I reply as follows : — First, to Mr. H. Goodall, that 

 if I were a Judge I suppose I should judge birds by much the 

 same standard as the other Judges of Game fowls do, " by 

 good shape aud good feather." As to the exact shape of tails 

 it is a matter of fancy, and breeders differ about it. I can 

 only say that I much dislike the half-JIalay-Iooking, large, 

 drooping-tailed Game cocks and hens, " with their wings 

 carried high up, half across their sterns like Geese, and the 

 feathers of their tails all falhng together on the lower feathers 

 of the tail." 1 think such birds as these nearly half-bred 

 Malays, and only fit for the spit or pot, as Mr. Goodall observes 

 of the opposite style of birds. Mr. Goodall seems to forget 

 that exhibition birds are rather of a different type from real 

 fighting birds in many strains ; and, I repeat, that the gamest 

 birds are jnot our exhibition birds in general, but a smaller 

 bird altogether, and that " a neat fanned," or " crest-fanned," 

 spreading tail carried well up aud not in the least broomy, is 

 much the gamest form of tail, and shows none of the vile half- 

 Malay type, and that a Game fowl should shield the fleshy 

 part of his thighs with his wings, and not carry them on his 

 stern as a Goose does. 



Some of the boasted exhibition breeds and strains have been 

 known to run away when tried with steel. Mr. Goodall's type 

 of bird may be good birds, but are no better than those bred 

 with the fanned tails carried well up. I am quite certain, in 

 fact it is well known to almost all Game fanciers, that there 

 are good birds with both forms of tail. 



I have bred birds since 1831, when only eleven years of aga, 

 and never bred a cowardly cock once, and would warrant my 

 birds to be gamer than any of the cowardly, great, coarse-boned, 

 half-Malay type of Game fowls. The birds I consider per- 

 fection are in Brown Beds, Mr. Statter's, of Manchestt r (1) ; 

 Mr. Fletcher's, of Manchester (2) ; and Mr. Aykroyd's, of Brad- 

 ford (3) ; and in Black-breasted Keds, Mr. Brierley's, of Middle- 

 ton (1) ; and Sir St. George Gore's strain (2). Such birds as 

 these are fit both to fight and to exhibit, whatever form of tail 

 they may present. 



With regard to the article signed " Chalonee," I deny that 

 anything erroneous has been advanced in any of my articles. I 

 certainly was not aware that the cups at Birmingham were 

 limited to stags, and consider it decidedly wrong to exclude the 

 full-grown cocks from cups. I also confidently affirm, that the 

 white-skinned birds have always possessed more courage and 

 endurance, if well bred, than any of the " nasty yellow-skinned 



exhibition things " we see at shows, which also put one ia 

 mind of the Malay type of Game fowls. I do not deny that 



I good yellow-skinned Game fowls are often hotter in their 

 nature than white-skinned birds are, but are never such keen 



I birds, nor do they ever possess so much endurance as white- 

 skinned Game do. As to the gipsy-faced birds, they are well 

 known by most cockers to possess more endurance and hard- 

 ness than any red-combed, red-faced birds ever do. I will 

 back my own experience and judgment to the full against 

 either " Ch.\lonee," or Mr. Goodall, or Mr. Brown, of Perth, as 

 I have made Game fowls one of my particular studies for 

 many years of my life.— Trevor Dickens (Newmarket), Mark- 

 ham Square, Cluhea. 



P.S.— Mr. Goodall makes an incorrect statement, when he 

 says that I have advocated " droopings wings" for a Game 

 cock, as I suppose it is well-known that a Game cock's wings 

 can shield the upper part of his thighs without being either 

 drooping or loose. I dislike drooping wings in a Game fowl, 

 aud they are only proper to Bantams. Mr. Goodall says he 

 was " horrified " to find two of his cocks that had broken out 

 bUnded and mangled. I do not think much of such slow birds 

 as these. If they had been quick good birds they would have 

 killed each other in a few minutes, instead of mangling one 

 another. 



I have never before heard of any good handler of Game 

 cocks "using a stick or weapon of defence " to enter or open a 

 pen with. Such a statement is absurd, and I would easily 

 take the very fiercest Game cock out of his pen without any 

 such nonsense, at the expense of a few blows from his beak on 

 my hands, and have constantly done so with fiercer birds than 

 Mr. Goodall has, perhaps, ever seen. Mr. Goodall can know 

 but Uttle about cockers' birds if he thinks that " exhibition 

 birds " are the best specimens of " fighting Game cocks." Mr. 

 GoodaU's seem to be mere exhibition buds, and rather slow 

 from his account. 



I have also flatly to deny the statement made by " Chaloser," 

 that my words formerly were that I could not see any beauty 

 in any but Game fowls, for I stated in writing my admiration 

 of Game Bantams, Bantams, Polish, and of several other 

 breeds. 



SIERITS OF ANDALUSIAN OR BLUE MINORCA 

 FOWLS. 



H.wiNG kept poultry of various kinds for neariy fifty years, 

 my experience may be useful to some of your readers. 



Beginning with the common barndoor fowl, I afterwards kept 

 Dorkings; but finding these too tender in rearing to be 

 profitable, I tried some cross-breeds, the best of which I found 

 to be that between Brahma Pootras and Dorkings. 



After this I went rather extensively into the Cochin mania. 



