AprU 80, 1868. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGK GARDENER, 



333 



stock. The roservo now stood at £560 3s. If?. ; and tho balance due 

 to the b.-mkers on tho current account was t'2'2r» 7.v. (x/., leavinp a net 

 balance iu hand of .il^Hl 15,s-. 7*/. The Society now possnssi;d 

 2,70U poultry ^lona, 500 iron hurdles, and other moveable stock to the 

 value of at least £1,00U. The cattle salosnian had been dispensed 

 with, by which they had been relieved of a considerable expense, with- 

 out, as it wa3 hi-lioved, inilictiu^' any inconvenience upon exhibitors. 

 On the motion of Mr. C. M. Caldecott. seconded by Mr. Councillor 

 Lowe, the report and accounts were received and adopted, the latter 

 gentleman suggesting the desirability of some statement showing the 

 original cost and present value of their stock, in order that the Council 

 might know their actual financial position. 



Mr. Shackel also presented the following comparative statement of 

 the admissions to the show, and tho cash taken at the doors, since the 

 year 18G3 : — 



Year. AdmissionB. Cash at doors. 



1863 61,530 £1,216 17 S 



1864 62,533 1,334 4 4 



1865 41,844 934 10 



1866 21,511 648 3 



1867 43.540 919 



In reply to Mr. Lnckcoek, Mr. Shackel said that in 1865 the amount 

 received in subscriptions was £1,175 ; in entrance fees, £170 lO,-.-. ; 

 IB 18(U'i, subscriptions, £1,1GS lO.-.-. ; entrance fees, £317; and in 

 1167, subscriptions, £1,558; entrance fees, £463. — (Midland Counties 

 Herald.) 



PAPJS POULTKY EXHIBITION. 



The Acclimatisation Society of Paris has just held another poultry 

 show, at which somo of oar Euglisii varieties were fairly represented, 

 and a few notes may not be uninteresting. Of European reputation 

 as au ornithological and practical estahlisbment, the gardens of the 

 Society in the Bois de Boulogne are too well known to need descrip- 

 tion, and it will suiEce to say that they are the favourite resort of 

 many thousands of Parisians, and nearly all the visitors to the capital. 

 The space allotted to the poultry Show was near the conservatories. 

 The pens were erected in three tiers, and placed back to back, all 

 being covered with an awning, which did good duty against both wind 

 and sun. 



As a matter of course, the principal French breeds weie more 

 strongly represented than any others, although there was a large class 

 of Cochins and Bantams. 



Fii-st on the list were birds of La Fh die, and as a class they were 

 thought so highly of by the Judges, that seven prizes were di^dded 

 among them. In quality the class was excellent ; but to pick out a 

 pen to win, we think we could find one in England of imported birds 

 that would run any in the Show very hard. 



The Crcve-Cceurs were numerous and excellent ; they numbered 

 more than thirty pens, and counted hardly an inferior one among 

 them. In shape and symmetry some of the winning birds were re- 

 markable, and they must have been very heavy. There were shown 

 some of this year's chickens, strong, healthy, and well-developed ; but 

 as there was one class only for the breed, they, of c®urse, stood no 

 chance. 



The uniformity of the type of tho Cruve-Coenrs spoke volumes, and 

 formed a remarkable contrast to the Houdans, which were next to 

 them. Three dozen pens presented a great variety of shades of 

 colouring, shape of top-lmot and comb, and colour of leg, but with 

 hardly an exception every bird was five-toed. This breed appears now 

 to be exactly in the same condition as that of the CrL-ve-Co-ur was 

 some eight or ten years ago, before there was any demand for export. 

 There is the breed, and some of the points are indispensable, but the 

 others are left to the caprice of the amateur. There were not wanting 

 at the Show many amateurs who appeared to understand the birds, 

 who did not fail to say that the pure i)onl€ ik Iluinlnu should have no 

 beard ; the Judges thought otherwise. In comparison with the Crcve- 

 Cueurs, the average size of the hens at the Show would be about one- 

 fonrth less, and the difference in size between the cocks of the two 

 breeds immensely in favour of the Crcve-Cceurs. 



The other French breeds demand little notice, and have nothing 

 whatever to recommend by size or appearance. The breed Le Mans 

 would pass either for Minorcas or Black Hambnrghs, according to the 

 choice for comb. 



The mnch-vaunted pmde rle la Brcsse has the appearance of being 

 a decided mongrel. One breed, however, especially French, claims 

 honourable exception, that of the Padoues — White, Chamois, Her- 

 mines. In beauty, symmetry, and size of top-knot, they far distanced 

 the Golden and Silver-spangled Polands with which they were associ- 

 ated, and were deservedlj' awarded a prix d'bonncur. An English 

 exhibitor, Mr. Beldon, had a second prize for a pen of Silver-spangled. 



The Brahma Pootras are favourites ; but the French ideas as re- 

 gards them are very much the reverse of ours. With the exception 

 of one pen, all the birds exhibited were enormously vulture-hocked, 

 all single-combed, and birds of the Light variety, but with more 

 colouring than we should allow them. As regards the vulture hock, 

 the same remark applies to the Cochins, all the French birds com- 

 peting possessing it in a remarkable degree. There were some excel- 

 lent Blacks, unusually large Cuckoos, indifferent Whites, and twenty 

 pens of Buflfs, in which size was the principal quality. 

 The competition in Dorkings was not great ; Messrs. Baily, of 



London, took both prizes. Spanish fowls never were favourites in 

 France, and show no signs of progress m public estimation. The 

 four varieties of Hambnrghs were represented well as regards quality, 

 and some of tho birds would have stood their ground fairly in English 

 competition. Tho prizes were taken by Messrs. Beldon, Baily, and 

 Pickles, of tho English exhibitors, and Mr. Bocquet, of Paris. The 

 Black Polish were few in number and low iu quality. The Sebright 

 Bantams mustered sixteen pens, and the first prize for Silver went to 

 the largest birds, one of the hens having a single comb. The Game 

 Jiautams were few ; Mr. Ledger was first, Mr. Bocquet second. The 

 little Japanese Bantams seem to he favourites in France, and were 

 much admired. The Black, White, and Cuckoo Bantams call for no 

 special remark. The wild Turkeys were of unusual excellence ; the 

 Black, White, and Grey inferior. 



In the class for Pheasants were Kalccge, Chinese, common, and 

 Versicolor, and two curious cross-bred birds. The Ducks and Qeese 

 call for no special notice ; they were poorly represented in every way, 

 and, with the exception of one or two good Rouen Drakes, showed 

 very little quality. A pair of Curassows and a pair- of little Bustards 

 deservedly attracted much attention. 



The exhibition of Pigeons, with the exception of one or two varie- 

 ties, was not good. There were some excellent Eunts ; but the first 

 prize was given to a very inferior pair* of Blacks, to the prejudice of 

 good Blues and Silvers. This was the only variety represented in 

 any numbers. The Rabbits are always favourites in France. In the 

 variety " Belier," one exhibitor had it all his own way, and sold all 

 his Rabbits at very high prices. The Silver-Greys and Himalayans 

 were good, and the Angoras pretty. The arrangements of the Ad- 

 ministration, and the care and attention bestowed on the birds, re- 

 flected the highest credit on Monsieur dc St. Hilaire and his assistants, 

 and entitle them to the warm thanks of all the exhibitors. 



A GUIDE TO CANARY-BREEDING.— No. 5. 



I MOST apologise to the readers of the Journal for to some 

 extent repeating in my last article a portion of the previous 

 one — a mistake which arose from my mislaying a sheet oi my 

 manuscript. 



By this time the nest of birds which chipped a fortnight ago 

 ■will be almost as largo as their parents ; and the hen wiU most 

 likely be making preparations for a second family, paying less 

 attention to the nestlings, and leaving them iu a great measure 

 to the care of the cock, who will be unceasing in his devotion 

 to them, his entire time being taken up with alternate visits 

 to the egg box, the green food, and the nest of clamorous 

 gluttons, each trying its utmost to establish its claim to the 

 right of being first fed — their uproarious proceedings sometimes 

 driving him away from the edge of the nest, only to return 

 shortly, nothing disconcerted, to parcel out to each his mess 

 of pottage with scrupulous impartiality. 



When the hen is observed to be restless and carrying about 

 such building stuff as she can procure, another nest box and a 

 supply of fresh material must be introduced. Care must now 

 be exercised to prevent her plucking the young birds, a misde- 

 meanour she is too frequently guilty of. Should this be the 

 case (and when the plucking once begins it does not require 

 long to metamorphose a well-fashioned bird into a "raw gobby," 

 as we called unfledged nestlings in our birdsnesting days), 

 remove the young ones at once to a nursery cage, which must 

 be suspended against the wires in the front of the breeding 

 cage, when the feeding operation will be carried on through the 

 wires, being careful to make the spaces between them of such 

 a width as will conveniently admit the head but not the 

 shoulders of the birds. 



A supply of soft food will encourage the young ones to pick 

 for themselves ; and as soon as they can accomplish this most 

 desirable object transfer them to a large " flight " cage, and 

 gradually wean them from soft food to hard seed, which they 

 soon manage to crack. Each succeeding nest must undergo 

 this weaning process previous to being put with the others in 

 the flight, as it w'U not do to give them other than hard food 

 then. Keep up a good supply of fresh green food, such as 

 ohickweed, groundsel, shepherd's purse, plantain, i-c, and 

 allow a free use of the bath. It is a good plan, when the hen 

 begins to lay a second lot of eggs before the young birds in her 

 first nest are very forward, to remove these with the cock into 

 the flight. He will not fail to single out his own, and feed 

 them assiduously, besides doing an occasional good turn where 

 it may be required. 



There are a few operations which have been overlooked in 

 their proper place. 



If a felt nest be used, it is often desirable to change it en- 

 tirely as soon as the eggs are all chipped, as the red mites will 

 have made their appearance in greater or less numbers under- 



