Marcti 27, 1873. ] 



JODBNAIi OF HOBTICDIiTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



271 



DidyiaocUliiL'iia ti-oncatula. (E. Eadcs).—1, Aspleniam flabelUloUum; 2, A. 

 lineatum, or a near ally. 



POULTET, BEE, AND PIGEON OHEONIOLE. 



POULTRY PROFITS. 



As a praelical man and farmer, will you give me space for a 

 few common-sense remarks upon a lecture delivered by Mr. 

 Edwards on the above subject, and wherein he proved entirely 

 to his own satisfaction that, from an agricultural point of view, 

 " fowls not only pay but actually return a larger profit than 

 that realised from any other farm stock ?" There are a certain 

 number of persons who keep a few head of poultry, who under- 

 take the sole management themselves, who feed them almost 

 entirely with the scraps from the house and the refuse from 

 the kitchen garden, and who have the opportunity of allowing 

 them a good grass run, all which they consider cost nothing. 

 They then constitute themselves their own customers, consume 

 their own produce, charging themselves with eggs and poultry 

 at retail shop prices, and they then fancy that " poultry pay," 

 and moreover return large profits, simply because they only 

 consider in their debtor and creditor account the grain they 

 actually buy. But to a farmer, a thoroughly practical man and 

 who understands book-keeping, this is mere moonshine. 



And now let me turn to the details of the lecture. The re- 

 commendation is to keep only " first-class poultry of the best 

 improved breeds," but in the debtor and creditor account the 

 lecturer commences with a supposed spontaneously produced 

 " chick." The parent birds are not mentioned. Let lis suppose 

 a farmer beginning this neglected branch of agriculture, and 

 starting, say, with one hundred of the " best improved breed of 

 first-class poultry." He could not possibly buy them (young 

 birds in full lay), on an average for less than 7s. 6d. per head. 

 These birds he is sirpposed to sell two years after for 2s. Gd., or 

 at a loss of 5.s. per head, or i'25 on the one himdred head pur- 

 chased. This loss does not a^spear in the balance sheet. Again, 

 it must be remembered that, supposing for the sake of argu- 

 ment, Hamburghs lay the amount of eggs stated, they do not sit ; 

 and therefore other hens must be kept as mothers, who would lay 

 comparatively few eggs ; and, moreover, cocks lay no eggs and 

 retiu-n nothing for their food, whereas in Mr. Edwards's account 

 every fowl, sitter or non-sitter, cock or hen, is considered to lay 

 on an average 220 eggs per year, which is absurd. 



Again, any practical poultry-keeper knows that you cannot 

 possibly expect to rear all the chickens hatched, more especially 

 early broods, which are what Mr. Edwards advocates, and yet 

 in this debtor and creditor account every chicken hatched is 

 reared. Again, every egg laid is sold, no provision being made 

 for replenishing worn-out and sold-otf stock. Again, Mr. Ed- 

 wards states, " Hamburghs " are the fowls to be kept, and says 

 that at two years and a half old hens weigh 7i lbs., and for 

 these he can procure 2s. dd. each. Hamburgh hens never weigh 

 7J lbs., and certainly no one would give 2s. 6d. each for old hens. 

 A farmer does not sell to "the consumer," but to "amiddle- 

 mau," who swallowe-up all the profit. — E. E. E. 



GAME COCKS OF THE FIGHTING PERIOD versus 

 GAME COCKS OF THE SHOWING PERIOD. 

 As a breeder of the above birds for upwards of forty years, 

 first for the pit and now for exhibition, I think I may venture 

 to give an opinion respecting the qualities of our Game cocks in 

 the fighting period, and also the showing period. I fully endorse 

 all Mr. Wright has written about the present exhibition birds, 

 and I think the majority of the birds bred l)your best exhibitors 

 would prove themselves quite equal to their ancestors in the 

 pit, and for general appearance they are far in advance of them. 

 I cannot imagine in which points " Old Black Bed " can see 

 the Malay in our present cup-winners, and I think if he were to 

 cross one of the old fighting cocks with a Malay he would find 

 the offspring would be a long way behind in those points re- 

 quii'ed to make a cup-winner at any of our large shows ; in fact, 

 he might cross for several years, and would still find his birds 

 far behind in the race. 



I think any close observer would plainly see, on looking at the 

 Malay with his short thick head, bad colour of feathers, and 

 general coarse appearance, the many difficulties he would have 

 to contend with before he could get a Game cock equal to the 

 present type of cup- winners. — Duck%ving. 



OxFOTin Poulthy .^nd Pigeon Show. — The Committee of this 

 Show lately met to audit the accounts. There was a satis- 

 factory balance. Votes of thanks were passed to the patrons 

 and douors of cups. In order not to interfere with the arrange- 

 ments of other committees, it was determined thus early to fix 

 the date of the second Show for "Wednesday and Thursday, 

 October 29th and 30th. We are informed that the value of the 



prizes wiU be more in some cases, and that prizes in an in- 

 creased number of classes wiU be awarded ; also that cups will 

 be given in nearly every class. The Pigeons wUl not be neg- 

 lected, silver plate having been promised for several varieties. 

 We trust that exhibitors wUl give their assistance by a nu- 

 merous entry. The Town Hall in addition to the Corn Ex- 

 change has been engaged, so that any number of pens can be 

 accommodated. 



REFORM IN POULTRY SHOWS. 



I HAVE been for a long time a frequent visitor at poultry and 

 Pigeon shows, in fact I never miss one that I can go to. I 

 always return with a feeling of regret that the committee should 

 not have made some arrangement that would have put me, the 

 mere amateur — I know what the word used to mean— on a level 

 with the regular professional exhibitors, who carry away so 

 large a share of the spoil at most shows. I have pondered ovei! 

 the matter, have read the complaints of many similarly situated 

 to myself, have heard the suggestions thrown out from time ta 

 time, and am at length prepared to offer a plan which wQl at 

 once, without excluding the professional shower, leave him but 

 a sorry chance beside the amateur, and which wiU at the same 

 time flU the catalogue of most exhibitions. This scheme of 

 mine is to reverse the usual order of things, and award the 

 prizes to the worst birds. It is positively unjust, I say, to go on 

 year after year giving prizes only to the best specimens, while 

 scores of fanciers — local fanciers, men who never borrowed or 

 bought a bird in their lives, men whose yards and lofts are often 

 large ones, and who would not hesitate to let you pick out any 

 bu-d for a guinea, are as good as told that the prizes were never 

 meant for them. Consider, by the adoption of my plan, how 

 these men will support exhibitions. From every nook and 

 corner of the kingdom, supposing the entry fee to be judiciously 

 low, we should evoke a friendly rivaliy of true fanciers— of 

 fanciers who, not having given ±'20 or iBO for this or that bird,, 

 and not breeding birds of that value themselves, have not made 

 their winning a foregone conclusion. 



It may be urged in opposition to this plan that it subverts the 

 true end of shows, which are for the encouragement of breeders- 

 and for the improvement of the breed ; but let us look into it.. 

 Considering a show as for the encouragement of breeders, the 

 end is attained most surely by my plan, for there are more 

 breeders of moderate than of good stuff, and being no respecters- 

 of persons we must look to the end — the encouragement of the 

 larger number of breeders ; and considering it for the improve- 

 ment of the breed, 1 must confess 1 cannot see how giving every 

 cup for two or three years to one bird, which happens to be 

 better than was ever raised before, tends at all to improve the 

 breed. It must do the reverse, for how can every fancier spend 

 years upon years in striving after excellence, and never stint 

 expense in the purchase of stock ? The thing is impossible, and 

 the success of one who can do this must be but disheartening to 

 the tyro and the modest fancier, who must perforce content 

 themselves with the more ordinary type of the breed; and that 

 we shall find, after all, to be often the correct type. 



1 shall look forward to our coming summer and autumn shows 

 with much suspense to see my plan adopted. It has been called 

 for long enough. SoUtary fanciers have now and then lifted up 

 then- voice against the present plan. Latterly the number of 

 complaints from these gentlemen, who are, as has been well 

 said by no mean authority, "the sinews and backbone" of a 

 show, have been very numerous. A few committees have tried 

 what they could do, have ruled out all prohibitory prices, have 

 limited even actual prices ; and that must work well, for how 

 can, say, a J^IO pair of Carriers be anything but very poor speci- 

 mens ; and lastly, your contemporary takes up the matter, and 

 with an earnestness worthy of the cause, demands the exclusion 

 of the leviathans who arrogate to themselves all the goodness 

 in the country. I now call on all true amateurs to aid us, and 

 I trust that before many months we shall see " shows as they 

 ought to be, not as they are," so contrived that every man, be 

 his birds what they may, will stand his fair chance of a cup. — 



S.VPIENTISSIMUS. 



[We have heard of a donkey race where the last was to be 

 the winner, but there to insure a good contest each owner rode 

 his opponent's donkey. If " Sapientissimus's " plan were 

 adopted, each exhibitor should feed an opponent's fowls. — Eds.] 



HANLEY POULTRY SHOW. 



I THINK it only right to the Committee that I should bear 

 testimony to the gentlemanly way in which they have treated 

 me. Mr. Douglas was not quite correct in stating that " they 

 are doing something very wrong over this Show." If he had 

 said "there ia something wrong, &c.," it would have been a 

 little nearer the facts of the ease. My case was this :— I was 

 awarded the Duke of Sutherland's cup for the best pen in the 

 Show, and the Committee had the extra prize booked to the 

 wrong class in error. It was simply a mistake on the part of, 

 I suppose, the Secretary or some person deputed to act on his 



