May 8, 1873. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



381 



of the soil will, perhaps, reveal the cause of the evil, and the remedy will 

 remain in youi' hands. 



IxsECT IN Kaspberry Cvnes {J. Coles).—Th6 red ffi'ubs are the larvfB of 

 a very small moth called the Ra:^pberr>--bud moth. The egg is laid by a moth 

 in a bud, and the grub from thee^-geatsitK way into the cane. Entomologists 

 now call the moth Lomprouia rubiella, Linnitus called it Tinea corticoUa. We 

 know of no mode of prevention except cutting off and buniiug all the parte 

 of the canea which give evidence of having grubs within them. 



Name op Fruit (Harrhon d^ Sonn). — Holland Pippin. 



Names of Plants ID. C. M.).—\, Thujopsis borealis; 2, Cupresaua Law- 

 soniana ; 3, Wise's Holly ; 4, Toius pyramidaUs ; 5, Retiuuspora obtusa. 

 (/f. it'.).— Probably Dalechampia rosea, but the specimen is very bad. (D.).— 

 1, Stellaria Holostea; H, Veronica serpyllifulia; ;J, Myosotis coUina; 4, Vale- 

 rianella olitoria; 5, Luzulacampostris; 6, Aspidium augulare; 7, Nephrodium 

 cordifolium ; .S, Spannauuia africana. (T/^owi-i).— Acacia Drummoudii, or 

 some nearly allied species. (/•'. IC. H.).— 1, Probably Oxalis megalorhiza, 

 Jat-'y., but specimen unsatisfactory; 2, Indeterminable, it does not look like 

 A Liuum. ( Jlac.).— 1, Hypnum undulatum ; 2 and ;J, Fumaria hygrometrica ; 

 4, Weissia curvirostra. {T. J. H.). — Common Ribbon Grass, or Gardiiuers' 

 Garters, Phalaris arundinacea. (A. C). — We never heard of either Athro- 

 podion or Sarana. We imagine Arthropodium and either Sanrauja or Saraca 

 must be meant. 



POULTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON OHKONIOLE. 



FOWLS PAST AND PEE SENT— THE LAW OF 

 DEVELOPMENT. 



As " CoRNiBH DucKwiNG " siipposes, I am very glad if any 

 remarks I may at any time make are the means of causing dis- 

 cussion upon any puint connected with our useful and pleasant 

 hobby. A man who has no taste and no opinion of his own, 

 will never come to much good in the poultry fancy, since the 

 very essence of success in it is, the stamping of his own ideal 

 upon a race of birds, which, of course, he cannot do if he does not 

 really possess any. I have fought hard and perseveringly for 

 my own type of Brahma, and like to hear any other man for his 

 own type of Game. But I am not quite sure that either " Old 

 Black Red " or " Coknish Duckwing " have altogether under- 

 stood the remarks I made, aud hence I reply botli to them and 

 some other remarks upon other subjects which have appeared, 

 not so much as defending any particular disputed proposition, 

 as by way of further illustrating very simple laws which do not 

 yet seem thoroughly understood. 



On some matters of fact I should be disposed to differ from 

 " CoBNiSH DrcKWiNo" — not on his Game facts, respecting 

 ■which I know him to be an authority not lightly to be called 

 in question ; but as regards Spanish and Dorkings, I lived for 

 years at the very stronghold of the Spanish fancy, and I feel 

 compelled to say that as far as my iudi\adual opinion goes, the 

 faces are considerably inferior now to what they were years ago. 

 They used to be bred to a quahty that needed little preparation, 

 whereas now the dark room, tweezers, and other treatment 

 have to supplant the breeder's art to an extent which would 

 make any breed delicate. The best specimens are put time 

 after time in their dark house, and go from the warm confined 

 atmosphere to the show, and after this being repeated on many 

 occasions the birds are bred from. Would any fowls fail to pro- 

 duce weakly chickens after such treatment ? It is not " breed- 

 ing" for face, but " treating" for face, that in my opinion has 

 done the mischief. At all events the modern faces are far in- 

 ferior to those of even half a dozen years ago. 



Then, as to Dorkings, my strong impression is, that their con- 

 stitution is, on the whole, better than formerly, and that bumble- 

 foot is not owing at aU to increased size (else why do not Cochins 

 aud Brahmas have it), but solely from fixture of the fifth claw, 

 which in the old Coloured Dorkings was far from constant. 

 Now it is, and we see the result. That many birds are coarse 

 I admit. I have seen evident traces of feather on the legs, but 

 these crossed birds ought to be, and probably are, more hardy, 

 and are not allowed to take prizes. The celebrated Holmesdale 

 strain certainly was neither delicate in constitution nor coarse 

 in eating. 



But this case of the Dorking opens-up and curiously illustrates 

 & general question, which is virtually touched upon by ** Cornish 

 DucKWiNG," when he suggests that while my review of the 

 poultry of 1872 may be " satisfactory to the fancier," other 

 readers who *' breed for use," may think what we have gained 

 in size and feather has been dearly purchased. Many other 

 people are constantly asking, " What have shows done ? " and 

 seem to think it hard not to say wrong, that their effect is not 

 rather to increase the production of eggs and the edibility of 

 the flesh. They virtually argue that the tendency of shows 

 ought to be to encourage improvement in these respects ; and 

 it seems so true that many people never think of questioning it. 

 Tet a very little thought will show that the thing so desired is 

 from the very nature of the case a simple impossibility. Take 

 any show. Here are a lot of fowls all in pens, and here are the 

 gentlemen who have to judge them. Now, how can they possibly 

 do this judging except by having sole regard to points, which 

 they can either feel or see upon the spot ? It is manifest they 



cannot. One Hamburgh hen may be a much better layer than 

 her neighbour in the next pen, but how can the judge know 

 that ? Would anybody trust testimony as to such points ? I 

 fear moraUty is not high enough for that, aud by no other meaus 

 can such things be known. If the good layer is an ugly and 

 faulty bii-d, and the worst layer the handsomest in the class, 

 the latter must get the prize simply because prizes must be 

 given, and only can be given for certain points which can be 

 made evident in the show-pen itself. This, of course, necessi- 

 tates certain understood standards of perfection, and whatever 

 these may be, they must be equally arbitrary. People ask 

 sometimes why a prize fowl must be so-and-so ? If it was not 

 that, it must from the nature of the case be bred to some other 

 standard just as fixed and arbitrary, so we may as well have 

 the present as any others. If anyone can see how such stand- 

 ards may bo avoided in live fowls (I use this qualification for 

 reasons which will afterwards appear), I shall be very glad to 

 see the matter discussed, but for my part I confess I have 

 thought long and anxiously over the matter, and can see no 

 escape from the general conclusion I have expressed. If it can 

 be avoided, any further than by the attention to size, health, 

 and apparent vigour which a good judge always gives and is 

 expected to give, the discovery would be of the greatest im- 

 portance and benefit. 



Now, see how the Coloured Dorking illustrates this. Here 

 was a fowl which it was said should not be a " fancy " bird, ^yo 

 would have one breed judged only for the table and by its fit- 

 ness for it. Colour and feather were mere " arbitrary" points 

 and should find no place in judging our Dorking. The fowl 

 then was of a medium size, of all colours, though usually a grey 

 speckle, and bred if anything oftener without the fifth toe than 

 with it; hence, was comparatively free from bumble-foot to 

 what it is now. How was the fowl judged then ? and how did 

 the plan work? The reply is a most curious commentary as to 

 the absolute necessity for " fancy points." At first our fowl 

 was judged almost exclusively by size ; the largest and heaviest 

 birds carried the day, though even then some regard was paid 

 to colour, for cocks with breasts almost white, which were often 

 bred in those days, were rarely shown and hardly ever won. 

 But as crosses would give this size, which was of so much im- 

 portance, some safeguard was needed for purity of race. We 

 would not be particular as to colour, &c., but the Dorking must 

 really be a Dorking, of course. Now, to determine purity of 

 race we have really no guide whatever, but external characteris- 

 tics of some sort ; as we would not have colour we must have 

 something else, and it was enacted that our Dorkiug must have 

 the fifth toe. So to avoid a standard of colour, which may be 

 perfectly natural though arbitrary, and could iu itself have no 

 evil result, we were forced to insist upon a point which is not 

 only arbitrary but unnatural, and can be demonstrated to be 

 actually injurious and the parent of disease ! As we would not 

 have an ordinarily artificial standard, we were forced to adopt 

 one which is positively the most unnatural and artificial of aU ! 

 In a "fancy" breed this would not be at all remarkable any 

 more than the Polish crest is ; but this was to be the practical 

 table fowl ! We may laugh at the absurdity, but the truth is it 

 was inevitable for the reasons I have tried to point out. I 

 might add, that by degi-ees a very evident standard of even 

 colour has crept in, and this being so, although I fear my voice 

 will be of Uttle avail, I do not hesitate to say that the formal 

 recognition of such, if combined with the casting-out of the 

 fifth toe, would be the greatest boon to the breed which could 

 possibly be, for that toe is a curse to it which must cause 

 bumble-foot so long as it is retained, since excess in structure is 

 always accompanied by weakness of function. 



We see, then, that judges must in live fowls have before their 

 minds some ideal external standard by which to make their 

 awards. I wanted to make this very plain, because it lies at 

 the root of a general law, the beautiful simplicity of which has 

 appeared more and more clear to me for many years past, and 

 the understanding of which in thorough reality will always 

 make a successful breeder. This we wiU endeavour to examine 

 on another occasion. — L. Wright. 



BLACK COCHINS. 



I HAVE been glad to see the letters of Colonel Hassard and 

 " Black Jacobin," in your Journal on the subject of Black 

 Cochins. I have reason to believe that there are more birds of 

 this variety in the country than are supposed, but owing to there 

 never being classes for them they seldom appear, having to con- 

 tent themselves with the variety class, or compete against other 

 more established breeds of Cochins. I think if committees of 

 shows would only give this variety a trial, they would find the 

 class fill well. I shall be glad to subscribe to, and further in any 

 way I can, a class at the Crystal Palace or any show.— Alfred 

 Darbv, Bridgnorth. 



1 iuvE much pleasure in stating that the cup required by the 

 Crystal Palace Committee has been subscribed for by three 



