352 



JOUENAL OP HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAUDENEE. 



[ October 21, 1865. 



full sun and effectually ruined for any future exhibition, ie 

 simply untrue. I do not complain of " Wiltshire Kectok's" 

 strictures, feeling sm-e, as he himself says, that he wrote " for 

 improvement, and not h'om love of fault-finding ;" but I trust, 

 the above explanation haviag been given, whatever short- 

 comings there may have been, will appear the less reprehen- 

 sible. As an instance of how ready some people are to find 

 fault, one successful exhibitor has already complained at not 

 having received his prize money ; but surely a fortnight after 

 the Show is not an unreasonably long time to wait, and I fully 

 believe that aU the prizes will be paid by the time this is in 

 print. — Alfeed Heath, One of the Committee. 



THE LONG SUTTON POULTRY SHOW. 



In No. 237, 1 raised an objection to the announcement in the 

 schedule of this Show that a catalogue would be pubhshed ten 

 days before the award of the prizes. I still maintain that ob- 

 jection ; but I think I am bound to state that I have seen 

 nothing in the management of the Show, or in the award of the 

 prizes, with which I can find fault, and I wiU add, that had I 

 been aware Mr. Hewitt was to be the judge I certainly should 

 not have made any allusion to the prize Ust. I do not by any 

 means think Mr. Hewitt's judgment is infallible, but I cannot 

 put my prizes in a case when I do not think the judgment 

 honest. — An Exhibitor. 



MIDDLEWICH AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S 

 POULTRY SHOW. 



{From a Coiresjiom^eiit.) 



The annual Show took place in a field adjoining the town, on the 

 17th inst., and proved successful. The poultry were shown under a 

 large tent well adapted for the occasion ; and the classes were well 

 filled, the numher of entries being more than in any previous year. 

 Great credit is due to the Secretary, Mr. Taj-lor, together with a 

 working Committee, for the manner in which the Show was carried 

 out. The Gant£ class was vei-y good, and such was the merit of the 

 birds that it was a difficult matter for the Judges to decide which was 

 the best pen. The Dorkhujs showed up well, also the Havihurghs. 

 The Poland class was small, but the hu-ds were good. The Bantams 

 mustered well, some beautifiU White ones taking away the first and 

 second prizes. The Dneks, Any variety class, were excellent, the first 

 and second prizes being awarded to very fine Ajlesbuiys, such as 

 would not disgrace the great Birmingham Show. Ti/rheijs and Geese 

 were few, and not veiy excellent. The following is a hst of the 

 prizes : — 



Spanish. — First and Second, J. Siddom. 



Dorking (Any colour). — First, T. Pickering. Second, D. Harding. 

 Highly Commended, D. Harding. Comruended, P. Marron. 



Game (Any variety).— Fii-st, J. Grimes. Second, J. Heath. Highly 

 Commended, J. Piatt. Commended, E. Wigger. 



Hambubghs (Pencilled). — First, D. Harding. Second, J. Greaves, 

 Hichly Commended, D. Harding. 



HAarBURGHs (Spangled). — Fii-st, J. Greaves. Second and Commended, 

 T. Dale. 



PoLANDs. — First and Second, J. Heath. 



Bantams (Any variety). — First, Mrs. A. Butler. Second, C. HoUinshead. 

 Highly Commended, T. Butler. 



TuRKETS. — First and Second, P. MaiTon. 



Geese. — Fii-st, C. B. Lea. Second, P. Marron. 



Ducks. — First, Mrs. Hornby. Second, J. Piatt. 



The Judges were Mr. Fell. Warrington, and Mr. Bebbington, Min- 

 shaul Vernon. 



D^VBK BRAHMA POOTRAS. 



Has it not been considered by some connoisseurs of Brahmas 

 that the light Brahma is the original, and the dark Brahma a 

 later production ? 



From a Dorking cock (grey) and a light Brahma hen I have 

 produced a cockerel marvellously hke a dark Brahma, and I 

 cannot help thinking but the dark Brahmas have sprung from 

 some such cross. Perhaps some of your Brahma-loving con'e- 

 spondents would enlighten me on this point. — D. P. P. 



West Cumberland and North of England Poultkt So- 

 ciety. — It wUl be seen by an advertisement that the above 

 Society have fixed their next Exhibition for the 10th and llth 

 of January, 1866. The prize list includes eighteen silver cups. 

 Six of them are confined to West Cumberland — for single cocks 

 of Game, Dorking, Spanish, Cochin, Hamburgh, and Game 

 Bantam. The whole of the other classes in the Shows are open. 



For Game cocks, the first prize is a sOver cup, value £8 8s. ; 

 second ditto, £3 ; third ditto, £2 ; fourth ditto, £1 ; and fifth 

 ditto, 10s. To go thi-ough the whole of the classes would take 

 up too much of our space, but we will add that there is a cup 

 for the best pen in the Exhibition, and cups each of the value 

 of £'i 3s., for the best pens of Game, Dorking, Spanish, Cochins 

 and Brahmas combined, Hamburghs, Bantams, and Ducks. 

 For Pigeons there are twelve classes, each of f 1 for the first, 

 and 10s. for the second, with a cup added for the most suc- 

 cessful exhibitor. This Society has tripled the amount of 

 money given in prizes in less than three years ; for, in 1863, 

 £55 was given ; in February, 1864, £68 ; and in December, 186-1, 

 £116 ; and at the next Show over £180 will be given. 



GAINIE FOWL JUDGING. 



The controversy in your columns on the subject of Duck- 

 footed Game fowls now embraces several other points in con- 

 sequence of the contribution of " Exhibitor " in page 30S. 

 In this communication various assumptions as to Game judg- 

 ing are indulged in, and as "an honest award of the prizes " 

 is the sole object of his letter, a further ventilation of the sub- 

 ject wiU perhaps conduce to so desu-able an end. 



"Exhibitor" says "that a breeder and exhibitor of any 

 length of standing must possess as correct a knowledge of the 

 points of merit in a bird as a professional judge." Such, im- 

 doubtedly, is the case iu some instances, although it does not 

 necessarily follow that such knowledge can be either bought or 

 rented, as many prize birds are. " Exhibitor" then seeks to 

 illustrate his point by alleging the reth-oment of an exhibitor 

 consequent on non-success, and mentions the two last Birming- 

 ham Shows as instances of such retirement. A reference to the 

 Birmingham catalogue of 1863 and 4, certainly shows the names 

 of some exhibitors, " conspicuous by their absence," as prize- 

 takers, but your readers will scarcely be able to credit the aver- 

 ment of " Exhibitor " as to " the great dissatisfaction mani- 

 fested." It is quite true an attempt was made to throw discredit 

 on some of the decisions ; but it is well known that the alleged 

 dissatisfaction merely existed with one or two disappointed ex- 

 hibitors, and perhaps the best answer to such insinuations is 

 the re-appointment by the Birmingham Committee of the Game 

 Arbitrators. 



It is a matter of current rumour that an attempt has been 

 made this year, as heretofore, by a certain large Game exhibitor 

 to influence the appointment of the Game Judges at Birming- 

 ham for the forthcoming Show, by the threat of non-exhibition 

 in case of non-compliance, and as your correspondent states 

 " that the Birmingham Committee do not contemplate making 

 any change in their Judges of Game fowl," it will, perhaps, 

 not be far wide of the mark to assume that such person is iden- 

 tical with "Exhibitor." 



"Exhibitor" then notices the veiy liberal prize Ust issued 

 by Mr. Jennison, of Manchester, and after stating that exhibi- 

 tors had general confidence in the judges he has appointed, 

 proceeds to deduce that Birmingham should be passed in favour 

 of Manchester. At Manchester, two years ago, the name of a 

 certain Game exhibitor does not appear in the catalogue, 

 although the fowls usually shown by such person were supplied 

 to, and figured iu the prize hst in other names, which, quoting 

 from your correspondent, " wears an air of suspicion." 



It would be satisfactoi-y to know if the weU-known dictation 

 as to the Game Judges at Birmingham in 1862, attempted 

 again this year, prevailed successfully at Manchester in 1863. 

 Mr. Jennison is reputed to be a shi-ewd man of business, and, 

 wishing his enterprise eveiy success, it is to be hoped that he 

 will not 'accept; any nominee, but select judges of known 

 abiUty and integrity, and at all events not recur to the memor- 

 able Birmingham regime of 1862, which resulted in the retire- 

 ment of such exhibitors as Mr. Ai-cher, by whom Game fowls 

 were more improved than by any other breeder of his time. — 

 Justitia. 



PIGEONS "V^^TH ^\^BBED FEET. 



In a recent Number Mr. Hewitt described a Brahma's foot 

 that had the web largely developed. I fancy such cases are 

 not uncommon among birds with feathered feet. I have a first- 

 rate tumbling breed of Birmingham Boilers that is heavily 

 feathered on the feet. Several of these birds have the midiUe 

 and outer toes imited by a web, in some half way, in a few 

 quite to the end ; but the web is narrower than that of a Duck's 



