Novomljcr 7, 1865. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



.393 



disqiinlify, simply for a ilevcloiiment that is with Ihcjii ub- 

 Koluti'ly inseparaljlo from age alone. 



Tliechickons of the large-sized oorrugatei'I-fftccd Spanish 

 fowls are invariably the most attractive at the first chicken 

 shows of the year, and it must he over remembered, exhibition 

 poultry should always be judged, at wliut tlwi/ then nrc, rather 

 than a"t what they hiivi' been, or ultimately nunj prove. These 

 latter also, if assiduously attended to, frequently carry out a 

 very long course of success, but if neglected they soon fall to 

 decay. The very fine exquisitely white-faced Spanish fowls, 

 shown, as thoy sometimes are, without possessing a single fold 

 or imperfection, require occasional " crossing," or degeneracy 

 of both bodily size, and also of face, inevitably creeps in. The 

 middle course between this Scylla and Charybdis iu the breed- 

 ing of Spanish fowls, is the one I would myself pursue were 

 I, like your con-espondent " QfALixv," and many others, to 

 adopt as my hobby the exliibitiou of Spanish fowls. — Edwd. 

 Hfwitt, SjiDiLhrnuk, BinnitviJuim.] 



I no not pretend to lay do-ivn standard rttles and regulations 

 by the aid of which Game fowls are awarded prizes at our poultry 

 exhibitions. It is oWdent that very often a smart dandy-look- 

 ing bird is preferred to the good, old, honest fellow, who would 

 make short work of such a puny antagonist, if pitted on the 

 Bod. This brings out the question, Wliether Game fowls, when 

 exhibited, are now to rank merely as •■ fancy " fowls, or to be 

 considered the worthy descendants of forefathers whose cha- 

 racter was " free, able, and willing," and t*o whom the rough 

 work of the cock-pit seemed almost a delight ? 



The greatest fault of a real fighting-cock is heiug_ "cow- 

 footed," fl/i(i.i " duck-footed." If unsuccessful at the first two 

 or tlu-ce blows, he reels just like a cock pricked by the steel in 

 the spine, though not mortally ; he cannot direct his motions, 

 and, thus powerless, he soon bites the dust. A twisted breast, 

 though bad enough, is often no objection to fighting ; but the 

 cow-footed cock, to use the cant phrase of collegians, may " have 

 a large heart, but he has no understanding." — Cock-pit. 



GAIIE-FOWL .JUDGING. 



Afteu a c.arefid perusal of the communication of " Justiti.i " 

 on this subject in No. 239, I must confess myself at a loss to 

 understand the object of the writer in penning it. If it is 

 intended as a reply to my previous communication, a more 

 signal failure cannot well be conceived. It is, however, satis- 

 factory to find that your correspondent admits the importance 

 of the points raised in my letter, and the advantage of a further 

 ventilation of the subject of an honest av.'ard of prizes at 

 poultry shows, to which it refers; and I can only say that it 

 will give me pleasure to assist bim in the process, if after the 

 present communication he desire it ; although it would in- 

 volve little beyond traversing the ground gone over in the con- 

 troversy on the same subject in your columns in 18C3. 



In noticing the more salient points in your correspondent's 

 production I am struck with the soreness manifested by the 

 writer. Whether he is personally interested in the matter, 

 and feels my remarks as a personal rebuke, I will not hazard 

 an opinion, but were such the case he could not ha^e displayed 

 more sensitiveness. 



"JcsTiTu" designates my remarks on judging Game fowls 

 assumptions ; but as he has not ventured to controvert my 

 positions I can only regard it as a tacit admission of his in- 

 ability to disprove their correctness : the attempt to stigmatise 

 as assumptions what he cannot answer is too transparent to 

 mislead any one who is capable of reflection. The statement, 

 for instance, 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," he admits to be 

 true ; " such," he says, " is undoubtedly the case iu some 

 instances, although," he adds, " it does not necessarily follow 

 that such knowledge can be either bought or rented as many 

 prize birds are." What this last clause has to do with the one 

 which precedes it would sorely tax tlie powers of " .Justitia " 

 to explain. Is it intended to illustrate the exceptions which 

 qualify his admission of the capabiUties of experienced exhi- 

 bitors to judge the jioiuts of merit in fowls? or is it to be 

 taken as an example of his mode of " ventilating " the subject ? 

 Most of your readers, I apprehend, will be of opinion that so 

 palpable a nun seqititiir speaks little for your correspondent's 

 logical acimien, and promises less in the way of elucidating the 



matter he has undertaken to write upon. As, however, he 

 " assumes" to know the present writer, his reference to " rent- 

 ing jjrize birds " may be designed to convoy a personal insinu- 

 ation, jiarlicularly as he reiterates the insinuation in a subsa- 

 qucnt part of liin letter ; if bo, I reply that the assumption is 

 as unfounded as it is gratuitous; and for the rest, if he knew 

 of any exhibitor being guilty of infringing the rules by exhi- 

 biting birds which were not his own, it would have been more 

 consistent with the character of one who writes under the 

 signature of your correspondent to have made an open protest 

 at the time, instead of insinuating the charge in an anonymous 

 communication. But it not unfrequcntly happens that persons 

 most ready at insinuating charges against otliers are guilty of 

 the alleged practices themselves. 



Then he makes allusions to a " certain Game exhibitor," 

 whose name " does not appear in the catalogue " of the Man- 

 chester Show two years ago. ^\^loever the exhibitor may be 

 to whom this refers, I apprehend ho was at liberty to exhibit 

 his birds where and when ho pleased. The insinuation of 

 birds that were his property taking prizes in other names at 

 this Show has already been disposed of. One of the most 

 extraordinary portions of " .Iustitia's" communication is that 

 where he so positively asserts that the alleged dissatisfaction 

 with the judging of Game fowls at the Birmingham Exhibition 

 was confined to one or two discontented exhibitors. How your 

 correspondent could make the assertion in the face of the fact, 

 that a vote of censure was passed by the Toultry Club on the 

 Birmingham judging last year, in consequence of the defective 

 decisions referred to in my previous communication, it is not 

 easy to explain. The most charitable conclusion is that he either 

 must not have known of or have forgotten the circumstance, 

 which does not say much for his authority on these points : 

 besides, were further proof required, it is supplied in the ad- 

 vertising columns of your Number of October 2ith, from which 

 youi- readers may see that a memorial on this very subject is 

 now receiving the signatures of exhibitors. 



The only other point I need notice is that relating to the 

 retirement of Mr. Archer. At the Exhibition in question he 

 was a more successful exhibitor than usual ; whilst, on the 

 other hand, I understood from Mr. JIartin, who had charge of 

 his birds, that his discontinuing to be an exhibitor arose from 

 circumstances unconnected w-ith that or any other Show. 

 Your readers, I apprehend, will now be at no loss to judge of 

 the weight to be attached to the statements of " Justitia."— 



ExHiniTOE. 



WHITE SPANISH FOWLS. 



In the Journal of September 26th are some remarks on 'White 

 Spanish Fowls, which, I think, ought not to pass unchallenged. 

 The statement is — " They were always looked upon more as 

 pets and eccentricities than anything else, and were not largely 

 bred. They lacked the contrast that forms the chief beauty 

 of the Spaiaish, black plumage,' white face, and red comb." 

 Now, as to their being bred as pets and eccentricities ; if as 

 pets, they are deservedly so, for who can look upon them with 

 their glossy pure white plumage, bright red faces, and pendant 

 eombs, and deny that they are beautiful? They are vei-y do- 

 cile, and have the same proper respect for a fence and disincU- 

 natiou to trespass as Cochins. That next word " eccentricities." 

 I do not lialf hke, nor do I think Wliite Spanish deserve it so 

 much as Black Spanish, for is not the chief beauty of Black 

 Spanish, the white face, as great an eccentricity as any point 

 iu any other breed? I trust that brother fanciers will pardon 

 me for calling the white face of the Black Spanish an eccentri- 

 city. I think that any distinct point in any breed should be 

 called "a distinctive characteristic," not "an eccentricity." 



For instance, no fancier would call the top-knot and beard 

 of the Polish " an eccentricity ;" but I recollect showing my 

 Polands to a non-fancying friend, when he exclaimed, "'What 

 eccentric fellows ! It they were mine I 'd have them shaved !" 



I will now endeavom- to' show that White Spanish fowls have 

 other and greater claims to be more largely bred and patronised. 

 One writer describes them as being "very precocious ;" and 

 my experience for the last three years proves that they are so ; 

 for having bred Dorkings, (Jam'e, Polands, Hamburghs, and 

 Black Minorcas, the 'White Spanish pullets have all commenced 

 laying at from four to six weeks younger than either of the 

 other breeds. Many persons near Torquay keep the 'VMiite 

 Spanish, and all agree that they are very early and very good 

 layers. 

 "They were first brought here by Mr. Tordiffe, who purchase 



