N OTcmbor 14, 1865. J 



JOUENAL OP IIOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



415 



good feature is that the day is specifiod (Jaimuiy L'oth), on or 

 before which all prizes wiU he paid. The I'uullry Club is to 

 appoint the Judge of poultry. 



SIR JOHN SAUNDEES SEBKIGIIT. 



We have been applied to for a portrait of this first cultivator 

 of the Bautani, and as we have a rather scarce portrait of the 

 worthy Banmet, we have had it photoRraphed, ami enpies may 

 be had at our office. A few paiti<'ulars of his not eventful 

 biography will be a suitable ncconi]ianimeut. 



Ho was the eldest son of Jjieut.Cleneral Sir John Sebright, 

 M.P. for Bath, and his mother was a daughter of Edward 

 Knight, Esq., of Wolverley, in Worcestershire. He was bom 

 in Hackville Street, St. James's, Westminster, on the 23rd 

 of May, 17(i7. He married, in 17'J'^, a daugliter of Biehard 

 Croft, Esq., of Harley, in Norfolk, and their oflspring were one 

 son and eight daughters. He succeeded to the baronetcy on 

 the death of his father in 17'J4. In 17t)7 ho was High Sheriff 

 of Hertfordshire, which county he represented in eight parlia- 

 ments, from 1H()7 to 1835, and ho was also a Deputy Lieutenant 

 of the same county. He died at Acton (Ireen, April loth, 

 18!(), and was buried at Flamstead, in Hertfordshire. 



The Sobrights are an ancient family in England, and were 

 at Sebright Hall, in Essex, when the earliest Norman Kings 

 reigned over us. Even then they were specially associated with 

 country oocupations and the hunting field, holding their estate 

 by the service of " keeping the King's palfrey, or saddle horse, 

 forty days at the King's charge, whenever he came into those 

 parts." 



The late Baronet did not depart from the traditions of his 

 ancestors. It was about the year 1800 that the late Sir John 

 Sebright first began to fashion the Sebright Bantam. The cross 

 was between some common Bantam and the Polish fowl. These 

 were bred in and in until the required marking and size were 

 sesured. Sir John then accidentally found a short-tailed Ban- 

 tam cock in the country when he was travelling. This short- 

 tailed bird he in-bred with his newly-manufactured Bantams, 

 thereby giving their progeny the present form of the short tail. 



In the "Poultry Chronicle" it is stated that Sir John ob- 

 tained a buff-coloured Bantam hen at Norwich : she was very 

 small indeed, with clear slate-coloured legs. On the same 

 journey he purchased a cockerel rather inclined to red in 

 colour, destitute of sickle feathers, with a hen-like hackle ; and 

 also, at Watford, a small hen resembling a Golden Hamburgh. 

 He afterwards had a white cockerel from the Zoological Gar- 

 dens, by which he made his Silvers. This description of the 

 origin refers back before the laced marking was achieved. They 

 were then known as Pheasant Bantams. 



Sir John also estabhshed a club for the fostering and im- 

 provement of his pets. It is thus mentioned in the " Poultry 

 Chronicle " of 1855 : — " The Sebright Bantam Club was formed 

 some forty years ago by the late Sir John S. Sebright and several 

 other fanciers, who endeavoured, if possible, to obtain the 

 beautiful plumage of the Polish fowl on as small specimens as 

 could be. They (the late Sir .John, the late Mr. Stevens, the 

 late Mr. HoUingsworth, and Mr. Garle, who still survives), be- 

 gan their labours by selecting the best lands for their puqjose 

 of the Polish, and, by judiciously crossing them with Bantams, 

 gradually obtained their end. They had to work out the top- 

 knots, get rid of the hackles and long tail feathers, and reduce 

 the size, retaining as much as possible the truly impertinent 

 carriage of the Bantam. This has been most successfully ac- 

 complished, but not without the occasional re-crossing with 

 the Black Bantam, for the constant breeding in and in has 

 often brought the birds to a stand-still. The Club thus formed 

 met annually, on the second Tuesday in February, in Brick 

 Lane, but has of late years been transferred to the Gray's Inn 

 Coffee-house, Holborn, when it has always been the custom to 

 admit strangers, on application, after the award of the Judges. 

 The Club is essentially private, and all members must be pro- 

 posed and seconded by a member, and afterwards balloted for. 

 The annual subscription for the Golden is two guineas, and 

 the same for the Silvers, whi«h forms the amount of prizes. 

 All the birds must be the bona fide property of the exhibitor, 

 bred by him, and under a year old. The cocks are allowed 

 22 ozs., the hens 18 ozs. The cocks must have no long hackles, 

 no saddle feathers, no streamers in the tail ; they must have 

 rose combs, short backs, heads and tails approximating ; their 

 ground colour, whether Gold or Silver, must be clear, and every 

 featber delicately laced (never spotted) with pure black. The 



tail feathers should form no exception in their lacing (but this 

 will be very seldom seen), and the bars on the wings should be 

 black and distinct. The same rule applies to the hens." 



ATTEMPTED SWINDLING. 

 Some time since, being in want of a few pairs of fancy 

 Pigeons, I advertised for them, and the second day after the 

 appearance of the advertisement I received a letter from a 

 jiarty who also signed himself a " Surgeon," olfering mo some 

 birds, which he said had taken first prizes at the Crystal Palace 

 and other principal shows, at nnvrvellously low prices, and 

 offering me a further reduction of 50 per cent, subject to my 

 taking half-a-dozon pairs. These very liberal terms aroused 

 my suspicions, and naturally prevented mo from sending cash 

 in advance, but I wrote to him and asked him to send me some 

 that I mentioned, on apiu'oval, at the same time referring him 

 to a gentleman wlio lived within a few hundred yards of the 

 adtU-ess given. From that day to this I have never heard a 

 word from this most honourable " Surgeon," but from inquiries 

 which I caused to be instituted I find that the address given in 

 not a surgeon's residence, but a post office. I have not a shadow 

 of a doubt but that tliis is the same person who, " it he could," 

 would have imposed upon " Caxtus " as well as myself. — 

 J. J. H. S. 



PIGEON MANAGEMENT. 



I TniNK it would he interesting to your readers to hear from 

 fanciers of their successes and failures in breeding, and their 

 mode of treatment. This has, 1 believe, been generally considered 

 a bad breeding season, and comparatively few of our great breeders 

 have succeeded in rearing many bu'ds. This I hear from all 

 quarters, but have heard no satisfactory reason assigned, and I 

 shall be glad to hear what may be the probable cause. At this 

 time my stock of Pigeons (mostly Carriers) are in perfect health 

 and condition. I am feeding them chiefly on old tick beans, and 

 occasionally give them Indian corn and small sound peas by way 

 of a change. Of course they are kept scrupulously clean, and 

 have a constant supply of gi'avel, sand, and fresh water. 



On cold mornings I give them a little hempseed, but I am not 

 certain that this is a proper diet for Carriers, ami that rape seed 

 is not preferable. Will Sir. Brent, or any of our Pigeon-fancying 

 friends, give an opinion, and of the effects of the diflerent kinds 

 of com on the birds ? So far as my experience teaches, suddea 

 change of food is injurious, and Indian corn alone 1 should not 

 recommend. 



With regard to ventilation, I am giving a good deal of fresh 

 air in the day, and closing the loft at night. I should like to 

 know whether much fresh air is thought desirable at this time 

 of year, and whether a pretty strong current through the loft 

 would he beneficial cr otherwise. — William JIassey. 



[I think that a little hempseed, if given sparingly, will not 

 injure Jlr. Massey's Carriers, and I fear that they will not be 

 able readily to pick up rapeseed on account of their wattle ob- 

 structing the direct line of sight. Indian com and peas I con- 

 sider good for flying Pigeons while in training ; but for Pigeons 

 confined I fear much Indian com is too fattening, and peas cause 

 them to lay soft-shelled eggs. Wheat is good for feeding young 

 ones on, but causes the old ones to be soft in condition and 

 feather. Sound old tares, small old beans, and a Httle good barley 

 I think the best food for fancy Pigeons. Fresh air is good for 

 the Pigeons, but a strong draught at this season is certamly not 

 desirable. — B. P. Bkent.] 



SECOND AND THIRD SWARMS. 

 I BEGAN bee-keeping this year with a swarm, second or third 

 from the old stock, in the first week of June. The hive is 

 called, I think, "Neighbour's Improved Cottage." The bees 

 have worked apparently very industriously all along ; but they 

 have not filled the hive , and of com-se have given no honey in the 

 glasses above. The bees began to build on one side, and gra- 

 dually approached the other ; but a largo share, I should think 

 one-fourth of the whole, has not yet been iUled up. They 

 have been fed with syrup, equal to about lbs. of white sugar, 

 up to the present time. The drones, if any, have not to my 

 knowledge been expelled, although I have watched the hive very 

 closely, unless this event occurred about three weeks since 

 when a few dead bees were found lying in front of the hive; 

 there were, perhaps — say twenty of them. There seem to be, 

 however, plenty of bees, and they are very industrious. 



