November 21, 1865. ] JOURNAL OP HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENKE. 



433 



iinkiniliiesa, but to sow broadcast a little of that love towards 

 our foathercd pets wliicli be feels so warmly bimself, and we 

 exhibitors feel that in any show he visits, if our pets are not 

 properly attended to, he will kindly point out the errors. The 

 complaint of the Turkeys is a very serious one ; they require 

 very much larjjor pens than they generally have. As to the size 

 of the Calno pens I know nothing, as imfortuuatcly I was not 

 there to see ; but the imprisoned Turkey.s would appear to have 

 been very wide awake, and to have taken a note of the varied 

 doings of the officials. It cannot he too much impressed on 

 poultry show ofiicials, that to cause any disfigurement or uu- 

 necess.iry damage to the plumage of exhibited birds is exceed- 

 ingly uufair to the owners. I imagine that most of us think — 

 certainly I do myself, that having paid the required entrance fee 

 we may place some faith in the regulation generally found in 

 schedules, that "Every possible care will bo taken, .fco." Can 

 this regulation be carried out in good faith when the pens are 

 too small '! As regards the Dark Brahmas, " Wiltsiiiuk Rector," 

 even as understood by " An Exhimxoh," was partially correct, 

 for although shown in the " Any age " class, my prize pen con- 

 tained two pullets. My pen in the chicken class was shown for 

 sale. 



I do not Imow whether the concluding portion of Mr. Heath's 

 letter appUes to me or not. He says, " As an instance of how 

 ready some people are to find fault, one successful exhibitor 

 has already complained at not receiving his prize money ; but 

 surely a fortnight after the Show is not unreasonably long." 

 I was writing to the Secretary as to the return railway car- 

 riage, with which I had been unexpectedly charged, and whilst 

 writing, I said Calne was not so punctual yi paying prizes as 

 foriiurhj, when, if I recollect rightly, three or four days only 

 elapsed ; this was, if I mistake not, imder Mr. Heath's manage- 

 ment. I do not think I cnmplained more than this. But now I 

 will state what I think ought to be done by every poultry com- 

 mittee. The prizes are debts justly due from the committee to 

 the successful exhibitors ; this, I presume, is acknowledged ; 

 it follows, therefore, that without waiting to see what may be 

 the ])rofits or otherwise of the show, the Secretary might, 

 within three days of the close of the show, take his prize list 

 and dispatch the various amounts, with any sale money, to the 

 several destinations. This, it seems to me, is the fair way of 

 transacting the work. To keep shows going, it is of paramount 

 imporiauce to keep exhibitors contented, and any dilatory pay- 

 ment is apt to make a bitten exhibitor suspicious. I agree with 

 remarks that I have seen in previous Numbers of your .Jom'nal, 

 that exhibitors shoidd be treated with more courtesy than they 

 often receive. I hope Mr. Heath will not think I am speaking 

 of Calne — there, I know from past experience it is the reverse, 

 and we all feel it a comfort to our pets that a fellow-" maniac," 

 as we used to be called, is on the committee. Any remarks I 

 may have made are intended for poultry committees generally. 



J. HiNTON. 



NORMANDY FOWLS. 



As the name implies, these birds were obtained from Nor- 

 mandy. They have a very strildng appearance, being snowy 

 white, free from colour, strikingly contrasting with the crimson 

 red comb lying do^vn on part of the bill, and the red face and 

 wattles. The jilumage contrasts also very remarkably with 

 their light blue legs. The attitude of the male bird resembles 

 that of the Flamingo, with the exception of the length of the 

 neck and legs. As a table fowl scarcely any other breed can 

 compete with them. My male bird, five months old, weighs 

 6 lbs. 6 ozs., being lib. Gozs. beyond a pound per month's 

 growth. 



I may add that the bones are very fine, and the interior 

 parts of the fowl light. The skin is thin, and pure white, the 

 flesh is juicy and very high flavoured. As layers they are first- 

 -lass, laying about forty eggs before showing any wish to incu- 

 bate. — H. Leworthy. 



[We insert this at the request of Mr. Leworthy, but not 

 having seen the fowls, we cannot form a judgment as to their 

 novelty or merits. — Eds.] 



OuK British Song Birds. — Some time ago I remember an 

 inquiiy in this section of the Journal, as to whether the notes 

 of our English birds had ever been musically rendered. A very 

 ingenious book, " Gardiner's Music of Nature," contains what 

 your correspondent asks for ; and not only the songs of birds, 

 but the sound of most animals, and the use made oi them by 



the great composers, especially Beethoven and Mozart. I am 

 sorry that it has always escaped my memory at the proper time, 

 and if this should meet the eye of your correspondent, I think 

 ho will be pleased with the book. — F. H. Weist. 



DUCK-FOOTED GAME FOWLS. 



I rEKFECTLT agree with Mr. Hewitt as to the desirability o£ 

 proving by adduced facts, whether duck-footed birds inherit 

 this failing by hereditary descent or otherwise. 



My own opinion is that it is an inherent defect in some birds, 

 although in the ItritUh Sportsman I find the following remarks : 

 — " When your chickens want to go to roost, let the perches yon 

 provide for them bo round and covered with woollen cloth, 

 which will prevent then- growing crooked-breasted, neither 

 should they be thicker than they can grasp with ease, as that 

 would occa'sion them to be duck-footed. This last article, when 

 it happens, is a great detriment to them, by reason of their 

 not being able to stand so firm in their battle as they otherwise 

 would do were their claws in a proper direction." Now I have 

 kept Game fowls some years, and have tried experim ents to 

 prove whether I could counteract the tendency to be duck-footed 

 or crooked-breasted by differenfforms of roosting, warmth, high 

 feeding, a good grass run, and a clean i-un of water, but could 

 never eradicate this failing when the parent stock were deficient. 



Perhaps you may be able to counteract an indented breast by 

 judicious care, insta nces of which I have witnessed. I would 

 caution all breeders of Game fowls to be particularly guarded 

 and circumspect in selecting their brood stock, and would re- 

 commend them to destroy all defective chickens; by so doing 

 they will bring their breed to a greater state of perfection. Ex- 

 hibitors of this noble bird ought to see that the birds are in 

 all respects free from glaring imperfections, for occupying walks 

 with defective birds is not only an increase of expense, but a 

 great disappointment when the birds are disqualified by the 

 judges ; indeed, notwithstanding aU our efforts and care in 

 breeding, they are not always crowned with succes s. 



I will now quote from an old work on the Game fowl the im- 

 perfections we should guard against : — "Flat-sided, short-legged, 

 thin thigh, crooked or indented breast, short thin neck, imper- 

 fect eye, duck and short-footed, long and loose-feathered, and 

 unhealthful." — Skeichlet. 



Mr. He'ffitt having invited amateurs interested in the discus- 

 sion on the deformity in Game fowls, known as " duck-footed," 

 to communicate any facts in proof of its hereditary tendency 

 or otherwise, I will, with yoiu- permission, give my own ex- 

 perience of the occurrence of the deformity, having paid some 

 httle attention to it. 



I little thought when I wrote to you to ask the precise nature 

 of the affection that it woiild have raised so much discussion 

 on the subject, and I" think amateurs generally must, with my- 

 self, feel much indebted to Mr. Hewitt for his sensible and well- 

 grounded opinions, the result of an amount of experience which 

 few can bring to bear. 



In some Black- red Game chickens which I bred this year from 

 a cock which had " a tendency " to duck-footedness, the hen's 

 back toe being perfectly straight, one out of thirteen chickens 

 was decidedly duck-footed, and another had a tendency to it ; 

 in the other eleven the back toe is quite straight. The mother 

 of the cock fi-om which the thirteen chickens were bred had a 

 greater tendency to the deformity, and the grandmother of the 

 cock was quite duck-footed. In this case, I imagine, there was 

 little doubt about the deformity being produced from hereditary 

 tendency, becoming less and less from interbreeding with 

 fowls not so affected. Again, in the Duckwing chickens, bred 

 from birds in which the back toe is perfectly straight, one has 

 a tendency to it, and another is decidedly duck-footed ; clso in 

 some Brown-reds, from parents quite free from the deformity, 

 two chickens show a great tendency to it. In both these cases, 

 as far as I have the means of judging, there is no hereditary 

 tendency, neither the parents nor grandparents, to my know- 

 ledge, being malformed. Hov/ far tlie kind of perch which is 

 used may be the means of producing the deformity I cannot 

 say, some of my chickens having roosted in trees, others on 

 perches made from oak saphngs, about 3 inches in diameter, 

 split, and placed with the round side uppennest. Since this 

 subject has been under discussion I have made some dissections 

 of the feet and legs of fowls affected with this deformity, and 

 I find the hind toe drawn forward by an unnatural amount of 

 contraction of the flexor, or grasping-muscle and tendon of the 



