fiwiolnibeV'iC 1^- ] 



JbtJRNJlL OF HORTIOULTHRBj-AND COTTAaB -SAUBENEB. 



S93 



PiuKON.s^ r^rfiVri.-iFlrSt, tl. Yardler. IHrmlnKbnm. 8e^lm<l, (i. C. 

 HolVTiuislall. Tu7n6(fr».— Klrst.H. Yuriilt)-. Bt'ooud, .1. Smith. Lftiutim. 

 rrum/j«(fr«,-7FivKt, T. Kobsyu, Vfiikridj^f. KtMmnd, J. WHliiiiMlmw, Juil., 

 KAWtwjfU^,., -Tt^u-ifTJ*. " FlTst unrt , ftt'funil. *i. Tlinniclirt'n, iliiii;kU-y. 

 I>raftooiu. -- Firsl, K. lluttcrworlh, Natitwirli. S^Oond, H. Vardlcy. 

 fu/UilU-*.— FU*Ht,il. Va^Jley. Set-i'iid, »1. Kdwardft, Noriuiieutt. Itunt$.~~ 

 ttUo, H. VHTdky. Anii I'lir/cfy.— J^irst, J. H. Nixon, Naulwich. Sot-und, 

 ,K(,,VartUe.v. ' , 



The Jiiiljjeawero : I'uuflni : tivinvt. .T. jracliln. Trclltliitm, J(j!»p't|y^- 

 •JWW. yV;/iwn».- Mouses. Woaaiuy & Unttcm, of ituuljury. . .', 



.) ■ • " I-' BIKMlNtJHAM. ",- '' '' "' 



As a rule I never com]pliiiuof tlie Jecision of Jiulges, wliutber 

 I exhibit iit «n Agriuiilturul, HurtioulturBl, or Poultry Show, 

 Intt thtrt' have been on two uccuiiious at BiriiiiiiKluim auch 

 siiiguLar viulatious ol the rules of the t'uiincil that 1 feel 1 

 must for the second time uUl uttontiou to them. 



.\lioiit two years ago 1 stated tlmt in the thst-pri/.e pen of 



Oeeso, in the Urey class, there wore a white gander, u. Toulouse 



-rrgoiider, and a pied goo.se— certainly two ganders — all utterly 



' different birds, and when I remarked that X might just as well 



llivfe shown ft Buff, a Partridge, and si Wliite Coehin all in one 



pen, I was told that it was a heavier pen by 1 lb. than mine, 



tho birds in which were truo to a feather, and all perfect Tou- 



lorue in every eharaetcristic. and which had wvw three or four 



years in :;ucoGSsion at the same Sliow. Here weight had the 



pre-erainence, although the rules state that "high condition, 



beauty of plumage, and purity of race, must stand before mere 



weight." However, 1 put np with it, and did not show last 



year, nor did the celebrated lady who won the year before ; and 



this year I sent again a pair of my old birds, weighing o(i lbs. 



the pair, and found my old opponents — one Toulonse gander 



and one pied goose — again beating my two pure-bred ones. If 



■''"S'pied gocae be shown, it should have a white or pied gander 



■ '•'"ftt' ina'tch it 7 at all events, purity of raue demands its reoog- 



.li9fiiiiii!io«io<)iB«'''to t£eibiTas'pfirlft65 mV,*n9' Bjame (;lass, and I 

 ^, cannot understand 'this. The same rule applied as before, two 

 \,l, odd birds were jilaced lirst, a pair of Toulouse of Mrs. Seamons' 



second, a pen of my Toulouse liiglily commended, and my beau- 

 ■'■.''¥ifiii pen, which actnaliy weighed 9 lbs. the pair more than the 

 H ilghly commended pen, and .5 lbs, more than Mrs. Seamons', 



not noticed. Now, here mere weight was not allowed to tell, 



notwithstanding that it was allied to all tlie other qualifications ; 



'this pen weighed 47 lbs. when it left here, and when the birds 



.came home they still weighed 1) lbs. more than my highly 



Commended pen, and -i lbs. more- than the second prize one. 



Surely this sy.stem wants correcting.-^JoHN K. Fowler, Prc- 



ii'ndal Farm, AijlcshuTy, 



/rO TTTfTTH'/rr t t— 

 RAIIAVAY CHARGES. 

 I iiA\'i; perused with pleasure the remarks of " Y. B. A. Z.," 

 on ihe above subject, which appeai'ed in your issue of the 5th 

 iiiftt., and my only surprise is, that the matter has not been 

 taken up' before, especially by those parties who are in the habit 

 of sending a great number of hampers to a considerable dis- 

 tance. Those who do so, though they may be fortunate enough 

 to will a prize or two, would, one may reasonably suppose, feel 

 rather g;i!led to find that the amount of their prize money, or 

 eveui niiiie, was swallowed up in railway carriage. This is a 

 sore point, and I trust, now that the matter is started, every 

 oiie ihterested will lend a helping hand and try to over-come 

 the dilliuulty. I feel convinced that it can be done, and if the 

 various railway companies would grunt a reduced rate for the 

 conveyance of exhibition poultry, I am persuaded a greater 

 number of persons would exhibit their specimens than at 

 present. Ihei'e are some who possess first-rate birds and are 

 anxious to exhiliit them, and are prevented solely through their 

 inability to pay entrance money as well as excessive railway 

 charges. How to reined}- the evO, then, is the first considera- 

 tion. Of course we, the poultry exhibitors, are in the hands 

 of railway oflicials as far as the point in question is concerned, 

 let us thcu \-iew the existing rates for the conveyance of poultry 

 by railway. On some lines I find the cliarges are 50 per cent, 

 more th-.in the ordinary parcels rate. I do not say it is the 

 ease on uU lines, but I dare say the charge is even higher than 

 this on-Bume. I would suggest, then, that instead of the abovfe 

 rate, the ordinary parcels rate should be charged to and from 

 the places of exhibition. This rate would be amply remune- 



rative to the Tulway ouwpauy, ^i well as within the |iiean» p{ 

 the cottager who might wish tu show his birds ; or, Jjt thin is 

 objectionable, althougli I cannot see how it can bu, let the exist- 

 ing rates remain unaltered, and, a.s«uggeBtKd by " Y. B. A. Z.," 

 unsold epecimens be retnrned free, oi-, as " returned emjitiuii," 

 the rates for which would bo qnite nominal. To suggest, how- 

 ever, js easier than to curry into effect. I! ■ • ■ 

 . How to obtain a reduction of the present rat*s is' thei Viekt 

 conuidoratiou. As success cannot, in my opinion, be acWcTAd 

 through the ropro.sontations of an individual, let it bo done 

 collectively. 1 would, therefore, recommend the formation of 

 a oommittoe, oom|jriHiug poultry exhibitors or oth^irs who are 

 interested in the matter, the subject to be well discussed, and 

 their decisions or suggestions communicated by thum (theoom- 

 mitteej, to the head of one of our great railwHys— -say the <Jreat 

 Western or London and North-Western, or both, and I do not 

 see any serious objections in the w-ay of gfiiiiing the point to 

 the benefit of railway companies, a.^ well as of a largo class of 

 the pnblic. 1 have no doubt that if the consent to a reduction 

 of the rate could be obtained fri;m one of the eonipnniiis named, 

 others w'ould follow suit. No other way readily preaeuts itself 

 at present, and with all due respect to the iiress, if left to the 



Sl'6ss ■ alotio nlHinate aucoess, I imagine, is a long way off. 

 'ecls'ive measures should he talion,'aDd that speedily.— J. K; 



''■'iTi'seem® evideat to any impartial person thai railway 



atitihoritieg do not act altogether fairly towards exhibitors of 

 poultry. They grant the return of empties, however bulky, at 

 a nominal charge ; they often return stock free, pointedly 

 excluding our pets, of which the weight is eomitaratively 

 nothing. We not uufrequently notice in schedules of prizes 

 that such a railway has consented to return all birds unsold 

 free ; sometimes w-e notice the same railway performing thiskind 

 I act annually. Is it pri>bable that they are large losers bj' their 

 generosity 'I I think I have shown before that this ciuiuot be 

 the case ; that it is a point which often decides exhibitors in 

 showing not only their poultry but themselves. 



A brother fancier has lately told me a marvellous piece of 

 i-cd-tapeism, which can only be useful to the revenue from 

 Post-office. He says, " I always get back the railway charge 

 for the return journey on such and such a line ; but still they 

 alw-ays persist in charging it, and then a correspondence ensues, 

 which ends in their refunding the amount!" Well, this is 

 better than paying; but how much more gracefully all this 

 might be done beforehand — held out, in fact, as an iiidiicement 

 to exhibitors to patronise the Show; ' •■' - -iii m, :.«»;, 



Latterly I have experienced a littte''irf 't!ife ^iSipfe <t*'""i_nault 

 added to injury." Most exhibitors are well aware thiitapen 

 of poultry returning from a Show- weighs considerably less 

 thaai when it started from its owner. Kecently I sent some 

 pens to a neighbouring Show, one was sold, but, marvellous 

 to relate, the remaining pens were charged for the retui-n 

 journey far more, although less in weight and numbers. Of 

 course I requested a solution of the enigma. My own station- 

 master replied that they had a bye-law by which poultry in 

 crates were charged 50 per cent, extra. He further told me 

 that, noticing the enormous charge, he had remonstrated with 

 the other official, explaining to )iim his error. Either he could 

 not or would not see it. He said he had charged it, and that 

 was sufficient. I quite agi-eed with him that it was more than 

 sufncimt to pay, and I felt extremely obliged by his kind extra 

 attention to my birds. I paid the money, wrote to bead- 

 quarters, ajid explained that this official reply did not satisfy 

 me, and in process of time the extra 50 per cent, was refunded, _ 

 and I trust this vei-j- sharp (?) official was reprimanded. I 

 presume I was not the only exhibitor so charged, and possibly 

 many paid it in ignorance. It is a novel method of euconrag- 

 ing railway traffic that cannot, I fancy, pay in the long run I 



I think I shall try the refunding plan of my friend, although it 

 does seem unnecessary to pay, and then to receive it again. If 

 several of -us tried this persuasive plan we might by degrees 

 teach railway authorities the lesson which they do not appear 

 to understand. Perhaps even they may be sinning in igno- 

 rance. If I may further trespass on your space in this matter, 

 I shall hope shortly to propose a remedy.— y. B. A. Z. 



,: ;,,;. , ,; TUMBLING PIGEONS. 

 ' ' I' sfeiS'p yOti an account of an extraordinary roll performed by 

 one of my Pigeons last Saturday. He is a neat rolling cock, 

 one of in,v best high-Syers, but rolls so much that he cannot 



