January 2, 1866. J 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



15 



Sach incongruities, wherever occurring, will always make losers 

 langh, and winner.-^ also ; but it is the laugh of ironj', distinct 

 from approval. " Brahma " again spontaneously assures your 

 readers, " he attends few shows, but has often remarked, when 

 he has been at one, that the complaints heard all day long 

 proceeded always from the same people." That " the com- 

 plaints always proceed from the same people," when he has 

 been at one show, is quite a mistake, so far as Birmingham is 

 this year concerned, for mimbers who have hitherto been 

 among the greatest devotees of the Biugley Hall decisions, 

 were ranked among the foremost to complain. "Brahma " also 

 assures us, that "be is no exhibitor himself, and tries to 

 stand aloof from all influence." 



It would be most imjust and ungrateful not to give the fullest 

 credit to this statement ; for I believe not a single Birmingham 

 exhibitor ever for a moment assumed " Bf.ahma " was an ex- 

 hibitor, any more tban, as under the signatm^e of "Brahma," 

 they would conclude he was a fowl ; but all are glad to learn 

 "he tries to stand aloof from all influence," and is thus a 

 supporter of — Fair Play. 



TorR correspondent, " A Countrt Curate," has not put the 

 case so strongly as he might have done with regard to the 

 totally inadequate number of judges engaged at Birmingham. 

 It is generally umierstood that two of them took the Game and 

 Game Bantam classes, and that the other thi^ee took the re- 

 mainder. Now, if that were so, the gentlemen who judged the 

 first-mentioned classes had to inspect fifty-five pens per hour, 

 even allowing them nine hours of daylight, and no time for 

 refreshment, but as, in point of fact, it is only hght from 

 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. — that is to say, light enough properly to examine 

 fowls in pens, it is evident that the Judges must have judged 

 upwards of sixty pens per hour for eight hours, a rate of in- 

 spection which, considering the great competition at such a 

 show, no two men living could fairly make, however competent 

 they might be as poultry judges. 



But what these gentlemen accomplished is as nothing com- 

 pared with the astounding labours of the other three, for they, 

 having had 1179 pens to judge, must have inspected — that is, 

 "carefully examined," 147 pens per hour for eight hom's 

 without intermission. This gives about twenty-four seconds 

 for a careful inspection of each pen. Need more be said? Can 

 we wonder that the best pen of Cochins were unnoticed? Is it 

 surprising that such a blunder as Mr, Fowler speaks of was 

 made iu the Goose class ? Is it not perfectly amazing that these 

 poor over-worked gentlemen managed to make a satisfactory 

 award in any class ? In short, is it to be wondered at that 

 gentlemen who go to great expense in getting up fowls for ex- 

 hibition, in paying entry fees and carriage of their birds, are 

 indignant at the v.-ay in which they have been treated by the 

 Birmingham Council ? 



I have nothing to say against the Judges individually ; in- 

 deed, with the exception of Mr. Baily, whom I conscientiously 

 beUeve to be a thoroughly upright man, they are all strangers 

 to me. I cannot help thinking, however, that after what took 

 place last year with regard to certain Game-fowl awards, the 

 Birmingham Council would have used a wise discretion if they 

 had substituted some other arbitrator for one of their Game- 

 fowl judges. It was evident that there were ugly circumstances 

 connected with tbe real ownership of the fowls, as to which the 

 quarrel I refer to took place, which were never cleared up to 

 the satisfaction of anybody, and I cannot think that imder these 

 circumstances the appointment of that gentleman to judge 

 again this year, was calculated to inspire with confidence the 

 supporters of the Birmingham Show, — P. 



MANCHESTER EXHIBITION OF POULTKY 



.VND riGEONS. 



The Belle Yue Show, held annually at the Zoological Gardens. 

 Manchester, by the Messrs. Jennison. becomes year by year more and 

 more popular. On the present occasion the increase in the number 

 of entries was beyond all precedent, and everything connected with 

 this year's Show augurs well for even a still greater development in 

 future years. That the Messrs. Jennison well deserve snch success 

 no one can thspnte ; for, being accustomed to the care of hving 

 Bpecimens of their own iu the gardens, the veiy first symptom of any 

 kind of ailment in any of the valuable specimens temporarily com- 

 mitted to their management catches their we 11 -practised eye, and we 

 can ourselves, as eye -witnesses, testify to the fact that time, trouble, 

 and expense, are not in any case spared to put all right again. We 

 are quite sure that but for this commendable practice, more than one 



pen of highly valuable poultry, received in a suffering condition at the 

 doors, conld not by any possibihty have reached the owners again 

 ahve. We cannot forbear here to digress to suggest more careful 

 management by the railway companies, during transit, of valuable 

 exhibition poultry, as though snch companies may be, of course, 

 legally compelled to *' pay for " any loss or damage occurring through 

 the negligence of their officials to such poultry, it by no means follows 

 that any pecuniary compensation places owners in the same position 

 as though their poultrj- had remained uninjured ; for. to our own 

 knowledge, it has repeatedly occurred that the loss of poultry, brought 

 together with great care and outlay, has involved the loss of very 

 many pounds in prize money throughout the exhibition season, 

 besides the absence of those far more covetable trophies of success, 

 plate prizes. These remarks are suggested from the fact that two 

 hampers of poultry were dehvered at the exhibition mth the inmates 

 all killed, having evidently been worried to death during transit by a 

 dog. The folly of placing strange dogs, even if chained, within reach 

 of poultry baskets, the generality of people would have thought 

 e^ddent to even the most obtuse railway official, but it appears that 

 even this gross neglect can occur by rail to the great vexation of all 

 parties concerned. Messrs. Jennison at once returned these unfor- 

 tunate specimens with a letter detailing the miserable circumstances 

 under which they came to hand, and we cannot but express the hope 

 that the knowledge of these facts may surely tend to induce plans 

 which will in future prevent the possibility of any such occurrences as 

 consignments of exhibition fowls being worried to death by dogs 

 taking j^dace on the railway. 



Our remarks on the Show must be general. In Dorkhffjs the dis- 

 play was uniformly excellent, and throughout the whole of the classes 

 decided impi'ovement was manifest, even at the first glance. Lady 

 Holmesdalt -vas a heavy prize-taker, and the condition in which her 

 ladyship's lix'ds were exhibited was faultless. The cla-.i for single 

 Dorking cocks was undoubtedly one of the best that has 1 -*?n seen at 

 any exhibition for years past, nor was the class for pahj of hens of 

 this breed less deserving. We may just cursorily notice that we ob- 

 served some very good Dorkings and also Cochiim that had been 

 recently washed, managed so badly that the feathers, having dried, 

 appeared as though absolutely pasted together, from the soap not 

 having been cleansed away. This may prove, perhaps, a serviceable 

 hint to owners practising future ablutions. It may be as well to men- 

 tion that in washing White Cochins the use of soda in the water 

 biings out that objectionable yellow tinge so observable, under bad 

 management, in the hackles, saddles, and backs of the cocks, and 

 which, once estabhshed. nothing but the production of new feathers 

 can rectify. Of course in Buffs or Par bridge -coloured birds the 

 effects are not obsen-able, but as soda in all cases takes away the oU 

 from the feathers, fowls so washed always become soon dirty again, 

 besides assuming a dullness of plumage by no means calculated to add 

 to their attractiveness. Iu Cochins, Captain Hoaton had it almost all 

 his o^Tn way, exhibiting his stock to great advantage. Some marvel- 

 lously good specimens of Buff Cochins were also exhibited by Mr. 

 Charles Jennison, but " not for competition," their owner obser\-ing 

 mo=;t frankly that " nothing should induce him to compete for a prize 

 at any show under his own management.' It seemed a matter of 

 regret to pass such birds unnoticed, but there was no alternative, and 

 the honourable feeling suggestive of so much self-denial cnnnot fail to 

 meet with the approval of those parties competing at Manchester. 

 The class for Cochin cocks was most excellent. 



Iu Spanish fowls the display was far beyond the average, and, as a 

 whok'. they were shovm in first-rate feather. 



In Gamf. fowls th? Show at Manchester was remarkably successful, 

 and the condition of most of the pens so perfect as to leave but little 

 margin for selection of piizes on that score. We regretted to see, 

 however, many of the most striking pens at first sight imperfect in the 

 feet, a fault altogethei- so inexcusable in Game fowls that every other 

 perfection of qnality cannot moke np for it. nor justifj' their appearance 

 in the prize hst, consequently they were passed over. 



The Game Bimtaim were so numerous as to make a principal 

 feature of the Show, and so great was the competition that the prizes 

 were far more broadly sown than customary. There were some ex- 

 quisite Game Bantam hens shown ; but wo cannot guard exhibitors too 

 strongly against showing hens with white ears — it is a fatal objection, 

 and seems to be now assuming a far more general form than a few 

 years back. By a httle careful attention in mating the parent birds 

 this objection is easily avoided, and just at this time the hint may 

 therefore prove most opportune, as affeLtiiig the offspring of 1866. 

 The Sebright Bantams seem quite failing as to quality and numbers 

 all through the kingdom, but at the Manchester Show we noticed 

 some excellent specimens of the White Booted Bantams, and also of 

 those popular pets, the Cochin Bantams. 



Mr. Jennison made his nsual (hsplay of ornamental water fowls, 

 exhibited in a state of health and plumage that takes every ob- 

 server by surprise. They consisted of Barnacle Geese, Brent Geese, 

 Laughing Geese, Pintails. Widgeon, Garganies, Shell Ducks, Teal, 

 and several pens of exquisitely-feathered Carolina Ducks. 



The attendance of visitors was a complete success, as was the Show 

 altogether. The Music Hall at Belle Vue Gardens is decidedly the 

 best building in the kingdom at which poultry shows are now held. 

 Although a thousand pens were shown, each one was on the same level 

 tier, each lot of hhda rejoiced in the same amount of hght, and yet 



