J34 



JOUENAIi OF HOKTICDLTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



I February 13, 1800. 



and very wdstoful— notliinR looks so liftil as a qunntity of fooil 

 lying on tlio grciimil luul llio fowlR niiininp over it. It is, as I 

 Lavo paid, verj- wuiili'ful, and. besides, it makes tljcm very 

 dainty. They i^boiild have no inoro food than they will eat up. 

 Tho person feediuR them can liv careful obper\ation tell how 

 much fowls will eat ; soiuotimes tlicy will cat more than at 

 others. If the atmosphere is moist tliey can find more worms, 

 &c., than on cold drv' days, and they then rei|uirc les.t com. 

 Our twenty-six fowls Rcnerally cat about three quarts of maize 

 per day, three pints arc given tht ni in the morning and three 

 pints about two hours before roostinR-time, and when the man 

 feeds the pips he Rencrally gives a little food out of the pail ; 

 they very seldom have any bits from the house. They have a 

 very good run, plenty of vegetables to eat, and sufficient room 

 to dean themselvps. 



I should advise " J. S." to do as we do when eggs arc dear, 

 vhJch is generally about Christmas — viz., give extra food, say 

 a little greaves and harlcymeal, and they will lay more. Always 

 keep the fowls as warm as means will allow, and when eggs 

 are cheap feed only on maize or barley, I prefer maize, and let 

 them go off laying for a time as a sort of rest^period. I keep 

 fowls for profit, and not for a hobby only. I think if " J. S." 

 will attend to the above simple mode of treatment ho will he 

 sure to obtain tho number of eggs required. — J. R. P., liickleij. 



TIIE POULTRY CLUBS XATION^VL SHOW. 



I \\'ENT with my birds on the Wednesday evening, and saw 

 them placed in the Show, no jierson e.^cept ofTicials being 

 admitted. I then .s.iw by the hand-bills that the public would 

 be admitted at three o'clock on Thursday. So I went about 

 that time, and found a few exhibitors like myself waiting 

 for admittance. 'RTiile standing and talking to some friends 

 I heard some one s.ay, " There are some Pigeons fiying 

 about inside." I turned round and saw that they were my 

 Spots, at least I had a veiy gi-cat suspicion that they were 

 mine. The doors opened .at last, and I bought a catalogue — 

 looked for the number of my Spots, went to the pen, and found 

 only one there. I asked one of the attendants where the 

 other was. He said it was upstairs, and would be caught 

 when tho gas was put down, so I did not trouble any further, 

 for I knew such accidents would happen in the bestregulated 

 Shows. 



Well, I went on looking at the several pens until I came to 

 my Fantails, and found to my disgust "that some one had 

 nearly pulled the tail fe.athers out of both of them, for when 

 I packed them they were quite perfect. 



But matters did not end here. Other fine pairs had shared 

 the same fate ; and in going a little further on, I next detected 

 that some one had wantonly plucked the frill out of my Tur- 

 bits, and left the skin completely bare. 



I made a complaint to one of the Committee and ho said it 

 was a pity, but he said he was certain he did not know who 

 bad done it. 



Now, this mischief must have been purposely done, and 

 by an interested p.arty too— for I heard that the feathers 

 were all found in a corner. Who it was that had been so 

 malicious I do not know. There is no wonder that fanciers 

 should give up the fancy so soon when persons perpetrate such 

 acts as the above. I have shown at a great many shows in 

 England and Scotland, but never saw birds in such a state 

 before. — Johx Th.\ckii.^y, York. 



I n.ivE just received my birds {T> p.m., Wednesday 7th), from 

 the late Hochdale Show, and certainly think it an unreasonable 

 time for transit (104 miles), as the Exhibition closed on Mon- 

 day. Nearly all the tail feathers of my two pairs of Fantjvils 

 have been pulled out. I am also informed by a gentleman 

 who visited the Show that those of Messrs. Thackray, Ember- 

 lin, and Kobinson have likewise been treated in the same 

 heartless, cruel, and dastardly manner ; in fact, my birds 

 are so badly lUsfigiired that I cannot possiblv recognise them. 

 As it is well known to all Pigeon-fanciers that some seven or 

 eight weeks must elapse before the tails can be reproduced, of 

 course it prevents all chance of exhibiting them in the mean- 

 time. I should feel much obliged by any suggestion of your 

 own in this matter, or from any correspondent of the .Journal. 

 I certainly do not intend, so far a? my own personal trouble 

 and expense are concerned, to let the'matter sleep, if by any 

 means the offender or offenders can be publicly exposed and 

 duly punished.— H. Yabdley, Market Hall, Birmingham. 



GX'Sm r.ANTAMS. 

 As a breeder of fiame Bantams, I must c>qprcsfl my great 

 surprise at " Wii.TsmiiF. Bectoi:'s" averment in answer to 

 " (iAi.i.cs," that Black Beds arc easy to breed, for, of course. Us 

 means easy to breed good. Now. I aver the oontmry. I say 

 positively and distinctly, that it is most diftiiult to breed many 

 first-class birds, however many may be hatched and brought up. 

 I have for several years bred (iame Bantams. In 18G4 I reared 

 upwards of 100. and in ISfi'i nearly 1.^0 ; therefore, I am not 

 talking at randr in. In 18(i4 I bred from a bird, bought of Mr. 

 Kelleway, which had proved bis goodness by winning wherever 

 shown. I put him to hens bred from Causer's. Haney Bayley'9, 

 anil FoiTest's strains. Two of these hens were first at the Crystal 

 Palace, and yet I am sure I am within the mark wbou I say 

 that not more than ten of their chickens could be called first- 

 elass. In 186.3 I bred from Mr. Kelleway's second-prize Bir- 

 mingham cock fsaid by him to be one of the best birds he bred 

 in 18H4), and Mr. ilunn's Kendal cup bird (18C5i. and my 

 hens were the pick of the chickens of 1864, and two hens with 

 which I won the first prize at the last show but one at Islington 

 (for these hens when puUets ilr. Kelleway offered mo any price 

 that I liked to ask him), and yet I am sorry to say I had not 

 out of all my chickens more than half a dozen cocks and two 

 pullets that could be fairly called first-class birds. Now, it 

 this does not show that it is not easy to breed good Game 

 Bantams, I should like to know what would prove it. 



I think " Gallus "' very fairly asks how it is that first-class 

 birds fetch such a price if they can be so easily bred ? " Wilt- 

 shire Rectoh" instances the tulip mania, but he is much too 

 vdie awake. I am sure, not to see on refieetion that that has no 

 analogy with the present case. The tulip mania was a mere 

 gambling affair, many roots of a particnlar flower being sold at 

 fabulous prices, wiicu, perhaps, only one root of it was i-eally in 

 existence, and the bulb.'i did not, I believe, in the great majority 

 of cases pass from seller to buyer at all, but were sold to be de- 

 livered at a distant date, which never came. Now, if high 

 prices are given for Game Bantams by a good judge of them, it 

 is scarcely credible that he would do this if he could obtain 

 equally good birds cheaper elsewhere. If, on the other band, 

 these high-priced birds are bought by tiiose who do not under- 

 stand the essential points of the breed, it really proves nothing 

 but the ignorance and folly of the buyer. I kno^Vof £10 having 

 been recently given for a pair of pullets by a gentleman, who, 

 I am sure " WiLTsmRE Bectof. " would admit, knows what a 

 Giune Bantam should be. I have been offered £10 for a cockerel 

 within the last ten days by a gentleman who is known to 

 possess one of the best strains of birds in the kingdom, and if 

 I am not misinformed, Mr. Hawkcsley has been offered £15 for 

 his reaDy splendid little bird which was first at Birmiughanj 

 in December last. I would give him £10 for it any day. 



In the face of these facts can it be contended that Black 

 Reds are easy to breed ? Is it not in fact reasonable that they 

 should not be ? The breed has only been in existence from 

 eighteen to twenty years, and I should think is most probably 

 the result of a cross, perhaps that of the old Nankeen Bantam 

 with the Game cock. Hence the breed has not vet attained 

 that fixity which other well-known and long-established breeds 

 possess, and the tendency to throw back is very strong. The 

 fact is, however, that it is not easy to breed first-class birds of 

 any variety. I have been a Spanish fancier for many yeaiB-, 

 and I am sure breeders of that splendid fowl will bear me out 

 when I say that not one chicken in ten comes fii-st-rate. In 

 short, all breeders know well that good birds of any fa=hionaIde 

 v.iriety always command a high price, simply because they arc 

 difficult to breed. — P. 



DRAGONS WITH WHITE RT-^SH-S. 

 In No. '247 of The Jonix.\L op HoBiiori.xrr.E Mr. Percivall 

 makes some remarks on Dragons with white rumj's being use- 

 less as prizetakeis. For the information of the Birmingham 

 Columbarian Society, of which I am a member. I will thank 

 you, or Mr. Weir and Dr. Cottle, to say if Mr. Percivall'.'! re- 

 marks are " patent," inasmuch as the same birds that Mr. 

 Percivall alludes to were shown at Manchester, judged by the 

 same .Judges, and the awards were not only reversed, but the 

 prize birds at Einningham did not even receive a notice. If 

 Dragons with white rumps have gone out of fashion, it will bo- 

 ot the greatest importance to the members of the Birmingham 

 CoUimbajrian Society to know, many of them being breeders ol 

 Dragons. — C. B. 



