190 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEK. 



I March 6, 1866. 



Wordeworth's address to the men of Kent, in a sonnet dated 



1803— 



" Vanfmnrd of liberty, ye men of Kent, 

 Ye children of a aoil that doth lutvanco 

 TIkt hauchty brows aj^'iiiiist the soil of France, 

 Now is the time to prove your hurdiiucut.'' 



Then, too, the sitnation of Kent in other respects is a proud 

 one. Above it the Thames, along whose waters has for apes 

 been borne the wealth of the world ; the Straits of Dover be- 

 neath it, up which how many a great pcrsouago has come to 

 land in Kent. Well may you be proud of your county ; what 

 thoughts are conjured up by even the words, Thanet, Dover, 

 Canterbury. Kent is, indeed, a graud historic county. 



With my mind full of these thoughts, and enjoying myself 

 to the fuU, I reach Harden Station, a little place where few 

 trains stop. I soon found my way to the village inn, and in 

 the snuggest and cleanest of inn parlours eat a crust of home- 

 made bread and cheese, on what Izaak Walton would have 

 called, " a fair white linen cloth," and I drank a glass of most 

 excellent beer, so good, perhaps, because brewed in the land 

 of hops. I drank it to the health of all the good people of 

 Kent. Linton Park is, I am told, four miles distant, and 

 eschewing that stuffy thing on a line day, I mean a fly, I 

 mount a dog-cart and am driven by " mine host " himself. I 

 admire the horse, and am told it was in the Crimea. Lucky 

 horse to get back safe and sound ! Probably your rider did not. 



" That is Linton Park I imagine," said 1, pointing to a long 

 'white mansion showing plainly on the brow of the opposite 

 hill. A fine position and a fine frontage, a centre with wings 

 far-reaching. Part of the park haugs ou the slope below, while 

 evidently the ground rises sharply at the back, or the timber is 

 very fine, as the tops of the trees, of apparently au avenue, 

 overtop the highest part of the house. I am right, it is Linton. 

 On we go, the Crimean horse has some go in him. ^Miat a 

 pleasure there is in a drive in nn entirely new country, the air 

 so fresh to the lungs, and everything, every feature of the 

 country, fresh to the eye. 



But I am ncaring Linton Park. To the left of the park 

 fence is a model village formed of substantial cottages, built 

 in pairs with good gardens. This is to me a veiy pleasant 

 sight. Landowners often say, " You cannot build good cottages 

 that will pay even a decent interest for the money so spent." 

 Granted, but I hold that such building is yet a good invest- 

 ment for money in certain localities, and under certain re- 

 strictions, and that, indirectly, such cottages will pay. Thus, 

 if a farmer can offer a good house, making that dearest thing 

 to an Englishman, and still more to the Englishwoman of every 

 grade, a comfortable home, he will secure from emigration a 

 respectable labourer ; and if on the estate there be good cot- 

 tages, a good class of poor will be permanently established, 

 and this will be a gr.in to the owner. I have usually found the 

 doubtful character, who poaches a bit and pilfers a bit more, 

 living in a poor wretched cottage. But while I am moralising, 

 there is the church — happy vicar of Linton with such a re- 

 Bpectable-looking village, and a fine church too — and here we 

 are at the park lodge. A pull, a stiff pull, a gate opened, and 

 passing by a newly laid-out garden with a broad straight walk 

 leading from the house to the church, in a minute or more we 

 stop at the chief entrance of the mansion. A few seconds alone 

 in a drawing-room admiring the view from the window — the 

 terraced garden, the park, the lake, and far-stretching view of 

 the Weald of Kent, and then Lady Holmesdale is with mc, 

 and ready to show me her fowls. 



First to the poultrj--yard properly so called, to the right of the 

 house. Here I find solid buildings with spacious yards in front 

 enclosed with wire netting. First came D.irk Brahmas, but 

 cared for at Linton chiefly for their sitting virtues. While look- 

 ing at them, Martin, Lady Holraesdale's well-known poultry- 

 man, devoted to and thoroughly understanding his business, 

 made his appearance. Woe to the fancier whose poultry- 

 man, woman, girl, or boy, is not so devoted. A poultry-man, 

 like a poet, is not made but born to it — i.e.. bom with a strong 

 love of live things. Next Dorkings, then Golden Hamburghs, 

 and living with them an odd Turbit Pigeon, a pet of Martin's. 

 Yes, pet love meets one cverjwhcre. Years ago I found the 

 owner of a bird shop keeping a Linnet as a pet, as if he had 

 not birds enough and noise enough in the way of business ; 

 but 30 it is, doctors have their pet patients, often, God bless 

 them for it, the poorest, and pet cases usually the worst ; but 

 I never heard of a lawyer having a pet client, perhaps the 

 touch of parchment chills the blood and freezes the heart. 

 " One touch of parchment makes all lawjers kin." But to pro- 



ceed. Martin, with voice and scattering food, invites some wan- 

 derers near, among them a rose-combed Dorking cock freah from 

 his triumphs at Rochdale, and a truly magnitioent bird he is. 



It may be well to state that Lady Holmesdale, though pos- 

 sessing many other varieties of fowls of first-rato quality, 

 chiefly values her Dorkings, and her taste runs for the rose- 

 combed, as rarer and handsomer. Those who have never seen 

 her ladyship's Dorking cocks can scarcely imagine their great 

 size. A Dorking cock at Linton Park is iiuite a different bird 

 from even a prize Dorkmg at small shows. His size approachee 

 the majestic, and that and his tine points quite raise him 

 above the run of " they vanner's fowls," as I once heard Dork- 

 ings called. A peep at other birds enclosed near, all of merit — 

 some Spanish, also just come home from liochdalc, and then 

 we retrace our steps to the touth front of Linton, and are off, 

 joined by a gallant general, to look at the poultry kept in differ- 

 ent parts of the park. One glance in passing, but only ooe, at 

 the beautiful garden ; thnt and Lord Holmesdale's head gar- 

 dener, our Mr. llobson, I am to see after luncheon. We verge 

 towards Linton church, and on a high bank among some low 

 shrubs find another Dorking cock, a young one, and pullets. It 

 is the effort at Linton to breed the liens of as dark a colour as 

 possible, and although I have a lingering prejudice for the Silver- 

 Grey, yet I must own that such dark birds as seen here are very 

 beautiful, and are said to weigh heavier than any Silver-Greys 

 that can be bred. Wherever I found poultrj- in the park, there 

 was near each group a moveable wooden house, like a tiny cot- 

 tage without a chimney. I did not look into one, being told 

 there was no particular arrangement inside ; they are painted 

 of a dark colour, and are on low wheels, so that they can be 

 easily moved. If a run becomes tainted or is too damp, away 

 go fowls and house. 



Chatting pleasantly we proceed np the avenue leading to 

 Maidstone. I was all the while a beguiling poultry recruiting- 

 sergeant to the General, being determined to enhst him in the 

 valiant army of fanciers. Away we stroU, talking politics and 

 — poultry, enthusiastic on the subjects of Governor Eyre and 

 — cocks and hens. Having proceeded some distance, walking 

 beneath those lofty trees, which had caught my eye on my 

 way from Marden Station, we find more Dorkings and their 

 wooden home. Thcir's a kind of Australian life compared 

 with the denizens of the wire-fenced and trim poultrj-yard ; 

 the inhabitants of the latter weaUhy stay-at-ht.cies, while the 

 others are younger and poorer relatives who emigrate to make 

 their fortune. I prefeiTed this cockerel to the one before seen, 

 his points were better and his hackle clearer, for even in Dork- 

 ings I do not like a black-tipped hackle any more than in Duck- 

 wing Game cocks. — Wiltshike Eecior. 

 (To be continued.) 



EXPENSES -\ND RETURNS OF POULTRY 



KEEPING. 



There is, I am sorry to say, a mistake in my account, 

 though not the one your correspondent believes. I lind I have 

 understated my expenses. I ought to have put down the food 

 at £'21 12.S-. id., or about Ss. oil. weekly, instead of the amount 

 stated. This I beUeve to be the only mistake. 1 had not at 

 any t irae. as I think your correspondent understands, 489 in- 

 dividual birds. The actual number of fowls I possessed I set 

 down each week, and added them at the end of the month, 

 and thus obtained my grand total for the year, which I divided 

 by 5'2, giving me my weekly average of 113. Take, for instance, 

 the month of June : — 



■Week enilins Cochins. Fowls. Bnclcs, Chickens. Aviary Birds. 



June 3rd 7 88 7 70 -20 



„ 10th 7 .... Sti .... 7 .... 70 20 



„ 17th 7 .... 40 .... 7 .... 70 20 



.. 34lb 7 .... SS .... 7 .... 70 20 



July Ist,.... 7 .... 32 .... 7 .... 80 20 



35 177 35 SCO 100 



Tlins the actual number of individuals in the last week was 

 IIU ; some weeks I had fewer birds, and, as I stated originally, 

 my average number of months fed was 113 ptr week. 



With regard to the other questions, the £8 7s. dd. is entirely 

 for stock bought in 18G5. I have not entered the value of the 

 stock I had at the beginning of the year. I should put it at 

 about £8 more. With regard to the cost of labour. 1 fidly ex- 

 pected that if that were taken into consideration the balance 

 would be on the wrong side ; but I think It. per day is too 

 much to charge, as I do so much myself. I think poultry alone 

 arc very profitable ; but in my case it must be remembered 



