2S0 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AKD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Bforcb 20, ISM. 



Now Soath WnlM pUntn require frrpcnhoa<te rtiUorc. There uro coloured 

 UnwiuK^ of them all in the "Botauical Magazine." {J. H. P.).-~\, Ne- 

 phrodium exuUftttim ; '1, IHcris crt-ticn CM ; 3. Lnstrcn KlabolU; 4, Lnnlrea 

 atrovir.-iiH ; 5, Wondwanlin rB.lirfiDsC'i ; 6, Sela^'inellii cifsin. {H. F. V.). 

 1, Oiiychium jniHtDicum ; 2, I'ttris lincartfl; 3, Adiaotum formnsum ; 

 4, AUiiintimi pubescenn; G, Aspidiniu moUe; 6, Asplenium flnccidum ; 

 7a , Platj-looia rotundifoUum; b, beiuginella doalbuta (:'). {A Comtant 



lUtidrr^.—'Sln'^i of the 9rr«p«t sent are not RnfBeleut for determination. 

 I, Aspleiiiuiii nin,riniim ; ij, Aspleniuin flnhoUiforine ; 4. I'oh-itodiutn vnl- 

 tmrt- ; 5, Loiuftfiii nlpinn (■') ; 6, Adiantmn cuutMlmn ; 7, Aspidium marro- 

 phyUiiin. {An £"yin/<T).— .Escbynautliu^ zeylanicus. [A Subtcribcr, 

 it4ililn<i*lor\~~i^ iuiiufllcient for idcntiHcntion ; 2, probably a scrap of 

 PtcriH erotica. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of Lonaon for tlie Week ending March 17 th 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE- 



GAIIE BAJ^TAMS. 

 _ I n\VE carefully read the various letters which have appenreil 

 in tbo Journal on this subject, and although late in the Held 

 should like to have mi/ say also, which shaU not occupy much 

 of your space. 



I was a breeder of Black Eed Game Bantams thirty years 

 ago, long before poultry shows were thought of, having a stock 

 derived from birds of the late Duchess of Rutland's, of happy 

 memory ; and although these were not equal to the best birds 

 exhibited at our shows, tliey possessed, however, all the cha- 

 racteristics of the noble Game fowl. I am still a breeder of 

 the de.spised " pigmies," and do most earnestly aver that so 

 far from being easy to breed, they are the most" difliciilt of all 

 the varieties which I have tried I'and their name is legion). A 

 letter from a friend, who has bred these birds for fifteen years, 

 now lies before me, in which he states that his opinion fully 

 coincides with my own, and that the new axiom which Mr 

 Crosland has put forth— viz., '• To breed good birds you must 

 breed m-and-in for generation after generation, until avi 

 avormn numerantui; without infusing fresh blood, is a most 

 absurd doctrine for any experienced breeder to promulgate. I 

 have letters from numerous other breeders to the same effect, 

 that from pursuing such a course the birds " throw back, " 

 " degenerate in eveiy way," " become weak in constitution," and 

 " in due course worthless." 



My stock, derived from two of the most renowned breeders 

 and successful exhibitors of these birds, at the beginning of 

 last season consisted of six hens and one cock. The latter had 

 been exhibited many times, and never without winning, at all 

 the principal shows. The former were extremely good, and 

 free from silver earlobes. From these I raised upwards of one 

 hundred chickens, about half of each sex. The pullets, with 

 two exceptions, had silver earlobes, and of the cockerels there 

 were not more than three which would, by really skilful judges, 

 be termed " first-elass." Indeed, the largest exhibitor of 

 Game and other breeds has given it as his opinion, that 

 "only three first-class Game cockerels are 'out' this season," 

 and this, too, from all the m.vriads, I had almost said, of the 

 "miniatures" produced by the " pigmy "-loving and enthu- 

 siastic maniacs who sent ninetv and nine pens to Bingley Hall, 

 to the disgust of our old friend the " Wiltshire Kecior."— 

 AliQurs. 



P.S.— I have jnst seen Mr. Newsome's letter, and am sur- 

 prised to find that he has not won a single prize for Game 

 Bantams at any of our three largest shows during tlie season 

 which has just closed, with the exception of the third prize at 

 Kochdale, for a pen of Black Game Bantams. Ho did not 

 exhibit at Birmingham. At .Manchester he showed four pens 

 and did not obtain a single notice ! and at Eochdale he ab- 

 stained from exhibiting in the Black Red Game Bantam class. 

 Do not these facts speak volumes ! Mr. Noble's name does 

 not appear in the catalogues of any of the above-named shows. 

 After reading carefully Mr. Newsome's letter, I am stiU mors 



confirmed in my own opinion, that it is by no means an easy 

 matter to breed these " easy - to - breed first - class Game 

 Bantams." 



Having perused the letter from " Cheshire Pile," 1 shall 

 be glad if you will allow me to make a few remarks on that 

 portion of it referring to my financial account of Game Ban- 

 tam breeding. In the first ])lace, I have sold £180 worth, 

 and all mj- own strain, which I have had for years. I have 

 also bought largely for applicant.s, or, I should say, I have been 

 commissioned to buy birds such as I could recommend, though 

 at a lower price than my own were sold at. I have bought 

 upwards of £.50 worth in this manner, and no doubt from as 

 good yards as my own. I know breeders that I can depend 

 upon, from whom I would take all they had at a guinea each, 

 and when needful these are the yards from which I can be 

 supphed ; and if " Ciiesdike Pile " does not know where the 

 birds are to be found, and will hand me his address, I will sup- 

 ply him with a pen up to the '• Standard of Kxcellence," though 

 the price might be rather too high according to his ideas. There 

 are, however, parties who give large prices, who, perhaps, have 

 as good fowls as myself, and who do not scmple to give £10 or 

 £15 for a single cock. I have sold eight Game Bantams for 

 £50 15s., and all to first-class men who do not mind giving a 

 first-class price when they can depend on good blood, to make 

 an equal cross with their own. 



Can " CHEsniRE Pile " account for the fact that certain 

 breeders of Game Bantams invariably succeed in prize-taking ? 

 Can it be that only a portion out of a great many fanciers aro 

 well acquainted with breeding, and who are also able to judge 

 a good bird on seeing one ? If so, judging from his remarks, I 

 fear he forms one of the majority of unsuccessful breeders. 



I should like to give " CnEsmr.E Pile " a few particulars of 

 my private view of Bingley Hall in lSfi5. I first went to look 

 over the Game and Game Bantam classes, and on finding my 

 success in Game was satisfactoiy, I passed on to the Game 

 Bantams, catalogue in hand, and again had the satisfaction 

 of finding that in these classes I had also been successful ; and 

 on looking through the single Game Bantam cock classes, I 

 noticed three first-class birds marked as follows : — £2 5k., £3 3k., 

 and £5 5.k. I was rather astonished on fully inspecting them, 

 that according to my own judgment the best bird was marked 

 at the lowest figure ; and as the whole three belonged to one 

 owner, I certainly thought he had made a mistake in penning 

 his birds. However, I took care to claim the lowest-priced 

 bird at the proper time, and in the course of the ilay I had £5 

 offered for him from several first-class fanciers. All their pro- 

 positions I, however, declined ; and although I had a first-class 

 liird at home, I showed this bird in the single cock class at 

 Manchester, and took the second prize, and there I sold him 

 for £10. I may also remark that the same bird has taken a 

 first prize at liochdale. Now, I am of the firm opinion that 

 the above were all the property of " P.. ' who, I must acknow- 

 ledge, made a decided hit in his communication inserted in 

 your Journal of the 13th ult. He appears to have good judg- 

 ment in breeding quantity ; as to his judgmeut of quality I will 

 leave it for your readers to decide upon, after perusing tlie 

 foregoing statements respecting his lowest-priced cock at 

 Bingley HaU. 



