November 11, 1389. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



387 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSEUV AXIOMS in the Suburbs of London for the week ending November 9th. 



POULTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 



THE CARPET KNIGHTS AND LA DAME 

 DES POULES. 



YonR correspondent, signing himself " Justice," will be 

 quite able to rejoin to "Aliquis;" but at the risk of being 

 thought meddlesome, I must say a few words on "Our Poultry 

 Shows," moved by the desire to resist anything which may 

 try to retard the reforms proposed. 



The carpet knights, mentioned by " Aliqcis " a? gentlemen 

 " who leave their drawing-rooms to blister their fingers with 

 boxes and hampers, and pens, and cages, and rope, and string, 

 and canvas, and packing-needles," can do all that "Aliquis" 

 sets forth ; and, in the spirit of that chivalry which " Aliquis " 

 invokes, will do so without needing the reward of successful 

 competition or a prize of money's worth. The lady writing 

 out the "copy" of a heavy catalogue, folding and addressing 

 the early editions so that they may reach the breakfast-tables 

 of anxious exhibitors, plying her packing-needle, &c., deserves 

 the praise which she appears to have won from " rough and 

 honest men ;" but she would be no less a lady, nor a less fitting 

 companion picture to the carpet knights, if she declined to 

 compete for honours in her own neighbourhood. The sum 

 and substance of these word pictures, divested of the haze of 

 " all that is chivalrous," amounts to this — namely, that com- 

 mitteemen who " dip their hands deeply into their pockets," 

 and incur "labour and expense," should receive, or have the 

 chance of receiving, a quid pro quo. 



The first objection, urged by " Justice " and endorsed by 

 myself, is, therefore, not answered ; it is simply re-asserted in 

 a cloud of words. The attempted answer to the second ob- 

 jection I do not understand, in consequence of some confusion 

 in the pronouns used by "Aliquis." The case, however, 

 which he puts is admitted by him to be one which "is not 

 contemplated, and will not often occur;" and which, if of 

 " frequent repetition, would defeat its original intention." If 

 so, where is the use in supposing anything of the kind ? 



I am happy to see that the Birmingham authorities are 

 setting a good example in discouraging competition on the 

 part of committeemen and others officially connected with 

 poultry shows. — Egomet. 



LONDON POULTRY SHOW. 



Theee will be a London Poultry Show at the commencement 

 of next year. A prize list of £300 will be guaranteed by the 

 Committee and the Directors of the Crystal Palace, where the 

 Exhibition will be held. 



AUCTION AT THE BIRMINGHAM POULTRY 



EXHIBITION. 



There is one point which your correspondents who desire 

 an alteration in the time of the auction at the Birmingham 

 Show appear to have overlooked — namely, that some fanciers 

 have made their arrangements already to attend on the Monday, 

 and cannot well change the day. I certainly think it would be 

 scarcely fair if the Committee were now to defer the sale until 

 Tuesday. They might fix a later hour, say three or four 

 o'clock in the afternoon, and thereby meet what appears to be 

 a real want ; but the change to another day ought not, in my 

 opinion, to be made this year after the public have been all 

 along led to believe that the sale would take place on the 



Monday. At the same time I fully coincide in what your cor- 

 respondents have urged, that it is very advisable so to arrange 

 matters that there may be no occasion for any one to be away 

 from home or to travel on the Lord's day. — E. M. B. A. 



THE BIRMINGHAM POULTRY SHOW. 



The entries closed on the Ist inst., and are such as to warrant 

 the conclusion that the Show will be of the usual popular and 

 interesting character. Fluctuations there must inevitably be ; 

 but from the subjoined statement it will be seen that, although 

 in some instances there is a decrease, as compared with 1868, 

 the aggregate exceeds the average of several preceding years. 

 Although an additional charge of fid. per pen is made to ex- 

 hibitors of poultry, with the view to check the constantly increas- 

 ing demands for space, the feathered races will still be fully 

 represented. 



1865. 1866. 18'7. 



Poultry 1675 .... 1897 .... 2111 



Pigeons 331 .... 418 .... 565 



1863. 1969. 



, 2815 2010 



. 432 .... 490 



LISTS OF PRIZES. 

 Persons sending birds to a distance may not be able to 

 attend the exhibition themselves, but will naturally be very 

 anxious to learn the decision of the judges; they, therefore, 

 send the amount required for a list of awards, requesting and 

 hoping the Secretary will send it to them by post the evening 

 of the first day of the show ; instead of doing so, a list is 

 received, perhaps, after the birds have arrived at home; at 

 any rate after it is of no use, as the result has then been 

 published in the daily papers. Secretaries ought to post the list 

 on the evening of the first day of the Show, and I think exhibitors 

 are entitled to this little attention.— Aliquis. 



MISTAKES AT THE CHESTER SHOW. 



I HAVE received a pen of Dirk Brahmas, which I presume 

 has been sent to me in error from Chester Show. Attached to 

 the basket in which they came is an exhibition label No. 139, 

 on the back of which is my name and address in full. You 

 will oblige by giving the above facts publicity, as I am anxious 

 to return the birds to their rightful owner, who may in the 

 meantime rest assured that his birds are well cared for. 



In connection with the above Show, I with many other exhi- 

 bitors would like to have explained why we were all (whether 

 exhibitors of poultry. Pigeons, or dogs), charged (id. per basket 

 for its conveyance from the Show to the railway station. As 

 there were 813 entries, and presuming there were 700 returned 

 by rail, the exhibitors were charged £17 10.s. for what at other 

 shows is generally done gratis.— Kichard M. Lord, Penn Road, 

 lVoli'erhampto7i. 



BRISTOL AND CLIFTON POULTRY AND 

 PIGEON SHOW. 

 In many respects the Bristol and Clifton Show has been 

 remarkable ; but chiefly for the fact, that although conducted 

 for two successive seasons at a heavy pecuniary loss suflioient 

 to dishearten most men, the indomitable "pluck" of the 

 Committee, who on the third occasion issued a schedule wnicn 

 in the face of the past might almost be termed audacious, not 

 only fairly turned the scale as regards pecuniary matters, but 

 actually placed the Show next to Birmingham, beating even 

 Manchester in the number of poultry entries. The new scUe- 



