December 16, 1669. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



480 



integrity and that of the judge, is indeed treading on very delicate 

 ground. To prohibit committeemen exhibiting would not ett'ect 

 a cure, for the corrupt judge would still he accessible from 

 without, and a corrupt committeeman would soon find means to 

 evade the bond-fide property clause found in most schedules, 

 and secure to himself, witli the connivance of another un- 

 principled exhibitor, the coveted prize. " Where there's a will 

 there's a way " in knavery as in honest dealing, and while I 

 fully conciu- with "Egomet" in the axiom that prevention is 

 better than detection, I ask him, as one who, I am fully persuaded, 

 has the best interests of exhibitions at heart, whether it is well 

 to encourage that spirit of distrust and dissatisfaction only too 

 often the offspring of groundless suspicion, and so hurt the 

 feelings of honourable men, whose conduct of the shows they 

 manage is such as ought to place them above suspicion ? Shows 

 so conducted are sure to occupy the most prominent position in 

 the estimation of all right-thinkin; men, and while every pre- 

 caution ought to he taken to ensure fair play, and so merit the 

 confidence of the exhibiting community, I should ^ be much 

 grieved if malpractices became so general as to render imperative 

 a universal vote of want of confidence in the executive of our 

 shows. 



If I am not trespassing on space too much (and let me beg an 

 extra line or two as I have been silent so long) , I will just explain 

 to "Egomet" and "Justice" the working of a very large 

 show — the largest provincial show of its kind in England — with 

 which I am connected. Our committee, I am happy to say, are 

 all gentlemen, and nearly all, if not all of them, .are exhibitors in 

 every show we manage. When our entries are closed we send out 

 a numbered label for each entry, which is attached to the pen, 

 cage, or animal, as the case may be. These are subsequently 

 changed by the secretary, who alone possesses the key to the 

 whole. This duty generally occupies him the entire night, from 

 the close of the receiving day till the next morning, and unless 

 any of the committee are very early astir, and make it their 

 business to enter the show room (which they are expected for 

 honesty's sake not te do), not one of them knows his new 

 numbers, so that collusion with the judges is next to an im- 

 possibility. Next, we have judges of known repute, who are 

 shut into the room by daylight on the judging day, and allowed 

 to communicate with no one till their duties are over, when 

 they deliver their verdict to the committee and such exhibitors 

 as may happen to be in or near the building, and who are 

 invited to hear the awards announced. Last year the result of 

 the verdict was that our All-England cup and our local cup 

 were both won (for the first time) by one of the committee, who 

 at once received the congratulations of several non- successful 

 exhibitors present, who year after year have come hundreds of 

 miles to compete for our prizes, and to whom the working of 

 our show is as familiar in its details as to ourselves. Our 

 patrons are legion, and I do not believe there is one of them 

 who would wish to debar a single committeeman from exhibit- 

 ing, or one whose confidence in us is not unbounded. — Aliquis. 



There can be no donbt that poultry shows are now more 

 numerous and sncBessful than they ever were before, and to 

 keep them in this satisfactory state all unfair acts r>f exhibi- 

 tors, secretaries, and committees, should be properly exposed ; 

 and I quite agree with Mr. Wright, that an organisation or 

 "court of appeal" should be formed, where we could discuss 

 any Bubject connected with poultry. I think we should like- 

 wise take notice of unsatisfactory awards made by the judges, 

 for many prizes recently given to exhibitors have been far 

 rom satisfactory to the great body of those who support our 

 shows, and I hope to see this subject thoroughly ventilated in 

 your columns. I feel certain if something of this kind existed, 

 we shonid not find the uneasiness now felt by some of your cor- 

 respondents at secretaries and committees exhibiting at their 

 own shows. 



The last-named subject appears to have created a vast 

 amount of dissatisfaction amongst a few gentlemen. Why. I 

 am at a loss to conceive. I happen to be acquainted witli a 

 large number of breeders and exhibitors of poultry and 

 Pigeons; some are secretaries, others are committeemen, while 

 otherB are only exhibitors, bat in every case where the subject 

 has been mooted, one and all considered that secretaries and 

 committeemen have a perfect right to compete for prizes at 

 their own shows. The prizes and expenses are guaranteed by 

 the committee, shonid the undertaking prove a failure they 

 have to make good the deficit. The prizes are open to all, and 

 subject to the sanje rules, then why should not committeemen 

 compete too ? " Oh ! " says one directly, " he then becomes a 



hireling." Is it possible for a man to become a "hireling" 

 on his assisting to guarantee certain sums of money for an 

 open competition, the birds to ba judged by an experienced and 

 well-known, but an entirely disinterested gentleman, who knows 

 not to whom the birds belong? He may win nothing, and at 

 the close have to pay a sum of £20 towards the expenses, just 

 as one secretary I knew had to do. One might say with equal 

 justice that the whole body of committeemen become "hire- 

 lings," because they are paid money in the form of entry fees 

 by competitors who wish to be allowed to compete for the 

 prizes, and, to carry the idea a little further, that a successful 

 exhibitor also becomes a " hireling " of the committeemen, on 

 his receiving a prize in an open and equitable competition. 



On these conditions it seems to me unfair and unjust to 

 brand a secretary or committeeman as a " hireling," becanee 

 he chooses to compete with others at his own show. If other- 

 wise, then I for one must say good-bye to our poultry shows, 

 for depend upon it they will soon cease on taking away their 

 main support. Another talks of " dissatisfaction." Wei], 

 everyone knows about that, and I think all will admit there 

 has hardly ever been a show held where it was not to be found. 

 Some exhibitors are disappointed at their not getting a prize, 

 some justly, others because they can never see their own faults. 

 We shall always find this to be the case where a number of 

 people compete for a few prizes. 



I was much pleased with some of the remarks made by 

 " CLirDE," the more so because he unintentionally hit the 

 right nail on the head. His sentence runs as follows — " We 

 look upon these shows as a means to encourage us to improve 

 the breed of our stock, and to enable those who take an in- 

 terest in this, for the love of it, to compete." There he is 

 right, " to improve the breed, and for the love of it to 

 compete." — Ax Aji.i.teue. 



I THINK if " Egomet " and " Claude " considered the matter 

 even for an instant, they could not arrive at their present con- 

 clusion with reference to committeemen exhibiting at their own 

 shows. As has been often asserted in " our .lournal," poultry 

 shows must be organised by those who are themselves fanciers, 

 and who must make every effort, even at great personal in- 

 convenience, for the advancement of tbe exhibition, otherwise 

 almost invariably it will be a failure. Now, it is in many in- 

 stances the case (I am a committeeman, and it is in mine), that 

 the show of which an exhibitor is a committeeman is the only 

 one which he has an opportunity of attending, or at which he 

 has an opportunity of peeing his birds compete with others. 

 If in his capacity of unpaid official he were precluded from 

 exhibiting he would have but two alternatives — namely, cither to 

 lose in a great measure the pleasure he has in producing good 

 birds, or to resign his position as committeeman ; and if every 

 local exhibitor resigned his place on the committee, perhaps 

 "Egomet "or "Claude" could suggest as to how the show 

 would be snstained. I really must say the remarks of many 

 writers of late cast a very unfair slur on the character of com- 

 mittees in general. 



The basis of the objection to officials exhibiting must be, 

 that they have opportunities of communicating with the judges, 

 which outsiders have not. To this accusation, for I must call 

 it one, my only reply can be that any one, no matter who he 

 may be, who takes advantage of an unscrupulous jadge by 

 endeavouring to obtain prizes to which he is not justly en- 

 titled is not fit to remain in the society of honourable men. I 

 am sure that the discovery of any unfair dealing on the part of 

 any member of a society would result in his ignominious ex- 

 pulsion. The judges are also pointed at ; for if they are strictly 

 upright and honourable men, which I believe the leading ones 

 of the present day to be, they will not lend an far to the ne- 

 farious proposals of any exhibitor, but of course if they think 

 fit they are able to defend themselves. 



I hope that the mnjority of exhibitors will now see the im- 

 possibility of organising a show without the personal co-opera- 

 tion of fanciers, and the absurdity of denying those amateurs who 

 undertake the arduous duty of committeemen the gratification 

 of seeing their birds join in an honourable competition, and on 

 equal terms with other exhibitors.— An Ibish Committeeman. 



Whitehaven Poultev Show. — This annual show will take 

 place on the 28th, 29th, and :;Oth inst., the first day being 

 private and for judging, the second and third for public exhi- 

 bition. The prizes offered almost in every class consist of 

 five and three-guinea cups, with money prizes of £2, £1, 10s., 



