528 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIClILTTJr.E AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



( Dcccmbor SO, 1869. 



POtXTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 



NOTES ON THE BlUHMAS OF lero. 



DoRiNO the pact twelve montbe 1 have received eo many 

 letters of inquiry on diaeient points from readers of my ccm- 

 munioations on ibis breed Bonie time eince, undtr my old eig- 

 natare of "Nemo," tbat I have thought a few later notes may 

 not be nnaccef table. I do not go into personal detaib, but 

 simply record my impresfions of the progrees and present state 

 of the two varieties, as they appear generally to one who is at 

 all events a cuiefol and li^ving btudent of them both. 



First, they are both mating way. 1 have always regarded 

 the Briihma, not as by any means a perfect fowl, or in all cir- 

 camstancea even the best ; but still as, on the whole, the 

 "Shorthorn" among poultry breeds. Time is justifying this. 

 In numbers they now stand either nearly or quite at the head 

 in most poultry shows. 



During the past year the birds have perceptibly gained in 

 size. When I formerly wrote, I hud to ask that more attention 

 should be paid to this point. Such a hint would not now be 

 needed, ilany birds have beeu shown this season really 

 enormous. Mrs. Hurt's seoond-prize Dark cockerel at Bir- 

 mingham weighed lljlbs. ; one of my own weighed lllbs.; 

 and I am sure there were ai leabt a dozen over lOlbs. ; one cf 

 the pullets weighed 9 lbs. This could not have beeu said even 

 twelve months age, and I am glad to record that we are getting 

 back to the stanaard of the grand birds formejly shown by Mr. 

 Teebay. I hope yet to see a cock that shall weigh 20 lbs. 



Leg leather, too, is ccmiag back, and I am glad to see it. 

 Very oiten, no doubt, hocked parentage has been employed ; 

 but hooked cccts may be bred from without injury, if used 

 with judgment and caution. In too many cases plucked hocks 

 still appear ; but I am glad to be able to say that the judges 

 nearly always detect them now, and the fraud does not pay. 



On the whole, I think the Light variety has improved the 

 mast during the past twelve months, probably because — Will 

 ilessrs. Pares and Crock pardon me, I wonder '/ — they stood in 

 most need of improvement. They are larger, shorter on the 

 !eg, much Letter in feather, and iiitinitely better in combs. 

 The cocks, too, show mere of that intangible but valuable 

 quahty called " style." It is pleasant to see that some of this 

 work has been done by new exhibitors, with ladies in the 

 number. There never was a jear I remember so many new 

 names added to the best class of competitors in all breeds ; 

 and those of older standing whom they have beaten in the 

 friendly fight, will be those who will bid them most hearty 

 welcome to the poultry fancy. There will be " cutting" work 

 in "Lights" next season. 



I make two remarks on the Light variety. The first is, 

 there is some approach to jtllcw in the cocks of late — let this 

 he shunned. The second is, that it seems to me both breeders 

 and judges are now looking after rather more stripe or colour in 

 the cockerels than formerly. I quite agree, for plenty of mark- 

 ing is half the heauty of Light Lrahmas. They are not White 

 Cochins. 1 givti my own impression from seeing the classes 

 and the judging. 1 may be wrong, l.ut breeders wiU do well to 

 at least bear the suggestion in mind in analysing the judging 

 for themsblves, as all good Ireeders do, and, if I am found 

 correct, to choose their slock aoooidicgly. 



Many of the Dark birds this year have shown too much 

 length of leg. 1 would never bo too parlicalar about short 

 legs in a cockerel. I like a fine bird to have legs, but I have 

 seen a good many really beyond moderation. It is a dangerous 

 fault, as I can say from personal knowledge, it leads to coarse- 

 ness of iieth. Moreover, it is much harder to "breed out" 

 than it is to bring in. 1 hope breeders will beware, and keep 

 within bounds. 



Fashions change, even in poultry, as I have often been 

 amused to see. The brown colour in Dark pullets some ex- 

 hibitors used to like, is just now quite "out of court," and 

 even the light Silver-Grey has haidly been seen this year, 

 while the "newest style for the season" seems to be what I 

 may call a "dead grey." My own individual fancy has al- 

 ways been for the darker, rich, green-black pencilling Mr. 

 Teebay used to breed; but 1 do not dislike this. Many of 

 Mrs. Hurt's pullets show the dead grey colour to perfection. 

 The splendid grass run her birds have does wonders for them, 

 and they are Lard to beat. 



In Dark cockerels and cocks I have been almost pained to 

 notice a most eerious fault, in the shape of a nasty yellow 



tinge. It was disagreeably evident even last year, bat this 

 season has increased to a very great extent ; the hackles and 

 saddles of at least half the prize birds, instead of the beautiful 

 silvery white we used to see, being of a dingy yellow, Uke a 

 very dirty Canary. I did not precisely agree wiih Mr. Boyle in 

 every point of colour, but be certainly did almost always show 

 cockerels of a beautiful silvery white, which is only too rare 

 this year. I venture to ask the attention of the judges to this 

 great blemish, feeling quite sure that if not checked, one of the 

 chief beauties of the breed will soon be lost, not to bo easily re- 

 gained. The yellow I speak of must not be confounded with 

 the effect of the sun, which will tan all birds as the plumage 

 gets old, but which ought to show little effect at this time of 

 year. It is singular that the yellow in the cocks has come in 

 simultaneously with the "dead" grey of the pallets ; and it is 

 worth inquiry whether there may be any connection. I am 

 inchned to think not ; but if there is, I venture to say, that to 

 sacrifice the beauty of the cocks for the sake of the pullets 

 will be found a great mistake. I only note the fault as a 

 serious and unsightly one, asking the attention of both breeders 

 and judges to check its increase. 



White in the tail has also, I am sorry to see, much increased 

 among Dark cocks, and I have a shrewd suspicion whence it 

 comes. I think myself this fault should be ahnost a dis- 

 qaalification. I do not say quite, because to disqualify ab- 

 solutely a fine fowl for anything but real deformity is always 

 injurious. But it ought, in my ophaion, to coOnt seriously 

 against a bird, and I would never keep a cock in my yard that 

 showed it. Dorkings are never considered birds of feather; 

 but certainly Brahmas are, the pullets being chiefly judged by 

 their plumage, and if so, a fault so utterly disgusting as white 

 feathers in a tail which should be all black ought never to be 

 tolerated. It is worse, too, for the very strong tendency to be 

 hereditary. The fault never in my knowledge occurs, except 

 there has been a cross from a strain already tainted with it ; 

 and so far, I have been able to trace nearly every case to a 

 cross more or less remote from the stock cf one particular yard 

 some years back. Let this induce breeders to be careful how 

 they introduce it. 



I only remark, finally, that there has been some tendency 

 shown of late by a lew judges to judge Dark pullets too much 

 by colour alone. The lirahma is a breed which should have 

 not only leg-feathers, but fluff and cushion, without which it is 

 as inferior as a Cochin would be similarly deficient, although 

 the conformation is, of course, quite different. I have seen, 

 however, with regret lately, many pullets win prizes appa- 

 rently for their colour, which had no more of either fluff or 

 cushion than a Spanish fowl. This is an error especially cal- 

 culated to mislead beginners who purchase prize birds ; and 

 with this caution, therefore, I conclude my notes on the more 

 striking peculiarities I have observed in " The Brahmas of 

 18G9."— L. Wr.icnT. 



POULTRY-SHOWING. 



Will you permit one who has hitherto been an outsider to 

 say a lew words on the most unseemly strife that has been 

 going on for some time in your columns about members of 

 committee showing, and about the whole subject of poultry 

 exhibitions? "Fie, gentlemen!" I would say; "shame to 

 handy about such charges ! Positively, it would seem from your 

 statements that exhibitors, committees, and judges were all a 

 company of the most arrant rogues going ; and I could only 

 hold up my hands in astonishment to see the snarling and ill 

 feeling that pervaded the letters written. " I know nothing of 

 poultry-exhibiting. I once reared fowls and rejoiced in my 

 yard ; and 1 have now commenced again, and won my spurs at 

 our East Ashford Show with a fine pen of Cii ve-Ga>ur8 ; but I 

 declare the pages of the Poiltrv Chronicle are enough to 

 frighten one from exhibiting — that is, if one believed the state- 

 ments, which I honestly confess I do not. I do not think my 

 fellow countrymen are such rogues. And now for the moot 

 point of committeemen exhibiting. I do not think there ought 

 to be a second opinion on this point. It seems a fine notion, 

 forsooth — ;mind, I am not a committeeman), tbat the gentle- 

 men who are interested in poultry in a neighbourhood, and 

 spend their time and money in organising a poultry exhibition, 

 should be subject to the annoyances and inconvenience."! which 

 are inseparably connected with such things, and then for some 

 iBzy dolce far lucnlc neighbour, who will take no trouble and 

 give no money, to come in and take off the prizes because 

 those most interested in it were shut out. Who ever heard at 



