Jane 17, 187S. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOBTIOCLTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



479 



state of the Vine leaves. The Vines are very vigorous, and the roots supply 

 sap to the leaves faster than they can elaborate it, bo the vessels are un- 

 naturally expanded. 



Insects (A Subscriber). — The insect you have sent, supposing it to be a 

 drone (malel wa';p. caught flying about with queen wasps, is a solitary instct 

 belonging to a different sub-family. It is named liynerus parietinus, and 

 builds its neat in old walls and eaud banks. — I. O. W. 



Names of Plants {Madeira). — We cannot name from flowerless speci- 

 mens, or mere scraps of Conifers, (f . B ). — We canuot name from leaves 

 only, nor florists' varieties even from flowers. Your Begonia leaves are from 

 such varieties. (J. LamtUll). — We believe it to be CUtorea ternatea, Wieg- 

 leaved Clitoria. A portrait of this plant ie in the "Botanical Mazagine," 

 (. 1543. 



POULTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON OHEONIOLE. 



GRIEVANCES AND COERESPONDENCE. 



A>toNo all the different hobbies taken up in the present day, 

 we doubt if there is ever as much dissatisfaction in any of them 

 as there exists at times in the poultry fancy. So many are dis- 

 satisfied, and grumble because they think their own burden is 

 the heaviest, or that their troubles are the most intolerable. 

 Perhaps this may not only be the case in our department. Any- 

 how we know among many poultry-loving individuals dissatis- 

 faction frequently reigns supreme. Let us take a monthly or a 

 quarterly number of our Journal, or that of any other poultry 

 contemporary, and we are able to pick out grievances on every 

 conceivable subject — eggs, prizes, birds sold and birds bought, 

 shows, et id genus onine. 



We fear individuals who delight so in grievances gain but sorry 

 comfort and poor consolation from their friends, and still less 

 from the fancy. The former call them idiots for embarking on 

 the road at all, and the latter think them equally foolish for 

 either not taking greater care of number one, or else treat their 

 pitiable effusions as rubbish. We are not bard-hearted, and we 

 have had as much to put up with, we believe, as anyone, but we 

 do wonder why people do complain so much. Is it that they 

 wish to be pitied for the troubles and calamities they undergo ? 

 Do they love to parade their misfortunes before this unsym- 

 pathising world to show how nobly they bear them? Do they 

 think they will be the means, by circulating their troubles, of 

 bringing about better times 1 Or do they complain for the very 

 love of grumbling 1 We sometimes are almost obliged to believe 

 the latter is the real state of the case. 



We must not be misunderstood when we speak of grievances, 

 for we do not mean that fanciers should not show-up and do 

 their utmost to stop wrong practices, for we can thoroughly sym- 

 pathise with those who have had their birds tampered with or 

 purposely rendered unfit to win, and we hope when a case of 

 any such kind can be clearly proved nothing will prevent the 

 circumstances being fully presented to the public. It is not to 

 that kind of grievance we would refer, but to stupidly concocted 

 woes proceeding from fertile imaginations. These are the 

 grievances we object to, and would beg those who make them 

 to consider first the incalculable trouble they put their corre- 

 spondents to, and secondly the absurdity of the very grievances 

 themselves, and consequently the ignorance that is exhibited 

 by those who do complain. We were calling the other day on 

 a lady who had just entered the poultry arena, and who, having 

 made her cUhut in exhibiting, was not as satisfied with the results 

 as she had fondly hoped to have been. One thought, conse- 

 quently, a letter on the subject, not for insertion, but a private 

 kind of sermon, might do the editor of a poultry paper some 

 good. Well, a letter was penned, and this was the substance 

 of it. 



" Mrs. A regrets very much having to trouble the editor, but 

 she feels sure he cannot know that her beautiful Light Brahma 

 cock did not win the priza at C. Mrs. A was very much dis- 

 appointed, and does not pretend to hide it, for she had given 305. 

 for the cock without basket or carriage, and understood the bird 

 was to be a winner. Mrs. A herself tied-down the basket, and 

 can vouch for the cock being in perfect health. Certainly the 

 cock's comb was damaged in fighting, and he had rubbed most 

 of his leg feathering off. There were also bare patches on his 

 back, but these were only in consequence of the hens having 

 eaten his feathers; still Mrs. A believed the judge would have 

 given her bird the prize, for he must have been able to see the 

 points of her beautiful bird. Mrs. A leaves the matter happily 

 in the hands of the editor, feeling sure he will find out the true 

 state of the case, and see that her birds have justice done to 

 them in future." 



This was the letter' we just prevented being dispatched, and we 

 believe it to be a type of many dozens with which editors and 

 managers are weekly assailed. As we told the lady, surely if she 

 only thought the matter over she could see that the editor of a 

 paper could do her no good. How could he see her birds had 

 justice done to them ? How could he make the judge perceive 

 the perhaps non-existing points ? Private people, however, come 

 in for their share of grumbling letters, and that no small one. 



Here is a ridiculous case. A friend of ours, a gentleman well 

 known in the fancy as a successful exhibitor, sent a dozen 

 Dorking eggs off to a party who had ordered them. Within 

 three days after they had been sent off (we are not certain it 

 was not within two), back came the basket of eggs, and a letter 

 which said that the eggs arrived and being tested wore found to 

 be all clear, and so another sitting at once would oblige. This 

 we call the most original impropriety we ever heard of, for 

 allowing the time to have been three days, one-half of the 

 seventy-two hours to have been consumed in the transit of the 

 eggs, this genius in the remaining thirty-six hours had, we sup- 

 posed, placed the eggs under the hen, taken them away again, 

 tested them, found them to be clear, and again sent them on 

 their journey. 



Many are the letters, too, egg-sellers receive, telling of dire 

 disappointments because only six or seven out of the sitting of 

 eggs have hatched, or because the chickens died in the shells, 

 or were "rotten," not "clear." We must answer the letters, 

 and we must enter into their difficulties to a certain extent, but 

 we do hope we may soon find that people are more reasonable, 

 and cease to entail such immense trouble upon a body of fanciers 

 who in many instances are people that take up poultry as a 

 recreation and as an amusement after business hours, and who, 

 if by Belling birds and eggs try to make the two ends in the 

 poultry establishment meet, have no time to reply to needless 

 correspondence. 



Secretaries of shows come in for a large share of troublesome 

 letters. We have a pile by us of epistles sent to one of the 

 authorities of a large show held last year. We pick out two of 

 the simplest, for some of them are really difficult to understand, 

 so wonderful are their expectations : — " Sir, I usually am happy 

 to remain at the stake, a martyr to the glorious cause of poultry ; 

 but here I must say a word. Such mismanagement should be 

 sent forth to the world, and I give you timely notice, unless I 

 hear by telegram why my birds did not reach home by the mid- 

 day train on Friday instead of the morning of Saturday, I shall 

 write to the Editor of the Journal of Horticulture and beg him 

 to publish the case." The telegram was not sent, but the matter 

 ended with the above. This is the second one : — " Sir, where 

 is my catalogue ? I sent you a penny for postage ! and let me 

 hear by return whether you gave my birds the bread and milk 

 at 6 P.M. as per injunctions; also kindly let me hear if Mr. A'a 

 Hamburgh cock was the one with the long tail, or the one with 

 the malformed comb. I should like to hear the weight of the 

 prize Rouen Ducks, not both of them, only the drakes ; and do 

 you know if the pen was claimed in the sale class ? If not, 

 please forward on the enclosed to the owner to save a post ; if, 

 however, it was, I should be glad to have my enclosure back, 

 and a card stating name of purchaser and his address. Do not 

 forget the catalogue and weight of the drakes. P.S. — Do not 



forget the catalogue, mind, and to see about pen , it must 



be that pen." 



This is the correspondence secretaries have to endure. Do 

 let US all try not to trouble secretaries and members of com- 

 mittees more than we can help, for they are generally men who 

 do their work for the love of the fancy, and who have to put up 

 in most cases with loss of money as well as loss of time. Above 

 all, let us hope for a cessation in the style of correspondence of 

 which we have been speaking. — W. 



SCHEDULES OF SHOWS. 



Peterbobodgh holds its poultry show on June 2flth and 30th. 

 Entries close on Saturday next, June 10th. Lady Huntly, and 

 her daughter Lady Grace Gordon, are great patronesses of this 

 Exhibition, and supply more than a quarter of the prize money. 

 The prizes are small and classes few. There are two classes 

 for 1875 chickens and two for table poultry, and an extra prize 

 of ±*1 for the best pen in the Show. The entry fees are low : 

 for non-members only 2?., for others Is. each pen, and the 

 modest charge of M. for Pigeons. Surely here is a chance for 

 the cottagers. 



Buckingham holds its second Show on July 27th. Entries 

 close on July 13th. It is a very fair schedule, with three prizes 

 in each class. The breeds are fairly well classified, and there 

 are several classes for single cocks, which we should think would 

 fill well, for many have them in good feather, and no hens fit to 

 go with them at this season. The peculiarities of the schedule 

 are a class for spring chickens and two classes for Geese. There 

 are also especial classes for cottagers, of which we are very glad, 

 and we also rejoice to see " several pens of poultry may be sent 

 in one package." The Judge's name, whose decision is to be 

 final, is not declared. Why not ? Let it be advertised ; it will 

 increase the entries if a good man has been chosen. 



CiKENCESTEB holds its third Exhibition on July 28th, 29th, 

 and 30th, under a new secretary. Three days for such a show is 

 a most objectionable long time. Entries close on July 14th, 

 and the fees are Is. and 3s. for poultry, and 2s. for Pigeons. 

 There are two cups for the two best pens of poultry, and a gold 

 medal for the best pen of Ducks. The classes are fairly well 



