DooombM 3, 1874. 1 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICUIiTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



503 



9. H. Yardley. he, E. Walker (Trumpeters); R. Klrkland, Uppingham 

 (Dragoons.) 



Jddges. — Poultry: Mr. E. Hewitt, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, 

 and R. Teebay, Fulwood, Preston. Pigeons : Mr. F. Eaquilant, 

 Brixton. 



BIRMINGHAM POULTRY SHOW. 



The Judging Day at Bibminqham — -The great poultry " Derby " 

 has come round, or at least what used to be looked forward to 

 as such by all the poultry-fancying world ; but, unfortunately, 

 as times change, and all the arrangements of poultry shows im- 

 prove, Birmingham does not change, and, except in one or two 

 minor points which we gratefully hail and acknowledge, Bir- 

 mingham does not improve. Twenty yoars ago all that was 

 thought necessary at a show was to cram so many birds into so 

 many pens, and give them food twice a-day, with little more 

 care for their comfort; but unfortunately for exhibitors and 

 their birds, far more is now expected at any first-class show. At 

 the Crystal Palace, Oxford, and elsewhere we see the pens kept 

 clean, the floors covered with grit or chaff, and green food sup- 

 plied ; the consequence is that the birds come home bright and 

 healthy ; but at Birmingham for nearly a week they wallow in 

 dirt on boards, and the result all exhibitors know. This year 

 some improvement has been made : water is hung up in proper 

 drinking vessels, and a handful of white sand was put in each 

 pen, which the birds rapidly dispersed. Surely the eight- 

 shilling entry fee could provide a little road-scrapings and a cab- 

 bage leaf for every pen. So much we think it our duty to say, 

 in the hopes that this old-established Show may, before it is too 

 late, be prevented from falling entirely into disrepute. 



The judging day is a real treat at Birmingham. One can see 

 everything in quieh, make-up one's opinion as to which ought to 

 be the winner (and we are not obliged to change it always when 

 it has not been prophetic of the awards), and pick-out the bar- 

 gains against the struggle at the sales' office on Monday morn- 

 ing. The ten-shilling entrance fee is well spent, and we advise 

 all fanciers to spend it next year, not omitting to put on great 

 coats, for a more draughty place than the Poultry Hall it is im- 

 possible to conceive. 



5ra7i mas now head the book. Why? Perhaps because they 

 are more likely to brave well the cold of the upper end of the 

 building than Dorkings; or, perhaps, their admirers will tell us 

 becanse they have been found a more generally useful breed. 

 They number five hundred pens. We are glad to see several 

 new winners, and not merely the Palace champions with all 

 their places transposed. The Selling classes must be a boon to 

 the Judges in eliminating much rubbish from the superior 

 classes, but we wish the price might be extended to ili> a pen, 

 for rows of Dark hens with hideously light and speckly breasts 

 testify to the fact that decent breeding birds cannot be bought 

 for 30.S. each. 



Dorkings show a falling-off ; there are not two hundred pens 

 in all. We miss the immense classes of Coloured cockerels and 

 pullets there used to be, and their quality too. Silver-Greya 

 (barring the old cocks) are good, and so are Whites. 



In Cochins the competitiou is very great. We never remember 

 having seen such a high average in Whites as in the hen and 

 pullet classes. Their awards were not out when we left late in 

 the day. 



Malays muster very strong, and after them the French, 

 Spanish, and Hamburgh classes are all of their ordinary size 

 and merit. When we come to Polish, Silvers seem going ujj 

 both in numbers and merit. There are several pairs of hens of 

 extraordinary bea.uty, their immense tufts still symmetrical. 

 Alas for the beautiful White-crested Blacks ! they are becoming 

 few, and their looks betray in-breeding and degeneracy. The 

 Variety class contains nothing very remarkable. We saw a pen 

 of Black Cochins with more than ordinary lustre ; a pen of 

 Padua Chamois of poor washy colour. It is a sad pity that no 

 one takes up the more rare Polands. Selling classes for varie- 

 lies other than Brabmas, Dorkings, and Cochins are a failure. 

 White Bantams actually muster but one pen short of their 

 Black cousins. 



Ronen Ducks and Turkeys are a marked feature of Birming- 

 ham. Turkeys especially are well seen in the Cattle Hall, and 

 are in ample pens, where they look happy and less cramped 

 than in the ordinary zinc pens. There are four classes for them, 

 and eighty entries — a grand opportunity for purchasers who want 

 to improve their stocks. Turkeys seem scarcely to have a fancy 

 value, and many grand birds are for sale at little over market 

 prices. 



The PioKoss, as usual, are in the gallery; the classes small 

 but excellent. On the first day the Pigeons fare well, for the 

 temperature in the gallery is warm and even ; on the later days 

 the heat in former years has been intolerable, and the poor 

 birds have suffered much. 



At intervals throughout the day the awards, as far aa made, 

 are posted up on a card, and this year on an improved plan : 

 the number of every pen noticed being given in order, with its 

 distinction. Such were our impressions of the judging day — too 



short by far at this time of the year, and in Birmingham, to 

 " do " the Show, but long enough to give a pleasant glance at the 

 whole thing, and to make us wish that our birds had not five 

 more days to endure in Bingley Hall. 



[Such were the notes made before the awards were announced, 

 and then our reporters combined and wrote in addition : — ] 



Birmingham, venerable Birmingham, the mother of poultry 

 shows, now holds her annual gathering; the same old faces met 

 again on Saturday last at Bingley Hall — the same old faces wore 

 to be seen at the "Acorn" in the evening. Birmingham, with a 

 few exceptions, remains the same ; she has adopted a few of the 

 " Selling Classes" that have proved so successful at her fashion- 

 able daughter's entertainment at the Crystal Palace, and we 

 find a little larger supply of silver plate in the schedule ; in 

 other respects the Birmingham of 1874 is the Birmingham of 

 1801. We are pleased to record the fact — Birmingham is re- 

 spected for her antiquity. The old supporters who have visited 

 and exhibited since she has held a show would be sorry to ace 

 any great innovation; and fanciers, who may be tempted to pay 

 mother Birmingham a visit, would hardly care to see the same 

 birds exhibited in the same manner, and probably in the same 

 position in the prize list as at the Crystal Palace. But here we 

 have a change — the hens and pullets are shown in pairs : this 

 makes a greater strain upon the resources of a poultry yard than 

 the exhibition of a single hen or pullet, and consistently a 

 greater impression is made upon the mind of the fancier with 

 regard to the general quality of the exhibitor's stud. 



The entries of Pigeons are llGless than those of last year, but 

 this is more than made-up by the increase in the number of 

 entries in the poultry classes. We append a comparative state- 

 ment of the entries in the several varieties for seven years : — 

 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 



Brahma Pootra 233 233 261 810 884 444 501 



Dorking 305 331 294 280 244 227 182 



Spanish 103 70 72 86 70 17 50 



Coohin-Chlna 312 260 323 261 264 229 817 



Malay 11 18 27 16 24 44 46 



Crive Creur, &c 101 9? 107 99 117 92 91 



Hambnrgh 253 181 195 225 175 142 148 



Other distinct breeds 20 23 12 19 19 26 29 



Polish Fowl 47 56 63 58 47 38 87 



Game 482 S36 374 382 830 296 835 



Bantams 208 142 174 153 105 131 147 



Ducks 129 116 120 183 124 184 117 



Geese 47 39 3S 82 31 18 22 



Turkeys 64 50 67 55 67 47 80 



Pigeons 432 482 453 574 889 491 375 



2747 2453 2578 2661 2385 2341 2477 

 Brahmas have this year superseded the Dorkings in their 

 place of prominence in the catalogue. The Dark cocks we 

 thought a good class, but many of the best birds were not in 

 condition. Pen 20 (Ansdell), a grand bird, secured the first prize. 

 Pen 1.5 (Percival) was second, but we liked the third-prize (Lacy) 

 better. He was a splendid cock, good in shape, size, and colour. 

 Pen 14 (Lingwood), fourth, was rather up in the tail, otherwise 

 he would doubtless have obtained a better position. Pen 27 

 (Cotterell) and pen 14 (Bennett), very highly commended, well 

 deserved the distinction ; the latter was beautiful in colour, a 

 good shape, but rather smaU. Pen 6, highly commended, we 

 Uked, but he was not over his moult. Pen 21, highly com- 

 mended, had some good properties, but he was out of condition. 

 The Cockerel class was a large one, and contained some fine 

 specimens. Pen 107 was awarded the first prize, the winner of 

 the twenty-guinea cnp at the Crystal Palace being placed second. 

 In some respects we liked the winner ; he was a good-framed 

 bird, had a small comb, but it was peculiar, being narrow and 

 spiky. He had not what we should call quite a mottled breast, 

 as the old style of Brahma cocks bad, but a peculiarly-marked 

 breast; some of the feathers we should describe as pencilled, 

 and others as splashed. The second-prize bird was not in such 

 good condition as at the Palace. The fourth and fifth birds we 

 liked, and they deserved their position. Pen 57 (Miss Pennant), 

 very highly commended, will make a good bird ; pen 99 (same 

 owner), very highly commended, pretty, but small ; pen 58 

 (Smith), very highly commended, had a bad comb, was very 

 leggy, and we thought not worthy of the distinction ; pen 64 we 

 were also at a loss to know why it was very highly commended; 

 pen 45 (Gwydyr), highly commended, was pretty, but had a little 

 white in fluff ; pen 80 (Lingwood), unnoticed, we thought in some 

 respects the best bird in the class. 



Hens. — Pen 132 (Ansdell) was first. It contained two fine 

 birds, but not quite a match ; one was very fine in colour and 

 markings, the other we thought a little inclined to be mossy. 

 As a pair we liked the second-prize pen (Crabtree) ; they were 

 very large and well matched, but in markings not quite equal to 

 one of the birds in the first-prize pen, but both superior to the 

 other. Pen 122 (Lingwood), third ; both birds were more dis- 

 tinctly marked than the two first pens, but not so large or good 

 in leg-feathering. Pen 139 (Wright), fourth, very large, good 

 in shape, with a good ground colour, but not so well pencilled 

 as the first three. 



