338 



JODKXAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 27, 1876. 



disoontinnanoe of Mr. George Wise's five-guinea cap for eight 

 specified varieties of potatoes, that gentleman giving in its stead 

 a champion cap value ten guineas to the winner of the first 

 prize in the class for the best twelve distinct varieties of 

 potatoes, twelve tubers of each. The Society's prizes in this 

 class are also increased to i'o, .£3, and .£2. The class set apart 

 for the Rector of Woodstock potato was withdrawn. 



Mr. Adkins reported the alterations suggested by the Poultry 

 Committee in their department. In the classes for hens only 

 one would be shown in future, and with regard to the Hamburgh 

 and Polish fowls the old and young birds would compete sepa- 

 rately. There would also be new classes for Silkies, Andalu- 

 sians, and Leghorns. A guinea sweepstake for the best Game 

 cock was also opened. The first prizes throughout the Pigeon 

 classes would be raised from 30s. to i'2. There would likewise 

 be new classes for Dragoons bred in 1876 and for Dragoon hens, 

 also for young Antwerps and Antwerp hens. Towards the 

 additional money given in prizes a few members of the Birming- 

 ham Columbarian Society, who are interested in the varieties 

 specified, had promised ten guineas. A new regulation had 

 also been decided upon with regard to exhibitors. In the future 

 persons who were not members of the Society would be allowed 

 to exhibit poultry upon payment of 8s. per pen ; one ticket of 

 admission being given for each four pens exhibited. A member 

 of the Society would be charged £1 12s. for four pens, and have 

 six tickets of admission. The object of the Committee was to 

 prevent two pens of good birds and two pens of bad ones being 

 sent in order that exhibitors might obtain in tickets the amount 

 of their entrance fees. 



These suggestions were unanimously adopted. 



PIGEONS— OLD AND NEW TYPES. 

 Thinking over the recent p.aperB in our Journal upon the 

 shortcomings of some of our pets, caused by want of care, 

 knowledge, or other mistakes made by the possessors of the 

 ancestors of these birds, it often seems to me one had better 

 let those matters rest as they are than to be worried as we some- 

 times are, and sometimes taunted as faultfinders — a character 

 which I am sure none of us labour for. Like some of my 

 friends I have been born into the " fancy," and, of course, can- 

 not get out of it; and having supported it to the best of my 

 ability all my life, I find I must support it still. So against all 

 insinuations, and against all opposition, I intend to support it 

 in its normal points only, which have not yet been improved 

 upon in this country. 



" Wiltshire Eectok" tells us he has heard of a case where 

 a former friendship had been broken over a difference of a 

 " feather, or the shape or the colour of a bird." Surely this is 

 a false report. One can hardly credit that such could have 

 taken place. I never heard of such a case, but melancholy 

 things do take place amongst men. I was told of a case only 

 the other day of a lady and gentleman who had not been blessed 

 with a family, but who started an argument as to how a family 

 ought to be, or would have been, brought up had they possessed 

 one, and the intensity of the argument waxed so great that it 

 ended in a separation. And once again : At the foot of my 

 garden stands a Siberian crab tree. It was loaded and gay with 

 bright red fruit a few months ago. Outside the railings stood 

 two message boys looking at the tree. One said, " What beauti- 

 ful cherries !" The other replied, " They are apples !" " No, 

 they're cherries!" "No, they are apples!" And the debate 

 ended in a stand-up fight. 



A feather is a trifling thing, but a feather— one feather, will 

 sometimes make perfection ; hence the great amount of " fancy 

 tailoring," as an ancient writer in this journal used to term it. 

 " Perfection is made up of trifles, but perfection itself is no 

 trifle ;" and taking this view of matters in connection with our 

 " fancy," I begin at the beginning. 



Before proceeding farther, however, I have somewhat to say 

 to our friend " Wiltsbire Rector." I give him all credit for 

 his desire to cultivate kindness in our brotherhood, but why 

 give us in the next issue an off-hand cut when he knows how 

 sensitive we are ? In his report of the Pigeons at the Crystal 

 Palace he says, in describing English Owls, " I think all, save 

 the very prejudiced, must have owned," &c. There is a splendid 

 breed of horses here known as the Clydesdale horse. Should 

 anyone rear a cross-bred animal between this and another breed 

 of horse, surely I am not to be called "prejudiced" because I 

 insist that the cross-bred animal is not a true Clydesdale. But 

 I let this pass, and ask, Where did we get our standards ? I do 

 not think from Moore alone, though he is our oldest authority 

 as the author of a history of fancy Pigeons. I believe the 

 standards have beeu written by fanciers from time to time as 

 the different birds were introduced into this country, and after 

 Moore's time they were bred-up to the original type till within 

 late years. No doubt there were always weeds to be found, and 

 ever will be. " Wiltshire Rector's " portrait of the Jacobin 

 of 101 years ago may be a fancy one for all that we know, and 

 does not settle the question. I have been too long connected 



with the fine arts to put much faith in old drawings or engrav- 

 ings of natural history subjects; but it is not from descriptions 

 given in old books or engravings that we take our stand, but 

 from what we know and have seen. 



" The parchment roll, is that the holy river 

 From which one draught shall slake the thirst for ever? 

 The qaickening power of science only he 

 Can know from whose own soul it gashes free." 



It requires a long experience and close study, not of books 

 and pictures, but of the actual subjects themselves, their habits 

 and general life, to pourtray fully and faithfully the various 

 points required. 



I need not again describe the Jacobin, the points of the true 

 bird have already been set forth clearly; and wherever I am 

 honoured to act as judge at our shows I shall certainly give the 

 awards to the birds of the original type. It seems strange that 

 so few take the trouble to favour us with their opinion publicly 

 on matters of this kind. Were this more generally done I 

 believe we would find the " minority " a large one. I had a 

 good specimen of this at the late Kilmarnock Show ; itwas the 

 talk of some dozen of fanciers. A single bird put into the 

 selling class, as thought unfit for the Jacobin class because she 

 was of the old type, had so many claimants that she had to be 

 put up to auction, and thus realised a sum three times the cata- 

 logue price, the fortunate purchaser refusing a tempting addi- 

 tional sum to part with her. This bird (a yeUow) had one of the 

 longest and best chains I have seen for years. 



If fanciers will have the mane and rose, then they must do 

 without the chain, one of the great beauties and distinctive 

 characteristics of the Jacobin. The chain must necessarily be 

 suddenly stopped short to create a perfect rose, and if only 

 gradually shortened the rose must then necessarily be oblong 

 and imperfect. The mane and rose in the Jacobin are recent 

 innovations. They suit the present taste, and go down with 

 some judges at our shows, but that is no proof that they are the 

 true characteristics which the bird possessed while in the hands 

 of the earlier fanciers. Since the old, Spitalfields weavers (the 

 introducers of this and most of our fancy Pigeons) died out, this 

 bird has gradually degenerated, gradually acquiring the Tumbler 

 form of body, and unless some spirit is shown in introducing 

 more original blood the true bird -ndll be lost altogether. 



The same style of degeneracy is going on in other birds. The 

 so-called English Owl is but a cross-bred bird, and until the 

 true (African) bird was brought prominently forward young 

 fanciers would not believe what they now do. Many of these 

 cross-bred birds are little better than fliers or racing birds ; 

 indeed, the latter is indebted much to the cross with the Owl 

 for its high soaring and speed in flight. 



The Barb is also going in the same way. The heads of many 

 of them are wonderful, I should say improved, but it is no 

 longer the Barb, it is a Tumbler with a Barb's head ; with the 

 exception of the head the other distinctive characteristics of the 

 bird are lost. A friend of mine in Kilmarnock lately purchased 

 what London fanciers would call a tidy bird. It was one of the 

 new type. By-and-by it was allowed its liberty, and proved 

 such an adept at tumbling that its possessor in disgust wrung 

 its neck. This just shows the line the fancy is taking. What 

 will stir us up ? Oh, for the ghost of an old Spitalfields fancier ! 

 —James Huie. 



MOKPETH SHOW OF POULTRY, &c. 



Thk second annual Show was held at Morpeth on Saturday 

 last in the Corn Exchange, Fothergill's pens being used for the 

 accommodation of the birds. The prize money was small as 

 compared with that of some other shows in the district. The 

 light was not good in some cases, and the Gold-spangled Ham- 

 burghs being placed verv high and with the back to a very strong 

 Ught were exceeding difficult to judge, but the most was made 

 of the space at disposal. 



Cochins were a very good lot, the winners bemg Buffs, whion 

 also took the cup for the best pen iu the Show. Brahmaf were 

 good, the first about correct; the second losing only in the 

 cock being too grey on the fluff. Sj)anish were a fair lot; the 

 first contained a cock with a grand lace and drop. Hamburghs 

 were not first-rate, though there were some good pens, the 

 Silver-spangles, Pencils, and Gold-pencils being best. In Game 

 the entries were very good ; the first class, that for Reds, was 

 one of the best ever seen in the north of England. The first 

 and second were Brown Reds, and extra second Black Reds. In 

 the next class Duckwings won, and these were also very good. 

 In single cocks first was a Duckwing and second a Brown Red, 

 but many birds shown were not fit for the show pen. In single 

 hens first was a Brown and second Black Red, both most perfect 

 in colour and marking ; the first one of the neatest birds of this 

 breed we have seen of late. Game Bantams— 'Reia were very 

 good, the medal for the best pen in the Show being awarded to 

 the first pen. In the Variety class Duckwings won, and these 

 were also well shown and of good quality. In single cocks two 

 grand Black Reds won, but many of the others were far too large 

 in taU. Some capital Blacks were to the front in the next class. 



