212 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTDEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



[ Marcb 5, 1874. 



rn^Lif '^i V® " ^t"''/ ?'''°' '* ^"<='' a tl^'^g is possible, are 

 complete y demoralised by those nanghty men ■' Wiltshire 

 Eectoh," Mr. W. A. Blakston, and other writers to papa's first 

 -St Edmund!' °° ^""""^ """^^ °^ ^'^ journey, " our Journal." 



[Who that has children but would feel interested in the spare 

 attic facing due south with its prospective pleasures? It is 

 quite refreshing after the turmoil of the exhibition season to be 

 asked such a slrmg of interesting questions. They savour of 

 commg spring, fresh-turned earth, green moss, budding prim- 

 roses and sweet-scented violets, warm sunshine and leugthenin- 

 days , and they speak, too, of the early spring time of life with 



rlVn^r, P f * ' ''? l"^? """^ sorrows, hopes fulfilled, and bitter 

 disappointments, not be lost on "my little ones." 

 = J^i •■"'P ''"'^'^ famously if turned loose in the room • 



aimed aT'tCe'",^'" wf '^ ^? ^'^' '"'^ "" P^r««"lar excellence 

 thT^tt'.lZ ?°,'";"«'^ Vi^^' or one more adapted to furnish 

 or elXe ^"^"""t .of Pl^''^'ir« at the smallest amount of trouble 

 Trnn^i ?b»; ;^^\''""^, i'?" 'J"™ ^<=°P« ^°^ freedom of action in 

 the Ze il fn t,,^ ^?f ^^ '°'A'? '?•']"''■ ^^"''^^ ^« is ^s happy in 

 w ««n J^ ° other, and his life approximates more nearly, 



' I wn Id ^L^f-? ?™°*'^Iy. to ^^^i it is in an unconfiued statl. 

 W J!^ not Uke to say how many hens are the proper share 

 iu thTn J°^irb'"','' -^"f 9'^P^'^one. Though, to some extent! 

 wiflT^^l V i''^?^'^ '° common, yet each cock will pair 

 tm she^ sfttW™^");' ^J^''^^ P-^y ^'' "P'^""' attention, at least 

 flame Zlfl^'^T^"^ ''"', 0'^",°^^= ^^^ ^'> ^i" oourt sjme new 

 touta ^^'^^^Jii'^otfeelect his first love, and will continue 

 ^11 hpnn™» ""^ ,''•'''', ^''ough, under the circumstances, he 

 h2ns^-n»T» P^""™ V" ^"^ ""^tioi^s. And it is strange how 

 on the el/ST,'"'" sometimes behave. I have seen two dtting 

 claimed ifevL*^ "''"', '''^' ^''""'^8 as assiduously as if each 



oodfa^oiTp?,,' '"t™'^"/." Linnets (cocks), and Goldfinches, either 

 cocks or hens. Hen Linnets will breed in rooms only under 

 will bui d'".*??*; f*^ then very rarely; but a hen Goldfinch 

 will build, sit, hatch, and feed as well as a Canary. The produce 

 Mules'and wl^*^ Canary Mules, and Goldfin^ch ancrCanar™ 

 The h^ns i-lT ^ t" PiolfbiUty be dark self-coloured birds 



mM,t „,! 1 o^ be use ess, but the cocks excellent songsters. Tou 



S'e'bletsfng mightfaU."'"^ '"^ *"" ^^^"^^ '' ^° '^--'^S ^^-« 



.ilf.r'"^"''' °f ' ''°''?°'? "'■"^'f to o°e tree in the centre, but 

 ?i»Tl f ?™' r"u^ ^^^ "'''"s. The best for the purpose a?e 

 b^^ot a't sn^' ^'^'^ ^' "^ '^f'^ for Christmas trees)! whTch can 

 ^11 rPm„,7rT7' '■''^'^ carefully lifted and suitably potted, 

 ^out a^dhv ,?^ ^^ %\T^ *'"'''• 'P'^o birds will pull them 

 about, and by the end of the summer they wiU be done for as 

 sucrdrcums'i'' '^^PO'^ted .to put forth their new leaves under 

 such circumstances. If, in addition to these, you can get any 

 oL the wkl? vo^ '",?V°."Sh material, to plac'e'^agauist Ir han^ 

 cornpr«^t^,i'r"-'^'i^ ^°4,tbe birds will soon select the snui 

 anv bunch of fig'" '° ''?''^- ^'™ " ""PP'y of moss, soft hay! 

 rfaTfw^-?h wv, w?"' roots you may meet with, or similar mate- 

 and'nlentv of »'ff'X ^'" ^uik the foundation of their nests), 

 where We If ■//"^t,^""''^''''''' ^"^^ '''■'' ««*-! 'lon't know 

 down w;]^ il • 1' fr^" the carpet factories. Add some Rabbit- 

 i^^h ^-n '?^ ^?''y T.'" P"t the finishing tonch to a nest, 

 ^nd wo^li'^''''^ "V ^'"0 ones" look on°with amazement 

 matSt^thoTth^^^s.'^" "'''"'•' ''-'''' ''"'^"''"^^ ^™™''--^ 



buHd"?hpr='f'^"' !?•■' i""''"? ^■'^^ ''^y *i«n is beginning to 

 tion ' Sb« i,-ii "^T"? *?? T- *° " <=onier and watch the opera- 

 tion. She wiU not at all ob ect to your company. When vou 



ir/wl?'/^ '^"^ 'T'^ ^^'^ announcement to 17l! Fleet s"r Jet 



-W. Z it^TL.^ *° '''"^ ^°" ^°^ *° ^^"^^ "^0 young ones 



STEAY NOTES ON THE CRYSTAL PALACE 



CANARY SHOW. 



t>,f„^*'P*®°'^?"J'^ }^'^ I visited the Show with feelings of any- 

 thing but satisfaction. Tou ask me why ? Well, I cannot say, 



" I did not liie the Palace Show, 

 The reason why I do not know, 

 But I didn't liie the Palace Show." 



a'm Tif^T «°°!* aU look at things with the same eyes, and I 

 am glad to find that a first visit lias warmed-up our friend 

 „p^„"''^™°"' Rector " into two columns pleasant report of 

 feason nf"5.f '''^■ons of this the final gathering of the eventful 

 lelTm „p'tt I- \°°' *°''"' f^o" the west end, and to me, who 

 of snS„ 1- ^i"'*''! ™ore than once in a year, the impression 

 reaS .= f ''"^r'/ '' ^^ f'^^^'^' «s uovel. knd as sensibly 

 entered tZf''"' } '^f' ^i'''^ °P«° the swinging doors and 

 a wav vnn P„f 7 structure, leaving the outside world behind in 

 ^Zl(I-j do nowhere else. But in the " Arabian Night-like 

 pavihou I could see no beauty; indeed, what I did say to a 



friend who performs the annual pilgrimage with me was. 

 What a den of a place !" With the tent, as a tent, I have no 

 fault to find, nor with the internal arrangements (excepting the 

 staging of the Belgians), but the tent itself is a mistake. I am 

 not alone in my opinion, and am perfectly satisfied that if an 

 appeal were made to the entire " constituency," the result of 

 the poll woidd show a decided " reaction " in favour of the 

 tropical department (with all risks of deaths) and clear sun- 

 light. Birds which have not been coddled-up, but which have 

 been knocking about the country for the last six months chant- 

 ing their evensong in a railway station, and matins in the 

 guard's van, are not afraid of the temperature of the Crystal 

 Palace. At night the green-baize covering could easUy be turned 

 up over the cages, and everything would be as snug as possible. 

 Pretty as the birds may look, to the uninitiated, in the subdued 

 light, and though, as Mr. Wilson agi-eed with me, it is as fair 

 for one as for the other, it is fair to none, neither to exhibitor, 

 seller, nor buyer ; and I am bold enough to say that nineteen 

 out of every twenty casual purchasers who claimed a bird under 

 the tent would not recognise it in clear daylight. 



If it be the best arrangement the Crystal Palace can offer, 

 then, I say, despite all its beautiful surroundings, it is a bad 

 arrangement. 



I think also that the staging of the Belgians might be better 

 arranged. The Crystal Palace Show is not an ordinary affair, and 

 with the appliances and resources at command one naturally 

 looks for a model show. It surely could not disarrange or throw 

 things out of gear to have a niche set apart for these remark- 

 able birds— some quiet corner in which each bird could be per- 

 fectly isolated, and be " put up " at pleasure. It is most un- 

 satisfactory to see a row of these specimens; and beyond the 

 fact that this one is ticketed first, this second, and that third, 

 there is no possible means of arriving at any accurate conclusion 

 as to their merits. And it must be specially mortifying to a 

 keen fancier and thorough judge of this variety to know that in 

 some_ instances the awards are flagrantly wrong, and yet under 

 the circumstances the superior bird cannot stand up and assert 

 the incompetency of the judges, or any error or oversight which 

 may have been committed. Mr. Wilson reasoned that it would 

 be injudicious to legislate for any particular class of birds. The 

 fact IS, every class is legislated for except Belgians, and they are 

 not adequately provided for. 



_ The display of Norwich birds was very fine, and the separa- 

 tion of the " hot " ones from those moulted under the old regime 

 a judicious arrangement, which might have been carried out 

 on a more liberal scale. It was hardly fair to classify the one 

 in extcnsu and to crowd the others into two classes. A special 

 prize was given by Mr. Barnesby to the winner of the greatest 

 number of points in the not-high-coloured classes ; but what 

 wiU " Wiltshire Rector " and everybody else think when I 

 say that every individual bird which helped to win that prize 

 was a bond-fide " hot " bird ? Surely the Judges know nothing 

 about them when they see them ! Mr. Bemrose was in the 

 Show on Monday, and considering the " peppering" be has re- 

 ceived, was in rare form. It was a great triumph for him to 

 win such laurels on the scene of his last year's attempted dis- 

 grace. Truly has he kept his promise made last year when 

 smarting under the opprobrium of implied dishonesty, and 

 already before the advent of another moulting season has his 

 prophecy been fulfilled that they " all would do it," for even in 

 the " hot " classes he was opposed by late-hatched birds, and 

 beaten too. In one or two partially-moulted specimens the new 

 high-coloured feathers came out in marked contrast to the pale 

 nest feathers. It will, perhaps, be needless to say that Mr. 

 Bemrose will not accept the special prize, but hands it over to 

 the Derby Ragged School. 



With regard to " Wiltshire Rector's " hope that this new 

 method of feeding may make a like advance in Almond Tumblers 

 or other Pigeons, I see no reason why it should not. The theory 

 that judicious feeding can affect colour in feather, if adminis- 

 tered while the blood is in circulation in the feather, being now 

 established beyond doubt, opens a wide field for experiment. 



I still maintain that Mr. Bemrose, having borne the brunt of 

 the fight and overcome blundering ignorance and wicked opposi- 

 tion, deserves the substantial thanks and acknowledgments of 

 the feather fancy generally. And I ask " Wiltshire Rector," 

 who, I know, is ever willing to support all that is gentle and 

 true, and Howarth Ashton and others whose names once adorned 

 the fancy, but who have retired from it simply because they 

 could no longer remain in it with pleasure, to help me to give 

 effect to this. Mr. Bemrose, disgusted, retires from pubUc com- 

 petition, bequeathing this legacy to future fanciers. So, one by 

 one, we lose our best men. It ought not to be. 



I cannot now notice many individual specimens, but among 

 the not-high-coloured birds, Mr. W. Walter's two Clear Bulla 

 (121 and 122) were great, and among the "hot" birds, Bemrose 

 and Orme's Clear Buff (251) stood alone. I was much amused 

 at overhearing two of his admirers' remarks. " Why, if here 

 oint old Cherrybum !" It really is a cherub. There never was 

 such a bird. 



