Apiil 2, 1674. 1 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTORE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER, 



283 



of the auents mentioned mnst be applied to the tcliase of the Vines, but over 

 any plantn that will not be injured by tlie Bolt suap it may be sjrinKed. We 

 liave also found useful sprinklmj; tfle floor of the kunse and border with guano, 

 and then with water; if the floors, &o, are wet, sprinklinf with water after- 

 wards is unnecessary. If the Vinea are in tender leaf a little air blrould be 

 left on, afl the ammonia evolved will scorch the leaves. Water well in the 

 course of two or thi'ee days. 



Names of Punts (R. A. P.).— All specimens should bo numbered. The 

 large, l»iuas Nordmanniana; the small, Cedrus Deodars. (r.r(iu|.— We can- 

 not uatue plants fi-om leaves only. Those you enclosed seemed of a Begonia, 

 and if so we could not name it, the varieties are so numerous. 



and third prizes, provided I will guarantee a cup. If any ot 

 your readers are willing to help me in this I shall be much 

 obliged. — AaTBBB Kitchin, Weaterham. 



POULTRY, BEE, AM) PIGEON OHEOFIOLE. 



FEEDING FOWLS AT SHOWS. 



Mr. Addie's letter in your number of March 19th is another 

 instance of writing about that of which the writer does not 

 know the facts. I have noticed with regret how very often the 

 secretaries and committees of shows are publicly castigated 

 about mere trifles. Why do not these persons communicate with 

 the secretary, and, failing to obtain a sufficient explanation, then 

 trouble you and occupy your valuable space with their com- 

 plaints ? 



Now, as regards the subject of Mr. Addie's letter, I believe 

 the report in your Journal was correct, for the birds had not 

 time to staff tiiemselves with Indian corn and barley before the 

 Judges commenced their duties the day before the Show. Most 

 of the birds were not penned before twelve noon on Tuesday, 

 March 3rd ; and even if they had so stuffed themselves, we know 

 very well that the Judges we engaged would have been the very 

 last gentlemen to have mistaken overshowing for overfeeding. 

 I do not think Mr. Addie could have thought of this when he 

 wrote his letter. That Mr. Addie's bird was a little too fall of 

 food on the 4th of March is a fact, and our attention was drawn 

 to it, not by Mr. Addie, but by Mr. Leeming, an exhibitor, and 

 the bird received that care and attention which we always give 

 when we notice anything wrong with any specimen. I should 

 not have troubled you, but that I do think it monstrous that a 

 Show managed, as ours is, by a Committee, all fanciers to a 

 man, who thoroughly understand the treatment of every variety 

 of bird usually shown, should be accused of indiscretion. If 

 such had been the case I should not be the recipient of letters 

 from all parts of the United Kingdom, thanking me heartily for 

 the great care and attention their specimens always receive. To 

 please everybody in feeding is impossible. Some say, " Do not 

 give my birds soft food ;" others cry out against hard food ; 

 ■ some want the food put in tins, others on the floor, some in a 

 little heap ; some, again, ask for a little bread and beer to be 

 given — I wonder they do not suggest cheese as well. So that 

 you see after all the Committee really must use their own in- 

 telligence in these matters, otherwise the Show would be 

 brought to a standstill in the worry and bother of carrying out 

 general orders, which in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred are 

 mere fancies. — Wm. Humphreys, Secretary, Nortltainpfoii Show. 



BLACK BANTAMS. 



Having bred and exhibited this variety of fowl without inter- 

 mission since 186.3, 1 naturally feel an iuterest in any discussion 

 appertaining to them, and it was this feeling which induced me 

 to pass my remarks on Mr. Arundel's paragraph. 



-Anyone reading that paragraph who knows anything of the 

 shape and style of the different breeds would associate Mr. 

 Arundel's description of a Black Bantam with that of a Sebright, 

 and I still maintain such a theory is wrong. If Mr. Arundel will 

 read my last article again, he will probably see that I did not find 

 fault with his points iudividually and separately, but collectively, 

 as a whole tending to the " style " I object to. 



I have not read the " Standard " alluded to, but I cannot 

 believe Mr. Teebay or Mr. Dixon could have revised the Black 

 Bantam portion ; in any case their awards at the different shows 

 do not agree with it. What I contend for is, that a Black Ban- 

 tam should not approach in shape a Sebright ; and when I say 

 the tail should be rather drooping than otherwise, I mean it 

 should not be upright, which constitutes a defect known as 

 ** squirrel-tailed," and nothing looks worse. My birds are cer- 

 tainly of a very different style from that described by Mr. Arundel, 

 but I scarcely ever show them without winning. On the other 

 hand, I do not know whether Mr. Arundel ever enters his birds 

 for competition, but it is certain his name does not often appear 

 in the prize lists. In conclusion, I hope my remarks are taken, 

 as they are intended to be, in the sense of a fair and open dis- 

 cussion with one whose ideas on a given subject do not coincide 

 with mine. — E. Cambridge. 



American Fowls. — At my request the Secretary ot the Oxford 

 Poultry Show has kindly consented to give a class for American 

 fowls (Leghorns, Dominiques, and Plymouth Bocks), with second 



BEOMLEY POULTRY SHOW. 



Hassard rersus Gednev, 



YoDB report omits altogether my evidence on oath, that Col. 

 Hassard refused to receive his birds back when the mistake was 

 discovered ; even when the offer was accompanied by a promise 

 to pay reasonable compensation for any loss sustained. The 

 legal objections taken by Mr. Glynn, my counsel, were that, as 

 there was no consideration between me and plaintiff, I was not 

 liable, I being an honorary officer, and having sworn that I 

 received no remuneration for my services. The Judge over- 

 ruled this, and held that the deduction of ten per cent, from ail 

 purchase money, though it went to the prize fund, was a con- 

 sideration. My counsel then submitted that no evidence had 

 been given that I was anything more than an agent of the Com- 

 mittee who promoted the Show. The short-hand writer of the 

 Court supplies me with the following notes of what then took 

 place: — 



" His Honour. — There may be something in the point you now 

 raise ; there was nothing in the other. 



" Mr. Glynn. — My client was an honorary officer, and you 

 have no evidence that he was anything more than the agent ol 

 those who promoted the Show. 



" His Honour. — It is true that, whether he had anything more 

 to do with it beyond acting as honorary secretary, has not beeit 

 proved. 



" Mr. Glynn. — I contend that, as an honorary officer, who 

 acted as an agent and got nothing for his services, he cannot bo 

 held liable. 



" His Honour. — The question is, whether he was more than 

 an honorary agent of the promoters ? 



" Defendant. — Yes, I was one of the promoters, and shall have 

 to bear my share of the loss. 



" His Honour.— It is very honourable of you to say so ; you 

 were not compelled to admit anything prejudicial to your own 

 case." — C. W. Gedney. 



LOW-HABITED PIGEONS. 



I KEEP a few Tumblers in my garden and pay some little 

 attention to their comfort. I feed them well, principally with 

 tares and maize, with an occasional pinch of hemp-seed for a 

 treat. I supply them with clean water in clean vessels daily, 

 with a weekly bath, and have their loft frequently cleaned out 

 and covered with fresh sawdust. 



My neighbour, about 100 yards off, also keeps Pigeons — 

 mongrels bred from Trumpeters well crossed with " duffers," 

 Tumblers and Jacobins. His lockers are crazy concerns on poles 

 close to and on the north side of his dwelling house, and he has 

 converted an old tool-shed into a loft, which is the dirtiest place 

 I know, bar the lockers aforesaid. He has five or six pairs at 

 liberty; I have only four pairs. 



I very much want to know why, under these circumstances, 

 my Pigeons should have the bad taste to make frequent visits to 

 my neighbour's low-bred birds, and why the latter are so wanting 

 in good taste, to say nothing of good manners, as never to return 

 these calls. 



To-day a Short-faced Ealdhead hen of aristocratic birth and 

 bearing escaped from my aviary and was out of sight in an 

 instant. In the afternoon I called on my neighbour, and there 

 was my little lady fraternising with his plebeian duffers. Now 

 why should she have settled down amongst them in preference' 

 to those of her own class flying about in my garden close around 

 the house she had escaped from ? She could not have joined 

 the former without seeing the latter after her flight, and as sh© 

 had left her mate and eggs in my aviary her instinct ought ta 

 have brought her home. — Thomas P. Simpson. 



[Your Pigeons show decidedly very bad taste. I have kept 

 Pigeons for years, and they have never joined the farmer's birds, 

 though my garden joins his. Has your neighbour some saltcat, 

 as it is called {vide " Brent's Book," page 03)? this may be the 

 secret, I can think of no other. You can easily make some, 

 and the effect may be to keep yoiu- birds at home. Again, have 

 you cats that frighten your birds? A hurdle placed on the roof 

 on the sunny side is much loved by Pigeons to sit and bask on — 

 try that. — Wiltshire Eector.] 



PIGEON NOMENCLATURE. 

 In reply to the question " Turkey Quill " asks me in the last 

 paragraph of his contribution to your issue of March 26th under 

 this head, I have to say that the colour known as blue chequer 

 derives its name from the ground colour ; while the coloura 

 known as red, yellow, and dun chequer derive their names from 

 the chequer marks. I fancy the reason of this is, that while in 



