bie 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 9, 1875. 



carpa (or Goveneana— tree should be eeen); 7, Pinus cembra ; 8, Juniperag 

 chinenBia masoola; 9, Abiea Smithiana (Mormda its fijnonym) ; and 11 can- 

 not be determined unless from good specimens from the tops of the trees. 



POULTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON OHRONIOLE. 



LES BASSES-COURS DE L'ANGLETERRE. 



Chapter VI.— PENSHURST. 



We climbed up one of those beautiful hills bo peculiar to Kent, 

 where the wild flowers nestling among the dark green shade 

 of the ferns lined the banks. It was called Smart's Hill, and 

 smart truly it was in the clothing of August flowers. When we 

 reached the top we looked down upon the valley beneath and on 

 the distant hills beyond, and took our till of one of those pano- 

 ramas of beauty that this part of Kent is so rich in. It was 

 worth while coming to see the view alone. There was Penshurst 

 Place lying below among the fine trees, and on the hills beyond 

 near a score of village churches could be counted among the 

 distant woods ; while here at the top, close to where we were 

 standing, was Mr. Boissier's poultry establishment. 



This yard has only been started about four years, but the 

 owner's name is gradually working its way into the various prize 

 lists. Rome was not built in a day ; and those fanciers, if they 

 are worthy of the name, who buy the best birds of the season 

 and show them to death, or let them fall all to pieces, are as 

 lueteors in the paths of the i)oultry world. Weariness, despair, 

 disgust fall upon them and their reigns are short, for their 

 names disappear as quickly as they came. Not so, however, 

 with Mr. Boissier : he has bought good birds from good yards, 

 and, satisfied with reasonable returns, is now beginning to reap 

 the reward. It is just as much pleasure to us to visit the rising 

 establishments as those of veteran fanciers, and so in our peri- 

 grinations after les basses-cours we like to look up everybody. 



The establishment we are writing about is one of those where 

 small moveable houses with small changeable runs are chiefly 

 used. Mr. Boissier has given up a fair-sized field to his birds, 

 and all over the place we find these runs dotted about. Each 

 little house will hold four or five birds. They are built upon a 

 plan of their owner's, and in many ways resemble those of the 

 Messrs. Crook's; but Mr. Boissier has exercised his own inge- 

 nuity and turned out really capital little houses for the kind. 

 Each house is on wheels or can be moved with handles, and 

 each has a small moveable wire run attac'aed to it. These little 

 places are moved in a circle, and being moved every two or 

 three days the birds are always on fresh grass. By this means 

 the whole of the field is gradually worked over, while between 

 each movement the grass has time to get fresh and to grow 

 again. The chickens are loose in the field, and many of the 

 hens when not breeding ; but the cocks cannot be allowed to 

 have their liberty, as the pens are only made of ordinary wire 

 netting, and they would consequently fight with each other. 

 Old bags or coarse canvas can be laid over these little wire runs 

 in the sunny time of day, so that the birds can always have 

 plenty of shade. We really were quite taken with the methodical 

 way this department was worked and with the general healthy 

 appearance of all the birds. 



There were other fixed houses in blocks, which, though quite 

 roughly made and built at no great outlay, still the birds looked 

 well in them ; and our ideas were once more strengthened that 

 birds well fed and attended to do better in cheaply made service- 

 able houses than ever they do in those wonderful erections that 

 we sometimes see with coloured glass windows and elaborately 

 constructed roofs. We must not forget to mention a capital 

 arrangement for sitting hens. It was like a long row of rabbit 

 hutches, all moveable, with a strong well-eaved roof. In each 

 compartment was a floor of grass, and there the birds could incu- 

 bate without any fear of disturbance, while, standing as they did 

 in the open air, the nests are always fresh and without offensive 

 odours. There was also a small block of houses and runs, built 

 in the shade, for single cocks, which we should say would answer 

 the purpose well, though, had we been the architect, we should 

 have made them rather larger. The part, however, which 

 struck us the most were the moveable houses and runs, and 

 the systematic way in which they seemed to be arranged. We 

 had often heard of these pens being so used, but never saw 

 such a group of them before in such thorough working order. 



Now we must turn to the inmates of the pens. We find them 

 many and various. Croves, Houdans, White Cochins, Black 

 Hamburghs, Light Brahmas, and Booted Bantams we saw, 

 many of them really splendid specimens and mostly in wonder- 

 fully robust health and condition. Mr. Boissier in forming his 

 yards looked out for fanciers who were retiring from some espe- 

 cial breed, and then bought all their stock. In many cases this 

 was successful, for we find his chickens a very creditable lot. 

 Still we do not advocate this plan, for the new purchaser, having 

 no knowledge of the peculiarities of some of the birds, must 

 mate them with a certain amount of risk. If going in for a new 

 variety ourselves of which we had no paiticular knowledge or 



experience, we should prefer leaving the selection of a good 

 pen for breeding purposes to some honest and straightforward 

 breeder. Among Mr. Boissier's birds we were much taken with 

 the French. The Creves especially were a very fine lot of birds, 

 being remarkable for crests and good combs. We believe they 

 were principally of Mr. Feast's strains, and the success of this 

 gentleman's Creve cock for three years in succession at the 

 Palace, though now no longer in his own possession, speaks well 

 for the strain. One or two hens we admired immensely, but all 

 were good in colour. The Houdans we found in a moulting 

 state, many of them, but their frames and shape betokened their 

 quality, and Mr. Boissier has been successful this season with 

 their chickens both in his own name and others. The Black 

 Hamburghs were a fair lot, but the chickens' combs lacked the 

 north- country shape. We do not wonder exhibition Hamburghs 

 are few and far between in the south, for their combs are awk- 

 ward things to breed good naturally. These three breeds were 

 in a large block of fixed pens on one side of the poultry field, 

 with trees shading them in the rear. In the single-cock pens 

 we found some nice White Cochins and a good Creve cock or 

 two, but these were also in process of changing their plumage. 

 In another block of fixed houses and runs were the Light 

 Brahmas. The hens were especially good ; the one which took 

 the cup last January at Portsmouth was moulting nicely. The 

 produce of these birds, too, were certainly above the average, 

 and many have realised good prices, for Mr. Boissier is always 

 ready to take a fair price for his birds. One cockerel we then 

 thought highly of we saw a few weeks afterwards weU to the 

 front at Edeubridge, from whence he speedily went to a new 

 home, we hear. 



In the moveable pens, all over the field, were the White 

 Cochins and White Bantams, and they really looked very strik- 

 ing. We saw two good old cocks which, we are sorry to learn, 

 have since met untimely deaths, but the hens were the best, 

 and very nice birds many were. Some of the chickens, too, were 

 very promising and have since come to the front as we expected 

 they would. All the intervening space between the runb, and 

 all over a shrubbery and small farmyard, were the younger 

 chickens, which will be in their turn penned in the moveable 

 runs when they come to the years of discretion. We must not 

 forget to mention the Booted Bantams. There was a very nice 

 little stud of them, and we have watched Mr. Boissier's successes 

 with them with much pleasure. 



We spent so much time over the little pens and their inmates 

 that the afternoon had almost waned before we left the chickens' 

 field, but we were obliged to have a peep at the Rabbits, for 

 they looked so clean and healthy in their admirably constructed 

 hutches. There were Himalayaus and Silver-Greys, the former 

 really extremely good in all points, and their owner told us he 

 had been very fortunate with them. After this a hasty peep 

 round a very pretty garden arranged with the utmost taste, 

 where the colours in the beds, too, blended most beautifully, 

 and then we passed once more on to the high road and descended 

 Smart's Hill. As we went down we thought over the yards we 

 had left, and came to the conclusion that Mr. Boissier had too 

 many irons in his poultry fire. It is all very well for those who 

 keep a manager, or those who go into the fancy for the sake of 

 the profits, to keep a great number of breeds ; but for a gentle- 

 man who simply keeps them for a hobby and gives personal 

 supervision to them we are quite convinced two, or at the most 

 three, breeds are sufiicient. We are glad, then, to see Mr. 

 Boissier has himself realised this; for from the weekly King 

 Street advertisement we learn that Mr. Stevens had authority 

 to sell without reserve, on the 7th inst. last, all the Cruves, 

 Light Brahmas, and Black Hamburghs from the Penshurst 

 yards. Valuable though the specimens mostly were, still we do 

 not think Mr. Boissier will regret this step, and we wish him 

 much success with his reserved forces, for he will now be able 

 to bring them to much greater perfection, and to spend more 

 time in producing chickens worthy of the breeding stock he has 

 at Penshurst. — W. 



BRISTOL POULTRY SHOW. 



The tenth great Bristol Exhibition of poultry and Pigeons 

 will be held on the last day of this year and the first and third 

 days in next. On the first page of the little book we find the sub- 

 scription list, and the total amount comes to about £60. This is 

 not a large sum, and considering Mr. Cambridge so nobly caters 

 for his poultry friends single-handed, we feel sure all will do 

 their best to support him and prevent his venture being a losing 

 one. The entry fees are as usual, and the last day of entry is 

 December 7th. Admission to the Show will not be allowed to 

 anyone until the awards are made, and in making this rule we 

 know Mr. Cambridge means to keep to it. Double baskets will 

 be allowed, and will, we are sure, bring many extra entries. 

 The prize birds will be offered by auction on the first day of the 

 Show at 2 P.M. An especial rule tells us that no telegrams 

 relating to prizes won will I?e answered on the day of judging. 

 The Judges are announced — viz., for poultry Messrs. Hewitt, 

 Teebay, and Dixon, and for Pigeons Messrs. P. H. Jones and 



