520 



JOiUENAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ December 9, 1876. 



Silver cocks were a fine clasa, every pen being noticed. First 

 had a fine tuft and small spangling; second marked between 

 lacing and spangling. Mr. Adkins' highly commended pen (1304) 

 had a breast spangled like a Hamburgh in beautiful fashion. 

 Hens, too, were a splendid clasa ; the three pens which failed 

 to gain prizes being all very highly commended. The cup pair, 

 magnificent birds, had the marking between lacing and spangling. 

 One of Mr. Adkins' very highly commended pens (1308) had 

 been we saw claimed for i'20, on account probably of their 

 markings being much more inclined to the true form of spang- 

 ling, which we believe was once common. 



Mr. Dixon judged the Polish. 



Any other Variety. — Tiiis class brought together a very 

 interesting collection. We cannot say that we thought the 

 awards all well bestowed. First were Andalusians, the hen with 

 hardly any comb — a great deficiency in our opinion. Second 

 very beautiful Jungle Fowls, well placed ; the hen much re- 

 sembled a Silver Pheasant hen. We were informed by Mr. 

 Leno, their owner, that they were hybrids between the Bankiva 

 and Sonnerats Jungle Fowl. Their price being £5 they were 

 soon claimed. Third were " Black Indian Game," in reality 

 Malays, and as such they ought to have been disqualified in this 

 class. Fourth Scotch Greys ; the cook had feathers on his feet, 

 the greatest blemish in this breed. Nothing is easier than to 

 breed lumpy Cuckoo fowls with feathers on their legs, bat the 

 breeders of the true Highland " Check Merlin " will not look 

 at a bird so adorned. There were many good birds in the class. 

 Silkies, Sultans, and White Hamburghs. Her Majesty the 

 Queen received a commendation for a pair of Eose-combed 

 Dominiques. 



Mr. Baily judged the class. 



Game. — Black lied cocks were an excellent class. Mr. 

 Matthew's cup-winner was a bird of extraordinary style; he 

 seemed to us to combine the fine colour of the old-fashioned 

 type of bird with the long form of the modern. Second a very 

 good bird, but without the style of the cup-winner. Fourth a 

 large and remarkable bird. Cockerels. — The winners in this 

 class were good, but beyond them there was much rubbish. We 

 suppose the season has been a bad one for Game chickens, for 

 we were quite surprised at the representatives of some yards. 

 The first cockerel was a grand bird ; had his hackle only been 

 a little more grown he would, we think, have had the extra prize 

 which went to the Brown Bed cockerel. His owner refused 

 iE30 for him in the Show. In hens we thought the style of the 

 second-prize bird better than that of the first, otherwise thty 

 ■were well placed. Pallets. — This was a large class. The cup 

 went to a beautiful bird, but we should have been inclined to 

 place the second-prize bird, belonging to the same owner, first, 

 and his fourth-prize pullet second. 



Brown Bed cocks were an excellent class and well judged, the 

 same bird winning first as at the Palace. Cockerels were as a 

 whole a better class than the Blacks. 



Beds. — First and second were very equal. The first-prize 

 bird, which we believe was second at the Palace, received the 

 cup and Messrs. Billing's extra prize for the best Game cock in 

 the Show. The fifth-prize bird was, we understand, the Crystal 

 Palace cup bird. He did not look in cup condition at Birming- 

 ham. Hens were not as a rule a good class, many of them not 

 having good black eyes. The winners were very fair. Pullets 

 were an extraordinary good class and well judged. It must 

 have been no easy task to make so good a selection from such 

 birds. 



Duckwings. — Cocks were a fair lot and well judged; the 

 Palace winner was left out. Cockerels numbered eighteen. We 

 much preferred the first and third birds to the others. There 

 were three or four other good-looking cockerels in the class. A 

 class for Silver Duckwing cocks brought but five entries. We 

 much admire birds of this hue and would gladly see more of 

 them. Hens were a super-excellent class far beyond the other 

 Duckwing classes. The winners were all Al, and the highly 

 commended birds worthy of prizes. Pullets. — Some good birds 

 were to be found in this class, but they were strangely placed, 

 the first winner being in our opinion one.of the worst in the 

 class. 



Black and Brassy-winged cocks were a fair lot; both prizes 

 went to Brassy-winged birds. Hens. — The first-prize pullet, a 

 Black, looked as if she had brown-red blood. 



_ White and Pile.— la the class for cocks there were many good 

 birds, but the Judge seemed to have a strong preference for 

 yellow-legged birds and left out many excellent willow-legged 

 ones. The cup went to a rich-coloured Pile. Second was also 

 a Pile. A nice White bird (Saunders) was highly commended. 

 Hens. — The same exclusion of good willow-legged birds took 

 place in this class. The cup went to a beautiful Pile, which was 

 claimed for .t20. Second another good Pile. 



The fniZHifiea class for cockerels was a good one. Why the 

 class should be confined to birds of the year we cannot see. 

 Most of them go home to be dubbed as soon as the season of 

 such classes is concluded, and their ostensible object is defeated. 

 First prize went to a Black Bed, second and third to Brown Beds. 



Mr. Smith judged the Eed Game, Mr. Lowe the Duckwings 

 and Piles, and Mr. Lane the Undubbed class. 



Bantams, Gold or Silver-laced. — This variety we are glad to 

 see is partially recovering in numbers from the monopoly of 

 one or two great breeders. Nine pens were shown. First of 

 course was Mr. Leno, with beautifuUy-laced Silvers, to which 

 the cup for best pen of Bantams other than Game was awarded. 

 Second were Golden, a good pen. Mr. Hodson's Silvers were 

 well-marked, but too yellow in ground ; and several otherwise 

 good pairs of Golden were too large. 



White mustered nine pens, more than of late. First were a 

 fair pair, the cock's comb larger than we like. We preferred the 

 style of the second-prize pair. 



BZrtct were badly judged. First a poor falcon-tailed cockerel 

 and a large hen; second contained a bad cockerel. The best pen 

 in the class was Mr. Cambridge's unnoticed one ; 1685, highly 

 commended (Draycott), was also good. 



Any other variety. — First a curious and pretty pen of Black- 

 booted, a trifle large ; second were speckled birds, Indian we 

 presume. 



Blaeli-hreasted Beds do not hold their own or fill the enormous 

 classes they did a few years ago. First were a stylish pair, the 

 cock with hardly enough colour on wing. Second prettily 

 formed, the hen with an even dark breast, a little big. Third 

 a pen in which the hen had too many light shafts in her wing- 

 feathering. We much admired the shape of the cock in the 

 fourth pen, but he is too big. 



Broxon Beds. — The cup went to this variety — a very good 

 pair; the cock smaU and specially taking. The second-prize 

 pair we thought too large. 



Duckwings or Piles. — The first prize in this class went to a 

 pretty pair of Piles ; second and third to Duckwings. 



There were two classes for single Game Bantam cocks; in that 

 for Beds the cup went to a singularly good Black and Bed. In 

 the other class a Duckwing, good in colour but too heavy in tail, 

 was first. A selling class for Bantams followed. Game Bantams 

 won, but purchasers seemed chiefly attracted by two pens of 

 Mr. Leno's Sebrights. 



Ducks. — The Aylesburys this year beat the Eouens in weight 

 as much as the Rouens surpass them in numbers. The first- 

 prize pair in the Show reached the almost incredible weight of 

 21 lbs. 9 ozs., while the first Rouens only weighed 20 lbs. 6 ozs. 

 We wish that the test of weight might be abandoned in the 

 case of Ducks as it has been long since in that of Dorkings. 

 The first-prize Rouens were certainly very symmetrical for birds 

 so fatted. 



Black East Indians were a wonderful class, the cup pair 

 magnificent. The second pen, too, contained a lovely drake. 



Mandarins and Carolinas both had classes, as also had Call 

 Ducks, but strange to say but two exhibitors showed them. 

 We suppose they are troublesome to catch. 



In Obnament.al Waterfowl Mr. R. Gladstone was first with 

 elegant little bare-headed Geese. Second were Ducks whose 

 names we do not know, prettily marked birds, their bills having 

 yellow patches on them, and their foreheads red. 



Geese were chiefly remarkable, as usual, in the scales. The 

 first White pair weighed 58 lbs. 9 ozs.; the second, .52 lbs. 

 4 ozs. The first Grey pair, 51 lbs. 9 ozs.; the second only 

 39 lbs. G ozs. 



Turkeys were grand, and many birds exchanged hands at 

 high prices. The weight of the first old cock (33 lbs. 12 ozs.) 

 has been exceeded, but the first-prize hens, weighing 50 lbs., were 

 the largest we have ever seen, and were bought at the auction 

 for 16 J guineas. The first young cock weighed 29 lbs., and young 

 pair of hens 32 lbs. 8 ozs. The Cambridge breed, with a dash oi 

 American blood, seem now to prevail to the exclusion of the 

 handsome Black Norfolk. 



It struck us that there were not so many sales as in former 

 years, and that second-rate birds were going cheap, whUe really 

 first-class birds realised high prices. Mr. Percival's Dark Brahma 

 pullets were claimed for i'30, Mrs. Arkwright's third-prize 

 Coloured Dorking hens for i'20, Mr. Adkins' very highly com- 

 mended Silver Polish hens for i£20, Mr. R. Walker's Pile Game 

 hen for £20, Mr. Daft's Turkey hens for 16i guineas, and many 

 other birds realised high prices. 



THE JACOBIN. 



The readers of " our Journal " are presented this week with a 

 fac simile of the engraving of the Jacobin taken from the large- 

 paper edition of the " Treatise on Domestic Pigeons," published 

 by C. Barry, ad. 17G5. There are twelve portraits of Pigeons in 

 this book, but the Jacobin is by far the best; some of the others 

 are bad indeed. Although no Harrison Weir or Mr. Ludlow 

 had then arisen — both artists and fanciers, yet the Jacobin being 

 so much better than the other eleven pictures inclines one to 

 think that he who drew it understood the Jacobin better than 

 he did other Pigeons. 



Here then we have the best picture in existence of the Jaco- 

 bin as the bird was just 110 years ago. Although being an 



