December 0, 187B. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



521 



engraving there is no colour, yet we see there ia the bald head 

 and the white flishts and tail; moreover, the thighs are evi- 

 dently dark, the head is small and round, the beak short and 

 down-faced iu a sUght degree. The bird seems to have the 

 rose, and to be bordering upon a mane ; I eay bordering, for 

 the division at the back seems to be partial. ' •■:■-'; 



I am no slavish follower of exactly what went before ns, but 

 desire at any rate that advances should be on the old lines, 

 because the fancy ia an historic thing. Those who are sticklers 

 for exactly what was in existence many years ago are naturally 

 old fanciers, and it is usual that old men think what existed in 

 their youth was the best ; in old age the past is idealised. Then 

 there is the opposite fault of the young fancier, who has a 

 tendency to disparage whatever is new. Bat truth as usual lies in 

 the middle path. That there have been changes in the fancy is 

 very apparent, thus : the Turbit was first plain-headed, then 

 shell-crowned, and lastly, as now, point-headed,^each taken in 



no bad thing, as it adds interest to a show; but toleration there 

 should be, and kindliness there must be.— Wu-TsniBE Bectob. 



I SEE by " WiLTsniBE Rector's " report of the Crystal 

 Palace Show that I must rank myself among the " very pre- 

 judiced," not a nice class to be iu, and on reading it I felt 

 strongly inclined to classify him in return, but what followed 

 more than reconciled me to it, as he presently admits that 

 English Owls "have beauties distinct from the foreign birds; 

 so that as there ia only one standard for Owls, he admits all 

 that Mr. Huie and myself have been contending for. lie has 

 therefore only to find another name for his pets, and the matter 

 is settled. 



When on Jacobins he gives me what no doubt is meant for a 

 pleaaant poke in the ribs when he says, " But tell it not in 

 Dundee, they were all low-cut and clean-thighed." Now as no 

 one but myself, so far as I know, has written from Dundee on 



Fig. 108.— The jacobis. 



turn an improvement. The English Trumpeter has as a prize 

 bird disappeared; perhaps a mistake. The English Owl, happOy, 

 has not, and at the late Crystal Palace Show the best then 

 in Owl points was superior to any African. There must be 

 much latitude allowed iu the fancy. Thus it seema in Scotland 

 Dragoons do not take, whereas in England they are a most 

 popular class. Individually I should prefer aeeing a good stud 

 of Dragoons, such as Mr. Bettey's, to the best Carriers in the 

 world; but I would not therefore condemn Carriers because 

 they have never been my fancy. 



Fanciers who rejoice in the English Trumpeters being killed 

 and wish to destroy the English Owl must learn to be tolerant 

 of other people, and not imagine that they can turn ninety-nine 

 out of every hundred fanciers, the ninety-nine fully believing 

 that the modern prize Jacobin is superior to any other former 

 bird of that name in its additional and very marked points, the 

 mane and the rose. If a minority wish to revive an old type let 

 them offer prizes and try the experiment, as I have proposed. 

 In some matters deviation is allowed even by Judges, as at the 

 Crystal Palace Show the Jacobins iu the firat-and-cup of four 

 pairs of Pigeons were clean-thighed and low-cut, and far the 

 best they were in true Jacobin points. I like improvement, for 

 where a fancy ceases to advance it must go back ; a revival is also 



the Jacobin, I am at a loss to know what he means. I never 

 entered upon the colour or marking of the so-called Jacks, it 

 was the form of the bird we were discussing, which ia far more 

 important. This is the second time " WLLTsmiiE Eectob" has 

 slipped out and talks of low cuts and clean thighs, points never 

 raised by Mr. Weir, Mr. Huie, nor myself. Is this from a desire 

 to shirk the question ? I have an opinion of my own on mark- 

 ing which I will deliver at the proper time. I think, however, 

 as in Owls, " Wiltshire Rector " have shown signs of sur- 

 render, for he admits that the hoods of the present Jacobins 

 (so called), " do not come far enough forward," and he is quite 

 right, and it is pleasant to find him admitting so much, aud_ I 

 hope it is an earnest that ere long his better taste will prevail, 

 and that he wiU soon be found pulling the right way aud help 

 to raise such a storm about the hoods of the poor Jack.s as will 

 make them puU them up and wear them aa they used to do 

 before their fall. Juat fancy for a little that a good fancier of 

 the old school could be present at a meeting of Jack fanciers of 

 the present day. How bewildered he would look when he found 

 them talking of manes and roses, and on being enlightened how 

 surprised and shocked he would be. " Can it be possible," he 

 would say, " that the fancy is so fallen since my departure that 

 blemishes are now turned into beauties, and in this age of 



