CLASS FOR LAVENDERS AT MANCHESTER. 



I am looking forward to seeing a great im- 

 provement in this charming colour. I have 

 already seen one or two bred by Mr. Dale which 

 pleased me very much, and I feel sure this ardent 

 fancier is on the right track to produce red-laced 

 Blondinettes which will command admiration. 



There is one other member of the laced -tailed 

 variety of Blondinettes which I must mention, 

 and that is the lavender. This colour is prac- 

 tically new to most of us, and although not 

 mentioned in Fulton's Book on Pigeons, the 

 late Mr. Ludlow told me he had seen them many 

 years ago. Be that as it may, the first Blond- 

 inette of this colour was a cock exhibited by that 

 sterling fancier, Mr. John Roberts, of Chester, 

 some six or seven years ago at Altrincham. I 

 was judging on that occasion. The bird was 

 shown in the Any Other Colour class, and I had 

 no hesitation, although quite a new colour to 

 me, in placing him first. Ultimately the mother 

 of this bird came into my possession, and the first 

 season I bred from her she produced two lavender 

 cocks . 



CLASS FOR LAVENDERS AT MANCHESTER. 



But the strange part of my producing laven- 

 ders was the fact that at that particular time 

 other fanciers were producing them, and in order 

 to discover what birds of this colour were to be 

 found I guaranteed a class for them at Manchester 

 Show. To my astonishment, as well as pleasure, 



56 



