52 



POULTRY, FIRST CLASS. 



The Committee on Poultry respectfully report that the num- 

 ber of entries was not as large as it has been at some of our An- 

 nual Shows, but the quality of the birds, taken as a whole, sur- 

 passes any of our preceding exhibitions. For many years there 

 has been a steady improvement in this feature of our Shows, and 

 your Committee congratulate the farmers of Essex County upon 

 the manifestly increasing interest in poultry breeding and in the 

 wise policy they have adopted of selecting thorough-bred fowls 

 of a high standard to fill the place of the little mongrels which 

 were almost exclusively bred by them a few years ago. 



The Gallinaceous Division was very large. The Light and 

 Dark Brahmas, exhibited by W. M. Ward, were very fine birds 

 and were much admired for their enormous size and fine plumage. 

 Better chickens, in their class, are seldom seen at any of our reg- 

 ular State poultry exhibitions. There were some very fine Leg- 

 horns, exhibited by P. Osborne, which attracted considerable at- 

 tention, and there were also some splendid Dominiques which in 

 the opinion of your Committee is one of the most profitable 

 breeds that a farmer can keep.. 



The Columbarium Division was quite large for a county show, 

 and your Committee awarded some gratuities \yhich was all that 

 they could do, as there are no premiums offered by the Society 

 for Pigeons. Next came the Aquatic Division which was well 

 represented, and the Ducks and Geese entered by Hobert Bux- 

 ton were exceeingly well bred. Your Committee regret exceed- 

 ingly that there are not more premiums offered for this class, 

 and would recommend that a premium be offered in the future 

 for each variety of Ducks and Geese. Hoping these few sug- 

 gestions will meet your approval, we make the following 

 awards : — 



