164 Tim Illustrated Book of Poultry. 



otherwise — and wlicn men of no character have been employed we have known cases of grave 

 suspicion — we would only remark that the fair and honest course is to make specific charges before 

 the proper authority concerned, and not to make reckless insinuations which can neither be 

 examined nor confuted. It is not from judges of doubtful integrity that the greatest dangers to 

 the poultry fancy are likely to arise, but rather from the reckless and debasing rivalry which, 

 without either honesty or courage, seeks to win as the sole object of keeping fowls, and sticks at 

 no means to compass this paltry end. 



The combination of qualities required to make a good judge is very rare. Few men know 

 many breeds well ; and the difficulty of passing from one breed to another without the e}-e 

 becoming biassed is very great to a beginner. The judge must have at least a competent 

 knowledge of the classes he takes, both in their merits and their ordinary defects, from a show 

 standard. He must be cool, and yet quick of eye ; patient and deliberate, and yet decisive and 

 able to make up his mind ; have an opinion of his own, and yet not be crochetty or fanciful ; be 

 honest himself, and yet have a keen eye for the villanies of others. He ought, too, to be able 

 properly to consider the circumstances of the day. This is a point little thought of by exhibitors, 

 who seem to expect that decisions should always be alike ; but consideration of it would explain 

 many otherwise puzzling decisions, and can never be omitted by a good judge. To put this matter 

 plainly, it may be necessary to judge differently according to the different faults prevalent at the 

 time; and we are not sure, when the time comes for a final review of the work done by such judges 

 as Mr. Hewitt or Mr. Teebay, and for comparing fowls and the fancy as they may leave them with 

 the standard of both when they began, that a large part of that work will not have to be credited to 

 a judicious consideration of this point. For instance, supposing the case of a Cochin slightly 

 vulture-hocked, but of marked merit otherwise. The proper standard of perfection no one doubts ; 

 but if nearly bare legs were almost universal through too great a fear of the hock, such a bird as 

 we suppose might with advantage have first prize, supposing him better than the rest in other 

 respects ; whereas if vulture-hocks were becoming commonly shown, it might be equally desirable 

 to pass him over, or only give him third or fourth place, in order to discourage the popular fault. 

 Other illustrations will readily occur to the reader. 



It will follow from the preceding paragraph that we are no advocates for judging "book in 

 hand;" and we think American fanciers especially have somewhat misunderstood the place of a 

 "Standard of Excellence" in this respect. We were once much amused by reading how at 

 a particular show in the United States, or Canada — we forget which — the judges were two days 

 with their book before they could decide in a particular class ; and we cannot help saying that we 

 would not have given much for their decision when the heavy task was done. The fault of all 

 book-judging — independent of time — is that it is not elastic enough, and can make no allozvanccs 

 either for such things as we have just adverted to or many others ; in fact the " eye" of a thoroughly 

 experienced judge is worth all the " Standards" in the world. Again, when we see it coolly argued 

 that the judges should " add up the points " of the various pens, we cannot help reflecting how 

 many weeks it would take to judge a large show honestly on such a system, besides which, some 

 decisions would after all be evidently wrong when they were made; for we have repeatedly had 

 occasion to notice that birds which would have been clearly first according to the " Standard" were 

 by no means the best in their class. The " points" put them first, but somehow no one liked them. 

 Better scales of these may certainly be arranged, but it is at least a matter of doubt whether an 

 infallible " Standard " — which shall correctly deal with every case — can be devised ; so subtle and 

 intangible are some of the features which at once mark off a first-class bird from all its compeers, 

 and which can be " felt" or seen much easier than they can be put upon paper. 



