F A NCI E US' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



committee empowered to act for the Society, and all things 

 bid fair to produce satisfactory results, when discontent ap- 

 peared among the rank and file of the Association. The 

 premium list was withdrawn, and instead of a grand display 

 of first-class birds by amateurs and dealers from abroad, the 

 exhibition narrowed down to the stocks of but three or four 

 dealers, who did what they could to add to the interest of 

 the State Show (and here let us say the poultry and pigeon 

 classes attracted more attention than all the other classes to- 

 gether). 



The officers and many of the members of the Maryland 

 State Poultry Association resigned their memberships, and 

 started a new society, entitled the " Poultry Association of 

 Maryland," electing as officers the following gentlemen: 

 President, Mr. Baker; Secretary, Mr. Koons ; Standing 

 Committee, Messrs. Mordecai, Thompson, Stephens, Powell, 

 and Parker. This Association has had under consideration 

 an exhibition of the first class, to be held at the Masonic 

 Temple some time during December, and quite a number of 

 subscriptions were handed in ; but in consideration of the 

 "panic," and its attendant scarcity of money, it has been 

 deemed advisable to postpone the design until a more aus- 

 picious season. 



The "Maryland State Poultry Association" (don't mix 

 the two, this is the old one), or what was left of it, called 

 a meeting, declared all offices vacant, and proceeded to 

 the election of the following gentlemen : President, J. B. 

 Town; Vice-Presidents, P. Hine, J. M. Wade, and A. Mil- 

 ler; Becording Secretary, A. Bommel; Corresponding Sec- 

 retary, Charles Schwin; Treasurer, George Schwin. 



It was decided to give an exhibition of poultry, pigeons, 

 dogs, rabbits, birds, &c, during the first week of January, 

 1874. 



The premiums are to comprise ten gold medals, forty-two 

 silver medals, and a number of diplomas for the varieties, 

 and special premiums for best collections and single speci- 

 mens of pigeons ; also specials for fine poultry, guinea-pigs, 

 birds, &e. 



"With two societies working towards the same end, it is 

 possible something may occur. When the first Association 

 was organized, no one would have supposed that before the 

 New Tear there would be two organizations. So will it be 

 with exhibitions ; after the start they will grow of themselves. 

 Ten years hence they will be established necessities. We 

 wish the exhibition success, and if it is placed prominently 

 before the public, and in an accessible place, there is no doubt 

 of its satisfying the hopes of its friends. 



Glamorgan. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



SCIENTIFIC BREEDING OF IIGHT BEAHMAS 

 FOR EXHIBITION. 



Article I. 



SELECTION OF BREEDING STOCK. 



Pew, excepting the most successful breeders, realize how 

 important a part the proper selection and mating of their 

 breeding stock plays in the rearing of exhibition fowls. To 

 produce exhibition birds no pains should be considered too 

 great in the mating of a breeding pen to have the faults, 

 however small, in cock, counterbalanced by the perfection 

 of those points in the hen ; if possible have each point repre- 

 sented by perfection on one side at least. I should much 

 rather if there must be a failing in one of the birds, that it 



should be in the hen, as the cock with one exception exerts 

 the most influence over the color of the plumage, and over 

 the external points or marks in general, while the hen gov- 

 erns the form and size. The exception in the cock is this : 

 if the hen had not a distinct black stripe in her hackle, I 

 should expect to breed very few if any good birds from her, 

 even if the cock had a good hackle. I will endeavor to give 

 a few rules for the benefit of the amateur. In selecting a cock, 

 choose a bird with a small head, which should be surmounted 

 with a small pea-comb. The neck should be rather long 

 with a full sweeping hackle, which should have a distinct 

 black stripe in the centre of each feather. His back should 

 be wide and flat without any apparent length ; the saddle 

 commencing almost at the base of the hackle, cannot be too 

 broad, and should continue to rise until it merges into the 

 tail, which should be carried nearly upright and open out 

 wide. His breast ought to be broad, deep, and full, and car- 

 ried well forward. His wings should be well folded with 

 the points pressed well into the fluff. The fluff should bo 

 very abundant, so as to give the bird a broad and deep ap- 

 pearance from behind. His legs should be thick and rather 

 short, and of bright reddish-yellow color, well feathered with 

 white feathers mottled with black near the toes. Perfectly 

 white leg feathering is if possible to be avoided ; never breed 

 from a bird with crooked toes. 



Next in order comes the hen. Her head should be small 

 and fine with a very low pea-comb. Her hackle must have a 

 broad black stripe clown the middle of each feather, which I 

 like to see end in a sharp point at the base of the neck ; the 

 neck rather long. Back flat and wide, with a broad cushion, 

 which should rise until it almost buries the nearty upright 

 tail. Her breast ought to be deep, broad, and full, carried 

 rather low in comparison with the cock. Her wings should 

 be short, tightly folded, with the points dipped up between 

 the cushion and fluff. The fluff should be ample, covering 

 the thighs, and giving the bird a broad, deep appearance. 

 The hen must be short in the leg, and viewed from be- 

 hind they should stand so far apart as to indicate a capacious 

 chest, which is necessary to afford room for the heart, lungs, 

 and other vital organs, which will insure vigor and stamina. 

 The legs of the hen should be of a reddish-yellow color, 

 well feathered with white feathers mottled with black near 

 the toes ; the toes should be straight and strong. 



W. E. Flower. 



Shoemakertown, November, 1S73. 



A VERY SINGULAR STORY OF A WEASEL. 



The following story was told to us as being a positive fact, 

 the narrator professing to be one of the workingmen who 

 witnessed the performance of the said weasel : A party of 

 men were prying stone in a field, and found under a large 

 rock a nest containing four young weasels, which they cap- 

 tured, and put to one side. Upon the return of the old 

 weasel, quite a scene ensued. She became very much ex- 

 cited, and very angry, and at once set off, but soon returned, 

 and going straight to the little pail containing the drinking- 

 water for the men, she spit something in it, and was about 

 to go off a second time, when she discovered her nest and 

 her young, all alive and unharmed. She immediately re- 

 turned to the pail, and continued jumping and pushing at 

 it until it was overturned, thus saving the lives of the men 

 she evidently meant to punish for the destruction of her off- 

 spring. — Farmers' Club, 



