January 17, 1865. ] 



JOUJRi^AL OF HORTICULTITKE AND COTTAaE aAEDENER. 



Hambdboh (Spancled).— First, A'iscountpss Holoiesdule. Second, A. 

 Copbnt], Kintore. Third, Mrs. Cross. Highly Commended, Mrs. Brown. 

 Commended, W. Kiridle. Cowdciibeath ; W. FrLince. 



Bantams (Any cdIdud —Firai, G. Spalding, Urumsturdie. Second, Mrs. 

 Crosis. Third and High'y Coiiitnended, J. Anderson. Commended, F. L. 

 Roy, Menthorn. 



Ar«T OTHKR Brff.d.— First. Countess de Flahaiilt (LaFieche). Second 

 and Third, W. Cooper (La F10i.'he and CrOvc Cceur). Highly Commended, 

 Countess de FlahauU (Buff ^cl.md) ; T. Koss (Scotch Grey). 



Geksb {Any colour).— Firi^t and Second, W. Cooper. Third, J. Laing. 



DvcKS (Aylesbury). — Fiist, J. .-inderson. Second, Loi"d Kinnair.d. 



Dlcks (Rouen).— First, Second, and Commended, Mrs. Cochrane, Lundie 

 Mill?. 



Svrv.RPSTAK-ES.—Spfinis/} CocJcs.—Ylrst, Viscountess Holmefdale. Second, 

 Brown & Cochrane. Dorkinij Cocks —First, Viscountess Holnioedule. Se- 

 cond, J. Elswortb. Game Cyt7ki\— First, Mrs. Cross. Second, J.Anderson. 



BKAHMA POOTEAS. 



Thinking that Burmali might not he the country in- 

 tended by Mr. Tanner, as mentioned in our last Journril,, we 

 wrote for information, and this is Mr. Leworthy's reply : — 



" Last night I went the distance of two miles to have an 

 interview with Mr. Tanner, whose family are residing in 

 India now, with the exception of himself and youngest 

 daughter, who left when she was four years of age. 



"Mi\ Tanner resides at Pilton, near Barnstaple, and he 

 said — 'I have been a resident for twenty-one years at 

 Chumar, situated near the Eiver Ganges, about three 

 hundred miles fi-om Calcutta, in India. I left there fifteen 

 years since. Two years before I left I purchased at a bazaar 

 at Chumai", some Brahmin Murge (fowls) at 2s. each, a 

 very high price, but they were large fowls. At the same 

 time common fowls in the market were worth 6(Z. each.' He 

 said, also, that they did not derive their name from the 

 river Brahma Pootra, but ' Brahmin,' means in India the 

 highest caste of the people, and those birds being beyond 

 the common order of fowls, the Indians called them Brahmin 

 Murges. (In English, High Caste fowls.) 



" Mr. Tanner was of a decided opinion that the Brahma 

 fowls that I had, and which attracted his attention in my 

 poultry-yard, were a pure breed of Brahmin fowls, and of 

 precisely the same breed as those he kept in India. 



" Mr. Falconer, resident at Newport, Barnstaple, told me 

 about one year since, that about thirty miles below Chitta- 

 gong, by the river Brahma Pootra, there is a very high bank 

 adjoining the river. On this bank are numerous cottages 

 bnUt, the women residing in which employ themselves by 

 taking clothes for washing for the gentry in that neigh- 

 bourhood, and those cottagers keep only this kind of fowls ; 

 and at Chittagong he could not get any refreshment except 

 fowls or eggs. He compared eggs to the stones of a pave- 

 ment, being so plentiful. He had read a description of the 

 Brahma Pootra fowls, and it agreed with those which he 

 had seen in the Brahma village. — H. Lewoktht, Newport, 

 Barnstaple." 



POULTET SHOW IN PAEIS. 



FrvE of the salons in the Palais de V Industrie, the sides of 

 •which were covered a few months since with the productions 

 of the artists of all nations, presented an extraordinary 

 appearance on the 19th, 20th, and 21st inst. In place of 

 history, battles, landscapes, and portraits were collected the 

 inanimate bodies of fowls, Turkeys, Geese, and Ducks. The 

 Exhibition was a great success : there were more than five 

 hundred contributors, and between two and three hundi-ed 

 specimens of poultry of one kind and another. Nineteen 

 departments were represented. 



The arrangements were admirable ; sloping tables were 

 placed around, and double stands of the same kind in the 

 centre of each room. These were covered with blue paper, 

 upon which the poultry was laid out with ample space on all 

 sides, the various lots each consisting of four specimens, 

 being sepai-ated by fillets of wood painted red, so that 

 every article exhibited could be seen perfectly. On the 

 walls were neatly -painted devices, containing the names of 

 the classes and localities of production, and hung about with 

 laurel intermingled and enlivened by a few colom-ed ribbons. 

 The first day was devoted to arrangement ; the second, till 

 one o'clock, to the decisions of the jury, after which the 

 public was admitted at a charge of half a franc ; and the 

 third to exhibition and sale of the articles. 



The jury was composed of Count Leopold le Hon, President, 

 representative in the Corps Legislatif of the department of 

 Ain, famous for its poultry ; two inspectors-general of agri- 

 culture, four farmers, and four dealers in poultry. The 

 sum of four thousand francs was devoted to prizes, besides 

 medals in gold, silver, and bronze. The grand prize consisted 

 of a large gold medal and a thousand francs. The awards 

 were marked by means of oval cast iron tablets, painted blue, 

 with the raised letters picked out in gold colour. The fowls 

 were divided into five categories — birds of the races of La 

 Bresse, of La Fleche, of Houdan, of Normanby, and miscel- 

 laneous. The fii'st of these was by far the most numerous, 

 as the poultry is the most esteemed. One gold, one silver, 

 and a number of bronze medals and honourable mentions 

 were awarded in each class, and the gi-and prix d'honneur 

 was awarded to M. Gorgondet, of Trefibrt, in the department 

 of the Aix, for four pullets of the race of La Bresse. The 

 other five classes consisted of Turkeys, Ducks, Geese, Pigeons, 

 Guinea fowls, and other poultry. The department of Seiue- 

 et-Oise carried off the first and second prizes for Turkeys, 

 that of Orue the gold medal for Geese, and Eouen the same 

 for Ducks. The fowls of La Bresse were not so remarkable 

 for size as for smallness of bone and plumpness ; and the 

 manner in which they are prepared for market is quite 

 artistic. Some of the Geese were truly gigantic ; but the 

 Turkt-ys would not have borne comparison, perhaps, with 

 those of Leadenhall Market. The sale was very brisk, and 

 the names of almost every celebrated gastronomic establish- 

 ment in Paris were to be seen on tickets in all directions. 

 Forty and fifty francs were asked and easily obtained for 

 prize Geese and Turkeys ; and fowls that had obtained 

 medals were marked in the morning after the Exhibition as 

 high, if not higher, than thirty-six francs each . Poultry is 

 an article of great importance in France, and the rearing of 

 fowls in La Bresse, Burgundy,' is one of the staple occupa- 

 tions of the locality ; but it is not carried on in large esta- 

 blishments, experience proving that the collection of large 

 numbers of poultry in one place invariably gives rise to 

 epidemics amongst them. The Bresse rac3 is not, however, 

 so pure as some others, the delicacy of the meat and 

 rapidity of the fattening being supposed to depend princi- 

 pally on soil and the mode of feeding. The Bresse pullets 

 can be fattened at the age of three months, while those of 

 other localities cannot be got ready for market till after the 

 fifth or sixth month. The modes of rearing poultry differ 

 in different localities. At La Bresse a pullet of three 

 months is worth about two fi'ancs, and the fattening occupies 

 them from fifteen to thirty days. To produce what is called 

 a fat pullet takes about five gallons of meal, made from 

 maize and black wheat. This is mixed with curdled milk, 

 and given to the poultry in balls ; the greater part are, how- 

 ever, only half fattened. A fine fat pullet sells for six to 

 ten francs ; an ordinary one for three to five francs, at the 

 local market of Bourg. The poultry of the Fleche race is 

 fed in the department of the Sarthe, on bailey and black 

 wheat meal mixed in the same way with mUk. Four young 

 cocks, for which a prize was given, averaged 11 lbs., (English) 

 each, and were valued at 20s. to 24s. each. — (Journal of 

 Societtj of Arts.) 



SEX OF EGGS. 



As the sitting season has again arrived, one becomes 

 reminded how desirable it would be to be able to have 

 cockerels or pullets ft-om this or that hen, and also of the 

 utter uncertainty which seems to hide the future sex of the 



egg- 



The idea has been mentioned that the Bosition of the air- 

 vessel affords an indication ; and also that the shape of the 

 egg, whether round or oblong, is an indication, but these 

 notions have been proved deceptive. I heard that eggs that 

 were wrinkled at the small end would produce cockerels, 

 and eggs that were smooth would produce pullets. Wanting 

 some pullets two years ago, I set the smoothest-ended eggs 

 I could get, reai-ed ten chickens from the brood, and they 

 turned out to be nine cockerels and a puUet, or just the 

 reverse of what I had been led to expect. 



Recently, light from another quarter has been thrown on 

 this subject; and it is. now stated that, of a batch of eggs of 



