98 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ January 81, 1865. 



to pny, carriage to London, commission on sales — ttiese 

 ■would all be heavy items, many of whiob ai'e possessed 

 without outlay by those who still decline to undertake 

 poultry on a lai-ge scale. The truth is it is almost impos- 

 sible, and hence the fact that there is in England hardly a 

 person who lives exclusively by breeding it. Where fowls 

 are kept in very large numbers they are vei'y subject to 

 disease. This disease spreads, and profit disappears. 



Egg-selling in winter pays if you can insure a ready sale 

 for new ones at a good price ; and those that are laid in 

 summer compensate in numbers for the diminution in price. 

 In both respects we consider poultry as a valuable auxiliary 

 to any one, aud quite capable of considerably increasing a 

 small income. We do not consider it a pursuit by which a 

 living may be gained. 



Many, some of them most valuable correspondents, have 

 asked our opinion on the above questions. We have known 

 no better mode of answering than by putting our practical 

 opinions in the above shape. 



VISIT TO "Y. B. A. Z." 

 Having received, through the pages of this Journal, a 

 courteous invitation from this now well-known writer upon 

 poulti-y, to pay him a visit, I willingly accepted the kindness 

 offered. I the more readily accepted the invitation because 

 "T. B. A. Z." promised to show me some Malays of such 

 breed and beaut}', as would either change, or greatly modify ' 

 my opinion concerning this kind of fowl. I had written 

 somewhat severely concerning the Malays exhibited at the 

 Bath and West of England Show, and I was quite anxious 

 to see some which I might like, for I am too fond of all 

 kinds of fowls to have a prejudice against any one breed. 

 This feeling adds greatly to one's enioyment of a x'oultry 

 show. I sometimes notice people anxiously pressing onward 

 to see this or that sort of fowl, but passing by and not 

 caring for any others. For my part I see so many and such 

 varied beauties in the difi'erent kinds both of fowls and 

 Pigeons, that I can pause at evei-y pen. Local prejudices, 

 or class prejudices, narrow the mind, and not only so but 

 prevent much enjoyment. 



A visit to " Y. B. A. Z.," the gallant defender of Brahmas, 

 the criticiser of schedules. " But now tell me," wliispers 

 an inquisitive one, "Who is 'Y. B. A. Z.' i' " "Do the 

 four letters stand for a lady ? if so, is she married or single, 

 short or tall, dark or fair 'i " " Or do they stand for a gen- 

 tleman?" Well, I may say this mxieh, that the said lour 

 letters have in print ovmed themselves to be of the mas- 

 culine gender, when not long ago they talked of doing battle 

 with pistols. "Oh! but do tell me more!'" "Alas! Miss 

 Curiosity, certainly not." 



" You have a vi>-ion of your own j 

 Ah ! why should I undo it?" 



I had my vision, my dream, my imagination. I looked at 

 the letters, looked again, then broke out triumphantly, "I 

 have it, he is a Persian gentleman, remove the pei-iods 

 between the letters, and have but one capital, and the 

 oriental name comes out plainly enough. "Yhaz," perhaps 

 a merchant from Shiraz, or from the vale of Cashmere, he 

 will quote the poems of Haftz, not of Hood. Tlien is there 

 not further evidence he is devoted to Brahmas, they are 

 Eastern fowls at any rate, whetiier from liirmah or China, 

 npon this point 1 give no opinion, valuing a skin unriddled 

 by pistol bullets. Doubtless, I shall find " Ybaz " wearing 

 a high sugarloaf hat, possibly the whole Persian costume. 

 I hope at any rate, he will not insist upon my worshipping 

 the BUD, aa that would bo awkward if it came to the ear of 

 my Bishop. Well — 



"I had a vision of ni7 own. 

 But, oh I time It did undo It." 



Luckily Ybaz resides in England, I am to meet him at a 

 certain railway station, and hold up a copy of " our Journal " 

 in my hand aa a flag of recognition. The ticket is taken, 

 the journey is over, the said (or rather unsaid) station is 

 reached, the flag exhibited and recognised. Ybaz does 

 not wear a high bat; in short my hand in a moment is in 

 the warm grasp of a thorough Englishman. We are friends 

 at once. " There is the bond," exclaimed Tbaz, pointing 

 to " our Journal." 



I am not permitted to see the Malays until I am lunched. 

 Hospitable and wise Ybaz, "a hungry man is an angry 

 man," I shall look more kindly at your Malays, because the 

 gnawing pains of hunger are appea'sed. 



Now, be it known, that the Malays kept by Ybaz, are 

 not Pheasant Malays, as were those shown at CUfton, 

 which I am inclined to think are an inferior variety, but 

 his are the older kind. Says "The Poultry-Book for the 

 JIauy," " there is more difi'erence in the appearance of the 

 various specimens of this breed, than in those of any other 

 breed." Among the best-looking are Ybaz's. They are 

 of Mr. Ballance's strain, so naturally the halance is in their 

 favour. 



I would sum up in regard to Malays thus. They are an 

 old and very distinct breed ; much loved by oui- ancestors ; 

 kept years ago by that veteran in natural histoi-y, Mr. 

 Waterton, and although as Mr. Baily puts it, "they have 

 fallen before the spirit of utility," yet it is well that the 

 best of this breed should be kept, and that there is a 

 certain beauty in such as those possessed by Ybaz no candid 

 person can deny. I hope amateiu's who have means will 

 keep up the breed. 



I pass on from Ybaz's Malays to his Polish. These were 

 Silver-spangled, and there was a trimness and beauty in 

 these birds, especially in the cock, which I have seldom 

 seen equalled, and I do not wonder at the unvaried success 

 which has attended thcu' exhibition. 



Next, and most noticeable of all the stock belonging to 

 Ybaz, came his Brahmas. These were the dark kind. I 

 .was introduced to some thirty cocks and cockerels living by 

 themselves, and so easier to compare with each other than 

 if mixed with hens. Certainly they were fine fellows ; a 

 sort of liandsome lieavy dragoons, and their colours well 

 contrasting, they have not the mealy look of the light 

 Brahmas. Their whole appearance, size, and distinct 

 colouring mark them out to the eye, amid any number of 

 other fovils. But if the cocks so seen in a flock, were strik- 

 ing, much more so were the hens. At the time I saw them 

 they were kept apart in another yai'd, and certainly their 

 most exact ijencilling and gallina-like coloiu- render them 

 very pleasing to the eye. 



I care not a rush from whence Brahmas came, what their 

 origin ; they have great merits, hence they are making their 

 waj', their one disadvantage as compared with Cochins 

 is, that they must have a good run, but as to beauty, I 

 place them, before Cochins, followed closely, indeed, by the 

 Partridge and Grouse. Talking of Cochins, Ybaz remarked 

 that a hen of that breed is never seen to such advantaga 

 as when on the nest. He is right, then it is that you espe- 

 cially see the motherly, and sensible, and half-humau ex- 

 pression of the face of the Cochin hen. 



Well, I thought I had seen all ; but, no, Ybaz was a good 

 showman, he kept the best for the last, he opened a door, 

 and out walked in solitary dignity his grand old Brahma 

 cock, to which his others looked almost slim. 



Having now seen all the fowlo, we talked of gardens and 

 roses. One hint I got, a valuable one to those who keep 

 poultry, and yet love tlioir gardens. Ybaz rears his spring 

 chickens on a sunny border partly under glass (Cucumber- 

 frames, I tliink), then when the chickens become bigger he 

 moves all away, and plants the said border with Asters, and 

 gets a late summer garden. 



Time passed pleasantly away, when dinner came, and, 

 oh ! Yliaz — cunning num again — knowing I was an Engli»h- 

 man, you were bent upon converting me through my stomach, 

 for lo ! a cover is raised, and there lies revealed a roasted 



Malay. Well, what there was of it was most excellent ; 



but, Mr. Brent, the breast loas sharp and thin compared to 

 your Dorkings. Pleasant chat followed a pleasant dinner, 

 and home again. Tlie sun had shone on me all day, and 

 I had not been oljliged to worship that luminary, so I 

 dared to look the Bishop full in the face at the Visitation a 

 week afterwards. Onwards towards homo, the back journey, 

 the short walk, and I again nearud my rectory, where I 

 found as usual — 



" There was a oomfortinK fire. 

 There was u wulcoino lor BOUiebody, 

 TniTO w;m a eout o'er the chiiir, 

 There were Bllpperu for iomcbod'j.'* 



— WiLTSHIEE EbCTOK. 



