31i 



JOTJRSAL OP ECOETICULXUBE AND COTXAGE GAEDENEK. 



[ April 18, 18tJ5. 



FLO*HT:a.GAREKN PLANTING ( fl. F.) — We think your plantlnsrwilldovery 

 well, except that the Ro«c» will not s'and llfee the others; an'l the whole 

 would have told bett»rr if you bad hud a centre clump. (F. L.).—S&nd the 

 plan of your Rardcn, wiih the iirntn^L-menc which you propose, and we will 

 comment npon it. 



Brst Cccumdeu foe Opkx Gkocnd {B. Jf.).— Henderson's A. L. Ridge 

 encumber. 



NaSCS of Fruit (fl. A. K. i*.).— Easter Beurr*^. 



Names op Plants (C. P.).— Burtramia pomiformis. lA Subscriber).— 

 1. Ditlym<i(l-m hineroinallum (?) ; 2, D. purpureum ; 3, Jangemannia 

 bidentiti; 4, Dicrnnum scoptirium; .'i, Trichostomuni iicicularo; G, Hypnurn 

 c'lpiTssiformo ; 7. 11. striiitum; S, Dicranmn scopiiriutn ; 9, Hypnum rula- 

 bulam (?) ; 10. Gymnostonium pvriforrae; 11, Marchantia sp. ; 12, Hypnum 

 eplendens. (C. P.)-— Asplcnium" cicutirinm. [F. D., Pera/(07v).— Listrea 

 decoiup03ita. Clip down the Fern with a pair of sciesors. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSEETATIONS in the Suburbs of Londou for the Week ending April 15tb. 



DiTB. 



BA&OlfETEB. 



TBERMOMETEIL 



Wiad. 



Eain 



in 

 inches. 



C^SEBAL Re.\IAUKS. 



Air. 



Earth. 



Mas. 



Min. 



Mai. 



MiD. 



1 ft deep 



2 ft. deep, 



^?^ 



48 



48 



43 



43 



43 



San. 9 

 Mon. 10 

 Tae-L 11 

 Wed. 12 

 Thurs. IS 

 Fri. 14 

 Sab 13 



Mean 



30.196 

 30.2S8 

 30.225 

 30.051 

 29.923 

 29 972 

 30.149 



30.192 

 31.219 

 30.116 

 29.917 

 29.914 

 29.913 

 30.101 



74 

 75 

 72 

 66 

 69 

 62 

 67 



30 

 29 

 31 

 35 

 35 

 42 

 34 



50 



SO 



sni 



51 



51 



51 



51 



S.W. 

 S.W. 



E. 



E. 

 R.W. 



s.w. 



N.E. 



.00 

 .00 

 .00 

 .00 

 .00 

 .09 

 .00 



Slight foRi tine; botiuiddry; tine; cool at night. [frost. 

 Very tine; hot.^uii; very line; exceed ingiy line ; cool; slight 

 Very fine; hot ami dry, with easterly wind; ctlu at night. 

 Hazy ; dry haze ; hot and dry, easterly winri ; very fine 

 Very Hne throiighont. [throughout. 

 Fine; overcast; rain; overcast. 

 Densely overcast ; cloudy ; tine at night. 



30.107 



30.057 1 67.85 



33.71 



60. G4 



47.64 





.09 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOTJSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



APPOINTMENT OF POULTRY CLTTB JUDGES. 



"Lookeb-on" in Lis letter of Marcla 7tli says that tliere 

 is an exhibitor, an extensive dealer, who, according to his 

 own advertisement, has t.alten 537 prizes, including eleven 

 silver cups, since January, ISGl. '•I aul not the only one," 

 says " LooKEB-ON," " who has made remarks about the 

 success which appears to elinff to members of the Club 

 when their own judges are officiating." Now the inference, 

 as I take it, which "Looker-ost" wishes your readers to 

 draw from this is, that these prizes have been influenced 

 through my being a steward of the Poultry Club. For 

 " Lookeb-on's " information allow me to say that the number 

 of prizes I have taken under the nominees of the Club since 

 the commencement of my stewardship does not exceed 

 twenty. I leave your readers to draw their own conclusions 

 from the two statements. " Lookeb-on " objects to my 

 holding the office of steward on account, as he says, of my 

 being a dealer. That I sell a large quantity of poultry I 

 will not attempt to deny, but I am no more a dealer than 

 any other exhibitor who advertises his birds through the 

 columns of your .Touraal! I have a business independent of 

 this, which so far has been found sufficient for my wants ; 

 but exhibiting and keeping poultry is a hobby in which I 

 take a great delight, and I endeavour to make them pay as 

 well as possible, and I have yet to learn that there is any- 

 thing wrong in this. " Lookek-os " thinks if I do not resign 

 my office ill-natured persons will say that the reason I am so 

 successful is because I am one of those who appoint the 

 judges. Well, if ill-natured persons only say this I shall 

 not much care if I can only retain tlie good opinion of the 

 good-natured and the just. " Lookeb-on " must excuse me 

 if I decline to act upon his advice. By the unanimous vote 

 of the members of the Club at their annual meeting I was 

 elected a steward, and I think should ill-requite the confi- 

 dence they have placed in me were I to resign office. 



With respect to the exclusion of dealers as judges, I had 

 nothing to do with framing that rule. I would exclude no 

 class provided they were men of ability and undoubted 

 integrity, and I doubt not there arc many such amongst 

 dealers. I have the rules of the Club now before me, and 

 can find no exclusion rule — it appears to liave been rescinded. 

 I feel rather astonished at " Lookeb-ov's " objection to my 

 showinff in Miss E. Beldon's name : what harm does it 

 do him or any one? Even "Lookeeon" is at a loss to 

 understand for what object I do it. still he thinks it an 

 additional reason for my resigning office, lie must show 

 me some Vjetter reason before I not upon hia advice. The 

 ridiculou!! practice, as he c.ills it, I shall retain so long as it 

 pleases ine, and Miss E. Ueldon. "1jO0keb-0n" by his own 

 statement appears to have been an unsuccessful man in the 

 exhibiting line, and seems to have no sympathy with one 

 who happens to have been more suoceasful than himself. — 



H. liELDON. 



THE B.ITH AND WEST OF ENGLAND 

 POULTRY SHOW SCHEDULE. 



It is not pleasant to have to find fault when one meets 

 with such a liberal prize list as this ; but I must say one 

 word about the Bantam prizes. What cau the Committee 

 be thinking about to ofi'er first and second prizes for Gold- 

 laced Bantams, for Silver-laced Bautams, and for Black and 

 White Bantams, and leave the favourite Game Bantam to 

 compete in the Any other variety class ? 



Can the Committee be ignorant of the fact, that at Bir- 

 mingham no less than one hundred pens of Game Bantams, 

 not counting single cocks, were entered, and that the entries 

 of Gold and Silver Sebrights, and Black and White Bantams 

 together, only mustered fifty — less than half? But that is 

 not the worst aspect of the case ; in the Any other variety of 

 Bantam class at Birmingham there were fifteen entries, so 

 that, in point of fact, only .£3 is offered for prizes for birds, 

 of which one hundred and sixteen pens were entered at Bir- 

 mingham, whilst £9 is offered for birds which there mustered 

 only fifty pens, the proportion being roughly six to one in 

 favoiu' of the latter. 



I mention Birmingham because I happen to have the prize 

 list by me ; but I am greatly mistaken if the Game Bantam 

 has not been exhibited for some time past at all our leading 

 shows in fai- greater numbers than Gold or Silver Sebrights, 

 or Black or White birds. — P. 



DISTINCT VARIETIES OP PIGEONS. 



I WAITED to see if some abler hand than myself would 

 raise a voice in opposition (friendly, ot course !) to Mr. Brent's 

 pronounced opinion that all the various and distinctly 

 characterised sorts of Pigeons are descended from the com- 

 mon Blue Kock. One would have thought that the personal 

 experience of a breeder would have compelled a man to 

 abandon such a theory, even if he began with a strong bias 

 in its favour. 



In the first place, who can we suppose took the trouble to 

 single out those "sporting" birds and convert their pecu- 

 liai-ities into distinct and established breeds ? That tliere are 

 certain breeds which pass among us, in these days, as distinct 

 varieties, which are not truly so, every breeder of Pigeons 

 and poultry knows full well, and every amateur beginner 

 discovers to his cost, wlion ho finds tliat in order to keep his 

 stock from throwing back, he is compelled to resort to cer- 

 tain qua8i-dir,honest crosses. And this goes far, I think, to 

 disprove the Blue Kock theory, for if it could ever be done 

 it could still be done, the "sports" would still exist; and did 

 any one over see a Blue liock with sucli peculiarities that by 

 all the care and breeding in the world he could possibly 

 convi'rt its progeny into a White Fantail, Carrier, or any 

 other sort ? X consider it would be very much the same 

 thing to say that all the " Finches," Goldfinch," Bully," and 

 all, are derived from one member of Iho tribe of plain and 

 sombre garb. But then who singled out and kept distinct 



