416 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
{ November 28, 1878. 
the chalk required are partially filled and made secure by the con- 
tractor, so that in the future the horses can pass over them in 
security during tillage operations. There are other methods of 
obtaining chalk in certain districts which must be described on 
another occasion. The carting and storing of roots or filling-in the 
field must be continued if not already completed, for although the 
weather may continue wet it is better than frost for securing 
roots, the only drawback being the treading of horses and cutting 
the land into ruts by the cart wheels. The roots if put into store 
wet will gradually dry if the heap is covered with straw, but 
not with earth until they are found to be dried in the heaps. 
At every opportunity wheat sowing will still be continued, only 
the land at this time must not be ploughed beforehand, but 
ploughed and sown every day, for when fit to plough the land is 
fit to receive the seed, especially after turnips fed off by sheep. 
There is, however, at present prices not much inducement to sow 
more wheat than can be sown at the usual time, especially upon 
good barley soils. It would be much better to sow barley in the 
spring, not only after turnips fed off, but after mangolds pulled, 
and if the land is clean it should be ploughed in proper-sized ridges 
according to soil, and remain until the spring, when the first and 
best season may be obtained, and be likely to produce the best 
malting barley. 
Hand Labour will still be employed in hedging, ditching, bank- 
ing, wood cutting in the copses, cutting and making the water 
carriers for irrigating the meadows, also trenching in the meadows 
and park pastures particularly flat-lying ground, otherwise rushes 
will make their appearance and injure the quality of the grass and 
hay, for wherever the rushes and aquatic grasses are found the 
best and sweetest herbage dies out. Men and women also may 
now be employed in the meadows and park pastures, taking up 
docks, brambles, and other wood plants which have arisen from 
seed or otherwise, the best implement for this work being a small 
pickaxe with one sharp end 14 inch wide, the other end pointed. 
This is called locally when in use a tomahawk, and is extremely 
useful for weeding at all seasons. The ant hills in the park pastures 
should be cut down with a sharp spade, and spread and chopped 
so as to take the frost and kill the ants, and where there are many | 
to dig out and spread the chain harrow may be employed with | 
advantage when the weather is dry enough. In some light sandy 
or gravelly soils heather and gorse plants will sometimes be found ; 
these also must be lifted and carried away, this being the time of 
year when they may be rooted out easily, the ground being soft, 
and some of these may be pulled by hand and a stout harvest 
glove whilst the plants are young. The yard man must now give 
attention to the breed‘ng sows and young pigs; this is also the 
time to put up some pigs to fatten for home use, both for pork and | 
bacon. The best breed of pigs we shall describe before long. 
THE POULTRY CLUB'S RULES FOR SHOWS. 
WE published in our issue of October 10th some rules issued by 
the Poultry Club for obligatory insertion in the schedules of all 
shows held under its patronage. They have the merit of brevity 
and conciseness, and we think that the Club has done wisely to 
publish them in this form; at the same time we hope that the 
larger and more general code of rules for the good management 
of shows before published has not been entirely rescinded, but 
will, as promised, be speedily incorporated in the rules of the 
Club, for their object is excellent, and, to judge from a bundle of 
schedules now before us, their influence has been considerable. 
We will briefly comment upon these six rules in order. 
“1, Any exhibitor who has been disqualified by the Committee 
of the Poultry Club for fraudulent practices is ineligible to com- 
pete at this show.” At first sight this looks somewhat over- 
stringent, but when we analyse the other rules of the Club we 
find that this disqualification is no arbitrary proceeding. When 
the judge of a show held under Poultry Club rules has dis- 
qualified a pen the matter will be laid before the Committee of 
the Club. Of course it is not their province to revise the deci- 
sion of the judge, which is final in the particular case, but there 
may be extenuating or almost absolving circumstances—e.g., the 
exhibitor may be a person unacquainted with the secrets of 
poultrymen, and may haye lately bought the bird or birds from 
some too-talented vendor. If in such a case the exhibitor is will- 
ing and desirous to trace the guilt home to the guilty party it is 
obvious that no blame beyond that of carelessness can attach to 
him, and the Committee of the Club would prevent any further 
consequence following the disqualification. Or again, an exhibitor 
may employ a poultryman who is solely responsible for the fraud. 
Of course care must be taken that dishonest fanciers do not screen 
themselves behind their servants ; but we think it but fair that in 
such a case, should it be clearly proved that the blame attaches 
entirely to the servant, the master should have one warning, and, 
should he continue to employ the man, then be considered re- 
sponsible for any of his tricks. 
“2, No person is allowed to exhibit borrowed birds.” This is a 
very plain rule, and we hope pains will be taken to carry it out. 
Borrowing of birds for show is for many reasons a most objection- 
able practice, and one which we believe has often been resorted to 
| sent.” 
| she was taken out last night, and this one sent in her place.” 
by really honest exhibitors simply because it has not been clearly 
forbidden. Point cups have encouraged it much. We have a 
lively recollection of having once competed for a point cup and 
lost it by one point, simply from an exhibitor having won first 
prize in several classes with birds well known to be borrowed. 
“3, Exhibitors and their servants will not be allowed to pen or 
unpen their birds.” This rule we desire to see fairly and firmly 
carried out. It is not that we distrust the large body of exhibitors, 
or would willingly debar them from the satisfaction of seeing 
their birds safely into their pens, but experience has shown us 
that many who cannot be trusted often get beforehand into exhi- 
bition rooms and have often done much harm. It is fairer, too, 
for all that no one should have the opportunity of giving a last 
smoothing touch to birds ruffled in their baskets, as all cannot 
possibly give it. Some distinction may plausibly be drawn be- 
tween the cases of penning and unpenning. Committees are glad 
to get a lot of pens belonging to one exhibitor quickly taken off 
together, and so generally encourage this personal remoyal ; but it 
is very easy for exhibitors to hand-in a list of their numbers and 
for a committeeman to collect them and hand them over to their 
owner. The rule used to be well and successfully carried out at 
the later Bristol shows. The reason of this we happen to know. 
We were present at the close of one of the shows some seven or 
eight years ago. A lot of people came in to take away their ex- 
hibits late at night. Suddenly there was ascuffle after a Spanish 
hen which had escaped. She was caught and the supposed owner 
promptly carried her off. It was soon, however, discovered that 
the whole affair was a trick, and that one of the first-prize hens, 
considered worth £20, had been stolen by some unknown individual 
who had entered a worthless pair simply to gain the entrée to the 
building. As far as we can recollect the police were never able 
fully to track out the offender. 
“4, No bird may be removed from the show before the close of 
the same, save on account of illness and with the Secretary’s con- 
This might be thought quite a superfluous rule, but it is 
by no means so. It is not an uncommon thing, of course with the 
connivance of the authorities, for a bird to be taken out of its pen 
after the first day of a show, or even soon after the judge has 
been round, and sent to win at another show, an inferior specimen 
being substituted for it. The public are hereby taken in, having 
paid to see the prize birds and being shown others in their stead. 
We were astonished one year at Birmingham (of all places!) to 
discover that something of the kind had been done. We wished 
on the last day of the show to examine some famed Dark Brahma. 
pullets which had won. On looking them over we observed, 
“after all one is not so extraordinarily good.” “Oh!” replied a 
person in the secret, “the real one is winning to-day at or = 
n 
the other hand we remember one year at Oxford a Dorking 
champion really looked mopy, but not seriously so, yet the Com- 
mittee steadfastly refused to let him go home, for the good reason 
that they must not break faith with the public. 
“5, It will be open to anyone to lodge a protest for fraudulent 
practices against an exhibitor on paying £1 deposit, and such 
further sum as shall be necessary to defray the expenses, the 
deposit to be forfeited should the protest be considered frivolous 
by the Committee. Should the protest be sustained the deposit 
will be returned and the expenses paid by the Poultry Club.” 
This seems a good and carefully drawn rule. Itis often expen- 
sive to bring a judge back to a show which he has left ; this diffi- 
culty is obviated by the provision concerning expenses. There is 
also some temptation for a judge to declare a protest frivolous, 
the decision on the point is therefore left with the Committee. 
While the deposit should be enough to deter all foolish protests, 
the liberal offer of the Club to pay all expenses in the case of 
those sustained should be encouragement to exhibitors not to 
shrink from their duty to point out malpractices where they are 
evident. 
“6, An exhibitor who shall be disqualified for fraudulent practices 
shall forfeit all or any prizes or cups that may have been awarded 
to him or her at this show in addition to entry fees.” We have 
often contended for the adoption of this rule, and so need say 
little more about it. It was disgraceful that, as heretofore, at the 
greatest shows a person might carry off a ten-guinea cup in one 
class, and in another be disqualified for pulling out hock feathers 
or carving a comb. It is a further question whether some pro- 
vision could not be made for the payment of prizes to an exhi- 
bitor who has one pen disqualified owing solely to the fault of 
another person. Such cases, however, are rare, and we incline to 
think that he should pay the penalty of carelessness.—C. 
LANGSHANS. 
THOUGH not an exhibitor at shows I have been an observer 
and a breeder of poultry for many years, and without hesitation 
T say that the Langshan is the most meritorious breed that has 
ever been introduced into this country. At first sight, when the 
chickens leave the nest they are exceedingly like Cochin China 
chickens, destined to be black and white, but all so exactly like 
each other as to show at once that they are in all probability a 
