284 



JOUBSAL OF HOETICULTUEB A3TD COT-CAGE GAEDErEB. 



[April 14,1863. 



the club-room, and to show their sincerity. Judges and exhi- 

 bitors will be all agreed ; the latter will not wait to have faults 

 pointed out — they will proclaim them. 'When things are pro- 

 perly understood, and the rules are properly digested, it will not 

 be difficult to find exhibitors who will judge their own classes. 

 Fancy, at a small exhibition, one of those little Poland or White 

 Cochin classes where there are three competitors. The three 

 walk gently np to the class, together they examine each other's 

 pens, there is a short reference to the book ; conviction steals 

 over them, and the senior shakes his head, while he says, 

 " Brothers, brothers, we are all wrong." The advantage will be 

 imme nse; no erratic judgments; no possibility of crotchetty arbi- 

 trators ; no generalities to shield ignorant or knavish awards ; 

 all fair sailing according to the book. Then, after a time, know- 

 ledge will be diffused ; since all that is necessary can be learned 

 &om a book, all will be alike well informed, and the exhibitor 

 with the Judge will stand in the position of the 'coon with the 

 Curiae]. " Don't shoot, Curnel, I will come down." You need 

 not judge, I will give in. I see I am beaten. — Ceito. 



BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND POULTRY 

 EXHIBITION. 



ToTJB correspondent "J.," in his remarks npon the above 

 Society's regulations as to poultry, forgets the fact that the 

 poultry department iB but one of many, and that in the general 

 arrangements of the Exhibition of the Bath and West of Eng- 

 land Agricultural Society a necessity exists (under the recent 

 decision of the Council to open five days to the public), for an 

 earlier arrival of the birds than when the Show extended oniy 

 over three days. 



I quite agree with him in thinking it desirable to shorten the 

 period of confinement as much as possible. With this view I 

 have obtained the sanction of the Council to admit specimens 

 as late as Saturday evening, the 6th of June, instead of Friday 

 morning. To accomplish this we shall adopt the system of 

 open judging on Monday, as will be the case in all the other 

 departments. Exhibitors who like to see their own birds judged 

 will have the opportunity of witnessing the duties a3 discharged 

 by our Judges. I trust, as the system has succeeded so well at 

 Battersea Park and Hereford, it may also in poultry at Exeter. 

 At all events owners will see that their birds are not passed over, 

 and that judges do take trouble to inspect and decide to the best 

 of their ability. 



As to the complaint of another correspondent, that many 

 classes are omitted, I can only remark that we have, after ten 

 years' experience, come to the conclusion that it is better to give 

 good prizes to ali the leading classes rather than to diwde into 

 more numerous and give small rewards to alL Large a3 £160 

 seem to our Council — and it is the largest sum given by any 

 agricultural society in either England or Scotland — when divided 

 into smaller sums for the various classes, it U truly not sufficient 

 to bring all to our yard. The Stewards, therefore, determined, 

 whether wisely or not the general public must judge, to leave 

 what I may call the more exceptional classes, most deserving of 

 all support and honour, to the Crystal Palace and Birmingham 

 Shows, that have larger funds to deal with ; and to stimulate 

 exhibitors to send us as good an exhibition as possible of classes 

 more generally kept throughout the kingdom. 



We have striven in vain for some years past to induce exhibi- 

 tors to send many of the classes mentioned by your correspon- 

 dent. I thank him still most heartily for his remarks, and have 

 to the best of my ability done what I could to promote an in- 

 terest in poultry exhibitions. If he could have sat at the Council 

 Board with me for the last ten years, he would have felt that it 

 is a task of no common labour to induce an agricultural body to 

 give the support which the Bath and West of England Society 

 has to the poultry department. When the Royal Agricultural 

 Society abandoned their exhibitions, their evil example might 

 have been followed ; but such, I am proud to say, has not been 

 the case — upwards of £1500 has been distributed during the 

 past ten years.— S. Prrsrxs, one of the Stewards of the Poultry 

 Department. 



MALAY FOWLS. 



Wheb your correspondent the Dotter at Devizes first made 



hiB remark, "Some Malays were there conspicuous by their 



ugliness," I must confess to a most overwhelming warlike feeling 



of opposition to one who could thus designate my favourite 



breed of fowls ; but a little patience, and here comes the good in 

 place of ifca imaginary eviL T7p springs friend Fox, and starts- 

 a fine coi. :8 of inquiry and reply, and consequent information ; 

 so that our hitherto-almost-ieolated pets are really now making 

 a grand show in the columns of the " Poultry Chronicle," and 

 assuming their true position — viz., important members of the 

 aristocracy of poultry. 



In reply to the spirited letter of Mr. J. J. Fox, you give us 

 " your notion of what a Malay should be ; " and I feel bound to 

 say that it is the best description I have ever known given — at. 

 any rate, it is in strict conformity with my own ideas ; and, 

 therefore, it is not surprising that I should dub it Al. 



Friend Fox says that when doctors differ patients suffer ; but 

 differ they will for all that, and Mr. Ballance is not the only one 

 who differs on this subject. In 1860 a Poultry Diary was pub- 

 lished, to which wa3 appended, " The proposed basis for unifor- 

 mity of judgment at exhibitions of poultry, submitted by the 

 Amateur Poultry Society of Dublin," and amongst the rest was 

 the Malay described thus:— Head, beak horn colour; eyes, 

 orange red, sunken beneath a projecting brow (we like pearled 

 eyes) ; comb, low and indented ; wattles, very small, more pro- 

 perly folds of the skin of the throat than wattles ; ear-lobe, rudi- 

 mentary ; face, brilliant crimson ; neck, orange red ; back, 

 maroon ; wing, shoulder maroon, steel-blu« bar across ; flight- 

 feathers, bjy ; breast, black with irregular b ;y markings ; tail, 

 scanty, drooping; legs, olive brown. 



By comparing this with "your notion" and Mr. Ballance's 

 letter, we find that our Hibernian friends differ with us on various 

 points, and > e not set on yellow legs. Some of the best birds 

 I ever had o ■ Eaw had pale olive or willow legs. My present 

 stock have t^! ws. I should not mind if they were olive. I 

 certainly s!if> .Id prefer pale olive or willow to white. 



I cannot a^ree that legs of any other colour than yellow could 

 not be shown : i a Malay class. I have seen pale willows take a 

 Birmingham first prize. 



I also feel assured that a true Malay, however fiue in feather, 

 ought to have the "red jacket" bare* and exposed fore and aft, 

 as mentioned in your " notion," and I really* think that of late 

 years more than one exhibitor has tried to breed for more 

 feather than the Malay fowl should have, because other persons 

 who have not perfectly understood the breed have looked upon 

 this real an ': essential property in a wrong light, and have given 

 encourage;:. _at to the more full-feathered specimens. 



Mr. Ballance fears that some judges have lost sight of " perfec- 

 tion of plumage, and have awarded prizes to birds of good blood 

 though wretched iu feather." I say with Mr. Fox, " I never 

 did and I never wish to dispute the decisions of Judges ; " but I 

 really do venture to think that when mistakes have been made, 

 it has more often been in favour of the over-feathered sort than 

 their more Ecanty and close-cut brethren ; and I quite agree with 

 you that there are but few judges of Malays in England. 



I cannot exactly understand your correspondent the Dotter at 

 Devizes. First he says they were conspicuous for their uglinesss; 

 secondly, he admired Mr. Fox's as much as any ; thirdly, some 

 young birds provoked hi™ because they had not the brighter 

 ! colours of adults ; and fourthly, Mr.Fox'a birds were too handsome. 

 But, never mind, he winds up with a warm eulogi-im on the 

 I charactiristic of the Malay, " especially the featherless strains ; " 

 and glowingly describes his peculiar defiant air, and how cool 

 the bold fellow takes any endeavours to intimidate or ruffle him, 

 a compliment none the less sweet because well merited. For 

 this 1, as the friend of Malays, sincerely thank him, and beg to 

 assure him that all the overwhelming warlike feelings are " aban- 

 doned, buried in oblivion," &c. — Johx Euxsey. 



PS. — When the Poultry Club have a wish for subscribers, it 

 is to be supposed they will advertise where circulars, &c., are to 

 be obtained. 



TOMTIT AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 



Op the Tit tribe there are seven species native! of these islands, 

 which may be briefly enumerated as follows : — 



First, the Teat Tit or Tomtit, known also bj the names of 

 Ox-eye, Jcc lien, Chinker Clunker, and Billy Biter. He haa s 

 very dark biuish-black head, whitish cheeks, yellowish breast with 

 a black Etripe running down the throat, and the upper parts of 

 the body are bluish-grey. 



The second is the little Blue Tit, known also by the appel- 

 lations of Billy Blue, Blue Cap, Titmouse, or Kun. Ibia. 

 species is much smaller than the before-mentioned : it is devoid 



