October 5, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



269 



very best breeding place, for insect eggs, and it is cbiefly becanse tbe 

 proprietors of gardens cannot see bo^v cheaply a nice new wall can be 

 covered with strained wire from 6 to 9 inches apart that the old system is 

 persevered in. Had we our way, on bnildintj a new wall, we would wet the 

 surface well, that it might take a thin layer of Portland cement, which 

 ■would leave the surface smooth and of a lig^t colour, and on that we 

 wonld have wires strained for tying the Bhoota and making them secure. 

 For this purpose galvanised wire is tbe best, when looked at economi- 

 cally, as lasting longest and needing no painting, except at the ends, 

 which should be daubed up, and any bits where the stretching causes the 

 galvanising to crack. For want of this precaution we have known 

 baskets. &c., made of galvanised wire very soon rust and dpcay. AU 

 such, things should first be made and then dipped in the galvanising- 

 tank. It is of importance, therefore, to secure every exposed end of gal- 

 vanised wire on a trellis, so that the rust or oxidation shall not travel 

 inwards from the exposed points. For trellises for espaliers, cordons, 

 supporting Raspberries in rows, nothing will be found so economical in 

 the end as iron supports and strained wires. When placed against walls 

 the matter of distrtnce is important. For most things, li inch from the 

 wall -may be considered a good medium. If much closer the tying cannot 

 be so easily done, and if farther from the wall the draught of air behind 

 -does much to do away, with the advantages of the wall as a protection. 

 When we have had some very old decayed walls, and could not obtain 

 wire, we have used a rough concrete to fill up the holes and the worst 

 inequalities, and then studded the wall with metal nails 9 inches apart, 

 and tied to these nails. The nails were previously heated, steeped then 

 in oil, and dried before being used. This mode of treatment greatly 

 assisted in keeping them from rusting. 



Naices of Fruits.— (G. C). — It is Hoary Morning, but the specimens 

 are small. Perhaps you have too large a crop on the trees. (F. M ). — 

 The Pear is Beurre de Capiaumont. The Apples must be local varieties. 

 <J. E. Ross). — The Pears are, 1, Belle de Noel ; 2, Nouveiu Poiteau. The 

 Plum is La wson's Golden Gage. {C. R. Limpiield). — Apples : 1, Wormsley 

 Pippin. Pears : 1, Ne Plus" Meuris j 2, Williams's Bon Chretien ; 3, Marie 

 Louise; 4, Colmar; 5, Van Mons Leon le Clerc ; 6, Autumn Colmar. 

 Plums : 2, Late Orleans ; 3, Jefferson ; 4, a wilding, common in gardens 

 in Surrey ana Sussex. 



POTTLTHy, BEE, AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 



TAILS. 



The transition seems easy from heads to tails. We always 

 associate the latter with the memory of Lord Moaboddo, and 

 cannot help thinking of a Wiltshire shepherd, whom we once 

 fraternised with for some hours on the downs, when the day 

 was hot and we were lazy. We asked him why shepherds' 

 dcgs had such stamps of tails. He said he could not tell. 

 " He knew it was so ; but whether they were cut off, or ' drew 

 in,' he did not know, he thought the latter." 



Many will recollect the sensation creatfd by the first Cochins 

 " Have you seen these new fowls ? " "Te5." " Well, describe 

 them." " They have no tails." " They must be very ugly." 

 Long discussions ensued. The first theory was that the tails had 

 been pulled out, but time showed they did not grow, and it was 

 accepted that the birds had no tails. Some said it was an im- 

 provement, others that they were the ugliest creatures ever seen. 

 The public attention was, however, called to them, and the 

 correspondence was large on " caudal appendages," as they 

 were termed. It was not without its difficulties. It was found 

 then, as it is now, that the older the birds get the more tail 

 they have, and that it also becomes white with age. Never- 

 theless, the tail is entirely unlike the tail of any of our 

 European poultry. It is more like a bunch of feathers, like 

 those of the Ostrich. As soon as the style of it was settled, 

 then the debate arose as to its colour. Black and white feathers 

 were tabooed in the Buff breed, and were admissible only in the 

 Grouse and Partridge. This led to malpractices ; the feathers 

 that offended were ruthlessly removed, whether they sinned in 

 colour or size. Jadges were expected to examine every tail and 

 count the feathers. It seems also a sort of red-letter day for 

 judges when they can diequalify a pen, and post a placard 

 stating the grounds for doing so. At this time the ordeal a 

 Cochin cock had to undergo was terrible, and all about its tail. 

 At length it was nearly settled that the tail should be as small as 

 possible ; that there should be nothing approaching to sickle 

 feathers ; that such feathers as were permitted should be as 

 nearly as might be the colour of the plumage. We believe 

 that remains to this day. 



Next came a feud second only to the Montagues and Capu- 

 lets, Gaelphs and Ghibellines. Fortunately the war was only a 

 wordy one. Should Spangled Hamburghs have cock or hen 

 tails ? Several of the best breeders and judges we Had declared 

 for hen fails, but the majority went against them, and they 

 have now disappeared. There is little doubt they were very 

 numerous formerly in parts of Yorkshire. The writer of this 

 article once procured a very small Golden-spangled Hamburgh 

 cock perfectly hen-tailed, and it was of much service to Sir 

 John Sebright in breeding his Bantams. The opponents of 



the hen tails called them " half-bred-looking creatures." Their 

 advocates had long lists of mains that had been foug'at and 

 won by the " henny-tailed " against the sickles. Then one 

 day it was put forth as an imperative rule and undoubted truth, 

 that no true Dorking could have any white in his tail. That 

 was an evident mistake and was short-lived. Nevertheless, it did 

 its work, the sickle feathers of Dorking cocks were constantly, 

 accidentally, broken off. Sometimes they were coloured, at 

 others they were mended. This has disappeared. The Game 

 cook had too much tail, he frequently carried it over his back, 

 hence the term " squirrel-tailed." The tai s of Silver-spangled 

 Hamburghs were cloudy, and the fiat went forth that they 

 must be purely white, with a black moon at the end. The 

 Sebright Bintam must not have even the suspicion of a sickle, 

 and the feathers must be clear save lacing, and a spot at the 

 extremity of each. The Spangled Poland must also have clear 

 sickles, mooned. In the Golden and Silver Hamburghs (Pen- 

 cilled), the cocks' tails must be bronzed or silvered on each 

 edge of the principal feathers, the hens' tails must be pencilled 

 to the tip. 



Spanish and the French breeds are exempt from the require- 

 ments of jadges and exhibitors so far as their tails ore con- 

 cerned. We shall have to do with them when we come to 

 colour. Arrived at the tail of our argument, we are almost 

 afraid in these Darwinian days of throwing down the apple of 

 discord when we say, All the requirements we have named 

 have been met, the objections have disappeared, and as soon 

 as the laws of the judges were laid down there was no difficulty 

 and little delay in producing birds that came up to the quality, 

 and answered the requirements. Degeneracy in a tail-lees 

 breed shows itself by the faulty specimens increasing that orna- 

 ment in every brood. In all manufaotured breeds the chickens 

 constantly go back to the component parts, and in cases where 

 they are bred without fresh blood they return to it entirely. 

 Thus a degenerate Sebright Bantam loses the hen tail, and has 

 a full complement of long sickle feathers. 



THE CRYSTAL PALACE POULTRY SHOW. 



We hardly know if the proper course would not be to place 

 Mr. Elgar's letter in our solicitor's hands in lieu of offering a 

 reply, as little doubt of its object can exist in the mind of any- 

 one — viz., to prejadiee the ensuing Show at the Crystal Palace, 

 or why would Mr. Elgar have allowed ten months to have 

 elapsed without bringing his charges before the public? But as 

 poseibly, if unanswered, his letter might influence some few 

 who are unacquainted with the Committee, the Judges, and 

 the management of our previous shows, we beg you will insert 

 the following contradiction, the truth of which can be ascer- 

 tained from our catalogues. 



Mr. Elgar states, " It is very curious that a party being on 

 the Committee should be so very fortunate as to show fourteen 

 pens of birds and, except for two, get prizes for ihem all." 

 This is more than curious, it is untrue. The most approxi- 

 mate case that can be found with the most fortunate Committee- 

 man, is but four prizes with fourteen entries. Mr. Elgar's 

 other statement with regard to the total prizes will be found 

 upon the same authority to be equally untrue. With reference 

 to Mr. Elgar's general statements about sending birds to the 

 Palace in the middle of November in the cold, can Mr. Elgar 

 point out a more suitable place than the nave of the Crystal 

 Palace, with its regulated temperature? or can his fertile ima- 

 gination conceive one ? With regard to the White Fantail and 

 the pair of Jacobins which are so ostentatiously paraded, " will 

 you be surprised to find " that Mr. Elgar was not an exhibitor 

 in either class, but that all his " pets " were consigned to the 

 Selling class, the value of each pen being restricted to £2? and 

 your readers may, perhaps, come to a better conclusion of their 

 true value from the fact that the Jadges never so much as com- 

 mended them, and even at this price not one of them found a 

 purchaser. It is, therefore, highly improbable that anyone 

 would seek to make the exchange Mr. Elgar implies. Eeferring 

 to the Pheasant, this Mr. Elgar informed us had died in transit 

 under exceptional circumstances ; he might further have had 

 the fairness to have admitted that we paid him what he him- 

 self demanded and called the " marketable value." 



Lastly, no mistake was made by us, and no authority exists 

 for Mr. Elgar's assertion that he won a prize, for which we 

 refer him to the Jadges; and as Mr. Elgar's further remarks 

 are chiefly an impeachment of those gentlemen, while stating 

 our own belief in their integrity, an opinion which every exhi- 

 bitor will endorse, we leave it to them to vindicate thur own 



