December 21, 1871. J 



JOUKNAL OF HOKTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



499 



prised to find that they had reached nearly sis hundred hond-fide 

 entries. But my heart made one or t\TO nnmistakeable jumps when 

 I entered the Assembly Rooms and took in at a glance the ditficult 

 nature of the task set before me and my colleague, Capt. Hawkins 

 Fisher. The great room may be, and, I understand, really is the 

 finest floor in Europe for dancing purposes, but as the votaries of 

 Terpsichore do not require strong sunlight for the celebration of their 

 revels, the room appears to have been constructed without any re- 

 cognition of its necessity. True, one end of it is almost entirely of 

 glass, but being a long, oblong-shaped room, the direct rays do not 

 penetrate far, and the shade from the ceiling is soon perceptible. The 

 consequence was, we had every cage to lift and arrange facing the 

 light, in some rough approximation to order of merit before we could 

 arrive at definite conclusions. At first it was easy enough, but at last 

 it was as though I was running a race against time or picking up the 

 hundred egga a yard apart, singly, and returning with each one to the 

 basket. Ajid I weigh fourteen-seven ! However, I was ably seconded 

 by my coadjutor, an enthusiastic ornithologist, whose infinite ac- 

 ■quaintance with hybrids and British and foreign bii-ds relieved me of 

 much of the responsibility in these classes. 



But, work as hard as we could, to get through in a short November 

 day was impossible, and a portion of the judging still remained to be 

 done on Friday morning. Visitors took everything in good part ; it 

 was a first Show, successful in point of numbers beyond all precedent, 

 •conducted with a manifest desire to have everything done as it ought 

 to be done, and I never heard a single grumble at delay in the issue of 

 the award of prizes. A great portion of the judging, too, and especially 

 of the Belgians, being done in public, excited a deal of interest, and 

 nothing but admiration of the spectacle and patient waiting for the 

 completion of every detail seemed to occupy the mind of every visitor. 

 Many who came for the day remained in the town all night to see 

 ^' the end of it," in any class in which they took a peculiar interest. 

 Surely their patient waiting and enthusiasm are a quiet reproof to 

 some who are subject to fits if they do not receive a catalogue and 

 award of prizes by first post — or sooner. 



The Clear Norwich classes made a fine show ; Messrs. Adams and 

 Athersuch, Bemrose & Orme, C &:■ J. Mackley, Moore & "Wynne, and 

 W. Walter making the running at a " hot " pace. It was hot. Colour 

 and quality were prominent in all, but the struggle at the finish lay 

 between the Derby confederacy and Mr. "Walter, the latter taking first 

 in Jonques and Mealies with birds of exceptional quality of feather. 

 The Derby birds were grand in colour, but not so soft and silky in 

 texture as I like to see them. Mr. Bemrose called my attention to 

 one of his Buffs, No. 49, I think, which he said was one of the warmest 

 birds he had seen for a long time. It certainly was a bird of rare 

 colour, but — my view may be extreme — too warm. It wanted more 

 frosting. 



The Evenly-Marked Norwich were a show in themselves. Fre- 

 quenters of Canary shows know what is the average run of so-called 

 Evenly-Marked birds usually staged. One or two, perhaps, come up 

 to the standard. I do not mean the standard of perfection, but the 

 simple standard which is included in the definition Evenly-Marked. 

 And on this point allow me to say, in passing, that there seems to be 

 a misunderstanding as to wha t constitutes an Evenly-Marked bird. 

 Indeed, my attention was directed to one. No. 94, first prize, Class 4, 

 which a friend thought was not an Evenly-Marked bird at all, because 

 one eye was more heavily marked than the other. To set this question 

 at rest, let me say that evenness of marking is, primarily, a question of 

 locality, and not of absolute exactness of marking in that locality. I 

 have, in an earlier number, enunciated this theory at length. Suffice 

 it to say here, that eye marks, wing marks, and tail marks, marks 

 which can be repeated in duplicate, constitute even marks, and the 

 fact of any one or other of these marks being unequal to its fellow, in 

 no way alters the fact of the bird being evenly marked. Positive exact- 

 ness is seldom or never found, and a close approximation to it not 

 frequently. The wording of the Crystal Palace schedule for last year 

 was intended to meet this difficulty, at least I could understand it in 

 no other way. The description there was " Best Marked or Varie- 

 gated," allowing a wide discretionary power to the Judge ; and seeing 

 "that birds of great merit, otherwise marked than evenly, and which at 

 the same time cannot be considered as Ticked or "Unevenly -Marked 

 (as understood by the fancy), can by this wording find their way into 

 competition with the Evenly-Marked specimens, I am inclined to view 

 this description, "Best Marked or Variegated," as preferable to the 

 more rigidly exacting one, " Evenly-Marked," which excludes many a 

 superb specimen which is both evenly and otherwise marked. 



At Cheltenham there were more than a dozen hond-jide Evenly- 

 Marked birds among the Jonques, not to mention the Mealies, without 

 counting those which, though nicely marked, either had too much of 

 it or were capped and otherwise variegated. The competition was 

 very close, and the first prize fell to a bird of Messrs. Adams and 

 Athersuch's, very beautifully marked on the wings, and very evenly, 

 though rather heavily, on the eyes. Barwell & Golby, and Moore 

 and "Wynne were close behind, with Messrs. Adams & Co. equal third. 

 No. 71 in this class, Bemrose & Orme, was very fine, and by the dull 

 light of a November afternoon looked so grand, that I was at one time 

 afraid I had made a mistake and had come to a decision too hastily. 

 But a closer inspection in the morning confirmed my opinion. The 

 standard of excelleuce is somewhat arbitrary. Some judges like four 

 and others five, six, or seven dark feathers in each wing. Some like 



half the wing dark; and from an almost unintelligible heap of jargon 

 and incongruous nonsense in a schedule before me, I learn that " the 

 flights, or first nine feathers, white, and the secondaries dark, are the 

 most perfect wing-marks." To my eye if the primaries (which by the 

 way are never nine in number), alone are light, the bird would be too 

 heavily marked, and, cceteris paribus, would not win against one with 

 a much lighter wing. 



No. 94, in the Evenly-Marked Buffs (Bemrose & Orme), I have ad- 

 verted to. He was in the perfection of condition, and could afford to 

 give away any trifling irregularity and still win with something in 

 hand. The other winners, Bemrose & Orme, second, with Moore 

 and "Wynne and Adams & Co. dead heat for the third place, were 

 gems of birds. "Where to draw the line between highly commended 

 and commended was a difficult task. 



Ticked birds were wonders, the most remarkable being 156 (J, 

 Turner), a heavily-marked Buff, which I am given to understand has 

 been in the crucible and submitted to all kinds of searching tests 

 without anything *' coming off." I was much amused at a remark I 

 overheard whUe examining this bird and a Lizard ; extraordinary 

 opinions were being hazarded pretty freely, but everybody was silenced 

 by a jolly old fellow who hailed from Birmingham or " thereaway " 

 saying, " He have got a better receipt nor most of you ! " I have not 

 heard anything so rich since Mr. Jones, who has the care of Mr. 

 Ashton's birds, lectured a delinquent on the sin of painting and 

 staining, and wound up with a grand chaffing peroration, " It's aU 

 along o' you not using fast colours ! " 



Jonque Crests were nothing extra, but such a fine lot of Buffs I do 

 not remember ever to have seen. It was a very near thing at the 

 finish, but aU told, the best bird stood first. Nearly a score were 

 mentioned, and almost any one of the score conld have won under 

 ordinary cirumstances, if not opposed by such an exceptional array. — 

 — "W. A. Blaesto>'. 



(To be continued.) 



QUEENS LEA^^NG THEIR HIVE. 

 QnEESS will leave the hive at other times than with a first 

 swarm or to meet the drone. I took brood, larvm, and eggs 

 from the qaeen I received from you, and placed them in an 

 empty hive with two frames of honey taken from other stocks. 

 I then removed a strong stock of blacks some 15 or 20 yards 

 distant, and placed the new hive on its stand. On the ninth 

 day afterwards I examined, but found no queen-cells started. 

 I tried again with the same result, but found egga and brood in 

 all stages. I also found the black queen in the nucleus, and 

 upon examining the hive I removed I found queen-cells de- 

 stroyed and a young queen just hatched. She had evidently 

 left and returned to the old stand. Can anyone report a similar 

 case? — E. W. Hakkison. — {The Bee-keeper, New York.) 



UNSEASONABLE DRONES. 



Ox examining one of my stocks to-day I found three dead 

 drones and four dead young bees. There were also some white 

 larvae. They seem to have been taken out of the cells by the 

 bees. Have I any cause for alarm ? — Bakon. 



[It is difficult to assign a reason for the presence of drones 

 and young bees in your hive without further information. Ton 

 do not say if your stock has an old or a young queen, or whether 

 she was raised artificially or not. Your hive may have lost its 

 queen late in the autumn, and her successor in her matrimonial 

 flights failing to meet a drone in due time, consequently com- 

 menced her career as a drone-breeder. Or the old queen may 

 have become worn-out with age or accident, which would cause 

 her to deposit drone eggs as well as those of workers. Or the 

 bees may have been aware of her increasing incapacity, and 

 have allowed the drones, which would otherwise have been 

 killed in autumn, to live to provide for her successor in case of 

 her death. We think you have some cause to fear that all is 

 not right within your hive. — Eds.] 



WOLVEBHAMPTON ShOW OF PoULTET AND PiGEONS. — The 



prize list is liberal. In fifteen classes the first prizes are £3 

 or £3 3s., instead of £2 as formerly. In classes for Light 

 Brahmas the first prizes are £5 5s. (cups). There are also 

 several extra prizes in addition to the above. The prizes for 

 Pigeons also are increased, while the entry-fee is lowered. 

 Homing Antwerps are a new class. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



West of ENGLAi.'D, Plythguth, Newcastle Poultby, Watfoed, and 

 OTHER Shows (L., Ames, rf-c.).— We have not reported these Shows, be- 

 cause, if a committee does not advertise an exhibition in our columns, 

 we conclude it is local, and not of general interest. 



Dublin Society's Eepoet {E. A, S.) — It was put in as a matter of 

 favour. The Society does not advertise, and we can spare no more space. 



