25i 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t September 29, 187e. 



POULTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 



THE BIRMINGHAM SHOW OF 1870. 

 An examination of the Birmingham schedule for this year 

 does not reveal any marked novelties as on former occasions. 

 The Council apparently consider that they have now arrived 

 nearly at perfection, and that their long experience and reflec- 

 tion have at length resulted in the " very height of acme," 

 beyond which poultry schedules can no further go : hence their 

 programme is in most particulars similar to that of last year. 

 I confess I think the Council are mistaken. Many and great 

 are the real improvements they have introduced into poultry 

 exhibitions, most oi which have been approved and copied by 

 all others of any standing ; but it seems to me the show is yet 

 trammelled and injuriously affected by the set traditions of 

 other days. I give my difference of judgment in all humility, 

 but it is the result of several years' observation, and has been 

 confirmed by most of those to whom I have Bpoken on the 

 subject. The one great fault universally remarked of the 

 Birmingham Show is the immense number of inferior speci- 

 mens, which make the exhibition unwieldly, and render an 

 inspection of it physically exhausting. It is understood that 

 the Bubject last year engaged the attention of the authorities, 

 and the remedy they devised was to raise the entry fees by the 

 amount of sixpence ! It need hardly be said that the result, 

 though in the right direction, was not appreciable ; and I am 

 more and more convinced that the radical root of the evil is 

 the antiquated sovereign subscription (a system exploded every- 

 where else) , which groups most of the entries into clusters of 

 four pens. The effect is that every exhibitor makes up his four 

 entries if possible, and in order to do so sends often inferior 

 birds merely for sale ; whilst, on the other hand, to my personal 

 knowledge, individuals who have possessed a single pen only, 

 which would have been a real attraction to the show, have been 

 deterred from sending by the knowledge that the venture would 

 cost them 23s. The problem is to get as many good pens 

 as possible, and to weed out the bad ones, without pecuniary 

 loss : and I feel convinced, as do most to whom I have men- 

 tioned the matter, that to abolish subscriptions altogether, to 

 give each exhibitor only one admission ticket (as at present 

 the tickets are given away wholesale), and to charge, say, 12s. 

 for a single, and Is. 6d. for every subsequent entry, would to a 

 great extent accomplish all these objects, and raise the tone of 

 the show materially. Perhaps, indeed, it would then be too 

 perfect, and those who had been so long connected with it would 

 have to follow the example of the celebrated mechanic who 

 spent all the ingenuity of his life upon a garden engine, and 

 then died just as he had finished polishing the handle. Never- 

 theless I make the suggestion, and perhaps it may be found 

 worth considering. 



Regarding details, as already said, there is little this year to 

 remark. In most of the leading varieties there are cups and 

 five other prizes for the cockerel and pullet classes, with three 

 prizes for each class of old birds. In Buff Cochins, however, 

 owing to the liberality of amateurs, there are cups and four 

 other prizes for the old birds, and I expect the result will be 

 such an array of Buffs as even Birmingham can rarely boast. 

 I fear our Light Brahma friends will be really savage, this 

 variety being cut down to three prizes each for the old classes, 

 and four eaoh for the chickens. The simple truth is, it is 

 useless for anybody to talk as if such and such prizes were 

 " due " to any variety whatever. The only way to get good 

 prizes is to fill large classes ; and the fact is that where the 

 prizes are equal, on an average the Dark entries are about 

 double the Light. It is no fault of the breed ; but an exami- 

 nation of any catalogue will show that town amateurs form a 

 very large portion of poultry fanciers ; and as no very light 

 fowls can be kept in a town to be shown with credit, the classes 

 will always be smaller. Take White Cochins, White Dorkings, 

 or White Bantams — the result is always the same, and for the 

 game obvious reason. 



By the liberality of amateurs, again, there are this year four 

 classes of Malays, of two prizes each. This will rejoice the 

 heart of "T. B. A. Z. ;" and as there are thus eight prizes I 

 hope on this occasion there will be rather over eight pens, if it 

 be only for the look of the thing, and to keep each other in 

 eonntenanoe. I cannot help thinking this breed is deteriorating 

 very much in size as well as in numbers. It used to be a large 

 variety, now I rarely see a Malay cock without thinking of 

 "the tall thin gentleman with the shiny boots on." 



The great blot of the schedule is the fact of there being only 

 one class, of three prizes, for "any other variety," cock and 

 hen having to be shown together. Every show in the king- 

 dom, almost, gives more than this ; and when we consider that 

 Andalusians, Minoreas, Leghorns (which are now beginning to 

 be known in Eogland), Sultans, Silkies, Japanese, Black and 

 Cuckoo Cochins, Guinea Fowls, and many other varieties have 

 no other place of refuge, I cannot help thinking that the prin- 

 ter's imp must have feloniously abstracted three or four lines 

 of type from the sheet before it was printed. 



In the other poultry olasses it is worth remark that Ayles- 

 bury Ducks have only four prizes, while Rouens have six. 

 Time was when it was all the other way ; but the Rouens first 

 challenged, then equalled, then passed their rivals, not only in 

 number but in weight, and the prizes now adopted may be con- 

 sidered to settle the point that they have now decisively won 

 the first place, both in popularity and utility. The fact is 

 another illustration of the argument above regarding white 

 fowls. 



In Pigeons, six classes for Carriers, and no less than ten for 

 Pouters ought to bring a magnificent array for competition. A 

 five-guinea cup for Blue or Silver Runts, given by Mr. T. D. 

 Green, is rather a novelty in a Pigeon show, and I shall expeot 

 to see some big birds. A cup and four classes for Antwerps 

 show the rapidly increasing enthusiasm in favour of this 

 symmetrical and intelligent variety. The other classes are 

 almost precisely the same as formerly. 



In conclusion, let me express a hope that the Council will 

 again secure a copy of the magnificent poster relating to the 

 New York Show, which attracted so much attention last year. 

 — L. Weight. 



CLASSES FOE, WHITE BANTAMS. 

 A correspondent signing himself " White Bantam," aBks 

 for separate classes for that variety. The truth is, White 

 Bantams are becoming so scarce, that when they have separate 

 elasses there are never sufficient entries to pay the prize money. 

 This has been the result at the Bristol and Clifton Show, and 

 it is the intention of the Committee to strike out the class. 

 At the last exhibition there were only five pens entered to 

 compete for three prizes, respectively £3, £1 10s., and 15s. If 

 " White Bantam " will communicate with me at once, I will 

 endeavour to have the claes retained in our next priHe list, 

 which will be shortly issued. At the same time I would be 

 glad to hear from any amateur who will raise subscriptions for 

 special cups for any particular variety of poultry or Pigeons at 

 our next Show. The Committee will be glad of any such 

 assistance. — E. Cambridge, Cotham Brow, Bristol. 



DERIVATION OF CREVE-CCEUR. 

 In your answers to correspondents you seem to imply that 

 the name of this breed is derived from the form of the crest, Its 

 a cloven heart. You must allow me to differ from this. There 

 is a town in Normandy of that name, and it is from thence, as 

 in the case of the Dorking, that the name is taken. I should 

 add that the Caumont, Houdan, and Gournay fowls are, in the 

 opinion of M. Jacques, "veritables ramifications du Creve- 

 Cceur." I can bear testimony to the valuable properties of 

 this handsome breed. They lay a large number of very fine 

 eggs, and keep on laying through their moulting time. I have 

 some now running under bare poles, ragged-looking creatures, 

 yet laying every day, or nearly so. — D., Deal. 



ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETIES [SHOWS— 

 PRIZE LISTS. 

 I am glad to find that such societies are increasing ; but I 

 should like to draw the attention of the secretaries and com- 

 mittees to the desirability of having some person appointed to 

 unpack all specimens sent by exhibitors as soon as possibls 

 after their arrival, and to give food and water to all of them, as 

 they suffer much from thirst, especially Pigeons, when they 

 have to travel a long distance. I hope the Sheffield Committee 

 will set an example to other exhibitions, and also be well sup- 

 ported, as some of the prizes are greatly in advance of previous 

 Bhows at other places, those for the Rabbits and cage birds 

 especially.' — Bird Fancier. 



The Southampton Podxtrt Show. — In the schedule we 

 notice a very marked improvement upon that of former years. 



