44 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 12, 1877. 



may state what is well known in the fancy, that he sold his 

 champion Carrier cock recently for £'100, and was rather sorry 

 to let him go ; while he sold a pair for £180. Bnt to proceed 

 in order. I had for some time past known that at Holm wood 

 there was a stud of four hundred birds exclusive of feeders, of 

 which latter it may be remarked Mr. Maynard makes but little 

 use. I was naturally anxious to see such a stock of birds. How- 

 ever frequently one may see a fancier's birds at shows, there is 

 always an additional pleasure in seeing them in their own lofts 

 where they were reared and where they live, to notice the style 

 of lofts, what their arrangements, what plans are found to 

 sucoeed, what nest-boxes used, &c. 



Mr. Maynard lives in the Isle of Wight, not a convenient 

 place for an exhibitor when one remembers that shows take 

 place in the winter, and birds must have a sea passage as well 

 as a land journey. I never wonder that so many exhibitors are 

 in the north and manufacturing districts, for there is such a 

 network of railways. It is only just to have the birds carried to 

 the near station, and away they go to this show and to that 

 show. Then still less do I wonder that there are so many ex- 

 hibitors near London, because Pigeon fancying requires but 

 little room, though the birds are better for much room ; and 

 then London shows are now the shows, and probably, re- 

 membering the convenience of the Aquarium, will become more 

 than ever the shows for the upper-class and larger-stocked 

 fancier. But the Isle of Wight is not only distant, but there is 

 the stormy Solent, often very stormy in winter, to be crossed 

 by the tender high-class birds. Genuine must that fancier's 

 love of birds be to face such a drawback. However, the climate 

 of the island is all that can be wished. 



Last Crystal Palace Show Mr. Maynard kindly invited me to 

 come and see his stock. More than once I had been on the point 

 of going, but was hindered. After all it was well I had been pre- 

 vented, for even May was this year more than usual "a fine month 

 spoiled by east wind ;" and as to the poet's May, that of poor de- 

 luded Thomson, we know another and a better poet, Tom Hood, 

 said of Thomson's " gentle Bpring, ethereal mildness," " there's 

 no such season." But June, leafy June, is all happily different. 

 It was a glorious day when I started for the Isle of Wight. One 

 felt thankful to live to see and feel such weather. Along the 

 line, via Salisbury, the hay harvest was in progress, then further 

 by damp water-meadowB where the Heron was standing senti- 

 nel-like and demure on the banks, and the Moorhen, that joyous, 

 light-hearted little bird, was now on land, now in the water. 

 Stokes Bay, the place of embarking for Ryde, is at length 

 reached. Oh ! the bright clear sunny water of the Solent, alive 

 with white-sailed yachts ! The sea here seems unsoiled by trade 

 or commerce — a pleasure sea, nothing to mar the joy save forts 

 rising here and there wan-like and ugly out of its surface, 

 which tell of war-possibilities and wounds and death. Ugly 

 forts ! May never necessity arise for their use ; 'tis bad enough 

 that they should spoil the look of the sea. A half an hour's 

 sail and we reach Ryde pier, far stretching-out into the shallow 

 water, and then a long walk on its resounding boards and we 

 are in Ryde itself, where I find Mr. Maynard ready to receive me 

 and drive me to his home some two miles distant. Straight on 

 through clean] pleasure-looking Ryde, through Union Street, 

 which is its Regent Street, and indeed the shops might make 

 at any rate a Bath tradesman jealous. On, still climbing. Oh ! 

 the Isle of Wight is a perfect purgatory for horses. None but 

 the vicious and over-spirity ones Bhould go there. Kindly, good, 

 gentle horBeB for flat country; but the ungentle should be 

 threatened with, not " I'll send you to Coventry," but " I'll 

 send you to the Isle of Wight, that I will." If horses ever take 

 to literature I shall expect to see on the railway stalls a book 

 with such a title as this, "Life audits Misery, by an Isle of 

 Wight Horse." Still climbing, passing pleasant villas and neat 

 cottages, when a halt and we enter a gate, past a thatched lodge, 

 and dipping our heads to avoid the pendulous leafy boughs, we 

 drive up an approach, and presently reach a country house 

 which stands out white and clean from the trees around. This 

 is Holmwood, where Mr. Maynard's family have resided for 

 many years. I am first taken out to the front lawn, from which 

 are peeps of the Solent and the coast of Hampsnire beyond. 

 We are high above Ryde, but the planting has been so managed 

 that we aee nothing of the town, only the sea and the shore 

 opposite. Pleasant this for a town ; a new one especially is never 

 picturesque as seen from a country place. 



Having enjoyed and admired air and scene, I am next taken 

 to a wood at the back of the house where are numerous wire- 

 haired terriers. These Mr. Maynard and his clerical brother 

 who accompanies us (brother fanciers as well as brothers are the 

 two), keep in considerable numbers, both from liking the breed 

 and because they protect the fowls and Pigeons from rats. No 

 rats can have peace where the ever-worryiDg, worriting, restless, 

 wire-haired terriers abound. I was glad to Bee this breed of 

 dog, bred to points and at the same time not crossed by his 

 smooth cousin. The wire-haired is, I believe, the original 

 English terrier, his thick felt-like coat enables htm to face 

 weather and not shiver like the modern fox terrier. I have a 



lively recollection of some charming terriers at Holmwood. 

 There were several litters of pups, some pure white, others with 

 the more general dark ear and eye. Keeping this class of thorough 

 vermin-hating dogs with poultry and Pigeons is a point. N B. — 

 Remember this, ye fanciers who are troubled with and are 

 sufferers from rats and weasels and the like t( small deer." The 

 dog kennels scattered here and there in the wood had a pleasant 

 appearance. Here a mother asking for notice, and for her pups 

 to be inspected and admired ; then another a little way off 

 asking with bright eyes and wagging tail for like favours. These 

 terriers are about the best of their variety in any numbers that 

 I have seen for some years, and as a defence against rats in 

 somewhat rambling poultry and Pigeon places are well chosen. 

 Some of the dogs will no doubt come another day to the front at 

 our exhibitions. 



Turning from the dogs I am called to notice some Black Red 

 Game fowls and some Black Hamburgh chickens. How attrac- 

 tive after all and unequalled in colour and symmetry are the 

 Game. Other cocks may be pretty, but the Game cock is far 

 beyond that. Other hens may look domestic and motherly, but 

 the Game hen is beyond both. A door is opened and we reach 

 the Pigeons. — Wiltshire Rectoe. 



THE EIGHT KIND OP POULTRY FARM. 



A considerable number of trees for shade and shelter from 

 rain (for it is not desirable the fowls should be forced into the 

 houses in rainy weather) are needed, and crop-bearing trees 

 would be necessarily selected, which should not only shelter 

 the birds but at the same time yield a considerable return of 

 their own. Apples, pears, plums, and cherries would probably 

 be the standard trees ; and a clump of filberts should also be in 

 every run, to afford better shelter than standards would give. 

 In tbis way alone at least 5 per cent, on the capital would be 

 obtained, which only assumes 30s. worth of fruit from each half - 

 acre run. We may be asked " Who is to think of all these 

 things ? " We reply that if poultry farming is ever to pay it 

 must be conducted like every other kind of wholesale business, 

 and every possible thing must be thought of by which returns 

 may be increased or expenses may be saved. It is by reducing 

 everything to well-ordered system, in which everything neces- 

 sary is done at the smallest possible expense — or, to put it in a 

 plain way of our own, in which capital is freely employed to 

 save expenditure of revenue— that the leviathan establishments 

 which are the pride of civilised nations have been built up and 

 yield the large revenue which they do to their princely owners : 

 but the difference is this, that while the perfect system in these 

 giant manufactories has been slowly matured, and is the per- 

 fected product of long experience, in poultry farming on a large 

 scale we have no successful experience to fall back upon. Such 

 experiments as have been made were failures ; and it is therefore 

 all the more necessary to supplement such a want by the most 

 anxious thought and care regarding all details which can bear 

 upon the result. — (The Illustrated Book of Poultry.) 



THE ANGOLA. RABBIT. 



The Angola or Angora Rabbit is a native of Prance and mid- 

 land portions of Europe, where it flourishes in abundance. In 

 England, however, it has never been a great favourite, presum- 

 ably owing to its requiring rather more attention than most 

 other foreign varieties. 



The Angora is a fair-sized hut not a very large animal, un- 

 usual size being generally indicative of impure blood, although 

 there is considerable variation in this respect. The animal is 

 generally small-boned and rather delicate in appearance. The 

 fur is long and fine, beiog more like wool than hair, and quite 

 unlike the orthodox covering of the Rabbit kind. In good 

 specimens it lies along the body in frills or curls, the appearance 

 being very handsome. The ears are short and erect, but not bo 

 stiff or strong as in the case of Silver-Grey or Himalaya Rabbits, 

 and in some cases the earB are inclined to be pendant, although 

 the less they are bo the better. The head is rather small, but 

 the forehead is prominent. The general appearance is neat and 

 delicate. The chief point of excellence is the wool, which varies 

 very much in Btraina. The long, soft, and curly variety is 

 certainly the one most admired, and the finer the quality the 

 better. Long, straight, and coarse hair, however it may lie in 

 profusion, is never liked 60 much as the finer variety. 



It is necessary to keep the Angora in a warm and dry hutch, 

 and to subject it to periodical combings, or the wool will become 

 matted, and nothing but the next moult will bring it right. 



Mr. RayBon remarks that if the wool does not become matted 

 it is not of the fine nature so admired, and he is quite right. 

 The coarBe and straight wool but seldom mats, while soft and 

 fine curly wool rarely remains clear unless combed and kept 

 clean. There need be but little trouble if the matter be properly 

 attended to, but if neglected a free cropping will often be neces- 

 sary before the animal can be made to look correct. It is 

 strange that a little more is not done in the way of preparing 



