316 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND C3TTAGS GiRDENER. 



[ October 13, 1S77. 



Tusibleks.— Ahujnd.— Cock.— Cup, J. Ecroyd. 2, H. C. Henning. 3, J. Baker, 

 Men— I and 2, J. Baker. 3, R. Fulton. Almond.— Single Young Bird —Cup and 



2, H. C. Henning. 3, T. Rale. Black Mottled.— Cock or Hen.— I, H. G. Henning. 

 2 and 3, J. Baker. Balds or Beards.— Cock or Hen.— I, W. Woodhouse. 2 and 

 S, H. Yardley. Any other variety —Cock.— I, J. Baker. 2, J. Ecroyd 3, H. C. 

 Henning. Hen.—l and 3, H. C. Henning. 2, H. Yardley. Not Shortfaced.— 

 Single Bird.— I, H. Yardley. 2, R. Woods. 8, J. Barnes. 



Babb — Cock— Cup and vhc, J. Firth. 2, II. Hedley. S, R. Fulton. Hon.— 



1, R. Fulton. 2, 51. Hedley. 3, H. 31. Ma>nard. vhc, J. Chandler. Black 

 or Dun.— Single Young Bird. — Cup and 2, R. "Fulton. 3, M. Hedley. Any other 

 colour.— Single Young Bird. — 1, P. H. Jones. 2, R. Fulton. 3, J. Firth. 



Jacobins.— Bed.— Cock.— 1 and 3, J. Frame. 2, H. Heritage, vhc, J. Pyper. 

 Hen— Cup, J. Frame. 2 and vhc, J. Baker. 3, G.Hardy. Yellow.— Cock.— 

 1 and 2, J. Frame. 8, J. Baker, vhc, H. Heritage. Hen.—l, R. Fulton. 2, J. 

 Baker. 3, J. Frame, vhc, J. Thompson. White.— Single Bird.—l and 2, S. 

 Salter. S, J. Thompson. Any other colour.— Single Bird.—l, J. Baker. 2, H. 

 Heritage. 3, J Schweitzer. 



Fantails.— White — Cock.— 1 and 2, J. F. Loversidge. 3, J. Baker. Hen.— 

 Cup, O. E. Cresswell. 2, J. Eaton. 3, J. F. Loversidge. Any other colour.— 

 Single Bird- 1. J. Baker. 2, H. Yardley. 3,H. W. Wehb. 



Nuns.— Single Bird.—l, H. Jacob. 2, W. P. Stevenson. S, J. T. Herbert. 



TRUMPETERS.-SinflZe Bird — Cup, J. Lederer. 2, J. Baker. 3, R. Fulton. 



Owls.— English.— Cock.— Cup and 2, J. Ecroyd. 3, S. Salter. Hen.—l, J. 

 Ecroyd. 2. Ward & Rhodes. 3, T. G. Spruut. Foreign.— Single Bird.— Cup, J. 

 Baker. 2, F. Wilde. 3, R. Fulton. English.— Single Young Bird. — 1, J. Ecroyd. 

 o "j^ jj Stretch. 3 S. Salter. 

 'Tueb'its.— Blue 'or Silver.— Single Bird— 1, J. Ecroyd. 2, T. 0. Burnell. 3, 

 S. Salter. Bed or Yellow— Single Bird— Cup, T. 0. Burnell. 2, J. Baker. S, 

 C. A. Crafer. Any other colour.— Single Bird— I, J. Ecroyd. 2, O. E. Cresswell. 



3, Ridley & Dye. Any colour.— Single Young Bird.—l, C. A. Crafer. 2, S. 

 Salter. 3, G. Roper. 



Magpies.— Single Bird.—l and 2, S. Salter. 8, G. H. Gregory. 



Runts.— Cock— Cup, A. Miles. 2 and 3, J. S. Price. Hen.— Cup, H. Yardley. 



2, A. Miles. 3, J. S.Price. 



Aktwebps.— Short-faced.— Single Bird.—l, 2, and 3, J. Eerovd. Homing.— 

 Cock— Cup, T. Gomm. 2, C. Chandler. 3, W. E. Wills. 4. C. G. Butler. Hen. 

 —1, W. E. Wills. 2, T. Gomm. 3, C. G. Butler. 3, S. R. Pearee. Special 

 Flying Class of Homing.— Cock.— Cup, J. Edmonds. 2, P. J. Cheffins. 3, J. 

 Collard. 4, J. Edmonds. S, G. Carvill. Hen.— I, J. Collard. 2, E.T. Dexter. 

 8, G. J. Lenny. 4. P. F. Cheffins. 4, J. Edwards. 



Ant other Variety.- 1, H. W.Webb. 2, T. Rule. 3, Rev. R. Peel. 



Selling Classes. — Single Bird.—l, J. Chandler. 2. P. H. Jones. 3, W. 

 Bulmer. 4, H. M. Maynard. vhc, W. Bulmer. Pairs.— 1 and 2, P. H. Jones. 



3, J. J. Edelsten. 4, J. T. Theobald. 



THE PIGEON FANCY. 



"Look! Do you see that flock of small Pigeons very high 

 up just passiDg yon strip of black cloud? Those are mine." 

 "Yours!" "Tea mine. They are my Tumbler Pigeons taking 

 their afternoon's aerial trip. They will alight here, and go in 

 there to roost. There are six or eight young birds in the nests, 

 and I will show you them up among the clouds with their 

 parents if you will give me a call by-and-by. But just watch 

 a minute ; see every second or two one or other of them throws 

 a Bingle, double, or triple somersault, and they seem to vie with 

 each other which will do those somersaults neatest and oftenest. 

 Notice the one a little above the others. He is a Blue with 

 barred wings and tail. See ! he stands an instant on air, and 

 there! — three turns at one roll, and he has not fallen much 

 above a foot. Look again. Two somersaults and yet going up- 

 wards ! He is a bird of remarkable power of wing, and always 

 acts as leader of the flock." "Most extraordinary!" exclaimed 

 my friend. " I never saw anything like that. Surely that is a 

 curiosity in natural history. Is that tumbling not a disease?" 

 "No; but could it be proved to be disease it is a most healthy 

 one, as Tumbler Pigeons are the most hardy of all the family, 

 and live to a good age." How big I felt then, when I could say 

 those birds are mine — birdB on the wing away among the clouds, 

 soaring free as the wind, having all around them boundless space, 

 and yet I could and did say they are mine. 



" But come, I will show you something unique in the tumbling 

 line amongst Pigeons. You see that pair of small red birds on 

 the floor ; stamp your foot. There ! the cock with the white 

 feather in the tail has risen but 2 feet and tumbled twice ; and 

 the hen (self-coloured) has risen only 12 inches and has tumbled 

 once, both as neatly as the most accomplished Japanese tumbler." 

 "Why is all this not generally known?" said my friend. "If 

 it were known it would put a check on some of the wild theories 

 now started." My reply was also in the form of a question. 

 " Why do people walk over and trample down the most beautiful 

 flowers and not know it ? Answer, Because they wo'n't look at 

 what they are walking upon, and don't know of the world they 

 live in." The above dialogue took place fully thirty-five years 

 ago ; it is no fiction, but what actually passed almost verbatim. 



In those days the Pigeon fancy was carried out in all its en- 

 tirety ; all the varieties were kept pure — all we then had, which 

 comprised all we now have excepting the RuSBian Trumpeter 

 and African Owl. Of course I exclude the numerous Toys that 

 come now and then from the Continent. At this late date we 

 can still Bhow a flight of Tumblers second to none, all colours, 

 and still a pair at least that will tumble once for every 12 inches 

 they rise from the floor or ground, and we still feel that it is 

 something to be able to say to a friend who comes to see our 

 flights of Tumblers in the clouds, Thoae birds are mine. 



Without prejudice let ub look at the state of the Pigeon fancy 

 now. I may safely question, as a general rule, where is it ? I 

 go into the large towns of England — say, Liverpool, Manchester, 

 Birmingham, and all the " black country," the very places in 

 which the fancy might be carried to the highest points ; but 

 what do I see ? At the breakfast and dinner hours perhaps 

 from ten to fifteen flocks of Pigeons in view flying round and 



round the chimney pot3 of the locality, so long as they are kept 

 up by terror of the flag that is waved to keep them from alight- 

 ing. These are no Tumblers, no ! not anything of any merit. 

 A lot of mongrels only fit to fly when pressed to it by the fear of 

 some old rag, and the thing has become so disgusting that the 

 magistrates of Walsall have determined to put a stop to Pigeon 

 flying on the Sabbath, having already fined two men for prose- 

 cuting it. Certainly a move in the right direction. This is one 

 of the fruits of the degeneracy of the fancy. It must not be 

 supposed that I find fault with the particular fancy of anyone ; 

 I merely deplore the present state of matters, and would, if I 

 could, turn the tide into the old channel when birds were 

 bred to the original points without any innovations. When I 

 used to start from my native city, Edinburgh, on my English 

 journeys what a store of beauty awaited me! Newcastle on 

 the one hand, and Carlisle on the other. South and further 

 Bouth to London the sights were endless; Canaries predominated 

 in this town and Pigeons in the next, and all as a rule were of 

 high if not of the first-class order, and in the very Pigeon shops 

 something could be bought worthy at the time of a better price 

 than was asked. In those days the stocks exhibited to friends 

 told at once of the artistic eye and elevated taste of their pro- 

 prietors. The birds were kept for the pare love of the fancy, and 

 therefore they must be of the highest order, not bred for the 

 sordid love of gain, either by sale or for prize money to be ob- 

 tained from shows. I hold that shows have done no good to 

 the fancy, not because I do not approve of shows, but because I 

 cannot approve of the manner in which they are conducted. 

 But more of this shortly. 



Bat what do I see now ? Of course many of the old fanciers 

 are gone ; but alas ! the fancy in a great measure seems to have 

 gone with them. Here a stock of coarse birds, so-called English 

 Owls; there a lot of Dragoons; again a stock of birds, mere 

 nondescripts called Antwerp3 ; again the remains of the wreck 

 of that beautiful bird the Jacobin. I am shown a bird which I 

 cannot tell from what it has sprung, and am told " This is a 

 sure winner." I am written to for birds, but "Don't send them 

 unless they are certain winners." I can't see that anyone can 

 ever be a trae fancier who insists upon playing out the game of 

 money in connection with the fancy. 



Just look at oar shows, particularly in England, what are 

 they made up of ? Long-faced, Medium-faced, and Short-faced 

 Antwerp3 — in fact common flying Pigeons, Dragoons of different 

 colours, and so-called English Owls, all birds of no merit and 

 bred without trouble. I see a show advertisod to take place 

 next month in the south, in which there are to be eighteen 

 classes for Dragoons, seven for Antwerps, and five for Owls : 

 what interest can those birds have for the general public, or are 

 they likely to attract an aspirant to the fancy? The fancy in 

 the south is not only rapidly degenerating but seems to be in a 

 moribund state. Over and over again I among others have 

 appealed to our friends in the south to keep to birds having 

 distinctive characteristics and to be done with all the cross-bred 

 trash which are not worth a day's trouble or expense, and_ to 

 come out in something genuine and worthy of their genius. 

 But it seems of no avail, they will go on in their own coarse; 

 and therefore I shall trouble no farther, but turn to the fanciers 

 of my native land, and appeal to them in connection with the 

 trash that is so often seen, and say in almost the exact words of 

 my ancient townsman Robert Ferguson — 



" Scotland that could ance afford 

 To bang the pith o' Roman sword, 

 Winna your sons wi' joint accord 



To "battle speed, 

 Fight till the fancy hs restor'd 



Whilk now lies dead?" 

 — James Hdte. 



CANARY TREATMENT. 



The following advice of Mr. Barnesby relative to the manage- 

 ment of a sick Canary which was infested with inBects, and yet 

 refused to wash except in its drinking fountain, having proved 

 successful in restoring a favourite bird, may, perhaps, prove 

 useful to others : — 



"At once," advised Mr. Barnesby, "transfer the hird to 

 another cage whilst you dress with either turpentine or naptha 

 the crevices of the one infested with the vermin. In about an 

 hour's time scald and clean the cage with soap-and-soda suds. 

 The following day the cage will be ready, but prior to placing 

 the bird in let it undergo the washing operation, which can be 

 performed in the following manner — One advantage is to get 

 the bird washed as speedily as possible, and keeping it warm 

 the whole of the time. You will require a cage for drying the 

 bird in before the fire, with a cloth spread on the bottom of the 

 cage. When holding a bird to wash it do so carefully but firmly. 

 Place the bird in the left hand with its head towards your wrist 

 and the tail over your forefinger. Do not press the thumb 

 tightly across its neokor the feathers may become curled or frilled. 

 Then with a soft shaving brush lather well down the back, wings, 

 1 and tail. Turu the bird over and operate the same way about 



