50 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t July 11, 1872. 



class of forty-three entries, and consisted of some of trie best 

 Red, Yellow. Black, Bine, and Silver Turbits ever seen together. 



Owls (English). — The cup went to a good Bine cock, the second 

 prize to a 'White, the third to a good Silver. I am pleased to see 

 that fanciers are taking np this long-neglected variety, and 

 many will be pleased to hear that there were twenty-nine pen3 

 of English Owls. Owls (Foreign), were remarkably good, there 

 being eighteen entries. 



Nuns were very good — forty-six entries. The majority of the 

 birds were in good, condition ; a few of them looked as thongh 

 the scissors had been freely used. 



Tru mpeters were a grand class, consisting of all known colonr3, 

 and were represented by twenty-eight entries. The cup was 

 awarded to a nice bird, but inferior to Pens 1446 and 1447, which 

 were acknowledged by all fanciers to be simply perfection. 



Dragoons. — Blues were a good class. The first and second- 

 prize birds were far too coarse for Dragoons. The third-prize 

 bird was far superior to the other winners. In Yellow or Red, 

 a Yellow was first, a Yellow and Red respectively second and 

 third. The second-prize bird by many was considered the best 

 in the class. _ For any other colour, a bird too dark to be con- 

 sidered a Silver, and far too coarse for a Dragoon, was first, 

 a_ good "White was second, a brown-barred Silver third. This 

 bird, too, was far too coarse for a Dragoon. In the three classes 

 there were one hundred entries, consisting of some of the best 

 birds in the fancy. The judging of these classes was considered 

 bad. Young Dragoons bred in 1S72 formed a good class of 

 twenty-nine entries of aU colours, and were weU judged. 



Antwerps. — The Blues were a good class. The Duns, always 

 the strongest class of the Antwerps, numbered thirty entries. 

 The cup bird was too thin in bill, had very bad-coloured bar's, and 

 was dappled or strawberry-backed. The third and very highly 

 commendedbirds should have been first and second respectively. 

 The Any other colour class was good, and Mr. Ludlow proved 

 himself, as he always is in Blue Chequers, invincible, and took 

 all three prizes. Mr. Wright exhibited a Red-chequered hen 

 that should have been noticed. Homing Antwerps were repre- 

 sented by fifty-four pens of all colours'. The cup bird, entered 

 at £'2 2s., was immediately claimed. I am at a loss to understand 

 how this class of birds are to be judged in a show pen. 



Swallows were a good class, consisting of Black Reds, Yellows, 

 and Blues. 



Magpies were represented by twenty pens. 



Archangels were an extraordinarily good class, mustering 

 twenty-three pens. 



Any other variety. — The cup was awarded to Satinettes evi- 

 dently trimmed. This was a good class, made up of Satinettes, 

 Brunettes, Blondinettes, Sultanas, and White Carriers. 



Selling Class, Cock or Hen. — This consisted of most of the 

 varieties of Pigeons ; the prizes were respectively awarded to 

 Dun Carriers, Blue Dragoons, and Black Carriers. Pairs were 

 represented by many varieties. The first prize went to a pair 

 of Black Carriers, which brought £5 5s. when sold by auction. 

 Black Barbs were second. 



In conclusion, although I have criticised the awards of the 

 Judges, I must add that, considering the work which had to 

 be done, the awards gave general satisfaction ; and the Com- 

 mittee are to be congratulated on the successful issue, as the 

 entries for Pigeons alone amounted to 962 pens, the largest 

 number ever yet obtained at any show in the world. The birds 

 were well attended to, the whole of the Carriers and Barbs being 

 fed out of tin pans fastened inside their pens. The only draw- 

 back to the success of the Show was the continued rain. The 

 Committee remained with the birds all night, an example which 

 I think worthy of being followed. The Show was visited by 

 all the leading fanciers of the present time, and one and all said 

 that it was the show of shows. 



SILVEE DEAGOONS' BAES. 



Upon the authority of such gentlemen as Mr. Harrison Weir 

 and Mr. Jones Pereivall, surely this threadbare argument re- 

 specting Silver Dragoons' bars should be finally elosed. I most 

 decidedly agree with the above-named gentlemen, and should 

 unquestionably give the prize to Silver Dragoons with black bars, 

 were they in all other points equal to birds with brown bars, 

 and where I have the pleasure of judging I shall certainly 

 adhere to this text. Within the last twenty years no fancier of 

 Blue and Silver Dragoons has improved the breed so much as 

 Mr. J. Pereivall, in proof of which the majority of the winning 

 birds for the last few years were either bred by him or descend- 

 ants from his celebrated strain. — Thos. Ridpeth. 



I was much gratified at the decision of the Judges in the 

 awards of prizes in the Silver Dragoon class at the late Birming- 

 ham Summer Show, thereby endorsing my long-since-expressed 

 opinion that Silver Dragoons should decidedly have black bars, 

 and not brown bars as some fanciers erroneously imagine. I 

 was still further gratified on perusing your impression of the 

 4th inst. to find a letter on the subject, penned by so good and 



old a fancier "as Mr. Harrison Weir, which still further goes to 

 confirm nay views, Mr. Weir very properly advocating the black 

 bar as correct. I trust after this the brown-barred fanciers will 

 see the error they have fallen into. — J. PEBcrvATj,, Beckham. 



Value oe Poultry Manure. — From actual experiment we 

 found that the droppings from four Brahmas for one night weighed 

 in one case exactly 1 lb., and in another more than three-quarters, 

 an average of nearly 4 ozs. each bird. By drying, this was reduced 

 to not quite 1A oz. Other breeds make less ; but allowing only 

 1 oz. per bird daily of dry dung, fifty fowls will make, in their 

 roosting house alone, 10 cwt. per annum of the best manure in 

 the world. Hence half an acre of poultry will make more than 

 enough manure for an acre of land, 7 cwt. of guano being the 

 usual quantity applied per acre, and poultry manure being even 

 richer than guano in ammonia and fertilising salts. No other 

 stock will give an equal return in this way, and these figures 

 demand careful attention from the large farmer. The manure, 

 before using, should be mixed with twice its bulk of earth, and 

 then allowed to stand in a heap, covered with a few inches of 

 earth, till decomposed throughout, when it makes the very best 

 manure which can be had. — From Weight's Illustrated Boole of 

 Poultry, for July. 



New York Poultry Society's Prize Essay. — The prize of one 

 hundred dollars offered by the New York Poultry Society for 

 the best essay on the breeding, management, and description of 

 poultry suitable to the climate of America, has been awarded to 

 Mr. James Long, of Forest TT-ill (late of Plymouth). Adjudicators 

 — Rev. H. Ward Beecher, Hon. Daniel Moore, and Orange Judd. 



BEES AND HONEY AT HOETICULTUEAL 

 EXEMPTIONS. 



It has often been a matter of surprise to me, that of the 

 numerous local horticultural societies so few afford much en- 

 couragement to bee-keepers. It seems to me that by offering 

 prizes both for honey and for hives, a very important feature of 

 interest may be added to the operations of these societies. By 

 liberal prizes, of course I mean liberal in comparison with the 

 schedule of prizes generaUy. I often hear complaints made by 

 visitors to local flower shows that they see not hin g new ; there 

 are the same tents arranged in the same manner, and, to_ the 

 ordinary observer, filled, with the same plants time after time. 

 Of course to those who are real horticulturists by practice or in 

 taste, the truth of this remark would not apply. These can see 

 real objects of interest in every exhibition. But I imagine it is 

 to the ordinary non-scientific visitors that the executive of the 

 societies must look for remunerative receipts, and therefore it 

 is highly important that they and their tastes should be catered 

 for. Hence, the recognised necessity for good bands of music ; 

 and the importance, where obtainable, of picturesque parks_ or 

 pleasure grounds, towards accomplishing the object of rendering 

 these meetings pecuniarily successful. 



I was for many years connected with a local society which 

 afforded some small encouragement to apiarians, and I am quite 

 sure, from actual observation, that the interest which attached to 

 the show of honey and of living bees in glass hives was beyond that 

 manifested in any other department of the exhibition. Having 

 been requested by some members of a rather young society to 

 aid them by my advice as to the best mode of encouraging 

 competition in honey, and I believe also in hives, I proceed to 

 do so with no small diffidence, as the advice which may be 

 applicable to some places maybe totally unsuitable for others. 

 The following remarks, therefore, are applicable to the case of a 

 single society, which I will take for granted possesses a tolerably 

 numerous list of regular members, and can also calculate on the 

 attendance of a goodly number of visitors on field days. First, 

 there should be a prize offered for the produce of a single colony 

 of bees during the current season, quantity and quality to be 

 taken into consideration. A clause is usually inserted, such as, 

 " Without destroying the bees," but this I think may be omitted 

 where quality bears an important part in the competition. This 

 prize I would fix as high as possible, and I would give second 

 and third prizes for the next best specimens. 



Some societies offer separate prizes for the largest quantity 

 taken from a hive, and also for the best glass or box. This in 

 my opinion only leads to confusion and dispute. When a hand- 

 some glass of honey is exhibited which does not exactly come 

 within the class of first, second, or third, as to quantity and 

 quality combined, an extra prize can be judiciously given. It 

 has also seemed to me very unfair to an exhibitor of a plain 

 wooden box of perhaps 30 lbs. weight, to be beaten by one who 

 sends a prettily filled bell-glass of some 15 lbs. or 20 lbs. weight. 

 I have, however, seen this happen more than once. On the 

 other hand, it will not do to be guided by considerations as to 

 the largest quantity only, as I have known a first prize awarded 

 to a very heavy box, which on being turned up revealed the fact 



