July 25, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



87 



the same may be said in chickens. In Silver-pencilled two 

 capital pens were respectively first and second, the latter losing 

 by the cock having a tail much too white, for white, except in 

 the edging or lacing of the sickles and side feathers, is a great 

 fault. In chickens the first and second were very good, and 

 nearly in full feather. In adult Gold-spangled the competition 

 was almost confined to the two pens placed, it being very diffi- 

 cult to say which was best. Of chickens, strange to say, there 

 were no entries. Black Hamburghs were excellent; this breed 

 appears to be still improving. In Any other variety, Polands of 

 great merit were first and second. There were a few good Game 

 Bantams, but several pens were out of condition, and were con- 

 sequently passed over. Any other variety of Bantams, Gold- 

 laced first, Blacks second. 



Ducks and Geese were small classes, but contained good birds. 



The Show of Pigeons was very good, with an excellent classifi- 

 cation, all the varieties being well represented, as will be seen 

 by reference to the following prize list. 



Cochin-Chin a.— Buff or Cinnamon.— 1 and he, W. A. Taylor, Manchester. 

 % H Lacy. Hebder. Bridge. Chickens.— 1, C. Sidgwick, Ryddlesden Hall, 

 Keighlev. 2 and c, W. A. Taylor. 



Cochin-Chin a. —An y other Variety.—!, C. "W. Brierlev. 2, J. Bailton. Fallow- 

 field, Manchester (White). Chickens.— 1, C. Sidgwick, Keighley. 2, iW. A. 

 Taylor. 



Brahmas.— 1 and 2, H- Lacy, he, T. F. Ansdell, Cowley Mount, St. Helens (2). 

 Chickens.-— 1 and 2, W. A. Taylor, he, J. H. Pickles, Birkdale, S.mthport. 



Dorkings.— 1 and 2. E. Leech, he, J. "White, Warlaby. Northallerton: .T, 

 Stott, Healey, near Rochdale. Chickens.— 1. W. Haryey, Sheffield. 2, B. 

 Gellatly, Temple Hall. Meigle. he, E. Leech, Eochdale. 



French Fowl.— 1, H. Beldon. 2, G-. W. Hibbert, Godley, Manchester, he, 

 H- F. East, Swansea. 



Spanish.— Black.— 1. J. Leeming, Broughton, Preston. 2, H. Beldon. he, C. 

 W. Brierley; J. Powell, Bradford. Chickens.— 2, Burch & Boulter, Sheffield. 

 he, E. Brown, Sheffield 



Game.— 1 and 2, C. W. Brierley. Cock —1 and he, C. W. Brierley. 2, G. F. 

 Ward, Wrenbury. Within Six miles of Haslingden.—l and 2, Morris & Wood, 

 Accrington. 



Hamburghs. — Golden-pencilled. — 1. H. Beldon. 2, J. Wrigley, Middleton. 

 he, H. Pickles, Earbv, Skipton; S. Smith, Northowram, Halifax. Chickens.— 



1, E. Clayton, Moretou Banks. Keighley. 2, H. Pickles, lie, T. Wrigley, jun. 

 Hamburghs.— Silver-pencilled.— 1, H. Beldnn. 2, H. Pickles, he, L. H. 



Ricketts, Banwell; H. & A. Gill, Crawshawbooth. Chickens.— 1, H. Smith. 



2, E. Clayton, he, H. Beldon. 



Hamburghs. — Golden-spannled. — 1, G. & J. Duckworth, Church. 2, H. 

 Beldon. he, H. Pickles. 



Hamburghs.— Silver-$panaled.—1, H. Beldon. 2, Ashton & B^oth, Broad- 

 "bottom, Mot.tram. he, G. & J. Duckworth Chickens —1, H. Beldon. 2 J. 

 Fielding, Newchurch, Manchester, he, T. Fawcett. Baildon. 



Hamburghs.— Bla ck.—\, J. Snrth, Gilstead, Binglcy. 2, C. Sidawick. he, H. 

 Hoyle, Lumh, Newchurch; W. F. Addie, Fulwood, Preston. Chickens. — 1, C. 

 Sidgwick. 2, J. Smith, he, J. Sharp. Gassfield. 



Any other Variety — 1 and 2, H. Beldon. he. J. Watts (Sultans). 



Selling Class.— 1, J. Powell, Bradford (Black Spanish). 2, W. Haryey, 

 Sheffield, he, T. Wakefield (Silver Polands). 



Game Bantams. -1, W. F. Addie. 2, T. Sharpies. Cock. — 1. W. Adams, 

 St. Clements, Ipswich. 2, W. F. Addie. he, T. Sharpies; G. Hall, Kendal. 

 Cock (Within two mile3 of HaBlingden). 1 and 2, P. E. Furness. 



Bantams.— Any other Variety.— 1,E. Walton. Horncliffe, Edenfield(Sebrights). 

 2, R. H. Ashton. Mottram, Manchester (Black), he, W. Harvey. 



Turkeys.— 1. E. Leech, Eochdale. 



-Geese.— 1, E. Leech. 2, J. Houlker, Blackburn. 



Ducks. — Aylesbury. — 1, E. Leech. 2, J. Hedges. Aylesbury. Rouen, — 1. J. 



Scotson, Little Byrom. 2, E. Leech, he, T. Wakefield, Golbonrne. Any other 



Variety.— 1, H. B. Smith, Ambleside. 2, W. Binns, Pudsey. he, W. Bums; C. 



W. Er erley, Middleton ; J. Watts, King's Heath, Birmingham. 



PIGEONS. 



Carrier.— Cock.—l. G. T. Taylor, Huddersfield. 2, E. Horner, Harewood, 

 Leeds. Hen.—1 and 2, E. Horner, he, G. T. Taylor. 



Pouter.— Co ck.—l, E. Horner. 2, J. Hawley. he, E. Horner; J. Hawley. 

 Hen.—l and 2, E. Horner, he. J. Hawley. 



Tumblers.— 1. E. Horner. 2, J. Hawley. he. W. Harvey. 



Barbs. — 1, H. Yardley, Birmingham. 2, J. Fielding, Eochdale. he, W. 

 Harvey. 



Owls.— En alis h— 1, A. Magnall. Lower Broughton. 2, A. Ashton, Middleton. 

 lie, .T. Wilkinson. Haslingden. Foreign.— 1 and he, G. T. Taylor* 2, E. Horner. 



Fantails— 1. E. Horner. 2, H. Yardley. lie, J. F. Loversidge, Newark. 



Turbits. — 1, H. G. Poole, Bradford. 2, E. Horner, he, A. Magnall. 

 — SfatAfiOONS. — 1, F. Graham, Birkenhead. 2, E. Horner. 



Trumpeters.— 1, J. Hawley. 2, W. Harvey. 



Jacobins. — 1 and 2, J. Thompson, Bingley. he, E. Horner. 



Antwerps. — 1, H. Yardley. 2, E. Horner, he, R. Brierley, Fishpool. Burv. 



Any other Variety.— 1, J. Thompson. 2, E. Horner, he, S. Durham, Little- 

 borough ; J. Thompson. Local.— 1 and (2, W. Kemp, Haslinuden. he, W. E. 

 Riley, Haslingden. (Sale).— 1, J. Hawley. 2,$T. Oddie, Brierfield (Blue Owl). 

 EABBITS. 



Lop-eared.— Buclc.—l. T. C. & H. Lord. Huddersfield. 2. A. H. Easten, Hull. 

 Doe.— 1, T. C. & H. Lord. 2, H. Cawood, Thorne. he, A. H. Easten. 



Angora.— 1,J. Baron, jun., Castlemere, Rochdale. 2, S. G. Hudson, Hull. 

 lie, J. Baron, jun. : A. H. Easten. 



Himalayan— 1, S. Ball, Bradford. 2, L. Rawstron, Haslingden. he, J. Irving, 

 Blackburn. 



Silver-grey.— 1, S. G. Hudson. 2, J. Irving, he, S. G. Hudson : J. Irvin g. 



Any sther Variety.— 1, J. Irving (Leppridi). 2 and he, S. G. Hudson (Grey 

 and Yellow Dutch). 



Any other Variety.— For Sale.—l and 2, J. Baron, jun. (White Angora and 

 Himalayan), he, H. Cawood. 



Judges. — Poultry and Pigeons : Mr. K. Teebay, Fulwood, 

 gr^ston, and Mr. T. J. Charlton, Bradford. Babbits : Mr. J, 



JDOyle, jun., Blackburn. 



TUMBLING pigeons. 



As my last communication on the subject of Air Tumblers 

 -was in the Editors' hands before the Journal of June 13th was 

 published, containing the letters of " Old Bob Ridley " and 

 ""Wiltshire Rector," I shall in the present letter be under 

 the necessity of digressing from my original plan, in order to 

 reply to one or two of the statements contained in them. 



The letter by " Old Bob Ridley" is written ostensibly for the 

 purpose of enabling your readers to appreciate rightly the value 



of the evidence afforded by Ground Tumblers in arriving at a 

 knowledge of whether tumbling is voluntary or involuntary. 

 After carefully perusing his letter, however, it appears to me 

 that the real object is to depreciate the value of Ground 

 Tumblers ; and as this is a matter which would have met with a 

 perfectly sufficient reply in the course of my subsequent letters, 

 according to the plan which I had sketched out, I should not 

 have answered him now, but allowed it to have come up natur- 

 ally, but for the insinuation, somewhat broadly stated, and 

 which runs through the whole letter, that ground tumbling is 

 mainly due to drilling and trickery. This assertion I most un- 

 hesitatingly deny as far as it relates to the birds of which I have 

 been writing. Whether the tricks mentioned may have the 

 effect of making an Air Tumbler into a House Tumbler, or an 

 indifferent House Tumbler into a first-class one, I cannot say, 

 never having tried them, although I have certainly not heard of 

 them for the first time in your correspondent's letter. 



So long as my young Tumblers can do their " balancing far 

 away from the false balances of this naughty world," they get 

 no treatment differing in any respect from what has been de- 

 scribed dozens of times in this Journal as absolutely necessary 

 to make Tumblers take nights of some duration. When those 

 of them which ultimately develope into "first-class incapables " 

 have reached a stage rendering it unsafe to turn them out, they 

 are turned into a coop 30 feet long by 20 broad, well lighted in 

 every part, in which they have entire liberty. They have 

 always abundance of food at their command night and day, and 

 yet the best of them will tumble at any time when wanted just 

 in the loft where they are kept ; in fact, it is only after they 

 become House Tumblers that trickery (generally called by a 

 milder name) can be dispensed with, and previous to that time 

 all the trickery I have ever tried is to get them to fly sufficiently 

 to develope the tumbling. 



I think I have now said enough to enable your readers to 

 judge which of the two classes — the House or the Air Tumbler 

 — does the "balancing" in the more honest manner. Even 

 although in the case of the House Tumbler it be done in this 

 " naughty world," it is no more a "false balance" than when 

 done by his brother far away from all dishonesty and fraud. 



With " Wiltshire Rector's " letter I have little fault to find, 

 unless that it is much too flattering to myself. If he differs 

 with me in taste to some extent, there is one feeling which we 

 share in common, and it is a feeling of regret caused by the fact 

 that with by far the greater number of Tumblers there is no 

 aerial performance ; and but for this fact, and for the fact that 

 there are a number of influences at work likely to increase the 

 evil, unless the lovers of performing birds bestir themselves, 

 " Scotch Thistle" would not now have been contributing to 

 this Journal. I, however, see no reason why a better state of 

 things may not be brought about, and it is with this aim in 

 view that this series of papers has been undertaken, one of 

 the last of which I shall devote to an explanation of what seems 

 to me to be the only practical method of accomplishing the 

 desired end. 



I shall now touch on one or two points mentioned in the 

 course of his letter. In the first place he compares the House 

 Tumbler with the " Lowtan " of India. Of the latter bird very 

 little seems to be known, and I am very doubtful if it be a 

 Tumbler at all. No doubt it is reported that a breed exists 

 which will roll on the ground much in the same way as House 

 Tumblers tumble, yet, so far as I know, there is no published 

 account of any European having ever seen them, all the birds 

 exhibited having first had to undergo a preparation by a certain 

 shaking of their head, after which they roll on the ground as if 

 in a fit. A number of years ago I happened to know an indi- 

 vidual who had seen the " Lowtan " perform, and thinking from 

 his account that probably any Pigeon might be made to roll 

 after being operated on in the way described, I resolved to make 

 the experiment. I accordingly caught one of my own birds, 

 and commenced to follow instructions as nearly as possible. 

 The bird soon began to show symptoms of sickness, and after- 

 wards began to vomit ; and at this stage, not feeling inclined to 

 carry the cruelty farther, even in the interest of science, I 

 stopped, and have never tried it again. Perhaps some one 

 else may feel inclined to carry the experiment to a more suc- 

 cessful issue, and should there prove to be any truth in my 

 surmise, it will show conclusively what I really believe to be 

 the case, that there is very little in common between the two 

 breeds. 



Again, "Wiltshire Rector" says, "I think no sick bird 

 tumbles, nor a hen with egg." Of sick birds I can say almost 

 nothing, as such a thing amongst House Tumblers is of most 

 uncommon occurrence, and amongst the very few instances 

 which I have had, I do not think there was any case where the 

 fact could have been very distinctly made out. In the case of 

 Flying Tumblers I do not see that it will be very easy to make 

 sure about it at all, as they will certainly not incline to take 

 flights if sick, and even if compelled to fly a short distance, will 

 only do so at a slow pace, and in such a way that they would 

 probably not tumble, even if well. A House Tumbler hen 



