434 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 28, 18!2. 



hens — First, Mr. Ford's, a good ground colour, but not head and 

 beak; second, Mr. Ford; third, Mr. Blenkinsop. 



Tumblers, Any other variety cocks — First, YellowAgate Mottle, 

 a head-and-beak bird, Mr. Heritage's; second, a very good 

 Kite, Mr. Blenkinsop's ; third, a good Fed of Mr. Adams's. 

 Bat I look in vain for Short-faced Balds, and I see only one 

 Beard, and the lovely Black Mottles'are far from numerous. 

 Surely this class ought to have been stronger. 



As to the hens, they were equally few, only twelve in number. 

 'Second and third prizes, good head-and-beak birds. 



Barbs. — These were not over-numerous, but were of undoubted 

 goodness. Mr. H. Maynard's first-prize was a healthy, hand- 

 some, well-built bird. 



Jacobins, Red or Yellow, were a very good class, but I could 

 not understand why the cup went as it did. It was won by a 

 Red bird with hood strangely ragged, and certainly not lying flat 

 to the head. All the prize and noticed birds in this class were 

 good; the second-prize bird, Mr. Vander Meersch's, a Yellow, 

 maybe pronounced very good indeed. 



Jacobins, any other colour, brought Mr. Fulton's raven Black 

 to the front; the second, also Black, Mr. J. Thompson's ; and the 

 same gentleman's little Blue bird, an uncommon colour, and not 

 wholly in this case free from little ticks of black, won third. 

 This was a very interesting class. 



Fantails. — White — Good, very good, but I preferred the 

 second-prize bird to the first; Mr. Liversidge's two h.c. birds 

 were also very good. 



Fantails, any other colour, only six in number, but Mr. 

 Yardley's second a good, clean, sound Blue. He took all three 

 prizes. 



Nuns. — A good many high-class birds in this lot. 



Trumpeters. — Black, single bird — First, Mr. Gamble's, a 

 ,3 ilendid Black; second, Mr. Jones. 



Any other colour — The first and second, wonderful Mottles ; 

 third, a "White, and worthy. 



The Owls. — Many of the English too foreign-looking, and some 

 of the foreign too English-looking. 



Turbits were undoubtedly an extra good class in the Blue 

 and Silver. A Silver first, a Blue second, and a Blue third, Mr. 

 Jones's, and a good one. The Any other colour brought a black- 

 shouldered one first; second, Mr. Vander Meersch's; and Mr. 

 Croft's third. The same gentleman had a charming one, No. 

 2S2S, shell-crowned, but a very pretty bird ; and No. 2832, Mr. 

 Nalder's, was an excellent Pigeon. 



Magpies. — First, Mr. Jones's, Yellow, and lovely; second, Mr. 

 Falton; third, Mr. Yardley. 



Bunts. — As usual, mostly Silver and Blue, but one an excel- 

 ! e it Yellow. A lady first, Miss Davies; second Mr. Green, and 

 4hi Yellow belonging to Mr. Richards only H.c. 



Gumulets. — A pearl-eyed, common-looking, Tumbler-like sort 

 c f Pigeons, had actually a class to themselves. They are said 

 to be wonderful on the wing, but no eye-witness has told me of 

 1h3ir performances. 



Antwerps, Short-faced and Homing, very numerous; the 

 former pretty ; the latter look ready for their very useful work. 

 The first-prize Homing, Mr. H. Jennings, mealy and clever- 

 1© iking. These birds are of national importance, and ought to 

 be kept extensively in case of a time of need. 



Last came Any other Variety. First Mr. J. Bowes, an excel- 

 lent pair of Archangels ; second Mr. Beldon ; third Mr. Thomp- 

 fon with a very good pair of Terns or Sea Swallows. There 

 were also Ice Pigeons, Starlings, &c, making up a very inter- 

 esting but too small class. As to the Selling class it was large, 

 and good, bad, and indifferent. Then, apart from others, under 

 fhe organ gallery, were the best collection of four pairs of 

 Pigeons exclusive of Carriers, Pouters, and Tumblers. First and 

 cup, Mr. Sergeantson's, all Fantails ; second Mr. Baker's Fans, 

 Jacks, Turbits, and Barbs ; third, Mr. G. South's Dragoons. 

 The birds were excellent, but I prefer four different varieties 

 in a pen, and I should for that reason have placed Mr. Baker's 

 first, but most of the pens had worthy occupants. 



Such a Pigeon Show is a credit to English fanciers, and must 

 •cause a strong body of recruits to be enlisted, so admirably were 

 the birds shown and seen. — Wiltshire Rector. 



FALKIEK POULTEY SHOW. 



The fourth annual Exhibition was held in the Corn Exchange 

 •on the 19th and 20th inst. The whole affair was in the hands of 

 that indefatigable gentleman, Mr. Roberts, who, with no Com- 

 mittee, applied an amount of skill and effort such as can never 

 "be surpassed. The pens from the Royal Gymnasium at Edin- 

 burgh were well suited for the purpose, were well arranged, 

 and the effect good. 



Adult Spanish were very good, and in fair feather ; but the 

 young birds of this year proved by far the best, the quality of 

 face and drop being most striking. They numbered twenty- 

 four pens. Of adult Dorkings, the first-prize also won the extra 

 prize ; they were Dark Greys, the second being Silvers. The 

 young Dark Greys were a fair lot of birds, and the Silvers ex- 



cellent. There was a class for Scotch Greys, a breed not known 

 here in proportion to their merit, and these were the best we 

 have seen. Cochins, with the exception of a few birds, were 

 not of great merit, but the first-prize cock and second-prize 

 pullet were birds to be coveted. Brahmas mustered well, but 

 many of the adult birds were scarcely clear of the moult. Ham- 

 burghs were of moderate quality, though those shown by the 

 Countess of Tankerville were well worthy of the special prize ; 

 and the Silver-spangled were also of high merit, but unfortu- 

 nately several pens of Mr. Walker's were too late for competition. 

 There was no class for Silver-pencilled, and we consider this a 

 mistake. Polands were a nice lot, the special prize being 

 carried off by Golden ; the second being Blacks, and the third 

 Silvers. In Red Game fowls the special prize went to a sub- 

 stantial-looking pair of Brown Reds, and the second to a hand- 

 some pair of Black Red chickens ; but in the Other variety class 

 there was nothing noteworthy except the first-prize chickens. A 

 grand pen of Black Hambnrghs won in the " Variety," the second 

 being Sultans, the third Silver-pencilled Hambnrghs, and the 

 fourth a pair of Pile Malays, which were nice but rather small. 



Aylesbury Ducks were not of special merit, but the Rouens 

 were very fine, also the single pair of Mandarins. The Turkeys 

 were of fair quality and mostly of the Norfolk variety. 



Game Bantams were a very large class, but some of the best 

 specimens were sadly out of condition, although the winners, 

 which were all Black-breasted Reds, left nothing to be desired. 

 In Black Bantams the first-prize pair eclipsed all others, although 

 the class was a very good one. In the Other variety class, first 

 came Golden Sebrights, the hen in this pen being very smaU 

 and capitally matched with the cock. Silver Sebrights of rare 

 quality were second. 



There were some good birds in the Selling classes, and many 

 found ready purchasers. 



There were but eight classes for Pigeons, but these were well 

 filled. The Pouters were very good, all measuring well in both 

 feather and thigh, although the prizes were not awarded to these 

 points alone. The first, third, and fourth were Whites, and the 

 second Blues. Fantails were a large class, and the quality such 

 as is rarely brought together, jacobins were also good, a 

 neat small pair of Reds taking first position, Yellows second, 

 and Reds third. It is seldom so good a class is seen in Scotland. 

 Tumblers were very good, the first being Almonds, the second 

 Black Mottles, and the third also Almonds. Carriers were good 

 but not numerous. The " Variety " class was very large, and 

 the specimens good throughout, many of the standard varieties 

 being represented. German Letz were first, Black Trumpeters 

 second, Black Barbs third (for which variety we recommend a 

 class to be made at future shows), and Dragoons fourth. 



Of Babbits there was a capital entry, anil the specimens in all 

 the classes mostly of the highest merit. The first-prize Lop- 

 eared buck was a Sooty Fawn, ears 22J inches in length by 

 4J inches in width, and shown in the highest condition ; the 

 second a Black-and-white, 21 inches by 4§ inches; and the third, 

 21 \ inches by 4 J inches, was a capital Fawn ; those highly com- 

 mended being — one 21 \ inches by 4i, and one 21 inches by 4J. 

 The does measured better than the bucks. The first-prize 

 doe, winning the cup, was a Fawn, ears 23 inches by 4J ; the 

 second Black-and-white, 21J inches by 4 j ; the third, Fawn, 

 22J inches, by 4f, but not in good condition. The weights of 

 the three Rabbits in the class for weight were 14 lbs. 5 ozs., 

 12 lbs. 4 ozs., and 11 lbs. 10 ozs. Of the Fancy classes the 

 Hymalayan figured best in both numbers and quality, the first- 

 prize buck, a Rabbit of great size and extraordinary points, 

 winning the cup for the best of four classes ; the second and 

 third-prize Rabbits pressing closely in merit. The Silver-Greys 

 were of great beauty, most of the specimens being in grand con- 

 dition and fur, and well and uniformly silvered ; the first and 

 second being does, and the third a buck. Angoras were also a 

 good lot, the fleeces of most of those that were noticed being very 

 fine and well dressed, although, as compared with the first-prize 

 buck, the rest were not large. In the Other variety class, a 

 pretty Grey-and- white Dutch was first, a Blue-and- white second, 

 a Black-and-white third, and a Fawn-and-white very highly 

 commended. 



Spanish.— 1, D. M'Beath, Bridge of Allan. 2 and 3. W. C. Hardie, Carron. 4, 

 R. Somerville. EdinburRh. Chickens— I'lxte, 2. 8, and 4. W. C. Hardie. he, D. 

 M'Beath; R. Somerville (2); J. Bowness. c, D. M'Beath; A. RoberiBOn ; R. 

 Dickie, Alva (2). 



Dobmngs.— 1 and Special, J. White. 2, W. Weir, Inches, Falkirk. S, T. 

 Raines. 4, R. Kerr, Bellsbill. 



Dorkings. — Coloured. — Chickens. — 1 and he, J. Turnbull, Falkirk. 2. D. 

 Draper, jun„ Falkirk. 3. C. Widdas, North Bitchburn, Darlington. 4, Countess 

 of Tankerville, Chillingham. 



Dorkings.— Silver.— C hickem — 1, D. Annan, Monzie, Cupar Fife. 2, S. Bell. 

 3, J. Weir. 4, J. Malcolm, he, J. Fotheringham, Stirling (2); J. Malcolm; R. 

 Murdoch, Kilsytb ; J. Turnbull. 



Scotch-Gbeys.— Medal and 4, A. Binnie, Grahamstown. 2, J. Meiklem, 

 Hamilton. 3, W. L. Callender. 



Cochik-China— 1, T. Bruce, Busby. 2, A. Burnett, Montrose. 3 and 4, H. 

 Wyse, Bishopbriggs. he, Rev. R. Storey, Wensley, Bedale ; D. & J. Ibeston ; 

 J. W. Taylor. 



Bbahua Pootra. — 1 and 2, H. Wyse S, D. Annan. 4. T. Raines, Bridge- 

 haugh. vhc, W. Hughes, Springburn ; J. B. Coihrane, Stenhousemuir. he, A. 

 Burnett ; J. B. Cochrane. 



Hambubghs.— Golden-spangled. — Special, Countess of Tankerville. 2, N. 



