November 15, 1864. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



401 



that, we fancy the infidels " in re Brahmas'"' will be " hand- 

 somely whipped," and "knocked into a cooked hat." 



Manufactured breeds are good only for a time, and require 

 to be constantly replenished from the original stock. Let 

 the breeders of the beautiful Sebright Bantams speak. How 

 long will their pets retain the perfect comb, the faultless 

 tail, the accurate lacing ? All the points will disappear one 

 by one, and, after three or four seasons, the lovely little 

 bird will be a common black and yellow-blotched bird, with 

 sickle tail, and very likely a cup comb. It is notorious to 

 all breeders that cross breeds (and manufactured birds are 

 nothing else), not only cannot be depended upon, but they 

 throw back, and every now and then produce an apparently 

 pure bird of a very different breed from their own. While 

 this is a proof of mixed parentage, if a breed will go on 

 for years reproducing itself without even an occasional 

 sport, it affords good evidence of purity and distinctness. 



Things are now tolerably well settled in the poultry 

 world. Some do not know the difficulties there were in its 

 early days, and others have forgotten them. Cochin-Chinas 

 were the first celebrated fowls: they came with double 

 combs ; five claws were common ; they had unmistakable 

 Dorking heads, and every now and then they appeared with 

 good showy tails. Our best judges were not deceived by 

 these things, and they soon, by setting their faces against 

 improper mating, got the classes filled with pure birds. 

 No one, in those days, ever dreamed the Cochin-Chinas were 

 not a pure breed. They have remained pure to this day, 

 and will do so. They begun the " mania ; " and when it was 

 a little on the wane the Brahmas appeared. Some of those 

 who had done well by dealing in Cochins, and who were far- 

 seeing men, were wishing to realise, and seeing that the 

 elevation of a new favourite would of necessity lessen the 

 attraction and value of the old, they tried, by every means 

 in their power, to depreciate the poor Brahmas. First it 

 was declared they were no breed at all, and then they were 

 pronounced to be an offshoot of the Cochin. We will pre- 

 mise that we have bred thousands of Brahmas, and have 

 hundreds now, all true to a feather, all pea-combed, all pen- 

 cilled alike, and all feathered on the legs. In twelve years 

 we have never bred a clean-legged chicken. 



Probably, says one, Cochin crossed with Malay. This 

 would bring no pencilling. Instead of fluff it would give 

 scanty feathering. It would give long clean legs, brown 

 plumage, and a hard, warty, skinny face, for the easy com- 

 fortable well-to-do look of a Cochin pullet. In the cocks, 

 the Malay in every point is the antipodes of the Cochin ; he 

 is long, gaunt, and angular, and no mixture however skilful 

 can, with these materials, make a Brahma. 



The next among the incredulous say Cochin and Dorking 

 we should say this is far more likely than the previous cross, 

 but it will not make the bird. It would give clean and white 

 legs, five claws, and drooping single combs. It would give 

 ample tails. 



The Grey Chittagong has far more affinity to the Malay 

 than to the Brahma. 



We do not envy the feelings of the Barnum class of the 

 American community, who think it smart to prove they have 

 done the world by selling pure things on their warranty, and 

 declaring them to be impure and worthless as soon as they 

 have received the money for them. 



It seems to us the difficulty of proving the purity and 

 distinctness of breed in Brahmas becomes less every year. 

 For a long period they had to inhabit the various class. 

 They have emerged from it, and at late Shows they have 

 been among the most numerous classes, in some instances 

 second only to Dorkings. What do they show ? No col- 

 lection of oddities, but a class fine in colour, comb, and 

 marking as any Hamburgh. No sign or remnant of Malay, 

 Chittagong, or Dorking. The evidence of those who keep 

 them is everywhere the same. They differ from Cochins in 

 the following particulars — they eat less, they lay more, they 

 are hardier, they are better mothers, and they are more dis- 

 posed to seek for and to find their food. All this is patent, 

 and yet like our old Marquises, the opponents of these birds, 

 shut theh- eyes to plain truth, and simply say, " It is im- 

 possible these fowls can be pure." — B. 



[Our witty and able correspondent, who should have been 

 the Attorney-General of Brahma-Pootra, had Gulliver dis- 

 covered that kingdom, having undertaken to maintain that 



the Brahmas are a pure breed, like a skilful advocate ridicules 

 the contrary opinion, ignores the evidence sustaining it, and 

 puts forward only that which shows that there are some 

 shades of difference between a Brahma and others admitted 

 as Cochins. He passes by the fact, that Dr. Bennett, the 

 originator of the Brahmas, declined to reveal their origin. 

 He passes by the fact, that Mr. Burnham states, from the 

 evidence of his own senses, and Dr. Bennett has never con- 

 tradicted the statement, that they are a cross between 

 the Cochin and Chittagong. But, says our correspondent, 

 they have pea-combs. We reply by asking, Is this any 

 more a proof of a distinct breed than is the rose-comb in a 

 Dorking ? And we next ask, Is their breeding true to colour 

 any more a proof of a distinct breed than White, Buff, and 

 Brown Cochin-Chinas being true to their colours ? Let it be 

 admitted that Brahmas are hardier, eat less, lay more eggs, 

 are better mothers, &c.,than Cochin-Chinas, and what then? 

 Our correspondent will not for a moment argue that these 

 qualities establish a distinct breed. The dark-coloured 

 varieties of Cochin-Chinas vary nearly similarly from the 

 White variety. We have always thought and still think the 

 Brahma resembles the Cochin-China in all the essentials on 

 which a distinct breed can be founded. Let it be admitted 

 to be a variety in feather — and that it is a good variety we 

 do not dispute.] 



BIRMINGHAM SHOW. 



We have pleasure in stating that the entries for all depart- 

 ments of the forthcoming Exhibition in Bingley Hall are 

 most satisfactory, and that the building will, as usual, be 

 well filled with objects of varied interest. As we remarked 

 in drawing attention to the arrangements for this year, there 

 is ample evidence that the Birmingham Show is firmly 

 established in public favour, and that the efforts of its pro- 

 moters are thoroughly appreciated by all whose co-operation 

 it is desirable to obtain. No other society has hitherto 

 founded an exhibition so diversified in character as that at 

 Birmingham, bringing together as it does so much that is 

 attractive to the agriculturist, the poultry-keeper, and to 

 many who are enabled to engage in horticultural pursuits; 

 and the experience of the last few years is sufficient to prove 

 that nothing will be overlooked which is calculated to give 

 increased value to these pleasant and useful meetings. We 

 subjoin a statement of the entries for this and the four pre- 

 ceding years : — 





I860. 



1861. 



1862. 



1863. 



1864. 



Cattle 



110 

 42 

 75 



118 



1,135 

 163 



104 

 66 

 72 



196 



1,397 



220 



131 

 110 



70 

 116 



15 



1,364 



232 



163 

 92 

 93 



124 



57 



1,505 



275 



151 





104 





91 





109 





60 





1,677 





290 









1,643 



2.055 



2,033 



2,309 



2.482 



— (Midland Counties Herald.) 



3W— MERITS OF 



A SOUTHERN PO 



DXTR 



E" SH( 



COCHIN-CHINA FOWLS. 



In your valuable Number this week you have published a 

 letter from " A Wiltshire Rectok " strongly advocating a 

 poultry show for the South of England, in which desire we 

 southern poultry-rearers heartily concur. Birmingham is 

 too distant, and Brighton and other small Shows do not 

 give any prizes to make it worth our while to send our best 

 birds. I think, however, that your correspondent has either 

 not had sufficient experience of the different sorts of fowls 

 most useful for table and laying purposes, or else his fancy 

 leads him too strongly in one direction, or he would not so 

 strongly urge the claims of the Dorking fowls as so superior 

 to all others for the table. 



They are, no doubt, very good when they have passed the 

 perils of chickenhood, and are well fatted for several months ; 

 but they are more delicate to rear, more subject to disease 

 than either Cochin, Spanish, Polish, or Creve Cceur, and do 

 not come to perfection for several months. The Cochin is 

 extremely hardy, roup is unknown amongst them, and at 



