>74 
The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 
two policemen from the entrance-gate to foight you! The committee were desirous to hush it up, 
rather than expose the delinquent, for the sake of their show ; and consequently there was no 
present punishment : still, I am glad to state, the injured hen, though ‘ scarcely able to make a stand 
of it, to use the words of one of the committee, was eventually (with her companion) the recipient 
of the first prize. We all know tails of winning cocks have been purposely pulled out on their 
success being first known at shows, and ofttimes within even a few moments of the awards being 
announced, by whom, of course, it was next to impossible to establish. There stood the injured 
birds, as reliable data it had been done certainly by some one, and not as generally urged — 
by ‘ nobody ! 
“ I most willingly admit there are quite as honourable individuals among the poultry-men 
of those exhibitors who show extensively as in any other classes of society ; and I verily believe 
as strictly conscientious feeling is often displayed by the inmate of the cottage as of the castle : yet 
I cannot but urge that as these black sheep do occasionally intrude themselves, let the rule be, 
all out till opening time , and then, with such proviso, no hurt to any fowls can ensue from the 
spleen and disappointment of competitors, be they whom they may ; for when the show is well 
filled with visitors such practices will rarely if ever be attempted, conscience, as a general rule, 
making cowards of the guilty. 
“ Again, another point. Birds I am confident have at times been changed, prior to, during , 
and immediately upon the completion of the judging, to obtain surreptitiously some much- 
coveted premium. This, it appears to me, might also be checkmated to some extent by 
committees refusing any one admission until the awards are completed ; and to obtain this 
desirable object also leads to another suggestion against these corrupt practices, striking as they 
do at the very life-source of our poultry shows, and which in some hands I am really at a 
loss to characterise in words as strongly as deserved. It is this: — Independently altogether 
of the judges doing so, let one of the committee go round and mark down all the empty pens in a 
note-book before the judges commence their duties. It will always be expedient to leave this 
‘ checking off’ to the last moment, even if he and the arbitrators both begin together ; but as 
he would have nothing to do whatever with the awards or relative excellence of the pens on 
exhibition, a minute or two would send the committee-man far ahead of the prize-giving officials, 
and would render any after-conflict of assertion as to empty pens impossible. 
“ Another circumstance that at intervals has given much pain to acting committee-men, 
has arisen from wilfully displacing the prize-cards; whether simply from that pure spirit of mischief 
for which there are individuals who hold an unenviable notoriety, or for baser purposes, it is always 
difficult to determine. Some of the north-country shows have been especially practised upon in 
this manner. This might readily be defeated by writing legibly on the different prize and 
commended cards, before attaching them to the show-pens, the number they hold in the printed 
catalogue. 
“ The return, along with the survivors, of fowls that unfortunately die during a show, for the 
satisfaction of owners as to the causes of death — the dispatch every evening by post of notice 
of birds ‘claimed’ at shows, to allay the anxiety of exhibitors as to their non-return with the 
other pens — and the rule to prevent committees being held responsible for unforeseen accidents 
at show r s — were suggestions of my own through the press many years back ; and time has not 
only confirmed their advisability from their general adoption by committees, but also added to my 
own first conviction of their utility. I hope some of the present hints may prove equally worthy 
of at least consideration, and if it is supposed any comments I have written are intentionally 
personal, I can only assure all parties I had no such motive in their compilation. 
