JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
368 
[ Hay 5, 1881. 
usually safe on dry pasture or parkland. The sheep have done well 
lately, because the weather has been dry ; and where they have fed 
on the water meadows, in conjunction with Rye on the arable, sup¬ 
plemented by oilcake, the animals have turned out in fair condition, 
especially the breeding flocks of ewes and lambs. Upon farms, how¬ 
ever without water meadows Italian Rye grass and Mangold are the 
great and valuable substitutes ; in fact, both these may be considered 
the best food to prevent scarcity. We note, also, that farmers who 
adopt this plan of spring-feeding* their sheep have lately sown Man¬ 
gold seed after the Rye. They will plough and press the land after 
Italian Rye grass and sow early Turnips, Rape, or Thousand-headed 
Kale, feeding off by sheep, and sow the land with Wheat early in 
the autumn. 
VARIETIES. 
Nightingales near London. —A correspondent sends us the 
following in reply to the request of “ Wyld Savage.” —“Nightin¬ 
gales used to sing in the lanes near Holland Park; perhaps now 
the builders have startled them off. I believe they are still heard 
in Epping Forest, and I hear that a few birds come nearly to the 
neighbourhood of Dulwich and Norwood.” A correspondent, whose 
address we have forwarded to “Wyld Savage,” also states that 
the Nightingale may be heard any evening in the neighbourhood 
of Cheshunt. “ J. S.” writes to us as follows:—“If ‘Wyld 
Savage ’ would go to Richmond, near to the Star and Garter Hotel, 
he would hear plenty of Nightingales either by day or night. I lived 
at Petersham for nine years, and often heard a most delightful concert 
on a quiet night between Petersham and the Star and Garter.” 
Another correspondent says :— “ ‘ Wyld Savage ’ need not go further 
from town than Richmond Park to hear the Nightingale’s songs in 
perfection ; indeed, when staying at a house at Kingston-on-Hill, 
close to the Park walls, we have wished the untiring little songsters 
further, for they neither slept themselves nor allowed us to sleep, so 
loud was their nocturnal concert.” “ A Tamed Savage ” states 
these birds abound near Chislehurst, and Mr. Pasley writes : “ There 
are numbers of Nightingales in full song any evening after ten 
o’clock on Sheen Common (ten minutes walk from Mortlake station.”) 
We are also informed that for many years the Nightingale has been 
annually heard in the Royal Gardens, Kew, and neighbourhood. 
- A Peculiar Chicken. —An American correspondent states 
in a recent issue of “ Science Gossip ” that he has had “ a chicken 
having four legs, four wings, two necks, and one head, or rather two 
whole chickens with one head ; they are joined breast to breast from 
the base of the breastbone to the end of the necks, where there is but 
one head, with the top turned to the side ; so had it lived it would 
have eaten from one side. We often hear of chickens having four 
wings or four legs, and sometimes two heads, but I never heard of 
one like the above, which was hatched in Clay County, Mo., in 1876, 
and is now 1 in alcohol in my collection at Kansas City.” 
- British Ballads. —Part 4 of the illustrated work on this 
subject now being issued by Messrs. Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, contains 
Brave Lord Willoughby,” “ The Bridal of Malahide,” “ The Brownie 
of Blednoch,” “ The Burial of Sir John Moore,” “ The Cane-bottomed 
Chair,” and “ Chevy Chace ” among others, with well-executed 
appropriate engravings. 
■-Bath and West of England Society and Southern 
Counties Association. —At the Council Meeting held at Bristol 
on April 26th, the draft programme of the forthcoming meeting at 
Tunbridge Wells was brought up for correction and confirmation* 
A few alterations were made, chiefly consequent upon the return of 
the Society to Monday for the opening day of the Show, instead of 
Wednesday, as at Worcester. Additions were also rendered necessary 
by the institution of new departments, such as the bee exhibition 
and the working dairy. The sum of £20 was granted by the 
Council for the promotion of an exhibition of bees and bee 
appliances, the arrangements and control being placed in the hands 
of the Hon. and Rev. J. T. Boscawen. The details of the working 
dairy were also considered and finally arranged ; and the Secretary 
reported the receipt of donations of £5 from Mr. S. Morley, M.P., 
and Mr. G. B. Gregory, M.P., respectively, towards defraying the 
heavy expense incurred by the Society in connection therewith. 
- In connection with the National Pisheries Exhibition at 
Norwich, the Mayor and Corporation of that City offered a prize of 
£20 for the best method of treating sewage, chemical and other matter 
discharged into rivers, so as to render innocuous to fish life. The 
prize was awarded to the Native Guano Company, Limited, of 
Aylesbury, by whose ABC process the sewage of that town has 
been successfully treated for some years. The solid portion of the 
sewage is converted into native guano, and the effluent water passes 
off into the river so free of impurity (as shown by analyses) that it 
is in no way injurious to fish. At the Norwich Exhibition a number 
of fish were exhibited in a tank filled with the water from Aylesbury 
sewage, and they appeared perfectly healthy and happy. 
THE COMING SHOW SEASON. 
It is at this season that the committees and managers of shows 
have to consider their programme for the autumn and winter 
campaign. Many points have to be carefully weighed, and the 
best results can only be attained in each care by paying due 
regard to the special circumstances which govern it. Some of 
these circumstances are purely local ; others, again, are general in 
their application, but are special in so far as they merely relate to 
the particular period of the year at which the show is held, or 
to the success or non-success which has attended the hatching 
operations of the season. We desire to direct attention to a few 
of these matters, and shall be glad to receive information from 
our readers as to any which we may omit. There are in the 
course of the year from 250 to 300 exhibitions of poultry and 
Pigeons held in the United Kingdom. Many of these are of real 
importance, and it is desirable that as to them the sphere of com¬ 
petition should not be in any way limited. Many more are such 
very minor affairs, both in respect of prize money and chassifi- 
cation, that they are at once stamped as local. There is, however, 
a third class of show, which seems to hang in the balance between 
the leading and the minor show, and which, w T e think, loses much 
from its position of uncertainty. In this class of show the prize 
money is considerable and the classification tolerably extensive, 
but neither is liberal enough to place the show in the foremost 
rank. The result is, that while leading exhibitors of each breed 
are not attracted in any numbers, the men of several breeds who 
keep a team for such opportunities as these send in their entries, 
swoop down upon the prizes, and carry them away from the local 
fanciers who have expended labour and cash upon the promotion 
of the show. It is true that these extensive prizewinners pay 
numerous entry fees, and thus in the first instance bring in funds 
to the exchequer, and it is also true that the exhibits are often of 
such a high standard that the eyes of the local fanciers are by 
seeing them opened to the shortcomings of their own specimens. 
We admit that these arguments are not without weight, but we 
must at the same time confess that we think them fallacious. 
The gain in entrance money is generally merely temporary, and 
leads to heavy ultimate loss. When it is generally known that 
Mr. A or Mr. B has become a regular exhibitor in certain classes, 
and as regularly carries off the prize money, the local exhibitors 
begin to fight shy of the affair, and prefer rather to send their 
birds, if good enough, to a leading show for the sake of the notice 
they may obtain, than to exhibit year after year at home, where 
anything less than a prize is no great honour, and the chance of 
winning a prize from the travelling celebrity is slight. As to the 
other argument to which we have referred, we can only say that 
we think the majority of fanciers in these days of easy locomotion 
can always find an opportunity of visiting a really important show, 
and thus acquiring by a cheaper and more satisfactory method the 
necessary knowledge as to the merits or demerits of their own 
specimens. The supposed local Swan is a harmless bird in its own 
vicinity, and when brought into contact with the world at large is 
speedily taught that after all it is a mere Goose ; but in order to 
acquire this knowledge it is not necessary or expedient that it 
should undertake the entertainment of a flock of the genuine 
breed. 
Be it understood that we have not a word to say against the 
men who thus seek to turn an honest penny by prizewinning. 
The prizes are there, and are open to general competition. Why, 
then, should they not win them if they can ? It is true that their 
birds are often merely purchased specimens acquired for the very 
purpose of prizewinning, and that the prices put upon them are 
to the local fancier quite prohibitive ; but what of that 1 These 
