JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
120 
[ August 4, 1881. 
from scabby faces. The good condition of my old pen and the 
beauty of the young hens’ faces carried the day, and Mr. X had 
the satisfaction of seeing the bird he had sold cheap to a beginner 
placed first while his new purchase stood second. My three 
pens of chickens stood second, third, and very highly com¬ 
mended, and I found purchasers for two of them at good prices ; 
so that, although I was obliged soon afterwards to put the can- 
cered bird out of his misery, I had on the whole no reason to be 
dissatisfied with my first show.—D. M. 
THE POULTRY CLUB. 
A MEETING of the Committee of the Poultry Club was held at the 
Charing Cross Hotel on Wednesday, 27th July, at 2 p.m. There 
were present the Hon. and Rev. P. G. Dutton (in the chair), Rev. 
•T. D. Peake, Messrs. T. W. Anns, R. A. Boissier, A. Comyns, H. R. 
Dugmore, S. Lucas, and L. C. C. R. Norris. 
Election of Members. — The following new members were 
elected :—T. McArthur, Stirling Street, Alva, N.B.; J. McArthur, 
Stirling Street, Alva, N.B. The following new associates were 
elected :—Mrs. Chandos Weatherley, Way ton Cottage, Beaminster, 
Dorset; G. Nadin, 7, Well Street, Leek, Staffordshire ; R. E. Roscorla, 
Tregruissy, St. Austell, Cornwall. 
Retirement of Committeeman.— The Secretary read a letter 
from Mr. T. P. Lyon announcing his desire to retire from the Com¬ 
mittee. The Secretary was directed to issue notices requesting nomi¬ 
nations to the vacancy created by Mr. Lyon’s retirement. 
Club Show.— The question of holding a Club Show was discussed, 
and notice was given that the following resolution will be proposed 
by Mr. Norris and seconded by Mr. Lucas at the next meeting of the 
Committee :— 
“ That the Poultry Club do guarantee the expenses of, and give prizes at, one 
show in each year in localities changing from year to year, and in the first 
instance do open negotiations with the Committee of the Cambridgeshire Orni¬ 
thological Society to hold a show in conjunction with theirs about the beginning 
of January, 1882.” 
Date of Meeting. —The next meeting of the Committee was 
fixed for Monday the 19th September, instead of the date previously 
announced. 
RATS v. DUCKS. 
For two years, in spite of traps and other contrivances, I lost 
all my young Ducks. A friend of mine never lost one, though 
living in the neighbourhood. “Why is it?” said I to him. 
“ Cats,” said he. I had two from him, and this year have not lost 
a single young Duck by rats. At the present time I have two 
good-sized kittens that have been brought up among the poultry 
and Pigeons. I will send either or both to anyone paying for the 
basket or baskets to put them in for travelling. I think in the 
poultry breeding there is nothing so hard to contend with as rats. 
They come from far and near in the night and kill whole broods 
at a time. It is disheartening.— Harrison Weir. 
P.S.—In my article “ Fanciers v. Farmers ” (page 72), the name 
Mr. Stringer was misprinted for Mr. Sturgeon, the correct name 
of the farmer referred to as having brought the Buff Cochin into 
notice. 
SOME PRETTY TOY PIGEONS. 
We have almost exhausted the list of those Toy Pigeons which 
from their gradual improvement and from the attention paid by 
fanciers to their points of form, have emerged into a class inter¬ 
mediate between the so-called “ high class ” Pigeons and the mere 
Toys. There are, however, many other kinds of Toys little pecu¬ 
liar from distinctive form, yet very beautiful in feather, which 
must by no means be passed over. Some of them are peculiarly 
suited to a garden aviary or to fly at liberty ; and being procurable 
at moderate prices, come within the reach of lovers of Hrds as 
distinct from professed fanciers. They require no I ■ hened 
description of points, but we will attempt to recount br | / their 
chief beauties. 
The Magpie .—Sharp contrasts of white and colour are always 
beautiful in Pigeons. We have admired them in Turbits, but then 
Turbits to be of value must have many other points besides correct 
colour and markings. Magpies, on the other hand, provided their 
colour is really bright, and this it generally is. and their markings 
are well defined, are good of their kind. Fancy is content in 
their case with the original Pigeon form, and requires no great 
peculiarity of head or tail. The form of the Magpie is as nearly 
as possible that of the common dovehouse Pigeon. Some strains 
have been crossed with Tumblers, and in this case the Tumbler 
blood is apparent in the smallness of their heads and shortness 
of beak ; such birds do not find favour with good Magpie judges. 
Their eyes should be pearl or light, and their beaks pink. The latter 
point is difficult to obtain in the black variety, birds of which, 
otherwise good, are often disfigured by dark marks on their beak. 
The chief point, however, of the Magpie is accuracy of its feather 
markings ; the wings, lower breast, and under parts are white, the 
rest of the body of some one colour, as red, yellow, black, blue or 
dun ; the three former colours are to be had very good in the Magpie. 
Of course, the great beauty of the bird is to have the clearest dis¬ 
tinction between the white and coloured parts ; when these are 
sharply and accurately divided the bird is called in the language 
of fanciers “clean cut.” There may be a little variation in the 
amount of colour. A bird in which the white predominates, and 
in which consequently the line of division is drawn high on the 
breast and wing, is said to be “ high cutone with the opposite 
tendency “low cut.” A flight of Magpies of all colours mixed 
is a charming sight, second in our opinion only to a flight of 
Turbits. 
Suabians are a most beautiful and peculiar race, but one which 
to be appreciated should be kept in an aviary near the ground ; 
their markings are too fine to be seen at a distance. The Suabian 
is a bird of dark ground colour, spangled throughout with pinkish 
white ; the wings have two white bars ; the tail of good specimens 
a white bar across them ; the legs are clean, the eyes dark, and 
the heads peaked. 
Starlings at first sight are not attractive, but nearer inspection 
shows them to be beautifully marked. We once saw a large flight 
of them which quite made us alter our former unfavourable 
opinion. Their good form is simply that of the dovehouse Pigeon, 
their plumage is black with white bars on the wing and a crescent 
of white on the breast. 
Crescents have similar markings to Starlings ; their colour, how¬ 
ever, is far different and much prettier, the ground being a pinkish 
fawn or cream, and the wing-bars and breast-crescent a rich brown. 
We have seldom seen them really accurately marked, but even 
those with somewhat undefined crescents are so beautiful that we 
should thins it well worth the while of any true fancier to breed 
carefully or to improve them.—C. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Leghorn’s Legs (Old Subscriber ).—Yellow is undoubtedly the proper 
colour. 
Pullets Roosting in Trees (J. It., Rochdale).—II your poultry house be 
kept clean and well ventilated, we think it best not to allow the pullets to get 
in the habit of roosting out of doors. It would do them no harm now, but in 
winler it would interfere with their laying, and a severe frost might kill them. 
Chickens Dying (J. P .).—The seeds of the Laburnum are violently pur¬ 
gative, emetic, and decidedly poisonous, and it may be that the deaths amongst 
your chickens are caused by picking up some of them. We think, however, 
that you are giving them too much grain for such young chickens, and recom¬ 
mend you to limit the grain to the last meal at night, and give some oatmeal 
or barleymeal mixed with the middlings, scraps, Ac., for the other meals. Feed 
only three or four times in the day, and see that no food is left lying about to 
get sour. Look also to the supply of fresh water and gravel. You might cut 
open the crops of some of those that die and see if they really have been eating 
the Laburnum seeds. We shall be glad to hear from you as to this. 
Salicylic Acid for Sheep (C. M. M ).—Salicylic acid when added to 
water for animals to drink should be in the proportion of two table-spoonfuls 
to a bucketful, or say two and a half to three gallons of water. In powdering 
the tops or points of the hoofs of animals the powder to be used is the powder 
called salicylic acid, which can be obtained from a chemist. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE,LONDON. 
Lat. 51° S2'40" N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.: Altitude,111 feet. 
date. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAT. 
Rain. 
1881. 
July. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32° 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sun. 24 
29.889 
68.1 
62.0 
S. 
65.4 
73.4 
57.9 
103.5 
oi.l 
0.010 
Mon. 25 
29.709 
60 8 
52.4 
W. 
64.5 
69.8 
51.0 
126.6 
46.7 
— 
Tnes. 
29.544 
Cl.4 
55.7 
W. 
64.0 
72.1 
63.0 
126.2 
51.1 
0.010 
Wed. 27 
29.975 
56.7 
52.6 
N.W. 
64.3 
68.3 
50.6 
113.3 
47.3 
Thurs. 28 
30.216 
62.3 
52.6 
S. 
65.0 
74.2 
44.3 
122.3 
38.3 
0.350 
Friday 29 
30.976 
63.0 
69.6 
N.W. 
63.3 
78.8 
55.3 
122.1 
53.4 
— 
Satur. 30 
29.890 
62.6 
59.7 
B. 
63.7 
68.7 
57.2 
93.0 
53.4 
0.325 
Means. 
29.886 
62.1 
56.4 
64.0 
71.5 
52.3 
115.3 
49.2 
0.695 
REMARKS. 
24th.—Dull, with slight rain at 0.45 r.M.; brighter in evening. 
25th.—Cool and breezy ; bright sunshine at intervals. 
26th.—Morning bright and fine; afternoon overcast, with gusty wind ; slight 
shower 6.30 P.M. 
27th.—Cool, fair, bright at intervals. 
28th.—Very bright cool morning ; cloudy and gusty after part of the day ; rain 
at 11 P.M. 
29th.—Slight showers first part of morning, then fine, bright, and breezy. 
30th.—Showery, generally overcast. 
Considerably cooler than the previous weeks, and of near the average 
temperature.—G. J. StMONS. 
