554 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 15, 1881. 
sawdust, we believe, damages them. The egg-drawer, too, must 
be in a moderately warm room. Without such attention to the 
preservation of the eggs all the care bestowed on sitting hens 
and incubators is simply labour lost. The three great requisites 
to ensure chickens at once early and strong, which are the great 
desideratum of most fanciers, are — 1, Stock birds in strong 
health, well fed and comfortably housed ; 2, Their eggs properly 
stored ; 3, The hens which incubate them well attended to, or 
the artificial incubators carefully regulated.—C. 
“POLISH FOWLS." 
May I, through your columns, call attention to the fact that at 
the forthcoming show of the Poultry Club to be held at Cambridge, 
there is a class for “any other variety Polish”— i.c., any other 
variety than the three commonly shown. I have guaranteed the 
prizes for this class, five in number, in the hope of giving some 
encouragement to breeders of Padue Chamois, White, or other 
kinds of Polish, which are now almost extinct in England. I 
trust that those who possess such birds will be good enough to 
show them ; their chance of winning a prize is better than is 
often the lot of exhibitors.—0. E. Cresswell. 
THE POULTRY CLUB. 
A meeting of the Committee of the Poultry Club was held at the 
Charing Cross Hotel on Friday the 9th inst. There were present 
Messrs. H. R. Dugmore (in the chair), T. W. Anns, R. A. Boissier, 
A. Comyns, J. C. Fraser, S. Lucas, L. Norris, and G. Yigers. 
Election of Members. —The following new members were elected 
—Rev. A. S. Davies, Caxton, Attleborough ; E. McMorlar.d, Cockett’s 
Farm, Cudham, Kent ; Rev. Laxon E. Sweet, Hullavington Vicarage, 
Chippenham; Sir Henry Thompson, Hurst Side, West Molesey, 
Surrey ; Mrs. G. Ward, Bearnett House, Wolverhampton; R. S. 
Williamson, Rawnsley. Hednesford. The following new associates 
were elected :—M. W. L. Brooke, Point Cottage, Attleborough, Nor¬ 
folk ; W. Howard, Holborn House, Shanklin, I.W.; Miss M. F. Symes, 
Nether Cerne, Dorchester. 
Clou Show. —Some final arrangements in reference to the Show 
were discussed, and the Secretary was directed to issue a special 
advertisement calling attention to the fact that no entries would 
under any circumstances be received unless sent or posted to the 
Secretary of the Show on or before Tuesday, December 20th. 
Disqualification at Bexley Heath. —At the previous meeting 
of the Committee held at Birmingham, a communication from the 
Secretary of Bexley Heath Show in reference to the disqualification 
of a pen of Hamburghs shown by Mr. G. P. Pointer, in consequence 
of the comb of the cockerel having been trimmed, had been under 
consideration. It appeared that a protest had been lodged by an 
exhibitor, and that Mr. W. J. Nichols, who acted as Judge, had decided 
upon examination of the bird that the comb was cut, and that the 
pen should be disqualified. The rule of the Bexley Heath Show pro¬ 
viding for such cases was as follows :— 
“ All protests against awards must be lodged with the Secretary within six 
hours after the termination of the judging, and must be accompanied by a 
deposit of £1 D. Such protest will be submitted to the Committee of the 
Poultry Club, who, after hearing the decision of the judge or judges thereupon, 
will decide as to whether such protest is frivolous or made without due grounds, 
in which case the deposit will be forfeited.” 
At the Birmingham Meeting the Committee cf the Poultry Club 
decided “ that the protest had been made on due grounds, and directed 
the deposit to be returned to the protestor,” but deferred the further 
consideration of the question of disqualifying the exhibitor from com¬ 
peting at Club shows until the present meeting. It being proved to 
the satisfaction cf the Committee that Mr. G. P. Pointer had pur¬ 
chased the bird at the Crystal Palace, where it had been v.h.c., and 
that he was thus not directly implicated in the trimming of the comb, 
the following resolution was passed :— 
“ It appearing that Mr. Pointer had purchased the bird disqualified at 
Bexley Heath at the Crystal Palace Show, where it was v.h.c., the Committee 
of the Poultry Club, while thinking that Mr. Pointer might well have exercised 
more caution in the matter, do not consider the case to be one calling for dis¬ 
qualification from exhibiting at shows under Club rules.” 
The Disqualification at Birmingham. —The case of disquali¬ 
fication of a pen of White Bantams at Birmingham for having sickle 
feathers artificially inserted in the tail of the cock, which had been 
under consideration at the Birmingham meeting, was again before 
the Committee, and it was resolved that— 
“ Mr. Sam D. Rhodes be absolutely disqualified from exhibiting at shows held 
under Club rules.” 
The Disqualification at the Crystal Palace. —The question 
of the disqualification of two Malay hens exhibited at the Crystal 
Palace by Mr. E. M. Le Hurey, and there disqualified, was under 
consideration. It appeared that the birds had been very properly 
disqualified at the Palace on the ground that their faces had been 
cleaned of feathers in the same way as the faces of Game fowl are 
usually cleaned for exhibition. There was clear evidence before the 
Committee that the removal of the feathers in this case had bien 
done under a mistaken impression that the removal of these feathers 
from the faces of Malays was permissible, and generally recognised 
to be so. It was also manifest that the feathers had been removed 
in such a way that their removal would be apparent to a mere novice, 
and could deceive no one. 
Under these circumstances the Committee resolved, “ that as the 
removal of the feathers had been effected by Mr. Le Hurey through 
ignorance merely, and not with any intent to deceive the Judge, the 
case was not one which called for disqualification from exhibiting at 
shows held under Club rules.” 
Shows under Club Rules. —A communication from the Secre¬ 
tary of the Liverpool Show as to holding the same under Club rules 
was read, and a subscription was granted in aid of the funds of that 
Show. 
Next Meeting. —The date of the next meeting of the Committee 
was fixed for Friday, the Kith inst., at Charing Cross Hotel, at 
2 P.M. — Alex. Comyns, Hon. See. Poultry Club, 47, Chancenj Lane, 
London, W.C. 
Poultry Club Show.— Our readers will note that the entries for 
this Exhibition absolutely close on Tuesday next, December 20th. 
Those who have not yet done so should send at once for a schedule 
to Mr. R. Peters, jun., 7, Downing Street, Cambridge. 
Illustrated British Ballads. —Parts 8 and 9 of this excellent 
work (Cassells) contain several well-known and beautiful ballads, 
each appropriately illustrated. The principal are—The Five Carlines, 
Flodden Field, The Forging of the Anchor, The Friar of Orders Grey, 
Glenfinlas, The Hermit, The Horn of Egremont Castle, and Hugh of 
Lincoln, with several other smaller pieces. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Crowing Hen (Inquirer ).—A crowing lien is in the old proverb asso¬ 
ciated with a whistling woman, botli being deemed unlucky. The origin of 
the superstition in the former ca=e may be found perhaps in the fact that such 
liens are frequently unfertile. This is, however, by no means invariably the 
case, and we should recommend you to give your Andalusian a fair trial before 
resorting to the extreme measure suggested. 
Tat key Hens Wasting ( Subscriber ).—We fear yonr hens have liver 
disease in an advanced stage. The lameness followed by wasting is an almost 
infallible sign of this. The disease is contagious, so you had best kill the two 
hens affected at once. 
Disinfectants (B. II. R .).—If the runs be small dig them over, and in any 
ca=e sprinkle with carbolic fluid, sanit.os, carbolate of lime, or some other dis¬ 
infectant. Tut a few drops of McDougall's fluid carbolate in the drinking 
water. 
Early Calves (A Seventeen-years Subscriber ).—We are not prepared to 
deny the statement you submit,however extraordinary it appears to be ; but the 
practice of whicli it is an example is very undesirable, and you are not wrong in 
describing it as “ sheer folly.” 
Bromus giganteus (M. B .).—This forage plant will not usually produce 
like Italian Rye Grass when the imported seed is sown in the autumn and early 
spring months ; and as summer forage we prefer Giant Saintfoin or Lucerne, both 
for quantity and feeding value, the latter especially when a quick succession is 
required as green fodder for dairy cows. There is, however, always the question 
of soil to be considered, and we therefore recommend a trial in the nature of an 
experiment of these four sorts named in order to ascertain which is the best 
under all the circumstances of soil and the requirements of the auimals. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE LONDON. 
Lafc. 51° 32'40” N.; Long.0°8'0" W.: Altitude.lll feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
i a 
o»c* 
Hygrome- 
a . 
Shade Tem- 
Radiation 
d 
1881. 
ter. 
‘3 a 
CV-; g 
perature. 
Temperature. 
cj 
c$ 
December. 
$ £ cH 
In 
On 
'*" u c3 
Dry. 
Wet. 
5 o 
■H 
Max. 
Min. 
sun. 
grass. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg 
deg. 
In. 
Sun. 
4 
30.254 
41.7 
39.0 
S.E. 
44.0 
44.3 
37.8 
47.8 
31.0 
0.038 
Mon. 
5 
30.1 S3 
47.1 
46.6 
S. 
44.3 
49.0 
40.5 
52.5 
40.4 
0.230 
Tries. 
6 
30.239 
38 2 
38.2 
S.W. 
44.0 
50.4 
34.0 
63.7 
24.8 
0.294 
Wed. 
7 
29.810 
43.9 
42.9 
w. 
43.4 
51.2 
83.9 
64.9 
35.1 
_ 
Thurs. 
8 
29.933 
30.4 
3 S.S 
w. 
43.6 
43.8 
33,1 
57.8 
27.4 
0.099 
Friday 
9 
29.009 
37.8 
37.6 
Calm 
42.3 
40.5 
34.6 
41.2 
28 3 
0.021 
Satur. 
10 
29.606 
31.6 
31.6 
N.W. 
41.7 
S9.5 
31.2 
39.5 
30.3 
0.188 
29.913 
39.5 
38.8 
43.3 
45.5 
35.0 
52.5 
31.3 
0.820 
REMARKS. 
4th.—Fine and dry, not much sunshine. 
5th.—Very wet morning, but fine afternoon and evening ; eclipse of the moon 
very well seen. 
Oth.—Thick fog early, clearing off about noon, afterwards fine. 
7th.—Fine bright day, little hazy in m irtiing. 
8th.—Fine all day. 
Oth.—Very dark day, with rain and fog ; clearer in evening. 
10th.—Snow in morning, soon melting ; rain in afternoon. 
A damp week and cooler ; the temperature considerably below that of the 
previous week, and slightly below the average.—G. J. SYMONS. 
