JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
208 
[ March 8, 1883. 
this subject at Bradford, where a prize for the best mohair or 
cross-bred mohair Goat is to be offered at the next agricultural 
show there by a leading manufacturer.— H. S. Holmes Pegler, 
Ifcmcl- TIcmpstead, Herts. 
[The sample referred to is silky in appearance, strong in texture, 
and appears to us a dress material of considerable importance. 
We have received also the second edition of Mr. Pegler’s manual 
on Goat farming, which should be read by all who are interested 
in the animals on which it treats.] 
Permanent Pastures. —We have received a copy of the thirteenth 
edition of Mr. Martin H. Sutton’s work on “ Permanent Pastures,” 
which was originally published in the Royal Agricultural Society’s 
Journal, and has been enlarged to render it still more useful. That 
so many editions should have been called for is sufficient indication 
of the merits of this little work, which we have referred at greater 
length on previous occasions. 
Sunflower Culture.— The importance of cultivating the Sun¬ 
flower as a valuable adjunct to other crops on a farm has been 
recently mentioned by the press. I am quite willing to make the 
experiment; but before doing so I should be glad if any of your cor¬ 
respondents would give their experience of the way in which the 
seeds, flower, and stem are utilised, and also how and when the seed 
should be sown, and the nature of the soil that suits it best.— 
C. A. Hanbury. 
THE DORKING CHALLENGE CUP. 
“C.” writes hopefully in the Journal of Horticulture (page 105) 
about the Dorkings. I am glad he feels so ; would that I did. He 
notes that there is a falling-off in the Dorking entries. This I take 
it arises from several causes. One is the craze for size, by which 
the big mongrel, coarse as he is, wins over the finer-quality bird. 
Another reason is, that the colour that those who act as judges 
prefer is ftiuch disliked by many, and, therefore, those who do not 
care to keep the almost black varieties do not exhibit; but the worst 
of all is, and there is no denying the fact, that dark-legged birds 
are given the prizes often and often. With unfeigned disgust I 
have seen this to be the case. There being such a fast-and-loose 
way of judging people will not send, and if they wish for prizes, 
as some do, they will scarcely care to keep the breed at all. I have 
heard such expressions used more than once. Then, again, those 
who buy prizewinners very frequently find their stock much injured 
by getting sooty-legged birds. Again I say, as I have said before, 
“There is no hope for the Dorkings judged as they now arc.” 
There are plenty of true, good fanciers who would work the breed 
up no doubt, but it is not worth their while when the prizes are 
taken by dark-legged mongrels. I have bred many pure white¬ 
legged birds with white toe-nails, and very good table fowls they 
were. I had one to-day, good in breast, white in flesh; but he 
would have been “ nowhere ” under the present way of judging. 
There are no doubt places where the old breed is still in existence, 
and since I last wrote I heard of one, the lady telling me the 
same breed had been kept on the farm as long as she could re¬ 
member. 1 intend going to see them. 
“ C.” says they were more delicate. In this he is in error. I have 
kept them, and know they were not more delicate than the present 
so-called Dorking. Also the lady in question told me that she had 
just been looking at a fine brood of chickens numbering thirteen, 
and, to use her own words, she said, “It was a pretty sight; they 
were all so bright and strong.” It is not what the judges know 
about the Dorking ; it is how they judge them. They do not 
judge them to the Standard of Excellence, and, therefore, the Dork¬ 
ing fancy is on the decline, and must be so. No one who happens 
to have the true breed would, I should think, be foolish enough to 
buy prize birds at shows now-a-days. 1 did once, but I do not 
think I shall ever again. I may; but I must be in a far different 
frame of mind as regards the exhibition Dorking than I am at 
present. 
There is but one chance, to my thinking, for the Dorking, and 
that is to judge them by the old “ Standard of Excellence.” Let 
there be coloured Dorkings, not only Dark Dorkings, and do not let 
so much as a dark toe-nail be on a prize bird, and let quality be 
taken into consideration before mere size, and I venture to say that 
soon there will be more entries and much finer table fowls when 
the Dorking fancier knows he can rely on the judges, which most 
decidedly he cannot now. 
When such is the case I for one will be most happy to put down 
my guinea towards a challenge cup for the Dorkings. 
I heartily thank “ C.” for the courteous reply to my notes, and 
feel grateful to him for keeping the matter before the poultry world. 
At the same time I also thank those who have written privately to 
me on the subject, and I wish to inform them that I shall still do 
my utmost to put the Dorking breed on its right footing .— 
Harrison Weir, Hrenchley, Kent. 
TABLE POULTRY. 
Hints on Fattening and Cooliing Fowls. By Henwife. James 
Bolton, 39 and 40, St. George’s Place, Knightsbridge. 
We have received a copy of a very interesting little work by 
“ Henwife ” on the subject of table poultry. The authoress states 
in the introduction that she pretends to offer neither a poultry 
book nor a cookery book, but merely a few practical remarks on 
those portions of both subjects which are most interesting to 
herself. 
“ Henwife ” is well known as a writer upon subjects con¬ 
nected with practical poultry keeping, and she has devoted 
special attention to the matter of table poultry. The following 
is an abbreviated account of her method of fattening, as described 
by herself. For further particulars we must refer our readers 
to the pamphlet itself. Should they desire to fatten birds for 
their own use in really first-rate style they cannot do better than 
implicitly carry out “ Henwife’s ” instructions. 
A separate chamber is devoted to the birds for fattening, so 
that they may not see other birds at liberty. Each bird has a 
separate coop, 24£ inches by 16J inches, with a barred front and 
a projecting le'ige to hold the food troughs. Disinfectants are 
freely used and cleanliness strictly observed, and when first put 
up the birds are fasted for a whole day. Those unaccustomed to 
soft food are broken into the regime by being first given boiled 
grain. The windows of the fattening house are furnished with 
curtains, which are drawn closely between each meal, so that the 
birds spend the intervals not devoted to eating in sleep. 
They are fed three times a day, no water is given, and the food 
is as much varied as possible. The duration of fattening for a 
bird weighing when put in 5 lbs. should be from one and a half 
to two and a half months, for larger fowl from three and a half 
to four and a half month-. Large birds should if put in at i\ lbs. 
weigh 9^ lbs. to 10 lb?, at the end of their time. The troughs 
should be soaked in clean water all night to keep them free from 
sourness. 
The pamphlet also contains some interesting notes upon the 
Paris Exhibition of 1882, with some useful recipes for the cooking 
of poultry in various ways. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
.2 
’3 
C3 
1883 
February. 
March. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32 9 
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. 
III. 
Sun. 2.5 
30.702 
45.0 
43.2 
N.W. 
41.4 
50.8 
37.4 
57.8 
37.0 
Mon. 26 
30.665 
38.4 
38.4 
IV. 
42.6 
47.2 
37.3 
61.8 
38 4 
. _ 
Tues. 27 
3<>.5<'8 
40.3 
39.1 
N.W. 
42 2 
49 3 
36.8 
78.8 
33.2 
_ 
Wed. 28 
30.513 
48.1 
47.2 
N.N.W. 
42.6 
57.3 
39.8 
100 8 
39.2 
0.130 
Thurs. 1 
30.447 
47.0 
45.1 
N. 
43.5 
52.4 
.41.3 
72.2 
40.3 
Friday 2 
30.657 
39.7 
37.5 
E.N.E. 
43.5 
469 
39.1 
80.9 
39.2 
_ 
Satur. 3 
30.70(3 
38.2 
36.9 
E.N.E. 
42.5 
48.7 
32.0 
82.7 
27.4 
— 
30.600 
42.4 
41.1 
42 6 
50.4 
38.1 
76.4 
36.4 
0.130 
REMARKS. 
25th.—Fair calm day. 
28th.—Damp misty morning; fine day. 
27th.—Cloudy morning; bright pleasant afternoon. 
28th.—Dull morning ; bright mild afternoon. 
1st.—Dull day, occasional indications of rain; few gleams of sunshine in 
morning. 
2nd.—Overcast morning ; cleared about 11 A.M. ; fine afternoon and evening. 
3rd.—Fine and bright, with cold N.E. wind. 
A very fine week, temperature still above the average, and barometer 
extremely high.—G. J. SYMONS. 
