! December 15. THE COTTAGI 
| climate is favourable, except cold clay soils, lying flat, 
| and unable to get rid of the water. Indeed, it is now a 
I well-ascertained fact, that some of our heaviest clay 
■ loams, which feed badly iu the winter months, pro¬ 
duce roots of the best quality; and with the plan of 
trough-feeding, these soils, under particular manage¬ 
ment, will produce the best stock, owing to the great 
feeding value of the roots grown upon them. 
In commencing to feed Ewes and Lambs with roots, it 
is of the greatest importance that the Lambs should feed 
in advance and separate from the Ewes. It is, therefore, 
necessary, that what is called a lamb-gate should be 
used, with space between the rollers, to allow the Lamb 
to pass through freely, without being sufficiently wide 
to admit the Ewes. In entering a field of roots, it is 
best to commence feeding in the lowest part, for two 
reasons; firstly, because the stock always seek the 
highest land to lie upon, and as the hurdles are ad¬ 
vanced they will continue to follow, leaving their dung 
with regularity; secondly, the Lambs, particularly 
whilst young, will always draw through the gate iu 
advance of the Ewes (to receive separate feeding) much 
better when the folding ascends the hill, than they will 
when the hurdles are advanced down the incline of the 
field. 
I must now state the best method of feeding. The 
Lambs should be fed first, as this will draw them 
away from the Ewes; and otherwise, they are apt to 
contract the habit of feeding with them, which is ob¬ 
jectionable, because the Ewes receive the coarser food. 
Feeding should commence as soon as the shepherd can 
see in the morning, giving the Hay first, both to Lambs 
and Ewes; after which, the troughs should be filled 
with cut roots, taking care to have them cut finest for 
tho Lambs, which is done by passing them twice through 
the cutter, which plan reduces the food into a state 
resembling dice, in which state the Lambs can readily 
consume it, and are induced to feed at the earliest 
period, without loss of time, and without waste. As 
soon as the troughs have been supplied with cut roots, 
then proceed to give Oil-cake and Peas, the quantity 
to be regulated by their wants, always taking care to 
allow them as much as they will eat. To prevent waste, 
let the Oil-cake be broken fine; about the size of a 
Horsebean is the best size; otherwise great waste will 
occur, for the Lambs, whilst young, will take large pieces 
up and drop them outside the troughs, where it is 
trodden under and wasted. To induce them to eat Cake, 
or Peas, at first, it is sometimes necessary to mix a 
small portion of common salt with it. The Ewes 
should next receive their allowance of Cake, but without 
any Peas, commencing with a quarter-of-a-pound per 
day, the half of which should be given at this time, the 
other half just before the last bait of roots in the 
evening. Roots should be given at times during the 
day, and the troughs quite filled at night. 
Joseph Blundell. 
I (To be continued.) 
GARDENER. 207 
PTARMIGAN FOWLS. 
As you have enlarged upon the Ptarmigan Fowls, and 
pronounced, what I hold to be, an unmerited and erroneous 
judgment upon them, I call upon you, in common fairness, 
to allow me in your columns to protest against that judg¬ 
ment. I will not stop to remark upon the universal admi¬ 
ration they excited on first appearing in the summer, on the 
prizes they took everywhere, nor on the encomiums passed 
on them in your colums, and those of other periodicals ; nor 
will I stop to ask whether there is no jealousy entertained 
against them ; but I will pass on to notice your remarks. 
I quite agree that merits, in an economical point of view, 
are the first points a poultry judge should look to. Now, 
let us analyse the Ptarmigans. Nobody denies their beauty, 
which, I affirm, is second to none; nor has any judge of 
fowls, in my hearing, denied the purity of breed. The name 
given them, “The Ptarmigan, or Grouse footed Polands,” 
amply describes them as a distinct variety of the Poland 
class—then what do I object to ? I protest against the 
paragraph—“ though, as a profitable fowl, their claim to dis¬ 
tinction may be questioned.” I protest against you, or any 
poultry judge, passing a sweeping condemnation of this 
kind, on a new variety of fowls, which you or they have never 
kept, and, consequently, the merits or demerits of which you 
have no possibility of knowing. And further, I say that 
such a system i3 unjust; inasmuch as the importers of new 
varieties are by it condemned to the mercy of individual 
caprice in the persons of men by whose opinion the poultry 
world are, in a great measure, guided. I will contrast the 
Ptarmigan and the White Poland, and I will ask, in what 
does the latter excel the former ? Certainly not in heauty 
nor in purity. I shall be told, as egg-producers. But those 
who have kept the Ptarmigan will tell you, that it is a very 
prolific fowl, laying a fair-sized egg of a delicious flavour, 
and though, perhaps, there might he some remorse at 
slaughtering so pretty a creature, yet once on the table, it 
would thence gain additional favours. 
The matter, in my mind, is reduced to two points. Those 
who condemn the fowl must either say, “ You owners do 
not tell us the truth about the birdsor they must confess | 
their opposition to be founded on mere prejudice, without 
any facts to guide them. As I am sure, Mr. Editor, you do 
not desire wilfully to injure any breed of fowls in public 
estimation, I call on you to let this appear in your columns. 
I could have enlarged on the very peculiar and vulture- 
like habits of these birds, their horny beak, so unlike any 
other known variety, and the fact of their preying on the 
dead bodies of their fellows, but I will not further trespass 
on your space.— Frederic Beenal, Fareham. 
P.S.—I have been much struck to see how even judges 
differ. At Winchester, in Dorking Chicken, there were 
8 pens, which I will call 1, 2, and 3. No. 1 took the first 
prize, 2 and 3 were commended. The next week, at 
Southampton!, 3 was again commended, 2 was not; and 1, 
the first prize at Winchester, not noticed! Again, in the 
extra class, at Winchester, a pen of Andalusians took the 
first prize, and a pen of W’hite Polands were commended. 
At Southampton, the same Polands take the first prize, and 
the Andalusians are not even commended; yet, in each case, 
the judges were the first men in the country ! 
[We admit, with Mr. Bernal, that Ptarmigans are very 
pretty birds, and that they are a distinct breed, and we will 
grant, on his assurance, that they lay good eggs, and in all 
other respects are equal to Polands; and then we abide 
by our published opinion, to which every poultry keeper will 
assent—“ as profitable fowls, their claim to distinction may 
be questioned." Five of the best judges in England place 
them even at the best as second to White Polands, and 
we fear that their prettiness will not save them from the 
public assenting to that decision.—E d. C. G.] 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
Exhibition of the Great Northern Poultry Associa¬ 
tion. —The second Annual Show of this Society was held 
at Doncaster, on Wednesday and Thursday, the 30th of 
November and 1st of December. The exhibition took place 
in a spacious covered market, recently erected by the cor¬ 
poration ; and which, but for the drawback, that it affords 
