THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION,— September 30.1856. 4ftI 
Kodbard deserve mention for tlieir successful pens. We 
| were sorry to see many hen-feathered cocks among the 
I Golden- spangled Hamburgh s. The Silvers were free from 
this charge. The Golden-pencilled chickens were perfectly 
i beautiful; they left nothing to desire. The Silvers were also 
excellent. There will be no doubt of this fact when we say 
that the Rev. T. L. Fellowes and Mr. E. Archer took the 
prizes. Mrs. Mills, of Bist'erne, also took two. There was 
much competition in Polands, from the quality of the birds 
exhibited ; and the prizes were scattered abroad, going to 
Hampshire, Berkshire, Warwickshire, Somersetshire, and 
Dorsetshire. Mr. G. C. Adkins took two first prizes, and we 
have before stated that Mrs. Coleridge took the Cup. We feel 
j it our duty to warn exhibitors in the class for Black with 
white top-knots that they must be more particular in select¬ 
ing birds with straight backs. Many of those shown were 
crooked, and some had red feathers. Disqualification must 
be the result of such faults. The Geese were so good that 
almost every pen was commended. In these, as in Aylesbury 
Ducks, Mr. J. K. Fowler was victorious. The Roiidii Ducks 
were excellent. Lady Margaret Macdonald took the first 
prize for Turkeys, closely run by Mrs, H. Fookes. - 
The Show was held in the same locality as in former years. 
It is light, airy, and lofty. The management was, as usual, 
in the hands of Mr. G. F. Atulrews. The great experience 
and matured judgment of this gentleman were visible in all 
the arrangements. His exertions and urbanity entitle him 
to the thanks of all interested in the pursuit. The Rev. 
D. C. Sanders and Mr. H. Fookes, who give him the as¬ 
sistance he requires in all circumstances connected with it, 
also deserve grateful mention. 
The Judges were llev. R. Pulleine, Kirkby Wislce, Thirsk; 
H. Hinxman, Esq., Durnford, Salisbury; and Mr. Daily, 
London. 
THE HACKLE OF SILVER IIAMBURGHS. 
In No. 415 of The Cottage Gardener, page 428, it is 
stated, “ White hackles in hens (Hamburghs) are as bad as 
red ears ; they should be well striped.” Now, this is in 
direct opposition to what Mr. Baily says in his work on 
fowls, where (page 27) it is stated that Gold and Silver 
Hamburghs should have clear hackles, either white or 
yellow (the white referring to the Silver, and yellow to the 
Golden). And, again, at page 29, “No true Hamburgh has 
a spotted hackle." Will you kindly let me know which view 
of the case is right, as the statement in The Cottage 
Gardener may lead to much confusion if incorrect, which 
I am strongly inclined to think is the case.—W. M. 
[You have confounded Spangled and Pencilled Hamburghs 
as mentioned in Mr. Baity’s book. Clear hackles are im¬ 
perative in Pencilled; they are fatal in Spangled. The 
difference will be seen on referring to “ Exhibition Fowls,” 
pages 76 and 79 in the last edition of his work.] 
MARKING FOWLS. 
Many are the modes of setting some kind of indelible 
stamp on birds as a distinguislier from their fellows, and 
many have been the modes resorted to, as set forth in this 
periodical, for the better or best performance of this 
desideratum. If marks be too conspicuous, inference might 
be drawn that some beacon was established for the guidance 
of judges or interested persons; therefore it behoves the 
marker to be as private and secret in its locality as possible. 
On referring to some back numbers of one of your con¬ 
temporaries, I find punching the web of the foot advised, 
passing a hot needlo through the wing, <fcc. I have no 
means of knowing much about this mode of marking. 
Betty, our old weeding-woman, highly learned in this con¬ 
templative occupation, as also in times lung syne a raro 
lender of pigs and poultry, ofttimes has pierced the web of 
a favourite duck's foot, as a preventive against witchcraft 
and the cook. I never knew her meddle much with fowls, 
they being rather too migratory for her stay-at-home notions. 
John Jones, the keeper, a sad fellow, breeding ginger-blue 
Game fowls and fighting-mains by the sly, used to have two 
modes of marking his stunners, as he termed the best 
fighters. One was (and the commonest) to catch up a 
small portion of the under eyelid, and with a pair of scissors 
snip out a bit, leaving a triangular notch! The other plan 
was to arm a slender stocking-needle with a piece of red or 
black silk (or, indeed, any other colour), pass it very 
superficially under the skin beneath the wing or thigh, say 
for an inch in length, and cut off the thread, leaving a small 
projecting portion on either side. This was Master Jones’s 
plan, and many follow it now, and so may you, gentle 
reader.—IV. IL, Exeter. 
MR. BOTHAM’S BRAHMA POOTRAS AT 
ANERLEY. 
I confess myself much surprised at a letter that appears 
in The Cottage Gardener of the 16th instant, from Mr. 
G. Botham, of Wexham Court, in which that gentleman 
alludes to some brown feathers being “ found in the pen " 
allotted to his Brahma chickens at Anerley, and that “ some 
of the committee have them in their possession,” adding, also, 
most emphatically, the statement that his said chickens 
“ had not any feathers of that colour when they left his 
premises for Anerley ; they had not any when the first prize 
was awarded them at Clifton, nor have they now.” I very 
deeply regret, from its uncalled-for publicity and extreme 
piositiveness, I am thus compelled to correct so decidedly 
erroneous 1 a statement. The disputed feathers, which are 
beyond gainsay brown ones, were not “found in the pen,’’ 
but plucked out by myself, in the presence of four of the 
committee, from one single pullet. They are the newly- 
produced feathers after partial moulting, and were selected 
and plucked out from the back, wings, and breast of the 
fowl whilst I held her (purposely for so doing) in my hands. 
There still remained, likewise, a few such coloured feathers 
in her companions when I left Anerley, the last day the 
Exhibition was open to the public. 
Being the Judge at both Anerley and Clifton, I most 
cordially agree with Mr. Botham that no such feathers were 
anywhere perceptible at the time they were shown at the 
latter place; but at Anerley, the fowls remaining without 
interference, bore them distinctively enough up to the close 
of the Show. As to Mr. Botham’s remark that “ they have 
not any such feathers now,” having not myself seen them 
since at Anerley, I at once give perfect reliance that it is so. 
Those feathers publicly extracted remain still with me, 
and have not at any time since then been out of my 
possession.— Edward Hewitt, Eden Collage, Sparkorook, 
near Birmingham. 
PRICES OF POULTRY. 
At the end of The Cottage Gardener for the 9th inst. 
the prices of poultry are stated thus :— 
Large Fowls. 4s. Od. to 5s. Od. each 
Small ditto. 3s. fid. to 4s. Od. „ 
Chickens . 2s. Od. to 2s. 9d. „ 
Now, T know the meaning of each, but the price is so 
much beyond my notions on this subject, that I imagined 
it must mean each pair. Would you please to enlighten me 
as to this ? At> the same time an idea of the weight of the 
large and small fowls referred to will oblige— Kilmarnock. 
[The description of poultry quoted is the best and 
choicest, and our object in quoting that only is to induce a 
more extended supply of such. We are always ready to 
prove the correctness of our quotations. The quality of the 
goods is not understood except in three or four counties in 
England. They are not sold by weight. The requisites 
are—white legs, absolute youth, good fatting, and clean 
killing. Add to these they must lie sent very fresh, and 
you have fowls that will always command a sale at re¬ 
munerative prices. Any deviation will make much difference 
in the value. 
The probable weight of large fowls will be from Clbs. to 
7J lbs. each, and the smaller from 2J lbs. to 3j lbs. each.] 
