I 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 13. 
27 
haes of 1*53. There are others, however, that apply 
equally to them with the young birds of which we have 
next to speak. 
These latter may demand more particular mention than 
has been granted their parents. AYe will speak of them, 
therefore, separately, as regards form, feather, condition, 
and size. 
Form. —The excessive prices to which great demand and 
a limited supply brought the Shangliae race during the 
earlier part of the past year, circulated a great number of 
birds of inferior character, and the evil effect of such a 
selection of breeding-stock was disguised under the common, 
though absurd notion, that birds for which such sums were 
commonly offered must possess high intrinsic merit. The 
great majority of poultry-keepers were thus, satisfied, and if 
on any occasion their own observation, or a friend’s criticism, 
suggested faults in such purchases, value given was con¬ 
stantly quoted in proof of excellence. A long period, indeed, 
was required to dispel these delusions, and thus, at exhibi¬ 
tion after exhibition, from Newcastle to Southampton, and 
from the Land’s End to Hull, numberless pens were 
brought out merely to receive censure. In no one point has 
the Shanghae suffered more severely from these causes 
than in respect of form, and we are not certain but that 
birds superior in this respect, both old and young, could 
have been picked out in 1853, than the most careful in¬ 
vestigation of the pens of 1804 could have supplied. We 
do not lay so much stress on the fact of some names that 
had occupied the most distinguished on the prize lists of 
past years being absent from the catalogues of the one 
just gone by, for their stock had been so widely disseminated, 
by sale and otherwise, that the reproduction of equal 
excellence under an equally skilful system of management 
seemed of easy attainment. Neither of those seasons were 
of a favourable character for rearing chickens, but neither 
could claim any advantage over the other in that respect. 
We have heard it stated that a full prominent bbeast 
should be regarded as an unfavourable point in a Shanghae; 
from such an opinion, however, we must emphatically , 
dissent. The breast is, doubtless, a point where Shanghaes i 
are most vulnerable, and failures most frequent; the more 1 
earnestly, therefore, should our efforts lie given to remedy 
this defect, and we have many instances where this objection 
has been satisfactorily overcome. That a protruding breast¬ 
bone, indicating the absence of flesh on the most valuable 
part of the bird, should not he considered an essential 
property of the race, we confidently ofiirm, however 
numerous in ill-bred specimens may be the fault complained 
of. The Shanghae, be it remembered, labours under ! 
peculiar disadvantages in this respect, the fluffy feathering 
of the thighs bringing them apparently so forward that j 
they frequently, even in good birds, appear to continue the 
line of the breast, not receding as in the case of other fowls, j 
We now come to Feather, a point that is sure to strike 
the eye of the novice sooner and more forcibly than any ! 
other; and we are by no means sure that such exclusive J 
impressions of the noviciate have most frequently an exist¬ 
ence long after that period should be past. The buff variety 
is that to which the requirements of the breeder have in 
this respect been necessarily limited, the other colours 
admitting less deviation from acknowledged standards. I 
lint as we are now speaking of feather, generally, our ' 
remarks on this head wdll more properly be reserved till we 
speak specially of the above-mentioned variety. 
Advertisement after advertisement re-echoes the praises i 
of the falcon-hock, and our blindness in not recognising its 
merits, as a consequent of a curve being a line of beauty, ! 
has been commented on. We have, however, already said, 
and now briefly repeat, that the natural characteristics of j 
any race of fowls are the first objects of the breeder’s ! 
attention. The fullest development of these, in due pro- 1 
portion regulated by an eye to general effect, is his proper 
aim, and his only legitimate course. Thus, in the race now 
before us, we discard a tufted, or a clean-legged Shanghae; 
because, in the first instance, it is an addition to the dis¬ 
tinctive characteristics of the birds, and in the second, an 1 
absence of the same. This coveted “falcon-hock ,” we 1 
apprehend, can scarcely be attached to the true nominal 
character of the Shanghae fowl, and, consequently, if not 1 
rejected as an unauthorized adjunct, it should not, at any | 
rate, be regarded as meritorious. So far our objections rest 
on general principles applicable to fowls of all breeds ; but, 
let us ask, is this extension of the feathers of the thigh 
pleasing or otherwise to the eye ? It is urged, that a curve 
being the line of beauty, the question must receive an 
affirmative reply. From this, however, we must dissent; 
the outlines of a fowl should certainly consist mainly of a 
succession of curves, but the effect of these depends on 
their falling one into the other, and abrupt termination, 
such as the falcon-hock exhibits, appears to form no element 
of beauty. Wo would not disqualify a bird for its posses¬ 
sion of this peculiarity, hut it certainly would not cause the 
specimen to find any great favour in our eyes. Our summary, 
as regards “ feather” in 1853, would place it at least on an 
equal footing with the results of preceding years. It has, 
probably, been the point most thought of, even to the 
depreciation of others of equal importance. 
Condition requires few words. The food and manage¬ 
ment of poultry have received greater attention, and such 
inquiries and discussions have necessarily led to a better 
state of management, of which we receive sufficient evidence 
in the slate of the specimt ns that are sent to exhibitions. 
Size is the last feature on which our comparison has now 
to dwell. Here we do not believe that heavier good shaped 
birds have been produced of late than those to which we 
couhl refer in 1802 and previous years. Greater weights 
might very probably be proved, but without equal excellence 
in figure ; mere pounds and ounces must avail but little; 
and yet how constantly has this one point been almost ex¬ 
clusively relied on. The extraordinary conflicting notions 
that appear to have influenced the actions of many Shanghae 
breeders, would surely be more than enough to account for 
all the falling off that their bitterest opponents can now lay 
to their charge. 
The principal causes, therefore, to which reference might 
be made, as productive of the asserted falling off of the 
Shanghae might be thus enumerated: — The high prices, 
that brought into the market so large a number of indif¬ 
ferent birds. Breeding from prize, or commended pens, 
containing birds closely related to each other; also breeding 
from aged birds." Too exclusive an attention to particular 
points, colour of feather more especially, to the comparative 
neglect of others equally important. To these might, per¬ 
haps, be added, if a lenient view of the case be taken, a 
general expectation that great as have been the improve¬ 
ment in past years, it ought to have maintained a progres¬ 
sive advance; but this not proving to be the case, dissatis¬ 
faction beyond their due ensued. Novelty, too, with many 
so important an ingredient of popularity, was on the wane, 
and may probably have had some share in the work. 
(To he continued.) 
CULTURE OE DIPLADENIA CRASSINODA. 
Go where one will, how seldom is this beautiful flowering 
plant seen, growm, and bloomed in that perfection to which 
its merits entitle it. The chief cause of failure is, I believe, 
the dribbling system of watering pursued, without examin¬ 
ing whether the plant requires water or not. A plant 
is purchased and repotted, and takes up its position with 
the other inmates of the stove, and daily gets a soaking 
from the watering pot. Now, the fresh soil used in repot¬ 
ting not being occupied with an abundance of living roots 
constantly sucking up food for the future development of 
the plant, through this course of watering, in time, becomes 
sour and uncongenial to vegetation; consequently, the plant 
becomes stunted, the leaves turn yelloiv and drop off; and, 
finally, the plant goes to the rubbish heap as a thing very 
difficult of culture. 
I am satisfied that tln^ philosophy of watering pot plants 
is but little understood or cared for as it should be. This 
most important operation is generally left too much at the 
mercy of a second person ; hence so many failures. Obtain 
a nice healthy plant, and repot it at once into a 12-in. pot; 
using turfy peat two parts, sandy loam one part, very rotten 
dung and leaf-mould one part, gritty sand, broken pot or 
charcoal, enough to render the mass porous ; mix all well 
together, but do not sift. After repotting, place the plant in 
a warm, moist, light, airy position in the stove. 
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