May 11. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
91 
Ocesalpina coriaria, abounding in tannin; and various other 
useful plants, are of the class in question.” 
The anticipation that Dr. Wallich would die in 
harness at Calcutta was nearly fulfilled soon after that 
anticipation was written; but a visit to the Cape of 
Good Hope renovated his strength, and he then returned 
to Calcutta. Unmistakeable warnings, however, com¬ 
pelled him to retreat finally from a tropical temperature. 
He resigned, in 1850, the Curatorship of the Botanic 
Garden, and was succeeded by Mr. Scott, gardener to 
the Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth. Dr. Wallich 
reached England in that year and has ever since been 
engaged in his favourite pursuits. As a Vice-President 
of the Linnsean Society he was often chairman of its meet 
ings, and, until.within a very recent date, was in better 
health and spirits than when we first knew him some 
fifteen years since. He then pointed out the grave he 
had prepared for himself close to the all-graceful speci- 
j men of Amherstia nohilis, which he had been the first to 
plant in the Calcutta Garden. That resting place may 
now find another occupant; but we hope that the East 
India Company will cause a monument to be erected 
to his memory in that garden, for it will be a worthy 
accompaniment to those which already are placed there 
as records of Ivyd, Roxburgh, and Griffiths. 
Last week we promised some notes relative to the ex¬ 
hibition of young Geese, and we have been led to the 
subject by two almost precisely similar occurrences— 
three young Ganders being shown instead of one with 
two Geese, which the rules of the two Societies (Leeds 
and Winchester) required. Those at Leeds obtained the 
first prize in December last, but those at Winchester 
were not rewarded. Both pens were sold, and the uni. 
J formity of sex was not discovered until this spring, and 
the breeding season, consequently, has been lost. 
To prevent disappointment from such errors in future, 
we think that the Committees of Poultry Shows will 
act wisely in requiring three Goslings, without sti¬ 
pulating anything about their sex. If the committee do so 
stipidate, and the birds gain a prize, then they as well 
as the judges pledge themselves to a certain extent that 
the sexes are correctly assigned.- We do not think that 
the exhibitor is involved in the proceeding. He 
exercises his best judgment to attain correctness, and 
he can do no more. He so exercises it, because he, of 
course, wishes to avoid the risk of his "pen being dis- 
| qualified, and when the judges have acquiesced witli his 
opiuion, we think that no after discoveries, however 
provoking and regretted, should be allowed to disturb 
the award. If it oould be so disturbed we think no 
one would exhibit young Geese, and we so think, 
because we believe that no breeder of them would 
pledge his word that the sexes were certainly as he be¬ 
lieved them to be. 
In corroboration of our view of the case, we quote 
the following from “The Poultry Book,” p. 271:— 
“The curled feathers in the tail of the Drake are a 
ready indication of his sex, even if the colour were un¬ 
certain; but we have no such t6stswith Geese. The 
carriage of the old Gander signifies his masculine 
gender.; and the rise and fall of the bony enlargement 
of tbe windpipe (so curious a distinctive feature among 
the anatidse), is another mark for his recognition. But 
with young birds it is often difficult to speak positively, 
the closest inspection at an early age being frequently 
unsatisfactory. The protrusion of the enlargement of 
the windpipe, which is seen below the feathers of the 
throat, has been first noticed by us in the young male 
bird when shouting forth his harsh notes of exultation 
at the appearance of his juvenile family. On this 
account judges at the Poultry Shows often find a diffi¬ 
culty in satisfying themselves that Ganders and Geese 
are in the right proportion in the pens for birds of the 
year.” 
To the purchasers of young Geese we can only say, 
take the advice of the best judges as to the correctness 
of the sexhood alleged, and if you find them uncertain 
in their opinion, which is usually the case, then, whilst 
it teaches you not to judge harshly of the exhibitor if 
he has been mistaken, it may also suggest the wise pre¬ 
caution of stipulating with the seller that he shall ex¬ 
change birds of the desired sex for those which may 
prove to be of the opposite. 
We are making rapid advances towards uniformity in 
the regulations and management of our Poultry Shows; 
and greatly is it to be desired that the classification of 
the birds themselves should receive similar treatment at 
the hand of those in authority. 
We are led to this remark by the recently issued 
schedule of the Amateur Poultry Society of Dublin, 
where the rules, in all important respects, are identical 
with those in use at Birmingham; a guide that has 
been generally and wisely followed. But when we 
come to examine the several classes, we cannot but 
regret the wide departure there manifest from the 
principles of that and the other great English Exhi¬ 
bitions. We allude, especially, to the arrangements 
for what we are now accustomed to term “ Hamburgh 
fowls." Instead of finding these entered as “ Pencilled' 
or “ Spangled,” with a further subdivision as to their 
respective colours, “gold or silver;” we have "Dutch 
Pencilled fowls (Bolton Greys); Dutch Pencilled fowls 
{Bolton Bays); Pheasant fowl {Golden); Pheasant fowl 
{Silver);’’ and amongst the fowl with crests, “ White- 
crested Red fowl {Hamburgh).” Now, we readily grant 
that the “ Pencilled ” are, probably, the only variety of 
Hamburghs, as that term is now commonly understood, 
of Dutch origin; the Spangled having every evidence 
of being an English breed; but to designate these last 
as “ Pheasant fowl,” is to adopt a system of nomencla¬ 
ture most liable to erroneous construction, and than 
which any of the other synonyms “ Moonies,” &c., 
would be most preferable. The "tufted Hamburghs,” 
again, we have never been able to distinguish from 
Polish fowls, though well aware how fondly Irish 
breeders have clung to this appellation. Societies in 
