104 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 11. 
however, I merely wish to rail attention to the existence of 
certain anomalous Polands, some of which I have not 
hitherto seen noticed in books. In the American poultry 
works are described a set of fowls called Guelderlands, 
I from the province of Holland of the same name, lying 
j south of the Zuyder Zee; whence they are said to have 
1 been obtained. They are birds of moderate size, with a 
I full, prominent, fleshy chest; uniform dark glossy plumage, : 
with large tail. Their most striking peculiarity consists in 
| the head, which is ornamented with very large pendant 
wattles beneath ; hut is destitute ef either comb or topknot, j 
unless the slightest possible trace of redness, and a minute 
prominence, can be so termed. The birds are, in fact, 
untopknotted bitick Polands ; and, as might be expected, 
their habits and general characters are precisely those of 
the breed from which they are derived; being good layers 
and non-sitters. 
A friend, who has frequent mercantile dealings with 
Holland, was fortunate enough to obtain for me a specimen 
of these birds from that country, where I have no doubt j 
more could be found if it w'as worth while to make the j 
search ; but I must confess that I am not one of those who j 
think you can add to the appearance of a Poland by cutting [ 
oft’ its crest; or that a Chinese improves upon the “ human 
form divine” by shaving his head, or an Englishman bis 
chin ; in fact, I am sufficiently imbued with sense of the | 
perfection of created works to imagine that such “capillary i 
attractions ” were designed for some more good and useful 1 
purpose than to occupy ten minutes of a man’s time every \ 
day of his life in endeavouring to get lid of them. 
The Americans, who seem to have a peculiar talent in 
i originating half-breeds, have crossed these witli some 
| feather-logged race, and consequently part of the Guulder- 
lands are thus habited. 
A few days since, my attention was called to a nondescript 
variety of fowls just imported from the continent, the like of 
which had never been before seen; on examination, I found 
them to be precisely parallel to the Guelderlands, only that 
j in this case, the alteration w'as from the Golden-spangled 
hoarded Poland; the birds were sufficiently bearded to 
please, the most ardent admirer of that appendage, and 
looked most quaint and strange, from their bare heads being 
totally free from topknots or combs. The spangling was 
tolerably perfect both in the cocks and hens, and the arched 
nostril, with two rudiments of the crescutic comb, gave 
unmistakeable evidence of their origin. 
The same reasons that prevented my admiring the 
Guelderlands led me to look with disfavour on these bald 
pates, and, therefore, I loft them for some more speculative 
amateur. 
It would be interesting to trace the origin of these 
varieties. I am inclined to regard it as accidental in the 
first instance, and perpetuated by careful breeding, although, 
in these instances, I think the variations by no means 
I improvements on the original stock.—W. 15. Tegetmeieu, 
Willesdcn. 
HUNTER RIVER VINEYARD ASSOCIATION. 
( Concluded from pai/c 00 .) 
“ I will not occupy your time longer than merely to make 
a few r concluding remarks on the same subject, the result of 
personal observation. 
“ Ample evidence exists to show that the climate of this 
country (with the drawback of occasional unfavourable 
seasons), within a certain range of the sea, is eminently 
suited for the grow th of the grape vine, and the successful 
production of marketable wine. 
1 “ On account of the long periods of drought so often 
i experienced in this country, the rapidly evaporating influence 
common to the atmosphere, and the consequently frequent 
i deficiency of moisture in the soil, the vine may properly be 
grown here on richer and deeper land than is employed or 
i recommended for that purpose on the continent of Europe. 
“ At different periods I have planted three vineyards : two 
I of them at Irrawang—the one on forestland, the debris of 
; pudding-stone and porphyry, trenched, and wholly turned 
| over to the depth of at least thirty inches; the other on 
the rich alluvia deposit which composes the hank of the 
River William. 
“The other plantation, at Turreela, is land consisting 
almost wholly of silicious sand. 
“ In dry seasons the density of the must of the same 
variety of grape (as indicated by Long’s saccharometer) is 
very nearly the same from all these soils and situations. 
“ The following were the specific gravities of the must at 
the last vintage at Irrawang of six well known varieties of 
the grape, viz.— 
Illack Pineau . 
Black Hermitage, after rain. 
Lambrusquat . 
. 1.072 
. 1.102 
Shepherd’s . 
White Hermitage . 
.1.10:5 
“ On comparing notes with Mr. Carmichael, it w-as found 
that his estimate of the specific gravity of the must of the 
same grape, grown on the same quality of soil at Prophyry, 
was exactly the same as that grown at Irrawang. 
“ Must of the above densities will produce on fermentation 
wine containing from 17 to 2:5 per cent, of proof spirits. 
Such memoranda of the product of the vineyards in Europe 
would afford valuable information to wine growers in New 
South Wales: not only tlie quantity of grape sugar there 
is contained in the grape would be shown, by which the. 
quantity of alcohol naturally in tho wine might be estimated, 
but they would also afford sufficient data by which the 
quantity of brandy artificially added might be ascertained 
on examination here of a sample of the wine. 
“The must produced by the forest land vineyard is 
generally of the greatest specific gravity, and the produce of 
the sandy soil is next in density ; hut the difference is very 
inconsiderable. In moist seasons, however, the produce of 
the river bank vineyard possesses less yout and a smaller 
amount of saccharine matter than is produced by the others: 
but that deficiency is abundantly compensated for by the 
much greater quantity of fruit annually produced by the 
alluvial land; and there is no question that it will continue 
so to yield in all seasons for many more years tliau land of 
any other description. 
“The vine, although long-lived, from its ability to extend its 
roots far in quest of nourishment, is nevertheless, like other 
organic beings, subject from deficiency of food to premature 
disease, death, and decay, and that deficiency we must make 
good, sooner or later, in our vineyards, in order to prolong 
their existence, in proportion as their soil has originally been 
pooror rich in the elements essential to thegrowth of the vine. 
“ With regard to the kinds of grape to be here cultivated, 
it is of the utmost importance to select those which have 
proved themselves naturally suited to the climate—by grow¬ 
ing freely, being generally without spot or blemish, bearing 
fruit abundantly every year, and bringing it to perfection. 
“ In this way will varieties he found specially adapted to 
every locality.* No matter what their European reputation 
may be, they will produce that which will eventually become 
the wine of tlie district, and, with the greatest probability, 
too, of affording the highest remunerative return. Such 
varieties, it may reasonably be expected, will be aptly pro¬ 
duced fronuthe seeds of the approved grapes now cultivated 
in the colony. There are many imported varieties of the 
grape already in our vineyards, and known to the producers 
of superior wine in Europe, that have been found to be to¬ 
tally unsuited for this climate. 
“ Wine being more the product of tlie soil in a favourable 
climate than that of the particular grape which produces it, 
I am inclined to the opinion that the matured fruit of any 
variety of grape grown on the same spot, under the same 
circumstances, although tlie quantity of saccharine matter 
may vary a little, will produce a similar wine; hence the 
primary importance of selecting varieties congenial to the 
climate, as they only can he expected most generally to yield 
fruit in perfection, and consequently the best wine the dis¬ 
trict can produce. 
* The colony is highly indebted to Mr. Busby (who is now resident 
in New Zealand) for his indefatigable exertions in having visited many 
of the vineyards on the continent of Europe, at his own private expense, 
for the purpose of collecting information and varieties of the grape, 
which he afterwards gratuitously distributed and published in the 
colony at his own risk. 
