213 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Decembkk 10. 
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thesis pullets to have cost in food t!d. each per veelc, the 
total would he for the fortnight, 4s. 'i’he total increase, in 
weight is / 4 Ihs., whicli at say fid. per Ih., is ds. 1 .Jd.; and 
Id eggs, at I’d. each, Is. (id.; makes a total of 4s. 7^d. 
1 do not consider the cost of the food should be set down 
at more than dd. per week, hut supposing it to ho dd., does 
not the ahovi' account speak in favour of the Cochin-China 
breed 
I think (he result of the present controversy will show that 
(kichin-t.'hina eiiicki’iin cost to rear more than other breeds, 
just in proportion to their superior value on account of 
weight; and that Cochin-China Joirls cost less to keep in 
the proporlion of the lesser weight of their eggs. We have, 
then, in favour of the Cochin-China breed, the size for table 
use, the beauty and docility of the birds, the richness of the 
eggs (.and if kept on a large scale, the superior v.alue of the 
feather). In time, 1 think, a general preference will be 
shown for (he tlavonr of the flesh of the Cochin-(diina, and 
then the slight objection to the colour will vanish. In 
breeding, it will be desirable to keep the legs as short as 
possible; and on this score, in a short time, we shall no 
doubt be perfect. 
In my above calculations, I have, of course, not considered 
the present liigh prices of good birds, on account of their 
scarcity; first-rate birds will, no doubt, be always of much 
value. But our aim should be to show that, for general pur¬ 
poses, tho Cochin-China breed decidedly deserves to be the 
favourite; to show that the cost of their keep is certainly 
not proporlioiiately greater than that of other breeds ; and 
that in every other respect they excel all other kinds of 
domestic poultry. I beg to annex the list referred to at the 
commencement. 
Pullets 
Weight Nov. 1.3. 
Weight Nov. 27 . 
Increase. 
IIiiLched. 
Ills. ozs. 
lbs. ozs. 
ozs. 
. Bfay 15 
6 13 
7 Gi 
P2 
. May 25 
5 13i 
() 134 
16 
. May 25 
.I 10 
(> 12i 
isi 
. June 13 
.1 5i 
6 11 
21i 
. June 13 
5 ai 
6 SA 
22 
. June 13 
6 H 
5 14 
I'H 
. July 2/ 
4 1 
4 11^ 
HI.) 
. Aug. 20 
3 2i 
3 12 
9i 
—Wm. .1x0. FjEEuy, ChttUlnn, iieia 
Conhilen, Surrey. 
T.ONDON FLOWER MARKETS. 
How are we to account for the very remarkalile fact, that 
whilst Paris has fire markets, exclusively devoted to the sale 
of llowers, London has riot one ? It is true that flowers are 
sold at Covent Garden, but then thej' are of secondary con¬ 
sideration, and are so mixed up with fruit and vegetables, 
that a proper display of them, or suitable accommodation 
for purchasers, is out of the question. Those who cultivate 
llowers for sale may justly complain of the want of a proper 
site for the e.xhibition of then- productions ; and the citizens 
of London may fairly urge their need of a better supply. 
The love of flowers may be said to be universal; it is an 
inherent part of our nature, and it is not too much to expect 
th.at if a suitable market was established, and placed on a 
right footing, the sale of flowers would be increased ten-fold. 
When in London, a short time since, I noticed upon the 
paidour table of tho boarding-house at which I ivas staying, 
a vase of flowers, looking very withered and pitiful. On my 
remarking their appearance to the landlady, “ Ah,” said 
she, “ we cannot get flowers in London as you do in the 
country ; that nosegay cost me one shilling, and then I had 
to pay sixpence more by omnibus for going and returning 
from Covent-Garden to buy it, but it shall be replaced with 
another to-morrow. I love flowers, and would have a nose¬ 
gay every other day if I could afford it; as it is, I am 
obliged to be content with one in a week.” Now this good 
lady represents a numerous class who experience the same 
w.ant; and there is still a larger, with whom this difficulty 
of obtaining flowers amounts to a prohibition of their enjoy¬ 
ment ; even the opulent would like a better supply. Tlien 
we shall soon have the Crystal Palace, with its extensive 
tlower-gardens, which cannot fail to give an additional 
stimulus to the love of tlow'ers, and an increased desire to 
jiossess them. Why should not liondon, then, have a good 
flower-market, seeing that there is a demaml on the one 
1 hand, and an ability to supply it on the other'.’—S. P., 
Jtushmerc. 1 
DORKINGS versus STTANGHAES. 
I Ajr certain no man can give fowls a fairer trial than 1 
have done for the last ten months with the Itorkings, 
1 having reared nearly one hundred of each sort, and have 
no other motive in view than to find out which is the best 
sort to keep. Now,tho re.sult of my trial is quite different 
to the account of “ Shanghae Mandarin,” as 1 am able 
to point out. My Dorkings were an old breed I have had 
for years ; my Cochin-Chinas were from the very best breeds, 
winch 1 purchased for a very long price, wishing to begin 
with the best. My tirst hatch was on the I'-ith of March, 
having seven Cochin-China eggs and six Dorking eggs 
under one hen; the yiroduce was live Cochins and lour 
Dorkings, which were all reared under the same hen. At 
ten weeks tlie Dorkings were very nice fowls for tho mai'ket, 
but the Cochins had not a feather on them. At fourteen 
weeks I killed a cockerel of each sort, and weighed them 
very carefully, the Cochin-China was four ounces the 
heaviest, hut I am certain one Cochin I'ats quite as much as 
two Dorkings ; then they were both cooked together, and 
served up on one dish ; the Dorking was a fine plump fowl 
as could be, but the Cochin was ugly, and looked ns if 
the cook had given him a coat of yellow paint before she 
sent him in—tho Dorking was of rich white flesh, and 
the Cochin very little but bone, and although the Cochin 
was four ounces more weight, tho Dorking -was worth two of 
him as a table fowl. Tho only point where the Cochin- 
China can have any preference is their laying; they certainly 
are better layers, but in no other point can they equal the 
Dorking; and I am convinced, from my trial of the Cochin- 
Chinas, that they are not the fowls for a cottager, who 
must have something that will come sooner to profit than 
the Cochin-Chinas, if he has no other way to dispose of 
them but in the market. I am certain he can rear Dorldngs 
for very little more than half the cost he can Cochin-Chinas, 
and he can take his Dorkings to market at three months 
old, when he must keep his Cocliius live moutlis, unless he 
takes them without feathers on, whe)i they would look more 
like young owls than poultry going to a market, for they do 
certainly look curious things in that downy state in wliich 
they remain so long; and any cottager eoramencing with 
Cochin-Chinas will very’ soon find out his mistalce.for they' are 
not like other fowls, straying off and finding food for them¬ 
selves, but standing moping together all day, entirely depend¬ 
ing upon what you give them, and that never comes too often, 
nor in too large a quantity. Now I am not writing what my 
man has told me, nor what my poultry-woman has told me, 
but from practice, as no other person has given my fowls 
one handful of food but myself, and after ton months fair 
and impartial trial, 1 have perfectly satisfied myself that 
the Dorking beats the Cochin-Chinas ten to one. 
I would ask “ Shanghae Mandarin” what will become 
of his Cochin-Chinas two years hence, when there is no 
other way to ilispose of them but in the market. IVhat 
sort of a figure will they cut in a mai'ket beside a lot of 
nice Dorkings at three months old each ? they wiU be 
laughed at, whilst the Dorkings will find a quick sale, and 
then will be the time when the cottager will find out which 
is the best to keep. I am certain my Dorkings are in 
better condition with what they can find in a farm-yard 
and a grass-field to stray in, than the Cochin-Chinas are 
w^ith as good a walk and a very great deal of artificial feed¬ 
ing, and will surpass them in weight; to be certain of which I 
have just weighed them before I write, making choice of the 
best of each, and of these I give you the list:—Dorking 
cockerel, hatched April 1st, hlbs. Hozs.; pullet, sister to him, 
bibs. I'-lozs.; hen, eighteen months old, 8lbs.; Cochin- 
China cockerel, hatched March ff.'itb, 81bs.; pullet, sister to 
him, 71bs.; hen, twenty months old, Tibs. Iffozs. The 
Dorkings are of my own breed, and the Cochins from a 
Sturgeon’s hen. What will “ Shanghae Mandarin” say to 
this ? 1 have no doubt but some of the Cochin-China 
breeders will say that they can beat this in weight, and so 
they may; but not without a very great deal of artificial 
feeding. Perhaps, too, they may say it is agreat weight for the 
Dorking, and so it is ; but they must be of a pure breed, not 
like some that a well-known exhibitor brouglit out last year 
at Ijirmingham, crossed with the grey game fowl to get the 
I rich colour. He got the coloiu', but lost the size, which did 
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