THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 27. 
332 
authorities, that lime mixed, in quantities quite incom¬ 
patible, I am sure, with floral cultivation, with the soil from 
old hedge-row borders, although left to stand some montlis 
in a heap, is not effectual to exterminate, although it is 
believed it destroys, as no doubt it does, great numbers of 
the pests.—.1. S. 
THE DUBLIN AMATEUR POULTRY SHOW. 
The attention of the Managing Committee of the Ama¬ 
teur Poultiy Society of Dublin has been called to a report 
wiiich has beon published in the number of your Journal 
issued the tith instant, and which you state was furnished to 
you by Mr. I. J. Nolan. 
Had you not given the name of your correspondent, we 
should not have been at any loss to trace the source from 
whence tlie report emanated; and had Mr. Nolan confined 
his abuse to us and our mismanagement, we should have 
treated his remarks with silent contempt; but, when he has 
the effrontery to impute dishonourable motives and a biassed 
decision to the gentlemen who acted as judges upon the 
occasion, we deem ourselves called upon to rebut his asser¬ 
tions, and give them the most unequivocal contradiction, 
i'erhaps the language in which we write may be deemed 
strong; but can we pass over in silence the following 
portion of his report without feeling indignant at the im¬ 
putations contained in it? He says, “Our judges are, ! 
unfortunately, the relatives or friends of the exhibitors; | 
and what Irish judge is so immaculate as not to feel an i 
erroneous j)rejudicc in favour of his friend, particularly 
when they walk out with printed catalogues in their hands?” 
He does not, and dare not, ventm’e to assert that they 
walked in with them, or ever had them previous to the 
adjudication, or could have had any idea of the ownership 
of the birds on which they were about to adjudicate. He 
further adds, “that he would advise, that, as at the English 
shows the judges bo brought from a distance.” We feel it 
our duty to state, in reference to this remark, that, appre¬ 
hending it possible that Mr. Nolan, or such another, might 
make this objection, every endeavour was made by us to ob¬ 
tain a third judge from England, having previously obtained 
the assistance of two gentlemen who live at a distance from ! 
Dublin exceeding at least forty miles, and who were wholly j 
unacquainted with the ownership of the birds exhibited. , 
Those judges were The Hon. Walter Arbuthnot, of Harris- 
town, near Kinnegar; and Thomas Eutherfoord, Esq., of 
Mooretown House, Ardee; the third judge being also a 
gentleman of high standing, but living near Dublin, and i 
who kindly consented to act, at our urgent request, when at j 
the last moment it was found impossible to prociu’e a third 
one from England. 
Now, Mr. Editor, let us look at the facts. You are aware 
that strict punctuality on the part of the pmblic cannot be 
commanded; and although !) o’clock a.hi. was the hour 
named for all the birds to be in the room, it was full 10 
before all had arrived; and more than 11 before all were 
arranged in the different pens. Shortly after which the 
judges, fm’nished with a book in skeleton only, commenced 
their labours; and at 1 o’clock p.m., the hour announced 
for opening the doors had arrived, they had only given their 
decision upon the different varieties of the Gallirraceous 
Poultry, the public became clamorous for admission, and, 
in order to keep faith with them, the Committee thought it 
prudent to defer the judging of the Ducks, Geese, and 
j Trrrkeys, rrntil the following morning. 
Mr. Nolan also refers to mismanagements, and says, “ he 
regrets, that either by neglect or design, some Aylesbury 
I Ducks are called Labrador, arrd improperly classified, or 
! errtirely omitted.” There was but orre lot of Ducks out of 
I its place, which was caused by warrt of rooirr; arrd they did 
not belong to the lady whose name he makes so free with, 
j He further says : “ how the Managing Committee corrld 
I mistake the White Aylesbury for Black Labrador is of diffi¬ 
cult explarration.” We beg to assure you, Mr. Editor, that 
i wo are not quite so strrltifred as not to know the difl’eretree 
! between black arrd white. Arrd W'e also take this opporturrity 
I of informing Mr. Nolan, or, as he is pleased to style him- 
I self, a “ true fancier, and the oldest Amateur in Ireland,” 
that the Labrador Duck is a pied Duck, “ Euligula Labra- 
dora” of Bonaparte, a very scarce marine bird, and is not 
the black variety of the common duck, commonly known as 
the Buenos Ajues or South Anrericarr Duck. 
We have the honour to be. Sir, 
Your most obedierrt servants, 
J. E. Dojibeain, 
W. B. Set.w'ood, 
Eichaed P. Wii.liams, 
Dublin, 17 January, 1803. 
Munayiny Committee, 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Stove Climbers {//. J?.).—Turnout the CombreUimhy &\\ means, 
and close spur it. 'I’liere is a mass of confusion amonp; the Ipomaas. 
The one you ask about (/. jaliipa) has a light pink flower. The true 
Jalap ipo7nwa, is about as hardy as the Mandevillea suaveolens. We 
flowered it in the open air, close to London, in 183S, while the good 
people in Edinburgh were training it over the stoves. It is in the garden * 
of the Horticultural Society, we believe. Jasminum grandijiomm stands 
three times more heat than the MandevUlea, but both are very hardy, 
greenhouse plants. All the Jasmines put together could not be com¬ 
pared to a fine-grown Mandevillea, but it requires enormous room to 
bloom well. 
Cape Bulb (W. D,). —The description of the bulb being “very 
scaly,” puts it out of the whole order of Amaryllids. There is no known 
bulb in all Africa which comes near your description. Without a flower 
and a leaf, no one can truly say what way a bulb ought to be treated, 
and there is not the least reliance on the names sent home from the Cape 
growers. We could publish the names of some parties at the Cape who 
make a regular practice of deliberately cheating their customers by the 
use of false names to bulbs. 
Poultry Feathers (Scrutator), —Your enclosures of gold and silver- 
laced Poland feathers have been received. They are very good, especially 
the silver, and, provided other necessary points of excellence are present, 
we should be glad to know whether you have any to part with. But you 
must not forget that a "spangled" Poland ("splashed" we should 
agree with you in discarding) is a recognised variety, and need not be 
opposed to your laced birds. But in reply to your communication, as 
also with respect to that of Mr. Brent, we must have more to say another 
week.—W. 
Amaryllis (An Amateur, Dublin), — You bought some of these 
without names; they are kept dry in pots in a stove, since October, and 
two of them show flowers, and you give them water, but are puzzled 
what to do with the rest, some of which are now growing. Y'our bulbs 
are of the Hippeustrum section of Amaryllids. Friable yellow loam, 
such as you would choose for Strawberries in pots, for Melons, or for 
Pine-apples, reduced slightly with a little sand, is the best for all this 
race. Once in six years is often enough to repot them, and that should 
be done as soon as the leaves are full grown, or if the soil gets wrong, and 
you wish to change it altogether, you must repot whenever you see the 
points of the first two leaves rising in the middle of the bulb. At this 
early season, flO” is hot enough for those in growth, and 45° for such as 
are yet dormant. In the yellow loam, and in this heat, one watering a- 
wcek will be enough for them till the middle of February, When the 
leaves are full grown they will stand great heat, and water every day ; 
before then you will see more about them in these pages. 
Flower-garden Plans (Queen Mab), —Your plan has come to hand, 
and is just one of those sorts that we are so desirous to publish. It shall 
appear soon. (W, S,), —Another very good plan in a different style, and 
will follow that of her Majesty’s, when the planting will be somewhat 
improved; but you had it very near the mark last season. 
Pure-bred Chickens. —“I am sorry to see you have inserted two 
words in my communication, at page 292 of the number of The Cottage 
Gardener, for the 13th of January, 1853, by which additions you have 
quite changed the sense, and altered my meaning. I allude to the word 
“during” at line 47, and “without ” at line 48; to be more explicit, I 
wished it to be understood, that if a hen had been with a cock of a dif¬ 
ferent breed, that after her removal from him, and being placed with one j 
of the same sort as herself, that in three weeks after her removal, it is my i 
opinion that her eggs may then be depended on to produce pure-bred } 
chicken j my trials went to prove that fourteen days were sufficient, but I ' 
prefer three weeks for certainty.”—B. P. B. j 
Combs of Dorkings. —“ I must beg to differ from you respecting the 
combs of Dorkings; as all the true old-fashioned Dorkings I have had, or 
seen, have had rose-combs; and it is my belief that the single combs are 
to be attributed to the crosses with large single-combed varieties, by 
which their size has been so much improved. I do not think a single 
comb any objection, if the fowl is to be eaten; but, as a point of breed, 
I consider it of as much importance as a short neck, short white legs, 
five toes, or square build.”—B. P. B. 
Canker in Pigeons. —“ Perhaps the following may be useful to your 
correspondent, “ J. T.” This disease shows itselfin lumps of yellowish- 
white fungus-looking pus, in the mouths, throats, and on the heads of 
pigeons, and very often causes death ; the matter has a very offensive 
smell, and is infectious. I think the infection is communicated by 
drinking at the same water, therefore it is advisable to remove the in¬ 
fected pigeons from the others. Fanciers say it is caused by foul water, 
drinking from tin vessels, or by pecking each other. I have had it occur 
where none of these causes could affect them. I am inclined to think it 
sometimes arises from their not having green food, such as clover, lettuce, 
cabbage, Ike,; or too much salt may cause a predisposition. Burnt alum 
and honey is recommended to anoint the parts with. The Germans 
remove the lumps with a sharp piece of wood, and apply tobacco juice 
from a pipe to the wounds; but I have found caustic applied to the 
wounds, after removing every particle of the matter, to be the surest 
remedy ; do it effectually, but carefully. 1 have only once lost a pigeon 
