490 
THE COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 
Makch 24. 
feeding it twice a day witli pills (about the size of those 
used for cramming fowls) composed of meal mixed with 
ale, taking care to supply it with plenty of fresh water, as 
ahlioiigh blind they are still able to liud the dish containing 
the water. 
I found that most of the birds were “blind” from two to 
four days, and after that time gradually recovered. Is not 
this disease very similar to the “ roup ? ” ‘ 
In regard to tlie query—“ Which variety of fowls eat the 
most I ”—although I have never kept any accurate account, 
I am still decidctHy inclined to tliink, that of the seven 
varieties which I keep, the “Malays” are the largest cun- 
sinners, closely followed by the “ Cochins.”— Wili.iaji Porn, 
Si/mmishiiry. 
LADY-GAEDENEES. 
In these days, when the country swarms with editors of 
gardening publications and their co-adjutors, all dictators 
of taste in their lino, how is it, Mr. Editor, that tliero are 
in every neighbourhood so many rubbish-plots, falsely called 
gardens, adjoining gentlemen's houses ? I think, Mr. 
hlditor, you are not without blame in this matter; you 
mistify tlie public so, that no one rightly knows whore to 
tlx the disgrace of slovenly gardens. You tell us at one 
time “ tho garden is too large for the strength keptat 
another, “tho gardener is an incapable.” Now, you have 
added to your title “The Country Gentleman’s Companion;” 
why not have done yourself and the public a service by 
adding instead “ The Country Gentlewoman’s Companion,” 
and kept the title in your mind? I am very fond of gardens; 
I stick at no trouble if I can Ausit them; and wherever I 
have seen a garden remarkable for beauty, I have always 
found the mistress of the place took an active delight in its 
superintendance; and let wives but find intellect to direct, 
and where is the husband will grudge paying for labour 
properly applied? I am sure clever gardeners will chime in 
with mo in the above recommendation, as their abilities 
can only be appreciated by knowing ones. Your able co¬ 
adjutor, Mr. Beaton, a master in his profession, I know will 
hear me out, for he speaks gallantly of the assistance and 
encouragement he received of his mistress, and from ladies 
in general. Now, if gentlewomen who can afford to have 
men of Mr. Beaton’s stamp, with a whole staff of sub¬ 
ordinates to superintend their gardening operations, neglect 
not to give their time and attention to ^details, what can be 
said for those ladies who can afford but one or two ordinary 
gardeners, and require a proper day’s manual labour out of 
them ? Is it to their praise if they exercise their mental 
powers on crochet-work or knitting, which any child of three 
years old may rival them at, while their gardens are being 
managed with the most ■wretched taste ? Who can blame the 
gardeners under such circumstances ? A modern author 
says, “the smell of the earth has in no country a favourable 
effect on the development of mind.” Now, this is so far 
true, that the afore-mentioned gardeners, who would culti¬ 
vate their minds, must work by night as well as day, and I 
am proud to say many do so; but employers have no right 
to expect, in a general way, to reap the benefit of such culti¬ 
vation. When Fox and Henderson undertook to build the 
Crystal Palace, or any other of their great public works, they 
knew they must employ the common labour in the market, 
and expected to be shown no favour on that account. The 
wives of England have contracted to make the homes of 
their husbands earthly paradises ; let them take a pattern 
from Fox and Henderson, and make the best possible use 
of the materials at hand; by so doing they may feel assured 
of finding their full modicum of contentment, health, wealth, 
and unfeigned approbation.—Y. 
POLAND versus IIAMBUEGH. 
I AM perfectly aware that all the varieties of the Chitte- 
lU’ats, Boltons, and Dutch fowls, have lately been classed 
together, under the title of Hamhurgh fowls. I believe the 
Rev. E. S. Dixon first promulgated this classification, and 
that it has been since followed at most of the leading 
poultry shows. It is not the classification that I object to. 
which I consider good, btrt merely the adoption of the name 
Hamburgh, that did properly belong to a tufted variety of 
fowl. I think it would have been much better to have 
classed them together under one of their own names, of 
which there is a great variety, instead of depriving the 
Ilamburghs of the only one by which they were knowm. 
That the real Polands ai'e distinct from the Ilamburghs 
(also a variety with lai’ge tufts), I will sliow by a side-by- 
side description of each, and had tho Rev. E. S. Dixon 
been acquainted with their distinctness, he never w’ould have 
described the Ilamburghs as I’oles (for those he has de¬ 
scribed in his work are certainly not Polands), nor would 
ho, with such a knowledge, have applied this name to the 
tul'tless varieties ; nor do I suppose he would have mistaken 
the colour of a true spangle. 
I can assure all those interested in the poultry fancy, that 
the two varieties did exist not many years back, but as the 
Poles became scarce, the Hamburghs, of German extraction, 
usurped their place, and in the course of time the true 
properties of the Polands seem to have been forgotten, and 
the Hambm-ghs generally received as such, which error I 
wish to point out. 
POLAND. HAMBLTIGH. 
A largo fowl, the cock of 
good courage, hens non¬ 
sitters, chickens tolerably 
hardy. 
No comb, not even a single 
spike, top-knot very large 
and full, spreading out on 
all sides, and falling over tho 
eyes, so that the fanciers 
found it necessary to tie up 
or clip away some of tho 
feathers that the bird might 
see better. 
Body glossy-black, chang¬ 
ing to purple and green; 
top knot quite white. 
Colour of the Spangled 
Polands rich ochre - red, 
lined or grizzled with black, 
and each feather tipped with 
a white spangle at the ex¬ 
tremity. 
Top-knots white. 
White Polands, body clear 
white. 
Top - knots black. 
These last are generally 
considered extinct, but it is 
forgotten that the true 
Polands, through all their 
varieties, are likewise going. 
A medium-sized fowl; the 
cock a great coward; the 
hens generally sit; chicken 
tender. 
Comb small, generally 
double, terminating in two 
spikes or horns, and fronting 
a good - sized tuft, whicli 
flows backwards, leaving the 
eyes exposed. 
Body black, frequentl)' 
grizzled, with gold or silver ; 
tuft white, faced with black, 
and sometimes nearly all 
black. 
Colour of Pheasanted- 
Hamburgh, ochre-red, each 
feather having a black spot 
at the extremity, the mark¬ 
ing often irregular. Cocks 
frequently dai'k about the 
thigs. 
Tufts almost always dark. 
Laced - Hamburghs were 
of two varieties, gold and 
silver, the feathers were 
clear of other colour, having 
a narrow margin of black. 
Tuft also dark. 
Both varieties are occasionally muffled, or bearded, but 
the Hamburghs more generally so. It will be seen by these 
descriptions what is necessary to constitute a true Poland 
fowl, and, on inspection, I think it will be found that nearly 
all the birds at the present time known by that name have, 
more or less, relationship with the Hamburghs. The Rev. 
E. S. Dixon, in his praiseworthy attempt to clear up the 
(to the uninitiated) confusion respecting the Dutch, alias 
Bolton, alias Chitteprats, has caused a greater confusion 
between tho true Poles and their cousins-german the Ham¬ 
burgh fowls. These varieties are frequently imported direct 
from Hamburgh, which name they have enjoyed these thirty 
years—quite sufficient to prove their claim. It is also true 
that a few of the Dutch pencilled fowls are sometimes 
brought from Ilambiu’gh, and thus by some have been con¬ 
sidered as Hamburghs; but this is not a sufficient reason 
that the whole family of Dutch, Bolton, Chitteprats, ifcc., 
shotild appropriate the name to then’ own use, and to whicli 
they have only aspired duiing the last few years. 
It is not my wish, however, to enter into a Chancery suit 
as to whether the Hamburghs are to gain possession of 
their name; all I wish is, that the properties of the true 
I 
