Febkijauy 1!». 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION 
381 
III craninilng, the usual plan is to mix tlie oatmeal rather 
sulitl, wilh milk or water, ami to roll it into small sausage- 
'haped masses, ihe size of the finger, and about two inches 
long; lialf a dozen of Ihcso are taken, and having been 
dipped in some liguid, as milk, are placed one after the 
other in the back part of the mouth of the fowl, when the 
beak is closed, and the mass gently assisted down ttie- 
throat by the latter being stroked by the hand, before a 
second is inserted. 
'I'lio birds are craninu'd in this way two or three limes a 
day, care being taken to ascertain, by gentle handling, that 
the last meal has passed through the crop; should this not 
be the case, more is not given, but some lukewarm water is 
j'omed into the mouth to loosen the hardened mass, and 
})i'event the bird becoming crop-bound, an evil which would 
render it useh;ss for the table. 
! I'lie fattened Dorkings prepared for the London market 
by the })lans above described, are frequently termed capons, 
: but incorrectly, as the operation of caponizing has not been 
i performed on them; in fact, it is not re([uired, if the birds 
arc cooped before they have arrived at maturity; and the 
j extremely severe nature of the operation in fowls, us com- 
1 pared with the corresponding one on quadrupeds, renders it 
i attended with so much risk and loss, that it is very seklom 
i practiced in this country. 
I In conclusion, afew words may be said respecting fattening 
j the other varieties of domestic poultry. 
! TuiiKi'.vs,—If well fed, scarcely re<iuire any fattening 
1 process. Shotdd, however, it bo deemed requisite, they may 
j tje coulined within a moderate range, and liberally supplied 
with meal and milk, with occasional green food, as recom¬ 
mended for fowls. Barley meal is usually employed, but its 
inferiority to oatmeal has already been insisted on. 
Geese. —Geese are also, if well kept, usually in sutliciently 
good condition for killijtg. Should it be required to fatten 
them, several together should be coulined in a comfortable 
shed, kept very clean by the daily removal of the soiled 
litter, and they may bo fed for a fortnight on oats thrown 
into a pan of water; and should they be required still fatter, 
an additional ten day’s feeding on scalded meal, or middlings 
and meal, will be found all that is requisite; a little green 
food and gravel being given at the same time. 
^^'hen geese are killed very young, they are usually termed 
green geese; and for this purpose, it will be fotnid more 
desirable to restrict them from the water than to allow them 
free access to it, as they fatten more readily, and attain a 
larger size at their early age. 
Ducks. —Ducks, from being not at all particular in their 
diet, I'equire to bo contined to clean food some days before 
they arc killed. If they arc shut up in a shed, or contined 
in a small enclosure, and liberally ted with wdiolo oats in 
water, and meal slaked, they will be found, in a fortnight, to 
have become sutliciently fat lor all usetul purposes. It is 
not essential that they should have w’ater to swim in during 
fatteniiig; in fact, such exercise rather lessens than tends 
to increase the accumulatioir of fat. 
Tiic early ducklings that realize such high prices in the 
London markets arc of the Aylesbury variety ; distinguished 
hy their great size, white plumage, and large, pale tlesh- 
: coloured hills. If fed with an unlimited supply of oats 
! ])laced in a vessel cd' water, and not allow'ed mm h room to 
i swim, the (d<l birds will lay freely in winter; when the I'ggs 
j should he hatched uuder hens, and the dnrl<hugs liberally 
I fed with slaked oatmeal and fine middlings, and afterwards 
I witli oats in water. Under this treatment they may he imulc 
i ready for the table in less than two moidhs, and yield a very 
' remunerative return. Ducklings invariably gi'ow much 
more rapidly if kept from swimming, than if allowed free 
access to a pond or river. 
■\V. B. Teoet.ueiek. 
^ JVooil Grcfii, Tolf.i'nhi)in, near London. 
. THE RlKMlNGilAJI TIOEON TRI/E CUi’. 
I Pahnam i/ui incruil fentt, 
j 1 GiiEATLy lear that your correspondent—who signed him- 
j self “ TmsTii.ut Shandy, of Hull,” in a coninumication 
I imblishcd in yonr paper on the 1st of January, ami wliicli 
j has only now met my eye—must have suffered at the Bir¬ 
mingham Exhibition from a misfortune similar to the one 
tliat liis namesake—“ that unhappy Tristram ! Child of 
wrath ! mistake! and discontent”—endured at the hands of 
Di'. Slop ; that is, I fear the decision of the Birmingham 
.indges, like the forceps of the obstolric Doctor, must have 
put his nose most sadly out of joint. Surely, no person 
could have w'ritten so vindictive and extraordinary an article, 
willi so little real point, unless snlfering from some ill- 
eiidured defeat. It is diflicnlt to know', exactly, what he 
wishes to complain of; except, that in the enp elass, where 
four pens of any distinct varieties had to coidend against 
any otlier four pens of distinct varieties, tliose groups w'ere 
passed over which contained some good and some indifferent 
birds, with simply a notice of commendation, on account of 
those they contained that were good; and that the prize 
was awarded to by far the most perfect and unobjectionable 
four pens, hut which happened, unfortunately, to consist of 
kinds sometimes designated as 'd’oi/s, instead of Can-icrx, 
Jointers, and Almonds, with a pen of one of the otlier varie¬ 
ties. Ei-om this, “ Tiustham ” appears to conclude, tlial the 
Judges did not know, ceteris paril)i(s, which was of the most 
money value, or the most difficult to produce—a first-class 
Carrier, ov a first-class Tatj; hut 1 very much doubt if the 
Judges were not quite as fully aware of the points of excel¬ 
lence, and the diilicnlty of breeding first-class Carriers, 
Almonds, or Pouters, as “ Tihstkaji Shaxiiy ” himself. They 
also appear to have Iniown that second-rate birds of those 
varieties had no right to rob better birds of other, if less 
choice, varieties, in a contest open to all; and tliat, as one or 
two sw allows do not make a summer, so one or tiio good 
pons were not enough to secure the prize against Jbiir pens, 
equally good, or better. 
i think, if w'e look a little into the matter, and my recol¬ 
lection serves me, we shall be much at a loss to find which 
of the other four yiens, upon their individual and conjoined 
merits, were to have set aside those that obtained the cup, 
and to have received the much-coveted award. Were the 
coarse-yellow' Owls in one group ; the bad-featbered and 
broken-eyed Almonds in anotlier; the Dan Horsemen, ex- 
liibited as C'uw'crA-, in a third; or the short-legged, tbick- 
bodied, or badly-deported Pouters in a fourlb, entitled to 
share as part recipients of the ciqi '! On the oilier hand, if 
we turn to the prize-group—w’crc there better Du/i/mVs shown 
among the birds exhibited exclusively in that class? Were 
tlnu’e butler Owh in that class, or TnrhitsI or short-faced 
Beards ! Nay; were there any as good ? And could not each 
or any of tliese have taken prizes in their own class ? Can 
that be said of any other group exhibited for the cup? 
^\Tlich pen of Ponlers could have done so ; even in a class 
where all were second-rate? The pen of Almonds exhibited 
with the coarse Pun Jlorsemeu might, indeed, liavo done so, 
as they (the Almonds') were good birds; but would those 
Dun Horsemen, or, indeed, any of the Carriers, have taken 
the prizes against those exhibited hy Mr. Siddons, though 
there were a good pair of black, and a good pair of dun 
C'urn't'rA-exhibited; but, unfortunately, grouped with birds 
of inferior merit, wliich militated, no doubt, against their 
success ? 
That one of the Judges expressed his opinion strongly, 
1 know', upon the invidious position that an adjudicator was 
placed in, by the undonhlcd necessity of awarding tlie cup to 
the BEST four pens of I’igeons (f diitekicnt vakieties, re¬ 
gardless of the relative value of the species to which they 
belonged; and expressed a sincere hope, that, upon a future 
occasion, '• tw'o cups might he olfered ; the one for the three 
best pens of Carriers, Pouters, and Almonds only; the other 
cup for the three best pens of any other varieties of fancy 
I’igcons.” This, certainly, I consider, woidd be the fairest 
course to adoiit, hotli as regards exhibitors and judges. 
In conclusion, I would seriously recommend Master 
“ Tiustram Shandy,” when again attacking tlie decisions of 
gentlemen w ho are rci]itcsted to officiate as Judges, to make 
liimselt, first of all, fully acquainted with the exact inslrnc- 
tions that they have to guide them in adjudging tlieir awards. 
And as to the accuracy of Ids owui observations, when he 
descants upon the goodness of the white Carriers of Mr. 
Adkins, I am at a loss to know' Avbere the// were oxhihited ! 
1 can only rememher the Pun LLorsemen exhibited by Miss 
C. Adkins as Carriers; hut which, certainly, were not true 
Carriers at all; and liad it not been for them, and the 
