Februaey 26. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
401 
imperfect regulations. If you should kindly submit it for 
the consideration of those amateurs who are in the frequent 
' habit of exhibiting at our various local shows, the proposal 
will, I am sure, be hailed with pleasure, and still more par¬ 
ticularly by those who have personally suffered from so 
serious and uncalled for an inconvenience ; the future repe¬ 
tition of which, I thus hope and endeavour to obviate. An 
extreme case has just come to my knowledge, and will afford 
every needed explanation. 
I A gentleman forwarded a considerable number of pens , 
of poultry to an exhibition where I happened I’ecently ! 
' to have awarded the premiums, and all w'ere duly and i 
safely restored to their owner “ immediately on the ) 
close of the show,” excepting the one most hii/hl;/ valued, 
and which fowls had just proved themselves most pre- 
; eminently successful. These being missing, of course, 
I caused proportionate anxiety, they having been “ entered ” 
for two other meetings. The proprietor’s residence was 
! several miles from the nearest railway station, and a man 
I was despatched twice again the following day to see if they 
had an-ivod. “ They were not come.” A letter was then 
i forwarded by iiost, complaining of their non-arrival, and re- 
' questing a telegraphic reply to - Station (which was 
fully seven miles farther from the house, but the nearest to 
which they could convey so speedg information), stating 
when they were returned. By some egregious error, the re- 
1 ply thus sent was simply—“ they all went away together,” 
i which naturally redoulded the efforts to iind them on the 
part of their owner. As the rail conveyance had changed at 
I Birmingham, he at once proceedcil by the first train, to 
' ascertain if the delay re.sted there, but obtained no informa- 
I tion whatever. He had been thus engaged at Birmingham 
I several hours, when I accidentally caught sight of him, al- 
I most at the instant niy train was setting out, and in the 
brief conversation that ensued, soon explained away the 
i difficulty altogether. The fowls had been ‘'claimed;” and 
j the circumstance was easily called to my mind, from the 
party who now possesses them having personally consulted 
j me on the expediency of imrchasing them pnior to doing so. 
How it occurred the telegraph reported the fowls sent back, 
^ 1 cannot myself determine, but naturally presume it must 
! rest entirely with some careless oversight on the part of the 
! clerk in the “ sale office.” The gentleman returned home 
! apparently well satisiied with my unexpected explanation, 
I but still not a little ruffled in temper, at the needless trouble 
I he bad endured. I have been informed, a very angry and 
remonstrative letter to the committee, written on the im 2 mlse 
of the moment, was unfortunately ijosted the same evening, 
' and the reply, conseciuently, was not very conciliatory. “ It 
; must be evident it was altogether a mistake, and that was all 
tliey could say about it.” 
I Now, if committees would only incur the really very 
trilling ex 2 )euce of having a few printed forms the same she 
j as the cards, stating—“The Managers of the Poultry Show 
■ just held at-, beg to inform the exhibitor, pens numbered 
j - are ‘claimed,’ and, therefore, will not be returned. 
! A. B., Honorary Secretary,” no such vexatious could possibly 
I ensrre. The “filling up ” would be so easy and expeditious— 
j for only few would, generally, be requiretl—that it could not 
! delay the repacking for a moment, as.the “salesman,” in all | 
■ instances, could get his forms ready previously to the final | 
close of the exhibition. 
The-se notices might, with a little thin glue, be inslanta- 
i neoushj and firmly atti.xed so as to cover the upper side of 
the direction cards—riuoR to turning them —as the address 
j in-eviously written by the proprietor himself for their return 
j is all that now remains necessary to be preserved uninjured 
‘ and legible. A notice of this brief kind, attached to one of 
' the baskets really returned, would fully explain the absence 
I of those disposed of; or, if an exhibitor’s competition was 
confined to a single pen, the same might be enclosed in a 
blank envelope by post with like effect. 
How endless a number of objectionable heart-burnings 
would thus be prevented, and none of those ill-advised 
w'ranglings take place, that must eventually cause unavoid- 
: able regret even among those engaged in them; whilst such 
intemperate out-hursts not unfrequently sever friendships, 
that otherwise might possibly have continued lasting and 
unbroken for many years. 
I will merely ad'l, in conclusion, were tlie case T have 
mentioned a solitary one, I would not have publicly intruded 
any comment tvhatever; but I am compelled to acknowledge 
it is only an instance among many that have occurred quite ; 
recently; and one, I think, well deserving the prompt at- 
teution of the I’oultry world.—E dward Hewitt. 
PIGEONS AT POULTRY SHOWS. 
And I will teach thee to coz, to shame the Devil—by telling truth— 
Oh, while you live, tell truth and shame the Devil.— Shukspeare, ^ 
I AI.I.UDE, of course, to the “ Gentleman on the Com¬ 
mittee, who keeps Cochins, and pooh, looohs Pigeons.” Now, 
let me tell the “ Lover of useful Poultry,” that he shows a 
sad want of controversial tactics, when he has recourse to 
misrepresenting his oppouer.t. Depend upon it, it will al¬ 
ways fall dottbly heavy uiton him; while the opponent comes 
forth in all the strength of injured innocence—enlisting the 
sy nijiathy of truth, in his favour. 'Thus, the “ Lover of useful , 
Poultry,” misrepresents Tristram Shandy—making him to ■ 
insist that Pigeons ought ever to be made the chief feature . 
at all Poultry Shows ! Whilst I am only interceding for | 
Pigeons—for their being duly recognised, not only at some, | 
as they are at present, but at all Poultry Shows that have 
any 2 )retensions to respectability—“urging upon Committees 
not only to ‘ admit Pigeons,’ as the humiliating phrase goes, 
but to make them a chief feature of the shows.” 
Certainly;—instead of thrusting them out altogether, as 
is the case at some shows ; or thrusting them into corners, | 
as they are at others; by all means let these birds be duly 
encouraged, placed, and seen. They are but small in size, 
and small, comparatively, in number; they require a good 
light—let tliem but have it;—they rcfiuire not much room ; 
and trust me, they will soon attract attention and be a chief 
feature of. any show. Iwt them have prizes according to their 
merit, as compared with I'oulLry; what that merit is, I have 
already shown—pi'oved, incontestably proved. I challenge 
any one to disi)rove what I have, (at least disinterestedly) 
advanced ; for I am, myself, a Poultry Amateur; but not a 
covetous, or untair one; that would keep all the good things 
for Poidtry, and let Pigeons feed upon the crumbs falling 
from the table. 
But you are facetious, my good Sir, let me expose your 
ignorance. You sneer at the Pigeon fancier, giving his time 
to “ dwarfing the beak of the Tumbler;” had you known 
any thing of the matter, you would have added, and in 
giving the 'Tumbler a short and rounded head—a short and 
round body (as well as its beautiful tricoloured marking). 
Now Sir, pray throw up your own awl, and then a ball of 
your wax, into the air, and see which will revolve the better; 
—the ball of wax to be sure ;—because it is round. Do you 
now see, why fanciers breed their Tumblers as rounded, so 
to speak, as possible V that they may tumble the better. 
You make the same bald attempt at wit, when you talk 
of fanciers devoting their ettorts to the length of the Pouter's 
toe-nail. Do you not know, that exact “ marking,” or dis¬ 
position of colour, is more difficult to obtain in the Pouter, 
than in any other bird ; whether in Ihgeons, or in Poultry ? 
Do you know nothing of length of body—of smallness of 
girth—of length of legs—of carriage, &c.! 'The toe-nail is 
your own tanscendental idea—the wit of the “ Committee¬ 
man, in the white waistcoat, who pooh poohs Pigeons !!” 
But, you besprinkle us with more Attic salt—most keen 
wit—and babble about the flesh on the face of the Carrier. 
Does the fancier make no account of the length and straight¬ 
ness of the bird’s beak—the length, narrowness and flatness, 
of its head—the neck being thin and line—the pinions being ! 
strong and powerful, Ac., in fact, does he not labour to bring 
out every property of form ivhich will conduce to swiftness and 
to power of Jligkt! And does not this flesh on the face, : 
formed as it is, wedge-shaped,—beginning in a point in ! 
front, and gradually enlarging till it joins the head,—does 
not tliis contribute to the inirpose ? 
So, I ought to have explained to your fumbling faculties, ‘ 
that the “ properties ” of the Pouter, just named, all con- ' 
tribute to the best displaying, of the birds peculiar nature ; 
of “ showing’’—that is, to the inflation of his crop, and to 
his proud attitudenizing,” ' 
But, you tell us, that you are a “Lover of useful Poultry;" : 
