40 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Fkeritar-* 20. 
i of course a practical man—a very “ INIr. Meagles,” in Little 
j Dori it. T.et us look at your own doings, my dear Sir, in 
' your 1‘oultry Sliow ; from which you would exclude Pigeons. 
And, as a set otf to “ dwarf beaks,” “ toe-nails,” and “ fleshy 
I faces”in Pigeons;—let us ask you, what special advantage 
there is, in “dwai flng” your Bantams—your Sehrights, your 
I lilaek and your white Bantams ! What special vst; there is, 
ill giving your efforts to produce a huge bunch of feathers, 
on the head of a Polish fowl; its grand property ! What 
sort of employment of time it is, to expend it in merely 
j obtaining a spangled feather, in the Gohivn Phcasmil; ov a 
! pencilled one, in the Pencilled Jhileh ! What more peculiar 
j charm i.s thei’e, in a fifth toe of the Borkiiig, than in your 
! own account of toe-nails, in the I’outer! And what par¬ 
ticular advantage has the white, or nuillun jitt face, of the 
Spanish, over the fleshy face of a Carrier! 
I Now, we will strike the balance—and tekel, tehel will be 
i your dole.—You Sir, “ will be found wanting.” The Pigeon 
fancier hestow's all his efforts to n.-isisl, to develop Ihe inslinci, 
or Ihe pcenHor huhitx of his Tumblers, Carriers and Pouters 
—and which, I need not recapitulate.—Tell us now, on your 
side, the useBilne.ss, (for you are a lover of the useful, you 
Icnow)—T say the usefulness, of your dwarfing Bantams,— 
of your immense Polish top-knots—of the fifth claw of your 
Dorkings—and of the multon-fat faces, of your Spanish ! ! 
I will now. Sir, let you off—but with this special caution 
and advice. Pude your hobby-horse as far and as long as 
1 you like;—hut ride him quietiy, and discreetly, on the road; 
and do not bespatter other people with your dirt, because 
their hobby-horses ai’e not. of the same colour as your own. 
And further, do not insult even a poor man on the road, or 
insist upon having it all to yourself, because he only rides a 
donkey. He has as much love for his useful beast, as you 
have pride in your mettlesome Tit; which, it is evident, is 
somewliat of an unruly temper; or, you know not how to 
ride him, as becomes a fair and just rider. 
Pray let us have no more cant, about “ loving the useful.” 
Are 20 pounds given for a pen of Bantams, as at Liverpool, 
because of their usefulness? Are ”>0 pounds given for a 
pen of Dorkings, because they will furnish larger chickens 
for the table? Are TlOO given for Bl.ack Spanish, because 
they too, will furnish eggs or chickens, more plentifully for 
the larder ? No—but their ehiehens icill sell for more money — 
their eggs line the purse! The larder, forsooth! pooh!— 
their usefulness!—fiddlesticks! No one more deeply re¬ 
gretted his Spanish TlOO, than Mr. Davies; ’twas his own 
fault, and he should have priced them atTlOOO. The value, 
of tliis fine “ usefulness,” is but Hudibiastic then, after 
all, and 
The true usefulness of a thing 
Is, as murk money as 'twill bring. 
i In conclusion, and in exculpation;—for this “Lover of 
the Useful,” talks of my “ considering my own geese as 
I stvans”—that, “if I will send Pigeons to Poultry Shows, I 
j must be content with the inferior position 1 am placed in”— 
i “not blame the Judges,” and so on. Bless the man! I have 
I no Pigeons to show! not one worthy of even the most in- 
I ferior position. 
But, as to finding fault with tlie “ Brummagem judg- 
j raent ” of Pigeons, (oh, “let the galled Jade wince”) that I 
have done—aye and done to some purpose too—and re¬ 
ceived the thanks, not only privately, but in some cases 
publicly in this Journal, from tlie first Pigeon fanciers. 
Let me conclude, with one more word of advice, to this 
“Lover of the Useful”—If he cannot understand, how any 
one can write from disinterested motives,—if he cannot 
! understand hoiv I, Tristram Shandy, can write only from a 
I love of justice and of right,—let him, by all means, hold 
! his peace; otherwise, it may excite my natiu’al suspicion, 
that a Lover of the Useful, is not, necessarily, a Lover_of 
Justice.—TnisTR.\M Shaxdy, Hull. 
A SHOW FOR PRIZE BIRDS ONLY. 
In your description of the Liverpool I’oidtry Show, you 
pictured it as the meeting of giants, the battle-field for the 
victors of the season, where they contested for the final 
supremacy. Now, it cannot be denied, that it is very 
desirable that at the close of eacli season some such con ■ 
test shordd take place; but surely all the giants, a.s you 
term them, ought to have equal chances in the contest; it 
is hardly fair to handicap iiai.r of them, by ])lacing them | 
in dark, lower, pens, where the judges themselves state it I 
i.s almost impossible to ascertain the merits of the pens. 
If a contest of this sort is to take at Liverpool, or elsewheiv, 
the committee of management ought to put all the birds in 
upper pens, with equally good light; and until all are put . 
in that position, I contend that the competition cannot be 
fair. High entrance fees will be willingly paid if pro¬ 
portionate accommodation is provided. If the Liverpool j 
committee will not provide that accommodation, there will j 
be an excellent opening for any entei’prising committee to 
open a real fair field of battle to the victors of the season j 
only, and at any entrance fee they like to charge—AV. IV. j 
[We think this suggestion of a deciding competition for ' 
none but victors, (perh.aps “ Highly Commended ” birds 
also might be admitted,) is a very good suggestion. It is like ^ 
the deciding contests at coursing meetings,—En. C. G.] 
THE SILVER POI.AND CL.\SS AT THE 
LIVERPOOL SHOW. 
Observing the numerous complaints as to mis-jiulgment, 
wliich have lately appeared, and as there is no appeal to a i 
committee from the .ludges’ awards, an aggrieved exhibitor ■ 
has but to look to the bar of public opinion for justice. I, 
accordingly, beg leave to bring before the notice of your ; 
readei’s the case of the award of the Cup in the crested , 
classes at the late Liverpool Show. We all know, that in 
the Polands, whether of the Silver or Golden variety, the ■ 
beauty and perfection consists in the accuracy and regularity , 
of the markings, particularly of the neck and breast, which 
presents the large.st field for displaying them. What, then, 
is to be said of an award that throws all these aside, and 
gives the prize to a bird with a hh(ek breast, such a bird as 
no breeder would allow into his yard? Did any one ever 
hear of such a thing as a Hlurk-breasted klilver Poland! < 
The owner of this fortunate bird, the catalogue informs us, I 
was Mr. S. T. Baker, King’s Road, Chelsea. What would 
the public say, if a prize was awarded to a Black-breasted 
Sebright Bantam, passing over a host of accurately laced 
ones? This was precisely the case; a member of the 
committee was appealed to, and his attention called to the 
fact, that the award w'as contrary to the rules, but he declined 
to interfere; the only course, therefore, to be taken is to 
lay the matter before the readers of The Cottage 
G.vedener. —R. WiELEms, Dublin. 
[As a visitor at the late Liverpool Poultry Exhibition, 
perhaps a few' remai’ks on the accusation preferred by R. 
Williams, Esq., of Dublin, against the tlecision of the 
Judges in the Silver Poland class will be kindly granted me. j 
I confess that gentleman’s letter has somewhat surprised 
me, w'hether in respect of his expressed ojiinions of the 
most important essentials in a Poland variety, or his most 
extraordinarj' query, “ Did any one ever hear of such a i 
thing as a Black-breasted Silver Poland?” To this, I i 
willingly reply,— Never, until the thought originated in the 
mind of Mr, Williams, did I hear of “ such a thing ” as he ’ 
describes ; and I will also add (that though for many years 
a careful breeder of this really beautiful variety of fowls, 
and carefully overlooking the specimens at Liveiqiool), I have 
never seen such a bird as he asserts there secured the first 
premium. As regards the “ begging question ” of what 
the public would say were a prize awai’ded to a Black- 
breasted Sebright Bantam ? I believe such an event is 
so utterly improbable, that it will be quite sufficient time to ■ 
cope with the difficulty when it really occurs; and, with that 
conviction, return to the subject more especially mooted in 
respect of Silver Polands. With the ownership of the 
successful birds, the Judges had, naturally, nothing whatever 
to do, as it formed no pai't at all of their duties ; nor Jo 1 
see any plausible reason why the name of Sir. Baker, of 
Chelsea, should have been introduced in any way as con¬ 
nected with the transaction. It may, however, possibly 
attractj attention to his really beautiful birds, and give any 
