470 
THE COTTAGE GAllDENEll. 
MarcII 25. 
T-T 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
Aouicultural Society (Royal). At Chclmsforil, July 1 Uh to Ipth. 
Sec. J. Hudson, Ksq., 12, Hanover Square, London. Entries close 
June 1 st. 
Anerley. July 29th, 30th, 31st, and Aug. 1 st, 
Bristol. June 25th and 26th. Sec. Robert Hillhouse Bush, Litfield 
House, Clifton, Bristol. Entries close 20th of May, 
Ksse.y. At Colchester, 8 th, pth, and 10 th of January, 1857- Secs. 
G. E. Attwood, and W. A. Warwick. 
Exeter. At Exeter, May 29 th and 30th. Sec. Mr. T. William Gray. 
Newcastle, Nortiiumrerland, and Durham. At Newcastle, 
March 26 th and 27 th. Sec. Mr. W. Trotter, South Accoinb, near 
Newcastle. 
Norw'icu. June 20th. (Norfolk Agricultural, for Subscribers only.) 
Sec. Mr. E. C. Bailey, Little O.xford Street, Norwich. Entries close 
May 31st. 
Nottinghamshire. At Southwell, December 17th and 18 tb, 1850. 
Sec. Richard Hawksley, jun. Entries close November 19 th. 
Paris. May 23rd to June 7th. Sec. M. M. E. Rouber, Division de 
I’Agriculture, rue dc Varenues, No. 78 bis, Paris. 
AV'^harfdale. April 18th, at Otlcy. Sec. Mr. T. Metcalfe, Otley, 
Windsor Poultry Exhibition. At Windsor, 4th, 5th, and 6 th of 
June. Secs. Thos. Chamberlain, and Henry Thompson. Entries 
will close May lOth. 
N.B .—Secretaries vnll oblige us by sending early copies of their lists. 
COTTAGERS’ PRIZES AT POUL'J'RYSHOWS. 
I CONFESS I have rentl ivitli cousiiU-rablo interest tlie 
shrewd and cleverly-written iiruunients that have lately ap¬ 
peared in your paper on tlio subject of Cottagers' I’rizes at 
Poultry Kxliibitions. 
Notliing could b^' possibility be more diverse than the 
I opinions entertained, nor do 1 know any one subject what- 
' ever that aftbrds so ample latitude, to controversialists fur 
ji(slijj/iii(/ tlieir own individu.al views, however much oiiposed 
to each other they in.ay happen to be. For this reason, 
tlien, I Avould not have dared to intrude my ow'u experience 
■ as to this particular matter, liad I not felt satislied that each 
party hitherto takes cognizance rather of isolated cases, and 
i thus scarcely gives suflicient heed to both sides of tliis really 
important and most interesting question. I have myself, 
from time to time, given much etfort to iiromote the univer¬ 
sal adoption of premiums to Cottagers at our i'oultvy Shows, 
wdiether by advice privately tendered to Committees, contri¬ 
butions to the public press, or rcgnlaiiy allotted 2 'rii 2 es from 
my own private luirsc ; and certainly tbe issues, as a whole, 
have been so perfectly unqualihed anil widely conllicting, 
that piossibly my wisest plan is to very succinctly lay the 
result before your numerous readers, totally disclaiming, 
however, any egotistic desire of self-^iraise, and assuring 
them my sole motive is the elucidation of truthful facts, 
I combined with the earnest hope, that by the united efforts 
1 of all interested, we may still afford such inducements to 
j humble jiersonal e.vertion as shall ensure emulation, and not 
less so the right cla.ss of c.chihltors heiio/ found in the rii/ht 
' jdnees. 
j Tor reasons that will at once be obvious to every one who 
; may tieruse this brief recital, I will merely say, it is impos- 
I sible to individualize the two parties alluded to. Indeed, 
; the more humbly situated one bas already jiassed from tliis 
transitory scene, and is, therefore, placed beyond my well- 
merited eulogy, to appear before that tribunal where the 
self-denying honour he displayed, nmler very close priva¬ 
tions, will undoubtedly meet with its due reward, and shine 
forth in bright and unfading contrast, compared with the 
conduct of the aftluent, individual to whom I must eventually 
refer. To those readers wdio feel an interest in these “ jiar- 
ticulars,’’ I direct attention to the pleasing incident con¬ 
nected wdth “poor, but honest Mike,” as it truthfully ajiiiears 
in the sixth number of tbe original Poultry CiiitONtci.E. 
To all parties wbo at the time witnessed the circumstance, 
it proved most deeply affecting, and needs not here any I'e- 
capitulation; Imt I will simiily add, whilst “Mike” Was 
j busily engaged in bis humble ocenjiation of bricklayer, the 
I lalling of a ladder caused his death in only a few hours, 
j thougli, up to that i>eriod, iiossessing a most robust and 
vigorous constitution. Let any of your readers now consider 
j for themselves the remaining case of most wilful perversion 1 
from its intended purposes of a Cottager’s prize, that I my¬ 
self oliered a few years back, and which presents so striking 
a contrast to the one just referred to. The amount, though 
not by any means considerable, proved quite too great a 
temptation for the successful competitor’s unbounded cu¬ 
pidity to withstand. It so haiqiened, I was ajipointed one of 
the two officials to award the premium, and my colleague, 
like myself, felt quite astonished at the unusual sujieriority 
and intrinsic value of one particular pen of fowls in the 
“ Cottagers’ class.” 
The success of this pen w'as certain : no doubt w'hatever 
could possibly arise as to their .all but absolute perfection, 
and they were entered as “ not for sale.” The prize being at 
once allotted, both judges felt much expectation to meet 
their owner, being convinced, that in those palmy days of 
“poultry excitement,” b}- a little advice, the owner’s pecuni¬ 
ary jiosition would be much imtiroved by careful management 
of the birds in c^uestion; for they could have been ver}' re- 
lieatcdly sold, at a high figure, to different jiarties who visited 
the Exhibition. 
At the time this class of fowls were pointed out, bolh . 
Judges asked simultaneously, “Are these your Cottagers’ 
Poultry ? ” 
After all our duties were complete, from a hint dropped 
by an unsuccessful opponent, cuidosity impelled us to take 
rather a lengthy walk, the same evening, into this “ cot¬ 
tager’s” locality, as he had not, at that time, visited the 
Exhibition. Plis house was undoubtedly “a cottagef but 
evidently, so far as appearances were concerned, besqioke 
rather the suburban villa of a w'cll-to-do man. A pony-gig 
stood (unused) by the side of the house; a King Charles’s 
spaniel was sunning itself in the window'; whilst a couifie of 
respectably attired children were, at the moment, toying 
with an aged pointer on the grass-plot!!! All these met 
our view outside the domicile; and both of us at once re¬ 
turned. thoroughly disgusted at this downright jiractical 
imposition on the funds, and, of course, without seeing any 
thing whatever of the interior. It aftbrded much matter for 
refiectiou and conversation as we returned; for it proved 
evident we had both, naturally enough, foreshadowed the 
thatch-worn cot, combined with the really restricted means 
of the farm labourer, as t he objects usually considered iden¬ 
tical with the position of a true cottager; indeed, we had 
just seen directly the reverse of what we had anticipated. 
It was impossible to reconcile our iireconceived notions of a 
cottager, as being “aa out-of-door workiny man, or ayricul- 
lural .servant," with a person actually unconnected alike with 
either business or profession, and evidently but little limited 
in ways and means. Our minds were speedily “made up;” 
and, despite the award h.aving openly gone forth to the 
world, we determined the (sovereign) prize should be the 
reward of some more deserving object, and therefore re¬ 
versed the decision ; nor, I confess, have I ever since felt a 
single momentary regret at so doing. “ Lews” of any kind 
connected with a Poultry Show always travels quickly ; and 
the winner of the previous day, hearing what had transpired, 
now' made his appearance, excessively wrathful at “ the in 
justice done him !” Supported by the Committee, little was 
said, as an uproar must liave proved injurious to the Exhi¬ 
bition ; and the amount was duly paid over, regardless of 
his threats, to a deserving man, obtaining fourteen sbillings 
per week only, out of which limited pay live little motherless 
children wore to be provided for, though I believe some 
h7//c extra pay was received from a local charitable institu¬ 
tion. I have no doubt, with your correspondent, Mr. 
■Matthew Itidgway, of Dewsbury, that many most meritorious 
humble individuals are as genuine lovers of poultry, and, 
with their limited means, have achieved even more noble 
and hardly-won triumphs than the wealthy amateur; whilst 
the very difficulties they had surmounted infinitely enhanced ; 
the credit of their success. It would, indeed, be “ignoble” j 
to endeavour to tarnish their reputation. But, on the other 
hand, of the conduct in this matter of the jiarty to whom 1 . 
have more particularly alluded, 1 will add nothing; for any ' 
thing I could urge would only render him less contemptible. ' 
The iiositiou in which we stand, as to Cottagers’ Prizes, is ! 
without any ditliculty exidained. Whoever may be tbe donor, | 
the acting Committees ai-e the only parties who can positively ; 
determine what individuals in their particular locality ought i 
to be allowed to comiiete ; the onus must lie exclusively on I 
