January 2. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
255 
serve to remove doubts as to the feasibility and good 
results of a scheme so essential as that to which we 
have now referred. 
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POLISH FOWL. 
; “ Black with white top-knots.” 
“ Gold-spangled.” 
j “ Silver-spangled.” 
“ White.” 
I “ Black.” 
“ Yellow laced with white.” » 
“ Blue.” 
“ Mottled.” 
“ Cuckoo.” 
Blade with white top-knots. —Plumago, in both sexes, 
uniform glossy black, with tho top-knot white, the 
feathers at the base of the tuft, in front alone ex¬ 
cepted, which aro black, the less of these the better; 
but we have never seen a bird of this variety honestly 
; possessed of a wholly white top-knot. The top-knot 
of the cock to face regularly backwards, and partially 
ou the side, but not so much as to intercept the 
sight; that of the hen to be firm, globular, and even. 
Form. Comb of the cock minute, consisting of two 
horns or spikes, which are still smaller in tho hen; 
wattles largo, and brilliant in colour. Head concealed 
in a great measure by the crest, but rounded in the 
skull; eye prominent; body deep and full, the breast 
being very protuberant; carriage erect and activo; 
These last points refer to both sexes. Legs short, 
clean, and of a dark slate colour. 
Weight of the adult cock not less than 5tbs, nor of 
the hen than litis. 
Silver-spangled. —As the Golden ; a silvery-white being 
substituted for the former ground-colour; tail black and 
white, that of the hen being evenly tipped with tho 
former colour. 
White and Black. —Each uniform in feather. 
Yellow laced with White. —The white lacing, for it 
hardly amounts to spangling, to take the place of the 
black spangling in the Gold birds. The hackle, back, 
saddle, and wings of the cock, yellow, with occasional 
white feathers. 
Golden-spangled. —Feather; Cock: hackle, back, and 
saddle, a brilliant cliesnutred; breast and thighs 
spangled with black on a clear golden-bay; tail ample, 
black, and richly bronzed; top-knot of the samo for¬ 
mation as described abovo, has usually an intermixture 
of white, the more so as the birds advance in age. A 
reference, wo think, should be given to such as are of 
the same uniform cliesnut as tho hackle. Tho wing- 
coverts laced at the side, but spangled at the extremities, 
barring the wing. The beard is now generally pre¬ 
ferred, and is usually black; an intermixture of bay 
would harmonise better with the rest of the plumago, 
especially as wholly black top-knots are now justly 
disliked. 
Hen: spangled throughout, except the top-knot, 
which should be laced, and the under part of the body, 
which is dusky, as also in the cock. 
Blue .—A race of questionable purity; plumage uni¬ 
form slaty-blue, spangled with white. 
Black and White-mottled, of dubious parentage as 
the preceding. Some of these are spaugled, or rather 
speckled throughout with blaok on a white ground, 
whilo others, where an approach to tho long-lost “ black- 
crested whito Poland,” has boen sought for, are merely 
stained on the crest and hackle. No cross between 
existing Polish varieties appears likely to restore to us 
the black-creasted white birds so generally and justly 
coveted ; but on the Continent we have every reason to 
believe they may yet reward tho persevering collector. 
All the last-named birds, the blue, yollow, and mottled 
alone excepted, exceed, on an average, the usual weight 
of tho white-crested black by almost a pound in each 
sex. There are some other sub-varieties of Polish, such 
as the grey, or grizzled, and the Cuckoo, which, however 
will hardly enter into competition with the foregoing. 
The Judge of a Polish class must satisfy himself that 
no malformation exists in the back or hips of these 
birds. Legs of any other colour than blue must be 
considered as disfiguring. A coarse elongated comb is 
vory objectionable. Tho top-knot being the great charac¬ 
teristic of the Polish, any serious defect in this feature 
must be considered fatal to the pen The White ear¬ 
lobe should be present in all tho varieties.—W. 
GROWING EARLY POTATOES IN THE 
OPEN GROUND. 
I take it for granted that the public interest as to this 
root has in no way flagged, notwithstanding the dread 
of utter extermination held by some in consequence of 
the sevority of the disease. In addition to this, we are 
now promised a Potato Yam, which is presumed to bo 
of such suporior quality as to drive our old favourite 
out of the market. 
In the first place, how to obtain a safo crop of early 
Potatoes without covering; for, cultivating them under 
any kind of protection is ill-fitted to our broad acres, and, 
indeed, in any event, requires to bo treated separately. 
I am sorry to see an erroneous impression very general 
amongst those who have not whistled at the plough ; an 
impression which leads to much disappoinmont: it is this, 
that early gotting depends on early planting. Nothing 
can bo more erroneous. To say that the earliest planter, 
however, is never the earliest gatherer of his crop, 
would be attempting to prove too much. If our climate, 
through April aud May, were such as that a frost was 
out of tho question, why, wo might soon settle the 
matter in favour of the early planter; but it is the 
reverse of this. Whatever may bias the success of what 
are termed “ main crops,” it is certain that the recur- j 
rence of frost, and the uncertainty as to how late in tho j 
spring it may visit us, aro the great rocks a-head which j 
the early Potato grower must principally dread. 
In pursuance, then, of the subject under considera¬ 
tion, it becomos a somewhat serious question, with 
those, at least, who have a rental to pay, as to what 
period they should plant, and under what conditions. 
I do not for a moment purpose a discussion as to the | 
respective merits of autumn and spring planting; this 
is wide of the subject, and refers, I conceive, more to 
what are termed main crops than early Potatoes. The 
whole matter, as a thing of profit, and divested as much 
as possible of mere speculation, seems to be this:— 
At what period may early crops of Potatoes show them- 
