June 30. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. ' 
By “Roan” clucks, those usually called “Rouen” 
are, probably, meant; but the class that generally ap¬ 
pears for “ ducks of any other breed” is here omitted ; 
j and when we consider that the distinctive points of the 
i Rouen duck are so little at variance with the stock 
produced by well-selected varieties of the common duck 
of the farm-yard, aided by good management and liberal 
feeding, we certainly think that the two might well be 
arranged together. Unless colour can be proved as 
a necessary indication of the purity of any breed or 
variety of poultry, we would not reject birds that failed 
in this respect only, though superior in weight and 
form, the primary objects to be looked for in this family- 
Few, at any rate, will question the wisdom of the Dublin 
Society in banishing from their lists the ugly and 
coarse-flavoured Muscovy ducks. 
However easy the task of distinguishing between 
birds of the year and their seniors, we do not envy the 
obligation here imposed upon the judges of deciding 
as to the exact age, when two and three-year-old fowls 
are separately arranged. Chickens were formerly exhi¬ 
bited at Birmingham in pens of six, without reference 
to sex; but the alteration to a cockerel and three pullets 
was judicious in many ways, besides obviating the 
constant conflicts, and consequent damage, that resulted 
! from the presence, in the same pen, of more than one 
! male bird. 
The variations wo have noticed from the ordinary 
J form of our English prize-list are here simply placed 
before our readers, with no desire to pronounce an un¬ 
favourable opinion upon them, but that, so far as lies 
| in our power, uniformity of practice may be attained 
as regards the nomenclature and classification of the 
various members of qur poultry-yards; and that the 
reasons on which the Dublin, or any other similar 
Association may happen to differ from the ordinary 
custom, may be fairly understood, and impartially 
considered. 
At this season of Agricultural and Horticultural Shows, 
it is with very considerable interest that we have read 
of a similar celebration in the kingdom of Hayti. This, 
as our readers are aware, is a nation of negroes; and 
it is not without some feeling of shame, that we find 
i that they'make the service of God, and seeking for a 
j blessing on their labours, a portion of their day’s cele- 
j bration. There are portions of their solemnity which 
Protestants would well amend, but we must not take 
offence at the Haytians acting according to the light 
which has been afforded them. 
The Mon iteur Haitien of the 7th May—Soulouque’s official 
journal—gives a full account of the great agricultural fete, 
celebrated at Port au Prince, on the first of May. We 
translate it for the edification of such as have still doubts 
with respect to the growing greatness and prosperity of the 
black empire of Hayti. 
According to the programme of the fete , at sunset on 
Saturday, April 30, Port Alexander announced the solem¬ 
nities by a salvo of twenty-one guns, which it repeated at 
sunrise next day. On Sunday, May 1, the call for assem¬ 
bling was sounded at 4 o’clock in the morning. At 0 o’clock 
the Imperial Guard and the troops of the garrison took up 
235: 
their position in line of battle order, on the Place Petion. 
The imperial corps of artillery was stationed at the 
western extremity of Palace-street. At 6^ o’clock, the Go¬ 
vernor of the capital directed the resident agriculturists to 
the Place Petion, accompanied by the officers of the rural 
police, and they took up their places before the altar of the 
country. 
At 7-£ o’clock the constituted bodies, the consul and func¬ 
tionaries assembled at the imperial palace. At 7f the 
imperial princes and ministers proceeded to the Place 
Petion, with a considerable corleije. The altar of the 
country was occupied by the imperial princes the Minister 
of Finance and Commerce, the Minister of the Interior 
aud Agriculture, the grand marshals of the empire, the Pre¬ 
sidents of Senate and of the Chamber, and the members of 
the Council of Notables. 
Monsieur Lavelant, President of the Council of Notables, 
pronounced the following discourse :— 
“ Citizen Agriculturists,—We celebrate to-day one of the 
first and most beautiful fetes of the empire. In conse- ! 
crating an anniversary to agriculture, the government renders 
a great, honor to that profession. It is, indeed, among all 
professions the first; it constitutes the most extensive and 
most assured substance of the wealth of the State; it is j 
from agriculture, therefore, that Hayti must expect the ! 
principal source of her happiness and prosperity. Work in 
it, therefore, fellow citizens, with ardour; you will thus 
assure your own happiness, that of your children and 
families; the happiness of society; the happiness of the 
country. Toil with assiduity; it is toil that procures wealth 
and peace, under whose shade liberty and independence are 
enjoyed. It is toil, indeed, which elevates man to true 
greatness. Crowns are about being distributed to the most 
laborious among you, that they may be an encouragement 
for those who will have deserved them, and an emulation 
for all.” 
Vive l’agriculture. 
Vive l’empire. 
Vive la liberte. 
Vive l’independence. 
Vive his Majesty the Emperor. 
Vive the Empress. 
Vive the Imperial family. 
His Grace the Duke de la Bande-du-Nord, Minister of 
the Interior and of Agriculture, next addressed the farmers 
in these words :— 
“We have just heard the Director of the Council of 
Notables. I shall have little to say to you. Th efetc which 
we to-day celebrate has been instituted by the constitution 
of the empire, in the design of honouring toil, of en¬ 
couraging agriculture, which is the source of national pros¬ 
perity ; thus the crowns and agricultural implements, which 
the most meritorious among you are about to receive, form 
a real recompense which every one ought to value highly, 
because the government wishes that their rewards be only 
given to those who manage their fields and enclosures 
properly—to those only who produce much by their assi¬ 
duity in cultivating their gardens. You will understand, it 
is a means of provoking emulation. Let you, who are about 
to obtain the recompense, render yourselves ever worthy of 
it. Let you, who see it distributed, act so as to deserve it 
next year in your turn, by showing yourselves more indus¬ 
trious. Toil, my dear fellow citizens, distinguishes man, 
assures his well being and the future of his family. It is 
toil which makes the glory and prosperity of nations. His 
Majesty, the Emperor, who desires the happiness of his 
subjects, asks you, therefore, to give yourselves up to it with 
ardour, employ your time well, and this good employment 
will prove of great advantage to your harvests, and make 
satisfaction grow up about your hearths. God having 
favoured you, we ought to go to his temple after the distri¬ 
bution which is going to be made, to render thanks to him, 
and to pray him to continue to shed his holy blessing on 
your toils, so that they may be developed, and become more 
productive this year. And as nothing is obtained save with 
the aid of peace, we will ask him to strengthen that which 
we now enjoy under the paternal government of his Majesty 
the Emperor.” 
Vive la constitution! 
Vive 1’agriculture! 
