THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
325 
j July 28 . 
perienced in giving admission after the adjudications had 
been concluded, and sincerely do we hope that a similar 
arrangement may be again found practicable in future 
years. Those, indeed, on whom the task devolves of re¬ 
cording the results of such meetings, can ill afford to lose 
the advantages which one or two quiet hours of such in- 
! spection presents to them. 
; On Thursday, the 14th, the previously forbidden precincts 
were opened at six a.m., and our steps were soon turned in 
the direction of a long shed, where the presence of the 
peculiar objects of our attention was self-proclaimed. 
We were certainly prepared to find the Dorkings in great 
force at a meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society, since, 
! as a farmer’s fowl, in suitable districts, it must have ac- 
| knowledged pre-eminence. But our anticipations, sanguine 
| as they were, from our knowledge of preparations for the 
! contest among those who have been most successful with 
the breed, were far, very far behind the actual result; and, 
without fear of contradiction, we hesitate not to say, in con¬ 
currence with the judges, that “ the Dorking classes were 
never equalled at any exhibition in the kingdom.” Fortu¬ 
nately for the competitors on this occasion, the list of 
poultry judges included names that would, at once, prevent 
all cavilling and discussion as to the justice of the awards; 
for, otherwise, the contest ran so close, that points of com¬ 
parative insignificance must have been brought into the 
careful consideration of those who had to pronounce on the 
merits of birds that could claim so little superiority over 
their neighbours. The greater credit, therefore, to the 
i judges, and the higher honour to the winners; for triumphs, 
so achieved, are worth a host of minor victories. 
In Dorking Chickens, the four first prizes fell in the 
following succession:—1st. to Captain Hornby ; 2nd. and 
3rd. to Mr. James Lewry; and the 4th. to T. T. Parker, , 
Esq. The winning birds, No. 752, combined size, shape, 
and feather, in that degree, that it would be difficult to 
select any point for improvement. The cockerel was a 
black-breasted bird, and the pullets brown-spangled, with 
the shaft of their feathers singularly clear, and in strong 
contrast with the rest of their plumage. Mr. Lewry, who is 
a very extensive Sussex poultry dealer, won with one pen of 
light, and another of dark birds; and, as already observed, 
he came very close in the steps of the winner. Pen 760, 
belonging to Mr. E. Terry, of Aylesbury, met with deserved 
commendation ; we should think it probable, that had they 
been better matched they might have stood higher on the list. 
In Dorkings exceeding one year old the Ivnowsley birds 
; resumed the position that seems lately to be occupied by 
| them, as a matter of course, first and second prizes having 
i been here allotted to them. There was no great distance, 
1 however, between these and some of those behind; and 
j though we certainly concur with the judgment that 
assigned their relative positions, not a feather’s advantage 
could have been safely risked by the victors. Mr. Parker, 
! though only fourth, must find no fault with his birds, for 
| even that position, in a contest like the present, conveys just 
| renown. 
Where so many birds of the highest excellence were 
j exhibited, it would almost appear inviduous to select in- 
i dividuals for special comment; but the commendations 
i were as judicious as the higher rewards. Pen 800, among 
others, belonging to Mr. Lewry, was thus honoured; and, 
I so far as mere weight was concerned, the cock would have 
probably borne down the scales against any other bird in 
the yard, but shape was not so perfect. 
Some of the darker red birds alone excepted, the coloured 
Dorking appeared in almost all his varieties of plumage; 
but when we speak of combs, the double or rosy-combed 
were in a decided minority ; none, indeed, of the prize birds 
were from this division of the family, though one pen was 
highly commended, still no imputation must rest upon 
I them from this fact, since, though then outnumbered, they 
i will again, we imagine, be found in the foremost ranks 
' neck-and-neck with their single-combed relations. 
Of White Dorkings little can he said ; some two or three 
i pens alone appearing in the catalogue, and none of any 
merit. The points of this breed seem hardly known by 
! some of their owners, since in one pen we noticed a single- 
I combed cock with a cup-combed hen, ill-feathered, and 
j worse shaped. 
The victors in the Spanish class, at the recent Cheltenham 
and Plymouth Shows, were here also at the bead of the list, 
and well, indeed, did they become both their rank and the 
confidence of their owner, Captain Hornby; the 3rd and 4th 
prizes, unlike the Dorking class, were far behind; the cock, 
in pen 833, had the white face very clearly developed, but 
was deficient in figure ; and in pen 824, a well-shaped fowl 
was sadly impaired by a manifest redness about the eye. 
The Shanghae, or Cochin-China class, was of very moderate 
merit; many of the pens, indeed, were utterly unworthy of 
the occasion, and could only be referred to as what good 
specimens ought not to be. Mr. Terry’s prize pen, however, 
were singularly compact birds, with such development of 
their points and general character as is most unusual in 
chickens of their age; they were good in colour, also, but 
did not strike us as likely to make large birds. Mr. 
Punchard came second with some birds, bred, as we imagine, 
from his recently-imported stock ; they had, certainly, con¬ 
siderable merit, but the mottled appearance, induced by the 
occasional presence of white feathers, is not with us a point 
of recommendation. Mrs. Herbert took a third prize for a 
good pen of While Shanghaes, and Dr. Gwynne’s Grey 
Shanghaes, or Brahma Pout.ras, as they are sometimes called, 
followed in their rear. 
In Game, the Black-breasted Red distanced their rivals, 
though we should have been inclined to have given the 
preference to the second over the first prize pen ; the latter 
containing a tasselled cock, with one olive, and one blue¬ 
legged hen. Captain Hornby showed a pen of Derby red, 
but the cock had injured his tail on the journey, and thus 
carried it on one side, placing him out of the race; the 
hens, however, were of faultless symmetry; Duckwings 
mustered strongly, and the many admirers of this family 
had before them specimens of the black, brassy-winged, white, 
and some few piles; the latter, however, we should have 
expected in far greater numbers. 
As farmer’s fowls, those we have enumerated are com¬ 
monly thought to stand first, whilst Ilamburghs, Polands, ; 
and Malays, are usually held to be less -fitted for that 
purpose. We do not altogether assent to this view, | 
especially as regards the Hamburghs, a fowl, as we believe, 
well worthy of more general attention at the farmer’s hand, 
but such is the prevailing notion, and it is not, therefore, 
to be wondered at, that the classes assigned to the latter 
were but indifferently filled on an occasion which had 
especial reference to the wants of the farmer and the 
cottager. 
If we except a pen of good Golden-spangled Hamburghs, 
and some Golden-pencilled hens of fair merit, the remainder 
need no comment. 
Geese, as was most fitting, were both numerous and 
excellent. Our own views, as to the great importance of the 
Toulouse Goose for crossing with the common breed, were 
fully confirmed by the fact, that the first, second, and third 
prizes were borne off’by such cross-bred birds. Mr. Parker 
was eminently successful in this class. 
The Aylesbury Ducks should have been a better lot, for— 
the 1st prize pen excepted—there were none of great merit. 
The successful birds were bred and exhibited by Mr. John 
Weston, of Aylesbury, and were among the best specimens 
for their age, four months, we ever remember to have seen. 
Rouen Ducks were in no condition for showing. Drakes and 
ducks being alike in deep moult. There were, also, two 
good pens of the Black East Indian Duck, which, the sooner 
it ceases to be called the Labrador Duck, with which country 
it has no possible connexion, the better for revising the 
nomenclature of the poultry-yard. 
Of Turkeys few were very good; but among them Lord j 
Hill’s American cock became the deserved object of general j 
attention. The brilliancy of this bird’s plumage defied the ! 
gloomy effects of weather, so important an auxiliary to j 
colour, and, without one gleam of sunshine, he still re- j 
mained a radiant combination of all the prismatic hues. 
Anything, indeed, more gorgeous, and at the same time more 
striking, from the continued change of tint, as the bird 
assumed a fresh position, could hardly be conceived. 
Our task is now done, so far, at least, as our comments 
on the birds themselves are concerned; but, while sincerely 
thanking the council and officers of the Royal Agricultural 
Society for their acquiescence to the generally-expressed 
