278 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July 17. 
church rang loudly for hours ; banners were very numerously 
displayed, and a local band perambulated the town, even¬ 
tually settling itself in a tent provided for the purpose near 
the outskirts of the exhibition-field. The aristocracy of the 
neighbourhood attended in considerable force, and the 
numbers of carriages and pedestrians who crowded the way 
to the exhibition were very great, many of the latter having 
arrived by railway from the densely-populated districts of 
Manchester and Liverpool. Such, indeed, was the courtesy 
of the Directors of the London and North-Western Railway 
Company, that not only were additional trains-placed on the 
lines, for the express accommodation of visitors to Prescot, j 
but even the express trains, for this day, were ordered to { 
“ put down ” passengers at Rain Hill Station, which, though | 
the nearest point, was fully two miles from the Poultry ! 
Show. The numbers who availed themselves of the cheap J 
trains were extraordinary, and it was only after much “ pack- ! 
ing and settling down” that the omnibuses employed for the ; 
intervening distance could (though many were in waiting at 1 
the station) accommodate the travellers on their exit from 
the trains: hence pedestrianism was, by not a few, the 
order of the day; and, though a brilliant sunshine added 
greatly to the fatigues of walking, the whole road to Present 
was constantly studded with passers-by, who -were the sub¬ 
ject of much merriment to those closely (we cannot say 
comfortably) ensconced on the tops, and in the insides of the 
various vehicles. 
On entering the tents of Poultry the general appear¬ 
ance was light and airy, the pens being those well known 
to most poultry amateurs, as Messrs. Greening’s Exhibition 
Pens, and which had been hired by the committee for this 
particular occasion. These pens, for the inspection of 
poultry, are undoubtedly possessed of many advantages; 
but the liability of fowls to injury from fighting with those 
immediately around them, appear far more imminent than in 
coops of a less open construction; several disabled Game 
Hens were placed beneath in empty baskets, their heads 
having been literally scalped by their infuriated neighbours ; 
whilst their own chances of success, at either the present, 
or future poultry exhibitions, have, by such unhappy con¬ 
tingency, been very distantly removed. 
Perhaps, as a whole, the Game classes have very rarely 
been equalled, but many, that individually were most excel¬ 
lent birds, lost caste altogether, from the oversight we have 
so frequently exposed in the pages of this periodical; we 
allude to the careless inattention to the colour of the legs of 
every fowl in the same pen. Such mis-selection, we empha¬ 
tically repeat, must always prove altogether fatal to the 
hopes of any party who aspires to honours in the Game 
classes. It is absolutely imperative that the colour of the 
legs of the whole pen must closely assimilate. 
The Dorkings were very extraordinary, and, by reference 
to the Prize List, our readers will see the credit of mastery 
was not by any means an uncontested one. The same may 
with like truth be said of the Black Spanish and Hamburyhs 
of the spangled variety. The Polish fowls were good, but 
not so superior as those we have just mentioned. The 
Bantam classes were excellent; and here almost all the 
prizes were literally monopolised by Gilbert Moss, Esq., of 
the Liverpool Bank. Among this gentleman’s valuable 
selection of these Lilliputian varieties, a pen of Game Ban- \ 
tarns were universally admired; and we are informed, 1 
though frequently exhibited, they have never yet failed to 
obtain first premiums, being a variety as uncommon as they 
are prepossessing in their general appearance. The Ducks 
were decidedly far better than ordinary. The Geese were 
also especially good; the first prize, Embdens , the property 
of Captain Hornby, of Knowsley Cottage, being birds of a 
size that is very unusual, and shown in the condition for 
which this well-known amateur’s stock is everywhere pro¬ 
verbial. The wild American Turkeys, belonging to the same 
gentleman, were equally good, and their plumage was 
excellent. The Pigeons , whilst as a whole, perhaps, one of 
the most attractive in the whole Exhibition, contained two 
pairs of a decidedly unique variety, originally from the 
Canadas, but perfectly domesticated; and we are informed 
by their owner, Francis Worrall, Esq., of Knotty Ash, near 
Liverpool, they have proved excellent breeders. They once 
formed part of the much celebrated Knowsley collection, 
belonging to the late Earl of Derby, and were purchased by 
their present owner at the sale of that nobleman. In size, 
they are triflingly larger than a common Pigeon ; but it is 
in the strange eccentricity of their markings that their pecu¬ 
liarities chiefly consist. The whole of the body, the tail, 
and the crop, together with the throat, are purely white; 
whilst the wings, back part of the neck, and upper surface 
of the head, are covered with feathers of a most intensely 
black hue. Down either side of the neck, and along the 
cheeks, a line of distinct demarcation exists, as palpable as 
though drawn purposely with a pencil; not the slightest 
shading from the one to the other of these opposite colours 
being visible anywhere. This gives the birds, at first sight, 
a most artificial appearance. The eyes are similar to the 
Barb Pigeon, but very decidedly larger. These Pigeons 
were entered under the name of Taylors, which was the 
name received with them from America. During the whole 
exhibition, the avenue in which these birds were sliOAvn was 
thronged to excess. 
The Judge of Poultry appointed for the occasion was 
Edward Hewitt, Esq., of Eden Cottage, Spark Brook, near 
Birmingham. We gave the Prize List last week. 
CATERPILLARS ON CURRANTS AND GOOSE¬ 
BERRIES. _ N 
Had not I bestowed a large amount of time about my 
Gooseberry and Currant bushes, they would, before this, 
have shared the fate of some of Mr. Errington’s ; and even 
with all my vigilance I began to despair; for, notwithstanding 
a constant picking them off, like the horse-leech’s daughter, 
they still cried “ more.” But I have just administered to 
them their quietus by the aid of the Dutch-hoe and a 
goose’s wing. 
Now, observe, my clever young friend, this piece of wood, 
six inches long; it is screwed firmly on to the end of the 
handle of the hoe in the form of the letter T> which, 
without previously touching the bush to put the vermin on 
their guard, allows me to aim a sudden, straightforward 
blow at the stem. The caterpillars thus taken unawares, 
many of them fall off from the concussion; but for those 
which do not you may strike away as long as you like; they 
have secured themselves, in a moment, fast enough ; but 
with the point of this new goose’s wing, lightly and dexterously 
passed amongst and about the branches and leaves, all and 
every insect that is there must, and do, as you perceive, fall 
to the ground, whereupon a pounding with the back of the 
blade of the hoe, and then a scuffling with the same, kills 
the weeds, and completes the destruction of all those cater¬ 
pillars at the same time. Scarcely one remains alive, and 
the bushes are safe from those plagues for the future. I 
have destroyed as many by this method, during two or three 
hours, as the winter did of our soldiers in the Crimea! 
Moreover, I have used the wing about the trees against 
the Avail, and even the standard Roses, displacing all 
the yelloAV leaves, <fcc., from amongst them; and the 
Currants against the Avail have been most particularly 
benefited, looking clean, fresh, and invigorated, as if they 
had just experienced a storm of Avind and rain : and from 
amongst Cauliflowers and its tribe, an active boy could soon 
clear a garden of their most destructive enemies in like 
manner. I shall send this idea flying for the benefit of the 
readers of the Cottage Gardener this very day, for Avoful 
is the destruction caused by these pests this season. 
My Gooseberries are trained on the flat table trellis 
fashion (each bush, from a single stem, rising ten inches 
from the ground), in a i-oav by the side of the principal Avalk 
in the garden, and between every tree a half-standard Rose 
is planted. The Roses, noAv in full bloom, contrast and 
shew themselves well above the green, flat foliage carpeting 
of the Gooseberries, and viewed from the top or bottom of 
the Avalk they have a remarkably pleasing effect; and beloAv 
all, such a crop of fruit I have seldom seen.— Upwards 
and Onwards. 
