THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, April 21, 1857. 
45 
companions ; there are no finer figures in the whole yard. 
I cannot say so much for my sixth companion, hut she is 
equally good for laying, and, like the rest of us, enjoys 
excellent health and spirits. I did not say we were strong 
before we were grown up; but let me tell you that in ten 
months-out of a party of twelve we had only two cases of 
sickness, both of which recovered; and in the last four 
months, when our number has been reduced to seven in con¬ 
sequence of five having been asked out to dinner and never 
having returned home, there has not been one case of illness. 
The “Wiltshire Poultry-keeper” fully justified the good 
opinion we have of ourselves, though he does not agree in 
what I said about exercise. We have the power of rambling 
most da^s, but we like home best, and think our mistress 
very tiresome when she drives us out. Perhaps, Mrs. 
Dorking, you have not got such a clean house as we have, 
and therefore you like gadding about instead of staying at 
home. I did not presume to say we could occupy as much 
space as you do at the dinner table, but we are larger than 
the Hamburghs. We are not ashamed of our black legs, as 
they are a mark of being true bred. I repeat we require care 
when young, but we amply repay it when we are grown up. 
Good-bye, Mrs. Dorking.— The Cackle of a Black Polish 
Hen. 
CRYSTAL PALACE POULTRY SHOW. 
This, as will have been seen in the advertisement, is to 
be held on the 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th of August. As far 
as the Poultry is concerned it is exclusively a Chicken Show, 
for the 2nd Rule is this : — 
“ IT. The Poultry must be the 'produce of 1857. The 
Pigeons and Rabbits may be of any age.” 
This rendered desirable a special provision relative to the 
Game classes, and it is stated, therefore, that,— 
“ Seeing the early period at ivhich the Show is held, it will 
not be imperative that the Game chickens should be dubbed.” 
Exhibitors will also do well to take heed to the 8th Rule, 
which provides that— 
“ No alteration can be made in the prices of the specimens 
during the Exhibition.” 
Therefore, though a pen obtains a first prize, it must 
be sold at the price originally attached to it, however low 
that price maybe. We wish that no sales were permitted 
before the middle of the first day. Neither the Judges 
nor any one else should have any advantage over the paying 
public. 
Silver Cups and Medals may be had instead of money 
prizes if preferred. 
The prizes for chickens are upon the same liberal scale as 
at the Winter Exhibition, and an improvement is made by 
giving four prizes to Hamburgh cocks instead of two, viz., 
two to the Pencilled and two to the Spangled. The prizes 
for Ducklings, Goslings, and Turkey Poults are reduced, 
as they are not of sufficient public interest at that time to 
warrant prizes so large as at the Winter Exhibition. The 
prize-list for Pigeons is the same as at the Winter Show, w r ith 
an additional prize for Blue Turbits, and an alteration in the 
last class, making it more comprehensive, and admitting any 
other variety for competition. The prize-list for Rabbits 
remains the same as at the Winter Show. 
Entries close on the 11th of July. 
FANCY RABBITS. 
(Continued from page 371, Vol. XVII.) 
THE OAR-LOP. 
The “ Oar-lop ” more closely resembles the “ Full or 
Perfect Lop ” than any other variety of this breed. It is so 
called from the peculiar position of the ears, which are 
directed horizontally outwards at right angles to the head, 
and which bears some resemblance to the oars of a boat. 
Many Rabbits of the very best blood are apt to hold their 
ears in this position, and should not be discarded as breed¬ 
ing stock on this account alone; for, although unfit for 
exhibition (unless, indeed, they compete for size alone, in 
which class the ears are not considered), they are as likely 
to breed valuable stock as their more perfect brothers and 
sisters. It is very seldom, if ever , that a cletch of young 
Rabbits is produced in which every specimen is perfect. 
Some will generally be found deficient either in length of 
ear or carriage of ear, although both parents be of the very 
best strains; and in this case, if retained, the defective 
specimens may prove as valuable for breeding purposes as 
the very best. But, too often, this peculiarity is the result of 
a cross with the common Rabbit—it may be at some distant 
period; and, if this be the case, it is better to fatten such 
specimens for the table, and to introduce animals of a purer 
strain as a fresh and improving cross. 
If the young “ Oar-lop ” be impure in strain, yet with 
promise of very large size, and be well marked into the 
bargain, it would be a pity to destroy it at once, for, 
as I have already stated, it may prove successful as an 
exhibition Rabbit for that one point; and, moreover, the 
position of the ears, though less esteemed than the “ Full- 
lop,” is second only to that model of perfection.—P ercy 
Boulton. 
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