THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 16 1858 
plan, where honesty in dealing- can be insured ? If you have 
such plan, by detailing it in your columns, I am quite certain 
that you will confer an obligation to many, as well as—R. G. 
[It is beyond the power, even of an Editor, to make men 
honest; but, let us add, it is equally impossible to make men 
moderate in their expectations. Birds which have taken 
prizes do not, as a matter of course, breed birds capable of 
being equally successful. Who ever hopes to get a prize pen 
out of a single brood ? It can only happen, after the greatest 
care in selecting and mating the parents. We have bought 
many sittings of eggs, and have never been disappointed. We 
were satisfied with getting two or three good birds, from 
which, by mating with birds of another strain , we could rear 
superior chickens. We scarcely see a name among our ad¬ 
vertisers that we should not buy from with confidence.— Ed.] 
POULTRY' PRIZES. 
What is to be done for the Dorking and Spanish classes, at 
the next annual exhibitions ? ♦ 
The solution of this question is looked forward to, with 
much interest, by those engaged in the rearing and exhibiting 
these varieties. Much having already appeared pro and con , 
it is unnecessary to enter upon any statement of entries versus 
prizes, but merely advert to the increased classes at the late 
Liverpool Exhibition. The institution of a class, for one 
hundred Game Cocks, was first attempted there, and met 
with a ready response from exhibitors ; for, by the time the 
schedule of prizes was prepared for circulation, the class 
I was closed. The Preston Committee appear to have imbibed 
I the same views, for we observe that a similar class is in con¬ 
templation for the next Meeting of the Society. Exhibitors 
will hail this as a progressive step, particularly in those 
counties where the Game fowl is so generally kept; it 
gives an encouraging impetus to the rearing of this beautiful 
variety, it tends greatly to the improvement and further 
development of this class, for most breeders will admit, that to 
ensure success in rearing any kind, the cock must approach 
as near as possible to perfection—that purity of race, per¬ 
fection of comb, carriage, and symmetry must combine, at 
least in the male. We may anticipate, then, an improvement 
in the Game fowl, because a greater inducement is offered for 
it; the result will be an increase of attention, but still the 
watchword will be “onward,” “onward.” 
But this advantage only applies to that variety for which it 
is intended. The Dorking and Spanish have, as yet, received no 
benefit, excepting so far as the experience of the Liverpool 
Society shall hereafter induce the promoters, and originators 
of the Central Societies, to consider the propriety of adding 
similar classes for them (or one at least by way of trial) to 
their list of prizes for the ensuing season. 
Whether the sub-division of Dorkings at all, to coloured 
and Silver Greys, or single, and rose-combed, is desirable, I 
leave to the decision of the same tribunals.—L. 
SILVER-PENCILLED HAMBURGH FOWL, 
AND ROUEN DUCK EGOS. 
A “Wiltshire Poultry Keeper” says, that if Silver- 
pencilled Hamburgh fowls have a good run, they surpass the 
other classes, both in exquisite beauty and egg-production. 
Being a keeper of them, I have found them the best layers of 
all the kinds of fowls I ever kept. I have had a supply of 
eggs all the winter ; in fact, they have never ceased laying. 
I know that some will say, that pure bred fowls are not 
profitable, but I have found mine very profitable, and they are 
pure bred. My old birds were bred from the pen which won 
the silver vase at Birmingham, in 1854, the coveted object of 
so many poultry keepers’ ambition; and, I believe, all our 
most noted exhibitors’ fowls are somewhat related to this pen. 
My run being on a cold clay subsoil, on an elevated position, 
one of the ribs from the so -called back-bone of old England, 
I do not call it a good one. 
Last year, the pullets from my old hens were rather run ; 
but, Mr. Hewitt having mentioned a similar case, I have put a 
young cockerel with them, as suggested by him . 
373 
on d am J 10t a rc S ll Lr exhibitor, but have exhibited at our local 
bh ^’-P eW3bury ’ and have hitliei ’ t0 got one or mqre prizes. 
v y Rouen Ducks (Mr. Fellow’s breed) commenced laying in 
November, and have continued doing so up to the present 
time, February 25th, except for a few days in frosty weather, 
is it common for them to do so, or may the mild winter be 
the cause of it ?— Rustic Robin. 
BLACK HAMBURGHS. 
I am glad to find from the letter of a “ Wiltshire Poultry 
Keeper,” that he entirely confirms my opinion, often expressed 
in The Cottage Gardener, of the value of the so-called 
Black Hamburghs. He says, “ they are handsome, prolific, 
compact; and they surely merit a better fate than obscurity 
and oblivion.” I have kept these birds six years, and, from 
my experience, I believe them to be the most profitable of all 
fowls. They are, by far, the most prolific egg-producers of all 
the Hamburghs; are a larger fowl, and more hardy. They 
hwve taken prizes, in the extra class, at nearly every Exhibi¬ 
tion this season—Birmingham, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, 
Nottingham, Leamington, Wellington, Gloucester, &c. When, 
then, I ask Committees, are these valuable birds to have a 
separate class ? What can they do more than they have done 
to deserve it ? Their good qualities have been recognised by 
the Judges; when will Committees do the same ?—A Nor- 
eolk Amateur. 
BREEDING THE AUSTRALIAN PAROQUET, 
AND CINNAMON CANARIES. 
Will you state, for the encouragement of those who have 
the Australian Paroquet, that it will breed in this country? 
A pair in my possession have produced three young ones, 
which are now seven weeks old, and the hen is now sitting on 
six eggs. I shall be very pleased to show them to any person 
who might call. 
I would also add, having been the first person who pro¬ 
duced the Cinnamon Belgium Canary in this country, that 
they first came by chance. I have tried for seventeen years 
to breed a cock bird of that colour, but never could succeed ; 
nor did I ever hear of any one breeding such a male bird. 
I am of opinion that it is useless to try, having had a hen 
breed fifteen young ones in a year, and all of them were hens. 
—T. Moore, West Street , Fareham, Hants. 
NEW 1K)RK POULTRY FACTORY. 
Messrs. B. and S. Beatty, of Aurora, Cayuga County, New 
Y r ork, are probably the most successful poultry merchants in 
America, and they have prepared the following statement of 
their business :— 
The Dressing-house. —As we prepare for market over 
1,500 Turkeys a year, besides other kinds of poultry, the 
greater portion of which we buy in a lean condition of the 
farmer, and fatten and dress them ourselves, it is necessary 
for us to have ample conveniences, and therefore we have 
appropriated to this purpose a building twenty-five by thirty 
feet on the ground-floor, with two rooms above, and also 
another room, adjoining the building, twelve by sixteen feet. 
This latter is the dry-picking room, where the birds are 
divested of most of their feathers. The lower floor of the 
main building is divided into a finishing-room and a drying- 
room. The first is provided with a large cast-iron furnace, 
for heating water, and regulating the temperature of the 
building, which is kept as comfortable as a dwelling-house. 
The other room is fitted with shelves, upon which the birds 
are placed to dry, after being finished off by the pickers. The 
packing is done either in the cellar, or chamber, according to 
the weather. There is a shed, fifteen by thirty feet, and yard 
adjoining the building, where the live birds are kept ready for 
slaughtering. This constitutes the general arrangement of 
this model poultry establishment. 
The Process oe Dressing and Packing. —The birds are 
hung by the heels, bled in the neck or mouth, and left until I 
nearly done bleeding, and when still warm taken into the dry¬ 
picking room ; and after most of the feathers are stripped off, 
