THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, November 22, 1859. 
119 
the balance with a Arm and impartial hand, and have sought no 
reward but that of having done good to agriculture, poultry) 
and their town—they deserve, then, every support, and we trust 
they will meet it. Those who afford it, however, have money’s 
worth. There is no other place in the United Kingdom where 
cattle may be seen in perfect comfort. Every animal has a stall 
as large as a loose box. The space between the rows is so great, 
and the cleanliness so well attended to, that the most fastidious 
lady may walk through it all without crowding or annoyance. 
And then the poultry! That is the show of shows. Fifteen 
hundred pens, almost all filled with perfect specimens! The 
space, cleanliness, and height of the building make it so different 
from any other exhibition that we are sure, if any are induced by 
our remarks to visit it, they will thank us and respect our 
judgment evermore. 
We take a great interest in what is called in our parish “ the 
children’s treat”—half-a-dozen vans loaded inside and out with 
school children. The beadle en grande tenue shares the box with 
the first coachman ; a sort of second beadle honours the second ; 
a bugle the third ; a cornet the fourth. Some aspiring boys 
mount the roof and waive union jacks, and thu3 they start to the 
Rye House. How they enjoy themselves! How they shout! 
What lungs, and what appetites! But the day comes to an 
end. As they pass along the streets they cheer and cheer, but 
when they are deposited at the workhouse—the head-quarters 
of the school—when they are no longer riding, they “ faintly get 
up the ghost of a cheer,” and then it dies. 
“ Why, my little man,” said we, “ how is it you are so dull ? ” 
“ So long, Sir,—twelve months to wait for another treat, not 
even a little one till then-.” If we had only Birmingham, 
we should feel like the boy, but we are more fortunate. We are 
always sorry when it is over at Bingley Hall, but we have others 
to look to ; and it is now our duty to call attention to the pro¬ 
gramme of another old lady or gentleman, son or daughter of the 
other, and now aged seven years—the Liverpool Poultry Show. 
This, as is well known, is the most liberal prize-list ever offered, 
because the space at the disposal of the Committee is so limited, 
they can receive but a small number of entries. Here, also, is 
seen the matchless sight of a hundred Game Cocks, the picked 
birds of England, drawn together for prizes of £40, £20, £15, 
&c. This Committee has every claim to the support and thanks 
of amateurs. Every member of it holds himself personally 
liable for the payment of the prize money. Certain classes not 
having been numerously exhibited, the Committee distribute all 
the entrance money, less five per cent., among the competitors; 
and if more than four pens are entered, two prizes are given. 
There are sweepstakes for all breeds for single cocks, and there is 
that class which we have only yet seen at Worcester, and which 
is so attractive—viz., Game Bantam Cocks. There are also 
special prizes, £5 for the best pen of Bantams, and £5 for the 
best pen of Ducks. Like Birmingham, the Liverpool Show is 
distinguished for its punctuality and straightforwardness; but, 
unlike it in another respect, it cannot take an unlimited num¬ 
ber of entries. It has been called the “ combat of the giants,” 
and those who would take part in it should apply early. 
CROSS-BREEDING—ANDALUSIANS. 
I have been a breeder of fowls for forty years, and I have 
experimented on the different breeds by crossing, to endeavour to 
ascertain, if possible, which would produce the best layers, or 
other properties, either for table or beauty of plumage. I have 
tried Dorking and Cochins, and got very good table fowl; also 
a Black Hamburgh cock and Spangled hens, and I had beautiful 
plumage, and very good layers to boot. 
I have this year a cross between a White Andalusian cock and 
Black Spanish: the produce are all blue—the colour of a blue 
Pigeon ; and, although hatched on the 23rd of May, the pullets 
have begun laying above a fortnight ago. 
I am at a loss to know in what class to enter them; for I 
intend to show them at the next Liverpool meeting. I think 
they are most like Blue Andalusians, but better in colour and 
harder in plumage than any I ever had or ever saw.—J ohn 
Hartley. 
[We do not know the White Adalusians. Birds of that breed 
are always blue. You have probably bred between White and 
Black Spanish, and the result has been to produce Andalusians. 
It would be as curious, if it were so, as the production of Black 
Cochins by the cross between Whites and Buffs, and would 
settle a question that has long been in dispute—viz., whether 
Andalusians were a distinct breed; and if they are not, how were 
they produced? They should be entered as Andalusians.] 
FATTENING COCHIN-CHINA FOWLS, 
TURKEYS, AND DUCKS. 
“ A Subscriber ” would be much obliged by information as to 
the best mode of fattening Cochin-China cockerels and other 
young fowls. He put a dozen of the former into a coop early in 
October; fed them regularly on boiled potatoes, steamed rice, 
and oats; and their breast-bones are still as sharp as the back of 
a knife. 
He would also be obliged by information as to the best mode 
of fattening young Tiu'keys and Ducks. They have been fed in 
the same way, at large in a yard, and do not take flesh.— 
Dunensis. 
[If it is endeavoured to ascertain the degree of fatness of a fowl 
by passing the finger along the breast-bone, it will always appear 
the bird is thin, as the bone is never covered except with the 
skin. The flesh never hides it, or alters it in any way. In 
fattening fowls the first care should be to allow them as little 
room as can be—just enough for the number to stand up, but 
not enough for anything like exercise. If four are allowed the 
same space that would serve for a dozen they will not fatten ; 
therefore a space of the fatting-coop should be divided off, and 
this should, we repeat, allow them only room enough to stand. 
Their food should be ground oats mixed with milk; it should be 
given three times per day, and be mixed of such consistency that 
when it is laid on a board it will not run off. Taking that as 
the limit, it cannot be too slack. Nothing is so essential as that 
they should be fed at daybreak. If they are not they waste, 
during two or three hours’ pining, all the good done by the food 
of the previous day. The coop in which they are fatting should 
be covered with old carpets, sacks, or anything of the kind, for 
the sake of quiet and warmth. If fowls are doing well and 
making progress they should be hot, and the heat of the coop 
should be perceptible to the hand before the birds are touched. 
These latter should be soft-feathered, and the skin should be 
moist from heat. Treated in this way, they should fatten in 
three weeks. The food you have used is not good enough. 
Potatoes are apologies, rice is positively bad, and whole coni 
useless if it is intended to fatten. Grind your oats ; feed thrice 
per day, especially at daybreak ; give no more than will be eaten 
at each meal; keep them in close quarters ; cover them up; let 
them be quiet. If you follow these rules your fowls will fatten.] 
PURITY OF COLOUR IN POULTRY. 
I have seen it mentioned in The Cottage Gardener, that 
it is stated breeding true to colour is a sign of purity of breed ; 
and it has been, therefore, argued that because some yards of 
Brahmas on which much care has been bestowed have bred true 
to colour, they must necessarily be a pure and distinct breed. 
From my own experience I should regard the breeding true to 
colour to depend much more on the careful selecting by the 
amateur than on the original purity of the breed.. 
Sir John Sebright is reported to have said he could breed any 
colour in three years; and, I believe that any common or 
natural mixture may, by carefully breeding for three generations, 
be brought to reproduce its like, and will, year after year, con¬ 
tinue to breed more correctly so long a3 the stamina of the stock 
is kept up. But should the breed degenerate by in-and-in 
breeding, out will pop the cross; which has been known to 
happen sixteen or twenty years after. Very few, if any, of our 
so-called pure breeds would resist the effects of in-and-in bi’eeding 
for three generations. But are we, therefore, to set down as 
pure bred any cross or mixed colour because it has been care¬ 
fully bred for three or more years, and, therefore, will reproduce 
its like as long as the vigour of the breed is maintained ? I 
think not. Allow me to refer to the Game fowls. All the 
various colours are only sub-varieties of one breed: of these 
there are two primitive colours—viz., Reds and Duckwings, and 
these are, consequently, entitled to be called pure colours. To 
these may be added three whole colours, as Blacks, Blues, and 
Whites or Smocks ; and when these are bred quite free from any 
mixture, I think they also deserve to bo classed as pure colours. 
But cock-fighters, like horsemen, have always held that a good 
