192 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, December 16, 1856. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
Crewe. January 2 flth and 30th, 185". Secs. S. Sheppard and D. 
Marqelts, Esqs. Entries close January 15th. 
Crystal Palace. January 10th, 12th, 13th, and 14th. firand Ex¬ 
hibition of Poultry, Pigeons, and Rabbits. Secretary to the Poultry 
Exhibition, William Houghton, Esq., Crystal Palace. Entries 
close December 13th. 
Essex. At Colchester, December 31st, 1856, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of 
January, 1857. Secs., G. E. Attwood and W. A. Warwick. Entries 
close December 17 th. 
Kendal. At Kendal, February 6th and 7th, 1857* Sec. Mr. T. 
Atkinson. 
Nottingham Central Poultry Association. January 13, 14, and 
15 . Hon. Sec. Frank Bottom. Secretary to the Canary Department , 
J 110 . Hetherington, jun., Sneinton. 
Preston and North Lancashire. January 21st. and 22nd, 1857. 
Sec., Ralph Leigh, Esq., 125, Church Street, Preston. Entries close 
December 13th. 
South East Hants. At Fareham, January 26t.h and 27 th, 1857. Sec. 
Mr. James James. Entries close January 14th. 
N.B.— Secret ariesvnll oblige us by sending early copies of their lists ■ 
MANAGEMENT OF BIRDS FOR EXHIBITION. 
For the next two months we shall live among great events. 
Colchester, Crystal Palace, Nottingham, Preston, Liverpool, 
will all contribute to fill our columns, and to keep up the 
excitement of our favourite pursuit. We shall have “scant 
leisure ’’ for the a, h, c routine of our duties. The owners 
aud breeders of good birds have a harvest before them, 
and, when the meetings we have enumerated above have 
taken place, the time will he at hand for preparing for 
future triumphs. 
Birds at this time of year will bear exhibiting many times 
if they are carefully managed. Summer and autumn Shows 
come at a time when birds are naturally weak. The breed¬ 
ing season is then just over, and the old, faded plumage is 
to be got rid of, to he replaced by strong and hearty feathers. 
They are required to afford warmth to the body, and to 
resist the wet, snow, and sleet of winter. Nature has made 
the effort, and the fowl is strengthened for the time of trial. 
A bird is never in better or higher condition than after a 
healthy moult. Where fowls are well fed there is no strain 
on the system, and they can support anything in reason. 
Now, it may be that some wish to show at every Show, but 
doubt whether they can do so without incurring the risk of 
injury to their birds. We think, with moderate painstaking, 
it may be done, and we will put down a course we have known 
to be successfully adopted. 
The first requisite is to select healthy fowls for the task 
allotted to them, and to start them an hour after a good 
meal, which should be of soft food. Nothing is better than 
stale bread, and if the weather be very cold add some ale 
to the liquid in which it is steeped. A fowl in perfect health 
will resist any weather if fortified by a good meal of stale 
bread soaked in hot, strong gravy; lacking the last ingredient 
give some ale. 
There should he plenty of dry, soft straw in the basket, 
which should be circular, and sufficiently high to allow the 
cock to stand upright and stretch himself. The top should 
be covered with canvass. Nothing will justify any deviation 
from the circular form. No quantity of room or height will 
justify a square. It has four corners, and a timid bird will 
resort to one of them and hide her head in it. This will 
often suggest to the cock the idea of beating her; and 
amateurs know too well such a bird will stand to be pecked 
till her head is eaten into. This is not the only disadvantage 
—the corners break the feathers. Now, in a round basket, 
let the bird move as it will, the feathers follow the form of 
the basket, and not one is broken; but if there are corners 
there is breaking. 
When the birds return let their pen be ready, and give im¬ 
mediately a table-spoonful of castor-oil. This will get rid 
of any sawdust or any such matter picked up in the bottom 
of the pen. After the oil has been taken two hours give 
some soft food, and after the oil has opei’ated freely give good 
food frequently, but a little at a time. They should not, on 
their return, roost in a cold place, and they should have 
access to dust. We have known fowls thus treated ex¬ 
hibited frequently during two months without any per¬ 
ceptible difference in their condition. 
THE BIRMINGHAM POULTRY SHOW. 
(From another Reporter.) 
The great event has come off. Some have taken their 
Silver Cups, some their Silver Medals, some their com¬ 
mendations, others have sold their birds at good prices, and 
all are, or should be, content. 
As there is no Exhibition on so large a scale as this, so 
is there no Exhibition where the amateur may learn so 
much; and no reflecting person can leave Bingley Hall 
without believing what we have so often said, that a com¬ 
mendation at Birmingham may be more thought of than a 
prize at many other Shows. 
It would be affectation if we were to write a report of this 
great Show without noticing the rumours that have circulated 
in the poultry world during the past year. It was said 
there would never be another. Then it was reported it 
would be moved to another town ; then that there would be 
only one more—that which we now describe. All these re¬ 
marks were untrue; but there was some foundation, inas¬ 
much as the late Shows have not been profitable. Those, 
however, who imagine that the Show at Birmingham is like 
others, that it involves merely hiring a place wherein to 
hold it, paying the prizes, and the incidental expenses attend¬ 
ing it, are mistaken. The value of Bingley Hall itself, 
situate in the centre of Birmingham, is very great. The 
land was purchased by shares, and the building erected, 
and when it is not let during the year, then one Exhibition 
during one week has to meet every expense of the twelve 
months. Such has been the case for the last two or three 
years. Some of its quondam friends have been anxious to 
be clear of the whirlpool formed by the sinking vessel, lest 
they should be sucked down ever so little with the wreck. 
They have tried to make themselves safe. Others of a 
nobler type have stuck to the good ship, though battered 
somewhat. They nailed their colours to the mast, and 
vowed— 
“ Sooner than strike they’d all expire 
On board of the Arethusa.” 
This is only a figure of speech, like those who used to 
threaten to “ die on the floor of the House of Commons.” 
There was no occasion for them to die, nor even to reverse the 
Union Jack. The gun of distress was fired, and help flowed 
in from every side. Perhaps it is that all men are too busy 
or too idle to attend to that which does not immediately 
concern themselves; or perhaps it is that all men are in¬ 
credulous, or aflect incredulity, when belief would entail 
anything like trouble. It may be they solace themselves by 
laying the unction to their souls, that it is enough for them 
to mind their own business. They would copy a great 
man. 
“ Sir,” said the servant, rushing into Corneille’s study, 
“ the house is on fire.” 
“ Tell your mistress,” said the great man, “ I never inter¬ 
fere with household affairs.” 
So, perhaps, some exhibitors, provided the prize money 
is paid, care nothing for Birmingham. 
We write for all, and, therefore, we have unmingled 
pleasure in telling them there is no probability of the Show 
being given up ; but, at the same time, it is the duty of all who 
share annually the treat it affords to strengthen the hands of 
those who for them, and without any possibility of a pecuniary 
return, incur all the risk. There is, however, one class to 
whom we are bound to speak differently, and we allude to the 
people of Birmingham, the tradespeople, and hotel and 
tavern-keepers especially. They reap a rich harvest; they 
have a large trade during the week. The shop-keepers 
cannot see the Show, because it is the busiest week in 
the year. The hotels turn away scores every night; but 
they all hang back when they are asked to subscribe 
liberally. It may be well worth their consideration whether 
it is not better for them to be liberal to a Society which does 
so much for them. We have now done with this part of our 
report, and we repeat, there is no fear of Bingley Hall 
closing its doors to cattle, pigs, and poultry in the year of 
grace 1857. 
Poultry appeared to the Committee to have one of the pro¬ 
perties of Indian-rubber. Its elasticity was so great that 
bounds must be fixed. When, therefore, the Committee, four 
years since, found that the entries had reached the number of 
