194 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION, December 1C, 1856. 
THE POINTS IN FANCY RABBITS. 
I should like to sav a little about Rabbits, as I never see 
anything concerning them in your paper. In the first place, 
why do so many Shows not give prizes for them ? The 
fancy would increase very extensively if there were such 
prizes. Rabbits are the cheapest to keep of any fancy 
animal, and they are the most prolific, and, if good, can be 
sold for high prices, as much as .£20 having been given for 
one doe in Yorkshire. 
It is evident there are very few who know how to judge a 
Rabbit, the prizes being given for size, the very last point to 
be considered. 
The first point to look at is length of ear; width of ear 
is second ; colour third—blue and white first, black and 
white second, and tortoiseshell third, being the three fashion¬ 
able colours ; fourth, way of lop; fifth, size of the eye; sixth, 
carriage; and, seventh, size. If all judges would keep to 
one rule forjudging we might then be able to form a correct 
idea of what a Rabbit should be for showing. It is very 
disheartening to have twenty-inch-eared Rabbits beaten by 
fourteen-inch-eared ones, because the twenty-inch ones are 
young, and have not size. 
If there be any encouragement given I shall write again 
on the general management, &c. We all know that a fancy 
article costs no more for keeping than a commou one, and yet 
the young can be sold for more. Common ones are all very 
well for Yorkshire farmers, whose cry always is, “ Is it a 
big un ? Ar want summot chearp.”—P. B. 
[We shall be very glad to receive practice founded com¬ 
munications on the subject.—E d. C. G.] 
STATISTICS OF THE BIRMINGHAM POULTRY 
EXHIBITION. 
We now present our readers with a few statistics respect¬ 
ing the late Birmingham Exhibition of Poultry, which 
cannot fail to be most interesting, and are derived from an 
authority on which we can place the most implicit reliance. 
For poultry sold through the medium of the “ salesman’s 
office ” the sum of £999 Os. G</. was received; and when the 
fact is taken into due consideration that, by the adoption of 
a “ single cock class,” no compulsory purchase of hens also is 
enforced, this amount will appear in the aggregate a most 
extraordinary one, and carries with it the most convincing 
proof that the public taste for good poultry lias not decreased 
in the slightest degree. 
In the above amount are included thirty guineas each pen 
for the prize pens of both Spanish and Dorkings. A Dor¬ 
king cock only simply “ commended ”—fifteen guineas; and i 
several others of the same variety at ten pounds each, j 
Various pens of Turkeys, Geese, and Ducks were likewise 
claimed at the last-named amount. 
As to the financial returns the sum total received at the 
doors, in the shape of personal admission, was £1,259 13s. Oil. 
This was altogether independent of several thousands of 
children from the public! schools and various charitable 
institutions, such as the Deaf and Dumb, Blue Coat Schools, 
and lastly, though not least, the latterly-instituted “ Ragged 
Schools.” 
To all such free admission was most willingly given, and 
true it is that their gratitude and evident pleasure caused 
no less amount of heartfelt satisfaction to the Council of 
the Show than to themselves. To see these little youngsters, 
formerly uncared for, unwashed, and obtaining, as it were, 
a self-taught and truly criminal education by running 
the streets, now decently attired and properly conducted, 
traversing the extensive Exhibition, was a sight every one 
must admit was worthy of the universal congratulation it 
received. 
A truly laughable little episode took place among this 
motley group. A Turnip-cutting machine was put into 
action for their special inspection, and for a length of time 
the excitement manifested among the children to obtain at 
least one of the much-coveted slices of this common root 
could not by any possibility have been exceeded had the 
edible been a veritable Pine-Apple in lieu of a Turnip. 
How truly little personal effort it costs to make the poor 
happy by wholesale ! But to return from this little digression 
to strictly monetary matters. 
The numbers admitted were as follows :— 
On the Tuesday, by subscribers’ tickets .. 3,601 
„ „ by paid entrance. 601 
„ Wednesday, by subscribers’ tickets . 740 
„ „ by paid entrance. 6,097 
„ Thursday, by subscribers’tickets .. 904 
„ •„ by paid entrance . 11,897 
„ Friday, by subscribers’ tickets .... 704 
„ „ by paid entrance. 4,031 
Working classes admitted on Wednesday 
and Friday. 13,745 
Total attendance.... 42,320 
This, as before said, is entirely exclusive of all schools. 
How singularly great must, of necessity, be the benefit of 
so great an influx of visitors to the licensed victuallers and 
traders of Birmingham generally! Surely, then, it must be 
“ the interest ” of all such to promote, by all possible means, 
the extreme outworkings of this most invaluable institution. 
Before drawing to a conclusion it may be well to place 
before all our readers a summary of the relative position of 
the years 1855 and 1856 as to financial receipts :— 
1855. 185G. 
£ s. d. £ s. d. 
Tuesday . 170 10 0 150 5 0 
Wednesday. 339 11 0 304 17 0 
Thursday. 660 8 0 594 17 0 
Friday. 209 13 0 209 14 0 
Total.... £1,380 2 0 £1,259 13 0 
On the Friday evening public announcement, by large 
printed placards, was made, that “ the poultry department 
would close at eight o’clock, to give the opportunity to send 
away the birds from a distance by the same night’s traius.” 
To please the public this was delayed until after nine, and 
still we are most happy to report the fact that the managing 
Committee carried out efficiently their original intention as 
to the railway transit. The most unqualified praise is due 
to them for so doing. 
We must still mention one circumstance. It is quite 
evident at Birmingham that now “ the right men are to be 
found in the right places.” 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Anerley Poultry Prizes.— “ Would you have ths goodness to 
inform me who is responsible for the payment of the prize due to me 
from the Anerley Poultry Show, that I may put the matter into my 
lawyer’s hands. It is not only due to myself, but also to the public, that 
such defaulters should be exposed.—A Constant Subscriber.” 
[This gentleman send* us his card, and we have similar letters from 
Mr. W. Joshua, Mr. J. Jones, and Mr. Cox. It is quite impossible for 
us to know who are responsible; but we know that Mr. Calvert and Mr. 
Ridout were very active in allHhat concerned the Show. If one of them 
were sued, and Mr. Wells, the Secretary, and Mr. Tegetmeier, put 
into the box as witnesses, we have little doubt a verdict could he recovered 
for the prizes.] 
Marks on China Cock {A Subscriber).— If he is buff-coloured, the 
dark metallic green bars on his wings are a great blemish. 
Price’s Glycerin Soap. —Nearly a century since the 
Swedish chemist Scheele discovered that when soda or 
any other alkali combines with an oil, and forms a soap, a 
sugary liquor remains, which be named the sweet principle 
of oils. This, in our modern chemical nomenclature, is 
now entitled Glycerin , from the Greek word glylys, sweet. 
Until very recently, this sweet liquid, obtained in hogsheads 
from the manufacturers of Stearine (the solid fatty matter 
used in candle-making), was employed only in adulterating 
moist sugar. It is now, however, recommended by medical 
men as a beneficial application in many diseases of the 
skin. With this knowledge, Messrs. Price have come before 
the public with their Glycerin Soap. How they combine 
the Glycerin with the soda and fatty matter we neither 
profess to know, nor do we ask them to explain ; but we 
can testify from use that it is the most effective and most 
pleasant soap ever manufactured. 
London: Printed by Hugh Barclay, Winchester High-street, in 
the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published for theT’roprietors 
at The Cottage Gardener Office, No. 20, Paternoster Row, in 
the Parish of Christ Church, City of London.—December 16 , 1856. 
