298 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, January 27, 1857. 
Shape consists in wide shoulders, hollow back, and 
slender waist, the body tapering off from the shoulders to 
the tail, so as to give a line form ; the legs straight, stout, 
and clothed in small white feathers to the toes, or stockinged. 
Carriage is best observed when the bird is showing or 
playing, and consists in its deportment. Its carriage must 
be dignified and erect, with the crop well blown out, neither 
too stiff nor too slack; its legs must be kept from straddling, 
and it should walk with a mincing gait, spreading the tail 
like a fan without ruffling the body feathers. 
And lastly, feather: this consists not only in the bird 
being in full plumage, but also in the colour and marking. 
The general feathers should be dark, either blue, black, 
red, or yellow, pied with white, as follows:—On the front 
part of the crop should be a white half-moon or crescent¬ 
shaped patch, a few white feathers among the lesser wing 
coverts disposed in a rose or crescent form, and from seven 
to ten of the extreme pinion feathers white in each wing; 
also the thighs and legs must be white. In the red and 
yellow pieds they are permitted to have white tails, on 
account of the difficulty of breeding these colours from 
blue, which is their chief colour, with good red or yellow 
tails. Of the four colours blue pied is the most universal; 
black pied, red pied, and yellow pied are, consequently, to 
be preferred in order of their rarity, provided they are 
equally well marked. 
Perfection is a quality rarely obtained, and so it is that 
the best birds are frequently deficient in some respect or 
other. A few of their faults, with their technical names, are 
as follow:—If the Powter rarely inflates his crop, but lets it 
hang loosely about his chest, he is said to be slack-winded, 
and this is a great fault; should he, on the other hand, 
blow out his crop so full as to inconvenience himself or lose 
command of his actions, it is termed stiff-winded; if the 
legs are thin, and destitute of feathers, they are said to be 
spindle-shanked; if, on the contrary, rushed or covered with 
large, coarse feathers, they are said to be flag-thighed; if 
the back'rises instead of being hollow, it is called hogged- 
backed; if in playing he raises the feathers on his back, it 
: is called rumping, which is disliked, as well as his sweeping 
I the ground with his tail, straddling, or tucking it between 
his legs, or jumping. 
With respect to plumage the following are blemishes :—If 
there is no dark patch descending from the bill, so that the 
crop is all white in front, it is called swallow-throated; if the 
white extends round the neck, he is called ring-headed; if 
there is an excess of white on the wing, so as to leave a 
white slur below when the wing is closed, it is called 
bishoped or lawn-sleeved; if, on the contrary, the dark 
colour extends too far up the pinion, they are foul-flighted; 
if a dark feather occurs near the extremity, it is said to be 
sworded; dark feathers on the thighs or legs would be 
designated foul-thighed. The least esteemed colours are 
mealy and grizzled: pure white are admired by a few. 
Much pains are taken by the breeders and fanciers of this 
variety by carefully keeping their pedigree so as to prevent 
pairing relations, by which they avoid degeneracy, and also 
by carefully matching them so as to prevent both parents 
having the same blemishes. During the winter the cocks 
and hens are separated, and as they are negligent parents, 
owing much to their artificial state of breeding, the young 
are mostly reared by other and more attentive nurses, which 
are kept on purpose, the Powters being supplied with eggs 
to sit on, and a young one a few days old at hatching time to 
feed off their soft meats, and to prevent their laying again 
too soon, which would weaken and soon kill the hen. Size 
and vigour being requisite for the perfection of a Towter, 
they would soon be spoiled by degeneracy from in-and-in 
breeding or incestuous matching. Numerous as Powtei’s 
| are, but few come near to a standard of excellence. Many 
| very good-carriaged little birds are to be met with. Some 
j call these Powting Horsemen, but I regard them simply as 
the Powter less highly bred. Again, if a Powter is large, 
and has not other good qualities, it is not unfrequently 
also passed off as a Powting Horseman ; not that it shows 
any affinity to the Horseman, but simply because it is not 
first-rate.— B. P. Brent. 
i 
AN EGG HARVEST. 
If you consider the following account of the management 
and produce of a small poultry-yard suited to your pages it ; 
is at your service. 
On the 1st of January, 1856, my stock of poultry con- | 
sisted of three one-year-old pure white-faced Spanish hens ; 
two seven-montlis’-old pullets, Spanish hens; three seven- 
months'-old pullets, bred between my Spanish cock bird and 
a black Cochin hen, borrowed for the purpose of experiment. 
Total, eight layers. 
Their produce, noted day by day, has been as follows : — 
January, 132 eggs; February, 144; March, 173; April, 170; 
May, 108 (one sitting) ; June, 132 ; July, 71 (two sittings); 
August, 100; September, 110; October, November, Decem¬ 
ber, 60 (not regularly noted, but certainly above 60). Total, 
1200 eggs, being 150 each hen. But my wife, who has more 
to do with the poultry than myself, considers that the fol¬ 
lowing statement approximates nearer to the truth, viz.: — 
The three half-bred pullets, 180 eggs each, 540; five pure 
Spaniards, 132 each, 660. Total, 1200. 
I am much disposed to endorse this opinion from my own 
knowledge, and I must further state that the half-bred pul¬ 
lets commenced laying at five months and a half old, 
whereas the pure Spanish did not do so until seven months 
old. 
Certain it is that birds bred as above described are enor¬ 
mous layers. They possess, moreover, a handsome glossy 
plumage, are of large size, short and clean legged, good 
mothers, and excellent on table; in a word, I cannot imagine 
a more useful cross for tbe farmer or non-exhibiting amateur. 
What the effect of another cross back to Spanish blood will ! 
be I shall try this year. 
I have only to add that our poultry is kept in a good- j 
sized inclosed yard, and fed regularly three times a day with 
barley, besides receiving three or four days a week a fair 
supply of green food in the shape of garden refuse.—H. D., 
Penzan ce. 
NOTTINGHAM CENTRAL POULTRY 
EXHIBITION. 
In addition to the prizes allotted to Poultry, of which 
we published the list last week, the following prizes were 
awarded for Pigeons, Canaries, and Rabbits :— 
Pigeons.— A Silver Cup, of the value of Five Guineas, for the best 
Three Pens of Almond Tumblers, Carriers, and Powters, Mr. F. Bottom, 
Sherwood Hill, Notts. A Silver Cup of the value of Five Guineas, for : 
the best Four Pens of any variety, Mr. F. Bottom, Sherwood Hill, Notts. 
(Fantails, Owls, Trumpeters, and Jacobins.) Powters. —First, Mr. G. J. 
Horner, Charlotte Street, Hull. Second, Mr. E. A. Lingard, Snow Hill, 
Birmingham. Commended, Mr. C. Titterton, Birmingham. Almond 
Tumblers. —First, Mr. J. Percival, Clent Villa, Harborne, near Birming¬ 
ham. Second, Mr. F. Bottom, Sherwood Hill, Notts. Highly Com¬ 
mended, Mr. E. A. Lingard, Snow Hill, Birmingham. Carriers.— First 
and Second, Mr. J. Percival, Clent Villa, Harborne, near Birmingham. 
Barbs.— First, Mr. J. Percivall, 13, Walworth Row, Walworth, Surrey. 
Second, Mr. T. George, Normanton, near Derby. Commended, Mr. J. 
Percival, Clent Villa, Harborne, near Birmingham. Runts. —First, Mr. 
E. A. Lingard, Birmingham. Second, Mr. F, Bottom, Sherwood Hill, 
Notts. Commended, Mr. F. A. Lavender, Biddenham, near Bedford. 
Fantails. —First, Mr. H. Simpson, Swan Street, Kettering, Northampton. 
Second, Mr. T. J. Cottle, Puiteney Villa, Cheltenham. Jacobins. —First, 
Mr. T. J. Cottle, Puiteney Villa, Cheltenham. Second, Mr. H. Weir, 
Lyndhurst Road, Peckham, Surrey. Turbits. —First, Mr. H. Weir, 
Lyndhurst Road, Peckham, Surrey. Second, Mr. A. P. Presdee, Bel- j 
grave Street, Birmingham. Nuns.— First, Mr. J. B. Edge, Aston New 
Town, Birmingham. Second, Mr. T. Twose, Bridgewater, Somerset, i 
Archangels. -Second, Mr. F. Bottom, Sherwood Hill, Notts. Second, . 
Mr. C. R. Titterton, Birmingham. (First prize withheld). Trumpeters. — 
First, Mrs. S. Beilby, Angel Lane, Beverley. Second, Mr. T. Twose, j 
Bridgewater, Somerset. (A good class.) Owls. —First, Mr. G. Robson, I 
Saville Street, Hull. Second, Mr. J. Billyeald, Hyson Green, near Not¬ 
tingham. Commended, Mr. F. Bottom, Sherwood Hill, Notts. Dragons. 
—First, Mr. W. Appleby, Station Street, Burton-upon-Trent. Second, 
Mr. T. J. Cottle, Puiteney Villa, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. (Many of 
this class Horseman bred.) Bald Heads. —First, Mr. J. B, Edge, Aston 
New Town, Birmingham. Second, Mr. H. Weir, Lyndhurst Road. 
Peckham, Surrey. Commended, Mr. E. A. Lingard, Snow Hill, Birming¬ 
ham. (An extraordinarily good class.) Beards. —First, Mr. F. Bottom, i 
Sherwood Hill, Notts. Second, Mr. J. Percivall, 13, Queen’s Row, Wal¬ 
worth, Surrey. Mottled Tumblers. —First and Second, Mr. J. Percival, 
Clent Villa, Harborne, near Birmingham. Commended, Mr. F. Bottom, i 
Sherwood Hill, Notts. Any other new or distinct breed. —The prizes ! 
withheld. 
Canaries {Yellow pure and clear Belgiums). —First, Mr. W. Brown, 
Great Hampton Street, Birmingham. Second, Mr. J. Tattersall, | 
North Moor Toll Bar, Oldham, Lancashire. Third, Mr. W. Philips, j 
