THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, April 13, 1858. 
34 
July, are the three best plants of any variety which you can pick up, 
or get through an advertisement. But, surely, you would think if, no 
honour to get a prize for plants you did not grow yourself. You will 
have seen a reference to the best Verbenas of this season ; the names of 
the best white and red Fuchsias, and the best fancy and common 
Pelargoniums, for your work, in a very recent number; and we give 
another list of Fuchsias to-day. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
June 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Bath and West of England. See., Mr. 
John Kingsbury, Ilammet Street, Taunton. 
June 28th, 29th, and 30th, and J uly 1st. Sheffield. Sec., Win. Henry 
Dawson, Sheffield. 
July' 8th. Prescot. See., Mr. James Bcesley. 
August 30th and 31st, and September 1st. North Hants. Sec., Mr. 
T. Moore, Fareham, Hants. 
Dec. 1/th and 18th.— Halifax Fancy Pigeon Show. Sec., Mr. II. 
Holds worth, Woolshops, Halifax. 
N.B.— Secretaries will oblige us by sending early copies of their lists. 
DEVIZES CHICKEN SHOW. ' 
We hail with pleasure the Schedule of Prizes to be awarded 
at this first Exhibition of Poultry ever held at Devizes. The 
prizes are liberal, three in each class, and varying from £2 
to 10^. There is also a £1 prize for the best cock in the 
Dorking, Cochin-China, Spanish, and Hamburgh classes ; and 
a Sweepstakes for Game cocks, to be divided into six prizes if 
over thirty entries, at one guinea each. Mr. G. S. Sainsbury 
is the Secretary, and the day of exhibition (some Thursday in 
August) will be fixed as soon as the Crystal Palace Exhibition 
day of similar character has been announced. We hope all 
poultry exhibitors will sustain this debut of the Devizes. 
GOLDEN MOONIES. 
Having seen it stated in your columns, by Mr. Worrall, 
that he has a Golden Mooney cock that he will show against 
any bird in England, I wish to ask if this bird is really a 
thorough-bred Mooney? I have seen a great many prize 
cocks shown with Mooney hens, but have never yet seen one 
that'was a true Mooney ; all the Mooney cocks that I have 
seen (and I have been amongst most of the breeders in 
; Lancashire) are much smaller than those exhibited, and 
they are wanting in that most desirable appendage to a 
Hamburgh fowl—the ear-lobe. The birds that are exhibited 
seem to he a cross between a Mooney and the Yorkshire 
Pheasant fowl; in fact, it is almost difficult to decide how 
they have been bred, hut any breeder of this sort knows 
well enough that they are not Moonies. I have heard it 
stated, that in Lancashire they have crossed them with 
Spanish, to obtain good cocks; this, of course, would take 
a few crosses to do, 1 should imagine. At all events, it is a 
i fact worthy of notice, that if you have first-class prize birds 
you cannot breed such chickens as they can produce in Lan- 
i casliire, which strengthens me in my supposition about the 
; cross of the cocks. The same remarks apply to the Pen- 
! cilled cocks, most of the prize birds being bred from nearly 
White heus, which breed cocks clear from all mark on the 
wing, those that show the faint bar being passed over as not 
up to the mark; whilst, in fact, they are the proofs of the 
genuine breed. Let anyone attempt to breed from such a 
White bird, and they will be wot'uMy disappointed in the 
appearance of their .pullets. Of course, the sole fault lies 
in the Judges giving the preference to the birds I have 
named, and not understanding the true characteristics of a 
Hamburgh fowl.— Hamburgh. 
PACKING EGGS FOR TRAVELLING. 
In an article published in The Cottage Gardener, of 
March 9th, one of your correspondents disapproves of the 
practice of' buying and selling eggs from prize fowls. I have 
j for the last two years frequently bought eggs, and though 
i from some of the sittings I have failed to hatch even one 
chicken, I could always trace the failure to the eggs having 
i been badly packed. 
As an experiment to prove whether my mode of packing 
eggs Avas the best, I sent last year five eggs more than 170 
miles by railway; they were absent three days, and twice 
travelled through London in the railway van. On their 
return they were placed Avifli some other eggs under a hen, 
and four out of the five eggs were duly hatched. These 
eggs were carefully packed, and the lid of the box screwed 
doAvn. The only objection to oats, as a packing material, is, 
that sometimes, but very rarely, an egg may he pierced Avith 
the sharp end of an oat; I have only knoAvn, however, one 
or tAvo instances of such an accident. The plan I now adopt 
in packing eggs is to wrap each egg in se\ r eral folds of news¬ 
paper, and then place a thick layer of cotton- avooI and straAV 
cut to the length of the box, both under and over the eggs, 
filling up every insterstice Avith pledgets of cotton-wool. This 
plan prevents any chance of the eggs being broken, and 
preserves their vitality as Avell as is done by the oats. 
There is one thing I invariably do, and I think ought to be 
done by every one avIio sells eggs for sittings, and that is to 
write on each egg, legibly with a pencil, the date on Avhich 
it Avas laid. Egg boxes should invariably haA-e their lids 
screwed down. 1 have constantly received boxes of valuable 
eggs, of Avhich not one has hatched, and, I believe, solely in 
consequence of the lids being nailed doAA'n, the jar of the 
hammer destroying the vitality of the egg. 
No eggs should he packed in sawdust, nor should eggs 
more than ten days old be sent to any distance. 
If sellers of eggs Avould adopt the precautions I have 
mentioned, I think little complaint Avould ever be made 
about purchased eggs not hatching.—A Subscriber.. 
SHEFFIELD PRIZE LIST. 
In answer to “ J. D.’s ” letter of March 23rd, respecting 
the Sheffield Poultry Show, 1 beg to state that, if prize-lists 
Avere made to please everybody, they would suit nobody. 
White Bantams being among the feAvest entries, and not so 
much esteemed as the other varieties, are therefore classed 
with the “ any other varietiesalthough now that Game 
Bantams have a separate class, Whites are almost the only 
other variety. I presume “ J. D.” does not keep Game Ban¬ 
tams, or he would not complain at the any variety class being 
taken for them. I have some DuckAAung Game Bantams, 
which I consider, and have been considered by many first-rate 
judges, as some of the best in England. In my estimation, 
Game Bantams are more handsome than Gold, Black, Silver, 
and (last of all) White.—H. D. Simmons. 
NEW CASTLE POULTRY SHOW. 
This SIioav Avas held on the 7th and 8th inst. The folloAv- 
ing prizes were awarded :— 
Game.— First, II. Adams, Beverley, Yorkshire. Second, A. Suther¬ 
land, Burnley, Lancashire. Highly Commended, H. Adams, Beverley, 
Yorkshire (two pens); G, Best, Barnes, near Sunderland. Commended, 
J. Charlton, Simpson Street, Newcastle. Chickens. —First, A. Suther¬ 
land, Burnley, Lancashire. Second, J. II. Smith, Skelton Grange, near 
York. Highly Commended, J. Dixon, Bradford; J. Carrick, Bramp¬ 
ton, Carlisle. Commended, A. Pease, Southend. Darlington. 
For the best pen in Class 1 or 2, a Gun, by Mr. AV. 11. Pape, gun- 
maker, ColiingAvood Street, value Ul2, was awarded to Mr. Adams, 
Beverley. 
Dorkings (Coloured).—First, Itev. G. Hustler, Appleton, Tadcaster. 
Second, G. Baillie, jun., Mellerstain, Kelso, N.B. Highly Commended, 
C. II. Wakefield, Malvern Wells, Worcestershire. Commended, J. 
Kobinson, Yale House, Garstang ; H. W. B. Berwick, Helmsley, York¬ 
shire. 
Dorkings (White). — First, J. Kobinson, Vale House, Garstang, 
Second, A. Pease, Southend, Darlington. Commended, S. Burn, 
1, East Terrace, Whitby. Chickens (any colour).—First, G. Baillie, jun., 
Mellerstain, Kelso. Second, liev. G. Hustler, Appleton, Tadcaster, 
Highly Commended, J. Kobinson, Yale House, Garstang (AY bite). 
T'or the best pen in Class 3, 4, or 5, a Papier Mache Inkstand, by 
Mr. Kobert Fisher, book ellcr, St. Nicholas’ Square, value*£4, avus 
awarded to the Kcv. George Hustler, Appleton, Tadcaster. 
Spanish. —First, Mrs. J. C. Hall, Surrey House, Sheffield. Second, 
W. Lightfoot, Newcastle, Highly Commended, Mrs. S. II. Hyde, 
M°_ss Cottage, Ashton-under-Lyne. Commended, J. Dixon, Bradford. 
Chickens. —First, J. Shorthose, Newcastle. Second, J. Dixon, Brad¬ 
ford. Highly Commended, W. Silvester, 16, New Market, Sheffield ; 
W. Dawson, Hopton, Mirfield, Yorkshire; J. Kodbard, Aldwick Court, 
Langford, Bristol. Commended, W. Lightfoot, Newcastle. 
For the best pen in Class 6 or 7, a Dressing Case, by Messrs. J. and 
