49 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, April 20, 1858. 
on the Judges entering the room, to hand them their books, 
and afterwards to receive their awards. 
With respect to the question, which has been mooted, as to 
whether Secretaries and Committeemen should exhibit or not, 
I must say, with all due respect to “Fair Play,” that I 
differ from him. I will ask, in the first place, how are Poultry 
Shows generally got up ? A few enthusiastic amateurs, who 
have become successful exhibitors at other places, meet toge¬ 
ther, and resolve to have an Exhibition in their own district; 
they collect subscriptions, issue their prize-list on what they 
consider a safe basis, and should , in all cases , guarantee the 
'payment of the prize-money. They undergo some anxiety, 
and work hard to carry it through successfully. And for 
what! “ Oh,” “ Fair Play ” will say, “ that exhibitors from 
other places may carry off all the prizes.” What! is an ex¬ 
hibitor to be excluded from gaining honours in his own 
locality ? “ Oh, then,” “ Fair Play ” may say, “ get a Com¬ 
mittee together who do not exhibit.” Yes, get them together 
if you can ; but where are they to come from ? The thing is 
absurd. No Committee will undertake the risk, and work, 
who are not enthusiasts on the subject. You may, on a 
large Committee, perhaps, get a few ornamental dummies; 
but they are worse than useless for carrying on a Poultry 
Exhibition successfully. As to “Fair Play” telling us 
about “ the feeling which dictated the conduct of at least one 
member of the Preston Committee,” it is all bosh. Why, one 
of the Secretaries and the Treasurer exhibited upward of 
thirty pens between them, and, as far as my recollection serves 
me, not one of the other officials, who did not exhibit, have 
obtained any very distinguished position at our principal 
Exhibitions. Do I blame the gentlemen who exhibited so 
many pens P By no means. I am rejoiced to find the poultry 
feeling so enthusiastically manifested in them; for, without such 
energetic amateurs, the Preston Show would, like most others 
in the kingdom, if reduced to a non-exhibiting staff, be ex¬ 
tinguished, like the one in connection with the Royal Agri¬ 
cultural Society of England after the present year.— AMember 
of the Liverpool Poultry Show Committee. 
[The majority of our readers will agree with us in thinking 
that this controversy may now well cease. It has been 
vagrant enough; beginning with Mr. Worrall attacking the 
decisions of the Judges of the Preston Show, branching into 
attacks upon his own conduct, then again into attacks upon 
Mr. Chune, and then away into censures upon the Liverpool 
Poultry Show Committee. We need not say that all this is a 
subject for regret, savouring of bitter feelings, and making 
honourable poultry exhibitors ponder in their minds as to 
who is trustworthy ? and, where is there a fair field ? This 
should not be. Men, like Mr. Worrall, when defeated, should 
submit to defeat; or, if they think they have good grounds for 
complaint, should make known those grounds to the Com¬ 
mittee of the Exhibition where they arose. So, also, when an 
exhibitor is charged with unfair conduct—a charge which 
should never be made without evidence certain, and above 
suspicion — he would do right to remember that it is no 
defence to retort a counter charge against his assailant. The 
only inference to be drawn from such a course is, that the 
said exhibitor considers it justifiable to be roguish among 
rogues, and that one rogue ought not to brand his brother in 
crime. 
Such controversies,however, are not without their use;— 
they warn, that there are lynx-eyed censors about sedulous to 
detect, and gloating over the detection, of errors. But, better 
than this, such controversies call forth manly, straightforward I 
letters, like that of “A Member of the Liverpool Poultry 
Show Committee;” specimens of good sense, and honest 
feeling, which are assuring and consolatory, after the narrow¬ 
minded, selfish, uncandid, and bitter utterances characterising 
some of the letters of the controversy.—E d.] 
BUYING EGGS AND FOWLS. 
I have read in The Cottage Gardener the attack by 
“ R. G.” on those who sell poultry and eggs, and the reply to 
him by “ Senex,” with whose remarks I very much agree. I 
would fain hope that “ R. G.’s” strictures are not intended 
to traduce a few people, “ whose integrity and characters are 
as unblemished as his ownf but that they were written in 
ignorance, and, perhaps, in a moment of annoyance at some 
poultry disappointment. 
As one of the most successful of the prize-takers, as an old 
and constant exhibitor, and as possessing, probably, a larger 
collection of poultry than any one other amateur, I should like 
to try to convince “R. G.,” by my own experience, how 
groundless is the charge he makes; and how vain is the ex¬ 
pectation he seems to indulge, that when he buys eggs, every 
egg is to produce a bird, and that each bird will prove a prize 
bird. If so, prizes would easily be won, which is not the case 
in the present day. I have, at this moment, nineteen walks 
for Dorkings alone, each walk containing a cock, and from 
three to five hens. These have been selected to run together, 
with great care, to secure the most successful crosses. Up to 
April 1st, I had 172 Dorking chickens, hatched since January 
1st, and, with good luck, by May 1st, they will exceed 400. With 
every care and every attention to feeding, how many “ prize ” 
birds may I “ hope ” to rear ? How many must 1 expect to 
be utter failures ! If I get fifty prize birds, and 150 tolerably 
fair birds, I shall have had great, very great, and unusual 
success. And yet “ R. G.” expects to get prize birds, from 
buying, perhaps, one sitting of eggs ! With all my observation, 
I cannot explain the discrepancies winch constantly appear in 
hatching results, though I do think there are two causes, 
which tend to eggs proving useless. One is on the part of the ! 
seller, from having his birds, especially the cock, too fat. After 
a Show, I always observe, the eggs from the Show birds hatch 
badly, and I thunk this is owing to the cock, who is fat and 
lazy. The fault on the part of the buyer, appears to be, that he 
“ will ” put the old number of thirteen eggs under a hen, 
whatever be the weather, the temperature, or size of the hen, 
quite forgetting that in cold weather she cannot generate heat 
enough for so many eggs. I believe, that if we were satisfied, 
to put not more than seven or eight eggs under a hen, at any 
rate, till warmer weather, better results would generally be ob¬ 
tained, both in the number and strength of the clucks. Yet, 
with all this, there are still contradictions which I cannot 
explain, nor do I believe that travelling (if well packed) has 
much to do with failure ; for, on two occasions, I have sent 
boxes of twelve eggs each to Switzerland. The results were 
twelve chickens and ten chickens. This year, I sent away 
twenty-four eggs, which produced seventeen chickens ; and of 
the same sort of eggs, I sat the same day, for myself, two 
sittings of eleven each. One lot gave me nine chicks, the other | 
only one—a sickly thing, which died. This was possibly the 
fault of the hen; but, had I been so unlucky as to have sent 
the last lot to “ R. G.,” he would have supposed I had used 
him ill. 
I have now on one of my Game walks, a Game cock who 
had great fame at Anerley, by being disqualified “for a spliced 
tail;” after which discreditable expose, I claimed him at the 
Show price. He was so well known as a brood cock, that his 
late owner has made me great offers to restore him. He 
justified his fame last year, as the father of the Game chickens 
with which I won the prize at the Crystal Palace. He is at a 
good walk, and perfectly well; yet this year, up to April 1st, 
eggs from his hens had only produced five chickens. They 
are now, however, promising very well. Had I, unluckily, 
sent any of these eggs away (and I considered them very 
first-rate), I might have been set down for a rogue. I name j 
this, to show how easily disappointments may occur. 
I was asked, not long ago, by a lady, “ whether I would : 
guarantee every egg.” Of course I declined, and of course 
lost a customer. I can only honestly send to others the same 
eggs I use myself. As yet, this year, I have had no com¬ 
plaints, though, of course, some will come ; and when they are 
reasonably and courteously made, they will, I can promise, 
be courteously and liberally met. I am proud to say, that in a 
long and successful poultry career, I have had few “ troubles,” 
or “disputes.” I can now number as “ friends ,” many whose 
acquaintance I only made by supplying them with eggs, or 
birds. It gives me great pleasure to receive (as I often do) I 
letters from purchasers, announcing success from the produce 
of my eggs. I also possess some prize birds from eggs I had 
sold, and had then purchased the produce, and almost the 
best Spanish cockerel I ever saw was at a Show about two 
years ago, from an egg obtained, I think, from Mr. Baily. 
So “ R. G.” will see, that prize poultry are sometimes to be 
got from bought eggs. 
