POULTRY AND PIGEON NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVII, Issue 11188, 9 February 1897, Page 3

POULTRY AND PIGEON NOTES.

[By Ovo in “Canterbury Times.”] Warrior, the winner of the Oamarn race last Saturday; was bred by his owner. He is only five months old, Mid ia.by a cock bred by Smith, of from a hen imported from-Belgium. He is halfbrother to Spinaway; the; second bird in last year’s Derby. ’ Snapshot, the second bird, is by Ascot ex:‘Valetta, by father of Foresight and Condor, ex a hen by Rainbow, and three-quarter sister to MafiLpo. He has flown Dunedin. His sire Ascot has w on three races, and Valetta has -flown from Dunedin. ' Brahmas, Cochins,Dorkings, Orpingtons, Leghorns, Plymouth Rocks, and, above all, the Game classes were the chief features in the poultry department of the Birmingham show, which opened on Nov. 28, and was a pronounced success. Nearly a thousand pigeons were staged at Birmingham. Tumblers, upwards - of 200, were the best ever seen, some critics going so far as to express the opinion they will with difficulty be excelled. The encouragement given at the Birmingham Show to the art of preserving eggs, has led to several simple and > effective methods being successfully exhibited. The object is, of course, to keep the air from the contents of the egg, and tins can only be accomplished by. treating the'outer surface of the shell. This year’s first prise collection had the shells rubbed over with white of egg, and they were beautifully fresh and sweet after some months of preservation. The eggs that gained the second prize were simply covered with a coating of white of egg and packed in flour. Amongst the most important sales at Birmingham Show was that of Mr Hugo Ainsoough’s first-prize black-red Game cock, which was claimed by Captain Heaton at the catalogue price of .£2OO. Other sales includedMr W. B. Fowler’s second-prize black-red Game cock, £26 ; Mr W. J. Drewry’s, first-prize dark Dorking cock, .£ll 11s; Mr 0. E. Cresswoll’s cup white Dorking cock, £lO 10s, and challenge cup white Dorking cockerel,. £lO 10s; Mr H. L. Wade’s cup buffi Cochin cockerel, £2l; Miss E. Rouse’s first-prize partridge Cochin hen,. £l2 12s; Mr R. S. Williams’s first-prize black Cochin cock, £lO 10s; Mr Jonathan Hill’s first-prize Houdan cockerel, £lO 10s. The Table Poultry Show, at the Agricultural Hall, London, on Dec. 8 to 10, is described as having been a grand success, ■ and brought together a collection such as has seldom, if ever, been seen in England before. The entries numbered upwards of five hundred and fifty, making a splendid ; display, but, says the Fanciers ’ Gazette ; “it behoved breeders and fatters to make liberal responses, as the promoters of the show offered nearly £2OO in prizes and ; specials in the thirty-seven classes provided, and it would have been very discouraging, after sncb ample cl assi ficati on and prize-money had been guaranteed., to have received a meagre entry. The judges, Messrs Percival, Hodges, Bevington° and Miller, must have had a difficult task in selecting the best birds in some of the classes. On the whole we thought the winners well selected, although in one or two instances we were sorry to see birds that were slightly crooked-: breasted in the money. We were very pleased to note that our neighbours across the Channel came to the front, as far as numbers were concerned, with a capital entry of 153 in the two classes providedforthem. As regards the quality, we did not consider them by any means equal to the’ English section, taking the classes as a whole. La Pleche, although not nearly so numerous as the Paverolles, succeeded; in capturing premier honours in bothclasses, and in our opinion they quite merited their success, as they were better, both in size and whiteness and fineness of; texture of flesh. Bresse came next in order of merit, with Faverolles third on the list. In numbers the latter variety, were easily first, totalling sixty-one^. against La Fleche twenty-two, Bresse eighteen, Houdans fifteen, Gascogne twenty, and; other varieties ranging from two to five each.” Dorkings, Indian Game and LangpViang were most prominent amongst the pure breeds of English raising, and amongst the cross-breeds those of the Old Tnngbfib Game and Indian Game with the Dorking took the lead. The exhibition is reviewed at great length, from various points of view, by the English papers, and I hope to be allowed space next week to quote some of their comments.