instance is another proof of the fidelity and attachment of these creatures to their masters and property."-I know, Mr. Editor, how readily you will give insertion to this. If men were to take a lesson now and then out of a dog's book, it would do society no harm,-would it ?-LOUISA T. [You are right, Louisa. The dog is a noble animal; and repeatedly proves himself far superior to Man,-his master.] The Late Poultry Show at Birmingham.With reference to the weight of the prize birds at Birmingham, or indeed anywhere, says Mr. J. BAILY, it must be borne in mind that size, and consequently weight, are only valuable when allied to the other points, that mark purity of breed and stamp the value of a fowl. Thus, in Cochin Chinas, the pen exhibited by Mr. Sturgeon, which took the first prize, was exceedingly heavy; but they were also symmetrical. The hens nearly averaged eleven pounds each, and the cock surpassed them. If these had lacked feathering on the leg, their size would not have secured the prize. Again, these weights are exceptions to the rule, and the owner of Cochin China cocks of 9 or 10 lbs., and pullets of 8 or 8 lbs., possesses, so far as size is concerned, first-rate birds. The Dorkings were very heavy, but they kick the beam when put in the scale with the birds we have just mentioned. The heaviest hen in the show was the property of the Hon. and Rev. Stephen Lawley; she weighed 8 lbs. This again is an exception. There were plenty of cocks 84, and pullets 7 and 74 lbs. In all these classes, it must be borne in mind, the birds exhibited are the pickings of the United Kingdom. Cocks 7 lbs. and pullets 64 lbs. are good birds, and about the average of the stocks kept, where they are carefully attended to, and of first-rate strains. But if they weighed 12 lbs. each, and were four-toed or black-legged, they would be disqualified. The smallest bantams weighed from 12 to 16 oz. each. A bantam-cock should not exceed 17 oz. nor a hen 14 oz. But here, again, if one weighed but seven, sickle feathers in the tail, or long hackle and saddle, or feathered legs, or single comb, would disqualify a Sebright. These are the breeds in which great or small weights are most esteemed. But it will be seen that, although important and essential when combined with other properties, they are only accessories to success. To hope for pre-eminence in any breed, it is not enough to have good birds; the amateur must breed largely to give him opportunity for selection. It is said of Lord Rivers, many years ago, that he was once asked how he succeeded in having always first-rate grey-hounds? He answered, "I breed many, and hang many.' This was the secret of his success. The same will be found in exhibiting fowls-successful competitors breed largely and keep the best. When it is wished to rear poultry, for competing in classes where size is a desideratum, care should be taken to feed the chickens from the first as well as possible. A check at a fortnight old is never recovered. The chicken may live, grow up, and do well; but it will never carry the prize from one that has progressed uninterruptedly. This is true of all the Gallinaceous tribes. The weights of the turkeys were as follows:-Cocks 221, 214, 19, and 19 lbs. each. The first and largest was of the ordinary breed of Cambridgeshire The others were copper and American. The hens from 11 to 14 lbs. each The geese weighed from 20 to 15 lbs. The successful pens, 1 gander and 2 geese in each, weighed 584, 521, and 50 lbs. Last year, 1851, the Rev. John Robinson, of Widmerpool, sent a gander weighing 29 lbs. The best ducks averaged 5 lbs each.-I quite agree with you Mr. Editor, about Poultry. Say what you will, the Dorking, all things considered, is "the" best of all known fowls-both for eggs and the table.-A WILSON. Brutal Conduct to a Pony at Oxford.-No doubt, Mr. Editor, you have read the account in the newspapers, of the recent horrible case heard before the magistrates at Burnham, Bucks, with reference to the monster named Prickett, who laid a wager to drive his pony to London and back, (120 miles) in twenty hours! The details of his cruelty are too sickening to be laid before your readers, but the wretch deserves public exposure. His name is PRICKETT, and he is the landlord of the Plough, at Oxford. His "fine," as levied by the tender-hearted magistrates, was 40s., and the costs 33s.! A LOVER OF HUMANITY, Henleyon-Thames. [This fellow is a monster indeed! But for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals"-how everybody hates this valuable society! he would have escaped altogether. As for the "fine,"-the magistrates, when they named it, must have been dreaming; if not, they must have been iron-hearted. How any civilised men could sit and hear what we have read in the newspapers, and which we take it for granted must be true-without shuddering, and adminis tering something like "justice" to the criminal, we know not. Perhaps they were fox-hunters; if so all is explained. "Birds of a feather, etc." Cochin China Fowls.-Although, Mr. Editor, I agree with you, that no fowl can surpass the Dorking for the table, nor the Hamburghs for eggs,-yet let me put in a plea for the Cochins. They unite both qualities. They lay well; and their eggs are of a good size. They commence laying when about seven months old. The gait of the pullet is not unlike that of the Dorking. Mine are of a good form; short on the leg, and very full bodied. The cocks are longer on the legs than the Dorkings; and have a peculiar gait. One of mine crows very clearly. It is lengthened sweetness long drawn out." The Cochins weigh heavy. Cocks average 10lbs; and pullets 8lbs when full grown. I find these birds more hardy than any others. I did not lose one chicken last season. I had one hatch of half-bred birds,- -a cross between the Cochin and Dorking. These came off last October. The mother died in a fortnight afterwards. However, the chickens reared themselves, and are now A 1. very pleasing to watch the little creatures huddle together at night, in some hay I gave them! I have not yet tasted the flesh of the thorough bred birds; but those from the cross I speak of are excellent fowl for the table. They weigh, when six months old, from 6 to 7lbs per head. C. P., Boston, Lincolnshire. It was How to cure Parrots of pulling out their Feathers. I have read in OUR JOURNAL, various complaints of the difficulty that exists in curing parrots of this disfiguring habit; and I have never felt satisfied that any of the modes proposed as "cures," went to the bottom of the evil; in fact, the disease, for disease it is, is evidently not understood. I have at the request of a correspondent, made an inquiry on the subject in the NATURALIST. In the remarks I am now about to make, I am by no means sure that I have approached nearer to a solution of the difficulty; but they may suggest to those interested, a more probable clue to the origin of the habit than would arise from any of the articles above alluded to. I take no credit to myself for the idea. It has been conveyed to me by MR. D. GRAHAM, a most respectable and first-rate birdstuffer, of this city (York). Knowing that he kept a grey parrot, I spoke to him on the subject of parrots denuding themselves of their feathers. He said that a Falconer (I believe in the employment of the Duke of Leeds) had told him that the habit was caused by the presence of an insect of some kind, and that a certain cure for it was to wash the bird in whiskey. It struck me at once, that this was an excellent suggestion; and that it could do no harm to hint as much in OUR JOURNAL-supplying the "bane and antidote" at the same time. The proper mode of investigating the subject would be to examine the skin of one of the diseased birds with a strong magnifier. The parasite would be either a Pediculus, of a moderate size-probably not less than one-twentieth of an inch long, or an Acarus, like the itch insect, and which would not be visible, unless greatly magnified. Should any little pustules or pimples be observed, they should be opened with a needle. The matter exuding therefrom, should then be placed on a piece of glass; and when covered with a second piece of glass, submitted to a microscope of high powers. This would determine the question; for should an Acarus be present, it would readily be seen. I am inclined to suspect that an Acarus is the enemy; and, in such case, whiskey or any other spirit, would be a certain cure. I shall be very glad to hear the result of any experiments on this matter, resulting from these remarks.-BEVERLEY R. MORRIS, M.D., York, Jan. 21, 1853. [A question is here raised, in which we know not how many hundreds-perhaps thousands of persons, feel deeply interested. Parrots, in this country, are extensively "petted," and very large sums are given for good birds." It is truly vexatious, to see some of these costly animals suffering from an unknown enemy, who destroys, or eats away, all that is elegant in their varied costume. We will canvass the subject; and, if possible, arrive at the direct cause of the evil.] PRIMROSES. "Three bunches a-penny, primroses!" BY ELIZA COOK. "Three bunches a-penny, primroses!" Yes; dear is the greeting of Spring, When she offers her dew-spangled posies, The fairest creation can bring! "Three bunches a-penny, primroses!" We reflect, we contrive, and we reckon It brings visions of meadow and mountain, When we threaded the wild forest ways; A AND GOOD-WILL TO THE POOR ONES WHO CRY! HAPPINESS AND ITS OPPOSITE,— OR THE INSATIATE THIRST FOR GOLD. If solid HAPPINESS we prize, From our own selves our joys must flow, COTTON. HAPPINESS is a road-side flower, growing in the highways of usefulness. hand; passed by, it is fragrance to thy spirit. TUPPER. UESTIONABLE INDEED IS THAT which mankind call HAPPINESS! Much has been written on the subject, by the best of men; but it never had, never will have, any lasting good effect. The world have their own ideas about it, and all argument is vain. many hundreds of other equally silly boys are preparing to follow suit. This by way of a hint. The subjoined extracts from a letter, gives so fair a statement of Life at the Diggings, that we feel sure our readers will enjoy a perusal of them. The letter was written by a son to his mother. The names of the parties, of course, we suppress:— Plucked, it shall wither in thy start for the diggings, with my stores, &c., in Melbourne, July 30, 1852.-I told you of my mine of the 28th of April. On my arrival our company broke up, and I, joining with Dr. M'C., worked there till the latter end of June (in the most part of the time dreadful wet weather), when, as we had done very little good in that time, owing to the obstacles thrown in our way by the continued wet, I sold off my stores at very good prices, and returned to Melbourne, which I reached again on the 8th of this month. I sold flour, that I had given £3 per bag for, for £16; sugar, for which I had given 3d. per lb., at 1s 6d., and so on. My two horses, cart, and harness, cost me close on £80; I sold them for 3lb 23 oz. of gold, which at £2 17s. per ounce, was £110, the price agreed upon by the buyer; but I brought the gold to Melbourne, and sold at £3 3s. per ounce, so that they brought me in £121, I making about £40 by the transaction. But such a sum as £40 think nothing frequently of giving £50 or £60 is not thought much of here now, as gold-diggers for a couple of two-horse flys to drive a wedding party about the town for two or three hours. We took occasion, in our SECOND VOLUME, to call attention to the fatal folly exhibited by those who, despite of all warning, would give up good situations in England to seek their fortunes in foreign climes. This folly has been already repented of by many thousands who have reached Australia, and are now starving there. Letters innumerable are daily arriving full of ill-news; yet is the mania for "gold, gold, gold," still on the increase. There are more people waiting to go out, than there are ships to receive them. For us, or indeed for any body, to attempt to argue with people mad for gold-the very name of which makes them forsake friends and country-would be folly. We say, let such madmen go; and let them be well punished for their folly. Perhaps they will return, as many have already done, wiser men. Our heart has ached, whilst listening to the dismal tales of woe related by those who have given up their all for a mere shadow. They went out full of glee, dreaming of gold and happiness. They have returned home penniless, and truly miserable. Many of our well-salaried clerks, redolent of kid gloves, pomatum, and macassar, whose heavy" hours of "business" averaged daily some six or eight hours, are among the venturers. These, we learn, are in a most deplorable condition. They find lavenderwater, cambric handkerchiefs, a well cut coat, and figured shirts, little esteemed there. Gold rings, too, on their fingers, and large diamond pins in their shirt-fronts, stand them in little stead. They gaze upon the gold, exhibited in large lumps at the windows of the dealers, and wish themselves at home again! The accounts received of these silly boys are very laughable; but they really ought to have a voice, seeing that VOL. III.-5. There are one or two of those weddings here nearly every day. The party drive up one street and down another half the day; shewing themselves off, and getting gradually drunk as the day advances. You would stare in London to see such a wedding, the whole party, excepting perhaps, the bride and bridesmaids, smoking; and generally one, the drunkest of the party, leaning half over the back of the fly, black bottle in hand, One of these weddings frequently costs the 'happy inviting the public in general to have a 'nobbler.' bride-groom' £300 or £400. We understand, that very little indeed can be said about "virtue" here. No females whatever, of any respectability, can go about unprotected; even what they see on every hand, is enough to shake their principles to the very foundation. Modesty is all but unknown This we can readily understand-but how deplorable the thought! Let us inquire further, about the accommodation afforded to new-comers :— August 31.-People are flocking in from all countries now, and there is not accommodation for a tenth of them. Some have to sleep in sheds, &c., who never knew anything but a feather-bed in England. Let our scented young clerks, with their oiled and curled locks, and Spanish leather boots, think of this. There will be no Turkey carpets to receive them at night -no divans where they can loll away their time F and choke themselves with the fumes of smoke. But we will proceed : The rest ing the golden show; the window is generally set out with three or four glass vases filled with gold, We have had very heavy rains lately; several large pieces of the same metal being placed sepa people have been drowned on their way to and from of the window is generally filled up with rolls of rate when weighing above 1lb. or so. the diggings, in attempting to swim the creeks, as bank-notes, and piles of sovereigns. All this rethe government does not think of putting any flected by a looking-glass, forms a very attractive bridges where they are required; indeed, the peo-sight to newly arrived gold seekers. Some of these ple are beginning to murmur against the abomina- windows must contain from £9,000 to £10,000. ble way in which our government is at present carried on. The people can, and very soon will, govern themselves, if the authorities are not very soon altered, or change their mode of action-if such a word as action 'may be used for their utter imbecility. You cannot walk the streets of the city after dark, without being armed. I never go out at night without having an open knife in my hand. This, too, is a pleasant state of affairs. How very soundly a person must sleep in such a "happy land!" Robberies are committed also in the open day with impunity, whilst the Legislative Council is debating whether they shall give policemen 7s.6d. or 7s. 9d. per day, when no man will work under 10s. at even road-scraping. I cannot have lost less than between £300 or £400 by the mis-management of the post-office, letters being mis-laid, mis-sent, and lost altogether, day after day. We want a Vigilance Committee here as in California, and I would be one of the first to join it. It saved California, and we shall have no safety until it is adopted here. There are marriage parties driving about every day, as I described in my last. I was at the Botanical-gardens last Sunday; and there were diggers' wives promenading, most splendidly dressed in silks, satins, velvets, feathers, and jewellery who had been servants in situations a week before. A tempting sight this, for the dapper young clerks on landing. They must surely dream" of gold the first night! But now for the gold-brokers. Are they honest? We shall see: The gold-broker has a happy facility in converting into an office any space large enough to contain himself and a pair of scales. The passage or private entrance of a shop is frequently made into an office' by having a green-baize partition at the back of the broker, who pays £5 per week for the accommodation. Some of these 'take in' diggers to a great extent. One of their tricks is as follows-A digger goes into one of these offices with his bag of dust and nuggets, which the broker requests him to empty on a large sheet of whity-brown or other large paper. He then begins a vigorous 'rousing with his fingers, and a magnet to extract the iron-stone from among it; and, a good deal of blowing and shaking having been gone through in a careless off-hand manner, he empties the lot into the scale. 'Seven and four is eight, eight and three is eleven, eleven and four is fourteen; fourteen ounces, four pennyweights and a half, at £3.78 an ounce, £43; there's a check, Sir.' Now, all this shaking, &c., is to make a portion of gold pass through two nicks each, in two sheets of paper. When he takes it to put the gold into the scale, he shifts the two sheets, so that the nicks are no longer over each other. Consequently they cannot be seen, even shaking and blowing the gold in the above manif the seller has any suspicion. Sometimes, after ner, he offers 2s per ounce less than the digger can get anywhere else, who of course declines selling, and goes away with an ounce or so less than he came with. Some never buy an ounce, but have a pound or two to sell at the end of the week. that it takes a quarter of an ounce to turn the Some scales have the beam divided unequally, so scale. If one half of the beam is the 16th of an inch longer than the other, it will take this. The way to beat them at this work is, to reverse the gold and weights from one scale to the other. The known weight of gold that has been sent from here up to this date is sixty-four tons; but this does not include that which parties take away of These frauds by the post-office people are, we know, very common. Help yourself" seems quite the order of the day. It must be good fun to see the loutish servants, bowed down beneath the weight of their finery. Silks, satins, velvets, feathers, and jewellery must "set off" their vulgar persons nicely! September 2.-There are about one thousand five hundred people arriving here every week; this number will soon be two thousand. Hitherto, we have only had them from the surrounding colo nies; the stream is now commencing in earnest from England, the mother country, as she is called, but she is a mother that does not know how to govern her children. Everybody now is doing well, that the weather will permit to do anything. In nearly every shop, such as a tailor's, there is a bill up with Thirty good hands wanted.' CarThe number of persons that arrived penters are advertised as being wanted, wages £1 in Melbourne last week was 4,283; who left it, Dressmakers and milliners in propor-week of 3,803. 390; leaving an addition to our population in one per day. tion; and more than they can do. Pastrycooks are making small fortunes from mere wedding- So much for Melbourne, and its civilisation. cakes, one about six or eight inches diameter cost ing £4 or £5. If it is £4, the digger throws down a £5-note, and takes a handful of gingerbreadnuts as change. Melbourne is literally crowded with new chums,' who are at their wits'-end where to lay their heads. They stand with open mouths at the windows of the gold-brokers' shops, admir their own. No employment is there, of any kind, for the Let where a seven-and-sixpenny tin-dish realises 20s., and a fifteen-penny shovel produces 10s.-all in an instant! Never was the labor-market worse supplied than at present. Even during the panic in January and February last, labor was to be had at such a rate as not materially to interfere with the prosecution of profitable industrial operations. Now, however, it is either not to be had at all, or not without such an advance in the wages as is perfectly paralysing to the employer. Several causes have contributed to this. First, the continued absence of a number of the less successful portion of the laboring population at the Victoria gold diggings. Second, the indisposition of those who have returned with the means of supporting themselves without labor, to return to their former accustomed occupations. Third, the withdrawal of so many persons to the South Australian or Echunga diggings, at a time when the labor market of the colony was suffering under an excess of depletion. Fourthly, the rise in the price of provisions and most of the other necessaries of life, rendering it difficult, if not next to impossible, for people to feed and clothe themselves at the former rate of wages. And, fifthly, the feverish excitement which the expectation of becoming successful gold-diggers constantly keeps up; and the ease with which parties, whatever their former employments, can transform themselves into this cha racter. No one, not on the spot, can adequately conceive the effect produced in Adelaide by the reported discovery of gold in workable quantities in Echunga. In less than three days the 2lb. loaf was up to 8d.; and wood and water were at double their former prices. For tin dishes, the former price of which was 7s 6d, £1 was asked and obtained. Shovels, invoiced at 1s 3d to 1s 9d, readily sold at 8s to 10s, and picks and most other tools went off at a like advance. Of course, there were great complaints against the vendors of these articles; but they justified themselves in return, by referring to the daily increasing price of wages. This is mentioned with the view of showing the deep necessity there is for a constant stream of emigration from the United Kingdom being kept up. Nothing else can save the colony from utter prostration. There is at this moment a million sterling lying idle in Adelaide for the want of hands to employ it. Tradesmen and artisans of every description, no less than shepherds and agricultural laborers, would find instant employment at remunerative wages, without troubling themselves about the gold fields. A pretty picture of society is this! But who will cultivate the "domestic arts," when gold is to be had? "Aye, there's the rub." -Poor Adelaide! We conclude this graphic sketch of men and manners, with an extract from a recent number of the Melbourne Herald. We shall glean from it some idea of the value of land and house speculation in Australia : jor Davidson. The terms were £500 at five years' Last week credit, being eight per cent. interest. this property, less twelve allotments (which the proprietor has reserved to himself), was divided into building lots, and sold by Messrs. Stubbs and Son for £5,000. And it is a fact that parties who purchased at the sale are re-selling at 100 per cent. profit already. Geelong Land Sale -Not a single lot was withdrawn, and many allotments realised very high prices. The Ballarat allotments, of two roods each, ranged from £80 to £270. The total amount of the first day's sale was £5,276., and of the second day's, £38,000. Value of town property:-A gentleman of our acquaintance, who about two years since erected premises near the wharf, which, together with the land upon which they were built, cost £2,600, has, within the last few days, been offered £9,800 cash down for them, and has refused the offer, from a conviction that town property has not yet attained its maximum value. Two years ago, a solicitor bought one hundred acres of land on the other side of the Yarra, adjoining the property of Colonel Anderson and Ma From all this, we arrive at "a great fact." Mechanics, laborers, and all who are adepts at the useful arts, may at once enter on the road to fortune. People too who have money at their command, can, by investment, readily treble it. But for the rest, they had better tarry where they are. Bad as they may consider things here, they will find them infinitely worse abroad. Sinecures there, are unknown; kid gloves are not recognised; and "six-hour men" are not allowed to have it all their own way. People who will not work, must starve; or come back and "put up with" their paltry £150 and £200 a year -if they can get it. ROUGH NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. BY A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. A FRIEND OF MINE, Mr. Editor, having informed me of the immense quantity of wild fowl frequenting the western shores of Connaught (Western Ireland), I thought I could not do better than wend my way thither, and spend a fortnight in that wild and desolate portion of Her Majesty's dominions, so ably described by poor Maxwell in his "Wild Sports of the West." I left home about 8 A.M., one fine morning in the early part of August last (1852), arrived at Holyhead, via Chester, by express train, at 5, P.M., and in half an hour afterwards rounded the "South Stack," in that superb little steamboat, the "Anglia." We arrived at Kingstown an hour after our time (12 o'clock), in consequence of a headwind. Thence we proceeded per rail to Dublin, which occupied a quarter of an hour. I put up at Egginton's Hotel" in College Green; and here let me advise any of the readers of "Kidd's Journal," visiting Dublin, if they love comfort at an hotel, combined with attention and exceedingly moderate charges, to go to "Egginton's." 66 |