FebmaiT 22, 1872. J 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



ereiiing of the second day of the Show, I identified a travelling 

 cage coming up the long corridor. I had only time to express 

 a hurried but decided opinion on the birds, in reply to which he 

 asserted he had not bred them himself, they were not stained, 

 and the old story, " they had got nothing off." Nothing can be 

 easier than to proTe the first proposition, while on the proof of 

 the second hangs the reputation of the exhibitor. The onus 

 2>robandi lies in a nutshell. 



Of Belgians there was a large entry, no less than fifty. I felt 

 satisfied'that the amended classification, which included the 

 Clear and Ticked birds in one division, would result in greater 

 numbers being staged. I commenced my examination of the 

 long chain of upwards of a thousand links at either end, and I 

 regi-et that the Umited time at my disposal did not allow of my 

 making that miniite inspection of these classes which would 

 waiTant my offering other than general remarks upon this most 

 exti'aordinary Canary. The names of the winning competitors 

 as given in the return of last week, the fact that, in a gi-oup of 

 twenty-one, thirteen were deemed worthy of honourable notice, 

 and the whole specially mentioned as forming a very superior 

 class, speak volumes. 



I was delighted to see such a niuster of "London Fancies." 

 What a pity it is that this rara avis is not more cultivated. 

 Anything more beautiful than a first-cla^s specimen of this 

 marvel of NatiU'e it would be hard to fiud among the varied 

 feathered favourites of our aviaries. I cm well understand the 

 conservatism of its almirers, though, like oth r conservatives, 

 they hail with satisfaction trae progress. Mr. Hooke, the 

 Secretary of the London Fancy Club, went over the birds with 

 me, Mr. Waller too, and Mr. McJIillin, hardy old veterans, 

 still dark in the stalk though gi-izzled in the web through re- 

 peated moulting, dropped a little of their ancient lore, and a 

 treat it is to sit at the feet of such Gamaliels. Neither of these 

 j^entlemen, however, figured as exhibitors this year, an epidemic 

 having decimated their stock and reduced them to the verge of 

 bankniptcy. Deeply wedded are they to the bird they have 

 made a life-long study. The Bank of England may break, the 

 expected comet may come into collision with us, but their motto 

 will ever be, Vivat the Fancy ! As a whole the Fancies were not 

 up to the standard of previous years, but to look too long at the 

 winning Mealies was to engender a spirit of covetousness. 



A great Lizard fancier who name usually figures in the van 

 said to me, "If you send any notice to the Journal say the 

 Lizards were a lot of duffers." That, of course, includes his 

 own. Assuming " duffers " to be a legitimate substantive, from 

 it we get an adjective expressive of the condition of the first- 

 prize Golden-spangled bird. It certainly was in duffing condi- 

 tion, its right wing in particular. It looked as if it had been in 

 the tub, and was all in a heap. A few hours' change of tempera- 

 ture, however, will soon transform a blooming bird into a thing 

 not like itself at all. I had a commission to claim a bird in this 

 class, " but not at ruinous prices.'' My affections halted between 

 442, Smith and Preen, and 444, Mr. J. N. Harrison, second and 

 third respectively. I think I should have been disposed to put 

 each up a step. There have been few shows since Whitby at 

 which these champions have not measured swords together, the 

 same two birds always doing battle for the Coventry firm who 

 have brought them out from first to last in the perfection of 

 condition. No. 440, Mr. T. W. Fairbrass, was superbly spangled 

 but defective in cap, and well merited its veiy high commenda- 

 tion. In this class were two birds with most miraculous 

 caps, so miraculous, indeed, that the Judges evidently doubted 

 their genuineness. I am told I once gave one of them either a 

 highly commended or a commended. If so, I do repent me in 

 sackcloth and ashes. My midland county friend's comment on 

 them was " All in the same s"wim !" I wonder .what he meant ? 

 An extract from an unpublished mani^script in my possession 

 reads, " Mr. Blakston know no more about a bird nor a bird 

 know about him !" For a solution of this enigma put this and 

 (liat together. — W. A. Blakstox. 



(To be continued.) 



NOTES ON BEES. 



Having been much absent from home during the last six or 

 seven weeks, and otherwise much engaged, I have been un- 

 able to notice various remarks of correspondents of "our Jour- 

 nal " which have appeared in its pages from time to time in 

 the interval. I will now endeavour to make up lee-way by 

 venturing a few observations on Mr. Lowe's paper on " Winter- 

 ing Bees," page 2.5 of the current volume. 



I observe, first, that while be " does not recommend winter- 

 ing our bees either in cold, dry, dark cellars, or in burying 

 pits," he has nevertheless given an array of names, including 

 the most eminent bee-keepers of modem times, who have 

 adopted one or other of the modes alluded to " with great 

 success." He tells us that " the celebrated Dzierzon usually 

 winters some of his weaker colonies in dry cellars and they 

 always do well." I will merely remark, therefore, that I 



hope some of our apiarian friends will not have been deterred 

 by Mr. Lowe's dissuasive from trj-ing the plan of wintering 

 which I ventured to recommend in December last. " Strong 

 stocks," as I said, " are best left to themselves on their sum- 

 mer stances;" but in the case of weak hives, which would cer- 

 tainly have perished in such situations, it is worth trying 

 whether Mr. Hosmer's plan be not a feasible one, and likely to 

 prove a success in this counti-y as well as in America ; for, be 

 it observed, that whUe Mr. Lowe speaks of Mr. Hosmer's theory 

 as " erroneous in principle and entirely delusive," that gentle- 

 man assures us that what he recommends is not "theory," but 

 the result of experience. 



With regard to " summer-bred " bees my opinion taUies iu 

 the main with that of Mr. Lowe. They are probably aU gone 

 in active stocks by the middle of November ; but surely it is 

 possible, as it is certainly very desirable, to supply their place 

 in rapid succession late in the autumn with a younger and 

 more vigorous generation, and this can always be done by en- 

 couraging late breeding. It is just when breeding is going on 

 most vigorously that the succession of population in a hive is 

 most rapid, and then it is that the " old bees" (autumn-bred 

 if you Uke) are soonest got rid of, and their places suppUed by 

 a younger generation, who wiU Uve on later into the spring, and 

 help on with better success the early prosperity of the stock. 

 Therefore I do maintain that it is desirable to get rid of summer 

 or eai-ly-autumn-bred bees, that it can be done in the way 

 indicated, and in so doing we do not weaken, but on the con- 

 trary decidedly strengthen the stock which may be thus treated, 

 and put it into a more favourable condition for early spring 

 progress. If, on the other hand, from any cause late breeding 

 has been discom-aged, the hive, being in a state of torpidity, 

 maintains a much larger proportion of old bees, which will live 

 the longer in proportion as they remain at home, and die off 

 iu then- early spring flights, to the great injury of the stock, 

 owing to the smaller number of young bees it contains than in 

 cases where late breeding has occurred. 



Should any of your apiarian readers have made trial per- 

 chance of such a mode of wintering their bees, I should be glad 

 to hear with what result. I would gladly have tried it myself 

 if I had had a proper place in which to stow away my hives, 

 for I never had so many weak hives at any period of my bee- 

 keeping life, nor have I ever had so great a mortality. Out 6f 

 nineteen stocks, eight have died this winter, some from dysen- 

 tary, others from starvation during my absence from home. — 

 B. '& W. 



OUE LETTER BOX. 



DOKKINGS DvrNG (Lo<ii/ SuSscrificr).— Tou would render our task easier if 

 you gave us some idea of the run your fowls have, and also the manner in 

 which they are fed. From the fact of thcii- f allin g ill in the autumn, which 

 is their weakest time, we imagine they are in low condition, and unable to 

 meet the change of atmosphere that takes place at that season. The long 

 rainy time we have had may have taken the same effect now at an earlier 

 period. The condition of the Urer you mention is generally caused either by 

 over or injudicious feeding, or by bad roosting places. "We have never found 

 A, infectious, but where the management was at fault all the fowls in a yard 

 were similarly affected. Bad water is very injurious to fowls, yet they prefer 

 it to any other. As our information is so scanty we will teU you what you 

 should do, and you will then, perhaps, be able to see the cause of your nus- 

 fortune. The fowls should roosfc in a dry house or shed completely sheltered 

 from draughts. They should have perches not more than 2 feet fi-om the 

 'Tound The floor of the house should be earth, no brick, board, or stone. 

 The food should consist of barleymeal or ground oats slaked with water 

 moi-nin" and evening with a meal of whole com at midday. This is aU they 

 reqmrelf they have a grass run. If they have not, you must supply them 

 with in-een food, sods of earth covered with growing grass, and grit lor a dust 

 bath.° In any case they must be provided with lime ; bricklayers' rubbish is 

 the best. The treatment for the present malady will be pills of camphor, one 

 the size of a garden pea morning and evening. If this will not cure, tiy 

 Daily's pUls. Hinder them, if possible, from drinkmg dirty stagnant water. 



Game Hen not Lattng (Hint-years Suhicriberl—The fact of her avoiding 

 the cock would have nothing to do with her laying, as one is quite independent 

 of the other. Did she come in the basket alone, or was there a cock with 

 her? These things sometimes happen in travelling. Eiamme her : you wiU 

 likely find some injury to the back, or it may be there is inflammation of the 

 e^^-iassa^es. It is against aU rule and precedent for a young hen not to lay 

 if'she be at liberty, and we hardly believe in such a case. She may steal h*r 

 nest or eat her eggs, or they may be eaten for her, but we beheve she toys. 

 In confinement it is somewhat different, and is just possible. The droopmg 

 of the wings is a plain mdication that something is wrong. We advise that 

 yon give castor oU freely, a table-spoonful for a dose, and that yon also take a 

 Win"-weather and having stripped the lower part near the qudl, saturate it 

 thoKinghly with castor oil, and pass it down the egg-passage as far as you can. 

 U you repeat this a few times we beheve you will find it a beneficial treatment. 



Brahma Cock -Wm^EzrsG (B. J.).-Give him a good dose of castor oil. 

 and be™e you do so put afeather down his throat He is suffei^g f rom the 

 wet weather. Give him two pills of camphor each the size of a garden pea. 



Kesdering a Hen Broody (An Amatn,r).-Vfe know no justifiable method 

 of Sng i hen broody- people are, as a rule, fai- more ajixious to prevent 

 them from bemg so. The old abominable way of trymg to make a hen sit, 

 wasTo pCk all the feathers from her breast, and then whip it T.ith stinging 



