JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



[ Jlaach 21, 1S72. 



when the floweiing is over return the plants to a house with a moderate tem- 

 perature, such as a winery. Secure a good growth, place them out of doors 

 aftex* it is made, and winter in a dry place safe from fi'ost. 



SooLY-QcA Cucumber— SrRrNc.iNG Peach Trees, &c. (F. H. Jones).— li 

 should be sown in a hotbed of 70^ to 75*^, and grown like any other kind of 

 Cucumber, only it requires more room. It may be grown in an ordinary 

 Cucumber fi-ame, and a light 6 feet by 3 feet 6 inches will suit one plant. 

 "We should be in no hm-ry to syringe the Peach trees in pots ; we would 

 let them be well In leaf, and let the fruit thi'ow oS the dying petals and calys. 

 Then you may begin sj-ringing, but at this eai-ly season do it early in the day, 

 and only on fine afternoons, so as to have the foliage dry before night. In 

 dull weather once a-day in the morning willbe sufficient. After the middle of 

 May you may syringe as much as you lite. On your piece of ground sloping 

 to tiie north-east you may have Potatoes, Cauliflowers, Peas, and every Mnd of 

 summer vegetable. Do not depend on it for autumn, winter, or spring crops. 

 Of coui-se. Carrots, Beet, Parsnips, and similar subjects will answer, but it would 

 be useless to grow such crops as Winter Spinach, eai'ly Peas, Beans, Cabbages 

 for spring, or Broccoli for winter. The best plant for a hedge will be Thorn 

 or Quick. If you keep it clean and prevent cattlefeeding on theyoung shoots, it 

 will make a good fence in a short time. Privet is a quicker-growing plant, but 

 does not answer as a fence for cattle. Thorn is the cheapest, quickest-growing, 

 and best for your purpose. 



Tan Mixed with Lesie for Plunging (S. T.). — There is no objection to 

 using old tan mixed with a little lime for placing in a frame over a hotbed, if 

 the lime does not form more than a tenth part of the whole. The cause of 

 the stem of the Vine being partially decayed may be an injury the part has at 

 some time received, as a bruise, cut, or gnawing by rats. 



Insects — Leaf Soil [Henri). — No. 1 is green aphis, and may be destroyed 

 by fumigation. Choose a calm evening, have the leaves dry, and after closing 

 the house fill it with tobacco smoke. It may be necessary to fumigate again 

 in the coiu'se of a few days, as one application cannot be expected to fi'ee the 

 plants. In future fumigate when you first notice these insects. No. 2 are 

 the grubs of the lesser Daddy Longlegs, or Tipula, and No. 3 is the same of a 

 larger type. Both are very common in old turf. They may be driven from 

 the turf by sprinkling it with quicklime and soot, the heap being turned over, 

 and the soot and hme mixed with it in the process. A bushel of each to a 

 cartload will be sufficient. It will improve the compost for plants. The 

 vacant house \(-ith a tiled floor will be an exceUent place for leaf soil or old 

 manure, and will tend to keep it free of worms, and in better condition for 

 mixing with compost. Leaf soU decays with age, and finally becomes vege- 

 table soil. We do not consider it so useful after it is reduced to a very close 

 mass. We like it about three parts decayed, or so that half its hulk will pass 

 through a half-inch sieve. 



Destroying Thbips and Scale (Somerse()-^For the thrips fill the house 

 densely with tobacco smoke every alternate night for a week, shutting-up 

 closely with the foliage dry. Fumigation should be done in calm weather. 

 Wash plants infested by scale with a solution of 4 ozs. of soft soap to the 

 gallon of water, adding to every gallon a wine-glassful of spirits of turpentine. 

 Apply this liquid with a sponge, and as hot as the hand can bear it, washing 

 every part thoroughly, but talang care not to let it run down the stems to the 

 roots of the plants. Eepot the CamelUas, and get their roots in a healthier 

 condition. 



Caxeepillars, &c. (7*. TTarrf).— Watering over the leaves with soot water 

 Ac, will not kill the caterpillars on the Cabbages. There is nothing so effectua 

 as hand-picking, and a woman will cleai- a large plantation in a day. Dusting 

 with fresh white hellebore powder will kill catei-pillars, but the powder is 

 poisonous and must be washed off. House sewage is not too powerful a 

 manure for Cabbages, Rhubarb, or Asparagus. It would make Potatoes pro- 

 duce more leaves than tubers. Quicklime will not kill ivireworms. 



POULTEY, BEE, AND PIGEON OHKONIOLE. 



LIGHT BRAHMA POOTEAS. 



I HAVE read with much interest Mr. "Wright's remarks in your 

 Journal regarding Light Brahmas, and although at present the 

 Dark variety are my more especial favourites, still could I com- 

 mand that sine qua non for all birds of delicate plumage, a grass 

 run and pure atmosphere, there are none that I would more 

 readily direct my attention to breeding than Light Brahmas. 

 My lot being cast for a time in that small corner of the Dominion 

 of Canada, Nova Scotia, where the breed originally imported 

 from the States appears to be an especial favoui-ite, I have had 

 some opportunity of observing their superiority over birds of 

 the same class in England. They are almost as large as, and more 

 resemble in shape and carriage their Dark brethren, and have 

 a style rarely seen at our best shows at home. A gentleman, a 



treat lover of the breed, was showing me over his yard a few 

 ays since, when I remarked a cock that I think would almost 

 come up to Mr. Wright's standard to be perpetuated. His 

 plumage was sUverp' white, without the slightest yellow tinge, 

 the clear dark penciUing of the neck hackle contrasting sharply 

 with it, the flowing saddle hackle also delicately striped with 

 black, throwing out in strong relief the spotless plumage of this 

 grand "King of the Roost." He with his wide, short, profusely 

 feathered shanks, soft velvety hocks, broad massive body, ani 

 majestic bearing, looked a fitting mate for the harem by which 

 he was surrounded, and formed a pictui-e it would gladden the 

 heart of many a Light Brahma breeder at home to witness. 

 Perfection is rare, so I am compelled to confess that this bird 

 had a shade too much tail, and that the tail in (luestiou had a 

 trifle too much of a tendency to the Cochin type, which im- 

 fortunately appears to be the aim of some of our best breeders 

 of the Dark variety, a thing to be regretted, as it does not suit 

 the breed, giving them with their proud carriage a somewhat 

 badly finished-oil and stumpy appearance. But it was a slight 



defect only in the bird I mention, and owing to his other fault- 

 less proportions probably many would have said that I was un- 

 duly picking him to pieces. 



The poultry fancy is at present only in its infancy in Nova 

 Scotia, and it is uncertain whether it will ever gi'ow to ripe 

 years of fulness. A few real poultry lovers are doing their 

 utmost to encourage the desire for pure breeds, and from the in- 

 creased demands for eggs I hope that in course of time the fancy 

 may become more generally developed throughout Acadia, and 

 that Halifax and some of the larger towns may proudly boast 

 their annual poultry show. 



Black Spanish are here next in favour to Light Brahmas, and 

 strange to say, notwithstanding the severity of the climate, they 

 appear to thrive well, and lay during the winter even in houses 

 where artificial warmth is not resorted to. 



Dark Brahmas are seen in small numbers, but not generally, 

 and in the yards of the farmer class rarely, if ever beheld, where- 

 as the Light variety are common, the oftener with signs of a 

 cross than pure. Still in driving through the country I have 

 met with Light Brahmas that would not disgi'ace the yard of a 

 fancier, and I would recommend any lover of the breed to import 

 fresh blood from this side of the Atlantic, where the true type of 

 the Light Brahma appears to be better understood, and more 

 carefully bred up to than it is at present in the old world. I 

 may have more to say upon the subject, and other poxiltry 

 matters.— F. S. F. 



[Do so. — Eds.] 



BLACK BAMTAMS. 



That Black Bantams have equal right "udth several other 

 breeds of poultry (having allotted to them separate classes) to a 

 distinct and separate class for themselves, I think all will admit, 

 That in the Any other variety class during the last season, 

 taking the average. Black Bantams mustered in the greatest 

 number, there cannot be a doubt. That at some of our shows, 

 and good ones too, where Bantams other than Game have to 

 compete in a miscellaneous class, in which are some five or six 

 pens of Black Bantams, and perhaps three or four of them of 

 sufficient merit to have prizes awarded them had they a distinct 

 class, it is anything but encom-aging to the owners to see their 

 birds passed over with perhaps a highly commended, a third, or 

 a second prize, and have placed before them a pen of Sebrights 

 or a pen of Pekins, varieties which are not so hardy nor so 

 prolific, and good specimens of which are seldom seen, and still 

 more seldom reared in this country. I ask. Are the more hardy, 

 more prolific, and consequently more profitable Black Bantams 

 to be treated in future witli such coldness as has been their lot 

 up to the present time ? If so, Black Bantams must fall off in 

 nximbers, and perceptibly too, at our poultry shows where they 

 are treated as a miscellaneous variety. 



It is, therefore, with a view of giving this matter a little more 

 publicity that I ask you to kindly insert in the next issue of the 

 Journal the enclosed circular, which has been di-awn up and 

 signed by some of the principal exhibitors of Black Bantams, 

 for the purpose of presenting to the secretaries and committees 

 of our poultry .shows. — W. Augustus Tayloe. 

 To the Secretary of the 



We, the undersigned, solicit your Mnd attention to tbe followin;^: — 



Exhibitors geoerally beside ourselves have long felt the unsatisfactory stato 

 of the " Any other variety class of Bantams," and the desirability of having 

 a separate class for Black Bantams, which now muster strongly at our Shows. 

 "We hope you will consider our request and at your Poultry Exhibitions in 

 futiure make a separate class for Black Bantams, and we, whose names are at 

 foot, honestly promise to give you all the support we possibly can. — H. Beldon, 

 H. Draycott.'W. A. Taylor. B. H. Ashton, J. Walker, J. Bloodworth, C. Beed, 

 C. Sedgwick, W. H. Robinson. 



FOWLS FOR PROFIT, AND AS A MEANS OF 

 SUBSISTENCE.— No. 3. 



Food. — Poultry having a run shoiUd be fed tmce a-day in the 

 summer, and three times a-day in the winter, li they are kept 

 in confinement three times a-day will not be too often to 

 supply them with food. An unlimited amount of green food, 

 as fresh-gathered lettuces, should be always within their 

 reach. When fowls are confined, I always tie up a cabbage, 

 or bundle of green food to the roof or ceiling of the hen house 

 or shed, just high enough to enable the hens to reach it with a 

 slight jump ; this at once gives exercise and amusement to them. 



Supposing the poultry yard should number fifty hens ; their 

 morning meal shoidd consist of 5 lbs. of boUed potatoes, mixed 

 with 1 lb. of bran or sharps ; this should be well amalgamated, 

 it should fall asunder in tittle dry lumps. This food may be 

 varied by substituting rice, boiled or cooked in the oven v^-ith 

 as much water as mil well cover it. A swede turnip, a man- 

 gold wtu-tzel, prepared in the same way as the potatoes, is also 

 an excellent change of diet. During severe weather, long-con- 

 tinued frosts, or in damp inclement mornings, a little cayenne 

 pepper should be mixed with the morning meal, in the propor- 



