284 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Maicli 28, 1872. 



Chequer and Grizzle, and consequently heavily crossed, and all 

 throwing more or less these colours at haphazard in the nest, 

 the Blues, from reasons pointed out, breeding most true to their 

 colour. To help in producing this result there "nas also the 

 fanaoua Sooty, so highly prized by "flying" men, because of 

 this colour. It used to be said of it " there never was a bad one." 

 This bird was always a " sport " in the nest — that is, produced by 

 parents of a different colour, being the result of a match be- 

 tween a Clear Dark Blue and a Dark Chequer or a Dark 

 Grizzle, or a Dark Chequer and a Dark Grizzle generally — very 

 seldom thrown by mating two birds of either of these three 

 colours. "When, therefore, those men who were particular in 

 breeding theii- Blues found the colour softening, they strengthened 

 it by a cross with the Sooty. Of course the Sooty could have been 

 bred true as easily as any other colour, but it was worth no 

 man's while to do so for flying purposes only. In addition 

 there was a kind of feeling that Sooties came when they liked, 

 which made them so good ; and if they were bred to the colour, 

 some not so good as old "bighead" would have turned up to 

 Spoil the faith in the colour. Therefore the chief colours apart 

 from Blue, bred true for what may be called "fancy," were 

 Whites, Blacks, Reds, and Tellows. I may say to those whose 

 experience of Pigeons does not date far back, that the Sooty hen 

 spoken of was not what is now xisuaUy called a Sooty Blue, 

 when speaking of Dark Blues which are chequered or smudged 

 with black on the wings, as many Blue Carriers are now seen; 

 these birds were said by the old school of fanciers to be 

 " chequerey," but the Sooty was a black-looking blue, yet a 

 clear blue — if I may so describe it, a dark blue without any bright- 

 ness in it. — Caiirier. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Lady GwrnrR's Pouitry Estaelishment. — We omitted to state that our 

 second view was taken from a photograph by Mr. W. Yict, Photographer, 

 Ipffwich. He has other views equally good. 



TuxTUBE-HocKED— Hacbxe (W. 0.). — YultUTC-hocked, strong feathers 

 projecting beyond the hotlc. There is a drawing of it in oiir No. 562. Hackle 

 are the long soft feathers on the back and neck of fowls. 



Duration cf Vitai-ity in Eggs (E. R. P.).—YeB. There is no doubt that 

 the fresher the eggs are, the better they will hatch, but that they will keep 

 without detriment is proved by the wild birds. A hen Pheasant or Partiidge 

 ■will lay from thirteen to nineteen eggs. She does not lay every day. It will 

 therefore be three weeks' work, yet they all hatch. It cannot be taken as the 

 mle, but we have known eggs hatch after being kept six weeks. The fact that 

 they will hatch need not encourage you to keep them. 



Points of Silver-spangled HAiiBUEGH Cock {Young Itecruit).—Yom 

 Silver- spangled Hamburgh cock most have a good firm rose comb with a pike 

 pointing upwards, a well-Fpotted breast, a clear tail with a black moon at the 

 end of each feather, and blue legs. We do not like breeding from brother and 

 sister, and it seldom answers for producing prize birds. It will, we expect, be 

 too late to make a change now, but you must do so next year. 



Spakish Cock vtitm Falling CoiiB (Brown Bed).— The partially falling 

 comb of your Spanish cock may be accidental, and it may yet become upright, 

 but the round back is a positive disqualification for every purpose. You 

 should not have bought him, and no one should have sold him. He is utterly 

 worthless as a stock bird, and most of his progeny will probably inherit his 

 defect. 



VuLTiTRE Hocks— Points op Light Brahma Cock (A Hampshire Hiffh- 

 tenrf^r).— We are almost tired of explaining vulture hocks. They are stiff 

 quilled feathers projecting from the Imee backwards and downwards. A Light 

 Brahma cock should have clean white plumage, save stripes on his hackle 

 and saddle, black tail and flight, a well-defined firm pea comb, yellow legs well 

 feathered, and he should be large. 



Incubatoe {Crux).—V^e do not knowwhere Cantello's can be obtained. If 

 you advertised for an incubator you would probably have many answers. 



Rabbits (T. D.juh.).— There is no work such as you name published. 



Parrot's Wings. — A lady in Cheshire has aParrot, brought from Old Cala- 

 bar last June, at which time it was a younger bird than is usually moved. Its 

 wings were clipped before coming away. It was ill and delicate, but for many 

 months has been quite well, only both wings are out of place, one more so 

 than the other; the worst is quite between the legs, and both cover the breast, 

 leaving the back almost quite exposed. Can any of our readers suggest a 

 remedy ? 



Uniting Stocks (-Be/yiJiTicr).— We would not advise you at this time of 

 year to unite your " very weak " stock to the other. You would lose far more 

 than you would gain by the disturbance that would follow. You had better 

 coax the weak stock into activity by judicious feeding, either with honey or 

 a eymp of lump sugar. Bat if no pollen is carried into the hive we would leave 

 the bees to their fate, as the queen will in this case be either dead or moribund. 

 The comb and hive will be usefiU to hive your first swarm. 



Herb Pudding (Cornea;/).— Wash, scald, and shred smaU spinach, beet, 

 parsley, and leeks, of each a handful ; have ready a quart of groats previously 

 soaked in warm water for half an hour, cut 1 lb. of hog's lard and three onions 

 into dice, and mince thi-ee sage leaves; mix all these ingi-edients, add a little 

 salt, and tie them up closely in a cloth. ^NTiilst boiling the string must be 

 loosened to allow the pudding to swell. 



_ Worms in a Bull Dog (jfnjious).- Meyrick says— "Areca nut powder 

 IS an excellent vermifuge ; dose i di-achm, to be followed in foxu: hours' time 

 by a tablespoonlul of castor oil. Oil of turpentine has the disadvantage of 

 occasionally acting also upon the kidneys, and even upon the brain ; but'it is 

 too useful a worm-expellant to be omitted from the list. Its ill effects can be 

 greatly diminished by combining it with olive oil. Dose for a medium-sized 

 dog 1 drachm, mixed with a large tablespoonful of olive oil, and followed in 

 two hours by a dose of castor oil alone. A combination of Areca nut and oil 

 of turpentine is a more active vermifuge than either drug separately. Dose 

 i drachm of turpentine to 2 scruples of Areca nut. It should be followed by 



a dose of castor oil, A mild, but very efficient worm medicine, is Venice tur- 

 pentine, made into a pill, with freshly-grated Aieca nut powder. The usual 

 dose of Areca nut will be required, with as much turpentine as will make the 

 pill. This is au excellent remedy for puppies and weakly dogs. It should be 

 followed, in four hours, by castor oil, if the pill has not had a purgative effect. 

 The administration of every description of vermifuge should take place when 

 the animal is fasting. In the case of a full-grown dog, he should have eaten 

 nothing the previous day, and should have the medicine the first thing in the 

 morning. With pupjjies, the last meal on the preceding day should be 

 omitted. In most cases, the anthelmintic given must be repeated in five 

 days or a week, and as often afterwards as circumstances demand. Areca 

 nut requires four or five repetitions to exterminate the worm; but the com- 

 bination of turpentine and Areca nut need seldom be repeated more than 

 twice, "ttlien the worms are got rid of, it remains to improve the general 

 health so as to prevent their return. This must be done by attention to feed- 

 ing, keeping the bowels in good order, by occasional doses of castor oil, by 

 giving proper exercise in the open air, and by preventing the dog from eating 

 trash of any sort." 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Camden Square, London. 



Lat. 51° 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0^ 8' 0" W.; Altitude 111 feet. 



REMARKS. 



20th. — A very fine day, but exceedingly cold wind. 



21st. — Sharp white frost in morning; becoming darker between 10 and 11 A.ii., 

 at noon, darker than ever known in the daytime (though no fog); it 

 lasted about twenty minutes, and was followed by a heavy fall of snow, 

 and another heavy fall in the afternoon, the total fall being nearly 

 3 inches deep; splendid sunset and fine night. 



22nd. — Beautifully bright and sunshiny morning, but snowing notwithstand- 

 ing, the snow ceasing about 9 a.m., but frequent shght falls during the 

 day, with sunshine between, warmer towards night. 



23rd. — Fine at 8 a.m., but snowing heavily between 9 and 10 a.31., and con- 

 tinuing to do so more or less nearly all day. 



24th.— Thawing fast i 



cold in the shade. 

 25th. — Fine but very cold except i 



ing, clouding over about nt 

 A depression of 12 ' 



Qg, very fine day. 



, the sun but veiy 



the : 

 January. — G. J. Stmons. 



he sun, which was very bright in the n 

 , shght hail shower between 1 and 2 i 

 ng temperature, and nearly the s 



Altogether the coldest week i 



the middle of 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— Maech 27. 

 The change of weather has materiallv influenced our market as regards the 

 supply of out-door produce, which is much more limited, and that of Asparagus 

 and Sea-kale has also much fallen off. From under glass, Strawberries and 

 Cucumbers are coming-in in much larger quantities than can be sold to 

 any advantage. New hothouse Grapes are replacing the old, which are nearly 

 done everywhere. The Potato trade is heavy, and large stocks are held ; Re- 

 gents are the only kind in which there is a ready trade. 



FKUIT. 



Apples }sieve 2 



Apricots doz. 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bushel 10 



Currants i sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts lb. 



Coba lb. 



Grapes, Hothouse.... lb. 15 



6 10 Easpbe: 



■wberries "^o 



Walnuts bushel 10 



ditto ^100 1 



doz. 

 -lb. 



VEGETABLES. 



Beans, Kidney.. ..per 103 2 4 

 Broad bushel 



Beet.Red doz. 10 3 



Broccoli bundle 



BruBsele Sprouts. .4 sieve 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums 1-nOO 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Coleworts.. doz. bunches 



Cucumbers each 



pickling doz 







6 



2 5 



16 2 



10 3 



End..„ 



Fennel bunch 



Garhe lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish bundle 



doz. 2 



Leekfl bunch 



Lettuce doz. 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustard & Cresa. .punnet 

 Onions bushel 



pickling quart 



Parsley per doz. bunches 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas quart 



Pctatoes bushel 



Kidoey do. 



Radishes., doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bJ ndle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-Bale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Vegetable Marrows. .doz. 



