April 11, IS72. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



contjnaally fluttering about, the peaceful Eussiau being a great 

 loTer of this gentle bird. Each swai-m knows its o-mi roof, and 

 the birds allow themselves to be caught without much difficulty 

 ■when a bargain is about to be concluded. The Pigeon is never 

 eaten by a Russian, who would hold it a sin to harm an animal 

 in whose form the Holy Ghost is said to have manifested Himself. 

 Pigeons are bought, therefore, only as pets, to be fed and schooled 

 by their masters. It is curious to see a Russian merchant direct- 

 ing the flight of his docile scholars. "With a httle flag fastened 

 to a long staff he conveys his signals to them, makes them at his 

 will rise higher in the air, tiy to the right and left, or drop to the 

 ground as if struck by a bxillet from a rifle. 



The poor little singingbirds— the Larks, Nightingales, Linnets, 

 Bullfinches, itc, must be of a liardier race than in more soiithern 

 lands ; for in spite of the bitter frost they chirrup away merrily, 

 and salute with their songs evei"y straggling ray of sunshine that 

 finds its way into their gloomy abodes. The httle creatures re- 

 ceive, during the whole long winter, not one drop of water, for 

 it would be useless to offer them what a moment afterwards 

 would be converted into a petrified mass. Their troughs are 

 accordingly iilled only with snow, which they must liquify in 

 their own beaks when they vnsh to assuage their thirst. Mos- 

 cow is famed for its cocks, and here the Moscow cock may be 

 seen proudly stalking about in cages and out of them. 



The best Pigeons are said to come from Novgorod, and Mn- 

 land furnishes the chief supply of singing birds ; Geese are even 

 brought from the confines of China, to be sold as rarities in 

 the Tshukin Dvor, after a journey of more than four thousand 

 miles ; grey Squirrels may be seen rolling about in their cages 

 like incarnate quicksilver ; while Rabbits and Guinea Pigs, with- 

 out number, gambol their time away in their httle wooden 

 hutches. Within the booth, a living centre of all this living 

 merchandise, is the merchant, closely ensconced in his wolf- 

 skins. On shelves around are ranged the trophies of his 

 murderous tribe, and the northern Swans, the Heathcocks 

 (reptfhiki), and snow-white Partridges (kurapatki), are filled up 

 under the very cages from which the captive Larks warble their 

 liquid notes. It is astonishing what a quantity of these birds 

 are yearly consumed at the lu:^urious tables of St. Petersbiirg. 

 In winter the cold keeps the meat fresh, and at the same time 

 facilitates its conveyance to market. The Partridges come 

 mostly from Saratoff, the Swans from Finland; Livonia and 

 Esthonia supply Heathcocks and Grouse, and the wide Steppes 

 must furnish the trapp Geese which flutter over their endless 

 plains, where the Cossack hunts them on horseback, and kills 

 them with his formidable whip. All these birds, as soon as the 

 Life blood has flown, are converted into stone by the frost, and, 

 packed iip in huge chests, are sent for sale to the capital. "Wliole 

 sledgeloads of snow-white Hares find their way to the market ; 

 the little animals are usually frozen in a running position, with 

 their ears pointed and their legs stretched out before and behind, 

 and when placed on the gi-ound look at the first glance as if 

 they were in the act of escaping from the hunter. The mighty 

 elk is no rare gnest in this market, when it patiently presents 

 its horns as a perch for the Pigeons that are fluttering about, 

 till, little by little, the ase and the saw have left no fragment of 

 the stately animal, but every part of it has gone its way into the 

 kitchen of the wealthy. Similar markets for birds and Game 

 vdU be found in every large Russian city. And the habits and 

 fashions of Russian markets are completely national. — (J. G. 

 Khols' "Siissia.") 



NEW BOOK. 

 ThcDog : ivith siyyiple Dircciions for his Treatment, and Notices 



of the best Dogs of the day, and their Breeders or Exhibitors. 



By Idstone. Twelve Engravings. Cassell, Patter, & Galpin, 



London. 



This is a useful and entertaining volume. The forty-two 

 varieties of dogs known in England are well described both as 

 to their form and habits, and abundance of anecdotes enliven 

 the whole. The introductory chapter on the management of 

 dogs is characterised by strong sound sense, and one sentence 

 in the preface we heartily approve, protesting as it does against 

 trimming a dog's ears and tail, and warning that in tra inin g a 

 dog kindjiess is always the most effectual agent, and punishment 

 always perilous. Om* earhest favourite was a "smooth black- 

 and-tan terrier," and we will make a few extricts relative to 

 that variety to enable our readers to form an estimate of the 

 style and contents of the volxrme. 



" "Within the last few years tTvo other points of excellence have heeu in- 

 rented and upheld — what are called ' pencilled toes,' and the ' thumb moi-k.' 

 The fox-mer is a black streak on the upper margin of the toe along its arch ; 

 the other A black oblong spot crossing the foot above the toes. According to 

 some jadge-s, the higher up the instep this mark occurs the better. 



" The general formation of the black-and-tan is precisely similar to that of 

 the ■white or other colour variety as to shape of the head, size of eye, end 

 genei*al structure, but the coat should be more glosf.y and the skin finer. 

 Absence of hair, however, is a great deterioration, especially on the skull and 

 taU. 



"The colours should be strongly contrasted — the black intense; the tan 

 brilliant and rich, without any mixture of black or smuttiness. A pale or 



clay-colonred tan is a great fault. The redder, or, as ai-tists call it, the 

 ' warmer,' the better. Above each eye there should be a spot of this colour 

 well detined ; the larger the better. The fore-legs should be tanned high up ; 

 the body black, with tan chest, ueck, and throat ; the cheeks,upper and lower, 

 well tanned, and the nasal bone black ; the inner thighs and the legs from 

 hock to heel tanned ; most judges a^ee that the outside of the hmd-legg 

 ought to be black ; vent and lower part of tail tanned. 



" Place this dog on short legs, do a^way with the fancy mai-ks, leave his ears 

 as Nature made them, and he would be a vei-y handsome useful dog. As it is, 

 he is an artificial creatine, fit only to be led from show to show, to win cups 

 and collars. 



" The toy terrier of the black-tan class is the dwarf of this breed, got down 

 by breeding and selection to the miraculous weight of from 5 lbs., and so lo^w 

 as 3 lbs. 



" The pencilling and the thumb-marks are hereditary in these roites, and 

 all the points are precisely similar to the larger sorts, except that it is almost 

 impossible to get the coat on the skull and tail to cover the skin, and they ai'e 

 apt to have a wi-etchedly dropsical skull, which indicates hydi-ocephalus, 

 which, however, rarely proves fatal to them. 



" The best specimens of late years of the larger breed, of 14 lbs. and up- 

 wards, have been Mr. Hodgson's * Queen,' Mr-. Lacy's ' Queen the Second,' and 

 his ' Saff ' and ' Baffler ;' and Mr. S. Lang, of Clifton, has exhibited and 

 possessed some of the finest specimens ever seen." 



" The old black-tan dog first noticed in this article was, and, indeed, he is, 

 a dog of great intelligence, fond of his master, of the stable and its inmates ; 

 active, bold, fond of hunting, and, when crossed "with the bulldog, capable of 

 attacking our larger vermin, and always ready to face it. He will do anything 

 a dog of his inches ought to do, and. but for his colour, which makes him 

 indistinct in cover or the angles of a bam, no dog much siuTpasses him ; and 

 as white dogs kept in a town never look clean, I should advocate the black-tan 

 terrier of 12 lbs. or 15 lbs. as the best possible house-dog or rat-destroyer for 

 the professional man. He is patient with children ; he follo-i\-s well ; he is the- 

 aversion of tramps and beggars; he always looks clean; if admitted to the 

 hall, he does not bring a quantity of wet and mud with him, like the skye, 

 dandy, or coUey: and he does not brand his owner as a sporting doctor, 

 parson, or lawyer in the eyes of Mi's. Grundy. Besides this, he is a good sub- 

 ject for education. 



"Dogs vary, like men and women, in their power of application and their 

 capacity for "work, and the pupil may have no gifts ; hut a dog of average 

 sense will learn to beg, to fetch, to cany, wait outside a house, to go into the 

 water, or to dive. I have seen one of the sort, belonging to a relative, which 

 walked on its hind-legs with the gravity of a poodle or a policeman; slept on 

 the cai-riage-horse's back, and would ride on it as he went to his stable ; picked 

 up a pin with his tongue ; and ' asked,' ia his way, for what he wanted with 

 the eloquent eye and gesture of a deaf and dumb human being educated to 

 the highest point by such a philanthi-opist and man of talent, say, as Dr. 

 Scott, of the Exeter Diuub Asylum, to whom I have aheady alluded as being 

 a master of the science of signs and symbols." 



"We can add our testimony that this variety of the tei-rier is 

 most teachable. A vision of one we possessed — old " Smut " — 

 rises to memory as we "write. He had been taught not to eat 

 "(vithout permission, and often was he tempted by putting meat 

 in a dish on the floor while we left the room, and invariably when 

 we returned he was sitting in the corner furthest from the 

 temptation, and trembling as if he feared his self-control would 

 be overcome. Another dog of the same breed, belonging to a 

 gentleman near Swansea, unattended can-ied the letter-bag to 

 the post office daily, and waited until the letters were taken out 

 and any that had to be retui-ned put in. Immediately the bag 

 was taken from him at home he scurried down into the kitchen,., 

 and smelt the cat's mouth to detect what she had eaten in his 

 absence. 



MEXICAN BEES. 



We take the follo-sving interesting exti-act from the Bee- 

 keepers' Journal : — 



The bees of Mexico, Kke its climate, physical features, and aU 

 it.5 forms of life, are closely aUied to those of South America. 

 On account of its more favourable location, however, we know 

 more of the natural history of the former counti-y than of the 

 latter, and hence are enabled to present a more satisfactory 

 account of its bees. 



Immense quantities of wax are aimually consumed in the 

 ceremonies of the innumerable Catholic churches of that country,, 

 and on this account alone great attention is paid to the domesti- 

 cation and cultm^e of bees. The honey is remarkably rich, and 

 of a beautiful colour, and more recently large quantities of it 

 have been shipped to the New York market, where it meets -with 

 ready sale, at figures which enable it to compete successfully 

 ■with that of home production. 



There are many large apiaries in Tucatan, rivalhng in num- 

 bers and profit the most celebrated of our own countiy. These 

 all consist of the natural species, which have been subjected to 

 domestication. Hemandes, in his account of New Spain, de- 

 sci-ibes several kinds — one resembling our O'wn, which is do- 

 mesticated, and hived in the hoUows of trees, by the. natives. 

 Another species is described as stingless, and so much smaller 

 than ours as to be called the " -winged ants." Their nests re- 

 semble those of wasps, and are bmlt in the rocks or suspended 

 on the branches of trees. The honey is dark, but of good flavour. 

 The cells are smaller than those of our species, and Kke the 

 South American, contain brood only, the honey being contained 

 in large vessels or cups. Hernandes states the natives regard 

 the larvos as a great delicacy, and when roasted and seasoned 

 vrith salt, this dainty dish had the flavour of almonds. There 

 are other species, small and stingless, that build undergi-ound, 

 but their honey i^ of an inferior quality. The honey is thin in 



