May SO, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



453 



price of eggs as to induce the more general keepmg of fowls ty 

 the milUon, and in greater numbers than at present kept. The 

 demand would he so great and pressing, and the price so high, 

 ihS X energies of this country would be stirred up to the im- 

 rtance of this subject, and the profit that may be realisecl by 

 poultry-keeping; and when this was once tli°"^f Ij, '"'j!!: 

 f toed, and the profitable nature of good breeds of fowl hettei 

 and more widely kno^-n, I believe that m a very ew years we 

 should be ourselves producing the million and a ha^f e^gs ^e 

 now daily import. The pauper population of this country has 

 STc^eatelof late years to an alarming extent, now numbering 

 OTerone miUion, besides another half milhon that may be sad 

 to be on the verge of pauperism. Seven millions more are said 

 to be Uving from hand to mouth, having made no provision for 

 the future, and having no interest in Ufe or stake m the soil of 

 the couJitiV, beyond their daily labour, to occupy their mind and 

 body. When we consider seriously that we have about our 

 very doors one million paupers, besides nine milhons (nearly 

 one-haH of our population) struggling for existence, ^i^d hviug 

 from hand to mouth, I say this sad fact does not show the con- 

 dition of this country to be in the fiourishiug state that oui 

 increasing revenues and hoarded wealth would lead ns to sup- 

 pose ; and I would ask, Cannot something be done to encourage 

 the spirit of self-help among our cottage classes, by nitlpci^g 

 them to take more interest in their homes by the_ keeping ol 

 ■poultry, piss, bees, and the cultivation of a garden? Nme-tentns 

 of the eggs and poultry we get from abroad are produced from 

 that very class from which our pauper population springs, it 

 our poor neighbours abroad are able to make a living by tfie 

 teepiug of poultry, although they sell their produce at little 

 more than half the price that we may realise I say it is a ois- 

 gi-ace for us to continue to import those articles we could ana 



should produce ourselves. ... , . 



Now, suppose for one moment that our 400,000 British farmers 

 and say 200,000 cottagers and country residents, aU kept a stocK 

 of say two dozen fowls, what number of eggs would these pro- 

 duce, and what profit be reahsed, and how much money which 

 now goes abroad would be circulating among our labouring 

 population? I will tell you. The number of eggs these fowls 

 would produce would be equal to five times the number we at 

 present import— no less than 2500 millions, representing, at 

 §d. per dozen, upwards of ten milhons sterling, a sum more 

 than sufficient to cover the entire poor rate of Great liruam. 

 Do not these figures show the importance oi this subject, ana 

 the benefit that would accrue to the pubUc m general by the 

 circulation of so many miUions of money, and especially to the 

 benefit of that class which so much needs a helping hand .' 



I will now conclude by throwing out a few suggestions as to 

 the best and easiest way of improving one's existing stock ot 

 fowls by introducing fresh blood. The cheapest and readiest 

 way that will naturaUy present itself would be to introduce a 

 cock bird of one of the best and most approved breeds, to cross 

 with some sLx or eight of your largest and best hens at present 

 in your yard. A 9 or 10-lb. Brahma cock would probably be 

 the best to cross with half-bred Dorking or fuU-bodied barn- 

 door hens; or, if your stock is of a smaUer breed, cross-brea 

 Hamburghs or hall Spanish, a fine spirited Houdan cook may 

 be introduced with gi-eat advantage. In either case, your breed 

 of fowls reared from this cross will be considerably improved 

 the following year, both as to size, strength of constitution, egg- 

 Broducing powers, and fattening propensities. Such a course, 

 however, would be but a makeshift, and the better plan would 

 be to clear out one's stock entirely, and commence dc novo by 

 the introduction of entii-ely fresh stock, and that the very best 

 that can be obtained. Either a few birds may be piu-chased of 

 the several breeds desired to be kept, and the eggs set aside for 

 liatching as thev are laid, or a couple of sittings of eggs from 

 some near breeder of known respectability may be piirchased, and 

 so a stock of the best birds may be procured at little cost, ihe 

 following year these birds may be either crossed or kept pure ; 

 but in the case of allowing your birds to cross, it will be impor- 

 tant to see that you allow but one cross, always breeding from 

 the pure stock, and not from the eggs laid by the cross, or you 

 at once commence to degenerate. A single cross judiciously 

 done is rather beneficial than otherwise, as it almost invariably 

 produces a profitable and precocious offspring, with increased 

 stamina and sh-engthof constitution. The Brahma and Dorking, 

 and the Houdan and Silver Hamburghs, are both admirable 

 crosses, and the Creve cock may also be made use of with gi-eat 

 advantage, combining, as this breed does, great size with superb 

 ouality of flesh and aptitude to fatten. If there is one point 

 iore important than another in keeping up your breed of fowls 

 to the proper standard, it is the possession of a really good cock, 

 of a strain whoUy different from the breeds he is mated with.^ 

 Sufficient importance is seldom attached to this essential re- 

 ouirement. , .,, , 



Eefjr'i concluding I will make a few remarks with respect 

 to Ducks. Ducks are, under certain conditions, among the 

 most profitable stock of the poultry yard. Those who pos- 

 sess plenty of marshy gi'ouud can keep Ducks at little or no 



cost as they will, under these conditions, find their ovjn living ; 

 but in places that do not afford these advantages Ducks are 

 amongst the most ruinous and unprofitable creatures connected 

 with the farmyard, managed as they commonly are The 

 Aylesbury people, who are perhaps the most successful Duck- 

 bi-eeders in the world, adopt a system that is almost "^knojvn 

 certainly unpractised, elsewhere. It is said that upwards of 

 *20 000 is annually received in this district alone for the duck- 

 lings sent to the London market. The system adopted by these 

 breeders is to bring Ducks into the London market at a season 

 when none are to be obtained elsewhere, and they conseciuently 

 obtain a monopoly, and realise enormous prices. Ihe Ayles- 

 bury breed commence to lay a month or six weeks earlier thao 

 any other breed, and these eggs, laid open in the depth of 

 winter, are at once set under hens and, when hatched the 

 young are hastened to maturity with amazing rapidity. Ihey 

 ire kept in a warm, sheltered situation, fed upon the most 

 nourishing food, and never allowed access to water. Oatuieal 

 and mUk form their chief diet, and sometimes more «t'niulating 

 food is added. These Ducks grow, fatten and feather ^^th 

 rapidity. In less than eight weeks from the time they leave 

 the shell they are in perfect feather, and ready to send to mar- 

 ket. In places where Ducks have to depend on hand- eed ng 

 for their living, they can oalybe kept profitably by \"^S"f 

 them rapidly to maturity, and killing them before they take to 

 the water or begin to lose theii- first feathers. 



CANAEY'S SONG CEASING. 

 I HAVE found hard-boiled eggs and mawseed an infallible cui-e 

 for non-singing. Many birds do not smg about this time I 

 have three thpft do not; the only way I can account for this is 

 thTt it is the breeding season. Sparrows very often destroy the 

 sonVof the Canary by their chirping. Sometimes birds lose 

 t'efr voice altoget^rir some considerable tinre aftei-^mou^t- 

 ins especially if they do not moult freely, but when waim 

 weatheicomes in they get it back again. When birds are 

 moulting there is nothilg better for bringing them through 

 San a fusty nail in their water, which may be kept m aU 

 Ihiough the\°nter, as it strengthens them very much.-BEi. 

 OP Stoue (in English Mechanic). 



rThe remedy prescribed for silence is simply nonsense. All 

 the hard-boUed eggs and mawseed in the world won't make a 

 Canaiy sing Being stimulating food it has a tendency to make 

 abhdUvely, and the natural expression of health is song; but 

 as for being an infallible cure-stuff ! It is still worse stuff to 

 say that sUence can be accounted for on the supposition that it 

 arises from anything incidental to the breeding season That 

 Tthe very time whin birds do sing, and sing more lustily than 

 at anv other time. The Canary is very apt to imitate othei 

 bids and miXt very easily acquire the chirp of a sparrow, 

 wHh Wh'li hXould fnterlar^l his' own song ; but no am-mnt of 

 i-mmident chirping from any sparrow would silence a fiesh 

 C^naiy ?n th^ Sh of May. Is a rule birds never smg duiang 

 the moiilting sickness. Exceptional cases might occiu-, and 

 possMy do, hens even so far forgetting their- sex as to smg the 

 ?™ud song over other hens-and worse. But a whisthng 

 Tman and a clo^nghen— nevermind the rest.-OrB Sukdek- 



LAND CeNSOK.] ^ 



The Pope's Cat.— Though Pio Nono does not invite dinrier 

 commny he has nevertheless one table guest, whose conduct as 

 su^hl^ieither restricted nor guided cither by etiquette no 

 cei-emonial ; this is his black cat, called on account of its colour 

 Mo?Sta Nay, indeed, so privileged is Moretta that she not 

 unfrenu^ntly, if such be her august pleasure, eats from his very 

 phite and that under the caresses of his sacred hand, of that 

 hand which is supposed to dispense apostohc benediction Iheie 

 is nnn^estionably the very best imderstandmg between the Pope 

 IS unquestionaui^ I j affectionate attention, 



anrshe'fedprocates\'^^fattachm:nt by all the means in her 

 power^ she knows his step from all others, shows the ^■eatest 

 satisfaction in his presence, and mews piteously when etiquette 

 or ceremony separates them. When the Pope says mass or gives 

 audience she is carefully shut in; nevertheless there is always a 

 fear lest she should step out and be discovered m. the midst of 

 ^s^rie^and and sacred s^olemnity before the astomshedeyes of 

 the devout fondly rubbing her sleek sides, with her tail aioit, 

 againsUhhk-stLMnged'pontificallegs,pu™g forth her ^ 

 fiction whilst he himself perhaps was elevating the veiT JiOSL 

 tseir' All the persons sui-roimding the Pope, aware of the pio- 

 bab lity of such an occurrence, guard very oarefully againsl^it. 

 Moretta has akeady had progeny; it is, t^'^f /"?,;,^ftiieii aUe 

 certainty that many a palazzo ^"^ convent fai hful in theu aUe 

 giance to the Pope, may possess at the present t™e. and foi ma^ 

 I cat generation yet to come honoured eats^hich ^^ olaim 

 their descent from Pio Nono's favom-ed Moretta. One, at least, oi 

 her descendants has, we are told passed -to tiie hands oM 

 si^nore Nardi, who petitioned for the young thing beloren, 

 cameintoth^ world, although His Hohness, it is said, had al- 



