454 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDEXER. 



[ May 30, 1872. 



ready long (letermiued in his owa mintl so to favourliim; par- 

 haps becaiTse Mousi^aor Nardi is of a remarkably social disposi- 

 tion, and does good service for the papal cause amongst the 

 ■wealthy and fashionable forestleri. And why should not Pio 

 Nono, whose pleasure it is now to shut him ;elf up in his palace 

 of the Vatican, have his cat to amuse himself with ? It is an 

 amiable trait in the old man's character, and nobody will think 

 the worse of him for it.— M\ry Howitt (in Th; Leisure Hour). 



LARGE VERSUS SMALL HIVES. 



In the number for February 23th, page 2)5, I replied to a 

 correspondent under the nom cU plumj of "The Bee Hive," 

 on this subject. I then stated that I had often seen the whole of 

 the ten frames of a hive of larger dimensions than the Woodbury 

 hive filled with brood. On Saturday, the 25th of May, I divided 

 the ten frames of a "Woodbury hive {of which I have several now 

 in use) for the purpose of making an artificial swai'm, and 

 placed five of them with the queen in one bos, and five in 

 another. I had to look over every frame but one in succession 

 before I found the queen, and every comb, including the tenth, 

 was quite fuU of brood, with the exception of a very small 

 portion of the upper part of the combs which were appropriated 

 to honey, &c. The queen seemed almost as if she had not 

 nearly enough space for the deposition of her eggs. What may 

 perhaps render this fact the more interesting is, that about six 

 weeks ago this hive, on inspection, proved to be rather weak in 

 bees, and I then supplied them with a sealed brood comb from 

 another colony. The improvement almost immediately mani- 

 fested in their vigour and working was most marked, and from 

 being one of my weakest, this became the strongest stock in my 

 apiary, without, apparently, doing very much damage to the 

 stock from which the brood comb was abstracted, which also 

 had to part with another brood comb at the same time for the 

 purpose of supplying population, and the material requisite for 

 the raising of royal cells, for a hive that had lost its queen. I 

 am convinced that if I could have drawn out this hive laterally, 

 and supplied it with three or four more combs, that these would 

 also have, very quickly, been filled with brood as well as the 

 rest. People who use small hives, whereby the energies of the 

 queen and bees are cramped, can have no idea of what queen 

 and bees can do with plenty of room judiciously afforded. — 

 S. Bevan Fox. 



for cankei* in the mouth of young birds. Change the strain hy getting 

 another cock or hen. 



SELF-PLUCKrs-G PARROT {A. Y. Z.).— Yon shonld have stated the bird's 

 diet. Nothing but bread soaked in wa'er, fniita, and lettuce leafstalks BhouW. 

 be given, and a shower bath through the rose of a watering-pot daily. 



Net for Bee-feeder (C. A, J.). — The mesh of the net sent will do very 

 well for the mouth of the bottles, though we usually use one a size or two 

 larger. The neck of the bottle should be smaller than the rest of the bottle, 

 and as straight as possible, and not bulging out with a rim or lip. If you 

 place the mouth of the bottle resting on bars, or on combs, the fluid may 

 escape, owing to capillary attraction. The best way is to have a 2-inch hole 

 in the top board, over which is rested a piece of perforated zinc, and on this 

 the bottle is inverted. If properly managed, the fluid, even if as thin as 

 water, cannot leak thi-ough, but must he sucked out by the bees. 



Destroytkg Black Beetles (Maude.) — Chase's Beetle Poison, advertised 

 in our Journal, we know to be effective. We extract the following from '* The 

 EngUsh Mechanic."— " A certain remedy is to procure some Bracken, Pteris 

 aquilina, or common Fern, plentiful on commons, and put it down about the 

 house at night. The black beetles will eat it ravenously and soon die, and 

 their relatives will pick their bones. It is commonly used in the north o£ 

 England." 



METEOROLOGICAL OESERVATIOKS, 



Camden Square, London. 



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



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Separating Pch^lets fro^t Cockerels (C. J. Row). — The chickens need 

 not b3 divided till they are four or five months old. The alvauta^a is, that 

 separated they attain m;icb greater size than when they run together, and the 

 cockerels do not fight. Hatching in eighteen days is unusual. 



Partridge Cochin-Chesa Points (Ybitra.7 B'^giim^.r). — The hackles yon 

 enclose are correct. You should get rid of every C3ck tha*; has a stain of 

 brown on his breast; and all white is wrong, escept in the tail of an old bhd 

 — he is better without it. Grouse and Partridge Cochins are more b'rds of 

 feather than of weight, but at large shows the cock should weigh 10 lbs., and 

 the hens 8 lbs., young birds each lib. less. 



Cock's Spdh-nail Torn off (Jfouii^e).— Leave what remains of the spur. 

 Heal it carefully. That which shows itself to be an accident is not a dis- 

 qualification. Nothing would be gained by iniurin;^ the spur of a cock, and 

 where nothing is to be gained there is no su-^picion of foul play. 



Hen's Liver Diseased (fler^/brtZ).— Insufficient food during the very 

 ti-ying weather that we have passed thvough of late, always causes diseased 

 liver in all the gallinaceous tribes. Give tliem meal or ground oats morning 

 and evening, and some maize and scraps at midday. Pat some camphor in 

 their drinking vessels. The change in the weather will do more for them 

 than any treatment. 



Fef^ing Young Chickens (R. B., Clapham). — If the chickens are at 

 liberty they will get all that is necessary for digestion. Very little action of 

 the gizzard is necessaiy to digest chicken's food. It is merely an accident 

 that the hen has laid so early. It sometimes happens, but she will still look 

 after her chickens for some time, and her care is no longer so necessary now 

 the warm weather is come. We always feed our sitters on soft food, and take 

 them off once per (hiy. The hens feed with the chickens, and always should, 

 otherwise they ill-treat them. Give a lettuce or a fresh sod of grass. 



Breeding froji a Wry-bbeasted Cock {Caiar).—lt does not follow as 

 a rule that the produce of a crooked- breasted cock shall be crooked, because 

 in many instances the fault is the result of accident. We allow our chickens 

 to roost in the rips in which they were hovered when young, for months after 

 the hen leaves them, and they do not get wry breasts. When chickens are at 

 once (when the hen has left) put into a fowl-house, many of them, fi n d some 

 sort of a perch, and rest upon it till the breast-bone curves. When there are 

 neither perches nor substitutes for them, wo do not believe you will have 

 crooked breasts. If you object to your chickens roosting out of doors, put 

 them at night in a dry outhouse, free from draught. Vultm-e hock is a 

 growth of long stiff feathers from the thigh, that project beyond and below 

 the knee. 



Age of Eggs for Sitting {A. r., Hcri«).— You need have no misgivings. 

 If the eggs are fresh you may keep them in a cool place for a fortnight, with- 

 out their fecundity being injured. 



Cocks with Hens of another Breed {St. Margarets). — It is impossible 

 the cock should suffer, or be influenced in any way. 



Turkey Hen Moping [A. M. L.).—Yo\i describe no symptoms. The best 

 thing you can do is to give a good dose of castor oil, and follow it with soft 

 food and lettuces, until she appears cheerful and hungry. 

 Canker in Young Pigeons {A Subscriber).— There is not any cure known 



REMARKS. 

 22nd.— Fine all day, except two or three vei^ slight showeis. Eclipse seen ac 



intervals. 

 23rd. — Fine thi-oughout t he day and night. 

 21th. — Fme morning, getting more and more "cloudy and storm-like in the 



afternoon. Thunder at 8.10 and 8.17 p.5I., and rain at 9 p.m. 

 25th. — Fine morning, but cloudy afternoon, and thick evening. 

 2Gth. — Cloudy and storm-hke till noon ; fine afternoon : rather dull evening. 

 27th. — Bright, warm, and pleasant all day. 

 28th. — As bright and warm as yesterday, and even more agreeable. 



A very fine, pleasant week, the mean temperature of the air 10'' higher thaa 

 last week, and that of the soil 3^ higher. The barometer has been high, the 

 air dry, and very little rain has fallen. — G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— May 29. 

 A week's fine weather has greatly advanced vegetation, and brought as a 

 large addition to our previous supplies. Asparagus, Canhflower, young 

 Carrots, and Turaips are much improved, ahd Cucumbers quite difficult of 

 sale at reduced prices. Large consignments arrive daily from the Continent, 

 cousistinrt of Cherries, Apricots, and Strawberries. New Potatoes 15s. to 24?. 

 per cwt. 



FRUIT, 

 9. d. B. 

 0to6 



Apples j sieve 



Aoricota doz. 



Cherries per box 



FUberts. 



Cobs lb. 



Grapes, hothouse.... lb. 4 



Gooseberries quart 



Lemons ^100 7 



Melons each G OtoIS 



2 3 Xec-tarineB doz. 10 2! 



2 4 Oranges ^''lOO 4 10 O 



Peaches doz. 15 3) 



Pears, kitchen doz. o o 



dessert doz. 0^ 



PineApples lb. 6 



6 10 Raspbi 



.doz. 

 .lb. 



St rawberries ^Ib. _ 



Walnuts bushel 10 



ditto ^100 1 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes doz. 4 



Asparagus ^100. 4 



Beans, Kidney.. ..per 103 1 



Broad bushel 



Beet, Red doz. 1 



Broccoli bnndle 



Brussels Sprouts.. 



., bundle 1 6 



Colpworts.. doz. bunches 2 



Cucurabera each 6 



pickhng doz. 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horgeradish bundle 



Leeks bunch 2 to & 



Lettuce doz. 9 10 



Mushrooms pnttle 10 2 



Mustard & Cress. .punnet 2 



Onions bushel 3 6 5 



pickling quart 6 6 



Parsley per doz. bunches 3 4 



Parsnips doz. 9 10 



Peas quart " ~ " " 



. bushel 4 5 C 



oz. bunches 



Rhubarb bjndle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel S 



Vegetable Marrows . . do 



POULTRY MARKET.— May 29. 

 The demand has fallen off dming the hoUday week. The supply increases 

 daily, and gives promise of continuing. 



