72 



JOURNAL OF HORTXCULTDEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 24, 1873. 



the National Peristeronio Society, Birmiugliam, or the Manchester 

 Cohimlmrian Society, who might address a note to his fellow presi- 

 dents, and so start the affair. Arrangements might be made for 

 the show to be held in the Crystal Palace, or, if not too late, in 

 conjunction with the forthcoming Crystal Palace Poultry Show. 

 Success would be certain. Union would be strength, and at 

 least fifteen or eighteen hundred pens of birds would be brought 

 together. 



If you will permit me I will say a few words how I think the 

 affair should be worked. Make the show self-supporting, none 

 but members of Society to exhibit. The show to be divided 

 into two sections — old birds, aud birds bred in 1873, all single 

 birds ; classes to be made for every variety of colour of Pigeons ; 

 an entry fee, say, of 3s. to be charged for each entry, half of which 

 should be deducted for expenses, the rest divided into first and 

 second prizes according to the number of entries in each class — 

 that is, if there be twenty in one and ten in the other, 30s. to go to 

 the former, 15s. to the latter ; at the same time to have challenge 

 cups in each class, acceptance £1 Is. each, exhibitor to challenge 

 for as many as he may choose. The value of the cup would vary 

 according to the number of acceptors in each class. All birds 

 shown by an exhibitor in any class when he accepts a challenge 

 to compete for the money prizes, only acceptors for the cup. 



The most difficult point would be the appointment of Judges 

 to please all parties. The course I would suggest is that every 

 Society nominate a gentleman, who should act, whether he be 

 an exhibitor or not ; if an exhibitor, let Mm officiate in other 

 classes. — A. 



Simple Mode op Keeping Butter. — In warm weather where 

 ice is not handy invert a common flower pot over the butter, 

 with some water in the dish in which it is laid. The orifice at 

 the bottom may be corked or not. The porousness of the earthen- 

 ware will keep the butter cool. A wet cloth laid over the in- 

 verted pot will soon cool-off the butter by the evaporation of 

 the moisture. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Books ( ). — Vol. ssvi. (first eiSitioa), of the ''Naturalist's Librarv," was 



wrlttea by Dr. Dunbar. Apply to James Thin, Bookseller, 15. Infirmary 

 Street, Edinburgh, and he wiU probably be able to furnish it, and also the 

 "Works of Golding and Bevan. Dr. Mackenzie's, *' The Management of Bees,'' 

 was pabUshed by Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, aud cost 4d. 



CoMJiENCiSG PouLTHY-KEEPiNG (Nt^nio^. — You cau make your poultry pay 

 ■without going to much expense. You do not require all the wire appliances 

 that belong to the fancy poultry-yard. Build a wooden house, such as you 

 will find described in Baily's poultry book. Buy some wire netting 30 inches 

 high, aud stretch it round the run you can give them by means of stout 

 stakes at intervals. Keep either Cochins or Brahmas- They will lay lots of 

 eggs, and you can spare a corner of the orchard or kitchen garden for the 

 (^ckens. 



Dabk Brahmas' Feathers (A. H. J.).— The Dark Brahma pullets would 

 not be disqualified. It would be better if they were pencilled up to the beak, 

 but such is very seldom the case— hardly ever. The light breast is very far 

 preferable to brown backs or wings. A purely white breast would be a disqua- 

 lification, but one lightly pencilled ou a light ground is not. Such a bird in 

 competition with others that were well pencilled all over would, however, be 

 beaten. The Game chickens hatched at the end of April might well be shown, 

 but the cock must be dubbed, aud he is full young. You may, if you have 

 several, dub one for the especial purpose. 



Parasites on Fowls (O. P. Z. H.).—Yoa will find nothing so effectual as 

 carbolic acid. Drive a mixture of it well into every hole and' crevice with a 

 syringe. Scrub the perches and laying-boxes with hot water and carbolic acid 

 soap; lay it on all the woodwork with a brush. Dig the flooring out about a 

 foot deep, and fill-in with gravel, road gi*it, and lime. We use carbolic acid 

 largely in our fowl-houses and dog-kennels. Ordinary bugs fleo from the smell 

 of camphor; we should be disposed to try it on these. 



Rabbits for Profit (ff. S.).— It depends euturely on what you purpose to 

 do. If you are in a neighbourhood where there is a sale for Rabbits for the 

 table, then you should keep that which is called, and is, the common tame 

 Babbit. A well-fed healthy doe will fatten four " from the teat," and thev in 

 London make Is. 6(/. each at seven or eight weeks old. If for a town wiiere 

 wild Rabbits are not to be had, and where they are bought, as the Ostend 

 Rabbits are in London, by weight, you must have the Belgian Hare Rabbit. 

 If you wish to breed to sell fancy Rabbits alive, you will do better with the 

 Silver-Grey than any other. There is always a sale for them at remunerative 

 prices. If the crusade acjainst them is successful, and the wild ones disappear, 

 Rabbit-breeding will become a large trade. We are in a transition state as 

 regards food and cooking. It is enough to have more money to spend, but it 

 is essential to make the money do more towards feeding a f imily, and that 

 can only be done by laying out the money to the best advantage, "but also by 

 cooking skilfully. We often purpose to devote a column to the subject. 



Bee Management (S. A. C).— We should advise you not to plunder your 

 swarms of June 2nd, either in whole or in part. Let them be for another 

 year, unless you absolutely want honey; in this case we would plunder one 

 hive entirely, driving the bees out and joining them to the other hive. 

 Much honey is always wasted, and the stock itself weakened, by a partial 

 plunder. Write to the Messrs. Neighbour, of Holborn, London, or to some 

 other purveyors, and see whether you can get into the London market 

 through them, or else establish a market in Dublin by co-operation with other 

 bee-keepers. If you can but open a connection with some respectable gi-ocery 

 firm, and supply them with really good honey in or out of the cjmb, you will 

 surely find a ready sale. 



Bee Cosimotions (John DoK^/a-t).— Wecaunot explain without an inspection 

 of the hive what caused your hee^ to be bo troubled. Perhaps some young queen 

 returning home from her matrimonial flight mistook the hive "for her own, 

 and was ejected, or perhaps it was an old queen of theu- own of whom they 



were tired. In any case we do not think you have occasion for alai-m; at this 

 time of year bees can always replace a lost queen. Queens are liable to strange 

 treatment at the hands of their owu subjects, but the causes are not known. 



Bee Flowers (A. P. Watf-rs). — It is of little use to grow flowers of any 

 kind specially for bees, unless you grow them by the acre. They are very 

 fond of Uignonefcte, Borage, Melilotus leucantha, blue Lobelia, Crocases^ 

 Buddlea globosa, Thyme, Spiraeas of all kinds, &c. 



Bees in Adverse Weather (P. R.).— 1st, Daring wet or dull weather ia 

 summer, when bees are unable to leave the hive, work of some sort can 

 generally be caiTied on. Combs cau be built with wax secreted by the bees 

 from honey previously gathered, so that we cau often observe considerable 

 progress to be made. Then, again, the brood, if any, requires constant feed- 

 ing and attention, and when sutficiently matured thoir cells to be capped over. 

 Should the unfavourable weather continue long, comb-building operations- 

 must cease. 2nd, In bad weather swarms should he assisted by feeding the- 

 bees with boiled sugar, in the proportion of 6 lbs. of sugar to 4 lbs. of water, 

 by weight, bailed for five minutes. Feed alternate nights, giving 1 lb. at a 

 time. 3rd, If a first swarm, which "will have the old queen, breeding will 

 commence as soon as there may be a few inches of comb available. If a 

 second swarm or cast, with favourable weather the young queen may lay eggs 

 within a week after it was hived, or her laying may be considerably delayed if 

 had weather has prevented her going forth to meet the di-oaes. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Camden Squajie, London. 



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



REMARKS. 

 16th. — A very fine day throughout. 



17th. — Very fine all day. a cool breeze making it still more agreeable. 

 18th. — Wet early, but fine soon after 10 a.m., and though there were occa- 

 sional showers, a very pleasant day aud starht night. 

 19th. — Lovely day, very bright and yet cool. 

 20th.— Rather dull at 8 a.m., hut fine by 10 A.M., and afterwards; a complete 



summer day. 

 21st. — Rather hazy early, but a warm fine day. 



22n(.l — Very fine all day, and the hottest day this summer ."notwithstan ding- 

 that the wind was northerly and the sky occasionally cloudy. Much 

 hghtning in W., after midnight. 

 Warm week, especially the last two days. The temperature reached 80^ at 

 9.1.'> a.m. on 22nd, and 90- between 2 and 3 p.m. It is somewhat remarkable 

 that the 9 a.m. temperature on July 22nd, 1872 was 79.5. and on the corre- 

 sponding day and at the same hour in 1873 it was 79.4. — G. J. Svmons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— July 23. 

 A VERY steady trade and good supply. The markets are well attended, aud 

 large consignments are forwarded to the midland and northern ones. All the 

 bush fruit and standard Cherries are of excellent quality this season. Straw- 

 berries alone, with the exception of one or two varieties, have not been up to 

 the mark in paint of quality. Importations continue large, including Weat 

 Indian Pine Apples. 



PRUIT. 



Apples i sieve 



Apricots doz. a 



Cnerrtes 1" lb. 



Obestouts bushftl 



Currants 1 sieve 2 



Black do. 2 



Figs doz. 6 



FUberts lb. 1 



Cobs lb. 



Gf^oseberries quart 



Grapes, hothouse lb. 2 



Lemons 1+ 100 S 



Melons each 2 



s. d. s. d. 



1 6 too 

 



6 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 3 

 G 

 14 



s. d. s. d. 



Mulberries T**-lb. otoO 



Nectarines doz. 8 15 



Oranges ¥*• 100 6 16 0' 



Peaches doz. 1'. o 80 



Pears, kitchen doz. 



dessert doz. 2 



Pine Apples lb. 3 



Plums i sieve 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries t** lb. 



Walnuts bushel S 



ditto %^100 2 





 3 0' 

 6 

 e 

 

 110 

 4 13 

 12 

 2 6 



3 

 G 



1 



1 



9 



1 

 



Artichokes doz. 



Asparapus l^ 100 



French 



Beans. Kidney !?■ 100 



BecL Red doz 



Bnii'coli bundle 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums 1* 100 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. B 



Celery bundle 1 



Coloworts. . doz. buufhf 9 2 

 Cucumbers each 



pickling doz. 



Entlive doz. 3 



Feuuel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Ht-rba bun<-h 



HiiracratUah bundle 3 



Locks bunch 



Lettuce doz. 1 



VEGETABLES, 

 d. s. d. I 

 0to6 

 6 

 12 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustard & Cress. .punnet 



Onions bushel 



pickling quart 



Parsley per doz. bunches 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas quart 



Potatoes bushel 



'■ Kidney do. 



Round do. 



Radishes., doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Salsafy bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Scorzonera bundle 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Harrows 



. d. s. d. 

 0to4 

 





 





 4 

 1 

 1 



g 





 



1 

 1 

 1 





 

 



a 



3 S 



8 n 







