August 14, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOBTICDLTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



125 



Books {J. S. T.).— "British Ferns" by G. W. Johnson, which may be had 

 for 3*. Gd., or post free irom our office for 3^. 9d. 



Pears Diseased (L. J. A'.).— The state in which your Pears are is caused 

 by the root-prunin? of last year. The roots have not yet got into sufficient 

 action to nourish the tree, and this, coupled with the recent dry weather, has 

 produced the result. We cannot make out the insect. 



Addkess (Ba^m/ou^/i).— "English Mechanic," Tavistock Street, Covent 

 Garden, London, W.C. 



Passies iMillifian rf- ff.Tr). — Unfortunately they were too withered to 

 pass an opinion upon them. 



LiQCiD TO Destroy Weeds (J. Lock). — It was boiling brine. 



Apricot Trees Shedding their Leaves {C. B., LcinHin^^on).— We can- 

 not account for this in any way, except that the trees are suffering from want 

 of water at the roots. Will you ascertain if this is the cause, andlet us know ? 



AoRiccLTURE OF Kent. — We have received a letter from Mr. Witherspoon 

 in defence of his own remarks on this subject, the justice of which has since 

 been contested by "D., Dca(." Without ranking ourselves as supporters of 

 the opinions of the one or the other, we have suddenly been involved in a war 

 of north and south ; and as peacemakers are ever blessed, we hope here to put 

 an end to the distant sounds of war. Mr. Witherspoon criticised rather 

 Bb&rply, but honestly, the agriculture of that portion of the county through 

 which he passed on his Gladiolus hunt; and *^ D., Deal," as a "man of 

 Kent," stood forth boldly and on the moment, as the men of his county are 

 wont to do, in defence. "We shall merely insert the concluding words of Mr. 

 Witherspoon'a letter, for their spiiit is so good— "I am glad my imprussions 

 of Kent were formed from its poorer districts; and after all, your readers may 

 possibly credit me with doing justice as far as possible from observation. On 

 the whole I read with interest ' D., Vral's,' contributions ; and let me 

 assure him my strictures were written with an eye to good, and not to un- 

 necessarily do injustice to the county of Kent, which I still think — as seen — 

 as regards success is foolishly attempting the impossible, by competing with 

 inferior against immeasurably superior machinery. — Joseph Withebspoon." 



Twix Ci'ct;MnER3 [B. WiUiams).Snch eccentricities are not uncommon. 



Branches op Plum Dyino (W. Q. D.). — The cause of the branches of your 

 pinm dying off is from some injury they have received, and this most probably 

 ia due to frost. This injury may have happened long ago, and perhaps in 

 some previous antumn when the tree was full of sap, and a sudden and severe 

 frost has come and lacerated the sap vessels. It is long sometimes before the 

 injury is apparent, as in your case, and at others it is immediate. There is 

 no remedy. 



Peach Tree Preserving {A Subscriber). — The best way is to advertise 

 his core, and as be agrees not to be paid unless a core is effected there will be 

 no reason to complain. If it is snccessfol, that result will be his best recom- 

 mendation. 



HoLLnss {Abrrdonirnsis). — We cannot imagine what is the matter with 

 your green Hollies, seeing that all the others in the same soil are doing well. 

 The cause of the Apple trees which bloom so well producing no fruit, must be 

 attributable to spring frost destroying the bloom. If you protect them at 

 that season, no doubt you will have fruit. 



Manetti Stock for Roses {J. B. Boyd). — No doubt other stocks may 

 prove as good as the Manetti, but it has proved so free-rooting, hardy, and so 

 easily managed that we do not thick it will be easily surpassed. The sorts 

 you mention — Gloire de Dijon and Souvenir de Malmaison — would neither of 

 them succeed so well, especially the latter, which in the north of England is 

 easily injured by frost; and neither of them would strike in nursery raws in 

 the open ground as the Manetti does. The Piose you sent was most probably 

 General Jacqueminot; but it is almost impossible to tell a liose when sent by 

 letter without water. The colour fades, and the petals fall from the Rose and 

 lose their character. 



Quotation (A Subscriber of Some Years). — The couplet you mention was 

 certainly misquoted, but your own vcrson is also incorrect. In " Hudibras," 

 where it occurs, it reads thus — 



" He that complies against his will 

 la of his own opinion still." 



Weight or Grapes, Ac, (J. Leuris). — The heaviest bunch of Grapes on 

 record ia that of the Syrian grown by Speechly at Welbeck, which weighed 

 20 lbs. We have seen Cucumbers 34 inches long. 



Naices of Fruits [W. G.). — No. 1 ia not Red Astrachan, probably it is 

 Bed Wine ; 2 is Hawthomden. 



NAJfES OF Plants {G. W. J.). — 1, Galium cruciatum; 3, Stachys syl* 

 vatica; 4, Sisymbriom officinale; 5, Lycopsis arvensis. {Q. M. B.). — Pro- 

 bably Malopo trifida, but specimen very imperfect. *' The Acacia that the order 

 of Freemasons prize so much," is quite unknown to us. Can any reader 

 rupply its name? (H.).-^alega orientalio. {H. L.). — Rhus Cotinus. You 

 can have the "Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary*' and Supplement free by post 

 for 7». 2d. iSelpam). — RhuaCotinua. The (lowers are purple, but these downy 

 threads are the stalks of abortive flowers e'/ongated. (Birklcy). — An Asclepiad 

 with pendulous polliuia, but wo cannot say what from the specimen sent. 

 (T.Pearson). — 1, Selaginclla apus; 2, S. Kraussiana. 



POULTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON OHEONIOLE. 



SINGLE BIRDS AT SHOWS. 

 Tms aabject seems to have " exercised " many good people of 

 Ukte, and it seemB to have been assumed that all the ar^ments 

 have been on the side of showing single hens. I say single 

 hens or pullets, because this is what the question really means ; 

 for we are all agreed that aa a rule it is best to have the sexes 

 separately. Birmingham— old Birmingham — may her shadow 

 never grow less — taught us this, with many other good things ; 

 and her example ha« been so generally followed, in this one 

 partifular at least, that we may almost take separate sexes as 

 admittedly the best arrangement for most shows, at all events 

 of much standing, which can be devised; but, with regard to 

 showing one hen or pullet by herself in a pen, while there is 

 much to be said for it, and I think it may be taken to be really 



advisable in many cases, the argument in other cases does not 

 seem to me so clear. 



It is assumed that it is far more easy to breed one first-class 

 pullet or hen than two, and this is true, but not to such a great 

 extent as is assumed. If people will learn to breed, they will 

 have little difliculty in breeding fair matches ; and it is quite a 

 mistake to suppose, as I saw stated the other day, that the most 

 successful exhibitors are those who rear their hundreds of 

 chickens. Generally speaking, a man who can breed one really 

 first-class puUet can breed two, and does; still, two birds may 

 undoubtedly be good, aud yet not a good match, though here, also, 

 I must remark that our best judges have of late shown a wise 

 discretion in not laying so much stress on mere matching as 

 they used to do, but have given prizes to good birds not an 

 exact match, rather than to birds each of which separately was 

 far worse, but did match. I would only wish to point out that 

 if, by this or any other expedient, winning were ever made really 

 easy, no one would care about winning any longer. All the talk 

 about putting people who do not know how to breed on a practi- 

 cal " equality" with those who do comes to that. It cannot be 

 done, and if it could, the " fancy " and all its charms would be 

 gone. 



Still, there are advantages in holding out encouragement to 

 beginners, and even a " Showing-Made-Easy " has its uses like 

 other " JIade-Easies.'' Then, again, early in the year, even a good 

 breeder likes to keep all his hens at home, and is thankful for 

 any rule which only demands one bird away from his yard in- 

 stead of two. This last is to my mind the strong point of the 

 single-hen system, for the advantage just spoken of will to a 

 great extent disappear as the plan becomes general. As it is, 

 the breeder who has a good pair generally shows at places where 

 pairs are provided, and leaves the single hen for others. But 

 if single hens become general he will be able to make his first- 

 class birds go just twice as far in showing, and will compete at 

 many shows where he now does not. This is a consideration 

 which appears to have been overlooked ; but if it be remem- 

 bered, it wiU be seen that the very advantages claimed for the 

 single-hen system depend on that system being only partial, not 

 general. 



As to show proceeds, my impression is that advantages are 

 pretty equally balanced. Probably entries of single hens are 

 somewhat increased, but I beUeve, though my belief is con- 

 trary to what I have seen advanced, that sales are diminished. 

 I have noticed that the prices of single birds are rarely so low 

 as half that of pairs, and few people care to buy a single hen or 

 pullet. As a matter of fact, I think it will be found that com- 

 mission on amount of sales on the single-hen plan has nearly 

 always fallen off. On the whole, therefore, I believe that as to 

 show receipts there is little choice either way. 



On the other hand, with regard to the effect, as a "show," 

 there can be no doubt that one bird by herself is infinitely in- 

 ferior. Everyone nearly remarked this at the Crystal Palace — 

 the birds looked duU, tame, and spiritless. As a spectacle merely 

 the plan was an emphatic failure ; aud I can speak from very 

 careful and special note that four-fifths of the birds could have 

 been matched in pairs of quite satisfactory quality, whUe the 

 very best ones almost without exception had mates. 



My own opinion as to the whole matter will therefore be 

 readily guessed. I think that at shows where the competition 

 is likely to be chiefly local, the single-bird plan is decidedly the 

 best. Especially is this the case during early and spring months 

 when birds are needed for their eggs ; and at such seasons even 

 shows of standing might adopt the plan with benefit to the 

 amateur and to their own entries. But at the great shows of 

 the year, when we all want to see the best that can be done, and 

 to compare notes, and to strive in earnest but friendly rivalry, 

 I should much regret to see the system adopted ; and I question 

 if it will be, unless it be at shows where mere number of entries 

 is considered as the one great object of contrivance. If it be at 

 these, I feel quite convinced that Birmingham will long be able 

 to laugh at all competitors, for mere number of entries does not 

 necessarily make the best show. — L. WiiioiiT. 



PUBLISHING THE NAMES OF JUDGES. 

 We frequently see the names of the committee, treasurer, 

 and secretary of poultry societies attached to the schedule of 

 prizes, but seldom the name of the judge; and if an exhibitor 

 writes to the secretary asking the name of the gentleman 

 selected for that important oflice, he will icostly receive a very 

 pohte reply as follows:— "A gentleman of experience is en- 

 gaged, but I am not at liberty to give you his name." Now, it 

 is quite possible for him to be a " gentleman of experience " in 

 some matters, yet his knowledge of poultry may be very limited. 

 Some will say if exhibitors know who is to bo the judge they 

 may tempt him with a bribe ; but I feel convinced the majority 

 of our j ..dges and exhibitors are men of honour, and will not 

 stoop so low. There are, I admit, a few exhibitors who will do 

 anything to win, but those few will always find out who is to 

 judge, whether the name be published or not; therefore, to do 



