130 



journaij of hoetigultuke and cottage gardener. 



[ August U, 1873. 



various manipulations?, I am unable positively to state liow long 

 a time elapsed between the birth of the youug queens and their 

 first laying of eggs. I must, however, do justice to some of 

 them in saying that subsequently they have proved themselves 

 to be very prolific. I must now conclude this chapter of bee- 

 gossip, but hope to write a second very shortly, giving a few 

 ruore details of what has occurred in my apiarian practice this 

 season.— S. Sevan Fox, Exeter. 



A Beverage feomRoasted Grape Seeds.— Mons. T. Schmidt 

 calculates that 30 to 40 lbs. of seeds per acre of vineyard are 

 ordinarily produced, and, with the exception of the tannin 

 "which they contain, and which is used in the clearing aud ma- 

 nufacturing of wine, the whole is looked upon as a waste pro- 

 duct. "When, however, these seeds are properly roasted and 

 ground, they possess an aroma very much like that of East India 

 coffee, and the beverage obtained therefrom is about the same 

 in taste, although not in strength, as coffee. The author recom- 

 mends the following mode of procedure : — Take 1^ ounce of the 

 ground preparation, and boil it for five minutes in a quart of 

 milk, adding a little cinnamon and cloves. When filtered and 

 sweetened to taste, a beverage is obtained resembling chocolate, 

 with the same reddish tint. It also becomes thick like cocoa on 

 being allowed to stand for a while. — [English Mechanic.) 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Books (J. P. (?.).— Morris' " Eirds and Nests," publislied by Messrs- Groom' 

 bridge, Paternoster Row, in hftlf-crown parts. 



SEDCrEFiELD POULTRY Show. — The Secretary requests us to state that the 

 first and second prizes for Cochins, also the cup, were awarded to Mr. G. H. 

 Procter, Market Place, Durham, and not to Mr. P. A. Denham, as erroneously 

 published last week. In Pigeons the following corrections are also made — 

 viz ; — Barbs. — 1 and Cup, J. P. Fawcetfc. English Owls. — 1, J. Dye. Any other 

 variety. — 1, Cup, aud Extra 3, J. & W. Towerson. No Estra 2 was given. 



Blackburn Poultry Show {Correspondent). — Thanks, but the time which 

 has elapsed is too great. 



Haslingden Potjltry Show. — In the Antwerp class second prizes were 

 awarded to Mr. A. Justice, Mr. J. Stanley, and Mr. P. Woodhouse, there being 

 three second prizes, and not two only, as the class was so good. 



Brahmas not Feeding Freely [Colin). — You need not be uneasy that 

 the appetite of your Erahmas falld off. Your feedint^ is good enough for any 

 fowls. At this time of year they pick up much food over thi'ee acres. They 

 have always been well fed, and consequently, having no lost ground to make 

 up ; they do not want as much food as fowls that are fed irregularly, or that 

 have been underfed for some time. Continue to feed in the morning on slaked 

 barleymeal, mid-day give some ludian corn, and at evening repeat the slaked 

 bai'Ieymeal. With the range they have they require no more than this, and 

 if they eat but little, so much the better for you. Buckwheat is not good for 

 fowls, and it is more than likely if you gave it to them they would not touch 

 it. Fowls only that are reared on it, as they are in France, are fond of it. 



Breeding Brahmas and Cochin Bantams {Cockerel). — In all breeding 

 the first and essential point is to have stock you can depend upon, and having 

 that, to choose your breeding birds from those that possess the qualities you 

 wish to perpetuate. All the early-imported Brahma cocks (Dark) were speckled- 

 breasted. A light-breasted Dark Brahma cock is an imposter ; but the coradem- 

 nation of a bird with a rich black breast regularly spotted with white, is not 

 warranted by the histoiy of the breed. It has long been known that it is veiy 

 difficult to breed winning cocks and hens from the same birds, but it is not im- 

 possible. AVe differ from those who decry fresh bl^od. If we want to get any 

 feather or property, we chooseparents that pospess them. The point we avoid 

 in all Dark Brahma breeding is a buff tinge on the breasts and wings of the 

 hens, or on the wings of the cocks. Light breasts in the hens are very com- 

 mon — almost the rule, but it is more defiirable to choose breeding stock in 

 which (as you want black-breasted cocks) the cocks have black breasts, and 

 the hens are pencilled to the throat. We do not believe Cochin Bantams can 

 be made; at any rate we cannot make them. We have tried, and bred curi- 

 osities. Wg have had imparted birds that were perfect. Mark your fowls 

 with different coloured leather or clotli round the le;^8. 



Points in Show CkVkTM^s{WxlUavi Savage). — Your being an invalid and 

 nnable to attend shows is to be regretted, for it is with birds as with other 

 things, one practical lesson is worth pages of descriptive matter, aud one 

 visit to a show of high-class birds would teach yon more tbau any pamphlet 

 on the points of show birds with which I am acquainted. Several such have 

 come under my notice from time to time, but it would not be difficult to drive 

 the traditional coach-and-sis through the best of them, which, apart from 

 being very dogmatical, are for the most part effusions lacking any element of 

 refinement, and are withal redolent of that peculiar atnioephere wliicb per- 

 meates the back parlour of a beer shop. The Canary has for a lengthened 

 period been in the hands of, possibly, not the best educated part of the com- 

 munity, though he is none the less to be admired on that account, nor are 

 his friends the less to be commended for their discrimination in selecting 

 Buch an interesting object for their attention. His literature, therefore, or 

 that part of it more particularly relating to the bird as a show bird, is such 

 as might have been expected. You do not say to what variety yonr bird 

 belongs. Wlien you ask in what class he should be entered, yon must bear in 

 miud there are several classes of each distinctive variety. From the descrip- 

 tion of yours I should say he has more Norwich blood in him than anything 

 else, and he should be entered iu the Uuevenly-mai-ked class, which includes 

 all birds not coming under the definition Evenly-marked — i.e., marked on 

 each eye, each wing, and each side of the tail, each or all of these marks, but 

 no others. I cannot undertake to put a price on a bird I have not seen, and 

 of which I do not know the pedigree. You must remember that if you send 

 him to a show the price must include the cage in which the bird is exhibited. 

 — W. A. Blakston. 



Babbit Scurfy {H. P. TF.).— Your Rabbits will he free from the com- 

 plaint you name if yon mix siUphur with sweet oil and apply to the parts 

 affected in the form of a thin paste every four days, which will bring off the 

 Bcurf, and the hair will soon grow again. Rabbits in confined ill-ventilated 

 hutches are subject to this attack. All hutches should be whitewashed, espe- 



cially after containing Rabbits so affected, for this complaint is veiy infectious, 

 and all Babbits so troubled should be at once separated from others. 



Preserving Peas Green (The Qarde7ier). — They may be preserved until 

 the nest spring if some of the summer crop are treated as follows: — Pick 

 them when full gi-own, shell them, dry them gently but thoroughly, and thea 

 store them in canvas bags in a di*y place. When required for use soak them 

 in water for a few hours nntU plumped-up, and theu boil them. The follow- 

 ing mode has been reported to us by a person well qualified to judge of such 

 matters as being very successful : — Carefully shell the peas, then put tbena 

 in tin canisters, not too large ones ; put in a small piece of alum, about the 

 size of a horsebean, to a pint of peas. W'ben the canister is full of peas fili 

 up the interstices with water, and solder-on the lid perfectly air-tight, and 

 boil the canister for about twenty minutes ; then remove them to a cool place, 

 and they will be found in January but little inferior to fresh newly-gathered 

 peas. Bottling is not so good — at least, we have not found it so ; the air geta 

 in, the liquid turns sour, and the peas acquire a bad taste. What kind oS 

 Beans is it that you wish to preserve ? 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Camden Square, London. 



Lat. Sr 32' 40" K. ; Long. 0"^ 8' 0" W. ; Altitade 111 feet. 



REMARKS. 

 6th. — Bright morning, pleasant day; rather oppressive at night. 

 7th. — Fair but not bright in the morning, very fine day, warm in the after- 

 noon and evening. 

 8th. — Hazy morning, but fine day ; cloudy at night. 

 9th. — A most beautiful day, very bright with a cool breeze, but there waB 



thunder at 1 p.m. 

 10th.— Moi-ning fine, afternoon cloudy ; rain commencing at 8 P.ii., and con- 

 tinuing more or less heavily till the nest day. 

 11th.— Wet and thick morning; fine forenoon and till 5 p.m., when it rained 



heavily for a short time. 

 12th. — Morning rather dull, midday fine, but the evening cloudy ani rainlike. 



Excessively heavy shower of short duration on the 11th at 5.15 p.m.; tho 

 fall between 5h. 14m. and 5h. 15m. lOs. being O.OG inch, and thereforo upwards 

 of six tons of rain per acre fell in the short period of seventy seconds. — 

 G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— August 13. 

 The same remarks apply to the markets generally as last week, qnofcations 

 remaining nearly the same, excepting for Strawberries, which are nearly over. 

 There are but few now to be had, and they are of very indifferent quality. 



FRUIT. 



s. d. s. d. I B. d. B. d. 



1 6too Mulberries If^-lb. otoo 



2 3 I Nectarines doz. 8 15 



6 1 I Oranges f*- 100 6 16 



: Peaches doz. 1.^. 30 



Apples 5 sieve 



Apricots doz. 



Ouerries IV- lb. 



Chestnuts bushel 



Currants i sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 



Gf>oseberrio3 quart 



Grapes, hothouse lb. 



Leraous ^101) 



Melons each 



Artichokes doz. 



Asparasus. ^i* 100 



French 



Beans, Kidney — i sieve 



Beet, Red doz 



Broccoli bundle 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums ^ 100 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Coleworts. . doz. bunches 

 Cucumbers eaoh 



pickling dnz. 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish handle 



Leeks bunch 



Lettuce doz. 



Pears, kitchen uoz. i) 



2 







3 I dessert doz 



10 PineApples lb. 3 



I Plums A sieve 



I Quinces doz. 



6 Raspberries lb. 4 



6 Strawberries **- lb. 



14 Walnuts bushel 8 



8 ditto X^lOO 2 







3 



6 











1 

 



12 



a 6 



VEGETABLES, 

 d. s.d. 

 0to6 

 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustard & Cress. .punnet 

 Onions bushel 



pickling quart 



Parsley per doz. bunches 



Parsnips ,. doz. 



Peas quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Rouud . do. 



Radishes. , doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Salsafy bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Scorzonera bundle 



Sea-kale bauket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes doa. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Harrows 



0to4 

 2 

 6 

 6 



2 











1 6 

 1 

 1 6 

 

 

 

 

 3 

 8 



n 



s 



POULTRY MARKET.— AU6UST IS. 



Large Fowls 4 



Smaller ditto 3 



Chickens fi 



Goslings ti 



Green Geese 



Ducklings 2 



s. d. s. d. 



Pheasants OtoO 



Partridges 



Hares 0*00 



Rabbits 1 5 111 6 



Wildditto 9 fOlO 



Pigeons 9 10 



