210 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 11, 1873. 



Cockerels and Chickens Failing (J. S.).— Boiled potatoes are bad food, 

 and have a tendency to cauBe disease of the liver. We advise you to give 

 them some stimulant in the shape of bread and alo, aud to feed on ground 

 oats if you can get them ; if not, on barleymeal night and morning, with some 

 whole com in the middle of the day. From all f aUin^' ill at the same time, we 

 should expect they picked-up something that disagreed with them. II you 

 have reason to think we are right, give each bird a table- spoonful of castor 

 oU. Bice is bad food, aud hae a tendency to cause very low condition, and, 

 consequently, vermin. Alter your dietary. Give them some bread and milk 

 in the morning, afterwards some chopped egg, also coarse cooked meat and 

 pieces of fat cut small. Let the ripa be in a dry place, wrll open to the sun, 

 and let the chickens have dust in which to dust themselves. The younger 

 chickens if fed in the same way, are suffoi-ing from the same disorder. Give 

 them strong camphor water to drink, and in bad cases give a pill of it to each 

 chicken. "We neverhave gapes, and if there ia the slightest symptom of them, 

 we have recourse to camphor, and have never known it fail. 



Fowls fob Eggs and Chickens {Box). — We believe the Shanghaes will 

 answer your purpose very well, but we prefer Brahmas. They are not better 

 layers than the Shanghaes, but they are better table fowls. Both aro very 

 hardy. 



Brahma-Weak-legged {A Subscriber, Wexford Hoksc).— Feed your fowls 

 well, give them ground oats twice per day, any rough cooked meat you may 

 have chopped-up small. If you have no ground oats give them barleymeal. 

 They have somewhat outgrown their strength. Keep them in a dry place lest 

 they should get cramped. 



Fowls for a Thsee-acee Grass Run (^mo/cur)-— Where fowls are kept 

 on a comparatively small space, we always advise one breed. This saves 

 much labour and painstaking, the fowls do better, and the produce is more 

 valuable if at any time the stock is to be sold. Paradoxical as it may appear, 

 fifty fowls will do t,alf as well again if they have free i-un over three acres, as 

 they would if they were divided into two twenty-fives, and confined to an 

 acre and a hall each. "We do not think you can do better than keep Brahmas. 

 They are veiy haidy, they are not largo caters, they ore good layers, sitters, 

 and mothers. To produce eggs profitably you must have them in the time of 

 Bcarcity — that is, the winter. At that season few if any hens lay, but pullets 

 do. Just as it has been eaid all that is not militaiy is civil, so some people 

 say all that are not cocks ai*e pullets, only as distinctions of sex. Laying 

 belongs to a cexiaiu age. As soon as the x>ullet has attained to hen's estate 

 she begins to lay, whether it be November or May. Some allowance may be 

 made for the time of year. Chickens gi-ow faster and attain maturity earlier in 

 the spring and summer than in winter. Thus it should be no great difficulty 

 to an'ange for a constant supply. Some breeds lay earlier than others. The 

 eai'Uest we know aie Brahmas aud Cochins. W^e have known these to begin 

 at sixteen weeks. It is not desirable, as they always become in consequence 

 Btunted, and nature appears exhausted before she attains her prime. As a 

 rule, you may look for eggs from these two breeds between twenty and twenty- 

 four weeks old. Depemting on these facts, you will easily see that to insure 

 eggs at the scarce aud therefore valuable time of year, you will have to 

 arrange accordingly. February pullets lay in August ; March pullets in 

 September; April pullets in October; May pullets in November, aud so on. 

 The best food you can give is gi'ound oats, if they are to be had, slaked with 

 water ; if not, barleymeal. This supphes the morning and evening food. 

 The mid-day repast should be of whole corn, barley, or maize, varied with 

 such scraps as may be got together in a house. All stimulants and spiced 

 food should be avoided. The difference between Light and Dark Brahmas 

 existB only in colour. 



Mrs. F. Cheshire's Chicken Apparatus {Mrs. Hope). — We do not know 

 where it can be purchased, nor any book in which it is described. Mrs. C. 

 will, perhaps, send us information. 



Insuring Birds (E. K.,jun.).—We know of no insurMice oifice that would 

 insure either the life or safety of a bird for any sum either small or large. 



Cirencester Show.— Mi-. T. A. Dean had an extra second prize for Light 

 Brahma chickens. 



Pigeon Going Light (J. 3f.). — From your description we make no doubt 

 that youi* Pigeons have the disease termed by the fancy " going light," in 

 other words, consumption. The best lemedy is cod-liver oil ; give a teaspoon- 

 ful every night. There is a way of administering it which will not soil the 

 feathers, that is by passing down the thi-oat cod-liver-oil capsules. Dip 

 them in water for a minute, and then they will go down the easier. Give 

 them as you would cram a young Pouter with beans. Give one night and 

 morning. You can buy them of most chemists cheaply. You can also give 

 your bu-ds bread crumbs, and milk to drink. Others give bread soaked in 

 ale, but we beheve the best thing is the cod-liver oil. 



TuRBiTs' CRow^'s {Tt. E. H.).— " Shell-crowned and peak-crowned in 

 Turbits." In the former case the tuft of feathers at the back of the head is 

 in the form of a shell — that is, hollow on the side netu-est the head, and 

 larger than the peak crown. The shell-crown, con-ect in Nuns, is not proper 

 in Turbits. The peak-crown is formed by the feathers rising from the back 

 of the head in a horizontal line with the eye and beak, which terminate in 

 a prettily-pointed curvature a little above the head. 



English and Foreign Owls (W^-m).— The former were, until late years, 

 the only Pigeons known as Owls. They are birds of fair size, in colour blue 

 or silver, the blue peculiarly beautiful, aud called " Powdered Blue." The 

 Foreign or African Owls are much smaller, and of exquisitely delicate appear- 

 ance, aud though seen of various colours, perhaps the WTaites are the best 

 and most fairy-like. 



CuMULETs (/rfem).— Cumnlet, Volant, or White-eye, a cross-bred bird, pro- 

 bably between a Tumbler and an Antwerp. They have clear white eyes, and 

 the few wo have seen exhibited were throughout of a liplit coloui'. We 

 attach httle value to these birds. A Pigeon with a new name, however, finds 

 purchasers witli those desuous of a change. 



Washing Pigeons (Jf/z-m).— Put a pan of water iu the sun and they will 

 wash themselves, and be clean if the loft is perfectly clean. You may take a 

 sponge and waeh tho larger feathers lightly with soap and water if they 

 need it. 



Bottle-feeding {F. C. H.).— We cannot tell what was wrong in your 

 manipulation. No muslin come to hand. Was yonr bottle perfectly uprif,'ht 

 wheu inverted on the zinc over the hive ? We have often proved that with 

 the use of coarse net and zinc, pure water will not lose a single drop after the 

 bottle is once inverted. Of course some runs out in the act of inverting. 

 The interposition of perforated zinc alone, without any muslin, is sufficient 



to prevent the fluid from running out. Some bee-keepers advocate bottle- 

 feeding in this way : A piece of glass is laid over the mouth of the bottle, 

 and withdrawn when the latter is in position on the perforated zinc; no 

 liquid will drip through. To prove the truth of this assertion we have juet 

 tried tho plan with a bottle of water, and not n sinslo di-op fell after the 

 withdrawal of the glass. Your pickle-bottles should have straight necks, 

 with rims but little projecting. We cannot fell the weight of your bos. If 

 wasps still enter joui- hive we fear the population must bo weak. 



Dairy Farming {Orck^rdist). —By sowing Italian Rye Grass now you wil^ 

 obtain a supply of fodder next April. An attempt to maintain two dairy cows 

 upon the produce of an acre of land will, we think, result in failure. From 

 our own experience we conclude that two acres of land highly cultivated ai-e 

 requisite to provide one cow with sutlicient food to enable it to yield a full 

 supply of milk, from the cream of which 12 lbs, of butter may be made weekly ; 

 and the yield of an underfed cow will proportionably fail both in richness and 

 quantity. In Cheshire, where the cows generally may be said to bo stall-fed 

 in winter, about three acres of grass land are considered necessary to provide 

 summer pasturage and winter fodder for each cow. Tho " Handbook of Daily 

 Husbandry" (Longmans) contains much valuable information on tho aubject. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Camden Square, London. 



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



REMARKS. 

 3rd.— Fine early, rain at 10 a.m., showery all day ; verj' heavy rain for a short 



time about 9 p.m. 

 4th. — Rather dull at 9 a.m., fine at noon, showei7 afternoon, very fine evening. 

 5th. — Rather dull day, with a sprinkle of rain, and cold for the season. 

 6th. — Again duU, cold, and cheerless, but not rainy. 

 7th. — Rather hazy morning, fiue at noon, then clouded over ; rain soon after 



4 P.M., heavy rain at 6 p.m., and rainy night. 

 8th.— Fine till noon, then cloudy for a short time; slight shower in evening. 

 9th. — Fine morning, clouding at noon ; rain soon after 3 p.m., continuing and 



increasing tUl the evening, the latter pai't of which was moonlight, and 



altogether bright and pleasant. 

 A very cold week for the time of year, the temperature being about that of 

 the first week in October, and colder than any week since May. — G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— September 10. 

 We have still a full supply of both home-groii^'u and foreign produce with 

 the exception of Nuts, Cubs and Filberts having slightly advanced this week. 

 The prices of fruit generally have been fairly supported. Hothnuse Peaches 

 and Nectarines oi'O over ; those from the open walls are of fair average quality. 

 Grapes are very plentiful ; more than enough for the trade, and with a few 

 exceptions deficient in coloiur. 



Apples 4 sieve 1 



Apricots doz. 



CheiTies 1^ lb. 



Chestnuts bushel 



Currants i sieve 2 



Black do. 



Figa doz. 



Filberts lb. 1 



Coba lb. 1 



Gooseberries quart 



Grapes, hothouse lb. 1 



Lemons ^100 10 



Melons each 2 



d. 8. d. 



Otol 6 

 



e. d. 



Mulberries 1> lb. 1 OtoO 



Nectarines doz. 4 



Oranges a* 100 10 



Peaches doz. 4 



Pears, kitchen doz. 



dessert doz. 2 



PineApples lb, S 



Plums 1 sieve 2 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries ^^ lb. 



Walnuts bushel 10 



ditto ^►'lOO 2 



8. d. 

 





 20 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 6 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes doz. 



Asparapas ^100 



French 



Beaus, Kidney.... i sieve 



Beet, Red doz 



Broccoli bundle 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums '^i^ 100 



Carrots bunch 



Caulillower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Coleworts.. doz. bunches 

 Cucumbers each 



piclding doz. 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Uorseradish bnndle 



Leeks bunch 



Lettuce doz. 



s. d. s. 

 S Oto6 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustard & Cress. .punnet 

 Onions bushel 



pickling quart 



Parsley per doz. bunches 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Rouud ■ do. 



Radislics.. doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Salsaf y bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Scorzonera bundle 



Sea-kftle basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



ToraatooB doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Marrows 



s. d. a. 



2 0to4 



2 









 



