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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 23, 1873. 



over another, I refrain from giving more than simple facts in 

 connection with each sort, and leave the choice for others to 

 determine. One or two questions, however, are necessary. Do 

 you simply want pretty Pigeons of the Tumbler type ? If so, 

 make your choice out of the lot of beauties I have enumerated, 

 and suit your own taste. Do you want the happy combination 

 of beauty and quality as flyers and workers ? If so (to be candid), 

 you are not sure to obtain them, but you will stand the best 

 chance of meeting your wishes by selecting from Eosewings, 

 Mottles, and Self-colours (long-mufled). Do you want high-flyers 

 and good Rollers for, say, half an hour's flight ? If so, pick 

 again from Mottles and Rosewings, and also Saddles, medium 

 or grouse-muffed, and you will be most likely to get what you 

 require. Do you want a flight of high-flying Sky-scrapers, such 

 as are good for half a day's almost constant performing up aloft? 

 If so .you must make up your mind to set beauty aside, and by 

 the purchase of a known one here and there, regardless of shape, 

 colour, or markings — no matter whether long, medium, or short- 

 faced, whether " white " or *' bull " eyes, or even half-and-half ; 

 no matter whether mixed or coloured flights, clean-legged or 

 muffed. Then you may obtain Flying Tumblers to your heart's 

 desire ; such, indeed, as would satisfy the wishes and tire the 

 patience of the stiffest-necked fancier of the flying fraternity. 

 Bat the majority of these extraordinary flyers, you must under- 

 stand, look only to perfection when mounted up high in flight. 

 They show to great advantage on a bright, clear winter's morn- 

 ing or autumn's eve. When young birds are fully moulted, and 

 old ones are clear of parental cares, they fly the best, and ap- 

 proach nearer and nearer the cerulean canopy of heaven. 



On an autumn's eve, as I have said, they look particularly 

 pretty at a great altitude, moving about in circuitous space, 

 their various colours being intensified and more brilliant by 

 reason of the effulgent beams of light from the setting sun 

 beneath them ; then they flicker like a myriad of coloured 

 insects, performing at intervals those extraordinary convolutions 

 which have not only delighted the lower grades of society who 

 keep them most, but have moved with admiration and astonish- 

 ment the most refined and dignified of our associates. It is 

 really a most interesting sight to witness a well-trained, re- 

 gularly-flown flight of carefully-selected Tumblers, which, if 

 regularly practised, will, on being liberated from their loft or 

 pen, at once start voluntarily upon their circuitous upward 

 journey, performing as they go with an almost perfect unity of 

 action — the whole lot as they gradually mount skyward passing 

 through their peculiar evolutions almost simultaneously — now, 

 perhaps, a little straggling, but quickly collecting again into a 

 compact mass at a great height above their home, they flicker, 

 flicker as up and up they go, with probably one or two " top 

 sawyers" of superlative merit discernible surmounted im- 

 mediately above the flock as leaders, and these only descending 

 occasionally to a few circles with the busy group, by reason of 

 on occasional " roll " of about 1-5 or 20 yards ; then, recovering 

 their equilibrium, up again they go to soar above their fellows, 

 turning as they turn, rolling sometimes, when they roll, until 

 one of those extraordinary series of somersaults, and then 

 another and another, bring them to the spangling mass beneath 

 them, which now, perhaps, are at such a stupendous height that 

 at times {even to a long-sighted pair of eyes), they are entirely 

 lost to view, and the admiring observer too often finds himself 

 vacantly staring into space, and probably enjoying a peculiar 

 sort of feeling which (in the absence of medical references), I 

 shall describe in my own way — viz., as resembling " lock-jaw " 

 in the neck and back ; and, strange to say, an equally singular 

 feeling pervades one's optics ; in fact, all is gone — objects be- 

 come cloudy or obscure ; it is a genuine case of staring these 

 birds out of sight, for now all is green, now all is blue, now 

 green and blue. Kaleidoscopic scenes are on view free of charge 

 — it is truly a blue look-out. The Pigeons, pretty things, are 

 clean gone, and one's vision partially so. " Yet lost to sight 

 to memory dear," for on soLUoquising and on the endeavour 

 to straighten one's vertebrie, a rub of one's eyes, and a look 

 again upon earthly objects, it is iinfortunately found that for a 

 time all, all is chaos. Oh, dear ! yes; 'tis confusion worse con- 

 founded (and I speak from experience), myriads of acrobatic 

 phantom-Pigeons are performing in wild confusion upon every 

 semi-descernible object. They appear to one's over-strained 

 optics as Mad Tumblers disturbed by the unwelcome and 

 sudden visitation of a blessed feline quadruped or the more 

 renaarkable circumnavigations of the embryo aerial velocipede 

 which is to arouse all nature with astonishment. 



But where are the Pigeons ? That is the first question on th* 

 complete restoration of one's discerning powers after perhaps 

 an hour or two of repose. Out you go, and up you look ; but 

 where, oh where have they gone? They are indeed "gone 

 from my gaze like a beautiful dream." Again and again are the 

 eyes strained to the extremest stretch of vision. East, west, 

 north, and south are eagerly scanned until the eye has tr,<iversed 

 the semicircle of blue, when at last the eye rests for a time 

 upon a light fleecy cloud, and lo! twinkle, twinkle — no not 

 " little star," because stars don't (as a rule) " twinkle " at mid- 



day. Nor do they sparkle to any degree through even Ught 

 clouds ; so shade your eyes and take another survey, and behold, 

 sure enough, the Little host of flickering dots or specks prove to 

 be the still unweary compact mass just passing beneath the 

 light vapoury cloud which, by strong contrast, makes them 

 visible and thereby reveals their whereabouts. Yes, there they 

 are, still gliding on in about the same radius as they have tra- 

 versed so oft ; tumbling, rolling, tippling as before, according to 

 their several qualities, when first lost to view ; and this daily 

 proceeding with good and well-trained stocks continues for 

 hours ; the birds seem to revel in the sport and, as it were, each 

 one appears to outvie the others until, with an apparently 

 general understanding, they begin their gradual descent, sailing, 

 more or less, after eachperformance, but without even yet show- 

 ing the least symptom of flagging or weariness from their 

 lengthened sojourn iu the cooler skyward regions. 



It is often in their descent that the best top-flying Rollers 

 perform the most wonderful revolutions ; for when the flight 

 have alighted these ''top-sawyers" or " leaders," as they are 

 termed, are still a good height, taking small circuits; then 

 hovering or soaring immediately above their home, they com- 

 mence to finish by a series of rolls, descending from 10 to 

 20 yards at a time like a falhug ring, then balancing or steady- 

 ing themselves with outstretched wings like a hawk between 

 each series of somersaults, and completing generally with a 

 grand Jinalc, and then a lurch and a pitch forward with closed 

 wings, and the day's flj' is over. Their ai'rial qualifications 

 alone have raised them high in the estimation of numerous 

 fanciers who regard their performances as the highest and best 

 qualification for affording real enjoyment to those who like 

 Pigeons. — J. W. Ludlow. — {American Pet Stock Bulletin.) 



STRENGTHENING STOCKS BY UNIONS. 



Bees ceased breeding this year earlier than usual ; and as the 

 season has been an unfavourable one, every bee-keeper would do 

 well to examine his stocks and leave nothing to chance. From 

 almost all parts of England we are hearing of stocks being in a 

 very poor condition, and likely to perish if not liberally fed. 

 One gentleman who called here yesterday said he had reduced 

 his stocks to foiirteen in nximber by uniting the weaker to the 

 stronger ones, and had given his bees i'10-worth of sugar this 

 autumn. 



We are also uniting the weak to the strong hives, and, more- 

 over, I purchased a great many swarms of condemned bees in 

 Lincolnshire, which I have united to my stocks. These bees 

 arrived about eight o'clock at night in three boxes, and as I 

 intended to strengthen twenty hives with them, I deemed it 

 wise on arrival to ixnite them by candle-light. The twenty 

 hives to receive the Lincolnshire bees were well fed by pouring 

 some syrup strongly impregnated with nutmeg over both bees 

 and combs. It took twenty minutes to syrup these hives, which 

 were left uncovered till they received the bees. Then we placed 

 the boxfuls of bees opposite a window well lighted with gas and 

 candles, and by this light we ladled the bees out of the boxes 

 into the twenty hives, giving each hive about a quartful of our 

 new friends from Lincolnshire. The job was easily and speedily 

 done, and very satisfactory, for not a battle was fought, not a 

 bee killed. And in uniting our own bees we act in the same 

 way, first feeding the stock by pouring syrup over the bees and 

 combs before the other bees are cast in amongst them. The 

 bees thus fed are full of contentment and joy : their hilarity is 

 at its height about twenty minutes after the syrup has been 

 administered, when the bees should be cast in amongst them. 

 The use of the nutmeg is to prevent the bees from knowing the 

 strangers by smell. I believe it possible to successfully unite a 

 thousand swarms to stocks without the use of the nutmeg or 

 mint in the syrup, but still it answers the end for which it is 

 used in uniting swarms. — A. Pettigkew. 



WHAT IS HONEY-? 



I HAVE hitherto been unable to notice what Mr. Pettigrew 

 told us on this subject in a recent number of the Journal. His 

 statement amounts to this — that honey is not a pure production 

 of nature gathered by bees from the flowers or elsewhere, but 

 that it is manufactured, as it were, by these insects out of a 

 more or less weak syrup of sugar which they find in flowers. 

 To put it in his own words, " All honey proper and genuine 

 has been swallowed and disgorged twice by bees. On being 

 swallowed the second time it undergoes a chemical change — a 

 sweetening and thickening process. 'Thus it is made into honey 

 proper." Mr. Pettigrew next refers to a review of his " Handy 

 Book of Bees," in which I "hinted," he says, " that his state- 

 ments might be the outcome of mere fancy." I forget now 

 exactly what I did say, as I am writing from " beyond seas," 

 and have not my books to refer to ; but I must say that I was 

 never more surprised in my life by any statement of this sort. 

 I remember well my valued friend the late Mr. AVoodbury dis- 

 cussing the question as one which might possibly be correct, 



