388 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 13, 1873. 



your space in hinting at what I did not do I shall defer till your 

 nest number a reference to those ideas and to what I really did 

 do in assisting the bees to rear the crystal palace ; and if any 

 of yonr readers feel disposed to accept the challenge, " Try to 

 beat this," which Mr. Cotton proposes placing npou it, I shall 

 he gratified to learn that the information has been of any service 

 to them, and promise not to be in the least jealous should any 

 or all of them succeed. < 



I may just remark, in concluding for the present, that the 

 objections to the Woodbury hive to which Mr. Pettigrew refers 

 in a previous number were pointed out to him by me some 

 two years since, and that at that time, in order to meet those 

 objections, I designed and made a hive such as he now suggests 

 to the consideration of the " practical bee-keeper and hive- 

 maker," and stocked it; but owiug to a desire, too natural in 

 most amateurs, in trying to do it too well I overdid it, and 

 destroyed the queen without knowing it until the season was 

 too far advanced to remedy the evil for any practical purpose. 

 I have the hive still in my possession, however, but have not 

 tried it this year owing to want of time to carry out the " brush " 

 idea (also now suggested by Mr. Pettigrew), which presented 

 itself to my mind after the hive was made, and which, I thought, 

 if it could be carried out, would render the hive unique and 

 worthy of being entitled the '* Ladies' own Boudoir Hive," the 

 idea being that even in a room and with the supers on, a frame 

 might be withdrawn at the back without permitting the bees to 

 escape. I will, with your permission, give a description of this 

 hive in a future number, and shall be glad if any of our practical 

 bee-keeping and hive-making friends will offer any suggestion 

 that will improve it. — D. Breen, 6, Ardwick Terrace, Manchester. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Fattening Turkeys and Geese i'Sit?»S'rri6'^r).— Turkeys do better if they 

 are shut-up for the last fortnight. They shouhl be iu a small place, btit lofty 

 enough for them to perch. Their food ehoiilJ be ground oats mixed with 

 about a thud of barleymeal and a smull propoitiou of peameal. This should 

 be slaked with milk and put iu a trout,'h: a pig-trough will do very well. In 

 fattening these, as anything else, the food should bo fresh-mixed two or three 

 times per day, and they must roost warmly and free from draught. You may 

 take it as a rule that where it is wished to make anything very fat, exercise ia 

 a bad thing, and they are therefore better without it. Geese may be shut- 

 up in a pigstye, and fed from a trough on oats, bran, and sometimes gravel. 

 The food to be given moist. The bay of a bai*n littered with straw, with the 

 troughs brought to the lightest paii, makes a good place for either, provided 

 there is not too much room. 



Coop for Dorkings {J. E.). — Such a coop as yon require should be 

 24 inches high in iront, 18 wide in front, and 24 ia depth, with round bars 



lA inch apart. The roof of it should he flat for a space of 7 or 8 inches, and 

 then slant sufficieatly to shoot off any downfall, as in this engraving. 



TuMODR NEAR Vent {H. J. B.). — You will asccrtaiu the existence of the 

 cheesy matter by pressure. It is always round, and tolerably hard. Taken in 

 time and treated as we advised the cm-e is easy, and pressure from below 

 after an incision is made above causes the discharge of the offending sub- 

 stance. It comes out hard. If, however, it is allowed to remain the skin 

 surrounding hardens upon it, and becomes attached to it. It is then a more 

 serious operation, and causes excessive bleeding. 



Spanish Fowls Feather-eaters (R. J. S.). — "We have kept Spanish for 

 more than thirty years, and, with few exceptions, always in confinement. 

 We have always been subject to this abominable practice of eating the 

 feathers at times They never do it when at liberty, nr>r in confinement till 

 towards the end of the summer. When ihe plumage becomes shabby they 

 seem to have an uncontrollable desire to eat the plumage. They then eat it 

 to such an extent that wo have had them with oaly wing and tail feathers. 

 They have no desue to eat the new plumage until in tlie common course of 

 things it becomes seedy, rusty, and threadbare in July. The feather re- 

 semljles something they lack that would seem to he necessary to the new 

 plumage, and it suffers from the likeness. We do not believe any treatment 

 will prevent it, but that which with us has seemed to lessen the filthy habit 

 has been to proWde sods of grafts, cut with plenty of earth, fresh horse dung 

 from the stable, lettuces, and some worms. 



Sheffield Coluubarian Show (G. W.). — As it was not advertised we 

 conclude that it was a local exhibition only. 



Japanese and other Omitted Bantams. — We have letters from Mi*. 

 W. B. Smith and others agreeing with Mr. Wright, that prizes should be 

 tfiexedfor these varietiee. 



Oxford Show. — " A Silver-Grey Dorking pullet, totally rmlike the one I 

 sent, was returned with one of my cockerels. It is not a bad bird, but I Uke 

 my own better, as mine had shorter stronger legs, although this has a better 

 comb. Perhaps the person who received mine would prefer this. I shall be 

 glad to return this bud on receipt of my own. — Georgina Paslev, Moorhill^ 

 Shedfield, Farehavt, Hants." 



Feeding Bees (J. S.). — It is impossible to say exactly what weight of 

 food should be allowed for any given hive, so as to consider it eafe for the 

 winter, therefore we recommend a full allowanoe. Hives and boai-ds are 

 very different in weight; also, there is a gi-eat difference between a swarm of 

 the current year and an old stock. In the latter case the combs are heavy 

 with accumulations of bee-bread, propolis, and the residuum left in them by 

 generations of young bees that have been laid in them. Also bees will eat 

 more or less food according to population, situation, the state of the weather, 

 &c. A careful bee-keeper will adapt his supplies to the probable wants of his 

 bees. Five pounds of food will carry most hives safely through the three 

 winter months, often lees than this; but we should like every hive to have 

 10 lbs. on the 1st of November, so as not to have to feed again till Lady-day. 

 If your two stocks now weigh 22 lbs. and 17 lbs. you may lot them alone. 

 Cover them up warmly, and see that their entrance-holes are always free for 

 them to go in and out at pleasure. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Camden Square, London. 



Lat. 5V 32' 40'^ N. ; Long. 0° 8' 0" W. ; Altitude 111 feet. 



REMARKS. 

 5th.— Dark and foggy in the morning ; rain more or less all day, rather better 



in the evening. 

 6th.— Fine morning ; rain before noon and continuing till 4 p.m., fine after- 

 wards. 

 7th. — Rather fine morning, slight shower in afternoon, and rain at 7 r.ai. 

 8th. — Very fine morning, but rather cloudy afternoon. Lunar halo at 9.30 



P.M. Damp, thuugh not rainy, at night. 

 9th. — Rather dull morning ; rain at intervals from 2 p.m. to midnight, at 



times the rain fell heavily. 

 10th. — Very dark all day, though there was but little either rain or fog. 

 11th. — Rather dull till iu a.h., from which time it was finer than any day we 

 have had for some time. 

 The period of low temperature has passed, but from the dampness and fog 

 the week has been far less pleasant than when the air was drier though colder. 



— G. J. SVMONS. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— November 13. 



A moderate amount of business is done at last week's quotations, the 

 only article that has receded to any extent being Oranges, of which several 

 cargoes of new fruit are to hand in good condition. They are from Gibraltar 

 and the Azores. From the latter islands we have received the fii-st regular 

 consignment of Pine Apples. The Potato trade is heavy, and there is ayain 

 much complaint of disease. 



FRUIT. 



