458 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 4, 1873. 



and lays -well she may be retained as a breeding bird. Yearling hens may bo 

 mated with an aged cock. 



Breedino Ducks (Idem). — If your Ducks be of very early hatch you can 

 nse them, but it is better to have Ducks and drake of different ages. 



Jacobin Points (J-Zt'in).— Red Jacobins require to have pearl eyes, short 

 beaks, round skulls well covered by their hood of feathers ; no white on the 

 cheek or throat below the mouth ; a long, close, and even chain or rufi of 

 feathers extending down the neck and front of breast ; and even flights of 

 white feathers. 



Poultry Establishment {E. L.). — We thin k it would not he profitable. 



Red on Spanish Cockerel's Face (M. D.). — We should be inclined to 

 attribute the red marks on your Spanish cock's face to defect in his breed. 

 An y tendency to apoplexy would bo shown at once in the comb, which would 

 become purple. Tlie shakmg of the head is nothing more than a habit of 

 birds of the breed when their gills and wattles aie long. 



Pullet Laying Irregularly {R. P.).— Your Brahma pullet is most 

 likely suffering from rupture caused by excessive internal fat. There is little 

 chance of cme, but light and scanty diet with frequent doses of castor oil 

 may give her relief. 



Breeding Houdans (S. H.).— Wo should prefer breeding from the dart- 

 coloured cock with light hens. We should avoid breeding from light- colom-ed 

 pullets. 



Fowls' Necks Featherless {B. Q.). — Tour birds most probably are over- 

 fed and feverish, and pick each other. Reduce the amount of whole com 

 given by one-third. Three acres should be an ample run for them ; but 

 perhaps at this season there is not much green picking for them. Throw to 

 them some growing turnips or eweJes freshly pulled, and let them peck them 

 to pieces and eat them. Game fowls and Brahmas would give both e^gs and 

 chickens. Crilve-Canir or Spanish for eggs only, and their colour defies the 

 smoke. 



Worms in Pigeons (H. Hills).— In a putrified state, not esaminable. 



Aviaey Seed-hopper, — In answer to "J. P., jun." I enclose a sketch of 



a useful self-supplying seed-hopper suitable for an 

 aviary. I hope the diagram Is sufficiently simple 

 without much explanation. I have exposed part of the 

 front to show the sloping piece of glass or tin, or in a 

 laige hopper, wood, down which the seed runs, and 

 f^,^^-«<.v,^_-rr falling through a small space left between the bottom 



'^-' • "" " edge and the back, keeps up a continuous supply. It 



can be made of any length and depth according to cir- 

 cumstances, and if the front be covered as far as the 

 line .r, it vAll be well to insert stout upright wires at 

 short intervals, or a series of pigeon-holes to prevent 

 the birds soattering the seed, which they lake an ap- 

 parent pleasure in doing as long as there is any to 

 scatter. Thehd may slope either way.— W. A. Blakston. 

 Crossing the Bullfinch and Canary (Old Sub- 

 8criber}.—The Bullfinch and Canary will not breed to- 

 Section. gether. The attempt to bring about such a result has 



often been made. It is always a failure. A mouth or 

 two back there was a'detailed account of a season's esperience and its result 

 — W. A. Blakston. 



Keeping Rabbits for Exhibition (J. T. B.).— It is difiScult to advise; 

 but as you aje not accustomed to them, obtain some good Silver-Greys, as 

 they are haidy. You can procure them from any of the well-known esliibitors 

 and breeders whose names you will find in the catalogues of shows. The 

 price will depend upon the quality, which must be good for your purijose. If 

 you procure them young of course they will be less in price, and you may 

 probably procure them from 12s. the pah, good ones a few months old. 



Books (Old Subscriber).— Yon may obtain "Langstroth on Bees," if you 

 apply to Messrs. Sampson, Low, & Co., Fleet Street. 



Honey Varying (H.). — In answer to your inquiry, we have to say that the 

 honey gathered from some kinds of plants is richer in sacchaiine matter and 

 crystallises sooner than the honey gathered from other kinds of plants. For 

 instance, the honey from field mustard (Sinapis arvensis), will crystalli>^e two 

 months sooner than the honey gathered from white clover. In a jar there is 

 often some clear honey floating on the top of tho crystals beneath it. Besides, 

 in no instance can we find two different kind of plants yield honey alike. 



Removing Bees (T. M. B., of York). — Mr. Pettigrew in removing bees 

 from place to place closes the doors of his hives early in the morning with 

 fly-proof whe, and when more veutUation is needed he puts pieces of fly- 

 proof wire over the crown holes, thus permitting a current of ah through the 

 hives. Then the hives are nailed and tied fast to their boards. They travel 

 safely by cart aud railway a distance of twenty-five miles. They might safely 

 be sent five bundled miles. He often removes them short distances, say two 

 or three miles, on an evening after working hours. One mile is rather too 

 short a distance to remove bees, for they travel farther than a mile for food, 

 and many of them would return that distance to their old stand. Honey is 



gathered so fast and plentifully from heather, that we think it is desirable for 

 you to remove yours two miles to it. 



Regicide (F. U. L.). — You will make a gi*eat mistake if you kill the queen 

 of your hivo. Let it swarm next yeai-, and put the swarm into an improved 

 hive. If a second swarm come put it into another hive, then drive all tho 

 bees out of the old one and unite them to the second swarm. Thus you wiU 

 have two swarms in better hives, and the honey to take from tho old one. If 

 a second swarm do not come, drive all the bees out of the old one into another 

 hive on tho twenty-first day after the first swarm was obtained. 



Honeycomb (H.). — Thero is nothing the matter with the comb which you 

 have sent for inspection. It is quite natural and sweet. When you gave it 

 to bees it appeared to be full of sealed honey, but many of the cells were half 

 full of pollen or farina. The bees took the honey, as they always do, and left 

 the farina in the comb. Though bees store honey in cells containing farina, 

 and seal it up there, they cannot use such cells for breeding purposes. In 

 Great Britain bees unfortunately gather more farina than they require, and 

 the superabundance is stored in combs that might be better employed for 

 breeding young bees. 



Sea Gulls (Q. H. B.).—'^q have sent your query to a good authority , but 

 have received no reply. 



Warning.—" J. G.," " B. K.," and half a dozen others have written telling 

 how they were more or less victimised by the offerer of cheap cloth, &c. No 

 more need be published. 



Rat Traps (F. P.). — We do not know where Brailsford's are to be obtained. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Camden Square, London, 



Lat. 61° 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0^ 8' 0" W. ; Altitude 111 feet. 



Erratum. — Barometer on 24th should have been 29.906 instead of 30.066 

 and the mean 29.923 instead of 29.945. 



EEMARKS. 

 26th.— Rainy morning, fine midday; rain at i p.m., and again at night, 

 27th. — Lightning and wind in tho night and early morning ; fine at 9, brilUant 



at noon, and fair aU the rest of the day. 

 28th.— Rather dull morning ; fine aU day and bright moonlit night, though. 



there was a shght shower about 10 p.m. 

 29th. — Wet morning, soon clearing off ; bright about noon and till 3 p.m. ; 



rain at 5 ; fine evening, but ^ale at night. 

 30th. — Fine moraing, and very bright between 1 and 2 p.m. ; fin© afternoon 



and evening. 

 Dec. Ist.— Rather thick though frosty at 9 A.m., clearing off by noon; some 

 bright sun between then and 3 p.m. ; fair all day. 

 2nd.— Much warmer though damp; sun occasionally bright; slight rain 

 between 9 and 10 p.m. 

 Temperature much the same as that of last week. Rapid rise of barometer 

 —viz., 0.534 inch between 27th and 28th, and 0.G51 inch between Kovember 

 30th and December 1st.— G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— December 3. 

 There has been no variation in the general course of business that calls 

 for much notice. The supphes are ample. Among the continental produce 

 received this week were some veiy good Asparagus aud Lettuces from Paris. 



FRUIT. 



