18 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTtJBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 7, 18G3. 



Florists' Flowers [Ohms, Ofdham^ fFrexham). — Wc do not think thiit 

 the flowers sent are bupcriur to many in cultivation. U would be well if 

 all raisers of seedlinus; hid a few of the best of those cultivated to coiuitart- 

 with their own productions. 



Seedling Pansy (T. C. N., Little Wi/mondlcy^ Stccetiatje).'-'Vhe Tansy 

 is certainly very black, *ju'- so are several of those now in growth ; ami in 

 shape it was liiile betrer than th« wild one. It mif^ht ansuer for bediliui,^ 

 purposes if free-floweriv;,'' enough. 



Seedling Pelargonivm (Christ iuc).— The seedling Pelarponinm is not, 

 we should conpidei— uriiff*i*ithus some very peculiar properties in freedom of 

 bloom, &c.— worth cuUivating. 



Seeolino CALCEOLAiaAs (M. Major, Knosthorpei. — The seedlifig C'lce- 

 olarias are very fine ; the size of the flowers ^ud the brilli.uicy of the mark- 

 ings being alike ci^nspiiuous We wonder much why the tluwer i^> nut 

 more cultivated. It deserves to be generally grown. 



Strawberries. — We have received from R. Webb, Esq., Galoot, near 

 Reading, a basket of immensely iaryi! Sirawburries which Mr. Weby calls 

 '* Refresher." It is somewhat like Sir Harry or some member of that race. 

 The flavour was exc-Ilen;, and one in the basket measures 9 inches in 

 circumference ! 



Broad Beans Failin'g ( ). — The fleshy knobs or excrtscences on ihe 



rootsol tlie Btaus arc qt^ite natural, and have nothinc to do with ynur 

 crop failing. You will find similar excrescenc-s on the roii;s of t,'rearer 

 part ol the tiibo of the pod-iiearers which are cultivated for food— vi/„. 

 Peas, Beans, Lentils, &c. We could not delect any luuiius nor aDyihin}i 

 the matter with the root. We can, therefore, only guess at the causa ct 

 your crop failm;:. Perhiips your laud is light, andihe crop lalletl in tlie iliy 

 weather tor wane of moisture. Tlie plants may have been iufesieiJ wiiu the 

 bean aphis, or the flowers poor with abortive poilen. 



Ghapes Diseased (71 Y. G).— The enclosed berries were badly spotted* 

 The pavilion on ihe eastern side of the vinery would materially aid in '. 

 bringing about the diseased condition oi the berries. The Canon Hall is I 

 more liable to the spot than most others. It requires a dry hot atmo>iihcre 

 to have it in perfection. The shadiittt Irom the pavilion would prevent the \ 

 sap takeo up by the roots from becoming taoroughly elaborated in the ; 

 leaves, and in that crude state it euter<;d tne berries no doubt. Wc kiiuw j 

 of no remedy but keeping the berries dry during the ripening pvoces?, and 

 keeping the roots, not too highly fed, ne.ir the surface, with the full t^olar ! 

 rays over them continually without shade. { 



Namk of Fruit [Thomas Record). — Tour Grape is Cliasselas de Falloux, i 

 descritied in Hogg's *' Fruit. Manual." I 



Names of Plants ( ZZ(77-rt>).— Ej'callonia macrantha. {P. II. G.).— 

 4, Campanula gaiganicu. The other three too shrivelled. Flowers ror 

 recognition must oe Sfnt in m fresh state, or we cannot afford iiie time 

 required to name them. {Avoca). — 1, I'ernettya luucronata ; 2, Fablaiia 

 irabricata; 3, Heliantoemum tomentosum ; 6, probably Puil.idelphus mexi- 

 canus. The otiiers were too sbrivelled for identification. (W. I^., JJerLs',. 

 — 1, Cynoglo>Eum sylvaticuni ; 2, Hypericum anUiosa?mum; 3, Lyf^iniachia 

 nemorum. {Celandine) — It is ^alsafy, Tragopogon porrifolius. Thcie 

 must be some mistake. {T. .b".).— 1, rhalictrum flavum ; -, iMedicag'j hipu- 

 lina; 3, insufficient ; 4, liallota nigra. 



iiTeg^arly spotted on a yellow ground with red shades, as 

 in the common Pheasant. It is also less -wild than the pure 

 lih'd, in which wildness seems a characteristic of the breed. 

 The Indian begins laying from the 10th to the 30th of April, 

 and finishes in June ; lays from thhty to forty eggs, coloui- 

 diirk olive, nearly round, and much smaller than those of the 

 common bu'ds. The hens lay many more the second than 

 the first yeai*. The breeding -bu-ds should be tresh-ma,ted 

 every five yeai-s. A jien 9 feet squai'C will servo for a ccok 

 and five hens. 



" The Indian poults may be distinguished fi-om the first 

 by two very dark black stripes they have on each side of 

 the forehead. The black stripes they have on th.* body are 

 idso much plainer than in the common poult. 



" In taking account of the qualities and defects of the 

 Indian, it is hard to decide whether it is superior to the 

 common breed. It is certainly handsomer, it lays more 

 freely, the young hatch better and come our sironger, but 

 it is subject to the same weakness. It is bos.des extremely 

 wild, and often kills itself against the top of its pen or cage, 

 unless this covering be common network, or the birds have 

 one wing cur. When tumed into the woods there is no hope 

 of ever catching it again, its suspicious characer drives it 

 fi-om the tfap, although suffering, ir may be, f om hunger. It 

 flies much better than the commcu bi d, but it; takes ad- 

 van-age of this to change from one i^lace to anoiher, if 

 disturbed often. We beheve it can only be kept on large 

 domains." 



POULTRY, SEE. and HOUSEHOLD CHROI^ICLE. 



POULTRY SHOWS. 

 July 20th to 24th. Wuf;ct.sTEnsiiiK.E. Sev.^ Mr. J. Holland, Chesnut 



W.tllc, Worcester. Entries close June 20th. 

 JuLX 3uih and 31st, Eastern Coi;>ties (Slowmarket). Sees., Messrs. 



W. G. Itunsou, and A Simpson, Stowmiirket. Entries close July 2lst. 

 August 2jth. 1'ocklinuton. Sec , Mr. T. Grant. Kntries close Aug. 17. 

 August 29lh. Halifax and Cali'er Vale. ^Vc, Mr. W. Irvine, Uulilas. 

 Sept£,mbkr 2nd. Cottisghaji. Hcc. Mr. J. Brittain. 

 SEPTBMbEu 2nd. Wakefield and VVest Kidi.^ig. Aec, Mr. J. Crossland, 



jun , Wakefield. Entries close August 24th. 



CHI^"ESE PHEASANTS. 



In "La Maison de Campagne," a French periodical, is a 

 notice of Pheasants, and among them a description cf the 

 Chinese, which we have thought worthy of being ti'anslated. 

 "We ai'e more especially moved to do so becaxise we have 

 fi'equently said, we believe, that Plieasants may bo profitably 

 kept as a hobby. 



" This bird has not been long known in Prance, and yet 

 it has been so extensively crossed with the common that it 

 is difficult to procui'e piu-e bhds. The cock should have a 

 sharp head ; long thin neck, divided in the middle by a large 

 white ring ; neck violet shaded ; the lower pai't of the back 

 and the wings cloaa- green (query, light blue ?), the sides 

 yellow; but eveiy feather forming the side-coverts should 

 be marked at its extremity with a regular black point. The 

 tail is short, pointed, brown, and transversely striped. The 

 female is smaller and thinner in shape than the male, her 

 plumage is of an ashen gi'ey with violet shades. 



" The Indian is at once tlistingiiished from the common 

 Pheasant by liis smaller head, and the manner in vi'hich he 

 carries it thi-own backward, and by the almost perpendicular 

 carriage of the tail when the bird is walking. The half-bred 

 Indian is a large bird, and recognised by the green on its 

 back which has a red tint, by its wings which are grey 

 instead of green, and, above all, by its sides which are ! 



SHEFFIELD POULTEY AND PIGEON 

 EXHIBITION. 



The Poidtry Exldbitions hitherto held at Sheffield have 

 always been carried out under the pressure of many diffi- 

 culties : hence arose the numerous changes of management, 

 and also the impression became general that such meetings 

 would be no longer carried out, on accoi'.nt of the impossi- 

 bility of finding a gentleman wUling to take the responsi- 

 bility incuiTed. At length, however, success seems to have 

 followed closely on the energetic means this year adopted to 

 secui'e tills Show's annual perpetuity. By fai" the best of 

 all the Sheffield shows of poultry has been the resiilt, and 

 the Exhibition of Pigeons has certainly never been equalled 

 out of the metropolis. We ai-e glad to add that the weather 

 being" also favoui-able, a very higlily respectable and nu- 

 merous company were drawn together on this occasion. As 

 might be anticipated, the pens of Messrs. Turner, of Sheffield, 

 than which none are more effective, were those used by the 

 present Society. It is scarcely necessary to say, the Cremoi-ne 

 Grardens at Sheffield afford every possible convenience for 

 such a meeting, whilst the rural and extensive views in all 

 dii'ections are not trifling adjuncts in calling together a 

 numerous assemblage of visitors, from among those more 

 particularly whose daUy avocations coniine them within the 

 precincts of densely-popiilated neighbourhoods. It is only 

 just to add, the bii-ds were well fed and attended. We will 

 briefly remark on the principal classes. 



The old birds of Vorkiiujs were not shown in lai-ge numbers, 

 nor was their condition that of birds just now fatted for an 

 exhibition, the eaiiy moult of the present season precluding 

 it altogether. Still, there were among them many pens 

 that in a few weeks might be shown very advantageously. 

 The Dorking Chickens, on the contraiy, were really fii'st-rate. 



Old Siiariish necessarily showed to the worst possible ad- 

 vantage, for the I'cason just assigned tu the adidt Dorking 

 class ; Spanish, perhaps, being the most affected during 

 moult of any poultry. The first prize went to Mr. Gaa-lick's 

 celebrated pen ; but the second and tliii'd were r.-itliheld. In 

 this variety the Chickens were not numerous, but exceed- 

 ingly good. The class for Spanish Hens was a perfect one, 

 and one of the most closely-competed in the Show. 



The Cinnamon and Buff' Cochins also showed to very great 

 advantage, whOst in the Brown and Partridge-coloured 

 class the contest, though confined to two pens only, was 

 unusually good. Certainly Captain Heaton, though suc- 

 cessful, has never before been pressed so closely. The only 

 representative of White Cochins was Mi\ Dawson, but they 

 fully maintained the credit of that gentleman's yar-d. 



The Brahmas were better than at any prerious Sheffield 

 Show. 



