October G, 1863. ] 



JOTJRNAIi OF HORTICITLTURE AJ^D COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



279 



Poisoning Mice {An Old Su&afWfier).— Wheat boiled gently without 

 buroting the Krains, in a strong decoction of nux vomica will kill them. 

 This is really the " poisoned wheat" formerly eold, except that strychnine 

 was used, which is the active principle of nux vomica. It poisons fowls as 

 well as mice. Phosphorus pills also poison mice and rats. 



WiNTKRiNO Bedding Plants (T. D. G., Warren Souse).— The plants 

 will do very well in the pits ; but if the greenhouse is empty, and you can 

 also there keep out frost, they will there do better still, as there will be 

 more air and light. Your Pear is the Beurr^ de Capiaumont. 



Names of Fruit and Plant (F. E., Pilkington), ~Th.Q fruit is that of 

 one or the Granadillas, probably either Passiflora quadrangularts or P. alata ; 

 but the materials are not decisive ; \Vliat are the stipules? Its merit as a 

 dessert fruit is a matter of taste. It is much used in the tropics. The 

 plant is Celsia sublanata. {G. TT.).— 1, Margil; 2» Golden Harvey; 3, Old 

 NoQpariel; 4, Scarlet Nonpariel ; 5, Gravenstein ; 6, Adams' Pearrauin. 

 (K. R., Ley ton).— Swan's Egg. (G, X, Sevenoaks},—\^o. 1 is certainly not 

 Williams' Boa ChrC'tien, but Louise Bonne of Jersey; 2, Lewis's Incom- 

 parable; 3, we cannot make out— it appears to be Winter Nelis ; 4, Wad- 

 hurst Pippin. 



Names of Plants.— Some of our correspondents are in the habit of 

 sending small fragments of plants for us to name. This requires from us 

 such a great expenditure of time that we are compelled to say that we 

 cannot attempt to name any plant unless the specimen is perfect in leaves 

 and flowers. (C. S.). — l, Polypodium vulgare ; 2, Lastrea FUix-mas cris- 

 tata; 3, Polypodium vulgare cambricum ; 4, Asplenium trichomanes. (Mrs. 

 F. Tyler). — It is the Chlora perfoliata, or Yellow-wort, one of our prettiest 

 English annuals. It is also sometimes called Yellow Centaury, It ia not a 

 rare plant. ( W. 0,).— Your plants are— i, Sedum Sieboldii ; 2, Campanula 

 fragilis ; 3, Abutilon striatum ; 4, Litobrochia vespertilionis ; 5, Lycopo- 

 dium Schottii ; 6, Torenia asiatica. {Tyro).— Of yowx Ferns No. 1 is Cys- 

 topteris fragilis, var. angustata; 2, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. 



POTJLTEY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICIE, 



SMALL BIEDS AND THE POULTRY-KEEPEE. 



We suppose it is because the small bird controversy has 

 appeared in the " leading journal," that it has assumed so 

 much importance with the public. Yet, if we reflect, aU 

 persons are more or less interested in it. Some like the 

 birds and cultivate them ; some like their finiit and hate the 

 birds that eat it ; some dislike the birds and kUl them, not 

 for damage, but because they dislike them. A correspondent 

 writes to say she has been obliged to cover the tops of all 

 her pens with small wii'e at a considerable cost. She is con- 

 vinced, after a short time she has more than saved the 

 amount in food — the sparrows and small birds can no longer 

 get it. We have lately constructed a large pen about 20 feet 

 square. We used the smallest wire netting on purpose, but 

 there was one strip about 3 feet by 3 inches, where we were 

 compelled to put some larger-meshed wire. We put it in the 

 most out-of-the-way place, and where we thought it would 

 be most inconvenient for the birds. We went to look at 

 the pen last week, and found it full of sparrows, chaffinches, 

 &c. We were armed with a small net, and thought we could 

 capture some while they were seeking an outlet. Nothing 

 was farther from their minds. They flew through the larger 

 mesh, spite of all our provisions, with as much ease as if 

 there were no wire at all. Since then we have watched 

 closely. We like all sorts of birds, and do not wish to see 

 them destroyed; but we are sure few people are aware of 

 the quantity of food consumed by them. The blackbirds 

 and thrushes never come into the pens, nor do they feed 

 with the fowls. We do not accuse them of any mischief, so 

 £ir as poultry food. They must fight their own battles with 

 the gardeners. Twice or three times per week we feed 

 entirely on Indian com, not because we approve it much as 

 food, but because it makes "banyan day" for the small 

 birds. 



We have been trying to come to something like a scale 

 for feeding poultry, to be able to answer any one who wishes 

 to know the quantity of food a fowl should consume. We are 

 for the present beaten by the small birds. Their victory is 

 only temporary, and within a few days we shall be able to 

 resume our experiments. We agree with our poultryman, 

 "The sparrow is the greediest and impudentest bird there 

 ia." They fly up when we go into the pen and get out of 

 reach ; they are down the moment we turn our backs. The 

 point, however, on which we would insist is, that they con- 

 sume a considerable quantity of food which is put down to 

 the fowls, and which forms an item in the expenditure where 

 everything has to be bought. So long as these visitors can 

 get good com and meal they will not look for grubs. Ama- 

 teurs who keep birds in conflnement will, therefore, not only 

 lessen their expenses, but they will confer a benefit, either 

 by excluding them from their aviaries, or by adopting Indian 

 corn three days per week during the winter. 



THE CAYUGA BLACK DUCK. 



ITS HISTOBT, osrGI^', &e. 



This bii-d derives its name from the lake on which it is 

 supposed to have been first discovered. But of its origin, 

 like that of the domestic fowl, little is now known. It is 

 very natural, therefore, to inquire whence so remarkable 

 and valuable a bird was originally obtained ; but the con- 

 clusion seems to be that it results from the intermixture of 

 the Wild Black Duck (Anas obsoura), not uncommon in our 

 lakes and rivers. This appears to be the popular opinion at 

 the present time ; and if we are limited to any one of the wild 

 breeds of this genus now known to us in our inquiries for 

 the probable ancestor, it is to the Wild Black Duck, in our 

 humble opinion, the honour should be assigned. 



This species, as we are informed, has been domesticated 

 in several places, and was quite common some fifty years ago 

 in the barn-yards in the vicinity of Boston, &c. " In the 

 year 1812," says Dr. Bachman, in a note addi-essed to Mr. 

 Audubon, " I saw in Duchess county in the State of New 

 York, at the house of a miller, a fine flock of Ducks, to the 

 number of at least thirty, which from their peculiar appear- 

 ance struck me as different from any I had before seen 

 among the different varieties of the tame Duck. On inquiry, 

 I was informed that three years before a pair of these Ducks 

 had been captured in the mill-pond. They were kept in the 

 poultry-yard, and, it was said, were very easily tamed. One 

 joint of the wing was taken off to prevent their flying away. 

 In the following spring they were suffered to go into the 

 pond, and they returned daily to the house to be fed. They 

 built their nests on the edge of the pond, and reared large 

 broods. The family of the mill er used them occasionally as 

 food. They considered them equal in flavour to the common 

 Duck, and were easily reared. The old males were more 

 beautiful than any I have examined since, and as yet do- 

 mestication has produced no variety in their plumage." 



"The young of this species" (theWEd Black Duck), says 

 Audubon, "grow with remarkable rapidity, and, like the 

 Mallard, of which they seem to be only a variety, acquire 

 the full beauty of their spring plumage before the season of 



reproduction commences In the early part of 



autumn the young afford delicious eating, in our opinion 

 very much superior to the famous and more celebrated 

 Canvass-back Duck." 



" It is admitted," says a writer, " that our Cayuga Ducks 

 originally sprung from the Wild Black Duck. However 

 altered they may now appear in bulk, colour, or habits, the 

 essential habits remain the same ; no disinclination to breed 

 with each other is evinced between them, and the offspring 

 are as prolific as their mutual parents. The general tone of 

 their plumage is closely repeated in all specimens." 



For the following interesting account, and the very 

 spirited portraits of the Cayuga Black Ducks figured at the 



