444 



JOURNAL OP HOETICULTtJEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ December 1, 18 



less on the surface ; there being no other dirt, and veiy little 

 odoxir proceeding from it. I can only suggest that it may have 

 been the spawn of some creature, but the estraorcUnary 

 quantity makes it more surprising and difficult to account 

 for. One portion somewhat more fluid than the rest con- 

 tained a dozen or more fiattish white maggots slowly moving 

 about, qmte different from any I remember to have pre- 

 viously observed. I should much wish to know whether 

 any one else has met with this appearance, for I have lifted 

 so many hives without observing even the slightest trace of 

 a similar substance, that it strikes me as being something 

 very remarkable. 



I have been experimenting upon a new material for the 

 construction of hives, which I think Ukely to prove most 

 excellent, so that I am sanguine as to great results accruing 

 from its use. This material is tan, in the compressed state 

 in which it is used for fuel in our neighboxu'hood. It is free 

 from smell, and will form a hive in which the interior tem- 

 perature will be very equable. I compress the moist tan 

 into moulds, thus forming the walls of the hive, and the top 

 and bottom slabs, the latter about 3 inches, and the former 

 5 inches in tiiickness. Ledges in the fi-ont and back take 

 bars as in the ordinary boxes. This material is capable of 

 being moidded into any shape — square, octagon, or cu'cular, 

 with tops flat or dome-shaped like the common straw hive. 

 It takes long drying, but does not absorb moisture or damp 

 subsequently. The material for an eight-bar hive costs little 

 more than a shilling. The cheapness of the material is, 

 therefore, one recommendation. It wiU have a very pretty 

 effect in the gai-den. A slate on the top will keex) off all 

 wet. 



My Ligurian stock, prooui-ed from Mr. Woodbury in the 

 spring of 1862, has succumbed to that fearful scourge, " fold 

 brood." Although I gave the bees a new hive of wholesome 

 combs, they dwindled away to some few scores in numbers, 

 and within the last few days an unsuccessful attempt to 

 unite their queen (which, moreover, was a poor, dark little 

 thing) to another hive, which I had rendered queenless, and 

 with every precaution as to her welfare, has now left me in 

 a condition to trust entirely to my common ))ees ; and whether 

 I may renew my aequaintanee with the Italians is doubtfi.il, 

 as from what I have seen of the honey-gathering jjowers of 

 the Ligui-ians, I fancy they are little, if at all, superior to 

 the little black fellows. — Geo. Fox, Kingsbridge, Devon. 



FOUL BEOOD. 



*' My thoughts, I must confess, are tamed on peace." 



So spoke a Roman senator in olden times, and so in sub- 

 stance spake recently in the columns of this Journal " A 

 Hampshire Bee-keepek," who, raising the standaixl of peace 

 in this apiarian controversy, has invited all to follow him. 

 As for myself, my voice must be for peace; but before quitting 

 this proiitless interlude in our discussion, it behoves me to 

 add a word or two. 



In the first place, I shall be spared the disagreeable ne- 

 cessity of replying to " B. & W.'s " warlike article in No. 136, 

 in which he appears to have completely exhausted his fii'e 

 and fm-y on my imfortunate " enigmatical," which having 

 belaboured to his heart's content, lie exclaims, " Let us hope 

 that we shall now be suffered to return to peace." 



Mr. Edwards I shall keep in remembrance when I come to 

 discuss some facts in which he is interested. Meantime let 

 him not vex himself in fruitless efforts to make "the cap 

 fit." If it be actually too tight why not thi'ow it aside at 

 once? 



To Mr. Woodbury, what shall I say ? I could wish to say 

 less than I must. I cannot, of course, pretend to control 

 his beliefs, to alter his views, or smooth down the asperity of 

 words which I have before refuted; but when these beliefs are 

 assumed as facts to which I am by implication called on to 

 assent, and embodied in his last article in the formula of 

 my confession, I must, in honoui-, interpose my non-acquies- 

 cence, and claim the privilege of abiding by facts as they 

 have already been explained by me, and not as interpreted 

 by others. With these remarks I have done ; but as my 

 warfare was directed against principles rather than persons, 

 I can see no barrier whatever to my joining cordially in the 

 general "hum" of harmony set in motion by "A Hamp- 



shire Bee-keeper," whose vocation I Irave always regarded 

 as the noblest on eai'th. 



In regard to the general question of foul brood and the sub- 

 sidiary but very important question raised, as to "Whether 

 bees do remove chilled and abortive brood in all stages from 

 the hive," it is my purpose to devote a paper exclusively to 

 its consideration. It will l>e seen that my views are dia- 

 metrically opposed to those of Mr. Woodbury, " B. & W.," 

 and Mr. Edwards on this question, and I think it is but 

 due to the interests of apieultiu'e and truth that this sub- 

 sidiary question shoidd be thoroughly examined into and 

 cleared up. If I shall be able to demonstrate satisfactorily 

 tie negative of this proposition — namely, that " bees do not 

 remove chiUod and abortive brood in all stages from a hive," 

 which I think I can, then I shall pave the way, I hope, for a 

 general acquiescence in the doctrines which — in opposition 

 to the most skilled apiarians of the day, both home and 

 foreign, in reference to the natiu'e and origin of foul brood — 

 I have had the temerity to propound in these pages. This 

 at present is a promise. Tlie fulfilment anon. 



Meantime I had as a good omen (for " coming events," it 

 is said, " cast their shadows before"), some faint indications 

 in Mr. Woodbury's last paper of a little wavering, I imagine, 

 in liis views on this very point. Some revelations fr-om 

 " the north " have apparently wi'ought this change. But 

 be this as it may, we must all, as true students of Nature, 

 search after truth in the love of it ; and while probing Nature 

 herself to give forth " her answers," may we, as the Editors 

 reminded us in a recent Number, accept these as fr-om an 

 unfading oracle. " Great is truth and it will prevail." Magna 

 est Veritas, et prevalebit. — J. Lowe. 



OUE LETTEE BOX. 



Poultry Chronicle [Pottltry-Keeper). — There is no separate publi- 

 cation now with that title. It was amalgamated ■with this Journal some 

 years ago. 



Diseased Poultry— C a. '^e of Gapes (X. li ).— We fancy it is tlie gapes, 

 but we have never seen birds die fat when they are thus affected. The 

 "stretching of necks and gaping'' describe the symptoms exactly. Of all 

 the remedies we have tried, and their name is Legion, we know but one 

 effectual. We have tried h only this ye;ir, and with great success. It is 

 easy to administer either by putting a piece as large as a pea down the 

 throat, or by keeping a lump always in the water. It is camphor. 



Pood for Podltry (J. M. C.), — Barley is unquestiooably a better 

 food for poultry than Indiun com, and, as a rule, it is the cheapest. But 

 the small birds eat so much of it that recourse must be had to Indian corn — 

 two-thirds barley, one-third Indian corn. In very cold weather we shall 

 feed on the latter entirely, to avoid nourishing ilie myriads of sparrows, 

 £; re en finches, chaffinches, yellow-hammers, and all the other finches and 

 hammers. 



POLANDS AT THE NORFOLK Show {F. S. P.).— We have not the pro- 

 spectus of the Society's Show, but it probubly contained the usual rule, that 

 the Judges may withhold prizes if they deem the birds undeserving of an 

 award. The Judnes maybe wrong in their decision, but no Committee 

 would reverse their decision unless a case was made out showing improper 

 intluences. It was not courteous on the part of the Secretary to refrain 

 from answering jour letter. 



Sebastopol Geese, &c. ( Wear Valley).— Y^x\\ Information has been given 

 in our back Numbers on all these subjects. We know no book devoted to 

 them. They will all bear our winter as well as any of our own birds. We 

 have Carolinas and Califurniun Quails exposed to all weathers, now and for 

 more than a year, with no other shelter than a pent roof 5 feet from the 

 ground at the" lowest part. We had Sebastopol Geese out of doors all last 

 winter. A swimming place is not necessary for the Geese, but it is for the 

 Ducks. It need not be large at this season of the year. In the early 

 spring, indeed soon after Christmas, a swimming place is absolutely neces- 

 sary for tlie Geese as well as Ducks. They will not breed without it. The 

 diet of the Geese will be barley ; of the Carolinas, barley varied at times 

 with a little hempseed; of the Californians, oats, barley, and bread. All 

 require a plentiful supply of grass or other green meat, aud the Quails will 

 not live without it. 



Illustrated Poultry Book (J?er6er(fl).— The "Poultry Book" is the 

 best illustrated book we know. Bantams and Cocliin-Chinas may be kept 

 together, but no other small fowls. There is all the difference in life 

 between a Bantam and a small fowl. Cochin-Chinas will do well in such 

 a place as you describe ; but they will not perch on trees : it is not their 

 nature. A very small and low house will answer every purpose for their 

 roosting place.' It will not be unsightly, and the fowls will breed prize 

 stock if they are good enough. 



Feeding Bees {2". ^. D.).— Six pounds of lump sugar to one pint of water 

 is about four times the proper quantity. We put three pounds of sugar to 

 two pounds of water, and boil the syrup a minute or two. 



Water in Lbad Cistern {Oxide of Zcoc?). — Water so kept is always 

 injurious, more or less, to those who drink it. The intensity of the injury 

 depends upon the purity of the water— the purer it is the more rapidly it 

 acts on the lead. The usual symptoms are costiveness, tenderness over the 

 stomach when pressed upon, nausea, and vomiting. 



Rearing Calves {F. S. Allen).— You can have No. 62 of this series of 

 our Journal if you enclose four postage stamps, with your address. In that 

 is a long extract giving good directions, and too long to reprint. 



