43ft 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ December 5, 1867. 



honey. There was much refuse in this skep, as it weighed 

 45 lbs. gross, with floor-board. 



Now for No. 2. From it I wanted a swarm or swarms to fill 

 np an empty space in my bee-house. About the end of June 

 it became very crowded, and a swarm came off it for three suc- 

 cessive days, and always returned to it, when I was in the act 

 of skeping the bees. As I could not spare any njiie time 

 watching and running after them, I put an eke or breeding- 

 box below the stock skep. After that they worked vigorously, 

 and being anxious to have some honey from them, and keep 

 the spaces in the bee-house full, in September I tried to drive 

 them, by reversing their skep, putting the second skep of 

 No. 1 over them, and drumming upon them for twenty minutes 

 or so, but although a very large portion of the bees went up, I 

 pext morning found the queen was still in the stock skep, and 

 1' at no time in setting the skep into which I tried to drive 

 them alongside of it, and in less than ten minutes the bees had 

 all left and joined the stock skep. I, therefore, bought another 

 swarm from a neighbour to fill up the bee-house, and have left 

 No. 2, as it is about 40 lbs. gross weight, for farther operations 

 on the Stewarton system next season. 



Thus far 1 think I have had a good bee season this year, and 

 hope the above rambhng account of my apiary will be of in- 

 terest to at least a few, if not all, your readers on bee matters. 

 —P. K. 



SILKWORM REARING IN ENGLAND.— No. 1. 



I HAVE for many years taken much delight in collecting 

 information about silkworm culture, and from several years' 

 residence in Italy, have had much opportunity of studying 

 many relative subjects. The cultivation of the mulberry tree 

 best adapted for the English climate, and the variety suitable 

 for the insect, have also had a share of my study, as well as 

 the reeling off silk from the cocoons. 



I believe that the production of silk will some day become 

 an important branch of industry in this country. It may be 

 some time before any great results or profit will arise to culti- 

 vators of silkworms ; but if no beginning be made, no future 

 benefit can be looked for. Plant no apple trees, grow no 

 apples. Plant no mulberry trees, grow no silk. 



Of all the breeds of the silkworm, that feeding on the mul- 

 berry leaf maintains a superiority. The Ailauthus worm, the 

 Yama-mai or Oak worm, and the Canadian worm, eating plum 

 leaves, all of which have been introduced to notice of late years, 

 cannot compete with the more useful or mulberry worm, at 

 least at present. The Yama-mai, or oak-leaf worm, may, how- 

 ever, be the most likely to become useful. I believe that many 

 continental silkworm rearers have suffered severe loss from the 

 " atrofia," or silkworm disease, but in many instances I am 

 convinced much of the loss is to be traced to faults in the 

 rearing. It is to be hoped that this fearful scourge is abating, 

 and that the present importations of eggs from the east will 

 restore the serical iudustry of Europe to its former Ufe. 



In the year 1S5(> I returned from Italy after a long residence 

 there, and brought seeds of a certain mulberry grown in the 

 alpine district of Piedmont, where the winters are as cold as, or 

 colder than here. At different times I have had eggs of various 

 breeds of the silkworm from the same source, and have made 

 Vfhat I call very successful experiments. I have some of my 

 trees raised from seed, which produce very large, fine, tender 

 leaves. These plants have stood the test of several winters, 

 and severe ones, too. 



The reason this branch of industry has but partially suc- 

 ceeded in England certainly does not rest with the worms 

 themselves ; they come out of the eggs, even without artificial 

 means, when the genial warmth of spring renders vegetation 

 active, otherwise there might be very reasonable doubts ou the 

 subject. Many attempts at rearing silkworms have been made, 

 but with indifferent success. What is the reason of these 

 failures? Perhaps some persons will answer, "Because the 

 English climate is too cold," or " the mulberry tree too deli- 

 cate to produce sufficient leaves, on which depends the worm's 

 sustenance." Doubtless many kinds of mulberry are tender, 

 but there certainly exist some which are exceedingly hardy, 

 and these alone should be planted, "^'he kind generally used 

 in England has been the black mulberry, mostly grown for its 

 fruit, the leaves of which are not suitable for silkworms, un- 

 less when these are large and near spinning Lettuce leaves 

 would be almost as good, and are used by many, but the insect 

 never does well when fed thereon. Such substitutes are only 

 useful to persons feediug a few worms by way of amusement, 



and beyond this very few think, because ignorant of any use 

 or profit attached to it, or not desiring the trouble that might 

 be necessary. Many see trouble where there is little. 



There are mulberry trees which are ([uite hardy, as my own 

 experiments prove. The variety I have raised from seed ob- 

 tained at a Piedmontese " Gardino Botanico " is, certainly, 

 very fine in all respects ; hut whether or not entitled to a new 

 narue, still most growers from seed like to give a name to their 

 productions : therefore I call mine the Garibaldi mulberry. 

 I would particularly notice that my small stock of plants took 

 no harm from the severe frosts of 1800-Gl, although then very 

 young and frozen down to the very roots, which I consider a 

 sufficient guarantee of hardiness. The cultivation of this' 

 mulberry is easy, but judgment must be used both in pruning- 

 and gathering the leaves, or the tree must suffer and fall off 

 in its produce. 



When plantations of such a mulberry have been made, silk- 

 worm rearing can be begun in earnest. Amusement and pro- 

 fit will be combined. — Leoxaed Hariian, jun. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Breeding Powers {Inquirer). — You iiecrt not be uneasy about your 

 Cochin cock. There is no time lost. There is littlo difference between 

 Brahmas and Cochins, either in size or laying. As a fowl of equr.l utility 

 we Rive preference to the Brahma, but" we repeat that there is little 

 difference. 



Cross-breeding with the Hocpan (Suiscrfficr).— We know no fowl' 

 ynu could upe to cross with the Hondan. Our experience of it is, that it 

 is vertj hardy, and an exrellent layer. It is always a mistake to cross" 

 non-sitters with sitters. These latter keep on laying because they have 

 nothing else to do ; the former leave off because other duties press upon 

 them. You will never succeed in getlinff constant layers ; it is against 

 nature. Take, for instance, the season of moulting. A bird cannot 

 produce eggs and plumage at the same time. The cross you inquire 

 about would unquestionably make a very ugly birdr— inferior to the piire 

 Houdan as regards laying, and to the pure Dorking for sitting and rearing 

 chickens. 



Selling Poultry (G. A.). — If you send your surplus stock to Mr* 

 Stevens, King Street, Covent Garden, vou will usually obtain their value* 

 He has poultry auctions ever5'" fortnight. 



Prepabing Fowls eor Exhibition fPoiiirO. —Where fowls can run 

 nboutand keep themselves cluan, we always advise they should do so, 

 with the exception <*i Spanish, which are better for a day or two in con- 

 finement. They should only be washed once, and then carefully kept 

 from dirt. Washing improves only the colour of the plumage, not the' 

 feather itself. Almost all the Brahma cocks liave a brown patch on the. 

 wing; the absence of it is the excejition. Rouen Ducks should be kept 

 up a few days for the sake of \veight if they are deficient in it. but as a 

 rule we have seen none so good' or so successful as those that have been 

 taken off the water to goto an exhibition. It must be recollected that - 

 beauty of phimage is one of the essential points, and that is more easily 

 gained when at liberty than when in confinement. 



Our Report of Prices {G. S ). — The prices quoted by the "reporter" 

 in our journal are those of the London market, and any one who has 

 sent Pheasants to London for sale wiU bear him out. It is, however, 

 necessary to observe, you doubtless want the best, and they are not to bej 

 liad at the lowest quotations. Mr. S. makes one mistake. If Pheasants 

 cost 3s. and 3'*. 3d. each, they cannot be sold at 3?. Pd. each to leave 

 a profit, and they must indeed be cheap when worth only 3s. 6d. to I'etail,' 

 The or'i-e^; Tve quote are wholesale. They are paid forlarge numbers. Con-, ■ 

 siderahle addition must be made to them before the retail price is ar- 

 rived at. 



Brisdlet's Incubator. — " A Suhncriber" wishes to know, from some one 

 who has tried Brindley's Patent Incubator, whether it is easy to manage. 

 " A Subscriber " has one of the artificial mothers, which he finds answers 

 admirably. 



Canaries— Pigeons Trespassing (Trotters). —The Canary dropping 

 dead from the perch, with blood flonving from its benk. had ruptured a 

 blood-vessel. We cannot discern the cause, knowing nothins of the ante- 

 cecents. March ia a good time fi>r pairing Canaries, but it may be in 

 February, if ynu have a warm place in which they are constantly kept* 

 You are liable to a pcn;Oty of ^£'2 over and above the value of the bird, if 

 yon " kill or wound ' any " housedove ov Pigeon." Your remedy is in the 

 County Coui-t for any damage a Pigeou does to you. 



Removing Bees (A Novice). — If the floor-board is moveable the entrance 

 should be closed by means of perforated zinc, and the bees conveyed 

 carefully by band to their new location. If on the other hand, the floor- 

 board is a fixture, the hive should be lifted off from it and tied up in a 

 piece of cheesecloth, when it may be transported to its destination in the 

 same manner. 



Gale's Hives (C. A. J.).— We do not know the maker's address, but 

 P. Crowley. Esq., Culverton House, Alton. Hants, would forward a letter 

 to him, probably, if yon enclosed one in an envelope addressed to that 

 gentleman. There is ao seed in the heads of Pampas Grass you sent. 



POULTRY MARKET.— December 4. 



