20 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICOLTDEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ January 1, 1867. 



sboiild be placed in a hive, and tlie bees either knocked out or 

 brushed from their present domicile on to the top of the frames, 

 whence they will find their way down between the conabs. 

 The remaining comb should now bo out out of the old hive, 

 fitted into a frame, and added to the others, and, the crown- 

 board being put on, the hive should be placed on the old stance. 

 After the expiration of two days, advantage should be taken 

 of the first few hours of mild weather to open the hive and 

 remove the artificial supports from all the combs which have 

 been fixed by the bees, after which the necessary supply of 

 food must be furnished as rapidly as possible by means of an 

 inverted pickle-bottle.] 



SWAEMS DESERTING THEIR HIVES. 



I FIND in page 476 a few remarks on the subject of bees 

 leaving one of Neighbour's hives shortly after they were hived, 

 which appears in your opinion to have been caused by the 

 smeU of the wood. I cannot say that I coincide in this 

 idea. I had once two swarms which were put into two straw 

 hives in one day, but to my mortification they deserted their 

 hives a few hours after being hived and flew away. This 

 took place in my early days, but since then I have not in one 

 instance had any difficulty of this kind to contend with, al- 

 though I have hived several hundreds of swarms, some of 

 which I have put into wood, straw, and glass hives. I have 

 also stocked Nutt's collateral boxes, Woodbury bar-frame boxes, 

 Stewartons, Langstrotbs, and boxes invented by myself known 

 as Addey's ten-bar sUding boxes, likewise Neighbour's and 

 other kinds, of which some were newly painted inside, and 

 others not painted at all. I once put swarms into some straw 

 hives which were sewn with tarred twine and used as soon as 

 made ; but I have not in one instance had the bees leave after 

 hiving since I made a practice of cementing wax inside at the 

 top in such a way that the bees can attach their combs to it. 

 With irons made expressly for the piu-pose I cement a bit of 

 comb to the top before hiving, and in boxes which contain bar- 

 frames I coat them with wax inside, and fix small bits of 

 combs under the top part of each bar ; by so doing I have 

 escaped the difficulty which many apiarians have had to con- 

 tend with. 



I may add, that I admire the humane principle, having 

 during the last autumn taken not less than two hundred stocks 

 of condemned bees in this neighbourhood to make unions of, 

 and I shall always feel it a pleasure to impart information on 

 the humane system of management. — Thos. Addey, Sen. 



HOW LONG MAY A ROYiVL CELL REIMAIN 

 SEALED? 



I NOTICED a singular circumstance' in raising queens this 

 year. After having supplied a queenless stock with some 

 brood-comb under a bell-glass on the top of the hive, as is my 

 custom, three queen cells were started, one of which was 

 sealed over in thirty hours after it had been commenced, whilst 

 the other two were not sealed till four days after, and both 

 emerged from their cells on the twelfth day ; yet, strange to 

 say, the one that was first sealed was not hatched until the 

 fourteenth, being about eleven and a half days after being 

 sealed.— -A Lamaekshire BEE-KSErEK. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



ToRKSHTUE Society's Poultry Show. — The first prize for Cochin- 

 China (Yellow or Buff), was awarded to Heni-y Steward, Laurel Villa, 

 Bistiopsthorpe, York, 



Analyses of Egos (W. H. M.).—-'\Ye are obliged by yonr commnnioa- 

 tion ; but we have several much fuller and more particular analyses by 

 Dr. Prout and others. 



Game Fowls (Query).~-*^1 do, of course, include hens in statinp that 

 Brown Reds stand first for shape and carriage. The best Game hens are 

 the Dark Grey and Brown Ked hens, with dark combs and faces; these 

 are always the gamest and hardest. If by Blood hens is meant Red 

 Blood hens, which is the correct meaning, the hens of the Cheshire 

 Piles, and the White-legged wbeateu hens are tbe best, as described by 

 me in page 436, together with the other red-eyed breeds there mentioned. 

 Game hens should be short in body, and rather upright and erect, with 

 sloping backs. Hens carrying their backs level or horizontal are less 

 Spirited birds. The sportsmen's breeds described by me lately are all the 

 best breeds for spirit. I mean to give some further notes on Game fowls, 

 if possible, soon ; un judging and breeding them first. Having visited 

 Batavia in Java, Singapore in Malacca, and the coast of China in l84lt 

 and 1850, and Spanish America previously, I can also give some notes 

 on the wild Indian 'breeds, and ou the so.ts used, for fighting iu those 



countries, such as Gallus Bankiva, Sonneratii, giganteus, reneus, furcatug, 

 Sianlcyi, Jungle Fowl, Firebacks, and a few other foreign breeds. Should 

 "Query" wish to write to me privately he can have my address, and I 

 will wiUingly answer his queries to the best of my ability. There were 

 two slight errors or misprints in my article in page 4it6. In Dark Black- 

 breasted Reds 'clear-hackled' is spelt ' clean-hackled;' and in Red Duns 

 * dark shade ' is made * dark shape ' as to the legs. — Newmakket." 



IvEEPiNG Poultry Profitably {F. J. C.).— Mr. Brent in his notes 

 upon this subject, meant that if eggs only were desired he would recom- 

 mend White Dorkings to be kept. If chickens only, then Brahma Pootra 

 heus and a Houdau cock. To keep the breeds pure if allowed to run 

 together in a farmyard would be impossible. We have found for both 

 eggs aud chickens either Dark Cochin-China or Brahma Pootra pullets 

 and a coloured Dorking cork were productive. 



Various (F. T,). — We never give salt to fowls. Citrate of iron is only 

 given to individual fowls afflicted with leg-weakness. Four grains daily 

 is the dose. If bruised oats are the food given to fowls, and they have a 

 good grass run, there is no need fur soft food, except that a change occa- 

 sionally is always desirable. 



Production of Eggs, &c., {Aliquis). — We published Mr. Brent's notes» 

 and you will see an answer to-day to another correspondent. It is not 

 usual for a Grey Dorking cock to lose all his black feathers and become 

 quite white the third year. Many poultry-breeders in 1867 will keep 

 journals who never kept them before, and we hope will send us the re- 

 sults of their experience. 



Poultry Run Glazed (Frances). — Do not have it heated. Being 

 glazed it mil be quite warm enough for early chickens, even in the 

 severest weather. 



Lkg-weakness (CoTistant Siihscriber). — The weakness you speak of, ap- 

 parent in yonr Houdau cockerel, is unusual at this time of year, or in the 

 breed you keep. We therefore seek for some other cause. Is your 

 poultry-house paved, bricked, or boarded ? Either would cause it. 

 There is no healthy flooring to a poultry house but earth. Either of the 

 floors we have mentioned causes an unnatural action of the feet (toes), 

 and they induce cold in the limbs, which causes the weakness you com- 

 plain of. At this season of the year you have Uttle hope of a cure ; bat 

 if the bird promises well, and you wish to save him, put him in a small 

 place on oat-straw, feed on oatmeal slaked with strong ale, and give him 

 raw eggs to eat. Break the shell iu hall, and let him have the yolk only. 

 Give him also cooked meat chopped fine. Feed very frequently, and a 

 little at a time. 



Crooked Breasts (F. N.).—We are not responsible for the omissions 

 of the "Standard of Excellence." The crooked breast-bone of 5'our 

 Dorking cockerel may be hereditary, or it may arise from quick growth 

 and narrow perches. It is always a bad sign, and we should not breed 

 from a bird that had it. Where a fast-grown, and consequently weak 

 bird roosts on a narrow perch, it lacks the power to support the body by 

 the clasp of the feet, and from very lassitude the breast rests on the 

 perch. At an early age, being only a gristle, it takes the impress of it. 



Eggs Laid at the Birmingham Show (J. L. A.). — Those who frequent 

 the Birmingbnm Show caunnt fail to have observed the men who go 

 about to collect the eggs. Evei-y one is broken tbe moment it is seen. 

 It has been .attempted to purloin them, but the offenders have always 

 been given into custody. 



Game Cocks (A Subscriber).— V^e can give you no rule for preventing 

 Game cocks fighting. Many have tried it : none have succeeded. It is 

 their nature. They may be separated for a time by the following pro- 

 cess; — When two are determined to fight, let two persons take a long rod 

 each, and at the end fasten an empty bag or pilJow-case. As soon as the 

 birds are spaiTing closely, each person must choose one of the two cocks 

 and buffet him well with the empty bag. They will leave off fighting, 

 but the jirocess must be frequently renewed. 



Varietifs Running Together— Proportion of the Sexes fE. M* 

 ^_ J.) .—Separate your fowls at once. There is no certainty after the new 

 vear begins. In breeding for exhibition a cock should not have more 

 than three hens in January. As the weather gets warmer and the days 

 become longer the number may be increased. The disappointment in 

 early eggs is caused by the neglect of this rule. 



Bantams with Cochin-Chinas— White Cochin-Chinas (Marti/n). — 

 We speak under correction. We have for many years kept Bantams aud 

 Cochin-Chinas together. We have never had the suspicion of any bad 

 results ; others will tell you differently. No coloured feather of any hue 

 is admissible in the saddle of a White Cochin cock of any age. 



Fowl's Wing Cut— Hamburgh's Combs {H. C. G.).~A cut wing is a 

 disqualification. The comb of a Hamburgh must not only be quite up- 

 right, but firm on the head. 



Barbs at York Show.— Your coiTespondent is labouring under a mis- 

 take in writing that my birds were so highly dressed that one of them 

 was nearly blind before leaving the Show. It was merely the effect of 

 cold. The bird's eye had not even been bathed with anytbing except 

 water. I hope you will oblige me by inserting this, and clear me from 

 what amounts to a charge of cruelty.— E. E, M. Royds. 



Wiltshire Mode of Curing Bacon {B. i?.).— Directions for an eight- 

 score pig :— Lay the flitches on a long wooden tray, slightly tilted for the 

 brine to run out of a hole made iu one corner. In Wiltshire there are 

 always four chines ; lay eveiything in the tray. Allow one stone of salt, 

 one pound of saltpetre, half a pound of bay salt. Mix all in a pan, and 

 rub in at first daily, and after the first week every other day for a month. 

 At the end of that time rub the flitebes with bran, aud bang them up in 

 a dry kitchen, mth a stick placed between them and the wall-- A Wilt- 

 shire Lady. 



POULTRY MARKET.— December 31. 



We have had a curious Christmas market. There was a good supply 

 and a bad demand in the early stages, and things were reversed at last. 

 Turkeys were sold at high prices on Monday and on the Christmas morn- 

 ing. "They monopolise all, aud other quotations are not to be made. 

 Now, as at other times, one fact remains apparent— that Turkeys are in a 

 measure, and with rare exceptions, subject to the law of meat, and 

 quality being given, tbe more that thev weigh the more they are worth. 

 This rule is good up to 18 lbs.; after that they maUe fancy prices, and 

 J over 20 lbs. every pound adds greatly to valve. 



