January b, 1867 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



33 



CoN\'EHTiNG Pits into a House (A PvoUx Inquirer). — Your range of 

 brick pits 'JQ feet long by 5 in depth, we have no doubt would make a good 

 house by poing to the expense of adding to them another side and end«, 

 thereby making a span. You do not state the width, and we cannot, 

 therefore, advise you as to size and the purposes for which it might be 

 employed. Unless you have other pits or frames wo would not recom- 

 mend the conversion of the former into houses; for .the expense is in 

 many cayes equal to that of new structures, and after it has been in- 

 curred the converted pits are seldom eijual to such in durability, appear- 

 ance, and utility. Besides, after much has been spent in the conversion 

 of the pits, further outlay will probably be necessary in providing new- 

 frames or pits, which are for all intents and piu-poses the most useful of 

 glass structures. If you do not want pits for Cucumbers and Melons, aud 

 for alTording protection to plants, or if you elect to grow them in houses, 

 wheu a place already built and needing no increased expenditure would 

 answer as well, if not better, the proposed conversion may be made. The 

 case will be different if the pits are of sufficient widtli for a house ah'cady. 

 and only need iiathways and slight alterations for heating, &c.; but even 

 then wt do not see how your garden will be complete without frames or 

 pits, nor how you will manage without them. 



Labouk for a Garden of One Acre f J(^'hi).— Your garden of one acre, 

 one-fourth of which is grass, one-fourth shrubbery, aud the remiinder 

 kitchen garden, with, in addition, a greenhouse aud the pits above named, 

 i\'ill be well managed by a gardener, affording him occasional help such as 

 that you speak of by your gi'oom, though it is as well to keep everj' 

 servant's work as distinct as possible, and interfering as little with that 

 of others as the case will permit. Doing so saves much grumbling, v.hich 

 is never pleasant to either employer or employed, and. besides, no master 

 can teach a servant a more important lesson thiiu that of self-reliance. 

 It does away with all excuses, and every one ii then able to answer for 

 himself. An active and skilled gardener would manage your garden to 

 your satisfaction, and he would have nothing to complain of in respect 

 to being overworked. We think a gardener of the qualifications you re- 

 quire, ought to have 'los. per week without a cottage, or 21s. per week 

 with one. We think it is not only consistent with "your interest," but 

 that of your gardener also, that " you should take an active interest in 

 the garden," for where there is no interest the master will often neglect 

 furnishing proper working plant and materials, which to au active 

 servant is discouraging. 



CuLTCBE OF "Water Lhjces in a Vase (Ru« in Vrbe). — 1, Plant them 



'■■ during April or May, securing the roots in the mad, and pressing it about 



- them so that they may be kept at the bottom ; or tie a moderately large 



stone to the root of each, which we fiud from experience to answer well, 



i the plants being dropped into the vase at the desired place. 2, Plaoe 



6 inches of turfy loam of a clayey nature at the bottom of the vase, and 



I equally over it, and a short time after the plants are put in cover the 



, mud with an inch of fine gravel from which the dirt has been washed 



j out. 3, The Lilies \\-iU thrive if fresh water bo admitted every day to the 



j amount of one-third the contents of the vase. By fi-esh water, rain or 



pond water is meant. 4, It would do to feed the vase with soft water by 



a pipe from a cisteni at the top of the house ; but as you say the supply 



j from that source would ouly be available when rain falls, it may be too 



I uncertain and insufficient. The vase should at all times be kept full of 



I water, and never have less than 1 foot of water in it, and bettor the full 



, depth of 18 inches. Gold lish would thrive in the vase vcr,- well in sum- 



I mer, but not in winter, for the water will be liable to be frozen in a mass 



I during severe weather, and if not it may be too cold for the fish in winter. 



If the vase were placed in the groundso that one-third or so were above 



i the ground, you might have the gold fi>h in winter as well as summer, 



j covering half the vase over on the approach of frost with a thickness of 



9 inches or 1 foot of straw, and removing it in spiring. This would not 



i interfere with the Lilies, and it would save the fish, the ice of the on- 



I covered part being broken d:iily. 



Hollies Grafting and Budding llltx). — The grafting may take place 

 wheu the slocks exhibit signs of growth, or begin to swell their buds, 

 which will be the case in April, the scions being taken from the trees and 

 inserted in the stock the sajue day. Let the scion be the wood of the 

 previous year, and of free growth. Budding should be performed when 

 the leaves of the tree from which the buds are taken have attained their 

 full size and the buds are discernible in their axils ; it requires a certain 

 amount of discrimination to make sure of wood-buds. These are more 

 generally situated on the strong shoots, and especially those that come 

 from a branch which has been cut back or shortened. Drawings and 

 fuU directions for grafting and budding are given in " Fruit Gardening 

 for the Many." which you can have free by post from our office, if you 

 enclose five postage stamps with youi* direction. 

 N awt-. s of Fruits {W, B. S.). — No. 1, Beauty of Kent ; 2, Margil. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of Loudon for the Vreek ending January yth. 



POXILTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 

 GAME FOWLS. 



SHAPE AJiD CARRIAGE OF TAILS, AND OTHER POIXTS. 



Adtekting again to the article by " Yorkshire," of the ^Tth 

 ol November last, I am Veil aware that many breeders, ex- 

 hibitors, and judges prefer the close-switch or whip-tailed 

 birds, but fully as many, I think, prefer the noble, full, ample, 

 spreading-tailed birds, or " the up-and-spread-taUed " birds as 

 they are termed. I never did or could like the very close- 

 tailed birds, or pinched-up, cramped, and shrunk tails, as I 

 think they give the birds a meaner appearance, and the narrow 

 tail makes the body appear too bulky, or clumsy ; whereas 

 the ample spreading tail makes the body appear smaller and 

 neater in size and shape. The up-and-spread-tailed birds 

 are shorter in body and in feather in general, as well as more 

 spirited, I think. 



The advocates of the switch or whip-tailed birds say that 

 these birds have neater tails, and are generally closer in feather. 

 I cannot see this, and think the ample tail is nobler and gives 

 the bird a nobler appearance, and I also think that th", full 

 crescent-like curve of a well-sickled tail is one of its gi-eatest 

 beauties. The best hens should have their two upper-tail 

 feathers with a slight and graceful curve, which adds to their 

 beauty, I think. The whip or close-tailed birds would look as 

 well, especially the hens, if they had only a few upper feathers 

 in their tails, as they might almost as well be without half 

 their tail feathers. 



In my experience the least-spirited birds are those with the 

 long, drooping, closed tails ; and the most spirited have the 

 rather short tails, carried well up, and spreading or farmed, 

 with curved upper feathers. Game fowls' tails should not. 



however, be so high as Bantams' tails. Long-tailed Game 

 fowls are certainly longer both in body and in feather than 

 short-tailed birds are. If not for this defect, the long-tailed 

 would possess the most beauty. I do not, of course, admire 

 the coarse and clumsy tails found in birds that are coarse in 

 feather and in bone. The happy medium is, I think, best as 

 to the length of tail, nor should birds be too cocked-tailed for 

 true beauty. Doctors differ, however, and so do amateurs ef 

 Game fowls on this point. 



Breeders diiier also as to the length of the legs and wings. 

 I think the happy medium is also best here as well. A long- 

 legged bird over-reaches his opponent in fighting, and moves 

 his legs too slowly ; and a too-short-legged bird must " fight 

 very close" to reach his opponent at all. A too-long-winged 

 bird is too long in bpdy in general, though long wings are the 

 handsomest. A too-short-winged bird is too heavy in the body 

 in proportion to his wings for flight, and is ugly. Game cocks 

 should never carry their wings upon their backs like Geese. 

 They should carry the wing so as to protect the fleshy part of 

 the thigh, but not so low as a Bantam's wing is. 



Cocks of lbs. weight are too heavy and too slow in their 

 motions. Cock chickens as a rule seldom reach quite the weight 

 of their sires ; therefore, I think that brood cocks from 51 to 

 5.J lbs., or 5J lbs. at most, breed the best chickens for exhi- 

 bition. Light-fleshed active birds are, of course, the best 

 brood cocks. I have also noticed that the tail feathers in the 

 spread or fauned-tailed birds stand stifl'er, stronger, and 

 harder than in the close-tailed sorts. I am convinced that a 

 drooping tail shows a drooping spirit. 



Remarks such as those by " Trent Side " and the old 

 Scotch lady, of course, merit no reply whatever, and require 

 none. Some admire clumsy beauty, and some the true and 

 symmetrical beauty. I am of the latter number. I can only 

 deny that I have ever been " put right," or " put out " either. 



