314 



JODBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 28, 187H. 



exception of the epaoe between the floor and the lowest shelf, 

 should be divided in the centre by a partition. In front of 

 these shelves should be nailed four boards, also a foot wide and 

 5 feet long ; one at each side of the pen and two down the 

 centre, all reaching from the top to the bottom shelf. This 

 ■will give breeding places for ten pairs of birds ; these will be 



3 feet long by 1 foot wide and 1 foot high, with a blind at each 

 end behind which to put the nest pans. The two spaces be- 

 tween the top shelf and the roof should be fitted with lath fronts 

 made to bung by hinges from the roof, and these will be found 

 most useful either as paiiiog-cagea or to pen birds in. The 

 floor of the pen should be left entirely free, with the exception 

 of the water-bottle, the mortar-pan, and the salt; all of which 

 should be placed under the bottom shelf to keep them clean. 

 Each side of the pen should be fitted with perches made in the 

 well-known triangle shape. A little Bttip about an inch wide 

 should, however, be nailed across tbe ani/le to prevent the 

 sharp edge from iojuring the feet of the birds, and to enable 

 them to rest comfortably. The perches should be from 3 to 



4 inches wide, and placed about a foot apart. They can easily 

 be fixed by nailiog them to a strip of wood, and so screwed to 

 the side of the pen. 



I have omitted to state that a door made of stout laths should 

 be fixed to the pen in such a manner that the outer door may 

 shut over it. This can easily be done by nailing a lath on 

 each side of the door inside the pen ; one to hang it on, and 

 the other to fasten it to. The inner door should be made 

 to open outwards the same side as the outer door, by placing 

 the perpendicular laths about an inch nearer the centre of the 

 doorway than the width of the outer door. This inner lattice 

 door is to give light, air, and sunshine to the birds; the outer 

 door, of course, to lock up safely at night, and to keep the 

 birds warm and oomfortable in cold and wet weather. 



A pen on the above scale is calculated to accommodate from 

 thirty to forty Pigeons, and the cost of its erection will be 

 about £2, which, again, may be diminished to somewhere 

 about half if the fancier is at all handy with the hammer and 

 saw, and able to erect it himself. Of course it is not in- 

 tended that the pen should of necessity be made to the di- 

 mensions I have given. Everything, as I sr-id before, depends 

 upon the intentions of the fancier as regards the number of 

 birds he intends keeping, &e. ; but whatever may be the dimen- 

 sions of the pen, the above principle should be adhered to 

 as best calculated for the kind of birds of which this article 

 treats. 



It may be as well to state here that the inside of the pen 

 should be well lime-washed once or twice a-year, and the floor 

 and breeding places kept well sprinkled with sand, which will 

 render it healthier for the birds, and easier to clean out. I 

 would recommend that the latter process should be performed 

 daily. It can be done in the following manner in five minutes, 

 and the little extra trouble will be amply repaid by the better 

 health and breeding of the birds, and tbe pleasure of seeing 

 them always clean. Scrape out the dung from the shelves on 

 to the floor, and then, having scraped all into a heap, pass it 

 through a fine riddle, taking the excrement away and using the 

 sand again. 



Before I say anything about the birds I should like to make 

 a few remarks in reference to my former communication (see 

 pa^es 214 and 215). I have been informed that it was thought 

 I meant to convey the impression that there are no dark-winged 

 birds that are good in the air. Such was not my intention ; 

 all I meant to iufer was that such birds, even when good, were 

 not general favourites amongst the best fljing fanciers; for 

 although they may really work as Bharp and fly as freely as 

 white-winged birds, yet they do not seem to do bo ; and two or 

 three of these birds amongst a flight do not at all improve its 

 appearance in the air, where, except for their style of flying, 

 they look as nearly like crows as possible. One of the prettiest 

 sights afforded by a flight of white-winged birds is to be seen 

 on a bright morning or evening, their white flights twinkling 

 in the sunshine, and all their varied colours brought promi- 

 nently in view. One of the longest and be.-;t rollers I ever 

 possessed was a dark-winged and muff-legged bird; and at 

 this present time I have an esteemed frieDd and thorough 

 fancier who flies nothirrg else but these dark-winged birds, 

 and all as good as tbey are handsome. His birds are Black 

 and Red Mottles, and in colour and marking far surpass any 

 of the Short-faced birds. Then comes the question, Would 

 many fanciers be at the trouble and expense of breeding to 

 such beauty and accuracy of marking — for they are beautiful 

 in the loft there is no doubt — to run the daily and hourly risk 



of flying them away? "Readik" snys that my remarks in 

 reference to these dark-winged and muff-legged birds are merely 

 fancy, and he is quite right. Pigeon-keeping from beginning 

 to end is all fancy, the only question being which is the best 

 fancy, and this point. I. as a true lover of Pigeons, hope will 

 never be solved, or we should very soon lose many of our nume- 

 rous varieties. I can assure him that if he gets a strain that 

 has been bred white-winged and clear-legged, and does not 

 cross them at any time with either dark-winged or muff-legged 

 birds, he will not, as he has done, get a white-winged and dark- 

 winged young bird in one nest, or one muffed and the other 

 clean-legged. The parents or grandparents of his birds had 

 been paired in that way, and it is well known what a tendency 

 there is in Pigeons to throw back in breeding. I stated that 

 in Birmingham as a rule very little heed was paid to the colour 

 of birds in matching them, and that in consequence their 

 colours are various. I have now amongst the birds I keep as 

 feeders for my fancy birds, a Tumbler cock which is blue 

 chequer on one side and a red spangle on the other, and a 

 Bed and a Blue have thrown a Yellow. How is that to be 

 accounted for except by throwing back ? 



And now to return to our Bnbject. There are two method* 

 of raising a flight — either by purchasing young birds from a 

 good stock, or three or four pairs of old birds known to be 

 good, and so breed what is wanted. In either case I would 

 recommend the fancier in starting to purchase a few common 

 flying Tumblers, which he can do at about 10s. to 12s. a-dozen. 

 I recommend this for this reason — that he must have some old 

 birds with which to train his young ones. No Berious loss 

 would be sustained if he loses one or two in getting them stout, 

 and he will be saved the risk of losing his more expensive 

 birds, which he need not fly till they have bred what young 

 ones he requires. When the common birds have answered the 

 purpose for which they were bought, they can either be sold or 

 put in a pie. I would further recommend that the new birds 

 should be confined to the pen till they have Bettled down and 

 got used to it, when they should be let out a few at a time 

 towards evening, haviDg been kept, without food the whole of 

 tho day, and a further precaution if necessary may be taken by 

 tying one wing of each hen bird. After giving them their 

 liberty a short time get them in again by feeding in the pen, 

 and this plan should be repeated for three or four days till 

 they know the premises. It would be best not to fly them too 

 soon. 



And now haviog got your common birds stout as a founda- 

 tion to work upon, and purchased three or four pairs of good 

 birds, we will consider the best method of breeding, training, 

 and feeding in a further communication. — H. T., Birmingham. 



TAMrEEixo with the Plumaoe of Show Bihds. — We are 

 glad to find a very general approval of Mr. Hewitt's suggestions, 

 and we may quoie as an instance, that the Committee of the 

 Whitby Poultry Show have made a Btringent rule with the view 

 of stopping so nefarious a practice. 



NEW MODE OF CONTROLLING THE 

 FERTILISATION OF THE QUEEN BEE. 

 So long ago as February in last year I received a very kind 

 letter from Mr. Thomas, an excellent and practical apiarian of 

 Canada, informing me that during their last season (1868J a dis- 

 covery has been made which threw the KiiLder process quite 

 into the shade, " since by it we can cause a queen to be fer- 

 tilised by one out of any four or five drones which we may 

 select." This discovery was stated to have been made by an 

 American lady apiarian, a breeder of Italian queens, whose 

 name was withheld at the time, but who, I have reason to 

 believe, is Mrs. E. S. Tupper, of Iowa, U.S., and it is thus de- 

 scribed by Mr. Thomas : — 



"On the fifth day after the queen i3 hatched, or earlier if 

 you choose, although the lady thinks queens seldom take their 

 bridal tour before the fifth day, catch her and confine her with 

 four or five select drones in a wire cage with honey in the 

 comb or in a sponge, and place the cage on the top of the 

 nucleus or stock from which she was taken, and let her remain 

 from twenty-four to thirty-six hours, covering her up with the 

 cap so that it will be quite dark. She will be fertilised and 

 commence to lay soon after being liberated. The lady makes 

 the cage G or 8 inches in diameter, and 12 or 14 inches long ; 

 the ends may be made of wood or of pasteboard. She says she 



