316 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 28, 1B70. 



np the street adopted a Jackdaw, and both being of a kindly 

 disposition allowed a certain amount of liberty to these happy 

 birde, which in their rambles met, and I suppose were smitten 

 with each other's charms. Certain it is that Jack induced 

 Miss Mag to take up her abode with him, everyday at any rate. 

 Mag could fly the best— I am not sure if she had not her full 

 liberty at this time — Jack was clipped ; but just over the wall 

 of Jack's proper domain grows an elder tree, and this happy 

 pair, thinking how nice it would be to have a home of their 

 own, set to work to build, and many a stick and straw, or any- 

 thing which a yard and garden offered, was carried into the 

 elder tree, and there a commodious nest is built. Jack and 

 Mag appear highly delighted with their work. At present no 

 happy family is theirs, but time which worketh all things right 

 will bring this blessing with it — the question is, Will it ? 

 Has suoh a thing ever been on record ? For my own part I have 

 never heard of such an occurrence. I will communicate the 

 result, if any, at some future time. I can vouch for the above, 

 as I saw the pair of birds building on Good Friday. — C. 

 Baker, Long Street, Atherstone. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Silkies (J. W.).—Yova Silkies must 

 a class for birds that cannot be othei 

 made for them in the prize list. 



Management of Pea-fowls (Aliquit).— Success can hardly be applied 

 as a term embodying the result of keeping Tea-fowls tethered on a lawn. 

 They can be kept so, but neither comfortably to them nor to the full 

 satisfaction of tho owner. A light cord will do for the purpose. It should 

 at the end have a strap of soft leather about half an inch wide and 6 inches 

 long. This should have a slit like a button-hole at the end, and when 

 the string has been passed through it and the leather, it will be found to 

 form a perfect and safe fastening. Any attempt to tie string round the 

 leg ends in hideous, painful, and often' fatal wounds. The objections to 

 thiB system are, that however tamo the bird may be, whenever he reaches 

 the end of bis tether he is rudely checked, and too often strains till he 

 stopswith the tied leg suspended in the air. It is also a most cruel 

 practice when there iB any possibility of the birds being tensed by dogs, 

 &c., and Pea-fowls do more harm in such a state to a lawn in two days 

 than they would in a fortnight at liberty. They must be tied to a post 

 driven into the ground, and a perch must be contrived at some height 

 from the ground to ennblo them to clear their tails ; they delight in 

 roosting on trees, but this cannot be when they are tied by the leg. Their 

 food should be good barley, maize, green stuff, and scraps. They are not 

 choice in appetite, and do well. They will rear their young, but hens do it 

 better. The young are rather delicate, and require to be fed like young 

 Turkeys. If the hens are at liberty they will steal their nests, and gene- 

 rally rear their young. 



Poland Fowls (Idem).— The best breeder of Silver Polands is Mr. G. 

 Adkins, The Lightwoods, near Birmingham ; and for White-crested 

 Black Polands we advise you to apply to Mr. Edwards, Railway Station, 

 Lyndhurst. 



Tubkeys (Arthenicc).— Your Turkeys of last year's second brood will 

 not probably lay much befure June. You must have them watched, but 

 as a rule they are the strongest birds that come from the stolen nests. 

 We were in the Bams predicament as yourself last year. A late hen of 

 1868 stole her nest and brought out a brood in July. We took no trouble 

 about them, and she reared them all into strong birds. We have given 

 orders this year that the same hen shall be allowed to have her own way. 

 Fowls in Small Enclosure (F. W. B ).— Your space is too small, but 

 if you mean to keep one sort you must fix ou Brahmas. Read and act 

 upon an article we hope to insert in our columns next week. Certain 

 things are necessary, and if the run does not provide them you most. 



Cock with Discharge from Nostrils (A. G.).— Purge freely with 

 caBtor oil, use Baily's pills; but if you have them not, give pills of 

 camphor twice everyday, each the size of a pea. Feed on bread and 

 ale, wash the face with cold water and vinegar, and keep him away 

 from all other fowls. 



Roden Ducks not Laying (Louisa).— Ton are over-feeding your Ducks. 

 They require the good sunny yard, and the tub of water changed daily, 

 which should be at least 18 inches deep. Discontinue the kitchen 

 scrapB and Indian meal. Givo oats whole, mixed in a shallow pan with 

 gravel and a sod of grass. Your Ducks will look smaller, but they will 

 lay plenty of eggs, and you can make them fat again when you like. 

 Whatever food they have, you should give them only as much as they 

 will cat up clean. 



Roosting-hoube (J. H. D.I.— The roosting place Bhould be covered in 

 and sheltered from cold winds. The floor must be of earth; if you can 

 give them all the space so much the better, it is not too much. Their 

 sleeping place should be tj feet long by the same width. 



Dtjckwing Game Breeding.— " I omitted to state, in page 299, that in 

 breeding for cocks, the red or robin-breasted Duckwing hens should be 

 nsed, and in breeding for hens the pale fawn-breaated hens should be 

 employed. There is likewise the emission of the word " Red," after " Black 

 breasted" in third line frum bottom.— Newmarket." 



The Dragoon Pigeon.— "Will you kindly allow us to correct a slight 

 typographical error which has occurred in publishing our description of 

 the standard Drug' urn Pigeon which appeared in the Journal, AprU21st?— 

 a miBtake, which although apparently slight alters the meaning we wished 

 to convey. We are represented as having written that Dragoons should 

 be ' light in feather,' wnereas it should be ' tight in feather,'— that is, the 

 feathers should be closely fitting to the body, as though a transparent skin 

 were drawn over the bird. Loosely-feathered Dragoons are unsightly 

 from the fact that when their feathers stand on end their symmetrica 

 form is lost, and such feathering is one of the surest indications of ill- 

 health and weakly constitution.— The Birmingham Columbarjan So- 



ciety." The following corrections should also be made in the same 

 article. In page 298, firRt column, in the eighteenth line from bottom, for 

 "promising," read "possessing;" in the next line, for "pairs," read 

 "years;" in the fifteenth line from the bottom, for "bronze," read 

 " broad ;" and in the third and eighth lines from bottom, for " pink-eyed," 

 read "pinch-eyed." 



Incubator [J. D.). — The subject of artificial incubation was discussed 

 in our columns some years Bince. Practice has proved that it cannot be 

 carried out profitably. Any of the incubators will hatch chickens, bat 

 the failure is in rearing them. 



Grinding Canary Seed— Stmmer Rape (J. H.).-~ " The coffee mill re- 

 ferred to, was for grinding common canary seed for young birds when old 

 enough to pick, but not strong enough in the beak to'erack the husk of the 

 seed. Summer rape is small, of a reddish brown colour, and much sweeter 

 to the taste than the larger black seed sold for Canaries. Mr. Jamea 

 Jones, Old Mitigate, Manchester (nearer tban London) will have a stock. 

 June is late, very late, to pair Canaries, and the end of June almost too 

 late.— W. A. Blakston." 



Rabbit Hutches (Q. W. D.).— Rabbits should be kept a foot from the 

 ground if intended for exhibition and for fineness of breed. The hutches 

 should be about 4 feet long, 24 feet wide, and from 20 to 24 inches high, 

 and one-third of the length enould be taken off for a breeding or dark 

 room for the doe to litter in. The other portion should be of perpendicular 

 three-cighths-inch meshed strong wire-work, to exclude all vermin and 

 prevent the young Rabbits being strangled by pushing their heads 

 through. This space is for medium-sized Rabbits, as Himalayan, 

 Angora, and Silver-Grey; Belgian Hare Rabbits, Patagonians, and Lop- 

 oared should have 2 feet more superficial extent of hutch ; and for the 

 Dutch 1 foot less will do. A large hutch may be had for the weaned Rabbits 

 to live in nntil, say four or five months old, when they are to be separated. 

 Each doe will thrive best if in her own hutch, but if intended to be in a 

 semi-wild state, then three or four boxes may be placed in a 4-feet-square 

 room, yet the fear is all would not be "peace and harmony." Three 

 hundred Rabbits may be reared every year until four months old, in 

 properly arranged hutches, covering not more than 150 square feet, in 

 stacks of three in height, say with a breeding stock of twenty does and 

 four bucks. If 170 or 180 square fuet can be given to them all the better. 



Bees in Marriott's Hives (8c<ftty).—A new edition of "Beekeeping 

 for the Many," will be ready in less than a week. In the meantime get, 

 if possible, a few pieces of clean worker-comb, and stick a bit in each 

 bell-glass, either by warming the glass before the fire or by securing the 

 comb to a stick inserted through the hole in the top. Then open tho 

 orifices in the tops of tho hives and put on the bell-glasses, either one 

 large glaBS embracing all three apertures, or a small one over each. 



Insect in Brussels Carpet (H. A. P.).~ Your beetleB belong to one 

 of the many British species of flea-beetles, Haltica atricilla, or a closely 

 allied species. They are all plant-feeders, and could not have done the 

 mischief to your carpets which your describe. — J. O. W. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— April 27. 



We have no improvement to report, and prices have a downward 

 tendency, the supply being quite in excess of the general requirements, 

 and there seems to be a disposition to wait for improvement by the 

 absence of all speculative orders. The first consignment of Cherries 

 from the Bouth of France reached us yeiterdav, realising about 6s. per lb., 

 and the first Gooseberries from the west of England were also offered at 

 4s. per quart. 



FRUIT. 



Apples 



Cherries..., 



Chestnuts bushel 14 



Currants j sieve 



Black do. 



FigB doz. 



Filberts lb. 



CobB lb. 



Gooseberries quart 



Grapes, Hothouse.... lb. 8 



Lemons s^lOO 6 



Melons each 



Artichokes doz. 



Asparagus ^100 



Beans, Kidney do. 



Broad bushel 



Beet, Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Brussels Sprouts. . 4 s 



b. d. s. d 

 tieve 3 6 to 6 

 doz. 



s. d. s. d 



Mulberries quart to 



NectarineB 



Oranges. 



Peaches doz, 



Pears, kitchen doz, 



dessert doz. 



Pine Apples lb, 



^100 4 10 



Plun 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries lb. 



Walnuts bushel 10 



do &100 1 



VEGETABLES. 



doz. 10 2 

 .V- 100 



Coleworts..doz. bunches 3 



Cucumbers each 



pickling doz. 



Endive doz. 2 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish .... bundle 3 



Leeks bunch 4 to o 



Lettuce doz. 10 16 



Mushrooms pottle 10 2 



Mustard & Cress . .punnet 3 



Parsley. 

 Parsnips. 

 Peas quart 



4 8 

 8 6 6 



Radishes .. doz.bunchi 



Rhubarb bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-kale 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable MarrowB.. doz. 







basket 2 3 







POULTRY MARKET.— April 27. 



We have still but a dull trade, and people are asking when it is to 

 look up. 



B. d. s. d. 



Large Fowls 4 to 4 6 



Smaller ditto 3 6 4 



Chickens 3 3 6 



Goslings 7 7 6 



Turkeys 1 



Ducklings 4 4 6 



s. d. 8. d. 



Partridges to 



Guinea Fowls 3 3 6 



Pigeons 9 10 



