May 12, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



349 



night, or vice versi, just which happens to be oft the nest ; or 

 il the bird which was flown in the morning is oft the nest at 

 evening fly, it will readily go to the neat if its mate is taken off 

 On no acoonnt would I let one of my flying birds miss a day 

 without being flown once. I need not here repeat what I Baid 

 in my first communication as to style of flying, tumbling, &c. 

 After the birds have had their fly they should be allowed some 

 time to run about ; aud this is the time to let out the youog 

 birds for exercise, as well as to familiarise them with their 

 home. 



Do not be too impatient to fly young birds. As soon as they 

 are able they will be ready enough to go. There will be no 

 difficulty in starting them. No particular age can be given at 

 which to start them flying. The fancier mast use his judg- 

 ment in this matter ; but they are generally ready when the 

 feathers have grown upon the nostril. The best plan is to com- 

 mence training them as soon as they begin to dart round the 

 buildings for their own amusement. Turn out all such birds 

 just before the flight comes down to alight after a fly. They 

 will soon be amongst them, and fly a round or two before the 

 old birds drop. As soon as they begin to fly steadily with the 

 kit, which they will do after two or three such essays, their 

 flies must be gradually increased until they are allowed to go 

 the whole time. After they have had some little practice, it is 

 best to keep one or two old birds down in order to start with 

 them, and get them up to the flight. Youug bird3 will always 

 be found ready enough to fly ; all^hat is wauted is a few good 

 old birds to keep them steady, aud to take them up. Well-bred 

 yonng birds very soon commence tumbling, and then go on 

 progressing through the various stages of mad tumbling, &c, 

 nntil they roll. It is not well, however, for young birds to be 

 extra good at an early age. It is a sign of too high breeding, 

 and they generally finish by rolling down. Sometimes a bird 

 does not " turn out" till it has attained a good age ; but if it is 

 well bred it is almost sure to show it sooner or later, most pro- 

 bably when it begins breeding. 



And now a word or two as regards feeding. Always feed in- 

 side the pen, as by that means the birds can be shut up at 

 pleasure. Feed twice a-day during the breeding season, and once 

 a-day during the rest of the year, giving just as much as they 

 can eat up clean and no more. The best way is to feed till 

 they commence drinking, when they hive had enough. Of 

 course if a bird has a pair of large young ones to feed, it 

 will require more food ; and the extra can bo given in his 

 breeding place. On no account leave food lying about after 

 they are satisfied. Use good sound old grey peas as the main 

 food, giving a few handfuls of good English wheat occa- 

 sionally as a change. A3 a mixture the one recommended by 

 "Reader," is the best — namely, grey peas, wheat, and vetches. 

 I have an aversion, however, to giving a mixture of various 

 kinds of grain, or too often changing their food, as the birds are 

 apt to get dainty, picking out just what they fancy, when they 

 do not eat so heartily, or feed their young so well, as they do 

 when kept mainly to one kind of grain. Such is my experience. 

 Flying Tumblers should never be fed out of a hopper, and no food 

 should be given them before flying them, as is also recom- 

 mended by "Reader." Birds fed as I recommend do not 

 want "a few vetches before flying to support them." Such a 

 plan will only make them lazy, or oause them to roll down, 

 in consequence of the food in their crops choking them. Keep 

 a lump of salt and a pan of crushed old mortar constantly in 

 the pen. 



And now I wish to make a special feature of the mainspring 

 of nearly all disease — the water fountain. Let this be con- 

 stantly cleansed, and the birds daily supplied with pure water. 

 Always Bee that the water is clean and fresh. This is of the 

 utmost importance, if the birds are to be kept healthy. I am 

 sorry to say it is a thing, next to cleaning tham out, most neg- 

 lected by fanciers in general. It is thought as long as they 

 have water all is right, no matter how dirty it is. I have seen 

 fountains in lofts I have been into in the filthiest state ; the 

 owners complaining of their birds being roupy andoankered, and 

 wondering at such an inevitable result. Many persons use an 

 earthenware pan about 6 inches deep by a foot long, and oval 

 in shape. This is preferred to the fountain, because it can be 

 well cleansed every time the water is ohanged. It should be 

 covered with a board, or placed under a shelf in suoh a manner 

 that the birds cannot dirty it, leaving just space sufficient 

 for them to put their heads in to drink, and a brick is placed 

 in front for them to stand upon. If the fountains are used 

 they must be cleansed every few days with coal slack or shot, 

 to prevent them furring, or getting coated with slime. 



It is not my intention in this paper to give a long oatalogue 

 of diseases and their oures ; but in order that my remarks may 

 be in some measure oomplete, I will briefly allude to the two 

 principal diseases with which Pigeon fanciers in general have 

 to contend — namely, canker and roup. I shall not discuss the 

 question as to whether these diseases are contagious or not. 

 Suffice it to say that my experience has taught me they are. 

 At any rate, I consider it the wisest plan always to take a sick 

 bird out of the pen, as it is better and more regularly at- 

 tended to, and in consequence cured more quickly than if left 

 amongst the other birds, and any possible chance of contagion 

 is avoided. 



A point I would lay particular stress upon in reference to 

 canker, is on no account to pick or cut the sore. The more the 

 place is made to bleed the worse it gets. There is an absurd notion 

 prevailing that the plaoe is a cancer, and must be effectually cut 

 out to be cured. It is a disease very easily cured if fanciers will 

 only keep their fingers and penknives from it and have a little 

 patience ; by doing which, and dressing it with one of the lotions 

 I recommend, the bird is sure to recover. I have cured dozens 

 of the worst cases for one or another ; the only bird I ever lost 

 through it was one I cut. Dress the wound twice a-day with a 

 solution of sulphate of zinc or copper (use the crystallised), about 

 half an ounce to a quart of water. Merely wash the bird's mouth 

 or wherever the sore is, with a flight feather. Of course, the 

 lotion must not be used too freely in the mouth ; very little 

 will be quite sufficient. Another remedy, and a more search- 

 ing one, is the following — Get from any druggist a pennyworth 

 of gypseyaoum, and dissolve in it a bit of bluestone or sulphate 

 of copper about the size of a small horse bean, and dress the 

 place with a flight feather, using a very little of the solution, 

 which is very strong. This i3, I think, the quickest cure, but 

 care must be exercised in applying it. The former, however, 

 is the safest, and does not pain the birds in its application. 



For roup, if only a slight case, Buch as a sneezing and run- 

 ning at the nostrils, merely wash out the mouth with tho zinc 

 solution, and give a few peppercorns occasionally. The ap- 

 plication will cause all the phlegm to come away as soon as it 

 is applied, and the bird will very soon be well ; but should the 

 case be a very bad one, in addition to using the solution daily 

 I would give a pill made as follows, every other day: — Take 

 Cayenne pods and crumble them up in the fingers, put an equal 

 quantity of jalap, and mix it into a stiff pill of the ordinary 

 size, with a little butter or lard. Of course the bird should be 

 kept warm. 



These are all the diseases I think it necessary to allude to here. 

 The fancier, however, will have very little need to avail himself 

 of these remedies if he only follows out thoroughly the main 

 points of my remarks, as to always keeping the pen free from 

 dung, flying, and feeding regularly on good food, and above all 

 to keep them constantly supplied with pure fresh water, and 

 letting them have a vessel they can wash in at pleasure when 

 they are out. 



I may, perhaps, mention in this place, that the hens should 

 never be flown when they are with egg. If they are they will 

 most likely roll out their " egg bag," as it is generally termed 

 by the fancy. I have no doubt the phrase will be readily 

 understood without going into a scientific explanation. This I 

 have known to be successfully replaced ; some have been cut 

 away, and the hen been as good a flyer as ever, but, of course, 

 useless as a breeder. Either of these remedies is most dis- 

 agreeable, even if they should by chance be successful, so that 

 for my own part I would sooner put the bird at once out of 

 pain by killing it. 



I doubt whether my remarks may not be considered too 

 tedious and lengthy by some, but I have endeavoured as far as I 

 am able to exhaust the subject. Should there, however, be any 

 points that are not dear, or any that are overlooked, upon which 

 I can give any information, I will give it with pleasure, on 

 their being pointed out. — H. T., Birmingham. 



A Hen and Her Pups. — A correspondent of the Surrey 

 Standard writes : — " An extraordinary freak of Nature can be 

 seen at the keeper's kennels at Stanmer Park, the seat of the 

 Earl of Chichester. A common domestic hen, two years old, 

 has been in the habit of laying her eggs in a dog-kennel, in 

 which a beagle bitch has a litter of six puppies now six weeks 

 old. She wanted to sit ; she was shut up for ten days. Now 

 let loose, she has gone to the kennel again, and taken charge of 

 the pup3 as a mother would do with her chickens. She covers 

 them with her wings ; she scratches about so as to teach them 

 to feed ; she calls them, the puppies follow her, and she shows 



