AprU 13, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



281 



Let ns from him learn the lesson, and seek one anil all rather 

 to domesticata by kindliness those birds which appear to be 

 scarce, bo as to allow all men to see the rarer birds in their 

 leathers alive rather than for a privileged few to enjoy looking 

 at the specimen stufied and set np in a private collection. — W. 



NATIONAL POULTRY AND PIGEON CLUB. 



According to promise I now send you the Hat of names se- 

 lected to form the preliminary Committee for a National Poultry 

 and Pigeon Club, and I hope in the course of a few months we 

 shall be prepared to offer to every breeder and exhibitor some- 

 thing of real benefit, whereby we may all have some definite 

 appeal in case of need. As at present no line is decided upon, 

 it would be of real help if one and aU interested in poultry and 

 Pigeons would kindly send me word what amount of subscrip- 

 tion they think would be best, as it ia for the benefit of all we 

 act. — Horace Lingwood, Greeting, Needham Market, Suffolk. 



Proposed Committee: The Hou. and Rev. F. Button, 0. E. 

 Cresswell, Esq., Samuel Matthew, Esi-, A. BaiUie Hamilton, 

 Esq., Joseph Hinton, Esq., Col. F. C. Hassard, C.B., T. C. 

 Burnell, Esq., E. E. Horsfall, Esq., Rev. Hans F. Hamilton, 

 Alfred Darby, Esq., F. E. Manby, Esq., Rev. W. Serjeantson, 

 Dr. Snell, E. A. Boissier, Esq., Charles Sidgwick, Esq., Edwin 

 Pritchard, Esq., Horace Lingwood. 



GEESE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 



Among a majority of our fanciers the care and management 

 of Geese is an unknown art. It is thought to be a very trouble- 

 some and expensive business, with no corresponding return for 

 the outlay. Numerous inquiries have led us to present the sub- 

 ject to onr readers. 



It is a prevailing opinion that the droppings of Geese poison 

 and kill the grass; and a very erroneous one it is, as a little 

 observation will prove. The village green — the pasture ground 

 of numerous flocks of Geese year after year — when has it, in the 

 memory of our oldest readers, been ploughed up and re-seeded ? 

 And still every spring the grass comes up fresh and thick, and 

 after every rain it will freshen up, when, over the fence, some 

 farmer's field of timothy will appear all withered from the 

 drought ; while the latter probably does not carry one-quarter 

 the stock that is yearly pastured on the commons. 



Geese are close feeders and bite the grass off short to the 

 ground, which gives the pasturage a dead appearance ; but re- 

 move the Geese, and the grass immediately starts up fine and 

 thick, and a most beautifol lawn-like sward is soon apparent. 

 It will not, however, do to let them run upon grain fields. The 

 close cropping will soon destroy the life of the plants. 



In keeping Geese do not allow more than four or five Geese to 

 one gander. A house or pen in the poultry hoxise or some out- 

 building for this number should be about 8 or 10 feet square. 

 Nests should be provided not less than 2 feet square, and an 

 abundance of straw in them. Old barrels laid on the side and 

 blocked to prevent rolling answer a very good purpose, but do 

 not look as well as a good box prepared specially for them. 

 There should be a box provided for every Goose, for they rarely 

 share each other's nest. The eggs should be gathered daily and 

 kept in a moderately warm room, set on end either in bran or 

 sawdust. It used to be customary among the farmers' wives to 

 put the eggs carefully away packed in cotton batting until 

 wanted for sitting. 



The eggs should be set in March, or early in April ; the earlier 

 the better. The young should be well along by the time hot 

 weather commences, as they do not thrive it hatched late in the 

 season. 



The time of incubation is from thirty to thirty-five days. The 

 eggs usually do best if set under the Goose, although many 

 breeders have very good success with hens. Focd and water 

 must be kept within reach of the Goose, else she will eat her 

 eggs. Do not disturb her while batching, but leave the goslings 

 in the nest until twenty-four hours old. 



Keep the young out of the water until fully a month old ; and 

 during this time feed on small grains or cracked corn. Many 

 breeders feed scalded oatmeal, or Indian meal, the first three or 

 four days, but it dees not seem to be essential. They must have 

 a good glass plat or meadow for a run, for the greater part of 

 their food is of grass and vegetable growth. Keep them out of 

 severe rains until they are fledged, and do not allow them to 

 swim until two weeks old ; but keep plenty of fresh water (rain 

 or pond water is best) by them to drink. It is best to feed 

 morning and night ; many do not feed them at all during the 

 grass season, but if heavy weight and good size are wanted they 

 most have grain every day. 



It is not necessary to keep the gander away from the sitting 

 Geese. He frequently will endeavour to share their labours, 

 and when the young are hatched he proves a most vigilant pro- 

 tector and defender of them against all invaders. 



As to varieties, we have a good number to choose from. The 

 Embden or Bremen, the Toulouse, the White and Grey China, 



and the Wild or Canadian Goose, being the best and most popular 

 kinds. The Bremen Goose is pure white throughout, with yellow 

 legs and bill, and of very large size ; its feathers are consequently 

 of greater value than other varieties. The Toulouse is grey, and 

 rivals the Embdeu in size. At the English poultry exhibitions 

 the former have been shown weighing SSlbs. 4oz8. per pair, 

 while the Embdon exceeded this, weighing 59 lbs. 2 ozs. These 

 are probably the heaviest weights on record. The China Goose, ■ 

 both grey aud white, are reputed better layers than either of 

 the preceding varieties, but do not attain much over half the 

 weight. 



Ttie wild Goose is a poor layer, and seems to be more profit- 

 able when crosEcd with some other variety. For table qualities 

 the latter is said by connoisseurs to be unsurpassed ; but their 

 poor laying qualities and small size render them far less profit- 

 able than other kinds. 



The Embdeu — which derived their name from the first pair 

 having been procured from the city of that name — were first 

 introduced into the United States about 1820 by Col. Samuel 

 Jacques of Boston, Mass. They are as hardy and as easily 

 reared as the other varieties, while their great size and beautiful 

 Swan-like appearance make them a very favourite variety. — 

 (American Pet-Stock Bulletin.) 



QUERIES FOR APIARIANS. • 



Do bees sleep ? If they do, how or in what position ? When ? 

 Is it by night or by day ? Or do some sleep at night and some 

 during the day ? Where or in what part of their habitations ? 

 How long do they generally sleep at a time ? Do bees sleep or 

 rest in winter ? If they do sleep in winter part of their tiuae, 

 when and how long? Is the dormant or quiet state of bees in 

 winter normal or abnormal 1 Is it beneficial or otherwise ? Is 

 the dormancy or rest of winter a necessity of nature, or is it 

 caused by the coldness of the atmosphere 1 Do bees rest or 

 work at night ? Do they make honey as well as wax from the 

 sweet juice found in the nectary of flowers ? 



This little cluster of questions is here presented to your 

 readers with the hope that some of the most able of them will 

 let us know what they ken about bees sleeping, &c. Though 

 the questions are of little importance to practical apiarians, they 

 may interest those who study the habits of bees. Perhaps no 

 other question in the natural history of bees has received less 

 attention than that of sleep, aud perhaps no other question in 

 their history is more diflicult to answer. Two years ago an 

 English baronet and M.P. read an interesting lecture to a philo- 

 sophical institution on the habits of bees and insects. In this 

 lecture he said that he had failed to discover any evidence that 

 bees possessed the sense of hearing. He could not make them 

 pay any attention to the sound of a fiddle aud other instruments. 

 He thought they were dead to sound. Probably he has now 

 found that their sense of hearing is very acute and usefal, and 

 it is BO most certainly. I should be pleased if Sir John Lubbock 

 would turn his attention to the question of sleep, aud let the 

 world know the conclusion he may arrive at, for I have no settled 

 opinion on it, and therefore dare not make any positive assertion 

 one way or the other. 



Analogical reason would lead us to believe (hat bees sleep. 

 Birds aud other insects (for instance, the house fly) go to roost 

 and sleep. In my researches for sleeping bees I have been very 

 unsuccessful. Every effort made in summer and winter — by 

 night and by day — has failed to find bees asleep. I have had 

 unicomb or leaf hives with glass sides, in which every bee could 

 be seen, and which afforded facilities for witnessing the internal 

 operations of the bees. At night I have taken the shutters 

 down and examined the bees by candlelight, but never found 

 a bee napping. Perhaps they are light sleepers and easily 

 disturbed. 



Many things have to be remembered in considering this 

 question of sleep. I will suggest a few of them. 



1. That, so far as light goes, it is always darkness and night 

 in a bee hive ; aU the internal operations of bees are performed 

 in the dark. 



2. That the queen of the hive in the busy season— say for four 

 or five months— lays about or above two thousand eggs every 

 twenty-four hours. This is exhausting work. If hard work calls 

 for rest the queen (of all in the hive) has the first and greatest 

 claim to it. When does she sleep 1 Does she cease droppiug eggs 

 at any period during the twenty-four hours ? On the supposition 

 that she does not rest she lays at the rate of more than HO eggs 

 every hour, aud on the supposition that she rests eight hours 

 every day she lays at the rate of 125 eggs every hour. Has she 

 power to distribute and set unaided by working bees so many 

 eggs ? My opinion has been given on this point more than 

 once in these columns. 



3. That young queens often continue piping for a week, night 

 and day. On reaching maturity, some before they are one day 

 old, and some before they are out of their cells, commence 

 piping, being bent on killing one another. This piping gene- 

 rally continues three days and nights, but when weather pre- 



