200 



JOUBNAI-i OF HOKTICDLTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 18, 1809. 



the point of growing, and the s.-ime remarks applv to the Azaleas. The 

 best criterion of a piant requiring pottins is its becomini? pot-bound or 

 the pot becominK full of roots closely matted together, and soon requiring 

 of water after a good supply has been given. Youni^ plants should be 

 potted every year, but older plants need not be potted oftouer than once 

 in two or three years if the draiaaRe remains perfect, and the plants are 

 healthy. The plants becoming? weakly and making li tic wood is a sign 

 of potting being required. The cause of the Camellia buds and blooms 

 falling prematurely, we coQsider due to imperfect root action, which may 

 be occasioned by too wet soil, bad draLua','o, i.-nproper soil, or neglecting 

 to give sufficient water so as to thoroughly moisten ihe whole of the soil, 

 and from that or some cause the blooms fall owing to want of support. 



TREAT.MENT OF BlcotoR PELARGONIUMS (F. C.i.—You had better pot 

 your seedlings at once ; those that are strong and well-rooted into 5-inch 

 pots, but the weaker and more delicate plants should have as small a 

 shift as possible, and be very careful not to give too much water till they 

 have well got hold of the new soil. Do not cut them back nor pinch out 

 their tops until you see signs of variegated breaks on their stems ; then 

 pinch their tops out, and also gradually pinch the green portions of the 

 leaves away. Plant them out as you propose, and if they break out into 

 variegation after they are planted out continue pinching away the green 

 portions until you have pei-petuited and fixed the variegated sport. Next 



autumn you will see which are worth saving out of the batch. If there 

 are any with red and white o*Jpurplo stre-iks running up their stems, 

 these if saved through the winder will very likelv break out into variega- 

 tion in the spring or summer o( 1870. Ten good bronze and gold, includ- 

 ing Tricolors, are the following: -Bronze and rJoW.— 1868, Empress Eu- 

 g.'nie; ISiS, Admiration; 1888, Arthur H. Wills; 1869, Princess Louisa 

 Victoria ; 1869, Viscountess Castelross ; 18 '9, Beauty of Woolverton. The 

 abive six are the finest of Mr. Willss set forl8i8-9. Tiicolorj.— Florence 

 (Wills); Humming Bird; Lizzie (Willsl; Howarth Ashton. 



Back Xdubers (lian^joiicn).;— You can have Nos. 1 and 2 of The 

 JoOHKAL OF Horticdltube, if you enclose eight postage stamps with 

 j-our address. 



Glass for Vinery (E. T!'., Jrrspv).— We like clear glass best for Vines, 

 but some gardeners prefer the rough. 



AciCl.1 Drummondi (B. p.).— We do not think the foliage sent is that 

 of A, Drummondi. 



Names of Plants (Flore plena) —We cannot name plants from leaves 

 only. (C. S. Flctclier).—lt is certainly not a Mammillaria, and may be 

 Jiaxillarii densa, but we cannot be certain without seeing a flower. 

 (C. B. G.).— We cannot identify plants from their leaves only. {Jamr^ 

 Scott).—!, Acacia Drummondi ; 2, Libouia fioribunda. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ia the Suburbs of London for the week ending March lOth. 



POULTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 



THE EAST INDIAN WILD BREEDS OF 

 POULTRY. 



G-ILLUS FEBEUGraECS, of Gmelin ; " Gallus BanMva," of 

 Temminck. These birds are found in India and its islands, 

 and in Java more than in the other islands of the East Indian 

 Archipelago. They are smaller than our Game fowls, and 

 larger than the largest of Game Bantams, and very strongly 

 resemble the very smallest Game fowls, and the largest of our 

 Game Bantams of the Black-breasted Red, Brown Red, Ginger 

 Brown Red, Ginger, and Ginger Red colours, but not the Cinna- 

 mons, or Wheaten sorts, and in making our Game Bantams 

 from small Game fowls, we have " bred back " nearly to this 

 wild species. 



They are described as follows : — The cocks chiefly, but not 

 always, Black-breasted Reds, rather Pheasant-breasted, but 

 more inclining to a yellowish brownish red than our Reds are. 

 The hen dusky greyish yellow, or more correctly still, of a 

 dusky greyish-brown Partridge colour, some say with ashy-grey 

 legs, but more correctly speaking the hens have dusky brownish 

 wUlow-green legs ; eyes yellow, orange red, brown, and dark 

 brown, in the different shades of colour found ; ear-coverts 

 always brownish-coloured, and never whitish. This is the only 

 wUd species in which the hens have combs and wattles de- 

 veloped. These birds are the undoubted progenitors of our 

 willow and yellow-legged Game fowls and Game Bantams. 



There is another and rather larger sort of the Gallus ferru- 

 gineus, which has been often mistaken for the Gallus Sonnerati, 

 and this species of the Gallus ferrugiueus has the yellow lege, 

 and is a little larger, both in size and bone, than the common 

 sort of Jungle fowl, and may be styled Gallus ferrugineus 

 major, while the less and commoner breed may be styled Gallus 

 ferrugineus minor. The large breed is clearly that from which 

 have originated the Indian yellow-legged breeds so common. 



Both breeds of Gallus ferrugineus are very wild, though 

 capable of domestication, and are rather smaller in Java than 

 in India. These birds are not easily tamed. Some of these 

 birds in their northern ranges in India have the horn-coloured 

 legs, but towards the south they are greenish legged, and this 

 is the more common colour of the legs. The cocks sometimes 

 have horn-coloured legs, and the hens greenish legs. The 

 yellow-legged rather larger species is of much the same colour, 

 a trifle lighter in shade perhaps. These birds, though very 

 pugnacious, are less so than our Game fowls are. Average 

 weight of the cocks from 2 lbs. to 2^ lbs. 



Gallus Sonnerati, or Sonnerat'a Jungle fowl, is quite dis- 



tinct from the above more common species, but is the next 

 most common. The cock has been described as yellow-legged, 

 and the hen blue-legged ; but more correctly there are two 

 sorts, one yellow-legged and the other dusky greenish-legged, 

 as in the Gallus ferrugineus, from which it is easily dis- 

 tinguished, by the hens having neither comb nor wattles. The 

 cock has a reddish-yellow hackle ; back and shoulders of a 

 reddish grey-purple colour; breast dusky bluish-dun colour; 

 tail a dark iridescent green colour; comb and wattles a reddish- 

 yellow or yellowish-red colour. The hen has no comb nor 

 wattles, and is feathered up to the throat. The hen's colour is 

 brownish with a pale greyish breast. The feathers in the cock 

 only have a hard horny shaft in their centre, striped with yellow, 

 and are l;ke the Bohemian Waxwing in this respect. 



This species is bold and active for its size, and is stated to 

 be'sought after by the Indian cockfigbters, as it is said, though 

 perhaps without much probability, that it will beat the Indian 

 Game cocks in fighting, though smaller in size. The hen 

 being without comb or wattles, together with the pecuUar 

 structure of the cock's feathers, renders it improbable that this 

 kind is the progenitor of any of our own breeds of fowls, 

 though it has been stated to have been one of them. It oc- 

 casionally breeds with the Gallus ferrugineus in a wild state, 

 and will also do so if confined with them in a sufficiently large 

 space for breeding in. These birds are found in nearly the same 

 districts as the first-named sorts, but ratiier further south, or 

 nearer the Madras country. — Tkevor. 

 (To be continued.) 



KENT AND SURREY POULTRY SHOW. 



It has. since the discontinuance of the Crystal Palace Poultrj' 

 Shows, been a matter of much regret among amateurs that no such 

 exhibition has been attempted in the metropolis. A few kindred spiritB, 

 however, determined to re-establish a show for this district, and the 

 support it elicited proved the estimation the effoi-t obtained, whilst the 

 high character of the generality of the specimens shown was far be- 

 yond an average. The Assembly Rooms at Peckham Rye are ad- 

 mirably calculated for such an exhibition, and the unwearied attention 

 paid to the poultry whilst on view was worthy of every commendation. 



Dorlcinfi^ thronghout were excellent, and the principal prize was 

 taken with a pen sent from Dorking. Brown Reds proved by far the 

 best colour among the Game fowls, and Mr. Matthews, of Stowmarket, 

 was exceedingly successful with well-shown specimens. In Spaai^Ji, 

 the class was not so good as a whole as we anticipated ; the wininng 

 birds, however, were a most favourable exception, for we could not 

 wish better. The Bi-ahturi constituted not only most excellent classes, 

 but were well filled in both Dark and Light-feathered ones. It would 

 he very dithcnlt to recall to mind any former London Show of these 

 varieties so admirable Ihronghont. Mr. Dowsett's cup pen of Light 



