April 38, 1860. 1 



JOUUNA.L OF HOUnOOLTOBH AND OOTTAQK QAEDENER. 



SOAPSCDB (An Amateur).— 'Vnn may apply soapsudfl to all tlie plants 

 Ton imwo, Imt it Boda is liirRcly uaed in washioi/ yon must ba oiirolul not 

 to RiTO tho lieiuld too strouf!, nor too olton. It would bo woll to dilute II, 

 i{ vory etrons. with twioo tlio unantity at rain or poud water. 



SowiNO Hekt for Deoohativb Pcri-oskb (Wfm).— No timo onRlit to bo 

 lost in puttiuK in tlio sooJ, but wo have sown it up to Die J3tlioI May, 

 and bad Uno plautn. 



CnAHLES I.EFEuvKB Uo"E (Tdfm).—lt ia of viRorous habit, and is otber- 

 wiBo with you from want of manure. Manure it woll, aud wator it frouly 

 in dry woatlier. 



Vehbena C0TTINO9 (Wem).— The cuttiuga in boxes may be kept after 

 this timo under a. shod whoro there is plenty of li^ht, but tboy would do 

 bettor in a warm, sheltered situation, affording protection from troet at 

 niKht. 



Liquid Manuee (Mrm).— You may prepare liciniJ manure as yon 

 propciso by pouring water over the horse liroppiuRS, letting tho wliole 

 stand overniglit. A peek of hcrse droppings will mako thirty gallons of 

 liquid mnnuro, whicti need not lio strained for out-door watering, it is 

 deciirsble to btrain it for plants in pola for tho s.il;o of appearance. 



DKaxEOTluo WooDLica f^ London Subacriber), — We know of no bbtter 

 moans of trapping woodlico tlian the potato baits— a boiled potato 

 wrapped loosely in a little hay, being placed at the bottom of a small 

 flower pot, and the pot put on its side at night in the places which tho 

 woodlice frequent. In tho morning shake the woodlice into boiling 

 vrator. This persisted in will completely keep them under. 



Black Cdbeant Boshes on Sandstone iSiuacx). — We do not cousiUer 

 tho climate the cause of failure, at leant we should not give up their 

 cultivation without first trying liberal dressings of manure, as wo con- 

 sider tho failure arises from the hot dry soil, and Black Currants like 

 moist soil. The use of the cultivator should at once be stayed, content- 

 ingyourself with the removal of the weeds. Give a good top-dressing of 

 manure now, cover it lightly with soil to prevent its drying, and water as 

 much as you can, giving liquid manure during dry weather. In autumn 

 again manure, not pointing over tho soil about tho bushes, as that could 

 not be done without inj ury to the roots. In spring repeat the top-dressing 

 of the maunre, and water in dry weather. We think you will thus net 

 only secure better growth, bnt plenty of fruit. The less the soil is dis- 

 turbed about the plants the better, but keep down the weeds. 



Temperature of Water for Syringing (W. K., Augrnering], — You 

 may use the water when it is 6' colder than the atmosphere. This, we 

 presume, is the case during tho morning and evening. Gould you not 



have a shallower vessel, holding enough for one syringing, placed so that 

 it would have a better chance of being heated b> the sun's rays to a tempe- 

 rature approaching that of the houso? For watering, the temperatnro 

 of tho wator ehould be etiual to tho moan of the house, and for such a 

 purpose you may safely use the water from tho tank. 



Grapes and Fioh for Out-doou Gultcue lldein).—ln addition tOg 

 Espiran and Koyal Muscadine (irapos.yow niayhave Black Cluster, Early 

 Saumur Frontignaii, Karly White Malvasia, Onmbridge Botanic Garden, 

 Ingram's Hardy Iholiflc Muscat, Early Malingrc, and Pitmnston White 

 Cluster. Tlio Grape you sec on farmhouses reBcuibling tho Black Cluster, 

 if probably Miller's Burgundy, tif Figs, grow Brown Turkey, Early 

 Violet, White Marseilles, and Brunswick. The Black, Brown, and Whito 

 Ischia Figs are in the catiilogue of tho nurseryman you name. There is 

 a seedling Orapo with a Frontignan flavour, roised by Mr. Standiata, 

 romarkablo for its earliness. It is woll worth a trial in the open air, but 

 wo do not know the name of it. 



Black Paint for Hot-water Pipes (E. A. ,■).).— Use lamp black, 

 brought to tho consistency of paint by mixing it with boiled linseed oil. 

 The pipes shoold be made c|uito hot and then be coated over with the paint, 

 keeping them hot until it beeomei dry, when tho smell will pass away ; 

 but it the pipes aro coated over when cold, however well the paiiit dries, 

 when they become hot an ofTensive and injurious vapour will bo given otl. 

 Two coats are necessary ; the second should be put on when tho first be- 

 comes dry. The paint should be woll brushed into every part of tho pipes. 



FcNQCs AND FuNoi (An Old Stib!cribeT).—T:he first is tho singular and 

 tho second the plural. 



Names of Plants (T. Jfarrfll).— What tho man calls Princess 

 AmeUa," is the Fritillarj', one of our native plants, sometimes called 

 Chequered Daffodil or Chequered Tulip, Fritilhira meleagris. [Conalant 

 Render).— 'i, Dielytra spectabilis ; 2, Deutzia gracilis ; 8, Stacbys lanata. 

 (M. Bcbbletliwmtf).—Oawan!i pectinata, also called Euryops pectinatus. 

 (J. C, Bromlty).— 1, Nephrodium decompositum var. ; J, Davallia pcnta- 

 phyllo. (H. J.).—'i, Nephrolepis cordifolia ; 8, Phym.atodos vulgaris; 

 4, Polypodinm h.riceum ; 5, Selaginella, probably S, rnbricanlis ; 6, Sela- 

 ginella Kraussiana (S. hortcnsis of gardens) ; 7, Orobus vernus; 9, A^bis 

 lucida, fol. aureis variegatis ; 10, Nemophila atomaria. (A. B.).—Boia 

 your fronds appear to us to be from Adiantum hispidulum, one being a 

 barren, the other a fertile frond. (0. G.).— l,Aloe striata vanegataj 

 a, Oasteria verrucosa. (11. A. B.).—!, Genista racemosa; '2, Cineraria 

 maritima; 3, Farfugium grando; 4, Matthiola tristis. (G. .S.).— Yont 

 Primuhi appears to us to be a small-flowered form of P. cortusoides. 

 (IT. D. .4.).— Amelanchier canadensis, (ryro).— Populus tremula. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS iti the Suburba of London for the week ending AprU 2rth. 



Obnbbax. Rbhares. 



Clear and fine ; cloudy ; fine, cool air at night. 

 Very fine and clear ; cloudy ; very fine, starhght. 

 Fine, very mild ; overcast ; heavy showers ; rain. 

 Densely overcast ; cloudy, fine ; clear and line. 

 Fine, cloudy ; very fine ; fine, mild air. 

 Foggy, fine ; very flue ; densely overcast. 

 Fine and clear, very fine ; clear, cold wind. 



POTJLT R Y, BBE, A NB PIGEO N CHR ONICLE. 



COMPOUND FOODS FOR POULTRY. 



Tbe question of the value of " fooas " in tho rearing of 

 chickens is one of such importance that I was glad to see tho 

 lecture and opinion on tho subject by so practical a man as Mr. 

 Jeffries in your columns. As a breeder and exhibitor with 

 many years' experience, I have given the matter much attention, 

 and I now venture to send you the results of my observations, 

 in the hope that they may prove interesting to some of my 

 brother fanciers. 



I am one of thoso extromely sceptical iu the matter of specifics 

 and new preparations, having tried many of them with but one 

 eonolusion — that if they did no harm they were of as little use. 

 I found nothing equal to the old system, and to this day continue 

 in part to adhere to it. 



Someyears since a prospectus of Dear's food came accidentally 

 under my notice, and I mentioned it to my neighbour, Mr. F. 

 Pittis, the well-hnown breeder of Pencilled Ramburghs, and we 

 both agreed to give it a trial. At the time I had that scourge 

 of the poultry yard, roup, as an nnwelcome visitor, and I put 

 acme of tho birds on the new diet ; they fought shy of it at first, 

 but took to it after a short time, and every bird recovered. 

 Since then I have used a small quantity daily, aud my birds 

 have had no re-appearance of tho disease. So far it has proved 

 of great value, but as to its fattening qualities, of which Mr. 

 Jeffries speaks so highly, I can give no opinion, as I breed 

 simply for exhibition. 



Of course tbe composition of these "foods" cannot vary 

 very considerably unless it is in tbe different qualities of the 

 meal of which they are composed. Dear's food is somewhat 



eoarsor than flour, of a dull yellow colour, and smells very 

 strongly of drugs, in all probability of a tonic nature. Soma 

 little trouble is required in its preparation, as it must be 

 scalded with boiling milk or water previous to use, in the case 

 of rearing chickens, to the thickness of custard, when it has thiB 

 advantage that little water is necessary, a very strong reason 

 perhaps why chickens reared on it are not so liable to gapes. I 

 should judge one pound when prepared would make about four 

 of the custard, so that there is nothing to object to on the score 



of economy. .... i- 



There are, I think, three great desiderata requisite in arti- 

 ficial foods— viz., economy, prevention of disease, and stimu- 

 lating qualities, and to secure general use a food must possesB 

 them. As far as my opinion goes, Pear's approaches the 

 nearest to this standard ; but as at this season many would be 

 glad to give anything really valuable a trial, perhaps some of 

 your readers who have tried it would slate the results in their 

 case.— Hbket Loh, Appuldurcomhe, Isle of Wight. 



DRAWINGS OF POULTRY. 



I HAVE often thought how useful snd interesting it would bo 

 if committees of poultry shows vfould give drawings of poultry 

 instead of cups, having them made, soy, life size, exact in 

 all points and iu shape, so that one c.mld refer to them as 

 a standard of excellence. How frequently do we hear, My 

 bird is first-class, and I think he ought to have bad the prize ; 

 but after a close inspection, it is found to be deficient in siape, 

 colour, and comb. I have often known a man buy all the best 

 birds an amateur had for a small price, as the breeder did not 

 know tbe true points for exhibition, but if be bad something to 

 guide him he would soon see the faults. I think it would be a 



