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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t October 15, J 



Pigeons. — Ttimhlrr^. — Highly Commended, Anderson. Jacobins. — 

 Pnze, Williams. Funtaits.—Fnze, Miss Orme. Second, Slee. Any other 

 ranettj.—Vxizi}, Williams. 



N.B. — The Fantails were very beantifnl, and attracted ranch 

 notice. I think '■ Wiltshire Rector " would have been pleased to 

 nave seen them. 



OANAniEs. — Cock. — Prize, Clark. Highly Commended, Anderson 

 Beit.— Prize, Williams. Highly Commended, Ness. 



N.B.— I can safely state that the Canaries were not up to the mark , 

 notwithstanding the owners ticketed a very high iigare on the cages ; 

 I think the highest priced one was £.5. We have a great many choice 

 and good birds amongst us, and I hope tbey will be better represented 

 another time. 



Rabbits rPrench).— Prize, Howell. Aivi other variety.— Prize, Foster. 

 Highly Commended, Evans (Double Lop-ear). 

 — William Swale. 



SOME NOTES ON PIGEONS. 

 Previods to my settlement in good Old England, I had the 

 pleasure of visiting a portion of Asia Minor, European Turkey, 

 Spain, Italy, Austria, Egypt, Belgium, France, and the United 

 States. In every town one of my first inquiries was, " Are 

 there any Pigeon dealers here ? " And whether there were or 

 not, I made out what sort of interesting specimens there were, 

 and now from my observations give my conclusions. 



In every one of the named countries existed once, and in 

 most yet exist, the common sorts of half-bred Pigeons, of 

 several colours. In the warmest countries, as in the case of 

 the wild birds also, the Pigeons are most improved ; for 

 example, there are in Africa specimens of all sorts, and of 

 all the distinct varieties exhibited in England. I observed, 

 in general, that wherever cultivation or importation introduced 

 the moderate and short-beaked varieties, the long-beaked sorts 

 have disappeared gradually, and I believe I am correct in 

 saying, that the same is the case in this country. So far as I 

 am informed, once the principal breed was the worthy Carrier, 

 in its several degrees, and the most beautiful Almond Tumbler, 

 and nearly every fancier kept some form of the Carrier race. 

 The introduction of the several short-beaked varieties has 

 limited the Carrier fancy considerably, which I am very sorry 

 to see, as I consider the English Carrier ought always to be 

 preserved, as a contrast to the modern introductions. The 

 principal reason of this apparent transformation, I believe 

 to be public opinion, and this is also the conclusion from my 

 inquiries in other countries. I nay public opinion, because 

 the general public, including modern fanciers, at sight appre- 

 ciate a compact, short-beaked Pigeon, rather than a long-beaked 

 one, and anyone can be convinced of this by a little attention 

 to the remarks of the non-amateur visitors to the large Pigeon 

 shows. 



The only long-beaked varieties some of the general public 

 appreciate, are the Pouters, the Fantails, the double-capped 

 Trumpeters, &c., possessing some remarkable and pleasing at- 

 traction ; and is not the Carrier most remarkable ? I say de- 

 cidedly it is ; but we cannot prevent the general public, and 

 especially ladies, from saying, " Oh ! what unsightly, deformed 

 beaks and sore eyes these birds have. Are they well, poor 

 creatures ? " Although there is something remarkable and 

 pleasant in the Pouter, Fantail, Trumpeter, &e., they do not 

 approach the short-beaked varieties in pubhe estimation even 

 in England, where the latter are of comparatively modern 

 introduction ; but in countries where there are plenty, and such 

 specimens as England has not seen yet, the long-beaked va- 

 rieties have disappeared, or if any, are in the loft of some old 

 lady or gentleman, like my uncle, who kept Runts, and large 

 Trumpeters, whose progeny he had cooked by passing through 

 them a long iron rod. They had to be turned by this rod 

 over a charcoal fire, saturating them constantly with butter, and 

 powdering them with ground biscuit till ready for the table, and 

 I assure you they were infinitely superior to any which had been 

 made into a pie. 



The Carriers, Pouters, Fantails, Trumpeters, Runts, &c., are, 

 of course, well known, and of great perfection in this country] 

 so they need no comment from me. I pass, therefore, to 

 the moderate-sized and short-beaked varieties. There are 

 in this country Archangels, Nuns, Magpies, Swallows, Jacobins, 

 &c., perfection, also of the short-beaked kinds there are perfect 

 specimens of Almonds, of course. Owls, and Barbs, but un- 

 fortunately not of Turbits. I must say that I have not yet seen 

 a well-formed and good-coloured Turbit, such as I met with on 

 the Continent, where the black is as good as a good black 

 Barb's, the red a deep warm red, and the yellow a fine deep 



orange yellow, all shining naturally, as if they were varnished, 

 instead of the generally faded dead-looking colours I see on 

 their feathers in England. To my surprise, instead of 

 persevering to improve this most important property, breedere 

 have given their attention to breeding clear-thighed birds, 

 which should be quite a secondary consideration. The eye, 

 also, of the Turbits in this country is quite insignificant ; the 

 go®d continental Turbits have the lash round the eye of a most 

 remarkable buff colour, contrasting most beautifully with the 

 black eye, and increasing its apparent size. 



In looking at the most interesting "new variety" class in 

 our large shows, I always think of the answer I received from a 

 great German new-variety breeder for the English market. I 

 asked what is the origin of the Ice Pigeon, the Fairy, the 

 Satin Swallow, and the like? The answer— " I mingle to- 

 gether in my loft a dozen of each of the following breeds : 

 Hyacinths, Swallows, and Spots, of different colours, and Arch- 

 angels ; cocks of the two breeds, and hens of the other two, 

 BO that I may be sure of having crosses, and I obtain more 

 new varieties than I can find names for ! " And who can deny 

 that nearly all the different new varieties have one and the 

 same character ? Certainly there are some with beautiful 

 plumage, such as the Satin Swallow, but the variety from 

 which it has taken half of its name, the Satinette is admitted 

 to be the new variety which has revolutionised the fancy. 

 Asa proof, a reference to this Journal, from 18G3 to 18G6, will be 

 sufficient to show that the Satinettes have done what no other 

 variety ever did — in fact, they have tired the judges awarding 

 them prizes, to such an extent that one judge said he must 

 give the turn to others lor encouragement. I nevei' yet heard 

 any fancier or observer say that he had seen anything prettier 

 in the Pigeon tribe, and I never expected meeting with any- 

 thing approaching them anywhere, till I saw this breed, which 

 is a production of Africa, and my opinion most decidedly has 

 been verified in England. The Satinettes possess as great 

 perfection of plumage as any of the known new varieties, if not 

 a superiority in that respect, with as exquisite and compact a 

 form of head as the Owl, including the frill. They are Grouse- 

 muffed, and the most remarkable of their properties are the 

 tail feathers, which are of similar colour to those of the blue 

 Owls, only darker, and at the extremity of each feather there 

 is a white spot as large as a shilling, which is the admiration 

 and puzzle of every fancier, as they are the only known var'ety 

 possessing this beautiful peculiarity. — A FoitEiaNES. 



UNITING BEES. 



In the case of late and weak swarms of bees, instead of wait- 

 ing till the autumn, and driving and uniting them to other 

 stocks, as directed in " Bee-keeping for the Many," would it do 

 equally well to proceed in the same way on the evening of 

 the day they swarm by knocking them out on the ground at 

 sunset, and setting the stock they came from, or some other, 

 over them — in short, proceeding in the same way as when 

 uniting stocks in the autumn ? 



In putting a nadir under a hive, should it be permanently left 

 there, or removed in the winter ? — W. Mash. 



[Late and weak swarms may be advantageously united or 

 returned to their parent stocks in the manner you describe. 

 Nadirs must be removed in the autumn, and any worker combs 

 which they contain should be taken care of, as they wUl be 

 found very valuable either as guide combs or as decoy combs 

 for supers. 



As your object is to obtain eggs only, keep Golden-pencilled 

 Hamburghs.] 



Had your correspondent " H." (see page 161), proceeded as 

 follows, the morning light, instead of revealing the " melan- 

 choly sight " which met his view, would in all probability have 

 shown but two empty boxes without a single dead bee on either 

 floor board: — 



He ought to have driven the cottager's bees into a spare 

 empty Stewarton hive in the one case, and into a Woodbury in 

 the other, leisiireli/, so as to ensure the due filling of the honey 

 bags, setting down each close by the hive to which it was to be 

 united till dusk, then raised the Stewarton stock, and as quickly 

 as possible set it down upon the corresponding hive with the 

 driven bees, closing the upper entrance, and gently withdrawing 

 the slides of the lower box nearly to their ends, and in like 

 manner disposed of the driven bees in the Woodbury, after of 

 conrse removing the crown board of the lower box. A few pnfls 



