474 



JOTJBSAL OF HQEXICOLmRE AM) COTTAGE GAEDEKEB. 



[ DaoeaikerlJ, len. 



Were I debarred from agmiaAoTrasg as " C t^rs^r's" wishee. I eionld 

 n:s ss ill be azmojed at the &et, for I have, before to-4aT,cnde 

 cp mj miitii. with ace or tvo eieeplioss assnallv. not tc show 

 BT biris s^iin. as I forttmateiv possess some of the beet faxi^ 

 ol their iini in the iiBgdom, and consequently priza them too 

 Bach to hark them afaoot the oaanxzj bom. one shov to 

 ■nnfliw for the eake of mlrinc • suae,' or gettiag gain, as I 

 BCKcr altered the Sanej with End intentxais. 



I hesrulv wish I nsav be the last mieezeant thought aeeeEsary 

 to be bTOQgi>i; before the publie for soeh piaetieeE, bat am 

 lancii afraid scet will not be the tase. 



In ecnilasioa. I as scrrr " Cessos " has not pnblidy given 

 kis name ^ui addiesE. for I hare a great arersiaB to notiee 

 wiwrtF fcoa eenOemea i^ vi&hoU their niBieB. — A. £L 

 SlBir.ux. U4, r^K Street, Birmtghtm. 



[This letter proT'es— if proof were neeeesary — that the eon- 

 tiziked ptffsiee of am'Sfe dolls the conseienee until arti£ce is 



yibj dil Ifr. EUi B Mt dye or point his hrnis ? Either to 

 vin a prize whiri: he ia u w they were sot entitled to «in 

 sateiaDy, or to obtain from a pordiaEer a price be knew that 

 paretiScT wc^Ii not iire if not deeeived by the painting. 



Xcw, we Sii ilr. Stewart — ws ask anjcne who dc«s the 

 ssiEc, cr who ad^ pted icy snch artifise — is it not endeayxmiing 

 to obtsin mcney by false pretenres ? — Eds.;; 



PIGEON-JUDGDsG AT BIKinXGHAiL 



I xaxsz "Fossiusss" is wrong lUiongh I hare not my 

 eatal;,j::6 by me , when he states the work was too hea^ for 

 &e Pigeon Jwigee, and he woa dm e J hov they managed, the 

 three haring to j^i^e 120 pens more than last year. T^iia 

 year I beii=Te the entries in the Figecos were lees by aboat 

 lOO pens titan Ust year, when three did the work, and I con- 

 fess feli toler^""' ' I' the ferrish. He eompfaiBs cf Messrs. 



Bidpcth an:" " having tco mtieh in -tiigicg abont 



235 pens. I ^^; __- from hiaa here. For years ilr. Cottle 

 ana myself have jodged many more pens : at "the same time I 

 am well pleased that the Coimeil saw nt to appoint two mere 

 Jodges, as itatiU leares plstty to do for eadi, thoegh, I think, 

 not too much. 



I shall hav; ;. - ._ ' j^nre in informing ■■F;B.i:GSZ3"" how 

 the work wi- led. We took the wh:!e namfcer cf 



entries, and i- ._,= as nearly as p.TesioIe into two e<jnal 



psrts, wherenpcn Mr. Cottle and myself cfered to take either 

 half. Messrs. Eiipe^h and Esjnilant ehose their rcrticn. and 

 we took the ether : b^ I tan say that both Mr. Cottle and my- 

 self wonld raSher have had the other half, though we only had 

 Hie Afaaoods, Carriers, and Pocters. There were drteen classes 

 to jndes ahogeOer. and two silver medals to award in the 

 FaatecB. I mention thi5, as '■ Foeeic-s-es "" has asked the 

 gaa^iim . and I wish as mneh ss possible that the pnbli* shotild 

 laDwbow eTErythirg is or was managed, and, to the best o: 

 qnr ability, with ail tsimess. We hsTs notiing to bide, nor, I 

 keHcTc, anythir s to be ashamed cf. And, as I have said before, 

 I am only too pleased tc be able to give the req^iired information 

 to '• Foi£iGyi3," who p-ts his c^istionso ecnrteonsly — by the 

 Wij, almost ci a postscript to his very excellent article on the 

 F^eoes at England's great Shew. — HisEKOS Wete, WeirUi^k, 

 Breaeiiey, K€Tst. 



■WAXES SHEETS. 



^ Aficcia" in his aaewec to my last letter iriie page 393 . 

 has made some stateraaits so remarkable, that for the benefit 

 d Has retSezs ci '-oar Jomnal,'' as veil as cf himself, I feel 

 eaUed upon to reply. 



In the first place I beg to in&a^ Mm that sheets of tmecnal 

 thiikress are the rssnits cf had veriaBSBship. It is tme that 

 chance holes will be fcrasd in in^ressed sheets, bet in plain 

 ones they resemble thoee <rf • weaver whom I krew. who 

 wrocght a piece of cloth with many holes in it. A £ne of 6^. 

 bong demandsd for rrery hole, he iaqnired what wonjd be 

 leqiiired for cne hole. Only " Saacfeaee," was the reply ; when 

 Sse wesTer instantly rent the sef&al h(des into one. " There. 

 noo,'' said he. " se saxpeoee iH dae boo." So is it the same 

 with the bees, in piain sheets they gnaw their msrj holes into 

 ooe, aad make sbcat wad: of thftn I do not think it worth 

 while to say more ca the st^erimity of the impressed sheets 

 orer the p^ain cnes, since " A3tcoij.'s "" own statement felly 

 •ccdoss it, and I can resdily i«e how hs has been deceived by 



the bees building worker instead cf drone comb, although it 

 is not for me to explain why it is so. 



I regre: thai '• Api>xi_i " cannot undertake to snpply me 

 with waxen sheets at aboat the price for which he says they 

 can be made, ss I cannot a: present purchase wax for leas thaa 

 ?.'. per Lb., althcuih I have usually bought it at from It. M. 

 to 2s. I do not know what has caused the rise in price, bat 

 this is certain, that wax is just now in great demand. 



As all sheets that I have seen sent cut by Messrs. Xei^- 

 boar. as well as those made by myself, weigh from f onrteeB to 

 eighteen to the poimd. this, with wax at ti. to 3^. per lb., will 

 give abottt iJd. to 2i<i. each for wax alone. 



Althon^ I m^ claim the honour cf being the first to in- 

 trodwee asd mannfaetnie these sheets, and have, perhaps, 

 made more than any one eise in Scotland, I most say that I 

 cannot at aU approach the rpeed which " Ar:opt_i " descrtbea. 

 He is certainly alsoinerrjr when he describes waxen sheets as 

 running thirty to the pound ; and to settle the dispute. I beg to 

 say that all sheets I have seen from Messrs. Keighboor and 

 those made by myself, measuring 12} by '{ to Ti imdieE, 

 weigh aboot sixteen to the pound, and I herewith rwrlnon two 

 pieces, each of them Being abont the eighth part of a whole 

 sheet, for the purpose of being weighei — A LA>-iSXSsiEE 



;The '-two" pieces of wax had multiplied to an almost in- 

 dfiinite number by the time they reached us. By collec:ing and 

 caiefally wmehing the fragments we were, however, enabled to 

 ascertain, that supposing the whole of them to make-np one- 

 fonrth cf a sheet, it would take exactly sixteen of such sheets 

 to weigh a pound. We have also examined the impressed t»ax 

 sheets sent out by Messrs. Xeighbcur. which are of Germaa 

 manufacture, and are imported by them from the Contin^tl 

 These measure 10 inches wile by 7{ deep, and run abont 

 twenty-three to the poand. ; 



OUB LETTER BOX. 



Omaiii Oais (7. JCnimii.— Oatmeal is B>a«i7 the flcmr <J oats, tfae 

 kna iMnc koBcd frsB it. Groocd «tE have none o! the Ins sepuxted. 

 Oats cr ocA ed as ^ir faocse-feedis^ wx]a3d be seasij cf qviie as good lor 

 lamis asil coapietaif grooad. 



Kocs zv Fowx.^ Teboat fHiwAayiey). — ^It mar szise li«iii tite vazialife 

 «<€atke7. Gire the Ioms-Jb a Jsttle bamA soaJEed ia aie oace dlau j dazinp 

 tfa« wirt^. 



PisEOTS iPshma].—Jbtcii the BhM Boldlieafe, tnt w4 fte 

 Bisek zai Blae. i= the eaSamr wowld be qiote apoilfidL These woald he a 

 gccd chirct cf iheir vcong twmblmg. 



PtACB PDR KsHPcsi PiCEmra 'S.E.T. >r.i.— l£aie the place ss warm 

 CB4i £iee tiozz. jT^ngh; as pa^3h2e, and 70a may succeed with z few 

 h3^v t±ri5. We recodijiend joa to keep Ttnmpet&s. espenallv as yoa 

 have as cje to She tai?^ For a IcH accoost o£ Fancr Pigeons and their 

 trtaliaent^ f:c.i. 4c™ we advise y^a to obtain Breot'? ** Pigeon Book,**£ree 

 fr<?in OCT c£ire tot twazrv stamps Wait till the sarfrg b^oce job he^B 

 Fisecii-iti^iiig. 



Fiez^^fs < C«rr liu'. — Drageose vciild s«nt foo, thev are baMUhj, pretty, 

 and cha ' . axd leood nver^. Well-fed Pigeons nevo- hozt a gard^i. Pneea 

 vvrv. hwt a m. »» u wg?^ btiv voa a good fttir tset, of eaosEe, lar «^i- 

 fessaec). at asy Pigeoa shop^ We makearnleiioft iDivciaaaMaddealaaU 



PiEEo-E SxiF-ptuccED (,Jfrii<t).—\feiBawxo cettasi B«^ «( C^^f 

 a parrot o! pitickici oS its Jeithers if is has been in the habit of doing so 

 arv IcEgth cf time.' It is cacscd by aa imiati oa in the skim. AaSmai 

 food, or tcythiag grtasy. -rrt'- tr = ?!izhtest portioc of salt ift it, sodt ae 

 fcstter, win' produce an'-r : induce the bird to ^oek Ub 



leathers. Give it a gc-: 1 : ~ater ercfT otlier ^y, aaiag 



a walsxsg-rot with a r:: r - - ine ca@e b^ore tte fize — aot 



too near — for the tird s,:' Lirj U5^ J : zsn-g a doth over the cage to jai li af 

 jzs titV^q- cold. Give it canary seed, bread soaked is wat^r, aad a co^le 

 .-f sTTx-aTi i-hnipg i»,TTy • also Gtits, hiscaxt. apple, potsto botled. and B OEWBt 

 cf bread. occ3sicBa!Iy soaked is war^ tea ^withotrt any laalk). Flaoe ic 

 the cage a Urge pan hi water ix is so bathe, also a stick of wood, wbicb 

 win anmse she bird. 



5LL5AGEH3T OF ScPKES. — "Tn sjiswerto ' AJB.'s-'iEqmry.iupa^flJtaiy 

 experiaLCe teaches me that when & hive o£ bees has dUed aB its a;Taz]aUe 

 space, and there i£ h-^Bey abroad, they win at oice enter any space, and 

 rV-- 3^h airy ap^rtnre that piay be g i itji to fhesi. I have sees thww come 

 ctrtsida, and wcrhccmb tmder the board, asd last year I was called to look 

 at a krve etaaiiBS in an fi^ r i f mnrrd heehosse, w^ich was working xntder 

 a Idd hi an aid sa^k A3>vs over the Mve, asd on its removal there were 

 ceariy £n>e. sf fiae faneydepaEited aBfheeide of fheslEep. -A.B.'s' 

 hives t>i<t swarmed had conrmiaieedzaiaiig 4Heeas before being snpered. 

 Bees wig Itt o^ ia warwt weatlier when they have spare room mFfdp, Mj 

 «Ti»i«-» is that ' A- B.'s ' bees dU not enter the ssperg. sinipiy beeaaae 

 their hives w^e sot fiSed ia-idr. and they th e refcge never needed fktam. 

 The he&t wodd zaahe the Isves ]£ok fuller than they were, and last pear 

 the bees had e&on^ to do at ^rrr*^ so provide fcx the daily < 

 —J. W." 



Fr3fGrs oy Gcxn i-iFS -'tr. E. H.". — They win to a c 

 clear €t€ she fnscns if a layer cf smd is as the botscaa of the wmiex. We 

 > wJ^<= Tr<= that if kept warmer there ■=-.3cld be no fungus. It is certain that 

 ifcc :ish change fr;=i a cclien :■:• a black cctoar becaose the water is too 

 ceil. If is i= &£]^ as a teinperasme cf frczn 6a- to VJ', the golden colotir 

 returns. 



