March 5, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTIOUIiTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



195 



match as this no one would recommend, but two or three pairs 

 of fine birds of one colouv, or colours kindred to each other, will 

 serve for many years without iutroJuciug any now blood. — 

 James Huie. 



EOUP IN PIGEONS. 



The following recipe for roup in Pigeons may perhaps be of 

 use to Mr. Boyd and other breeders. I have cured some most 

 inveterate cases with it, and, proper time being allowed, do not 

 think I ever remember it to have failed. 



Upon a small handful each of rue, wormwood, and here- 

 hound, pour a quart of boiling water, strain oft when cold into 

 a common wine bottle, adding a small quantity of saiiron and 

 a little sugar, a table-spoonful to be given to the bird through a 

 funnel every morning. 



The mixture will keep good any reasonable time when bottled. 

 I have also found it of great use, with other remedies, for cancer. 

 — W. K. Rose. 



A GUIDE TO CANARY BREEDING.— No. 1. 



Among our household pets, the Canary very deservedly 

 holds a high place in onr estimation. He is a cheerful, merry 

 little fellow, and is at home alike in the cottage and the mansion, 

 repaying such trifling attentions. as he demands at our hands 

 with the most delicious melody, which under proper training can 

 be made to rival the notes of the sweetest song birds of Britain. 



But not in this respect alone does interest attach to the 

 Canary. An almost endless diversity of shape and plumage has 

 rendered it a most attractive subject for the fancier ; and the 

 magnifioent collections which are annually congregated at our 

 great exhibitions at the Crystal Palace, Sunderland, South- 

 ampton, and other towns sufficiently attest the increasing in- 

 terest with which this bird is regarded, while the large prices 

 realised by good specimens indicate financial results of a flatter- 

 ing character. The impetus which the exhibitions have given 

 to Canary-breeding is something extraordinary ; and since it is 

 an occupation, the tendencies of which are all elevating, and 

 which can be carried on in the nursery, the parlour, the study, 

 the conservatory, or indeed almost anywhere and everywhere, 

 it shall be my object to give a few practical hints for the 

 guidance of those beginners who may be disposed to " put up " 

 a pair or two of birds for the approaching season. I do not 

 propose to issue a learned treatise, but simply what it pretends 

 to be, an A B G guide to those who are studying the alphabet 

 of Canary-breeding. 



All Canaries are, as a rule, divided into two classes as regards 

 colour — viz. Yellow and Buff, or more technically spealdng, 

 Jonque and Mealy. Whether Norwich, Belgian, Cinnamon, 

 Lizard, Green, or any other class, these two are the primary 

 colours, any markings or variegations being built upon these 

 two foundations. 



It may appear strange to a novice when he hears that a Green 

 may be a Yellow Green or a BnB Green, but a very little 

 explanation will make this clear. Perhaps it will be better first 

 to give a definition of what is meant by Buff, which has some 

 very strongly marked features, while Yellow is conspicuous by 

 their absence. 



Buff or Mealy, then, in a Canary, is that dead, flat colour 

 which is always found overlaid, more or less, by a wliite, silvery, 

 mealy exterior, giving the bird the appearance of having been 

 dusted with flour, sometimes almost to whiteness, hence the 

 term mealy — and which flatness of hue with its overcoat of 

 meal is clearly observable over any colour whatever. Yellow 

 consists in the absence of this dead colour and meal, and the 

 substitution of a clear transparent hue. 



Jonque and Mealy are, in their application, more expressive 

 terms than Y'ellow and Buff, and may, without too closely con- 

 sidering their etymology, be understood to convey the idea of a 

 clear, glossy, brilliant, trausparant shade of any colour, or a 

 dead, flat shade of the same, overlaid by a coat of meal, which, 

 since it turns Yellow to Buff, has occasioned the general use of 

 these familiar words. We can therefore have, for example, 

 " Jortque Cinnamon " — i.e., a pure, clear, brilliant, transparent 

 cinnamon, and we can also have a " Mealy Cinnamon " — i.e., 

 the same colour, but overlaid with more or less meal, giving it 

 a subdued shade, which is to the other as Buff' is to Y'ellow. 

 The same observation applies to Lizards, and as stated at the 

 outset, to all classes. It may not be so obvious in one as in 

 another, but the distinction is there, and a very little experience 

 will enable the beginner to detect it. 

 A right appreciation of the purity or depth of shade in colour 



is arrived at only by experience, but this general explanation ig 



given to enable the breeder to pair his birds properly, the first 

 fundamental maxim being. Pair Jonque cocks with Mealy hens, 

 and vice vrrsil. 



The Mealy birds of either sex are invariably the most com- 

 pact in phiraago, and the crossing of the colours induces this 

 most invaluable property while it intensifies the colour under 

 llie meal, producing in some instances birds of a marvellous 

 hue. The produce of two Jonques, oven if high in colour, will 

 bo apt to be wanting in quality aud what is called " open- 

 feathered," while that of two Mealy birds will be deficient in 

 colour. There are cases in which it may bo highly judicious to 

 pair two Jonques or two Mealy birds, and such is often done 

 with a view to bring about certain desired results, but the 

 beginner need not try any experiments. It is usual also in 

 pairing crested birds to cross a crest with a baldpate. Two 

 crests are seldom paired together unless for special purposes, 

 though this also is sometimes done when special results are 

 aimed at. 



The birds should not be " put up " too soon. The state of 

 the weather to a greater or less extent alters the time. They 

 will breed under favourable circumstances at Christmas, but 

 this is by no means desirable. Some breeders have favourite 

 dates at which to commence ; one of our most eminent breeders 

 told me at the late Crystal Palace Show, that he is never later 

 than the firstweek in March. Much, however, must depend upon 

 the situation, aspect, &o. As a rule, the beginning of April is 

 early enough to make a start, at least in the north. Remember 

 that two fine days do not make a summer, and many a breeder 

 has had cause to regret being tempted to pair his birds too 

 early. Letter begin late, very late, than too early — rely upon it 

 nothing is gained by being impatient, and nothing is lost by 

 waiting, till — when ? Why till the nights are warm and your 

 hens can see to feed at five o'clock in the morning. — W. A. 

 Blakston. 



ADDING LIGURIAN QUEENS. 



In substituting one queen for another, inexperienced apia- 

 rians would do well to attend to all those precautions which 

 have been recommended to bo observed by Mr. Woodbury. A 

 queen cage is a most useful auxiliary in the process, and the 

 American plan of immersing the queen in liquid honey im- 

 mediately before introducing her to her new subjects, is often 

 crowned with success ; but I have never in my own apiary used 

 any of these adjuncts, my practice being based on the convic- 

 tion, arising from experience, that bees will cheerfully accept 

 any sovereign after they have fairly ascertained the loss of 

 their own, provided that no encasements have recently taken 

 place within their hive, and no stranger element has entered it. 



During the breeding season the loss of a queen is generally 

 discovered within twenty-four hours, and when the bees become 

 conscious of their loss they are thrown into a state of agitation, 

 aud may be seen running out and in at the entrance, and up 

 and down the front of the hive. If about two hours after this 

 agitation is observed a new queen be given to them, they will 

 receive her favourably, even though the hive should be filled 

 with eggs and brood. 



After breeding is suspended, and the bees have entered into 

 a state of comparative repose, they might not, in the absence 

 of a thorough disturbance, find out their loss for several days. 

 When, therefore, I abstract a queen for the purpose of replac- 

 ing her by another, I take care to rouse the hive into complete 

 activity. If the queen is taken away in the morning I put the 

 deprived bees into a state of general commotion in the after 

 part of the day, either by tapping, partial driving, or elevating 

 the frames and shaking the bees back into the box, according 

 to the character of the hive operated on. This makes the bees 

 search for their queen, and by the following day the unwelcome 

 truth has been sufficientlj' learned that she is no longer among 

 them. The signs which indicate this are as follow : — On 

 removing the crown board, or turning up the hive if a common 

 straw one, and blowing a little smoke on the bees, a continu- 

 ous hum is set up by a general vibration of the wings, and a 

 running-over the combs as if in search of something. The 

 new queen may be introduced as soon as convenient after this 

 evidence has been obtained, and I always inaugurate the in- 

 troduction by a few whiiTs from a fumigator held in the mouth. 

 In following the practice described, I do not remember ever 

 having lost a queen, or requiring a longer interval than twenty- 

 four hours between removing the old sovereign aud substituting 

 the new. 



Hives in which queens have been imprisoned should be 



