April 9, 1868. ) 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



287 



bat as an accommodation to breeders such birds might be pro- 

 vided 'r in a defective-plumage class, to be judged solely amd 

 rigorous^ y forsixe, shape, carriage, limb, and constitution ; and 

 thisi/c em would have the additional advantatje of displaying 

 the t^ste and abilities ot our judges in cardinal matters. — 

 W. V'oLCKMAN, Lamhm. 



P.S. — Since the above was put in type an anonymous 

 contributor has appeared in a discussion hitherto conducted 

 under hona-fuh' signatures. Much that " Dukd.s Show " 

 advances or questions is anticipated in the foregoing article. 

 ft is somewhat diflicult to disentangle the object of hia remarks, 

 seeing that ho avoids any direct contravention of the principle 

 of " selection," a principle agreed in and illustrntod by the 

 very authorities he quotes, and practised in some form or other 

 by every successful fancier. 



A PERUSAL of Mr. Volckman's reply to Mr. Stuart and myself 

 in the Journal of the 2()th nit. quite confirms the impression 

 made on my mind by his first article. He fir.st introduced 

 himself as having had a long practical experience in Pouter- 

 breeding. I therefore asked him to give a few facts in support 

 of his views, as such evidence would tell more strongly in his 

 favour, if agreeing with bis theory of breeding, than any 

 amount of writing on the subject ; but in his reply he does not 

 even allude to this. 



Again, in his report to the members of the London societies 

 he says, " that deterioration is going on in almost every 

 strain." This assertion could only be made by one who is 

 ignorant of what has been going on for the last ten or twelve 

 years ; on the contraiy, I say most decidedly that great im- 

 provement has been going on in almost all the strains ; and 

 every fancier who may have seen the earlier Glasgow shows 

 will, I feel confident, agree with me, and I have not the slightest 

 doubt but the same may be said of the Birmingham and other 

 principal shows. Blacks had very often white faces or rmg heads ; 

 Blues were much the same ; Eeds very poor in colour ; and 

 Yellows so scarce and inferior that there was no class for them 

 the first year or two. I therefore claim for myself and for the 

 principal Scotch breeders a great improvement even in colour 

 and marking, though no doubt there is plenty to do yet, and 

 we shall always be glad to receive practical hints or to receive 

 more light ; but Mr. Volckman has utterly failed to give us 

 this, even to the extent of a farthing rushlight. 



My illustration drawn from Almonds is, he says, unfortu- 

 nate, as breeders are now at a standstill, if not actually going 

 back. Not being at present in the Short-face fancy, I cannot 

 say whether such is the case or not. I certainly think the 

 birds at Glasgow during the late shows would not lead one to 

 think they were sinking, and I know that some of the most 

 successful breeders still adhere to this system ; but the Short- 

 face fanciers do not require me to assist them if they should 

 feel aggrieved. This inability to move on, Mr. Volckman says, 

 arises " from one-sided selection at the will or taste ot the 

 fanciers," but he does not say how selection is to be made if 

 aotat the will and taste of the fancier. Perhaps the new 

 Society which he has been aiding to form may, in its very com- 

 prehensive limits, appoint a committee of taste or a registrar 

 general to decide upon the merits of the candidates for matri- 

 monial felicity— to take care that the gentleman in black does 

 not foolishly ally himself with the young lady in blue, and 

 thereby entail disgrace on their descendants by having to pass 

 through life as despised Chequers or seedy Blacks. 



Mr. Volckman seems quite pleased with the fancy that it had 

 taken Mr. Stuart and myself four or five weeks to reply to his 

 first article, no doubt dashed off in as many minutes ; "but like 

 Snug in the play, we are "slow of study" here in the north. 

 It would, however, have been much better had he taken more 

 time, and waited until he really had something to say worth 

 hearing. Suppose that he had waited a few years to give his 

 pet system of .^election a trial to ascertain if it was really better 

 than that which he condemns.^, If he had done this, and shown 

 US better birds than we have been breeding, it would then have 

 required no persuasion, by long wordy articles or otherwise, 

 to follow his system, as Scotchmen have the name of being 

 wide awake to their own interest. Who asked Mr. Volckman 

 to believe that our present grand strains ef Pouters have been 

 bred from Pouting Horsemen '.' 



I had almost forgot to ask, What of the Dun and Black 

 Carriers ? I may presume that as Mr. Volckman does not 

 notice this that it is not unfortunate for me. 



I think I have now shown that Mr. Volckman has in reality 

 t<o practical experience in Pouter-breeding, and that he does 



not know what has been done by fanciers in raising the various 

 strains to their present comparatively high state of excellence ; 

 and in reply to his question of What ought to be done under 

 the present condition and aspect of the I'outer classes '! I would 

 simply say. Nothing. The present .system has raised those 

 birds steadily ; and though not yet all wo could wisli, I think 

 there is sufficient vitality and power in our system to raise 

 thom still higher, or at least wo shall let well alone till some- 

 thing hotter is brought forward. — Geo. Ure, Dundee, 



A GUIDE TO CANARY-BREEDING.— No. 1. 

 The Canary lays from three to six eggs, and sometimes but 

 not often seven, and has four or five nests in the season. Four 

 is an average nest. Take out the egg every morning till the 

 third is laid, and on the evening of that day remove the nest 

 in which the hen has been scul'lling about for the last week, 

 and replace the eggs in a clean felt securely fastened, and care- 

 fully adjusted to the shape of the tin. This is best done by 

 making the felt of a circular shape, and cutting a deep notch 

 in the edge, which will make it fit without a wrinkle by pressing 

 it into the tin. Should the bird have built her own nest, by 

 all means allow it to remain intact, the above process applying 

 only to the artificial nest system. Each has its merits. Try 

 both, and adopt that which succeeds best with you. Some hens 

 evince only a very slight inclination to build ; while others are 

 very clever architects, and, true to the instincts of their nature, 

 construct such beautiful nests that, apart from all other con- 

 siderations, one cannot help regarding them with admiration. 

 I have twenty hens sitting, and have adopted both plans, and 

 so far I decidedly advocate allowing the bird to construct its 

 own habitation, but as the season advances I shall look with 

 some apprehension for the appearance of the little red rascals, 

 on the first sight of which I invariably change the nest 

 instanter. 



With reference to this matter, I will give an extract from a 

 letter I received this morning from a lady, a valued correspon- 

 dent. I give it both as an item of experience, and to show 

 your fair readers what an interest our feathered favourities are 

 capable of exciting in the minds of their own sex. My corre- 

 spondent writes : — "As to nests, I always give my birds moss 

 and hair to make their own in square boxes, which they gene- 

 rally do very nicely. When they do not I make the nest for 

 them, putting moss in the corners aud filling up with hair, 

 rounding it with my knuckles and bent hand, and finally finish- 

 ing with one of my hard-boiled hen's eggs while warm. It 

 is easily done. As for red mites, I am rarely troubled with them. 

 I saturate all the joints and crevices of my cages with sweet 

 oil before I put up my birds, using a large camel-hair brush, 

 and working it into the joints with a thin knife. I also pour 

 oil into the nest boxes before they are used, allowing the oil 

 to run into the joints. I repeat the process between every 

 brood of birds, and carefully watch for the white powdery look 

 which announces the presence of these pests, and brush the 

 place over with oil. If they appear in a nest, a fresh one must 

 he made as I have explained." 



On the fourth morning will in all probability be found another 

 egg added to the number, and the hen will at once begin to sit, 

 seldom leaving her nest except to feed, and that not often, as 

 the cock, if he be a dutiful husband, will supply all her wants. 

 The egg and hemp seed must now be discontinued. The breeder 

 can satisfy himself in a few days as to whether there be any 

 vitality in the eggs by holding them up to the light, when the 

 blood vessels can be distinctly traced, and the egg will be observed 

 to be semi-opaque, while in a day or two longer it wiU become 

 perfectly so. Such are said to bo " full " eggs. Others are worth- 

 less ; and if at the expiration of a week they are still transparent, 

 they may be at once removed, as it is useless to distress the 

 hen by allowing her to sit them out, unless her services may 

 be required as a nurse for the progeny of some other bird 

 whose ideas of maternal duties are not of a very clear nature, 

 and which is expected to chip on or about the same date as the 

 other. 



On the morning of the thirteenth day following that on which 

 the bird began to sit, the young ones will chip — thatis, suppos- 

 ing she lay her fourth egg on Wednesday morning, and at once 

 begins to sit closely, they will chip on the following Tuesday 

 week ; and in anticipation of this interesting occasion, have iu 

 readiness a hard-boiled egg, and if procurable a nice bunch ot 

 chickweed, or, better still, lettuce. Pass a small portion of the 

 yolk through the peiforated zinc egg box, and add a Uttle 



