3d€ 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ AprU 16, 1868. 



lying on its back upon a table, and place underneath the sieTO 

 a low oil or spirit lamp, the flame of which can be turned up 

 or down without danger of going out, as more or less heat is 

 required. Six inches above the lamp should be fixed a sheet 

 of tin or iron a foot square to distribute the heat and prevent 

 the flame concentrating itself too much under the centre of the 

 sieve and so endangering the eggs. The sieve can be covered 

 with a towel or piece of blanket upon which a thermometer 

 may be set. 



Some people place the eggs in small linen bags, putting 

 them at the foot or head of a bed under the sheets and blankets 

 where a person sleeps. This method I do not consider very 

 good, anymore than that practised by women on the continent 

 of placing the eggs in their bosoms, where the heat is too great. 

 Besides, I believe the exhalations from the body prejudicial to 

 the worms, causing them to enter life in a weak state, — Leonard 

 Habman, jun. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



LipT Dorking's THonBLEs.— Having balf promised to find a *' Chil- 

 oren 3 Corner" for the following, we redeem our semi-promise. 

 " Cluck, cluck," said Lady Dorking, 



One sunny April day ; 

 ''I feel ^o very broody 

 I cannot longer lay. 

 *' They've taken all my eggs awav, 

 And left nic only one, 

 And that I'm sure will never hatch, 

 Because it's made of stone. 

 " Oh dear I I feel so broody 

 I don't know what to do ; 

 Oh I what I'd give to have some eggs. 



If only one or two !" 

 The Baron Dnrking heard the noise, 



And quickly ciiuie to see. 

 What all the clucking was, and who 



It possibly could be. 

 And when he saw my Lady D, 



He nimbly sidled up ; 

 With head bent down, and drooping yviag. 



And many a tender cluck. 

 My lord's pohte attentions, though, 



Were not so well received, 

 My lady on the contrary. 



Seemed very much aggrieved. 

 And turning round her swelling tail, 



She raised her ruftled wings. 

 And said, with many an angry cluck. 



Some very naughty things. 

 My lady thought, on being left 



To sorrow all alone. 

 She'd go and try what she could do 



To hatch her egg of stone. 

 So, turning round, she slowly went 



Towards her strawy- nect, 

 And settled down, with many a cluck, 



tJpon her fevered breast. 

 And drawing in her egg, she gave 



Herself to incubation ; 

 And found content, in having found 



Her proper occupation. 

 Next moraing when Miss Annie came 



To feed her pets, she saw, 

 On looking round, my Lady D 

 Was snugly " in the straw." 

 "Tou dear old thing !" she gaily cried, 

 " What are you doing there V 

 Come out and have your breakfast — Why» 

 You're broody I declare 1 

 " Oh fie I you naughty, naughty bird ;" 



Miss Anuie (,'ently said, 

 " To try and bite your Missie's hand. 



From which you've often fed. 

 " But come, I think I have some eggs ; 

 And you shall have a brood, 

 I'll take away your egg of stone — 



But mind, you must be good." 

 She found a nice secluded spot 



And made lier up a nest ; 

 For three weeks' abs^ence from her lord. 



She thought would suit her best. 

 And so my lady had her wish, 

 And this displays the beauty 

 Of trying, be it great or small, 



To do our present duty. 

 'Tis true that hke the egg of stone, 



That duty may be humble ; 

 But do it, and you'll find more joy 

 Than standing still to grumble. 

 On duty's path you'll find your wish. 



For 'tis enchanted firound 

 Where bitters all are turned to sweetSj 

 And toil with rest is crowned. — B. 



Eggs not Hatceung {Constant Subscriber).— The failure of eggs is a 

 Cuckoo cry ; everyone complains of it. An uulmpregnated egg is clear, 

 and will remain so although under a hen for two months. One that bo- 

 comes rotten without being stale is one that has lived and died and 

 become putrid. A stale egg is a difTerent thing; that is the result of 

 being kept too long. It becomes stale as meat does. Change the cock. 

 {T. J. A'.). — Tlie complaint we receive from everyone now we receive 

 every year. Of tho early egg3 that are laid, it is true many are clear— i.e., 

 they are not impregnated. In the cold weather a cock confines himself 

 to his favomites. Many of the eggs about which we have complaints 

 now, were laid last month. Some nights there were from 8P to 10" of 

 frost. That would spoil any egg ; less than that would chill one, and that 

 has the same consequence. Then broody hens have been very scarce. 

 Many were put on eggs before they sat steadily and closely. They will 

 sit well for two days, then they play with the eggs for two days, and" then 

 sit closely. Those eggs cannot hatch. When the pullets were running 

 with the young cock it was too early; he did not notice them. Your eggs 

 would be good from twu days after the old bird was with the hens, pro- 

 vided he took to them. You need not be discouraged; persevere, and 

 May will make amends for the disajipointment of March. 



Separating Cochin-Chtna Cockerels akd Ptjllets (Lemon Bujf),~ 

 It is too early yet to separate chickens. It need not be done till there 

 are indications that the cockerels will soon notice the pullets. White 

 are as easily reared as any others. 



Hare Rabbits {Ocean Monarch). — They are not crossed with the Hai'e ; 

 they would be Leporidie if they were. They derive their name from being 

 in every way more like a Hare than a Rabbit. They weigh when fall 

 grown fi-om 7 to 10 lbs. They are prick-eared, they do not burrow, and 

 they are very prolific. 



Creve-C(Eur Cock's Sickle Feathers Broken {Young Exhibitor).— 

 It is simply a disadvantage, not a disqualification. 



Spanish Pollet Laying Soft Eggs (E. X.).— There is no injury to 

 the ovary, nor is the case likely to be a permanent one. It is simply a 

 question of defective secretions. The proper treatment will be to con- 

 fine her for a time, and to pm-ge freely with castor oil till proper-shelled 

 eggs are laid by her. 



Breeding Poultry for Exittbition and PaoFtT (W. B.).— You begin 

 with too many breeds. Four will be enough — Dorking, Spanish, Brahma 

 Pootras, and Cochin Chinas. Give your Dorkings half the space, divide 

 the remaining half -among tho other three. If you are bent on more 

 breeds keep Crt-ve-Cceurs and Game. You should not on an acre keep 

 more than four breeds. Sixty fowls are enough for one acre, but with 

 care you may keep seventy. The two acres will be wanted for the 

 chickens. They will dimage the crop one-third, or nearly half. We da 

 not know the value of their guano. If you mean to sell chickens you 

 will find it most profitable to sell as fast as they are fit for market, a few 

 at a time. 



Goose not Laying (J. Smced). — 'V^.'^e cannot tell yon why. It is unusual 

 and almost impossible for a Goose to pass a season without laying. 

 Watch her closely. It is more than probable the hen exceeds her time, 

 because the eggs are too dry. Wo have had a dry time lately. If you 

 have not done so. we advise you to moisten the eggs every day after the 

 15th. We think then you will not only find them come out, but they will 

 be stronger. 



Incubator Temperature (C. 3/.).— Temperature for hatching, 105'-. 

 Any thermometer correctly graduated will do. The temperature may be 

 allowed to fall 5\ or even 10-, for a short time, just as it does when a hen 

 leaves her nest to feed. But this cooling must not be at the time the 

 chickens are breaking the shell. 



Ducks Returned (E. Clarke. — You were treated most unfairly, but 

 there are too many difficulties in the way for you to recover compensation. 

 Hives (W. £".).— It is impossible to consider all things, so as to give a 

 satisfactory answer to the question, " which is the best form of hive, all 

 things considered'^" without knowing something respecting the apiarian 

 attainments of the querist. The best hive for an ordinary bee-keeper is 

 a good sized one, of the common sort. The best for a bee-keeper who 

 wishes to make a step in advance, and put on an occasional super, is a 

 straw hive with a flat top (such as Payne's and others), and orifices which- 

 will permit him to do so, and to feed when necessary by means of an 

 inverted bottle ; whilst the best for the scientific apiarian is the Woodbnry 

 frame hive. 



Bees Dying — Feeding f J. Itiall).— Your first stock evidently perished 

 of starvation, and being only a swarm of last year, there is nothing very 

 unusual in the absence of royal cells. The two others appear to have 

 died of dysentery, which may possibly have arisen from the unwholesome 

 nature of the food (ale and moist sugar), with which they had been sup- 

 plied. The restless stock might possibly have lost its "queen, and you 

 may have saved it by giving the bees another ; but all this is very uncertain, 

 '•Burnt" sugar is a most provoking printer's blunder, which occurred in 

 our answer to your inquiry of the 5th of February, but which we did not 

 discover until directed to it by your letter. It should have been " lump " 

 sugar, which, when mixed with water in the proportions indicated, forms 

 excellent bee food. The best mode of administering it is fully described 

 in the bee calendar of " The Gardener's Almanack " for the present year. 

 Frame hives enable the apiarian at any time to obtain a clear insight 

 into the actual condition of his stocks, and are, therefore, by far the best 

 if you can only manage to manipulate them. Your note, received since 

 the foregoing was written, and in which you state that the added queen 

 has been expelled, whilst the extrusion of a few undeveloped bees has 

 proved the existence of the original queen, is sufficient evidence of the 

 uncertainty alluded to. 



POULTRY MARIvET— April 15. 



We have still a short supply, with a dull trade. If the demand were 



