396 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t May 28, 1868. 



told UB that ants kept down the green fly in hia houses, but we do not 

 believe it. The artful busy ants treat a fat green fly much as we treat a 

 milch cow, and in either case, fly or cow, are too valuable to be destroyed 

 by those who are nourished Iv either.— R. F. 



EucoDONOPSis N,EGELioiDKs (A, 1'.).— The following deecription of this 

 was given in "The Gardeners' Year-Book," for 18b7 :—" A beautiful dwarf 

 stove perennial with the habit of a Gloxinia, the leaves cordate ovate, 

 deep green, and the veutricose flowers rose colour, dotted in the manner 

 of a Tydjen, and deflexed from the top of a stalk supporting them above 

 the leaves. It is a hybrid between Eucodonia Ehreubergii and Naegelia 

 zebrina splendens." 



Action of Napthaline on Insects.— The son of the late distinguished 



Professor Pelonzo, M. Eugene Pelouze, has found that napthaline pre- 

 vents plants from being attacked by insects. It neither kills the plants 

 nor the insects, but scares the latter awaj'. A very small quantity suffices. 

 —[Scifiitijic Iicvieu\) A correspondent (A. Tate), wishes to know how the 

 napthaline is applied. 



Agaricus fimentaritts (Mrs. C.).— It was a Coprinns, although called 

 as above in the letter read at the meeting. A correct drawing of Scilla 

 verna has been published, and a copy will be sent to you gratis if you 

 send your address to our office. 



Names of Flints (F. C.i.— Cratiegus crus-galli. (H. N. I.}.— The plant 

 you enclosed is not Viola cornnta. Of V. auricula we never heard. We 

 cannot determine the name of a plant from the leaves alone. {M. H.A.). 

 — Euuuymus latifohus. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of London for the week ending May 26th. 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOTJSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



CHICKENS DYING IN THE SHELLS. 



In the early days of advertising, before small men and new 

 establishments started by making their merits known in half- 

 a-sheet, or, at least, a column of the Time.-!, there veas a per- 

 tinacious advertiser who addressed all England, of every sex 

 and station, by giving them to understand that sooner or later 

 they must do so, but in the meantime the advertiser asked of 

 every Briton this question — "Do you bruise your oats yet?" 



Everybody does not keep poultry, everybody will not, but 

 many people do. We are beset with letters asking why chickens 

 die in the shell instead of emerging from it ; why hens do not 

 bring their chickens oft punctually. We answer all their ques- 

 tions with another : Do you moisten your eggs yet ? If you do 

 not, there is the cure for all your troubles, the solution of all 

 yonr difficulties. 



Partridges, Pheasants, and Grouse seem to be more success- 

 ful at hatching than our domestic fowls that have all known 

 " means and appliances " to boot. The truth is, their eggs 

 are thoroughly wetted twice every day. At morning and even- 

 ing the hens leave their eggs to feed ; they go in among the 

 damp grass covered with dew, and come back wetted through, 

 especially on the breast that is immediately in contact with 

 the eggs. The hen does not even shake herself before she sits on 

 them. Every egg is well soaked, and the moisture penetrating 

 to the membrane lining the inside of the shell keeps it soft ; 

 whereas, especially in this dry and hot weather, if the hen is 

 merely taken off her eggs for half an hour, and they are not 

 moistened, the membrane becomes as dark and tough as india- 

 rubber. The chickens cannot get out. For a full week before 

 hatching time when the hen leaves her eggs, dip your hand in 

 ■water, withdraw it while streaming, and wring it over the eggs. 



A roppLAK T?riter says, " We are all more or less remiss in 

 turning our respective mangles;" and this hatching season, 

 as usual, many who have neglected a few simple rules are un- 

 successful, make a trouble and disappointment of what is 

 really very easy and amusing, and blame anything but their 

 own mismanagement. 



I always avoid heavy Dorkings and Cochins as sitters, so 

 have no losses through their awkwardness, and make my hens 

 as tame and manageable as possible. 



This has been an excellent season, especially with eggs from 

 a distance — as an iustance, thirteen Golden-spangled Ham- 

 burghs from Mr. W. A. Hyde, Hurst, near Ashton-under-Lyne, 

 distance two hundred miles, produced eleven uncommonly 

 strong chickens. The hen sat on a turf, with very little straw, 

 was attended to daily, and after the second week, the weather 

 being very dry, had her breast wetted, and actually went on the 

 eggs dripping. This facilitates the escape of the chickens from 



the shell, and adds materially to their strength ; so does a con- 

 stant change of food. Spratt's Prairie beef meal is excellent 

 in this way. Should any have indigestion and fever, a pill 

 composed of camphor and aloes, from a quarter to half a grain 

 of each ingredient, according to the size of the patient, is very 

 effective, and may be repeated with safety night and morning 

 until the excessive thirst is removed. — Henrichs. 



No. 

 hatched. 

 .. 9 

 .. 6 

 .. 2 

 .. 8 

 .. 6 

 .. 11 



THIS SEASON'S HATCHING— TREATMENT 



OF HEN. 

 In reply to M. G. Hastilow and " Veritas " I add a few notes 

 on the above subjects, first giving my own hatching experience. 



When No. When 



hatched. No set. hatched. h.itched. No. set. 



Feb 7 April IH 10 .. 



Feb 9 April 25* 12 . . 



Feb 9 April 25+ 12 . . 



March 1....10 7 May 2 10 ., 



March 21* ..10 3 May 9" 10 .. 



March 26 10 4 May 11* 13 . 



AprillS .... 10 6 



All the eggs were Brahmas. Those marked (•) were sent me, 

 and the nest marked (t) was bought, which may account for 

 the unusually bad result ! The first three sittings each con- 

 tained from four to six birds dead at about a week old, proving 

 that the eggs were chilled, the others being clear ; and the sub- 

 sequent hatches till the warm weather set in also contained 

 several eggs addled at different dates. 



I can assure Mr. Hastilow that my friend who lost ten broods 

 of Cochins is too veteran an exhibitor and old a hand to make 

 the mistake he supposes, of setting too many eggs, of which 

 he quite correctly states the inevitable result, unless we do as 

 the " successful old dame " " Y. B. A. Z." alludes to, but whom 

 I agree with him in not copying, who sets her eggs in hot 

 weather, when they will almost hatch themselves, and, of 

 course, need little care. At such seasons we poor amateurs our- 

 selves have little to complain of, and often like her hatch 

 every egg. And, by the way, my last brood of eleven would 

 have been thirteen had I taken a little more care, for there were 

 healthy live chicks in the other two eggs ; but when half 

 hatched they got tucked into empty shells and stifled — not un- 

 common in a large brood, and always fatal if not discovered 

 and remedied in time. 



With regard to failure in early hatches, I cannot do better 

 than quote a paragraph from a Scotch friend and brother 

 fancier, who every now and then writes me a long letter, which 

 I never read without pleasure, and very seldom without profit. 

 The other day, commenting on the success of a nest from me 

 which hatched very well compared with two sittings of his own 

 set the same day, which almost totally failed, though all the 

 eggs were good, he said, " I am sure this was how it happened. 

 The two hens did not dust themselves well, and when finally 

 lifted off the nests were as full of vermin as they could possibly 

 be. Now a hen in such a case keeps pecking at herself all day 



