October ;l, 1865. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



287 



will be a\Yarded ; to Spanish, £29 in cash, with one five-guinea 



cup; and to the Ciicliin classes, Cdt in money, and a five- 

 pounds silver cup, will Ijo given. ISnihnius receive tlT, and 

 I'oli.sli, Cii as preniimns ; to the Game classes, the very liberal 

 siun of £106, besides two fivo-guinea silver cups, is ajipointed. 

 Geese and Du«ks receive .tlB; Turkeys, £V.i; and Cfi \vi|il be 

 given to Extra Stock. Premiums to the amount of £7 are 

 given to Black Hamburjihs, whilst £.')3 in prizes will still 

 fuivthor reward the successful exhibitcu-s of Hamburghs gene- 

 rally : t,*'J'J. liesi*les two tive-guim^a silver cups, will enlist a 

 warm competition in the Game Bantams ; and £(! will be given 

 to Bantams of any other breed. With like liberality £1)0 10s. 

 will be awarded to I'igeons, and £'20 to Rabbits. It will be 

 thus evident that to I'igeons, Rabbits, and Poultry alone an 

 aggi-egate sum of nearly £r)00 will await the decision of the 

 .ludges; and when it is remembered how perfectly adapted 

 to the purposes of a show the lie<le \'ue JIusic Hall has 

 always ])roved itself to be, we with confidence anticipate not 

 <inly a very extensive entry, but also tlio presence of most 

 of the principal pens of prize birds to be met with in the 

 kingdom. 



MIXD THE PAINT OK DYE. 



C.\L"riON TO .M.I. nuYKUS OF I'OCl.TUY. 



Whereas, last week I wrote to an advertiser in that knowing 

 county Yorkshire, for a few Duckwing (iame Bantams to be 

 sent on approval, and, whereas, tho said advertiser forwarded 

 the said Bantams the next day ; and, whereas, on taking them 

 out of tlic hamper I eoiJd not help admiring their legs inas- 

 much as that they were splendid in that colour known as wiUow : 

 Now, this is to give notice, that on close examination the said 

 legs were found to be j^ainted or dyed, and their natural colour 

 was blue. — Genuine. 



POULTRY CLUB STANDAP.DS. 



My object in writing my last was not to " cavil at an award 

 when made," but simply to gain information. I am extremely 

 Sony that Mr. Hewitt has put a construction on it which was 

 never intended by the writer. I entertain the highest opinion 

 of Mr. Hewitt as a poultry arbitrator ; but, as it appeared to 

 me that very serious difi'erences of opinion exist amongst 

 the principal arbitrators, it would be better if these matters 

 were freely discussed, and, if possible, the differences recon- 

 ciled, so that the feeling of distrust and tlissatisfaction amongst 

 exhibitors might be greatly allayed. I began by asking a ques- 

 tion, and then gave my reasons for so doing, hoping by this 

 means that some of your correspondents would give the 2»'0s 

 .s,nd colli:, on the subject, from which I could draw my own con- 

 clusions. Mr. Hewitt replies that he still maintains his pre- 

 viously expressed opinions, strengthened by the evidence of 

 several of our principal poultry arbitrators. 



The next point in my letter is the desirability of a standard 

 by which poultry judges and exhibitors shall be guided. This 

 is practicable in other things, why not in exhibiting poultry ? 

 Where standards vary exhibitors are perplexed and dissatisfied, 

 for their chance of success depends partly on the appointment 

 of judges ; but let there be one general standard, then all may 

 know what to expect. Mr. Hewitt says, " The hopes expressed 

 by your correspondent that never-varying decisions wiU be 

 ultimately attained, I feel assured are visionary, and quite 

 beyound universal realisation." WD! Jlr. Hewitt be kind 

 enough to jjoint out where I express such a hope ? The case 

 of the reversed decision of the cattle awards at Bii-mingham 

 and London is not to the point, because the reversed decision 

 arises altogether from alteration of condition aionc, and not 

 from one judge disqualifying for a point which is merely con- 

 sidered a defect by the other. 



I now come to the Black Bantams at the Keighley Show, 

 which appeared to illustrate the same thing. I am son-y that 

 my eyes and ears have so deceived me, for not only were their 

 legs, in my opinion, light-coloured, but it was a subject of re- 

 mark by many exhibitors present. My only motive in giving 

 only a jiart of the paragi'aph from the report of the Keighley 

 Show in tho Journal was to show that the class was noi; un- 

 opposed, but that some very excellent and capital birds were 

 .shown against them. 



In conclusion, let me assure Mr. Hewitt that although I am 

 often an unsuccessful exhibitor, I am not a dissatisfied one ; I 

 acknowledge that I am often beaten, but not discouraged. I 



only want a standard of excellence to aim at, and cvou then, 

 shonlil I bo disappointed, I hope you will hear no cavilling from 



We agree with our correspondent in thinking that it would 

 b(! very advantageous to have what are " disiiualifications " re- 

 coguiHed unanimously by poultry judges ; but we retain onr 

 opinion that to attempt to assign any number of points to any 

 characteristic of a variety is a delusion, and must often bo an 

 unjust trammel upon judges, and a cause of dissatisfaction to 

 exhibitors. Take two Game cocks, as an examjile, and sujipose 

 one was rather superior to the other in all points except sym- 

 nuitry anil condition, would any competent judge, unless bound 

 by encimibering rules, award the prize to the hrst-named?] 



DRONE-BREEDING HIVES. 



As the problem — whetlier the eggs found in a drone-breeding 

 hive are laid by fertile workers or very small queens, has not 

 yet been satisfactorily solved, every case bearing on the subject 

 must iiromise a certain amount of interest. I do not profess 

 to determine the ))oint, and shall therefore simjily relate what 

 came under my observation during the spring arul summer in 

 a hive containing a swarm, which was led oil by a pure fertile 

 Ligurian queen on the liOth of .July, 18(54. 



The hive was in a very prosperous state at the beginning of 

 winter, and at the arrival of spring had a vigorous and very 

 numerous population. On the 7th of April, however, drones 

 made their appearence, at once awakening suspicious that all 

 was not right ; but as the bees appeared to continue their labours, 

 I delayed inspecting it till the 22ud of May. I could wait no 

 longer, drones now forming the major part of the colony. 

 Forthwith the frames were elevated, but not a single comb con- 

 tained worker brood, every one was studded with disfiguring 

 drones. What peqjlexed me most was finding in the hive no 

 queen. I made a most minute search for her, and if she had 

 been there I would have found her ; but queen of greater di- 

 laeusions or different in appearance from that of an ordinary 

 worker there was none. Drone-breeding went on, and every 

 after-inspection was attended with the same result. 



To enable the hive to raise an artificial queen, I supplied it 

 with a comb containing eggs and larva\ The eggs and larvse 

 were duly hatched ; but no attempt was made to rear a queen — 

 only a queen cell was formed in an adjoining comb. Matters 

 were then allowed to take their course tOl June 26th, when I 

 furnished the hive with a queen and a few bees, which were 

 taken from one about to throw a second cast. 



From the sound subsequently beard, the queen was no doubt 

 imprisoned ; but she afterwards regained her liberty and soon 

 restored the hive to a flourishing condition. After this ex- 

 perience I may be excused for expressing my belief in the ex- 

 istence of fertile workers. 



Before concluding I may mention that the weather has been 

 exceedingly warm and beautiful tor a fortnight. The earth, 

 however, so far as flowers are concerned, is a sterile waste, and, 

 as a consequence, the bees will not suffer a single egg laid by 

 their queens to be developed. 



By feeding a little, I stimulated the queen in my observatory 

 hive to lay hundreds of eggs ; but the day after I ceased to feed 

 the eggs began to disappear, and in a few days there was none. 



One hive, tolerably well supplied w ith food, and in process 

 of raising an artificial queen, foolishly banished its drones, 

 just as the young lady was about to make her appearance. So 

 much for the perfection and imperfection of instinct. — R. S. 



GAS TAR NOT INJURIOUS TO BEES. 



In answer to the inquiry of " Novice," I may say that gas 

 tar has no ill effect upon bees. 



Several years ago I covered a bee-house, in which were 

 twenty-four hives, with gas tar, in the month of July, when 

 the bees were in full work, without any injurious effect upon 

 the bees. — George Eaynor, Kclvcdon Hatch Rectorij, Brent- 

 irood. 



Death of Me. Peploe Caetwright. — The poultry fancy wiU 

 hear vnth regret of the death of Peploe Cartwright, Esq., of 

 Oswestry, on the 29th of August last. He has been known for 

 some years past as the successful breeder of Partridge Cochins. 



