411 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 27, 1866. 



MAxrHLSG Ground for Potatoes (J. Ii. Ecyton).—We should apply 

 the manure now and dig it in. There is less to fear on account of the 

 rains -washing the " goodness " out into the subsoil, than in throwing the 

 manure into a heap to heat, in which way most of its fertilising agents 

 will be lost in the atmosphere. If the manure be applied now they will 

 be retained in the surrounding soil, and being more thoroughly incorpo- 

 rated with it than were this done at planting-time, the haulm will not be 

 so gross, but more sturdy and less liable to disease. 



Planting Asparagus (Idem). — Your soil will answer well for Aspara- 

 gus ii the subsoil is well drained. Trench the ground to the depth of 

 '2^ or 3 feet, and give a very liberal dressing of manure. Plant three 

 rows in a bed. allowing 1 foot between the rows, and the same distance 

 between the plants in the rows. The outside rows should be 1 foot from 

 the alleys, which ought to he 2 feet wide. The beds may be on the level, 

 and the plants we recommend are those two years old ; any kind will do, 

 size depends on culture. 



Potatoes (Idem).— You will have seen Mr. Fenn's list. On light sandy 

 soil we have grown successfully Cheshire Pink Eye, British Queen, and 

 Sutton's Finest Regent. Your tubers are small from the little distance 

 which you allow between the plants. The sets should be a foot apart in 

 the rows, and these not less than 2 feet G inches asunder. 



Shrubs and Vegetables for Seaside (fl". Jlf.). — We have seen the 

 Lauj'ustinutt do remarkably WOU within a stone's throw of low water; 

 also Euonymu 1 -, Axbatns, and most deciduous slirubs ; but we never Baw 

 Rhododendrons or other American plants in a healthy condition in such 

 a place. Amongst vegetables, all the Cabbage tribe thrive remarkably 

 well ; so do Potatoes, Celery, Asparagus, and of course Sea-kale. Peas 

 and Beans do not succeed so well, nor in general do Onions, Carrots, and 

 other roots. It is good practice on the part of a fresh resident at such 

 a place to look out for some of the bet t examples of garden management 

 in the neighbourhood, and ascertain what succeeds and what fails, he can 

 then act accordingly ; not that he need not try what another has failed 

 in accomplishing, but he will be better able to judge of the probable 

 result. 



Planting Scotch and Silver Fir Trees (Constant Subscriber). — As 

 you mention having dug the holes on high moorland near the coast 

 during the summer, the soil that will come in immediate contact with 

 the roots will be to a certain extent sweetened and rendered more tit for 

 them : we would, therefore, plant at once if the weather continued favour- 

 able. You are quite right in affording the Silver Firs the best positions, 

 and we may add that the places we have seen them succeed best in are 

 the sloping hillsides or gullies where moisture abounds, but is not stag- 

 nant. In your case we would plant them on the slopes facing the in- 

 terior of the country, and as far away as possible from the sea spray. A 

 dwarf Pine, Pinus Mugho, or P. maritima, is said to endure the air ot 

 the coast best of any, but it seldom or never attains the dimensions of a 

 timber tree ; and we fear in your case some disapppointment will arise 

 from the close proximity to the east coast. No amount of care in plant- 

 ing can prevent this having an effect; but we may remind you of one 

 evil from which such plantations sometimes suffer, and that is the 

 attacks of rabbits. AVe once made a plantation of similar extent to 

 that which you intend forming, and lost all by these vermin ; the locality, 

 however, was more inland. 



Names of Fruit (J. Wilton).— -Your Apple is Downton Pippin. (T. B. t 

 an Old Subscriber). — Apples ; 1, Walt hum Abbey Seedling ; 2, Winter. 

 Quoining; 8, Dumelow's Seedling. Peart: 2, GlouMorceau ; 3, Duchesse 

 d'Augouleme ; 4, Beuxre Diel ; 5, Figue de Naples. Send other specimens 

 of the two Ferns by post. (J. M. AT.). — Your Pear is Josephine de Marines. 

 [H.E., Kent). — 1, Selwood's Reinette; 2, Beauty of Kent; G, Beacharawell ; 

 7, Pigeon ; 8, Glory of Wilts ; 9, Sam Young : LO, Bergamotte Esperen Pear, 



Names of Plants (J. T.).— Berries of Crataegus coccinea ; 1, Chimo- 

 Kanthus fragrrns; 2, Escallonia rubra. {J. D.). — 1, Polystichum acule- 

 atum ; 2, insufficient for determination; S, Aspleniumbulbiferum ; 4, As- 

 plenium adiantum nigrum. (W. B.R.). — Ehipsalis salicornoides. (F. B.). — 

 1, Polypodium pectinatum ; 2,G-oniophlebiuin s ub a uric n latum. (F. W.M.). 

 — 1, licdychium coronarium; 2, Diptcracanthus Herbstii. (E. S.). — Al- 

 bizzia lophantha, a greenhouse plant. (J. E.\ — 1, Aspleuium flabelli- 

 folium; 2, Lastrea decomposita ; 3, Melaleuca hypericifolia; 4, Acacia 

 dolabriformis. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of London for the Week ending November 2Mb.. 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE 



GAME FOWLS. 



As exhibition birds, Game fowls have been brought to a very 

 high state of perfection ; but whether this result has been 

 achieved at the expense of heel and courage — properties which 

 were formerly, and even at the present day are still considered 

 by some as indispensable qualifications, I cannot say. The 

 management and breeding of Game fowls require nice discrim- 

 ination in the choice of stock, crossing to advantage, destroy- 

 ing all defective birds, and selecting those that are short and 

 close-feathered, with good feet, long necks, &c, and a sound 

 constitution. Some birds are very difficult to keep in health, 

 and whenever you find any that often turn pale or even of a 

 dark hue on the face, rest assured they have not a good con- 

 stitution. 



All exhibitors are not breeders, having, perhaps, neither the 

 time nor inclination for the pursuit ; but an ardent lover of 

 Game fowls finds excitement in it from beginning to end, 

 from the gathering of the favoured eggs to be placed under the 

 well-known careful hen. to the time when the young chicks 

 start through their shelly casement into open day. How watch- 

 fully they are guarded ! and with what pleasure he prepares the 

 food best adapted to their health ! Such is the inducement 

 that urges the ardent breeder, and carries him full of hope and 

 pride to the exhibition pens. In days gone by Messrs. Archer, 

 Moss, and others have bred well and successfully, their stock 

 being much appreciated, and I think Mr. Aykroyd, into whose 

 hands some of Mi-. Archer's stock fell, has not let them degene- 

 rate — indeed his Brown Beds have established themselves as 

 birds of standard excellence. Mr. Williams's Black Beds and 

 Mr. Sunderland's Piles have also won a position and realised 

 good prices, and no doubt this excellence has been attained by 

 judicious crossing to advantage : therefore, I would advise all 



breeders to let no inducement lead them to introduce fresh blood 

 without a full knowledge as to the result. 



Although much has been written in opposition to in-and-in 

 breeding, I have found it answer well. Some years ago a well- 

 known and experienced breeder for more than twenty years 

 bred from the same stock without any change of blood, and the 

 produce did not deteriorate in size, bone, or constitution. I 

 have bred very successfully from mother and son, brother and 

 sister, and father and daughter. Fresh blood is all very well 

 when the selection is made judiciously. 



" Newmarket's " remarks are, with a few exceptions, well 

 worthy of notice. My own views are opposed to the following 

 points — viz., an upright or erect tail, well fanned, the sickle 

 feathers full-curved and well rounded. I admire a tail which 

 sweeps nicely back from the head and neck, and instead of its 

 being open, or fan-tailed, would prefer the sickle feathers nar- 

 row, and the short, stiff feathers well folded together, or whip- 

 tailed, as we term it here ; nor do I admire much curve or 

 roundness of sickle feather. With regard to spurred hens, 

 they were formerly much appreciated ; but I am not aware 

 that this is a necessary qualification, or, indeed, improves the 

 appearance or courage of the Game fowl. To use the words 

 of an old and well-known breeder, the colour of the Black Bed 

 should be as follows : — The feather of the true Black-breasted 

 should be a clear, vivid dark red, without any shade of the 

 black whatever ; the red above and black beneath ; the upper 

 convex side of the wing equally red and black, even the feathers 

 surrounding the posterior ; the whole of the tail feathers black, 

 the tip of the wing also ; with black beak and black legs. The 

 brood hen should be the dark Partridge hen, bright red hackle 

 above and black beneath ; clean brick-breasted, and such to the 

 posterior ; black beak and black legs. The true Black-breasted 

 Bircheu Duckwing, he states, should have yellow legs and beak, 

 and have been originally bred from the Black-breasted lied, the 

 Yellow Birchen, and the Grey Duckwing hens. 



Thirty years or more ago my brother obtained some Dnck- 

 1 wing Game fowls from the Earl of Mexborough. The cocks 



