Wl 



JOUBKAIj of HOKTICnLTUKE AND COTTAGE GAUDESBB. 



( Jasnary 23, 18SC. 



ciently large, but when there were three larpe Dorkings or 

 Cochins together, the space given was mieeraUj- ineufficient. 

 It is a pity that fo wellnrJcrcd a Show Bhould lose exhibitors 

 Irom such a cause as this, which might be prevented at no ver>- 

 great onUaj. Nu doubt when the attention ot tlie civil and 

 attentive SecreUrv is directed to the subject, he, under Lord 

 Ttedegar'2 auspices, will remedy the evil. —A. K. C. 



TKBnUNG COMBS— TTn.TrP.E HOCKS IX 

 COCHIX-CIIIXAS. 



On the atithority of one of our most able poultiy judges, 

 I find by your Journal of the 9th iust. that it is not considered 

 unfair to trim slightly the combs of C< chins and of Spanish, and 

 that it i« a frequent practice to cut, or, what is more difficult 

 of detection, to pull out the featherB in vulture hocks. If I 

 understand the object of ])onltry breeding, and poultry shows 

 rightly, it is to improve the breed and natural condition of 

 birds by care and judgment in the selection of stock, and not 

 by the use of '• the razor, a sharp knife, or scissors." The 

 only exception that can be made to this, is with Game, which, 

 as long as we breed for figliting-poiuts, must come under sur- 

 gical operation. 



In the name of common sense and common honesty let 

 judges at once not only " turn the scale " against, but disqualify 

 and pubhcly dtnoimce, all persons practising imposition ; for 

 if we are to purchase prize birds at enormous prices for the 

 improvement of onr stock, and to .avoid certain defects, it is 

 nothing less than a swindle to have paid for those birds in 

 which the defect has been artificially hidden, but can be re- 

 produced in the next generation. If this matter be not strin- 

 gently dealt with, purchasers at shows will become rare, and 

 shows themselves will be simply competitions where the 

 greatest rogue wins, and scissors tell better than breeding. — 



SIBERIAN ICE PIGEONS. 

 TouK report on the Jlanchester Show contains a mistake in 

 the name of my Pigeons, which have won the first prize under 

 " Any ether Tariety.'' Not " Siberian Joe Pigeons," but " Siberian 

 lee Pigeons " is the correct name. Since, also, another journal 

 contains the same mistake, I am led to believe that either my 

 entry of the birds must have been misread, or a misprint 

 must have occurred in the catalogue. The " Siberian Ice 

 Pigeons," also called " Porcelain Pigeons." owing to their plu- 

 mage having a resemblance with the white cream-colour of 

 china, as it is used in the East, come from the extreme east 

 of Siberia, fi-om the peninsula of Kamtschatka, where they 

 abound and thrive during the severest winters. Kamtschatka 

 produces also White Geese of enormous size, with long curls 

 and laced wings, which give them the most striking appearance. 

 Kamtschatka fowls are black, their feathers and spangles 

 being tmued upwards in graceful curls. The cock has a collar, 

 standing tipright like the old-fashioned Stuart collar, and 

 his comb, being 4 inches in length, 2 in height, aud 1 in 

 breadth, has a setratnre of no less than forty-six tips. I re- 

 ceived some specimens of the above, together with Siberian Ice 

 Kgeons, and I intend to exhibit them after this spring's breed- 

 ing season. — Fiiancis Biioemei,. 



One of the primary objects of exhibitions is to give persone 

 an opportunity of Btlecting suitable birds for breeding-purposes. 

 This would be better accomphshed if, instead of calhng for a 

 pen of one cock and two hens, or even of one cock and one 

 hen, the managing Committees would call for pens of " single 

 cock.^," and of a pair of hens or poults. We do not want to 

 breed in-and-in, tut to cross. Considering the high prices now 

 askcfl for good birds, it is absurd to compel a purchaser to take 

 what he dcjcs not want, and what another would be glad of. 

 The pens provided for Turkeys at many of the shows arc mncb 

 too smidl. — I'ELXA. 



TURKEYS. 

 YotJB remarks as to the advance made by the various breeds 

 of poultry within the past twelve months are, no doubt, 

 strictly true. The prices affixed to the various pens in the 

 late shows, and the number of pens " claimed " at high figures, 

 are a proof not only of this, but of the rapid advance poultry- 

 breeding is making in pubhc estimation. Perhaps among the 

 competing birds none have surpassed Turkeys, two pens of 

 ■which were claimed at Manchester at £1.5 and £20 each. 

 Whether you regard form, size, weight, or plumage, the buds 

 of this year are a great improvement on those of hist. The 

 object of my letter is to endeavour to remove some of the 

 restrictions and disadvantages under which tliis highly favoured 

 race labour. Considering tiia cost of railway carriage to and 

 from the shows (often amounting to 10s. or Ion. each way), 

 the prizes offered arc too small. The clumsy mode of weighing 

 the birds when judging them is simply barbarous ; instead of 

 weighing them in their cages they are pulled and hauled out 

 by rough hands, and often much injm-ed in their plumage. 



B. & W.'.s APLiPvY IN 1805. 



1. Active operations commenced in my apiary on the 15th 

 of May, when I made my first swarm bj' driving the pure 

 Italian queen (Jlr. Woodbury's), with all the fully developed 

 bees, out of c. Saw and caught the queen, and was pleased to 

 find that the workere were all well-marked Itahans, as last year. 

 There were many drones, and mach worker brood ; no royal 

 cells tenanted. The deserted stock was next put in place of f, 

 which iu its turn whs shifted to a new apiary in my fowl- 

 house. It is there lettered k. k (rave me 2'> lbs. of honey- 

 comb ; c, 10 lbs. ; ajjd F, 3 lbs. On the 3rd of June f swarmed 

 naturally and in great force, with its young Italian queen, 

 aud was hived (vj iu the fowl-house. Strange to say, however, 

 both F and p show great impurity of breed, there being very 

 few yellow-jackets among them. How is this to be accounted 

 for ? Last year every queen that I raised artificially out of c 

 became the mother of a host of more or lesB beautifully marked 

 Italians. This year not a single queen out of the same stock, 

 and evidently from the same mother, has turned out well. 



2. A natural swarm issued five days later from i>. It had 

 many beautifuUy-marked ItaUan bees, but the stock ont of 

 which it issued has since lost almost all traces of Italian blood. 

 It was put into a Tasmanian hive (m), and gave me 14} lbs. 



3. A natural swann came off from E on the 22nd of May, 

 equally beautiful as to colouring of bees. After hiving, it flew 

 off to a hollow tree at some distance. It was finally recovered, 

 as detailed by me in The Jouhxal of Hor.TiccLTur.E last July, 

 and located in a new box in place of the mother stock, which I 

 transfen-ed to the fowl-house. The latter (s), now degenerated, 

 swarmed again naturally on the Gth of June, but was returned, 

 and gave me 11 J lbs. of honey. The first swarm, e, yielded 14 lbs. 



4. The same day, made another artificial swarm out of c, by 

 taking off a small super full of eggs and larva', and substi- 

 tuting it in place of b, which was also moved (now oi to the 

 fowl-house. The swarm gi-aduaJly died away, having failed to 

 raise a queen. The bees worked hard, however, not having 

 apparently detected their loss, and gave me 10 lbs. in supers, 

 besides a quantity of honey in the super-stock itself, which I 

 gave to a neighboming hive taken iu the season, o Yielded 

 15^ lbs. 



'). June 3rd. Besides the swarm which issued from f to-day, 

 I foimd a small swarm on an espalier in my garden. Many 

 of the bees were Italians. Out of which hive it came I am 

 ignorant, but I suspect it issued from a, which had been piping 

 the same day. This stock (l) is doing well, but it only half 

 filled a largish box with comb. 



6. June 4th. To-day two second swarms came off from A 

 and I). The former returned to the hive ; the latter was 

 liived in a large box lettered Q, and has done pretty well, about 

 half fiUing the box. 



7. June 5th. Two second swarms issued from a and o. The 

 former was put into a box lettered R. Being a very small 

 swarm it was very light in September, weighing about 5 lbs. 

 uett. The swarm out of o was returned to its hive, a Yielded 

 14 lbs., besides the two swarms, i. and r. ; j yielded 32 lbs. of 

 oomh. n Also gave 2(! lbs., and was then presented to a neigh- 

 bour, o. Too, gave 21 lbs. 



8. The last operation I have to record was the substitution 

 of the young pure-bred Italian received in October from Mr. 

 Woodhury, in place of one of my English queens. After 

 driving the populations of i and it. and destroying their oueens, 

 the bees of both hives were united togethtr, aud located in 

 place of JL. The yoimg queen was then gradually and success- 

 fully introduced to the united-bees, without any semblance of 

 anger or irritation on either side, by the aid of a minute box 

 with glass sides, kindly presented to me by Mr. Woodbury for 

 the purpose. The plan pmsncd was simply to put the queen 

 in this box with half a dozen of her own subjects, and then to 



