320 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



( Apni M. laec 



ttonse on her left. Did mice pray for their lives in the early 

 days of the reign of George III. ? or did tbev, as now, run 

 away at the eight of a cat 7 In a dark recess" stands an epg- 

 tasket with two eggs in it, set on a piece of stone, the whole 

 Jookinp very like one of those birds'-iiestsvou see as ornaments 

 on a coUege mantelpiece. Something like a couple of rabbit- 

 Imtchcs hang up high on the wall, and a landing-net hangs on 

 the end of the hutches. The doors of the hutches arc closed 



In regard to the other " icons," we have an .Mmond Tumbler 

 that would not most certainly take a prize in these days • a 

 Mottle that any fancier would kill at once, being painfn'lly 

 light-coloured ; then comes a Camer shaped like the little birds 

 one s children cut in paper with a pair of scissors. A dumpv 

 Powter follows, being fearfully thick in the waist ; a Leghorn 

 Knnt intensely ugly ; and then come a charming Jacobin, which 

 gives rehef to the eye; a Nun, none of the handsomest, an 

 ui^ f- ""'""P' ^^^ * '^'"■'''' ^^rr so-so. Then a Fantail 

 robbed of its graccfnlness, a shameful robberv indeed • a Trnm- 

 petcr exceedingly like the Mottle, with tinv'tuft and'top-knot 

 rr,? er-short boots ; next a fair Barb, and finally a Lace 

 Unlike Henry VIII.'s Flanders mare, fancv Pigeons even in 

 tbe time of the " Treatise " were much better-looking than 

 T^ rortraits, or few people indeed would have kept them. 

 Ihe " TreatiFe " passed, I imagine, into the hands of many 

 as It IS constantly quoted with or without acknowledgment by 

 succeeding writers. The book ought to have been called " A 

 Second Edition of the Columbarium, with Additions " Thus 

 we have in it the first mention of the Bald-pated Tumbler and 

 the Beard, and of the beautiful Black and Yellow Mottles • 

 also the Lace and Frillback are described for the first time 

 Then we have here and there an additional bit of description 

 as in the fuller account of the Owl ; then a practical remark, 

 as in the case of the Leghorn Hunt, drawn from the writer's 

 cvm experience. Although the compiler of the "Treatise" 

 Old not act quite fairly to old Moore, yet his compilation did 

 much good. The pictures -and our forefathers were not hard 

 to please— helped to bring the book into notice. Young people 

 attracted by the cuts, not being severe critics, would tease to 

 be allowed to keep fancy Pigeons, and " Love me once love me 

 always might be the motto of these charming birds Then 

 there are four booksellers' names attached to the book— four 

 interested in its sale; and so the "Treatise" made its way 

 and made Pigeon-fancjing more and more popular. Hence let 

 tiB give a word of praise to its compiler, though his name we 

 know not and never shaU know.— WiLTsniuE Hector. 



degree of dormancy in the insecta. — J. A., Wlnttinghem 

 Gardem, Iladdiiifflontkire. 



[The snccessful result of this experiment was donbtless 

 owing to the straw packing, which protected the hive from 

 moisture and insured sufficient ventilation. A similar method 

 of a\-oiding the intense cold of the winter ig Bometimes re- 

 sorted to in Germany, and, we believe, also in America ; but it 

 IS generally deemed more advisable to deposit the bees in a 

 dark cellar or outbuilding adapted for the purpose, instead ol 

 resorting to actual interment.] 



BURYING A HIVE. 



I-s the autumn of last year a cottager in this locality, after 

 having brouglit his hives from the heather, found one of them 

 '^f'?!, i ' ""'' '' '^^^ ^'^''y l^ecoming more so, in consequence 



i .t '° ^"^ """"^ ^'^'^^ having made an attack upon it 



and they seemed likely very soon to complete their work of 

 spohation. The owner, after trying several plans to keep off 

 tie marauders, but without success, saw no chance of saving 

 the colony from the lawless attacks of their neighbours except 

 toy entire separation from them. The following is the method 

 tie took to effect this, regardless of results. 



A pit was dug in the ground ; into this the hive, floor- 

 board and all, was put, then packed round, or in a manner 

 thatched over mth straw to the depth of several inches • over 

 Uie straw was placed the soil, around and above, forming when 

 finished a smuD mound. The hive was, in short, literally 

 tuned, with no apparent means of air gaining admission. It 

 was buned on the 8th of November, and exhumed on the 12th 

 of March^ having been fuUy four months in its subterranean 

 fiome On hfting it out, to the owner's surprise as well as 

 delight, he found the inmates lively and weU, and on examina- 

 tion could find no traces of their numbers having diminished 

 Ihey ere still very- active and working well, bidding fair to rival 

 tbeir more favoured neighbours and once implacable enemies 

 I am sorry I cannot give the weight of the hive when buried 

 nor when exhumed, but the sensible decrease was very little 



I am not aware whether this plan has been much practised 

 or not, or whether it is consistent with the natural habits of 

 tbe bee. The only other similar instance of which I have 

 heard was that of a Wve left on the hills in autumn, and which 

 m early winter was encased in snow, and remained so tiU late 

 jn Bpnnp It worked well all the season, and at the close re- 

 jrarded the o%Mier with a large quantity of honey. -Would not 

 this plan of burving in the winter be admissible "with weak and 

 light stocks ? The darkness and cold would induce a greater 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Catdga DuniB (B. C. P. 0.).-All that wc know .boat them is c<m- 

 taincil, with a drawing nt them, in the •• Poultr\-Kccpcr'6 Muiiul," pub- 

 ifhtil at our ofli.w, price 7». W. Wo do not think that they have been 

 Introduced into this eonntiy. 



IxccBAToH (3lr,. (Ji/rordi.— We published what we were told byiTC- 

 liiible authority, but, as wc have heard no more upon the Bubiect. we con- 

 clude It has Jailed. Brindlcy's we have Been and should employ il wo 

 required one. ' 



Hens kith Swollbs .\BDoirex« (S. S. Woodlan4»).— Tbo nroOen, 

 Bniny, red abdomens, accompanied by thirel, deni<in»trate that thoir WB- 

 systems arc ver>- much inflamed. Thevaro fedtooUberaUv and kept too 

 warui. Give each a de6sert-sp<»,nful of casUrr oU, no corn, but boiled 

 potatoes mashed up with a Utile barle\incal, a pill containinu one Brain of 

 ea omel and one-twelfth ota Brain of tirtar emeUc. three times with inter- 

 vals of a day. Give abundance of (rreen foi.d, especinllv loltuce and grass. 

 . fOWLB DviNG SCKDRNLV (n't(.n-a().—" Suddenly drippins down dead ' 

 IS too indeflnitc a description. If thev had previous twitchings of the 

 head, or fell, or were Biddy, death arose from apoplexy, a blood-vnsacl of 

 the bram having given way. This usually arises from the birds being too 

 lat. A dessert-spoonful of castor oil and a low diet, such as boiled pota- 

 toes with a little harleymcal, no hard com or animal food, but plenty ol 

 grass and lettuce leaves. 



VAniocs (.Saiu«).— The cross you mention (Cochin mid Chittenratl, 

 would hardly produce a good sitting hon. and wo arc not surprised «he 

 left her eggs. The symptoms you mention are those of gapes, but adult 

 Jowls are not subject to them. We should therefore believe she has a 

 cold. This would cause mucus in the throat, and tbc action you speak of 

 is caused by the desire to get rid of it. Your friends' cbickena die of 

 gapes. Small pillsof camphor,and camphor in their water, will cure them. 

 Fo«-i.s Bbeathtko with I)irrici-i.Tv (.4. F. X. —Your fowls aro only 

 suffering from cold and damp weather. Dry davs and warm nighta will 

 cure them. You will find bonelit bv giving' them occasionally a pill of 

 cainplior the size of a pea, and by putting some in their water. (.V. 1'. Z.) 

 —The trentment recommended aboTc, with the addition of bread and 

 ale, will suit your case. Keep them on the driest spot von have. The 

 pill of camphor for a chicken should be about the third of a pea, and 

 their water should be strongly impregnated with it. 



Food ron Fowi.s (Hnrrirfl.— There is always a difficulty in naming a 

 proper quantity of food, unless the nature of the mn is fullv known. 

 One yields three times as much natural food as the other. 'Six large 

 fowls will consume more than a breaktastcupful of com in a morning it 

 their run affords them nothing. Your middav meal is a sorrv one. There 

 IS httlc support and no health in pf,ta(o jwelings. The litUc good in this 

 food is from the meal. Give them the cupful of meal slaked with water, 

 and minus the peelings. Feed your young chickens on chopped egg. 

 bread and milk, cranibs, table scraps cut very fine, l>raised wheat, and 

 give them beer to drink. Your feed is neither good enough nor sufficient. 

 At the same time we can lay down no rule for vou. vou nius-t draw yonx 

 own conclu.sions. Feed them in the momiog' eo long as they will ron 

 after and appear anxious about the food ; when thev become listless give 

 no more. Follow the same rule midday and evening. They will eat 

 more at first than they will afterwards, because thev are in low condition. 

 Afterwards, they will eat less, but vou will alwavsfind some irregularity 

 in quantity. You must not let them have food by them. Nature at this 

 time of year teems with food on the surface of the earth where it is 

 grass land. When they have had enough from vour hand they 11111 

 spread over the ground, and find a hundred tilings we cannot perceive, 

 but that are all beneficial to them. Lot your chickens have the run, but 

 keep the hen under the rip till thev arc two months old. Let them fcavo 

 dust or ashes to bask in. If you foUow these rules you will rear all your 

 chickens. 



IlVCKS NOT LaVIKG, ASD CASTINT. THEIR FEATHERS (Bu(A).— YODT DOCkS 



are poorly fed. Potato peelings and Indian com are not good osoogh. 

 Give them whole oats, and for a time thev will want plenty of them. If 

 you do this you may add the kitchen sira'ps, and they will do weU. The 

 casting of perished feathers at this season of the year in poultry ia like 

 the mange in animals— a sign of bad and low condition, arising geneially 

 from being fed in quantity with that which lacks quality, or from hicking 

 something Nature demand.s. Your Ducks have plenty ol eiercisc, hot, 

 like Oliver Twist at meal times, they ask for more. Give it in the shape 

 of oats, and it will expedite their recovery and their laying if you Joed 

 them first in a milkpan. Put a large sod of growing gro'ss at the bottom, 

 then put a layer of oats, and cover the whole with water. Eschew potato 

 peelings : the whole root is poor food ; bntwhen you give only the refuse 

 It tends to poverty, the plumage perishes, and eggs are desiderata. 



Er.os NOT HATCHlXfi (G. if. F.i.—Tbe heat in vour incubator at some 

 time went down too low. Lite was generated, but it was allowed to perish. 

 There are no means of ascertaining the fitness of eggs for sitting; but 

 vou can ascertain at the end of four or five days whether the process ol 

 hatching is going on satisfactorily. 



Goats (S. £.).— As the period o'f gestation is five months, kids might be 

 produced twice in the year, but it would weaken the mother. «he con- 

 tinues to breed until six or se\-en years old. 



Kemovisg Bees nv Railway '(.'. Collini^— The great risk of removing 

 bees in June or July arises from the probable heat of the weather, if, 

 however, you can choose a cool day , night w ould perhaps be still better), 

 and contrive to give plentj- ol air by tying the hive up in a cloth of open 

 texture, such as cheesecloth, wc should think that under your own charge 

 they might travel uiicly. 



