February 30, 1S75. ) 



JOUBNAIj Ob' HOUriGULTURE AXD COTrAliB GARDENER. 



171 



PolyBtiohiim augularepr(jliJaram, Soolopendrium vulgare, vara, oorjmbifemm 

 and crispiim. 



Plants in Tnsa for Lawn {Idem). — Yucca reourva is very graceful and 

 good, and so is Laurustinua kept in neat form by cutting after flowering. 

 Sweet Bay is also very handsome. 



PRCNINQ Roses {r(^m).~Cut them at once to three or four eyes, the 

 strongest least, and the weak ^'rowera cut-iu more closely — to two eyes if the 

 wood bo very small. 



CoLijRADO Potato Beetle {A7nicus).~\Yff have not occupied any space 

 ■with notes ou this insect, because there ia little more chance of its being 

 introduixd into this country from America than there is of its rattloanake. 

 It iufesis the haulm of the plant, and until the haulm is imported we shall 

 probably remain unattacked, for although the larvrc descend into the eaath, 

 this is specially removed from all imported Potatoes. 



KosES Louis Odi^r and Admirable (A'i^fici.— Louis Odier is a Bourbon, 

 or rather a hybrid Bourbon with Noisette blood in it. It is still tu be found 

 in many of the Rose catalogues of the larger firms. We do not remember 

 Admirable. The Sedum will do for carpet bedding, but the colour is not pro- 

 nounced enough, and it is difficult to say what species it is from the small 

 specimen enclosed. It is not too late to plant Manetti stocks, as the season 

 is backward and nurserymen may still have a supply. We do not rocoraraeud 

 budding on old overgrown stocks, but they may be kept to get cuttings from 

 in the autumn. 



Rose Moss de Meaux iBamlct).—V?e cannot, we fear, aid you to obtain 

 the Moss variety of the uld Ro-^^e de Meaus. Can any of our correspondents 

 and readers help the Priuce of Denmark? 



Lime, Salt, and Soot as a Manure (SuL^cribcr, WohuThamptoti).— 

 One bushel of salt, one bushel of eoot, and two bushels of limo are t.'ood pro- 

 portions. Double those quantities will not be too much for 64 squai-e yards. 



Insects ( West Cumherland). — The very minute white insects sent in damp 

 earth (and aasertod to be attacking and destroying the roots of various vege- 

 tables, Cabbage, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts which have stood over the 

 winter, the roots of which are now swarming with these insects and in a state 

 of decay), lire one cf the smallest known species of Thysanura, or Spriug- 

 Bttils, named Lipura ambulans, Bitrm. (Poduia terrestris nivea of De Geer, &c.). 

 They feed on decaying, not on healthy, vegetable matter. Your plants must 

 have been injured by some otter cause, possibly the severe cold, and thus 

 become liable to the attacks of theae little creatures. Your ground, too, 

 probably wants thoroughly cleanbing. — I. O. W. 



Names of Fruits (S.). — The best specimen is Josephine de Malines, and 

 the other Beurrf d'Aremberg. We have not heard of Tobolsk Rhubarb for 

 some years, but if you get Linmeus you will have an improvement on it. 



Names of Plants {T. IV. C).— We cannot name plants from leaves on]y, 

 we require a flower as well. (Mrs. Carlisle). — Gari-j'a elliptica. Ihe points 

 of the leaves have been fiostbitten. In our twenty-second volume is a ilraw- 

 ing and many relative particulars. 



POULTKT, BEE, AND PIGEON OHEONIOLE. 



THE EXHIBITION DORKING.— No. 9. 



BY T. C. BUKNELL. 



Deformities and Diseases. — Prize fowls, to a certain extent, 

 are reared in an artificial manner ; the result is that deformities 

 and diseases are more frequently found in them than iu hardily- 

 reared farmyard stock, though the latter are often thought to 

 be more perfect than they really are. Not many farmyard fowls 

 would stand being scanned by a critical eye, while, from what I 

 can find out from farmers, they lose very nearly as many fowls 

 from death and disease as we do among our own more highly 

 reared stock. Anyone thinking of becoming an exhibitor will 

 do weU to make himself acquainted with the most common 

 defects, bo that he may not be taken-in when buying, nor waste 

 entry money in sending out birds which he ought not to expect 

 to win. 



A Crooked Breast can be easily found out by passing the hand 

 along the breast boue. If the bone is badly curved or indented 

 the specimen should be rejected, as the defect is often hereditary, 

 and will nearly always prevent such a bird from winning in the 

 show pen. 



Crooked Back, though sometimes apparent, can often only 

 be ascertained by handling. The best way to proceed is to 

 allow the weight of the bird's body to rest on one hand with the 

 legs hanging down, while the other hand is passed down the 

 tack. If the spinal column rises in the middle it is called hump- 

 back; if the spine is twisted, wr;/ back; while if a lump is 

 found on one side of the body higher than the other, the hip 

 bone projects. The latter deformity often causes the tail to be 

 held on one side, called uiri/ tail; but this latter will in a young 

 bird sometimes proceed from weakness and inability to hold the 

 tail upright, but it should always be regarded with suspicion. 

 A squirrel tail is|when the tail is carried right over the back and 

 almost touching the head. The latter is a great eyesore, and 

 as well as the preceding malformations is most surely hereditary. 



BuMULE Foot is an enlargement or inflammation of the feet 

 or toes. It is not peculiar to Dorkings, but is found in all large 

 breeds, and I have seen several cases uf it in the yards of one of 

 the largest and most successful Brahma breeders in the south of 

 England. Sometimes it occurs owing to a thorn or stone being 

 driven into the sole of the foot and occasioning inflammation ; 

 but these cases are rare, and X am convinced it is generally an 

 -lereditary complaint, like gout in the human subject, and the 

 only way to get rid of it is to ruthlessly blot out every specimen 



diseased this way, or at least not to breed from them. My old 

 Dorking cock, cup at Birmingham and second at Crystal Palace 

 in 1873, up to his death at nearly four years old, never showed 

 the least trace of bumble foot, nor have I ever found it in any of 

 his chickens ; while, on the other hand, a fine bird which I 

 bought cheap to breed from, thinking that a bumble foot would 

 be no detriment for the purpose, threw chickens which showed 

 corns on their upper toes when many of the birds were not six 

 months old. The mischief generally begins by a corn growing 

 in the pad of the sole of the foot, and this often proceeds no 

 further. To prevent accidents though, it will be better to pick 

 this out with a blunt penknife, after first soaking the foot in 

 warm water. Occasionally a little blood may appear, when it 

 will be better to apply lunar caustic to the hole, as is frequently 

 done to stop the bleeding from a leech bite. There will be far 

 less chance of blood flowing if the operation be performed in the 

 moulting season, when the blood flows principally into the newly 

 forming feathers. If a toe should become enlarged from any 

 cause, accidental or otherwise, the swelling may be reduced, if 

 not of too long standing, by the daily application of tincture of 

 iodine with a camel's-hair brush. 



Cbamp occasionally occurs in damp yards. The sufferer should 

 be placed alone in a dry house or pen, and be bedded down in 

 hay or straw, till he recovers the use of his legs. I do not be- 

 lieve that any physio will do good, and patience is all that is 

 required. 



DiAERHCEA is Occasionally troublesome ; it is caused by some 

 irritating substance lodging in the intestine. A large table- 

 spoonful of castor oil is the best remedy, as that will remove the 

 evil. With little chickens a meal or two of boiled rice sprinkled 

 with powdered chalk will prove sufficient in most cases ; or 

 small pills may be made up of prepared chalk and chlorodyne, 

 only using sufficient of the latter to consolidate the chalk. Each 

 chicken to receive one twice a-day. This is troublesome, but 

 those who will not endure trouble will not succeed in chicken- 

 reariog. 



Gapes. — Little chickens often fall victims to this disease. A 

 small and tenacious worm is developed in the windpipe, whicti 

 the chicken endeavours to dislodge by repeatedly gaping or open- 

 ing the mouth, and this symptom gives the name to the disease. 

 A simple remedy is to administer a small pill of pure camphor 

 to each chicken daily. The best preventive is never to allow 

 young chickens to drink stale or impure water. 



Eelaxed Crop cannot be cured by any medicine, unless per- 

 haps when it first makes its appearance. It is a great eyesore, 

 but when once established cannot be remedied, and so the only 

 plan is to put up with it. If a fowl swallows any hard substance 

 too large to pass into the gizzard, the proper course is to cut 

 open the crop with a penknife and remove the offending matter; 

 the wound should be made no larger than necessary, will bleed 

 very little, and will rapidly heal. I consider slack crop to be 

 hereditary, and by repeatedly breeding from birds with this 

 defect we could doubtless soon produce crops in fowls relatively 

 as large as those of Pouter Pigeons. 



RoDP has rightly been called the scourge of the poultry yard. 

 It generally proceeds in the first instance from a bad cold, but 

 when a case is once established in a yard the germs of the 

 disease are carried in the air and breath. The disease generally 

 becomes apparent about the third day of infection, till then it 

 is latent. Preliminary symptoms are sneezing and rattling in 

 the throat, but occasionally one eye will become suddenly 

 closed. When the running at the nose appears the disease is 

 developed, but sometimes birds will run at the nostril without 

 any previous warning. In every large poultry yard there should 

 be a hospital pen in some out-of-the-way corner, where sick 

 birds may be placed on the first appearance of illness, not only 

 for their own comfort but to prevent contagion. If a roupy bird 

 has once been placed in this pen it should afterwards be kept for 

 roupy birds alone, and should be periodically hmewashed. Iti 

 bad cases of roup, especially in old birds, the eyes close, the 

 head swells, the discharge from the nostril and mouth becomes 

 thick and purulent, and death soon supervenes. If the affected 

 bird is not very valuable it should be killed on the first appear- 

 ance of the disease, and buried to save the other fowls, as the 

 disease is very contagious. The discharge from the nostrils pro- 

 ceeds from the mucous membrane of the back of the mouth and 

 throat, and the only other disease to which it is analogous is 

 glanders in the horse, the latter being equally infectious. The 

 moment the disease appears Condy's red fluid (principally perman- 

 ganate of potash) should be added to the drinking water till it be- 

 comes of a pinky colour ; and chloride of lime should be sprinkled 

 about freely, and both precautions should be adopted through 

 the whole yard. The only internal remedy which I have found 

 effective — and I have tried them all — is a mixture of copaiba and 

 oil of cubebs, in the proportion of four parts of the former to one 

 of the latter, the dose to consist for a large fowl of twenty 

 minims of Ihe mixture made up in the form of a gelatine cap- 

 sule ; or copaiba capsules alone will do. A Dorking cock would 

 require at least three capsules, or about sixty minims, in the day 

 to effect a speedy cure. In addition to this, the bird's throat. 



