174 



JOUBN&L OF HOKTICDLTURE AND COTfAGE GABDENEB. 



( Fc-bi-uaiy 2J, 1875. 



book, for it enables to be easily recorded and referred to the 

 eggs laid daily, the amount received for produce, eggs sold, 

 fowls and chickens sold and the amount received, the value of 

 feathers and manure, eggs, &c., fowls used in the household, 

 amount of expenditure, fowls'and eggs purchased for sitting, cost 

 of food, rent, and labour ; number of hens sat and dates of sit- 

 ting, the number of eggs, number of chickens hatched, reared, &c. 



ITALIAN OR LIGURIAN BEES. 



The fashions are, as we all know, irresistible, happily only 

 for the time pending the introduction of something new. Mr. 

 Pettigrew, in his interesting article on Ligurian bees, has 

 touched upon one of these fashions in the apiarian world. 

 I am one who was smitten with the prevalent epidemic some 

 ten years ago or more, and since then I have never been with- 

 out the Ligurians (or, as they ought more correctly to be 

 called, "Italian Alp bees") in my apiary, either pure or hybrids. 

 I have them still, and although I believe within a radius of 

 seven or eight miles nobody keeps them consciously, they are 

 to be found in all directions, having no doubt escaped from my 

 apiary in swarming seasons, and established themselves in those 

 of my neighbours. 



I quite hope with Mr. Pettigrew that we may have, in conse- 

 quence of his appeal, some detailed results of the trial of these 

 bees by persons in every part of the country who have had a 

 lengthened experience of them. I will contribute my mite 

 towards the desired result by narrating my own experience as 

 far as it goes. I must say as far as it goes, because of late 

 years I have not gone in for honey to any extent, owing to the 

 small Bale there is for it in our neighbourhood, and the trouble 

 attending the manipulation of any large quantity. In former 

 days, when I measured my honey by hundredweights, it was so 

 far too much of a good thing that I have of late years kept down 

 my stock to very moderate limits, and have been content with 

 tens instead of hundreds of pounds ; and this change in my 

 aspirations was about synchronous with the establishment of 

 the Italians in my apiary, so that I really am not qualified to 

 speak in any very positive fashion as to the superiority of one 

 race over the other in respect to the production of honey. I 

 must say, however, that if there has been a difference it has, I 

 think, been in favour of the Italians, which certainly have given 

 me more honey than the old black bees, but this may have been 

 accidental. At the same time I must add that the Italians have 

 proved themselves extraordinarily proliiic. 



The breeding powers of the queens in my possession, particu- 

 larly the hybrids, have been greatly in excess of anything I had 

 ever experience of before ; and this ought, by all the rules of 

 bee management, to insure a good honey harvest wherever it is 

 to be had. Indeed, I have found this fecundity quite a nui- 

 sance, as they have multiplied to such an extent in hives as to 

 have occasioned an excess of swarming, and compelled me to 

 try to check it by artificial means, to which I may attribute a 

 good deal, probably, of my non-success of late years in harvest- 

 ing honey. So far my experience agrees with the writer in the 

 New York Tribune, who said " they were good breeders but 

 poor honey-gatherers." 



_ Mr. Pettigrew proposes to " test by a public trial or competi- 

 tion which sort of bees is the best." If this could be done with 

 fairness and perfect impartiality in any one season it might 

 be well to try it, but I am not sanguine as to any satisfac- 

 tory results coming from it ; for it is simply impossible to 

 put two hives of bees into the race of competition, however 

 apparently equal they may have been at starting, and predicate 

 of them that they shall maintain their course on like terms to 

 the end. The queen of one or the other will go her own inde- 

 pendent way, and baffle by the eccentricity of her proceedings 

 the most reasonably probable hopes of the trial-mongers. 



What we want is the honestly recorded experience of bee- 

 keepers in all parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, giving in 

 detail the results of their personal experience during the more 

 or less considerable period of their acquaintance with the 

 Ligurians. Surely we want no more to enable us to form a 

 judgment ! Hundreds of people are keeping or have been keep- 

 ing them for years. We do not want the testimony of sales- 

 men, but of those who have been buyers of the article in question. 



So, apiarians of Eugland, out with your facts, and tell us what 

 yon think of these foreigners ; but let nobody venture an opinion 

 who has not kept them at least five years. No less time is 

 required to authorise a trustworthy judgment ; and creditable to 

 the Journal of Horticulture it will be to have contributed its 

 quota to the fair settlement of this question. — B. & W. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



DoBKiNos WITH Brahmas (An Old Sit(«iTi))cr).— The Brahma pallets 

 being in the same yard with a Dorking cock and pullets would in no way 

 interfere with the piurity ot the iatter's progeny. 



E0G3 SoFi-suELLED (B. S.).— Tho heus luay bo too (at, or thoy have not 

 a sulliuieut supply of calcareous diet. Lower diet and a heap of bricklayers' 

 limy tubbisb are the remedies. 



Kendal Snow.— Mr. Manby informs us that No. 100 was not a hen, but 

 a pallet hatched very late in 1874. 



Incased Feather op Barb iW. Hartley).— The feMier yon sent ns is 

 called an incased feather. Some high-bred birds monlt these frequently. 

 The cause is delicacy of constitution. We had a most beautiful Scotch 

 FantaU that moulted every one of her tail feathers in this way, and her tail 

 looked like a bunch or fan of porcupine quills. The internal remedy is good 

 food, gravel, salt, green food, change of diet, and warmth. The external 

 cure is as follows:— Eub gently with your nail the top part of the case day 

 after day, and the feather will come out; but only rub the dry part of the 

 case— as soon as you reach what is soft or bloody stop. Then a few days 

 after another bit of case will be dry. We have done this frequently, and got 

 all the feathers of our Fan's tail free in this way. The worst plan is to draw 

 the feather, for a weaker will succeed. If you can give your bird her freedom, 

 flying and the sun and air will do wonders. The wort-t part of voui- Barb 

 hen's disease is her softness and looseness of body feathers. This looks like 

 feather-rot and consumption, of which there is not a positive cure; but a 

 t-poonful of cod-liver oil may do her good, given each day. Or a nicer plan 

 is to give her the oil in capsules, which you can get of a lirst-class chemist. 



Hives (O. S.).— Write to Messrs. Neighbour, Holbom, and tell them what 

 yoQ need. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 

 CAiiDEN Square, London. 

 Lat. 61° 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0" 8' " W. ; Altitude, 111 feet. 



EEMARKS. 



17th. — Eain early ; fine forenoon and till 3 p.m., after which time there were 

 frequent showers. 



18tb. — Fair in early morning ; very fine forenoon ; but rain in theafternoon, 

 and vei'y heavy hail shower about B p.m. ; fair at night. 



19th. — Fair, but very cold, snowing heavily between 12 and 1 p.m., and con- 

 tinuing to do so more or less all day. 



2Qth. — Snowing fast in the forenoon and early afternoon ; fair evening and 

 night. 



21st. — Fair all tlay, at times very bright, but the snow still on the ground, 

 except where fully exposed to the sun. 



22ud. — A bright sunny day, but the snow still lying unmeltcd. 



23rd. — Fair aud rather bright, but not nearly bo much so as yesterday, still 

 very cold, and the snow not yet gone. 

 Temperature rather lower than last week, except in sunshine, where vei-y 



high readings were obtained, the sky having been more free from cloud than 



for some months, and the wind north-easterly. — G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— FEBRUARr 24. 

 The markets are fairly supplied with late home-grown ecrts of Apples, but 

 Pears are nearly over. The best there is to be had now are Easter Benrre 

 from the Continent and from California, the latter being of excellent quality. 

 Vegetables are good and sufficient for the demand, impurtations from the 

 Channel Islande and contiguous parts of France being a great help, i'otatoes 

 still show a coneiderablo amount of diseasoj but there are plenty offered. 



Apples J sieve 1 



Ayncots doz. 



Cherries %*lb. 



Chestnuts bushel 10 



Currants 4 sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts lb. 1 



CobB lb. 1 



Gooseberries quart 



Grapes, bothouse.... lb. 6 



Lemons ^100 S 



Melons each 



d. a. d. 

 6 to 3 







10 

 12 

 



Mulberries V lb. Otou 



Nectarines doz. 



Oranges ^100 8 12 



Peaches doz. " 



Pears, kitchen doz. 2 8 



deaaert doe. 3 G 



Pine Apples lb. 2 (i u 



Plums 1 sieve 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries ^Ib. " (i 



Walnuts bushel 8 12 n 



ditto ^100 10 16 



30 



3 





 



Artichokes doz. 



Asparagus f lOO 



French.. ..per bundle 

 Beans, Kidney.... p«r lOJ 



Broad bushel 



Beet, Red doe 1 



Broccoli bundle 



Brussels Sprouts i sieve 8 



Cabbage duz, 1 6 



Carrots bunch G 



Capsieuma q)> 100 U 



Cauliflower doz. i 



Celery bundle 1 fl 



Coleworts.. doz. bunches 4 



Cucumbers each 2 



pickling doz. 



Endive doz. 2 



Fennel bunch 8 



Garlic lb. 6 



Herbs bunch 3 



Horseradish bundle 



VEGETABLES, 

 d. B.d. 

 OtoO 



9 16 







8 



2 

 G 



3 

 

 

 

 

 



4 



Leeks 



Lettuce doe. 



Mushroomu pottle 



Mustard & Cress. .punnet 

 Onions bushel 



pickling quart 



Parsley per doz. bunches 



Parsnips doa. 



Peas quart 



Potatoes basbel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes., doz. bunubeB 



Rhubarb bundle 



Salsaf y bundle 



Scorzonera bundle 



Sea-bale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Manows.. doz. 



B. d. e. d. 

 8toO 



10 2 











a 







6 



4 



s 







2 6 

 B 



1 

 1 

 1 6 

 1 



3 

 f) 

 

 



