228 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 18, 1875. 



points which it will hardly be necessary for me to enter npon 

 here. So hishiy did I think of it that I am going to have one 

 for my new start in bees this jear. 



And now as to the quilt. I have seen some very hard things 

 said against it, while others have been equally loud in its praise. 

 Now I examined several hives here, and I saw no trace whatever 

 of the damp which is said to be engendered by it. The corners 

 of the hives were perfectly dry, and there it anywhere damp 

 would collect. I had, too, an opportunity of contrasting it with 

 the ordinary board covering. A hive had been sent to Mr. 

 Abbott in which the combs were all crooked, and which he was 

 going to straighten. This had not been opened ; and so, as there 

 was a gleam of sunshine, he opened it in my presence. A great 

 deal of damp had collected on the floorboard aud on the crowns : 

 so that on this point, therefore, I was quite satisfied. And then 

 in the facility which it affords for examining the bees I think 

 there is a great advantage : there is no unscrewing of boards, 

 but by just simply lifting up the piece of carpet you have a com- 

 plete command of the hive. So hf^re again my visit had the 

 effect of determining me to adopt the quilt — which, by-the-by, 

 is a queer name to give it, for it is in reality simply a tidy square 

 of carpet. You can of course put anything else on this for 

 warmth, and either cover with a boarder the old cottagers'tplan 

 of an inverted pan. 



And now with regard to Ligurians. It would ill become one 

 who is anodce to enter into any dispute on this point, or to 

 decide between Mr. Pettigrew, who I see has strongly decried 

 them, and others who approve of them ; and yet I gather from 

 his letter that greater results have been obtained from them 

 than from the Britishers. There is one advantage they possess 

 — they are so much more gentle, aud to timid bee-keepers this 

 is an advantage not to be despised; and from what I could see 

 with Mr. Abbott I should decidedly give a vote in their favour. 

 They are also very pretty, but I do not think my decision was 

 influenced by the " prisoner at the bar being of a very prepos- 

 sessing appearance." 



There is no doubt that bee-keeping is entering on a new phase 

 in England. "We have had stores which we have wasted, and 

 continued practices which are barbarous and wasteful ; but care 

 must be taken that we do not go to the other extreme by over- 

 refinement. Bee palaces such as I saw at the Crystal Palace 

 are. I think, abominations; and if this is avoided and a kindly 

 and teaching spirit manifested by those who are adepts, I am 

 Bure great benefit to the community at large will be the result, 

 and amongst those who are helping to this end we may safely 

 reckon Mr. Abbott and his "Bee Journal." — D., Deal. 



hung out in clneters for weeks last year without swarming, it is presumable 

 that they may not swarm or do better this year if not treated differently. 

 Take or part the hives asunder and examine both. If the comba in the nadir 

 are chiefly composed of worker cells (not much drone comb) we would drive 

 the bees from the hive of black comba into the other, and feed them twice or 

 thrice a-wesk for a month. If the combs in the nadir are chiefly ot the drone 

 kind better let the beea remain amongst the old combs, and uwarm them 

 artihcially when the hive becomea full. It would not be safe to put the bees 

 into au empty hive at this season. 



Hives ( W. It. F.).— Write to Mr. Pettigrew, Priory Vineyard, Sale, Cheshire. 



Two Hives of Bees (Triceps], — You want to know how best to manage 

 your two strong hivee, so as to get one swarm out of them and no more, but 

 plenty of honey. We advise you to drive the strongest of them into a new 

 hive about the second week in May, or as soon as they begin to hang out. 

 Put the new swarm so driven in its new hive in place of the parent hive out 

 of which they were driven. Be sure you drive out or otherwise dislodge 

 every lull-grown bee, so us to make the swarm as large as possible. Having 

 thoroughly emptied of its bees the old stock, put this over your other strong 

 stock, taking care to open the commuuicaticu between the two hives. The bees 

 from below will ascenl into the empty driven stock, and after hatching out 

 all the young bees will proceed to hll the ceils with honey as fast as they 

 become vacant. The fresher the comb in the supered stock the finer will be 

 the honey stored there. The swarm in a good season and a good locality ought 

 to give you some honey too. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Chickens Weak (Miss Evelyn).— Breed, food, and their day home should 

 all tend to make your chickens strong; but your arrangement for them at 

 night is a very bad one. Young chickens should never he on straw. Nothing 

 could be better than the dry earth of the barn floor and an old sack thrown 

 over the coop. The chickens of the cross grow very fast — indeed often too 

 fast for their strength, and then appears the k-g-weaknes3 you mention, 

 which can only be cured by a good diet of easily digested natural food. We 

 should for young chickens feed entirely without meat, substitute fine meal 

 rubbed with bread ciumbg and chopped onion for the grits, and keep on with 

 the bread and beer. 



Henhouse and Yard (Edith v4.).— Your|very good sketch is the design of 

 a very good miniatuie run and house. The red line partition i§ not necessary. 

 Where ycu have but little space to spare the laying house must form part of 

 the ron'pting house of your birds, and the nests would do well as you have 

 drawn them. If made in blocks and moveable so mtich the better. Your 

 carjienter would make the lean-t) and put on the felt, and any of our wire- 

 workers, on being furnished with a scale of measurement, would make you 

 panels of galvanised frames to meet exactly your requirements. 



Canaries and Cayenne Pepper (Curioso).— Canaries are made high- 

 coloured with the free use of cayenne pepper in their food. Some breeders 

 mix it with egg and bipcuit ; others use It in a cake with which they freely 

 feed the birds the whole of the moulting period. To one egg, when hard 

 bfjiled and chonped fine (or it mav be more effectuully done by pressing 

 through a sieve), add two teaspoonfuls of cayenne pire and mixed wf^ll to- 

 gether. Then add one small biscuit reducad to a powder. Mix the three 

 ingredients together and supply your (say some half-dozen) birds with the 

 diet two or thres times daily. No green food during the moult. The more 

 of the pepper food the birds partake of. and the less of see'ls, the deeper the 

 colour of the plamage will be. You need not fear your birds feeding upon 

 the above food. Commence with the pepper diet when the young have at- 

 tained the age of six weeks. There will be no necessity to put the whole ot 

 the young birds npoa the cayenne diet. Select for the purpose the boldest 

 and most likely-lonking c^ck birds. Young Canaries bred from pepper-fed 

 birdswill rot be high-coloured in first or nest feathers. To make them high- 

 coloured they must be moulted upon cayenne. 



Kedlock Seed (Comtant Rrader). — See Journal of last week for advertise- 

 ment aanonncin,' the sale of Keylock seed. 



Stimulating Food for CANAniES iSuhKcriber). — Any extra diet or food 

 (heyond the u^uai supply of canary, hemp, millet, rape, and flax), such as 

 egg and biscuit, with a pinch of pepper in it, dandelion, small salad, cress 

 seed, German paste, or a little biscuit slightly soaked with sherry wine, or a 

 few drop^ in the fountain, will each and all tend to prepare or stimulate 

 Canaries for breeding purposes. 



Driving Bees {W. W.). — Without seeing your hive it is difficult to decide 

 •whether the bees should be allowed to remain in tbc top hive or be driven 

 into the bottom one. As the combs in tho top hive are very old and the bees 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Camden Square, London, 



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



REMARKS. 



10th.— White frost in morning; very bright and nearly cloudless day; over- 

 cast in evening. 



11th.— Another bright day, with bitterly cold wmd and rather more cloud. 



lot,ii —Very dull day, with bitterly cold wind and overcast tky. 



13th —A aimilar day; but warmer in the evening, and a few drops ol ram. 



14th —Overcast earlv, but brighter after noon, wind still very cold. 



15th.— Cloudy morning, but sunny afterwards; sky neatly clear at night. 

 Lunar halo. , ^^ ». x, l 



16th —Overcast the greater part of the day ; a fog, like a November one, but 

 not BO dense, came up suddenly at 5.30 p.m., and lasted the rest of the 

 evening. 

 A cold parching week.— G. J. Symons. 



ICOVENT 



There is not anything 



both at home and proviui 



GARDEN MARKET.— March 17. 



fresh to report, business being generally very quiet 



liaUy. 



Apples i Bieve 



Apncota doz. 



(jljerries Vlb. 



Chestnuts buehel 



Curranls i sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts lb. 



Cods lb. 



Gooseberries quart 



Grapes, hothouse.... lb. 



Lemons «>■ 100 



Melons each 



8. d. s. d. 



„ l^lb, OtoO 



„ Nectarines doz. 



Oranges ^100 8 12 



fl. d. s. d. 



1 to 3 MalberrieB 











10 20 Peaches doz. 



Pears, kitchen doz. 2 



dessert doz. 8 



PineApples lb. 2 



10 16 Plums I sieve 



16 2 Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 







5 



6 

 6 

 

 

 



12 Strawberries ^Ib. 



12 Walnuts buHhel 8 



ditto ^100 1 



12 

 1 6 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes doz. B 0lo6 



8.d. 



Asparagus.. 



it' MO 6 



20 

 2 



French.. ..per bundle 

 Beans, Kidney.. ..per lOi 



Broal bushel 



Beet, Red doz 



broccoli bundle 



Brusdeis Sprouts i sieve 



CabDa«e doz. 



Carroia bunch 



Capsicums !;'■ 100 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery., - bundle 



Coieworts.. doz.buncbes 

 Cuoumbere each 



pickling doz. 



Endive do«. 



Fennel bunch 



(iarlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horadrauieh...... bundle 



Leeka 



Lettuce.... doz. 



MasUrooma pottle 



Mastard & Cresa.. punnet 

 Unions bushel 



pickling quart 



Parsley perdoz.buncn. s 



Parsnips doz 



Peas quart 



Potatoes buM' t*l 



Kidney do 



Radishes,, doz. bunches 



Rbubarb buuuie 



Salaafy bundle 



Scorzonera bundle 



Sea-kale basket 



SbiiUots lb. 



S]iinach bushel 



Tomatoes doz. 



Turnips..,. bunch 



Vegetable Marrows,, doz. 



8. d. B. 



4to0 



1 a 





 



1 



1 



1 e 



1 



2 

 R 



a 







6 







