286 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



t ApiU 8, 1875. 



From their habits of running and treeing on any alarm they 

 seldom give a chance of a flying shot, and I doubt their being 

 much appreciated by sportsmen at home. They are easily potted 

 on the ground, or in trees, by those patient enough to watch for 

 them, 80 the Halifax market is fall of them in early winter at 

 Is. Gil. to 2s. per brace. 



As they are very quaint pretty birds when strutting about, a 

 few would be a pleasing addition to the game of a home park. — 

 J, Sheldon Fuhlosg, Surgeon Major, Halifax, Nova Scotia. 



LONDON FANCY CANARIES.— No. 1. 



Of all the varieties of the Canary none are more beautiful than 

 the breed known as the London Fancy. They have not only 

 an exceedingly silky, gay-coloored plumage, but the contrast of 

 the rich-coloured body feathers and black wings and tail are 

 very striking. They are compact in form, and reqmre more 

 art and skill at the hands of fanciers in the bringing of them out 

 than other kinds. In this instance nature is assisted by art. 

 For years past pure-bred London Fancy Canaries have been 

 mostly confined to very few breeders, chiefly those residing in 

 and about the metropolis, from which the breed takes its name. 

 As to when or how the breed derived that particular name the 

 oldest inhabitant would be at a loss to say, as much so as to when 

 or how the terms Nor- 

 wich, Manchester Cop- 

 py, Yorkshire, Scotch 

 Fancy, or other particu- 

 lar breeds, each and all 

 of which have striking 

 contrasts, were applied. 



I am not Darwinian 

 enough to determine the 

 knotty point as to how 

 the supposed natural 

 law of selection, climate, 

 interbreeding, or food, 

 may have brought about 

 the peculiar forms or 

 shapes of the different 

 breeds. But one thing 

 is clear — various kinds 

 of food with artificial 

 means of casting the 

 feathers will produce 

 various shades of colour, 

 but not any new colour. 

 Frequent instances have 

 been known of the Lon- 

 don Fancy birds having 

 been bred and moulted 

 in other parts of Eng- 

 land, but not with that 

 success generally as in 

 the hands of the London 

 fanciers. As a rule the 

 palm for exhibition birds 

 has been mostly held by 

 the London exhibitors. 

 Still I have known ex- 

 ceptions, more especially 

 of late years, and some of the most noted fanciers of London 

 Fancy birds in and about the metropolis have sustained defeat, 

 their conquerors being superb specimens from South Devon. 

 I believe that a southern climate is conducive to the success in 

 breeding and moulting of these birds. 



Some few years back I saw it asserted that there is a secret 

 how to breed and moult the London Fancy Canaries, of which 

 there are two kinds — Jonque and Mealy, and that such secret 

 was held alone by the London breeders. This amused me 

 much. In justice to the London Fancy breeders (several of 

 whom I became acquainted with many years ago, but who 

 have since departed from this world), I must say that when 

 seeking for knowledge from them it was freely rendered. Now 

 the supposed secret just amounts to this : that if one fancier is 

 an adept at his work, and brings forth something striking to 

 the eyes of other fanciers, those who are not proficient at their 

 work conclude that there is a something of which they are 

 ignorant. 



London Fancy Canaries in their first or nestling feathers 

 much resemble young Lizard birds, having dark plumage, ex- 

 cepting the cap, which is mostly clean or light in colour, but 

 sometimes they are broken capped. Although resembling 

 Lizards in first feathers, I consider them of an entirely distinct 

 breed, but how brought about will no doubt remain a mystery. 



Upon this point, however, there is some diversity of opinion. 

 From one breeder of nearly half a century's experience I 

 elicited the belief that the breed of the London Fancy was of a 

 distinct kind. This I am inclined to believe. Another fancier 

 of great experience and repute says, " With regard ta the breed 



I cannot tell as to the origin of it, but it is supposed to have 

 come from the Lizard Canaries." There is just this marked 

 difference betwixt the moulting of a young London Fancy bird 

 and a Lizard— the former when undergoing the moalting pro- 

 cess in one of the cages adapted for the purpose (and upon 

 which I shall remark hereafter), if properly moulted, will cast 

 its entire dark body feathers, whereas the Lizard bird under- 

 going a similar process in the moalting cage will retain its dark, 

 although improved, plumage throughout. 



The drawing we publish in this number represents a London 

 Fancy bird in its exhibition plumage, having a clean body and 

 black wings and tail. The bird was exhibited by Messrs. J. & W. 

 ■Waller, of Tabernacle Walk, Finsbury, London, who carried 

 off both the first prizes in classes 17 and IS at the recent Crystal 

 Palace Show. — Geo. J. Barsesbv. 



Fig. 66.— London fasct. 



WEATHER UNFAVOURABLE FOR BEES. 



DcRi.s-G the whole month of March the weather and wind have 

 been so bitterly cold that the bees at Sale have seldom come 

 out. I cannot remember a year in which the month of March 

 was so unpropitious as the last one. In February the queens 

 began to lay, and patches of brood could be found .in almost 

 all hives in this locality. I have seen no young bees yet, 



neither have we seen 

 any bees carrying pol- 

 len on their legs, the 

 ^ ^-, weather being so cold. 



Whether the bees have 

 succeeded in hatching 

 all their brood during 

 the cold weather or not, 

 I have not had time to 

 examine; if not, foul 

 brood will be prevalent 

 this season. In cold 

 weather in early spring 

 brood may be, and is 

 sometimes, chilled to 

 death, and it may perish 

 from want of attention 

 and nourishment. Bees 

 are very helpless crea- 

 tuies in cold weather. 

 Brood, chilled or starved 

 to death, becomes foul, 

 putrid, and pestilential 

 in hives of bees. It is 

 destructive of health 

 and prosperity, and ia 

 incurable. 



The bees of hives con- 

 taining foul brood are 

 invariably sitting more 

 loosely amongst their 

 combs than the bees of 

 healthy hives. In ex- 

 amining hives at this 

 season to find those most 

 likely to be affected, I 

 gently remove their 

 covers and then turn the mouths of hives upwards so that I 

 can see the bees amongst the combs. If the bees of some are 

 more easily disturbed, and run more rapidly over their comba 

 than the bees of others, I note them for further examination 

 by the use of fustian smoke. In bar-frame hives the bars 

 containing the brood can be taken out and examined. If small 

 compact patches of brood be found they should be cut clean out, 

 and pieces of empty comb fitted in their places. This is very 

 easily done, and it is better to sacrifice some healthy brood 

 amongst the foul than let one cell of foul brood remain in a hive. 

 If cells of diseased brood be found widely spread over the combs 

 we have evidence that the malady began last year, and should 

 have been found out in the autumn. 



All healthy hives will require kindly treatment now, and 

 should be fed thrice a-week till the fruit blossoms appear. Half 

 a pound of sugar is enough for three feeds a-week at present for 

 a hive. By-and-by more will be needed if honey cannot be 

 gathered by the bees. , Both the numbers and activity of bees 

 increase the consumption of food. The fact that bees have 

 been greatly hindered in their work of breeding and develop- 

 ment during the whole of last month should make apiarians 

 endeavour now to stimulate and encourage them as much as 

 possible, otherwise this year will be like the last one, very re- 

 markable for late swarming. 



Heavy mantles and warm muffs and woollen to the chins 

 worn by ladies up to the present time, and winter overcoats on 

 the backs of gentlemen, should taach bee-keepers that warm 

 coverings for hives are necessary during cold springs like the 

 present one. Bees cannot ba too well and warmly covered 



