April 22, 1876. J 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



319 



to answer in onr colamns. Our " Garden Manual " oontaina all that yon ask 

 for and much more. Yon can have it free by post if you oncloee twenty 

 postage Btanjpe with your address. Your poultry query will be answered 

 next week. 



Snowdrops, &c. (O. TT.D.).— We cannot state the addressea. It is most 

 annoying to anjateors to have to answer aitplicatiuus of the kind you intimat e. 



Waxen Daffodil {R. S. S.).— The specimen you enclosed under this name 

 is, we think, the Musk Narcisaus, Narcisaus moschatus. It is figured in the 

 "Botanical Magazine," t. 924. 



PvEua (Cydonia) .taponica and Sweet Bay Propagation (S. B.).— The 

 former may bo increased by cuttings of young well-ripened wood put-in in 

 October after the manner of Rose cuttiiigri— f.r., having one or two eyes 

 above, and 8 or 9 inches within the groond. They are a long time in rooting, 

 often more than twelve months. Layering in the autumn is a more certain 

 mode of increase. Sweet Bay is increased by cuttings put in under hand- 

 lights at the end of September, securing a heel of old wood at the base of 

 each cutting. The cuttings of both should be put-in firmly in gritty soil. 



Wild Primrose (J. Rogers).— The flower you have sent is a case of dupli- 

 cation in the Primrose, wherein there are two pistils, double the usual 

 number of stamens and segments of the corolla. We fear it is not likely to 

 be permanent, and we suspect all the flowers on the plant are not of a 

 similar character. If they are it will be an interesting variety. 



Inseotb Attacking Pot Vines (An Old Subscriber).— The white grubs 

 which are attacking and destroying your pot Vines are the larvffi of the 

 voracious weevil, Otiorbynchus sulcatus. As they are easily seen and 

 do not bury themselves deep in the earth, they may be found by a careful 

 removal or sifting of the soil round the crown of the roots of the plants. 

 This should be burnt or well soaked with gaa-tar water. The brown beetles 

 which are the perfect state of these grubs are much more diftioult to discover, 

 but may be caught by laying a sheet round the stems, and visiting them with 

 a light after dark, when they are alarmed and fall to the ground. — I. O. W. 



Names of Plants {T. W. C). — Justicia camea, Flesh-coloured Justicia. 

 It requires stove culture, being a native of Rio Janeiro, whence, in 1827, it 

 was sent to the Royal Horticultural Society. (I. TV.).— The tree is the 

 common Alder, Alnasglutinosa. (Conf). — The large*coned specimen ie Picea 

 Nordmanniana. The other we do not recognise. 



POULTEY, BEE, ATO PIGEON OHEONIOLE. 



HOW TO BUILD A PAIR OF FOWL HOUSES. 



I SENP a general description with a few plain directions, " how 

 to build a pair of semi-detached fowl houses." The accompany- 

 ing plan and elevation are on one-eighth of aa 

 inch scale. 



The fowl house is situated in an orchard 

 facing the south, the run of one measures 

 130 feet by 40 feet, the other 2G0 feet by 40 feet, 

 part of the distance being 80 feet wide at the 

 end surrounded by a wire fencing, except the 

 outer side which is a wooden fence 8 feet high. 

 The fowl house is 24 feet wide, 6 feet deep, 

 6 feet from ground to eaves, and 8 feet to ridge 

 of roof inside at each end of the building, and 

 under the same roof there is an open shed 6 feet 

 9 inches square (inside measurement), the re- 

 maining 12 feet are the two fowl houses divided 

 in the centre. A door leads into each com- 

 partment, approached through the open shed 

 with a hole in the door for the fowls to pass 

 through, as seen by the elevation. The lay- 

 ing nests are upon the floor with perches so 

 arranged as not to be any annoyance to the 

 fowls' nests. The floors of fowl house and 

 sheds are laid with 4 inches of broken chalk 

 and sifted cinder ashes mixed together, well 

 rolled and beaten down, then copiously watered 

 with a garden water can, making when dry a 

 firm and capital floor. A dust bath is also pro- 

 vided in each of the open sheds. 



The outer walls of the house are built with 

 feather-edged 9-inch deal boards, overlapping 

 each other 1 inch, also the two ends of each 

 fowl house up to the doors. The inside of fowl 

 houses are lined with three-quarter-inch white 

 9-inch deal boards. The doors are 2 feet 

 3 inches wide, and 5 feet 9 inches high. The 

 window is glazed and fixed to give light to both 

 houses. The roof thatched with wheat straw 

 of good thickness, and overlapping the outer 

 walls about 9 to 12 inches. 



I very much prefer straw thatch to any 

 other kind of covering for the roof, ensuring 

 an equable temperature summer and winter. 

 The arrangement of the double walls in the 

 two houses ensures a capital ventilation, the 

 chalk floor adds greatly to the comfort and 

 health of the fowls. 



Having given a general description of the 

 houses I will as clearly as I can state a few 

 plain directions how I set about building them. 

 I must presume my reader has decided to be his own architect, 

 surveyor, and builder. Let us now take a walk to the timber 



merchant, and let him understand we are to be put on the beat 

 terms for cash payment, the order will be as follows : — 



£ «. d. 



9 by 12 feet deals, 4 cot feather-edged 1 16 



6 by 12 feet white deals, 4 cut plain boardfl 1 4 



50 feet 4k by 3 five Bupporta for top of roof, marked e, 



lOteeleach 8 6 



105 feet 4^ by 3 for posts to support the walls and eaves of 



roof 17 6 



24 by 6 feet, 2 j by 1 J for the rafters 9 



2 by 12 feet, 3 by 1^,'for top of roof fixod on the 6 by 8 feet 



posts 1 6 



4 by 12 feet, 3 by 2^, for top of front and back posts 4 



;£6 6 



Nails, binges, locks, p^Iazed second hand window, chalk, 



straw, and thatoher 2 



£7 6 



Fig. 79. 



A. Sheds open to the south. 



B. Fowl honses 5 feet 9 inches 

 square. 



C. Nests upon the floor. 



D. Dust baths. 



E. Centre posts. 



F. Run enclosed with wire netting. 

 (z: Gate. 



Fig. 80. 

 The above goods, &c., having been sent in I must refer to ground 

 plan (fig. 79), which shows there are fourteen posts to support 



