Angnst 27. 137L ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



201 



fancier wild. Some fanciers allow a few white feathers scattered 

 about the head and neck of the bird, but methinks it is because 

 they cannot always attain the highest perfection in breeding 

 Mottles, and are therefore inclined to be liberally lax in their 

 ideas in order to accommodate the name to the speckled birds, 

 and not the birds to the name. That is not true fancying ; it is 

 but a make-believe, and is always accompanied by an unpleasant 

 sensation of conscience that is very disagreeable to have about 

 one when one's ideas are formed to a high standard. Eaton, in 

 his edition of plates, gives a beautiful illustration of a Mottle, and 

 the only objection to it is the speckling of the back of the neck ; 

 but then Eaton was not so strict in his ideas of the meaning of 

 the word as he ought to have been, for he gives us also a plate of 

 a Mottled Trumpeter, and by comparing the pictures it is con- 

 clusively shown he attached different degrees of latitude to the 

 ■word as used in speaking of Mottled Tumblers or Speckled 

 Trumpeters. 



What makes a mottled bird valuable is the purity of the 

 mottling and the rareness with which such mottling is reached. 

 It is easy to breed speckled birds ; it is hard to breed birds 

 mottled on the wings, and moderately speckled about the head ; 

 but hardest of all is it to breed that pure white mottling on the 

 wings alone. It takes time and the most careful selection to 

 produce anything of moment among Pigeons, and the most ex- 

 perienced fanciers have not yet succeeded in fixing those few 

 white feathers indelibly upon the shoulders of the birds, but the 

 time will come when it will be done ; meantime, do not let us be 

 dragging down a high standard and prostituting our energies by 

 resting content to call Splashes, Speckles, and even Griggles by 

 the name of Mottles. 



Mottled Tumblers are exceedingly scarce, whether Short or 

 Long-faced. There is but one Short-faced nearly approaching 

 perfection in colouring in the circle of our acquaintance ; it is 



a beautiful Black, in the possession of Mr. M , a fancier of 



refined taste and liberal ideas, residing in our city. It was 

 considered cheap at §50, and is now unpriceable. The Long- 

 faced are sometimes called Kose-winged, and are occasionally 

 well bred, but in most instances they deserve the name of 

 White-winged or Splashes, more truly than Rose-winged ; many 

 of these last are fine tumbling birds, and some of elegant beauty. 

 Mottled Trumpeters are far from being fit exemplars of the 

 word mottle. It would be better to call them Speckled but for 

 the fact that, yielding to the invisible influence of the word 

 mottle, the fanciers are gradually excluding more and more of 

 the white from the standard of markings for the Trumpeters, 

 and the time is not far distant when the mottling of the perfect 

 bird will be ruled by a standard for colours common to both 

 varieties. — Dr. W. P. M. — {American Poultry Bulletin.) 



[Dr. Morgan gives a good guide here to the young fancier as 

 to what is a properly-mottled Tumbler, except that some of the 

 English admirers of the bird prefer a slight mottUng on the back. 

 It is, however, fair to say that all do not agree to the handker- 

 chief back. Eaton in his book gives an admirable portrait of 

 this bird, the best yet produced, and rightly gives no white on 

 the neck ; the picture is indeed the gem of the book. A properly- 

 mottled Short-faced Tumbler is the most beautiful of all Tum- 

 blers ; in my opinion to be preferred even to the Almond, and 

 ha.3 this advantage, that while non-fanciers never admire the 

 Almond at a show, everyone, even the most ignorant, delights 

 in the Mottle. We sadly need more of these exquisite birds. It 

 would be well if fanciers went in more vigorously for breeding 

 this class. I would give something to see a good exhibition of 

 Black, Red, and Yellow Mottles. Alas ! we only read of them, 

 but never or scarcely ever see them. — Wiltshire Eectoe.] 



.ViTR.lININa THE EARS OF PET RABBITS. 



I CUT from a piece of leather a strip in shape like this illus- 

 tration (Jig. 59) ; the places x, x, are cut so as to act like a flap. 



Kg. 59. 



This must be made of such size as will fit the Rabbit's head. 

 Put the ears through from the under side, and draw the two ends 

 under the throat, and tie them there. These " flaps " press the 

 ear down, and after being kept on a week usually effect a cure. 

 In Rabbits half-grown or over it will take a longer time. The 

 best age to apply it is immediately they are weaned. The 

 leather should be the thickness of ordinary boot-leather. — A. M. 

 HiLSTED. — {Philadelphia Fanciers' Journal.) 



JUDGING BY POINTS. 



This subject has no doubt been the means of giving a great 

 deal of labour to some of our friends, particularly in America, 

 and amongst others has caused much interest. I do not think 



it is a matter requiring much debate, because it seems to me 

 almost impossible to judge by measure, and, without measuring, 

 all the points cannot be correctly ascertained. StiU, I allow 

 that specimens in some departments of the fancy may be judged 

 in this manner. I know something of Canaries, Belgians par- 

 ticularly, and believe that neither they nor Pouter Pigeons can 

 be properly judged in this way. It is only where a close tie is 

 come upon that I think the measure should be applied at all. 



There is enveloping the Belgian Canary in particular, and the 

 Pouter Pigeon, a peculiar grace — an elegance which cannot be 

 put on paper either in language or figures, and which only a 

 good judge will at once detect; and as that grace is developed 

 differently in different individuals, and in so many various ways, 

 no printed standard would result in giving satisfaction either 

 to judge or exhibitor. I have instanced only two birds, but 

 there are many others. 



■The great want, in my opinion, is not a tabulated scale of 

 points for the subject of our various pastimes, but really good 

 judges. 



As points seem at present to be fashionable in many matters, 

 allow me to give you my points of a good judge — 



True fancy knowledge 35 



Good eye, with or without spectacles 20 



Manly independence 35 



Poetics 10 



100 

 Ih.B. — Weight or age no object. 



It seems to me that we would sooner gain our end it the 

 debate— if debate at aU— turned upon and settled the points of 

 judges. That being settled, we may then look after testimonials. 

 — James Huie. 



BEE-KEEPING FOR 1874. 



Since my letter to the Journal about my visit to Mr. Petti- 

 grew's apiary in March last, I have had ample opportunities of 

 trying what I was then shown, and I have succeeded a great deal 

 better than I expected to do. 



I commenced bee-keeping in June last year with a very poor 

 first swarm that I bought of a person who had found it on a 

 brookside, and had it put into a common round-topped hive ; 

 about a week after I bought another hive, and sent it to a neigh- 

 bour's to put a swarm in, and he put a small second swarm in 

 it on July Ist. Both of the swarms were so small that the first 

 one only half filled its hive with combs, and the second one did 

 not fill its hive more than a quarter full; however, I fed them 

 until they gave over taking any more food, and wrapped hay- 

 bands round the hives to keep them warm ; but I never expected 

 the second one to live through the winter, it was so small ; but it 

 did, and bred a good stock of bees afterwards. I knew of about 

 forty-five hives of bees within two miles round here before winter, 

 and in March this year there were three lots out of the forty-five 

 living, and two of them were mine, so it shows what a little 

 attention will do. I obtained one of Mr. Pettigrew's bee books, 

 and I agreed with what he said, that large hives were more 

 likely to do well than the common small ones, so I purchased an 

 18-inch stock hive in March. I had then two common hives 

 only partly filled with combs, and one good 18-inch hive to start 

 with this year. 



The weather here np to the commencement of June was as 

 bad as it could be for bees. I examined them now and then to 

 see how they were getting on, but they increased in numbers 

 very slowly. I had a pair of gloves and a bee dress ready, so 

 that I could swarm my bees as soon as they were ready without 

 the risk of being stung, and they have paid for themselves once 

 or twice over already. When examining a hive they are not 

 wanted, but when swarming, ic, it is better for a beginner to 

 have something on. I had never seen a hive artificially swarmed, 

 and the first one I had to do I was afraid I should make a mess 

 of it, but I was determined to try and do my best, for I knew if 

 I did not I should lose very nearly all my bees, there were so 

 many hives with combs in waiting for swarms to come to them. 

 It was the 3rd of July before I had a hive ready for swarming, 

 and about 7 p.m. I smoked the hive, turned it np, and placed aa 

 empty hive on the top, wrapped a cloth round the junction, 

 drummed the bottom hive four minutes, then took the top hiva 

 off, looked for the queen, and shook the bees out into an 18-inch ' 

 hive that I had ready for them, put the swarm on the old stand 

 and the old hive about 2 feet oti, and they were all right. Three 

 days afterwards I treated the 18-inch hive in the same way, and 

 put the swarm into another 13-inch hive ; three days after that 

 the other was ready, and I treated it also in the same way, and 

 put it into a 16-inch hive. The swarms all did first-rate while 

 the weather continued good. 



I wanted to have a better class of hives in place of the common 

 ones, so on the twenty- first day after swarming the first common 

 hive I drove all the bees out into a 16inch hive, and took the 

 honey, 15 lbs., on the third day after a second swarm came out 

 of the other common hive, and settled on to an old stump in the 



