224 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 3, 1874. 



hive, and was again put into one of the compartments of the box. 

 By-and-by we may hear whether both queens are alive or not. 

 In Mr. Boulton'a hive there is no partition separating the queens 

 and communities. In his hive the old queen died, or was lost. 

 Two young ones were seen to leave their cells. All this is 

 natural and usual ; but why both were permitted to remain 

 together is the marvel. Old queens in their dotage are invariably 

 cast out of their hives before their successors are hatched. I 

 have never known it otherwise, and in the swarming season I 

 have never known young queens perfected at the time of the old 

 ones leaving their hives with first swarma. If the weather be 

 unfavourable for swarming, the youog queens are torn out of 

 their cells a few days before they are matured. If the weather 

 become more propitious, eggs are again set in royal ctiUs before 

 the swarms leave. When the young queens come to perfection, 

 the well-known sounds of piping may be heard. Sometimes two 

 queens go with the second swarms, and sometimes four or five 

 more are left in the mother hives ; but all are destroyed but one. 

 This is the usual order of events, and I have all through life 

 considered that the laws of a bee hive in this matter are as un- 

 alterable as the laws of the Medea and Persians. The queens in 

 Mr. Boultou's hive are Ligurians. — A. Pettigrew. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



^ Pipped Brahma Cock (J. D. JS.).— The poultry-keeper ia quite right ; the 

 homy substance at the tip of the tongue should be removed, and nothing 

 does it so effeor.ually as the thumb nail. All fowls do not require it, but 

 vbere it is necessary it should be done promptly. 



Breeding Dark Brahmas (Amateur). — You may go on one year breeding 

 from tbe two hens, and the best of the cucks you had from the three pur- 

 chased birds. You must keep them strictly by them«elves. We do not be- 

 lieve io strains any more than in men that measure 6 feet 3 inches When 

 you have examined the prize pen at Birmingbam, and are determiuod to have 

 some of the samo blood, UHUally you will be astonished at the difference be- 

 tween the birds you saw and those you bought. The breeders ot tirst-orize 

 birds buy the best specimens they can find wherever they see them. They 

 breed a great many, and show their beat, but it is " midsummer madness " to 

 fanry they are anythiog like the average of the yard. Tho celebrated Lord 

 Kivers was asked once the secret of his having so many good greyhounds, his 

 answer was, " I breed well and hand w^^l J " ^^^ ^o we advise you to bide your 

 time, to keep the two hens and the two best pullets you have bred in a state 

 of single biesselness until you meet with a cock to youi- mind at some of the 

 great shows. A good horse is never a bad colour, and tho cock posseising all 

 the attributes you seek cannot be un&t for your purpose. 



Po0TEEis' Legs Paralvsed (Idem). — Thero is no cure for paralysis in a 

 Pigeon when it is thoroughly developed, but if the case be a curable one the 

 treatment is repeated doses of castor oil. Each d^se a tea^pjonful. 



Breeding Bqff Cochins (B. B.). — You can hardly expect much sacceasif 

 you breed from the old bird. You say he is small ; his progeny will not be 

 large, and size is an important thing in Cochin Chinas. If you object to buy, 

 put the old bird with the pullets, and a cockerel with the hens. Hatch as 

 early as you can, and feed well from the first. 



Crook Show.— Mr. W. J. Frank informs us that he took the first prize in 

 the Brahma class. 



Rochdale Poultry Show.— Mr. J. H. Pickles informs ns that he received 

 the second prize in the Brahma cockerel class. 



Book on Homing Pigfons, &c. (A. K. C).— The only work we know is 

 "The Homing or Carrier Pigeon," publisbed by Routledi^e, price Is. We do 

 not know where traps for letting the birds in and out of a loft caa be procured. 

 Perhaps some reader may be able to give the required information. 



Hive upon Hive ( IT. E. M.). — The bees in your top hive should be diiven 

 out and put into the nadir or hive under it. The great bulk of the honey 

 will be found in the upper hive. If the nadir has not honey enough in it for 

 winter let it be fed at once, and probably auother batch of brood wih be ob- 

 tained, making it strong in bees for another year. If the upper hive contains 

 broud about one-fourth of tbe bees could be left to hatch it, but the queen 

 should go ioto the bottom hive. We advise you to put all into the nadir, and 

 take the honey now. 



Uniting Bees (A Bee-keeper). — You inform us that by shaking a swarm 

 on a cloth, and placing a hive of bees on two sticks over the bees, you failed 

 to unite them; that one of the swarms killed the other. We have to inform 

 you that you will probably fail a second time if you make an attempt in tde 

 game way. If you had shaken both swarms on tbe cloth, and let all creep 

 together into one hive, you would likely have succeeded; but this is notour 

 mode of uniting swarms. The hive to receive tbe swarm is first fed by 

 Bpriukliog minted syrup amongst its combs and bees. In about twenty 

 minutes after this is done the swarm of bees to be adied to it is cast or 

 thrown in amongst the rest, sprinkled over with the scented syrup, and 

 placed on its board. Properly done, this is an infallible way of uniting 

 swarms. We could undertake to unite one thousand swarms of bees in this 

 fashion without once failing. In your attempt you did uothmg to prevent 

 the bees from knowing and killing strangers. It ia always well to leave 

 nothing to cbaoce. 



Various (B B.).^Turn up your hives and examine their combs; yon would 

 learn m )re from one look thaa from our answers to yuui- fpiest-ions. You ask, 

 " Do queeus lay eggs and bees hatch brood alt through the winter?" No. 

 Queens cease to lay in autumn. An esamioation will let you know when the 

 brood IS all hatched. Brood combs do not hang separate from honeycomb, 

 hut ttio brojd is usually in the ceatre of the hive, aud is easily disiiogulshed 

 from r.be honeycomb, which is usually above and around the brood comba. 

 Xhe lids over brood cells are convex, those over honey cells concave, alto^,'etber 

 differeut in appearance. In answei' to your first question we have to f-ay that 

 usually there is no brood in a hive three weeki after it has Kwarmed, and 

 during autumn and winter. Honey can be taken from a hive before ics brood 

 is all iiatchod. 



Shaxj. Bird (J. Thompson). — Yoor description agrees with that of the 

 Redpole Lionet, FringiUa Linaria. Its song is clear and loud. There Is a 



very pleasing account of it and its habits in Magillivray's " British Birds, * 

 and in Brent's " Song Birds," which you can have by post from our office if 

 you enclose twenty postage stamps with your full address. 



Damson Wine (J. C.i.— Put 2 J lbs. of sugar to every gallon of water, boil 

 and skim it for two hours, and to" each gallon add 5 lbs. of stoned damsons; 

 boil these till the liquor is of a fine red colour, strain it through a sieve, and 

 ferment it in an opeu vessel for four days. On pouring it off from the lees 

 clean the vessel, and put in the liquor to finish the fermentation ; close it 

 well for six or eight months, and when fine bottle it off. 



Minted Syrup \B. B.). — Minted syrup is sugar and water strongly scented 

 with mint. Grated nutmeg is quite as efficacious as mint in the syrup. 



Berkshire Pigs 'Dairy Farmer). — It requires a practised eye to dis- 

 tinguish which "ata?Z points is the best." The Berkshire pig is usually of 

 a tawny white or rufous-brown colour, spotted with black or brown; head 

 well placed ; large ears, yenerally standing forward, though sometimes hang- 

 ing over the eyes ; body thick, close, and well made ; legs phort, small in the 

 bone: coat rough and cuily, wearing the appearance of indicating hoth skin 

 and flesh of a cuarse quality. Such, however, ia not the case, for they have 

 a disposition to fatten quickly ; nothing can be finer than the bacon, and tho 

 animals attain to a veiy great bize, averaging from 51) to 6(J stone, although 

 they have not uncommonly reached to the prodigious weight of 100 stone and 

 upwards. 



METEOROLOaiOAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Cauden Square, Londom. 



Lat. 51" 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0" 8' 0" W. ; Altituae 111 feet. 



REMARKS. 

 26th. — Occasionally hazy, hut a fine day and splendid night. 

 27th. — Rather dull, but fair all day, evening and night rainy. 

 28th. — A very pleasant though rather cloudy day ; wind high in the evening. 

 29th. — Rainy morning, a day of bunshine and showers, beautilul rainbow 



about 5 p M., wind rather high. 

 30th. — Fme morniug, sharp shower between noon and 1 p.m., fine afternoon, 



but rain again in the evening. 

 Slst. — Fine morning, several showers and high wind, hut some very bright 



sun. 

 Sept. 1st. — Fair early, hut a very uncertain day, and very dark about 6 p.m. 



A week of very unsettled weather, sometimes very bright and warm, at 

 other times boisterous, wet, and cold. The mean temperature a trifle below 

 that of the preceding week. — G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— September 2. 



The last few days of unfavourable weather for the gathering of fmit has 



somewhat Hmited the supply, and the demand has also slackened, traJe 



generally not being so good. Out-door Peaches and Kectarinea rather in 



excess. Hothouse Grapes aud Pines ample. 



Apples i Bievo 1 



Apricots doz. 2 



Cherries t* lb. 



Chestnuts bushel 



Gurraats 1 oieve 4 



Black do. 



Figs doz, 3 



Filberts lb. 1 



Oobs -lb. 1 



Gooseberries quart 



Grapes, hothouse.... lb, 1 



Lemons v 100 16 



Melons each S 



FSUIT, 



d. B. d. 



Otol 



Artichokes doz. S 



Asparagas fe^ 100 



French U 



Beans, Kidney.... i sieve 3 



tfroai bushel 4 



Beet, Ked doz 1 



Broccoli bundle 



Cabbage doz. 2 



Capsicums V i-^0 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 3 



Celery bundle 1 



Coleworts. . doz. bunches 2 



Cucumbers each 



pickling doz. 



Endive doz. 3 



Keonel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



lioraeradiBh bundle 3 



Leeka 



Mulberries ^Ib. 1 



4 NectariDBB doz. 3 



Oraogea ^* 100 12 



Peaches doz. 3 



Pears, kitchen doz. 



I dessert doz. 2 



4 PineApplea lb. 2 



16 Plums, J sieve 8 



16 Quinces doz. 



6 9 Raspberries lb. 



6 6 Strawberries ^Ib. 



li4 Walnuts bushel 10 



6 0, ditto ^lOO 2 



VEGETABLES, 



d. 8.d. 

 0to6 



e. d. B. d. 



OtoO 



8 















































Lettuce.. doz. 



MasnroomB puttie 



Mustard & Cress. .punnet 

 Ooioas bushel 



pickling quart 



Parsley per doz. buuclies 



Parsnipa doz. 



Peas Quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



New t* It>. 



Radishes., doz.buuchea 



Rhubarb, bundle 



Salsafy.. bundle 



Scorzonera bundle 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Marrows ..doz. 



s. d. B. d. 

 1 Utu2 

 S u 



