288 



JOUBNAL OP HOBTIO0I1TDEB AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



[ Soptomber 24, 1874. 



the Barb. Although to an inexperienced fancier they look so 

 much like a Barb at first sight, they have nothing in common 

 with them, except the fact of the secondary feathers being raised 

 above the back, and it seems impossible that they could ever 

 have been bred from them, as some might suppose, as no breed 

 will show a cross with the Barb sooner than they will. This 

 cross has often been resorted to by rival fanciers, but never with 

 success, as the eye shows the wattling and colour at once, and 

 in most cases the two extra feathers in the tail will be lost in 

 the first cross. I well remember, at the exhibition of the 

 Pennsylvania Poultry Society of 186S, a strong contest between 

 two rival fanciers of this breed ; one of them had undoubtedly 

 used the Barb cross to defeat his opponent, but without success, 

 as in the eye and beak the signs were unmistakeable, and when 

 the feathers of the tail were counted, there were only the twelve 

 feathers of the Barb. I have never seen this Pigeon alluded to 

 in any work before published, neither do I know anything of 

 its origin. None of the old fanciers can tell me where the 

 original stock came from. 



1 am informed by Mr. W. Wister, our oldest fancier, that fifty 

 years ago (methinks that some of my younger readers will think 

 that fifty years is a long time to be a fancier), but I will assure 

 them that Mr. Wister was quite a fancier fifty years ago, and 

 bids fair to continue one for fifteen to twenty years to come. I 

 think our friend Dr. Morgan will sustain me in saying that 

 thorough fanciers seldom die young. Had I the space I would 

 like to tell my younger readers how much Mr. Wister has done 

 for the fancy in this country during the past sixty years. I 

 believe he was one of the first importers of all the varieties of 

 Game Bantams, also of Game, and many kinds of fancy Pigeons, 

 as weU as dogs. He has never changed from his boyish fancy, 

 and to-day he would drop one of his most difficult financial 

 problems to admire a good Short-faced Black Mottled or Almond 

 Tumbler; and of all the stock he has imported and bred in that 

 time I do not believe he ever sold a specimen from his yards, 

 but many hearts have been made glad by his generous gifts— 

 the writer of this article among the rest. But I am getting 

 away from my subject. Mr. Wister informs me that he remem- 

 bers the " Big Eye " well for the past fifty years. When he 

 first saw them they were bred by an Englishman by the name 

 of Egleton in this city, and for years afterwards they were known 

 by the name of Egleton Blacks, this being the prevailing colour. 

 At this time they were excellent tumblers, and often had six 

 white flight feathers — a peculiarity they have since entirely lost 

 — and which gave them a very pretty appearance when on the 

 wing. Mr. Wister can throw no light on the actual origin of 

 the bird, but it is more than probable that they came from Eng- 

 land or the East via Germany, as many of the old German 

 merchant settlers imported largely in days gone by. The rem- 

 nants of many fine strains of different varieties of Toy Pigeons 

 are yet to be occasionally met with among the dealers of this 

 city. If any of our fanciers can give any further information 

 about the "Big Eye" not contained in the above article we 

 shall be pleased to give it to our readers.— J. M. Wade. — {Ame- 

 rican Poultry Fancier-.) 



[Both the description and the portrait of this bird lead one 

 certainly to the conclusion, in spite of the protest to the con- 

 trary, that it is the result of a cross between the Barb and the 

 Tumbler : indeed, I have seen exactly such birds produced by 

 this cross. I have seen them in a bird shop and in a loft, and 

 I cannot regard them as other than a Barb spoiled or a Tumbler 

 spoiled. It is perfectly possible that they may, or may have, 

 tumbled, as the worst-shaped Tumblers have this property rather 

 than the best. Whatever our cousins across the Atlantic may 

 do, I always strongly advise fanciers in England to breed to 

 perfection, if possible, the grand old varieties. Occasionally, as 

 in the Satinette, a new variety comes up which is of beauty and 

 value; but looking back upon our shows for a dozen years or so, 

 how many new Toys, German usually, have appeared a few 

 years and then disappeared !— Wiltshire Rectok.] 



THE QUEEN BEE. 

 In crossing over one of our heather-clad moors in Yorkshire 

 on the 8th inst., hearing a great buzzing sound, my attention 

 was rivetted upon a drone bee with a queen bee. The drone so 

 completely covered her majesty that I was unable to see her 

 very distinctly. When I first saw them they were 3 feet from 

 the ground, in equilibrium, slightly varying, and then they came 

 very gradually to the ground, where they remained but a second ; 

 then they moved heavily away a short distance, the noise of 

 their wings never ceasing even whilst on the ground. Following 

 them, I again saw them gradually alight as before ; and on 

 coming near for further inspection, through the stupidity of my 

 dog — for I was at the time hampered with both pony and dog — 

 I lost sight of them altogether. It was about half-past twelve 

 o'clock when this occurred, the day being warm and sunny. — W. C . 



point of a penknife to the part. Renew the application twice 

 a-day until the lumps may be removed by the hand. If the bird 

 is attacked in the throat it may be applied with a feather dipped 

 in oil. A pennyworth of calomel will suffice to cure a dozen 

 birds. Or mix one drachm of carbolic acid and half an ounce of 

 glycerine together, apply with a feather once or twice daily. I 

 was recommended to try this myself for either Pigeons or poultry, 

 and I found it soon effected a cure.— F. S. H., St. Austell. 



GiNKEK IN Pigeons.— Rub the affected part with sweet oil, 

 and then apply as much calomel as will lay on the extreme 



BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



We cannot conclude our review of the Show without a few 

 remarks on the honey, to which no less than nineteen classes 

 were devoted — too many in our opinion, as we can see small 

 merit in obtaining supers of honey under 11 lbs. weight, to 

 which the Committee devoted four classes, embracing twelve 

 prizes. The prize schedule for honey seemed to be in three 

 divisions — i.e., straw, wood or straw and glass, and glass only, 

 each division being again subdivided into classes — as above 

 2Dlbs., above 14 lbs. and not exceeding 20 lbs., and above lOlba. 

 and not exceeding 14 lbs. The Committee in their next show 

 schedule would do well to consider if weight combined with 

 quality should not alone govern the award of prizes in each 

 division, giving such a number of prizes as the funds permit. 



The display of honey was certainly grand. Foremost was a 

 magnificent display from Ayrshire, in the well-known Stewarton 

 boxes ; both honey and comb were nearly colourless, doubtless 

 obtained from white clover. Much to be commended was the 

 admirable manner in which the canny Soots had brought it to 

 the Show, a distance of four hundred miles. We look upon the 

 shallowness of the boxes as its salvation. Between each comb 

 its senders had placed a folded sheet of newspaper, and the 

 fold tightly packed again with paper, more of the same material 

 covering all up. Mr. J. Anderson had, we were told, so brought 

 more than thirty boxes without an accident. Certainly they 

 taught the southerner a lesson here, for many of the finest 

 English supers arrived too damaged to unpack. Conspicuous 

 on the table were some beautiful Woodbury supers from Mr. 

 Cowan, of Horsham, from 38 lbs. to 78 lbs. weight. The ex- 

 hibitor in his loving care had covered them with a glazed frame 

 screwed down, which was particularly unfortunate, as the 

 Judges disqualified them on the ground that they could not taste 

 the honey to insure that it was genuine, and not merely syrup 

 stored by the bees. This dictum we look upon as a grave 

 mistake, more especially as no such rule was in the prize schedule. 

 Mr. Cowan's harvest from his bees this year was, we should 

 think, the largest on record ; it amounted to 707 lbs. of super, 

 and 200 lbs. of extracted honey from twelve stocks of bees. 



The three classes for straw supers only olttained six entries, 

 for which nine prizes were offered ! Two only exceeded 20 lbs. 

 Straw must certainly surrender its ancient honours to wood and 

 glass. Wood, and wood in combination with glass or straw, 

 mustered sixty-two entries, twenty-eight of which were over 

 20 lbs., the heaviest 7fi lbs. Very curious it was to note the 

 diversity of taste in the way of shape and material tor honey- 

 receptacles. One reverend gentleman had even persuaded his 

 bees to work in an old cheese-box, which was supplemented 

 over a central aperture by a bell-glass. 



The pride of the glass supers, numbering thirty-five, was a 

 beautiful bell exhibited by Mr. G. Fox, containing 60 lbs. nett of 

 comb and honey ; nearly every cell seemed filled and sealed. It 

 held its own against all comers, taking first prize ; second, Mr. 

 T. W. Cowan; third, Mr. S. Thorne. Twelve exhibits in this 

 class exceeded 20 lbs. Placed on the table "not for com- 

 petition," appeared the prize glass of Manchester Show, 1873, 

 containing 87 lbs., but which its owner acknowledged had been 

 obtained by feeding his bees with unlimited syrup. This glass 

 attracted some considerable attention, as it bad caused not a 

 little discussion in the bee-keeping world. The class for table 

 display of honey in comb was pretty well monopolised by the 

 North Britons, who took first and second prizes ; the third being 

 withheld. 



The entries for run honey in glasses were not numerous, and 

 the variety of hues it showed seemed incomprehensible to the 

 general public, who could not understand why some should be 

 the colour of pale sherry, and others nearly as dark as treacle. 

 The smaller glasses, however, of all shades were eagerly bought 

 on the third day of the show. Cottagers' classes monopolised 

 fourteen prizes, but only twenty-two entries were made. The 

 Committee, however, anxious to give encouragement here, di- 

 rected all the prizes to be awarded, although the Judges had at 

 first withheld half. 



We could have wished to see the " sold " ticket aflixed more 

 freely, but can well understand that a person who can afford to 

 give fS or i'4 for a box of honey may rightly object to the 

 trouble of taking it home, or standing the risk of breakage by 

 railway porters. 



On the 10th inst. the British Bee-keepers' Association held a 

 meeting at the Crystal Palace to elect oflioers for the ensuing 



