512 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 3, 1874. 



same time," that is to say if the entrances are only properly 

 contrived: -whereas, narrow the entrances of straw hives as 

 much as you please, you will never be secure against the en- 

 trance of mice any given night, as they can nibble the straw in 

 a very brief time. This narrowing of the entrances of hives in 

 winter I think a most objectionable plan, save only occasionally 

 in very cold or windy weather. The more air that can find its 

 way into a hive in winter in moderation, the better for the bees 

 and for the hive itself. — B. & W. 



There is an old saying, "The proof of the pudding ia in the 

 eating;" and after reading Mr. Pettigrew's condemnation of 

 frame and other wooden hives, lam at a loss to understand how 

 it was that at the Crystal Palace Show the straw skep was, coca- 

 pared with the frame Live, "nowhere." In Class 8, " for the 

 largest and best harvest from one stock under any system," but 

 one exhibit appeared from a skep against eight from wood 

 hives. The class for the best straw super of honey above 

 20 lbs., for which three prizes were offered, brought forward but 

 two entries with not many pounds to spare; whilst for the cor- 

 responding class in wood twenty-eight competitors put in an 

 appearance, half of them over 40 lbs. and one nearly bOlbs. ; and 

 the same disparity, more or less, appears ia classes of smaller 

 weights. Suffice it to say, that with exactly the same prizes 

 and conditions for supers, three classes each, straw sent six 

 competitors and wood sixty-two : the disparity in gross weights 

 was still more astounding. Thinking possibly Mr. Pettigrew 

 is content with his 130 lbs. in the hive, without troubling for 

 supers, t am at a loss to know why he or some of his dis- 

 ciples did not show in Class 20, " for the best display of comb for 

 table use." Why, the surplus side combs from two such hives 

 would have carried all before them ; whilst the fact was, not a 

 single entry came from a straw skep. Is not the assumption 

 manifest that the skep-owners knew they had no chance. 



Oh ! what can Mr. Pettigrew be thinking of when he writes 

 the hives used by the advanced bee-keepers of Scotland have not 

 been altered or improved for fourscore years? In the name of 

 conscience where is their advancement ? Has he never heard 

 of the far-famed Stewarton hives ? If not, I only wish he had 

 been present at the Show to see the beautiful display of the 

 purest honey and comb, all from the despised wooden hives, 

 and to which we southerners were not ashamed to knock under. 

 I echo the hope that maoy bee-keepers of England will emulate 

 the apiarians of the north. Much may be learned from them, 

 and perhaps they may gather a few grains of knowledge from 

 us. Your correspondent says, if managed on the non-swarming 

 principle, bar- frame hives are filled with brood from side to side. 

 Could any better state of things be desired ? Forty-eight 

 thousand cells in a Woodbury hive, 48,000 young unhatched 

 bees in their various stages, and this renewed every three weeks! 

 Add on, say, 30,000 old ones — oh! what an army to fill a super 

 with pure virgin honey in the whitest of comb never bred in, 

 worth twice as much as any honey from the brood or bee-bread 

 combs. 



Mr. Pettigrew says he does not expect ever to find any 

 other kind of hive equal to his for profit and convenience. I 

 am not so presumptuous, and expect to find gradual improve- 

 ments, which in time will render the best of our present hives 

 obsolete; and now I say that moveable-frame hives are incom- 

 parably superior to any closed skep when used by apiarians of in- 

 telligence, and I believe that in this opinion I should be joined 

 by tune-tenths of those who have ever given them a fair trial, 

 *' Apicula," ia the Journal of Nov. 2fjth asserts, "At the Crystal 

 Palace Show it is well known there was no exhibition of straw 

 hives, therefore no comparison could be made." His assertion 

 ia wrong. Straw hives competed in four classes out of six, and 

 comparison was made to their discomfiture ; there was no reason 

 why they should not have competed in the remaining classes. 

 The controversy between straw and wood hives seems to me to 

 have run into a wrong channel. I for one do not champion 

 wood against straw, bat a hive one can investigate against a 

 hive one cannot. Have straw if you will, but don't work in the 

 dark, even though the bees do.— John Hunter, Eaton Bise, 

 Ealing. 



[We have several more communications on this subject, and 

 they shall be published as soon as possible — Ens.J 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Common Pheasants (Alpha).— Yon will have no difiiculty in wintering 

 yoar Pheafiant8. We keep oar Goldea Pheasants where they lave no shelter 

 of any kind. We kept them formerly where they could get under cover if 

 they would, bat they never availed themselves of it. They had perches wlth- 

 ont cover, and others in a roofed and sheltered Bpot. We never knew them 

 use the latter, and when going round at daybreak in the winter we have often 

 seen them on the outer perches with the white frost thick on their backs. 

 They do not sufler in any way from the cold. Oar common Pheasants never 

 have any shelter. We hardly thick you will do well to keep thetwobretds 

 together when the layinj? season comes on. We fear they will fiffht. Such a 

 space as you describe, 6'J feet by 15, will afford divliling, and a few Pheasant 

 hurdles will enable you to do it at any time. 



Ego Protruihsg (Sabina).— The accident you describe happeua only to 

 pallets. Nothing is easier than the remedy. Take a wing feather, dip it in 

 sweet or castor oil, the latter the beet, lubricate the egg membrane that pro- 

 trudes and covers the egg. This will produce an action. As soon as it occurs 

 introduce the feather between the membrane and the shell of the egg; the 

 egg will be laid Immediately. Watch the bird for a few days, and when un- 

 easiness appears, indicated by a semi-upright position and by the tail droop- 

 ing, catch her, take a feather steeped in oil, aud introducing it into the egg- 

 pas^iiages, keep on till you reach the egg, which will soon be laid. It is a dis- 

 order peculiar to pullets. Yoo need have Ultle trouble about the case. 



Heaviest Goose and Turkey (T. fl. Z,.).— We are unable to answer all 

 your questions as we have to draw on our memory. We believe a Goose has 

 been exhibited weighing 30 lbs. "Ve have seen a Turkey that weighed 34 lb?. 

 As a rule, the heaviest Geese are shown by Mr. J. K. Fowler, of Aylesbury, 

 and the heaviest Turkeys by Mr. Lythall, brother to the Secretary of the 

 Birmingham Show. 



"Common" Class of Pigeons at a Show (A Duffer).— yfe apprehend 

 that a good judge in judging this class would give the prize to a well-matched 

 pair of true Dove-house Pigeons, which are properly Chequer, not as you 

 mention. Blue with black bars. The class you name is such an unusual one 

 that probably a judge would award the prize to the prettieet pair shown, 

 which very likely would be some half-bred Tumblers or remote cross ; bat the 

 Chequered Dove-house is undoubtedly the real common Pigeon of this country, 

 known among naturalists as Columba aftims.or Columba agrestis, a chequered 

 or dappled bluish bird; and a well-matching pair look vtry pretty. At the 

 same timo a Pigeon judge may know nothing of all this, and follow his own 

 taste only. 



Distinguishing the Sexes of Canaries (W. H.).— Cock birds are more 

 bold and fierce in general appearance than hens and have a more bloomy 

 plumage. Their heads are somewhat larger aud longer than the hens', and 

 they stand a little higher upon their legs. They are alsu more sprightly 

 in their action. \\Tien in full vigour of song, especially approaching the breed- 

 ing season, the cock birds can generally be told by (what is uijderstood by 

 the fancy), "blowing" them. Many fanciers can easily pick out the cock 

 birds from the hens when in their nesta. We profess to be at home on this 

 point. 



Feeding Canabies ild^m). — The food should consist of canary, email 

 hemp, German rape, varied occasionally with flax, millet seed, and a few 

 groata, and powdered biscuit. Now and then a httle German paste (if you 

 know iiow to prepare it), may be given if the birds are kept for singing pur- 

 poses. Breeding with them temporarily spoils their singing. Green food 

 may be supplied in the spring time and during summer. In the autumn and 

 winter months they are better without it. In the early spring dandelion 

 (especially), and young lettuce may be given, and a little flowering groundsel 

 und chickweed as the summer approaches, followed-up in June and July 

 with plantain stems, plenty of which may be foimd growing wild. A little 

 lettuce seed and a piece of salt the size of a bean con be suppUed occasion- 

 ally, both of which will teed to purify the sjslem. No sugar at any time whilst 

 the bird is healthy. The above dietary will suffice to keep them in good health. 



Age at which Canaries Sing (Wtmi. — Most birds commence to warble 

 in their youth— about five or six weeks old. Lite babies, when they once get 

 into voice they make free use of it. At the above age the birds are not so free 

 in song as when they have finished moulting, which commences at about tLe 

 ago of eight or nine weeks, and contiuaea the same number of weeks. After 

 that they become free songsters, and swell-out their Uttle throats to the 

 delight of both eyes and ears, in a very different manner to hen birds, which 

 are deficient of that dash, style, and freedom peculiar to the cock birds. 

 Much more could be said in reply to your questions, but we think this will 

 suffice ; at least we hope so. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Ca^IDEN SgOABE. LoNDO.N. 



Lat. 5V 33' 40" N. ; Long. 0^ 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 



REMARKS. 



2Dth. — Rainy forenoon ; looking likely for snow between laud 2 p.m.; damp 



and uncomfortable day. 

 26th. — Fnir, but rather dull early ; fine at noon, and very bright for a short 



time after 1 p.m. ; a very slight fall of snow at 9. 

 27th. — Frosty day, but not bright, only occasional gleams. 

 28th. — Fair, but rather foggy in the morning; began to rain about 2 P.M., 



but only slightly till 9 P.M., then heavily the rest of the day, and till 



midnight. Rapid fall of the barometer in the latter part of the day, 



the lowest reading being soon after midnight. A high wind in the 



night. 

 29th. — Wet early, hut the wind gone down ; fine soon after 10 a.m., but heavy 



rain just before noon ; fair bat windy in the afternoon and evening. 

 30th. — Dull morning, very dark fog soon after 11 a.m., and more or less so aU 



day ; very wet evening and night. 

 Dec. 1st.— fiain in the night, but soon ceased, and it was the finest day 



during the week,— G. J. Svjions. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— Dbcembkr 2. 

 Veet little alteration to report in the general condition of the market. A 

 large cargo of Pines has just arrived from St. Michael's, being the finest yet 

 impi.>rted. The reports of blighted Potatoes from the different depots are 

 more favoar&ble. 



