Much 16, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOKXIOULTURE AND OOXTAGE GARDENER. 



221 



Improving a Lawn (A. B. C).— Clear away as mnch of the moss as 

 poeaible by soratchiog with an irou rake, and drusa immedintely with a rich 

 compost contaiuin^^ a sisth of lime, applying; half au inula thick. Rako 

 thoroughly about the miiUUe of April, aud sow 8 Ibbt. of FuMtuua duiiuBcula, 

 la lbs. of CyuoHurua criatatus. 8 lbs. of Festuoa tenuifolia, 4 lbs. of Poa notno- 

 raliB bompervireuB, i lbs. of Trifoliuni lepeua, aud 8 lbs. of TrifoUuni mitiufl, 

 in m xture for one acre, rolling well alter sowing. If tho suiface is vory 

 rough aud uneven have the ground well dug an! made level before sowing 

 the KOtidt?. 



SfMMEa CfABDEN Flowers {Tih-m).~By Bowing hardy and half-hardy 

 annualct you may have a go<td display uf bloom in your borders from Juue to 

 Butumu, but Asters and stocks will not alone give it. A few hardy anuuaU 

 afe — Aiyasuui maritioium, Baitonia aurca, Calandrinia grandidora, Cbry- 

 Banthomums cariuatum, Donuetti, aud Djuble Ooldeu, EryHimum Peruff^- 

 kiauiim, Leptosiphon densillorua and albua, Naaturtium Kiug of Tom 

 Thuiubd scarlet, ditto golden, Sipouaria calabrica and alba. Half-hardy— 

 Asters, ^to^;ka, Phlos Driimmondi, dwarf Scabious, Petunias, Agoratum Im- 

 perial Dwarf, and Senecio ele^ans. 



Manuring Vegetaeles (Wem).— Top-dress with any solid manure you 

 oan command, and water abundantly during growth wi'h liquid manure. 

 House sewage for the 8eakale ^nd Asparagus, and other crops, diluted with 

 six times its volume of water, or guano 1 lb. to twenty gallons of woter will 

 be boneticiol. 



DoBYANTUES Palmeki AND D. EXCELSA (J. TF.).— Wo quo'e the following 

 from Mr. Bull's catalogue: — *' This is described by Mr. Hill, who is well 

 versed in plants, as one of the finest productiona of the colony of Queensland. 

 It IB iuuna in one small patch on the mountains of that region, oud about 

 two hundred miles distan'. from the near, st towuhliip. lu its habit of growth 

 it is described as resembling the commoner D. exuelsa, but the ends of the 

 leaves are less pointed, and the thimblL-sbaped cup is more distinct. The 

 plants have a stout bulbous base, clothed with the lemains of the imbrictited 

 leaves. These are elongate, narrow lanceoJate, 3 tu 4 inches wide, quite 

 smooth, narrowed downwards into a channelled margiuate stalk-like portion, 

 which widens below so as to clasp the bulb, and tapers upwards lnti> a long 

 narrow point. The flowers form a pyramidttl ppike 12 to 18 mchea hi^h and 

 10 to 12 inches broad, the flowers being red, witn the centre lighter, almost 

 white. It is a beautiful species, and ia describtd by those who have seen it 

 in its native home as being greatly superior in beauty to the older and mora 

 familiar species." D. excelsa ia familiarly knuwn as the Giaut Lily of 

 Australia. The plant does not flower until it attams a large size, when it 

 then throws-up a tall spike surmounted with an umbel of crimson trumpet- 

 shaped flowers. It grows freely in pandy loam and peat. A conservatory ia 

 the most proper place for it, as the flower stem grows to a great height before 

 the flowers expand. It is figured in the "Botanical Magazine" for 1814. 



Names of Fruits (IT. K. A.}. — Isle of Wight Pippin. 



POULTRY, BEE, AND PIQEON OHROinOLE. 



TELEGBAMS. 



This may seem a subject on which nothing can bo said ; bnt 

 we really cannot let the matter pass unnoticed, for in these days 

 of cheap telegraphy messages are sent broadcast all over the 

 land. Poultry people are of course not exempt, and if a bargain 

 happens to be advertised through any medium, and the post 

 cannot conduct the order sniHoieutly quickly, a telegram is dis- 

 patched. This is all very well when the porterage is paid or 

 when the receiver comes within the radius of a free delivery ; 

 but this is hardly ever talien into consideration, and the message 

 is often duly dispatched when perhaps on its arrival 2». or more 

 has to be paid for porterage. But it is not to be supposed that 

 Mr. Smith only has seen the bargain in tho advertisement and 

 thinks of a telegram, but Mr. Brown, Mr. Jones, and others have 

 also noticed it, and they also " wire." But unfortunately the 

 numerous would-be purchasers will not agree to the decision of 

 King Solomon and divide the bargain ; but only one can have 

 it, and the unfortunate vendor is several shillings out of pocket 

 from the other parties' messages. 



Not only are these telegrams sent right and left for advertised 

 articles, but when a good bird makes hia debut at a show perhaps 

 several want to be possessed of it, and off goes a telegram to 

 the owner, who no more wants to sell it than he does his own 

 shadow. But still he has very likely to pay the porterage of 

 these unsolicited telegrams. And many more such cases there 

 are. Perhaps a sold bird is due at its new home on a Wednesday 

 night. It is delayed at some junction, and does not turn up till 

 Thursday morning ; but in the interval a telegram, or perhaps 

 two, have been sent off, and a heavy porterage has had to be 

 unnecessarily paid, for it is a well-known fact that many of our 

 greatest breeders and exhibitors live in the country far from a 

 delivery office. We will give au instance or two of such cases. 

 We had to telegraph to a distant county the other day, and not 

 knowing the distance from the office we left half a sovereign on 

 deposit for the same, and were horrified to fiud our chaoge when 

 next we called was 2s. out of the 10s. Now if that good party 

 had received half a dazen such messages in reply to an adver- 

 tisement or any such thing he would have had to pay 8s. on a 

 message, for somehow those little items are never or rarely 

 repaid. Again : a friend of ours last year advertised a pair of 

 prize Bantams for £3 3s., but by a slip of the compositor the j£3 

 was omitted, and only 3s. appeared as the price of the birds. 

 Within twenty-four hours from when the advertisement ap- 

 peared no less than nine telegrams were handed in, and 2s. to 

 pay on each. The next day brought letters from all parts of the 

 kingdom, enclosing post-office orders and stamps. Everyone 



was clamorous for the birds, but when the announcement ap- 

 peared again corrected in the next week no one bought them ; 

 and apart from the trouble the owner was actually 18). out of 

 pocket by the telegrams. And so we could go on with many such 

 recollections, for we have always been located in the country; 

 and though our messages only cost 1.5. each for delivery, still 

 those shillings unnecessarily expended would, as a friend said 

 the other day, go some way towards paying tho annual corn bill. 

 Of course no one is compelled to take in these messages, and 

 can decline to do so, for in fact we know of some who always 

 make a point of so doing; but then there is so much risk in 

 doing BO, for the message may be to tell of some dear one's 

 illness, or maybe only to ask if we have any "prize Cochins for 

 sale now laying and fit for exhibition ia good company at 8s. Gd. 

 each;" for these latter words were actually used in a telegram 

 to our knowledge. 



Now, apart from troiible and inconvenience, these litlle sums 

 soon make up a large one, and it is unwarrantable to make 

 people pay them ; and so the moral is that telegrams should not 

 be sent so much at random unless it is known that where they 

 are going to they will come under free delivery, or else a deposit 

 should be left at the office for delivery charges, when, as soon 

 as it is ascertained what they amount to, the balance can ha 

 returned. Of course with people that are known to each other 

 this need not be done, fur the one would know that the other 

 would refund the porterage money ; but in those oases where 

 there is no previous knowledge more care should be really taken 

 in this matter. 



This may seem a long story on an unimportant matter, but 

 the evil seems to be a growing one, and we have been asked by 

 two or three who have been martyrs only in the last month to 

 give the subject notice. We feel sure that most persons will 

 agree that it is something which can be and should be remedied, 

 for a little trouble and care would stop all this inoonvenienoe 

 and expense. — W. 



ME. GEEVILLE HODSON THE POULTRY 

 JUDGE AT HOME. 



I HAVE sometimes wondered as to what becomes of poultry 

 judges when they are not judging. Are they packed up with 

 the pens and labelled, " Not wanted till next show ?" or, like 

 little "Alice in Wonderland," do they become smaller and 

 smaller and are then placed inside a pen ? And when next show 

 day comes round do they, like the aforesaid little Alice, lengthen 

 out telescope fashion and become big again ? Anyhow they 

 always look very much the same. There is my friend Mr. 

 Teebay, who looked at the last Crystal Palace Show just as he 

 always had done— just as if he had never undressed since he 

 judged ton years ago. There is worthy Mr. Hewitt, who is 

 almost equally unaltered, may he long remain so ; and "our" 

 Mr. Baily, who, splendid type of English manhood, looks large 

 and fine as ever. Then, yes, there is also my aristocratic and 

 cheery friend Mr. Hodson, who looks just the same as ever— as 

 fresh as a windy morn. Can there be some hygienic and health, 

 giving power in poultry-judging? Does the bracing air of the 

 country come in the feathers of tho birds ? Well, I know not. 

 Still, these poultry judges do keep up a most enviable sameness 

 of appearance. What powerful beings they are too— what lords 

 of the ascendant ! There are barriers none dare cross save and 

 except the judges ; afterwards crowds may jostle, but while 

 they are judging they have the space all to themselves. They 

 cause exhibitors' hearts to quake and quail, to bound with joy 

 or sink in despair. No wonder monarchs with such unlimited 

 powers look so well and carry themselves so bravely year after 

 year. But again I ask, What becomes of the poultry judges 

 when not judging ? What and where are these monarchs when 

 not on their throne ? What are they at home ? 



Now I had visited and seen the home of many a poultry and 

 Pigeon fancier— had strolled in the garden of many a rosarian, 

 but I had never seen a poultry judge at home. Having met Mr. 

 Hodson many years at various shows, and " chummed up," a.s 

 naturally we should, he invited me to go and see him at his 

 home in Somersetshire. He lives in an historic country not far 

 from where the last battle on English ground was fought, and 

 between the towns of Bri.lgewater and Taunton, the latter place 

 having one sad historic remiuisoenoe, that of the bloody assize 

 of Judge JeSeries after the afore- alluded-to battle of Sedgemoor 

 but Ta°unton bears on its face no scars of the past, for it is one 

 of the brightest aud most cheerful of English country towns ; 

 but the Sedgemoor country, redeemed in olden times from the 

 sea, is naturally low-lying and unpicturesque. I knew that Mr. 

 Hodson was a great breeder of Sebright Bantams, the especial 

 Bantams of our small-fowl-loving fathers and grandfathers, and 

 that be had come to the front of late year.i with some splendid 

 Blue Dragoons. I was sure, then, for all reasons that I should 

 have a pleasant and enjoyable visit when on a brilhant Septem- 

 ber day I stepped into the railway for Bridgewater. It will be a 

 long time, in spite of school boards and railways, before Somer- 

 setshire folk— that is, genuine out-lying Somersetshire folk, lose 



