224 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GtARDBNER. 



[ March 16, 1876. 



tempered. The stock in my poseeasion has borne out this 

 character ; bnt I have ouly had it six mouths, and as it origin- 

 ally consisted of a queen and two or throe hundred workers it 

 has never been in a state of vigour. My juvenile colony is, how- 

 ever, growing, and had as much brood as the workers could 

 cover on Christmas day. The French find fault with this 

 Variety, that it is too prone to swarm. Uuless its docility 

 proves a marked fact I do not know that it will be any improve- 

 ment on our common bee. In colour the Carnioliati is not 

 unlike the latter, with the exception that the abdomen has 

 rings of a dirty white. 



Herr Cori, of Brux in Bohemia, has been very energetic in 

 the search for new bees, and has succeeded iu obtainiog the 

 Dalmatian, Smyrniau, and Cyprian varieties. He describes the 

 first as a noble race, worthy of cultivation. They gather their 

 honey from the flowers which grow in the crevasses and ravines 

 of the mountains, very high and steep, flying far where the 

 winds are rough and violent ; thus they liave become hardy and 

 muscular. In colour they are of the purest black. They have 

 great activity and good temper, so long as they remain tranquil; 

 but if they are disturbed or meddled with they become most 

 wicked, defending themselves vaUantly, and attacking vigor- 

 ously. Herr Cori crossed this bee with the Smyrnian, and 

 says that the' progeny of the Smyrnian queen by a Dalmatian 

 drone largely surpassed his Italian bees, and these again were ex- 

 celled by the produce of a Dalmatian queen and Smyrnian drone. 



Herr Cori gives an amusing aocouut of his efforts to obtain a 

 second Dalmatian stock, which efforts were for a long time un- 

 availing, in consequence of the peasants believing that if they 

 sold a colony all their others would die of grief at the loss of 

 their sisters. By chance Herr Cori obtained the assistance of 

 a very high personage at Eiguaa, who addressed himself to the 

 Consul- General of Turkey, who communicated with the Pacha 

 of Serajevo, before whom the superstition had to bow, and two 

 colonies were soon on their way to Trieste, transported on the 

 back^ of mules for five days over the mountains, thence by 

 steamboat and railway. One colony was in the hollow trunk of 

 an oak, the other in the trunk of a magnolia, and each packed 

 in a wooden box, weighing respectively 142 lbs. and 126 lbs. 

 gross. The hives were completely full of combs, plenty of 

 honey, not one cell broken, and the loss of the bees very small. 

 Extending his search southward, Herr Cori received from 

 Cyprus a queen and two hundred workers, the sole survivors 

 of many thousands composing the stock sent to him. This 

 queen, with good nursing, survived to be ^he parent of many 

 stocks afterwards distributed over Europe and America. The 

 Cyprian bees also journeyed iu their original hive, wbich was 

 a long horizontal earthenware pipe; and the habitation of the 

 Smymians was manufactured of woven wands laid over with 

 camels' dung. Herr Cori and the Count Kalorat, who have 

 narsed and cultivated the Cyprian bee, describe it as the best 

 bee known, as much superior to the Ligurian as that is to the 

 common bee. There does not appear to be any queen-breeders 

 in Cyprus yet reidy to export queens, but I have no doubt 

 such an industry will be established in good time. Oar Yankee 

 cousins, always ready for novelty, are so anxious to get a 

 quantity of them, that a scheme is afloat to send a special com- 

 missioner to Cyprus to buy or breed queens for America ; and a 

 gentleman in England has volunteered to retire to an island in 

 the Bristol Channel to breed this variety beyond the influence 

 of the common drones, on condition that subscribers should be 

 fonndfor fifty fertile queens at £i each. — John Hdnteb, Eaton 

 Bise, Haling. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Cock Moulting Irregularly (M. Smith).— Yout Golden-spangled bird is 

 out of health, and the secretions are too much at fault to allow the formation 

 of feathers. Yoa would have helped our answer if you had told xxs your 

 feeding. The seeking for etimuliting and unnatural food in preference to 

 ordinary food causes us to have many complaints. We advise you to ad- 

 miniater a table-apoonful of cantor oil, to follow by feed ng ou ground oats 

 mixed with milk, and if the birds are in confiaement to givo pleiit-y of green 

 food, especially lettuce; to give little whole corn, aad, if any, good bailey. 



HouDANs' Legs Failing (C. J.).— We cannot glean the cause of disease 

 in your fowls from your letter. The eymptoms you deecribe would bQ 

 caused by an improper flooring to your fowl housie. Brick, wood, or stone 

 woald account for them. We can understand the birds prefer the grass, it 

 ia their nature; but there is no reawon why they shonUl not frequent the 

 ploughed land, and it is good for tbeir health they should do so. Your 

 roosting house being sheltered from weather, the flo irinj should be of road 

 grit or the plain earth kept very cleau. It is a necessity tliat fowls should be 

 everywhere able to scratch, and that tbc surface should not keep their feet un- 

 naturally strained or be impervious to their claws. Ashes are objectionable 

 in every way. They contain no grit, and their particles often pierce the ball 

 of the foot and canse lameness. This may bet be foundation of your complaint. 

 Damp will not explain it. Concrete is a bad flooring; remove it. Feed as 

 advised in previous answer, and we believe you will have no cause for complaint. 



Bantau Tomoured {J. W. M.).— Open the tumour by the aid of a pair of 

 Bharp-pointed scissors, and after, pres&ing-out the watery humour rub the 

 place with citrine ointment. 



Brahuas* Excrements Clinging (J. r.).— We keep many hundreds of 

 Brahmas, and have no complaint such as you mention. It is generally the 

 lesuit of injadiciouB feeding. Heating food will cause the appearances of 



which you complain. Feed naturally. Give to each bird a table-spoonful of 

 castor oil. Faod them on grauod food, barleymaal, or ground oats. It ia 

 confinement supply plenty of greea food. Feed moderately three times per 

 day, and they will bQ healthy ia a week. 



Fo^T, SrcKLY (H. Orant). — Your bird hag the roup, which ia highly con- 

 tagious. Wash the head daily or twica daily with tepid water. Sulphata of 

 copper one gr^iu daily miied ia oitm^al mashed with ale and plenty of green 

 food. Separate the fowl from all others. If not better within a week kill 

 the fowl. 



Grass in Run (.7. S.I.— The seed from a hay-loft will do. Rake the surf loe 

 and scatter the seeds thinly. The fowls should be kept out until tho seedling 

 grass is an inch or more high. 



MiTCHiNG Canaries (A Subscriber, Clonmel). — Yoa can match the green- 

 ish-yellow cock with the cinnamon hen if your object be merely to obtain a 

 c»ge songster or two. The off-priogfrom the pair may in all probibility vary 

 in appearance, some of which will be very dark, others marked, with most 

 likely a yellow bird or so; bat you mast not expect to find the latter coloured 

 birds of that rich colour good enough to run a race in exhibition competition 

 with yellosv birds bred from a pure strain — such, for instance, as from Norwich- 

 bred birds. Tbere are equal chances of pairing Canary birds of distinct 

 varieties of breed. The produc3 from such, when the cock birds are well 

 tutored, equally please the ear if not the eye. At the same tima we should 

 advise the ma'cbing together birds of the same breed — a yellow to buff — and 

 tbeu you might have tho advaotage of some of the young being fit for exhi- 

 biting, supposiog the parent birds be of good quality. 



SaPEBSTiTioNs about Bees {Q. B.). — Only ignorant people are inflaenced 

 by such superstitions. 



MEXEOROLOQIOAL OBSERVATIONS. 



REMARKS. 



8th. — A stormy day ; wind very high at night with, heavy rain and falling 



barometer. 

 9th.— Fair, but still windy ; slight shower in the evening ; snow and hail at 

 9 P.M. ; fine after. 



10th.— Very stormy early, but fine by 9 a.m., but rain again by 10; rather 

 showery all day; wind lower at night and quite fine. 



11th. — Very fine and bright till 1 P.M., then a slight shower, but fine after. 



12th. — Heavy snow batween 8 and 9 a.m. ; rain or snow more or less all day ; 

 very dark at noon ; barometer fell seven-tenths between midnight and 

 midday, and rose half-aa-ineh butween 2 p.m. and 5.10 p.m. Heavy 

 80OW 1 to '2 P.M., then rain ; fair evening, starlight hut rough. 



13th. — Snow at 8 a.m. for a short time, but beautifully bright before noon; 

 fine afternoon; slisjht shower about 5 p.m., dull afterwards. 



14th.— Wet and windy in moruiog, but soon cleared off, though the wind con- 

 tinued very boiftterous ; very wild night. 

 A week noticeable for Lxv barometer and great oscillations thereofi violent 



gales, and much rain and snow. — Q-. J. SxaioNs. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— Haech 15. 



Two or three'samples of Strawberries have made their appearance since 

 oar last report, and we shall now look for a regular supply. Late Grapes are 

 making good prices, and first-daas fruit is in demand. We have no altera- 

 tion to quote in forced vegetables, with the eioaption of Caoambers, which 

 have dropped considerably owing to a slack demand. 

 raoiT. 



Apples jeieve 1 



Cbestnnts bushel 12 



Filberts, Cobs lb. 



Grapes, hothouse lb. 5 



Lemons ^100 6 



Melons each 



Oranges V lUU 6 



B. d. B. d 



0to3 6 



Peaches doz. 



Pears, kitchen dos. 



dessert doz. 



Pine Apples lb. 



Strawberries oz. 



Walnuts ^100 



ditto bushel 



s. d. B. d. 



OtoO 



Artichokes dozen 



Asparagus _ ^ 100 



TEOBTABLES. 



s. d. B. d. 



French buniile 18 



Beans, Kidney.... 1^ lOJ 1 



Beet. Red dozen 1 



Broccoli bundle 



Bruseela Sprouts ) sieve ii 



Cabbage dozen 1 



Carrtits bunch 



I Cap-icnms ^ liiO 1 



Cauliflower dozen I 



Celery bundle 1 



j Coleworls.. doz. bunches 2 



' Cucumbers each 1 



I Endive dozen 1 



Fennel bunch 



{ Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



I Horseradish bundle 4 



Lettuce do. en 



French Cabbage .... 1 



0to6 

 10 

 

 6 2 



Leeka bunch 



Mnshrooms pottle 



Mustard & Cress paonet 

 Onions bnshel 



pickling quart 



Parsley.... doz. bunches 



Parsnips dozen 



Peas quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



New lb. 



Radishes .. doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Halsafy bnnd'e 



Scorzonera bundle 



Seakale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoea dozen 



Turnips bunch 



B. d. s. d. 

 4 too 

 1 



Vegetable MarrowB 



