338 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 23, 1874. 



admitted that onr stock is of very large size, and not " small 

 and attenuated ; " pallets at twenty-seven weeks 8 lbs. in weight, 

 are not so small that we need be ashamed. It is known that we 

 had the largest cockerel at the last Palace Show. 



In conclusion, we do not invite mere gossipers, but all who 

 are really interested are here at all times welcome, bnt especially 

 do we ask the writer's inspection of oui arrangements. — F. 

 Cheshibe. 



INTELLIGENCE OF DUCKS. 



One evening we had a party of friends. It was summer time, 

 and the drawing-room glass doors which open on the lawn were 

 set open. A lady went to the piano and commenced playing. 

 No sooner was there a pause in the masi3 than two Ducks, who 

 had by some means got into the room, rose from under one of 

 the chairs beneath which they had hidden themselves, and 

 waddled all over the room, quacking loudly. Of course every- 

 one laughed, when someone suggested that the music should 

 recommence. No sooner did it do so than the Ducks crouched 

 down, perfectly silent whilst it continued. We repeated this 

 experiment several times, always with the same result. That 

 it was not surprise or fear, but liking for the music, which 

 induced this behaviour, was afterwards proved ; for on after- 

 occasions these same Dacks would, upon hearing someone 

 touch the piano, leave the field and come across to the drawing- 

 room open doors, and even into the anteroom to listen. 



Once, very late at night, just as we were passing through the 

 hall to go up-stairs, we heard a great noise of Ducks. It so hap- 

 pened that my husband was carrying a large paraffin lamp, and 

 no sooner did the strong light appear in the hall than the noise 

 very much increased. I opened a door which led into the gar- 

 den, and no sooner had I done so than a Duck positively rushed 

 into the hall close to my feet, quacking most vociferously, her 

 eyes glaring, and she beating her wings and moving her head 

 about in great agitation. 



My husband turned out, and went into the garden, carrying 

 the large lamp, and immediately the Duck followed him. Out- 

 side she was joined by the rest of the Ducks, young and old; 

 but the old drake was nowhere to be found. 



The nest morning he was discovered amongst the bashes, 

 alive, but somewhat injured, having evidently been caught by a 

 dog, who had dropped him upon hearing the alarm and seeing 

 the light approaching. — B . M. M.. (in Land and Water.) 



CANARY TROUBLES. 



Hebe's a pretty state of things ! Read ! " Those I am inter- 

 ested in eat their eggs, fight each other off their nests, and, 

 although there are many eggs laid, there are no young ones pro- 

 duced." The whole establishment seems to be demoralised. As 

 for Canaries eating their eggs, there is no cure for it. It used to 

 be the custom to blow an egg and fill it with cayenne pepper, 

 under the idea that a taste would leave such an unpleasant 

 impression as would check such highly improper proceedings. 

 But now we find they are so fond of it that if they thought their 

 eggs contained such a delicacy, the chances are they would eat 

 them still more greedily. So that's no use, and I don't know 

 what is. But this fighting has a suspicious appearance. How 

 many hens are there together, I wonder'? And I wonder also 

 whether it be not possible they are all hens, a lot of old maids 

 fighting and scratching among themselves. All Canaries that 

 sing are not cocks. I once had a Cinnamon bird which would 

 let down its wings and sing the "proud song" over hens most 

 lustily; but it laid eggs. I should advise you to get another 

 oock. Assuming you have several birds in one cage or in an 

 aviary, it is evident the cock bird you have is not master of his 

 own house. The new comer will soon explain matters satisfac- 

 torily. If you have many hens in one place supply plenty of 

 nest boxes, for, when they are open to choose, two or three 

 tenants often take a fancy to the same house, and hence arises 

 a scene which goes far to prove that Dr. Watts was not in the 

 fancy. This propensity to live in tenemented houses is one of 

 the great drawbacks to the aviary system of breeding birds. It 

 always ends in a " row on the stairs." 



Now read again ! " I am troubled with the parasite, that pest 

 of the Canary fancy, and I find the old proverb almost verified, 

 that ' where there is one there is a thousand.' They literally 

 swarm." My first impression on reading this was one of deep 

 sympathy for the suSerer. Fancy any person literally swarming 

 with the things ! I was going to prescribe a bath, a very hot 

 bath, a general disinfecting of the person, and all articles of 

 clothing and bedding to be destroyed. But I read farther. " I 

 have oftentimes felt inclined to dust the baskets and nests in 

 my breeding-cages with black sulphur, but have been restrained 

 through fear lest it should be injurious either to the birds them- 

 selves or to the eggs." It is not so bad as I thought. First of 

 all bum your nest-baskets, and never use such things again. 

 You could not possibly offer a greater inducement to these pests 

 to take up their abode with you. Baskets are a thing of a bygone 



day. The mention of them implies that you use the ordinary 

 London breeding-cage, with the two closets at one end and holes 

 cut for a sort of hand-basiu-kind arrangement of nest. When 

 the parasites get into these cages it is next to impossible to 

 exterminate them, as these little closets are not easy of access. 

 I would advise you to scrape the cage if it is whitewashed, and 

 then thoroughly scald it. If the washhouse copper is large 

 enough, get it under weigh, and immerse the cage in boiling 

 water ; then scrape and paint it thoroughly with a solution of 

 bi-chloride of mercury. Any chemist will mix you a bottle. 

 Get it well into the cracks, and when dry whitewash the inside 

 of the cage and varnish the outside. Replace the basket-nest 

 with one made of tin, with a perforated zinc bottom, and lined 

 with thick felt, which can be stitched in. Supply no building 

 material. Keep a sharp look-out for any stragglers which may 

 still be on the bodies of the birds. Daring the day they will 

 get under the ledge of the nest, at the end of the perches, on 

 the top and bottom of the door where it all but touches the 

 frame, between the back of the cage and the wall, into any sly 

 corner, from which they must be dislodged and submitted to 

 gentle pressure. It is manifest that the less ornamental work 

 there is about a cage the better, as it only affords a hiding-place 

 for one of the greatest nuisances the Canary breeder has to put 

 up with. Should you at any time observe a white powdery 

 appearance about a crack or joint, just pass the varnish brush 

 over the place. The tenants will at once quit their den and be 

 taken on the " catch-'em-ahve-oh I " principle. — W. A. Blakston. 



Hereford Poultkt Show, 1874. — A Poultry Show will be held 

 in connection with the Herefordshire Agricultural Society's 

 Show on the 11th and 12th of August. Entries to close on the 

 21st of July. ^^ 



MB. PETTIGREW ON THE QUEEN BEE. 



In an article in last number on the queen bee by Mr. Petti- 

 grew he prefaces his subject thus — " What a volume of interest 

 and marvel we should have in a fall and accurate record of the 

 birth, character, and career of a queen bee ! But who can write 

 it?" and forthwith he proceeds to state "a few things known 

 about queens" for the neneflt of "young beginners and unin- 

 formed people." 



So far 80 good ; but unfortunately some of these few things 

 said to be known about queens, stated by Mr. Pettigrew in that 

 article, are so erroneous and imaginary, and withal so contrary 

 to the natural history of the bee as understood and known by 

 many of us after not a little study and observation, that Mr. 

 Pettigrew will excuse my pointing them out to him for his re- 

 consideration, and also for the purpose of eliciting from him 

 the means by which he came to such conclusions so boldly 

 enunciated. 



But first let me say that I have perused with pleasure severa 1 

 of Mr. Pettigrew's articles on the practical work of the apiary ; 

 and though not coinciding with many of his plans, views, and 

 recommendations, some of which I have before adverted to, yet 

 they unmistakeably show that the writer is not only a great 

 enthusiast in bee-keeping, but an experienced and intelligent 

 practical apiarian. Judging, however, from the more recent 

 articles in the Journal, it is to be feared that a? Mr. Pettigrew 

 quits the practical part of the apiary, his terra cognita, the 

 management of the bee, and enters iuto the higher and more 

 abstruse subject of its natural history, he will be found steering 

 his vessel (as is already the case) into unknown seas, and will 

 be in danger of foundering even midway his projected voyage, 

 and bringing himself and some of his more inexperienced crew 

 to grief. To prevent, if possible, such a catastrophe, is the 

 object of this article. 



Here are a few of Mr. Pettigrew's assertions. " One of the 

 most wonderfal things seen in the economy of a bee hive is the 

 fact that a queen bee is reared to perfection in fourteen days, 

 whereas a common working bee produced from the same kind 

 of eggs is twenty-one days in the cell." 



Now, in regard to the queen bee, it is not in fourteen days she 

 arrives at maturity, but on the sixteenth day; and the worker 

 is not twenty-one days in the cell, but it comes forth a peifect 

 insect on the twentieth day. 



Again : Mr. Pettigrew says, " If a hive lose its queen, the 

 bees of that hive take eggs set in worker cells and place them in 

 royal cells, and then convert them into perfect princesses," lEc. 



Now, when a hive loses or is deprived of its queen at a time 

 when no preparation is made for such a contingency, the bees 

 do not transfer eggs from worker cells to royal cells, as is alleged 

 by Mr. Pettigrew. They fix upon a worm generally not more 

 than three days old, demolish the three contiguous cells, and 

 raise around it horizontally a cylindrical enclosure, which in 

 lengthening they change into a vertical position, working down- 

 wards till it presents a stalactite appearance ; and thus the royal 

 cell is completed and sealed, and the converted larva in due 

 time comes forth a royal princess. 



Agaiu : Mr. Pettigrew says, " Where two swarms are united 



