416 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAdE GARDENED. 



( May 21, 1874. 



and be especially careful not to overcrowd them. Coal ashes, 

 dry earth, or any deodoriRing substance frequently strewn over 

 the droppings will be sufficient without often removing them. 

 If you discover a fowl whose breathing is attended with labour, 

 and the throat distends at every breath, remove it at once and 

 apply some remedy, many of which are given in all poultry 

 books and journals. Roup is easily cured in the first stages ; I 

 have often cured it by one application of kerosene oil to the 

 head and throat, after giving one teaspoonf ul internally. Always 

 give a diseased fowl all the sunshine you can. Roup is often 

 accompanied by canker in the mouth and throat. In cases of 

 canker I remove the whit© substance and apply pulverised alum 

 with perfect success. I had a case not long since where the 

 tongue, mouth, and throat were completely coated thick with 

 canker, and a frothy substance issued from the mouth. Such 

 cases I had always before considered incurable, and, had not the 

 bird been a valuable one, I should have used my old and sure 

 remedy, the hatchet. In five days, however, he was entirely 

 cured, the only remedy being a daily application of pulverised 

 alum. I hope to hear from others on this point. — J. Y. Bicknell. 

 ■ — {A7nerican Fanciers' Journal.) 



Increased Consumption of Eggs. — In the four months ended 

 the 30th nit. the declared value of eggs imported was X'871,492, 

 against X'830,325 in the same period last year. 



Canary's Eggs Soff-shelled {M. H.) — Supply eome well- crushed old 

 lime rubbish. Put a piece between the wires, crush the remainder and strew 

 on the ca:;e bottom. Discontinue the hempseed. The rest of the bill o£ 

 fare will do very well. You will not be troubled with any more soft-shelled 

 eggs.— W. A. B. 



Canaries Moulting out of Season (M. N. Q.). — It is not usual for Cana- 

 ries to moult in the spring, but it will now and then happen. I do not think 

 the food has anything to do with it, as the two cocks appear to be in the same 

 state. You can do nothing but let it go on, and you may possibly get a late 

 nest. You are in good time for " muling," if that bo the last word in your 

 note. The middle ff May is quite soon enough to put up a Goldfinch and 

 Canary. If the word he " meeting " my remark ia unnecessary. — VT. A. B. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Cajidem Square, London, 



Lat. 51" 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0^ 8' 0" W. ; Altitude 111 feet. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Feathers Falling from Head and Neck (H. H.).— Ar a rule there is 

 no remedy for the loss of feathers, becanRe it is diffiiiult to trace it to its 

 origin. Spanish and Houdaus are both feather-eating birds when in confine- 

 ment, but when, a^ you say, your fowls are in full enjoyment of liberty and a 

 grass run, it is difficult to find a cause for it. Stimulating foods are bad for 

 feathers, and a heated state of body destroys plumage. If you wish for a 

 proof of this you will find it in the fact that a bird fed entirely on hempseed 

 will become black ; take Quails and Bullfinches a^i examples. Parrots fed on 

 hempseed cannot moult wing feathers, and the failure causes such irritation 

 that the birds eat away then- wings. We advise you to rub the bare spots freely 

 with compound sulphur ointment, to confine your food strictly to ground oats 

 or barleymeal slaked with water morning and evening, and to whole com at 

 midday. If they have their liberty over grass they want nothing more. If 

 they have no green food in their haunts you must give them lettuce and grass 

 cut with plenty of fresh earth. If they have no dnst in their run supply 

 them with it, or with road grit. If this is carried out you will have no diffi- 

 culty in overcoming the complaint. It ia not a natural disorder, neither is it 

 one to which Pheasants, Partridges, or Grouse are subject. Many of these 

 complaints follow the use of substitutes for their natural food. 



Removing a Super (S. M. C.),—U your super contains good clean comb 

 we should advise you to let it be, otherwise clean it out and sweeten it by 

 exposure to the air. You can then either replace it or give it to some other 

 hive. It depends on a variety of circumstances whether sopors put upon 

 hives at this season of the year retard the swarming of the bees. If the 

 super is large and they take to it kindly now, you may get no swarm at all, 

 or, perhaps, a very large one about the middle of June. A small super will 

 scarcely delay swarming at all, a week or so at most; but it is quite im- 

 possible to predict exactly what bees will or will not do. The weather, of 

 course, has a great deal to iln with the matter, and the condition of the 

 stock, whether it has a prolific queen or otherwise. In good honey years 

 Bwarms are often very scarce, and super after super will be filled; "in bad 

 years, like the last two or three, swarming has been in many places est^e^sive. 

 If you want an early swarra do not give a large super, but by all means let 

 them have a small one. especially as you say your hive is very full of bees. 

 Proportion the super to the size of your stock and its population. We are all 

 hoping for hot weather, and believe it ia not far off. It came three weeks ago 

 as we predicted, and not a little honey has been gathered by all well-to-do 

 stocks. 



Stock after Swarming {E. Jff. JIf.).— Three weeks after yon have nb. 

 tained your first swarm you may drive all the bees in the old hive into a 

 modem structure without risk or having to look for the queen. Let the bees 

 turned out be placed on the spot where the old one now stands. In such 

 operations it is not necessary to look for the queens. 



Taking a Second Artificial Swarm {H. A. L.).— Your having succeeded 

 in taking a swarm artificially is encouraging, but bear in mind that there is 

 some danger of going wrong in attempting to take a second swarm from the 

 same hive, for after the queens (now being roared in your old hive) shall have 

 been hatched, no second swarm can be taken with safety. It is quite possible 

 to take a second swarm artificially from a hive at the time the queens are 

 piping or have come to maturity; and it is thus done— two young queens, 

 still in their cells, are cut out of the hive, rolled separately in the corners of 

 a handkerchief, or put separately under glasse'i, and kept there while a swarm 

 is driven into an empty hive. As soon as this is done, one of the queens is 

 given to the old hive, and the other to the swarm. If more queens than one 

 be in either old one or swarm, they will be killed and cast out. If a second 

 Bwarm be removed from an old hive when there is only one queen in it, 

 either the swarra or old one will be without a queen or eggs wherewith to 

 provide one. If the queen go with the swarm the old one would be com- 

 paratively useless, and if the queen remain in the old one the swarm would 

 return. 



Bees Swarming [E. H. 0.).— Bees do swarm occasionally, though very 

 seldom, before their hives are quite filled with combs. The appearance of 

 drones in your hive is not an indication that it is ripe for swarming. It may 

 contain drone-combs near its centre, and these may have had eggs set in them 

 as soon as covered with the bees. Owing to the wind being in the north and 

 east all this month bees have got very little honey, and hence they have not 

 been able to build much comb. Examine your hive with smoke, and, if it is 

 ready for swarming, you will find on lifting it a great crowd of bees on the 

 board. Before it swarms naturally, eggs will be set and may be seen in royal 

 cells. 



REMARKS. 

 9th. — A very fine day, especially the after part of it. 

 10th. — Rather cold, but a pleasant day. 



11th. — Fine morning, but a rather sharp though short hail shower at 3 p.m.^ 

 and a similar kind of shower but of large rain drops about 5 P.M. ; in- 

 both cases looking vei-y stormlike in the distance. 

 12th. — A very pleasant day, but rain at night. 



A week of very pleasant weather, though the temperature is a trifle below 

 that of the preceding one. 



13th. — Dull morning, a dull day ; dark early ; drops of rain in evening. 



14tli. — Cloudy morning, very close day; stormlike in the evening. 



15th. — Heavy rain in morning; aftex-noon and evening fi.ne; night cold. 



16th. — Fine all day ; very cold. 



llih. — A beautifully fine and sunny day ; clear evening. 



ISt.h.— Fine day, cloudy at times; warmer in evening. 



19th. — Dull; very slight showers at intervals. 



Temperature slightly warmer than last week, but not nearly so high as a.. 

 few weeks back. Frost on grass on three consecutive nichts, due principally 

 to clearness of the wky and drj-ness of the air.— G. J. Si"3iONS. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— May 2G. 



A FAIR amount of bu'^iuess is current, and prices generally for prime gooOB 

 are firm. Iiupurts continue heavy, and comprise a large variety both of fruit 

 and vegetables. Among them are Cherries and Apricots from Toulouse, and a 

 lai-^e consignment of Pine Apples from Antigua, some of which are in much 

 bettor condition than those usually imported fiom the West Indies at a later 

 period of the year. Old Potatoes have slightly advanced, but new ones havo- 

 fallen from 23s. to IGs. and 208. per hundi-edweight in the trade. 



FRUIT. 



Applps J B'-'^e - OtoS 



Apriciits iloz. 4 



Cberres. ^^ U>x 4 6 



CheHtnuts bu'Ahel 



Currants i bieva 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 8 15 



Filberts lt>. 1 1 



Cobs . lb. 1 n 1 



Gooseberrips quart 6 



Grapes, hothouse.... Ih. 4 IJ 



Lemons o" 100 8 12 



Melons each 4 8 



Mulberries ^ lb. " OtoO 



Nectarines doz. 15 3) 



Oranges ^100 4 16 



Peaches doz. 15 36 



Pears, kitchen doz. 2 6- 



dessert doz. 



PineApples lb. 6 12 



Plums j sieve 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries ¥^ oz. 6 1 



Walnuts bushel 10 16 



ditto ^^-lOO 3 2 



VEGETABLES, 



Artichokes dOK. 



AsparatiuH Y l'*0 



French ;> 



Beans. Kidney.... 1*'10) 2 



Beet. Red doz 1 



Broccoli bundle 



Cabbage doz. 1 



Capsicums I' 100 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 4 



Celery bundle 1 



Coleworts. . doz. bunches 2 

 Cucumbers each 



pickling doz. 



Endive doz, 2 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bnnch 



HorseradiBh liundle 3 



Leeka bunch 



Lettuce do/,. 1 



d, 



Oto 



















MoBhTooras pottle 1 



Mustard & Cress. .punnet 



Onions bushel 4 



pickling quart 



Parsley per doz. bunches 4 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas quart 2 



Potatoes bushel 8 



Kidney do. 



Round . do. 



Radishes,, d^z. bunches 1 



Rhubarb bundle 



Salaafy bundle 1 



Savoys. doz. 



Scorzonera bundle 1 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 2 



Tomatoes doz. 3 



Turnips..,.. bunch 



Vegetable Marrows 



8. d. s d. 



oto 2 

 2 

 7 

 6 



6 

 6 t> 

 

 

 1 

 9 X 

 6 U 

 

 

 



