104 



OOUENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAKDENER. 



t July 29, 1875. 



Bantams of all ages and all breeds competed in one class for 

 a las. prize, and we were fairly amazed to see fourteen entries 

 of such good birds. Of coarse Sebriahts were first ; oh ! how 

 jealous other Bantams must be of the late Sir John's manu- 

 factures, for they always have the cup, and always win the 

 prizes in the Variety class, and yet when they have a class to 

 themselves their owners lose courage and keep them at home ; 

 vide Croydon, Dorchester, and elsewhere. 



In Variety class Polands first, and good Black Hambnrghs 

 second ; and third going to what once we saw at a show (South- 

 ampton) with the title of *' Gangesians." 



Geese and Ducks mustered well, and the quality was good. 

 The fancy Ducks were beautiful, but we grieve to say we fear 

 these very ornamental and lovely little pets are driving the 

 nseful and excellent-eating Muscovies, East Indian, Call, and 

 Wild Ducks out of .the region of poultry shows. 



RABBITS AT BRAMLEY. 



Torn reporter says, " In this section [of the above Show] we, 

 however, noticed some rough handhng of the Rabbits by a 

 reporter, against which we at once enter our protest." As a 

 ireeder and fancier of thirty-five years standing I must say I 

 quite agree with the above remarks, but am prepared to be 

 opposed by some individuals who are frequently judging 

 Rabbits and reporting their own awards ! 



On my entering the tent at the Bramley Show my attention 

 "Was drawn to the Rabbit section, when I was sorry to notice a 

 man with a very heavy walking-stick molesting and roughly 

 poking a Silver-Grey belonging to Miss Mortimer, and more 

 surprised on learning the name of this Rabbit-poker, who also 

 possessed a Rabbit in the same class. This treatment I was 

 also told had been going on at continuous intervals during the 

 whole of the morning. A contemporary remarks on the same 

 Rabbit as follows: — "Miss Mortimer's buck took second, and 

 did not look well owing to its very long journey and confine- 

 ment in its box." But I feel more inclined to think that the 

 stick-poking had more injured its looks than the long journey. 



I will add that reporters should be admitted before the 

 general public, that they may have time to well examine the 

 specimens, and more especially to see what specimens are really 

 there to be judged and what come " late." I think judges 

 •would be thankful for this. — S. G. Hudson. 



GUINEA FOWL HATCHING. 

 As I wrote to you a week or two ago about my Guinea Fowls' 

 eggs not hatching, I may as well mention that I let the hen 

 Guinea Fowl sit. As she had laid so many eggs I was afraid 

 she might lay more and die if I took her off, and much to my 

 surprise she hatched fifteen young birds ! Two died in coming 

 out, two eggs were addled, and there was only one blind one out 

 of the twenty she sat upon. Anything worse than the way she 

 sat cannot well be imagined, as she began by sitting in the day 

 and roosting at night. She then came off constantly for two 

 bours at a time, frequently twice a-day, and it is only the last 

 ten days that she sat really close. I never had a Guinea Fowl 

 hatch her young before, as they invariably ceased sitting at the 

 end of a week or so, and am rather puzzled how to manage. 

 The cock at first pecked the young birds, but seems to have 

 taken to them now, so I am leaving him with them as the hen 

 will not stay quiet without him. They were hatched on the 

 IGlh. — Pl'zzlzd. 



[It is not an uncommon thing for a Guinea Fowl to hatch her 

 young. That they do not do so always is to be attributed to the 

 fact that they are not good sitters. Three or four will lay in 

 the same nest. The writer of this once found a nest in a patch 

 of furze quite half a mile from any house. It had sixty (CO) 

 eggs in it. More liberties may be taken with their eggs than 

 with most others on acconnt of the great thickness of the shell. 

 As it is the opinion of most practical people that Guinea Fowls 

 pair, we should not hesitate to leave the cock with them. Mono- 

 gamous birds are seldom harsh to their yotmg.] 



fiighta and tails, and were narrower in the shoulders. Second, 

 I think the soft silky texture of the feathers of which Mr. Ure 

 speaks, and which I remember well (having so often petted and 

 stroked the down-like feathers of the hood and chain), waa 

 chiefly found in birds that were of a light mottled colour. 

 Perhaps this was because so many of the feathers were white. 

 I saw one such bird a dozen years ago in a dealer's shop, and 

 bought it at once, but, alas! though a very gem, he was too old 

 to propagate his species. I had, I may observe, saved up one 

 hen as good with which I paired him. I never can see why the 

 mottled birds have been discarded, for they were unique in 

 colour, and from the lightest could be bred whites with pearl 

 eyes. The softness of feathers is not seen in the reds, the com- 

 monest colour, but to my mitd the least pretty of any. The old 

 fanciers always preferred the yellows. I agree, too, with what 

 Mr. Ure says upon the hoods being farther back now than they 

 used to be, but I have seen some recently which had not this 

 fault. I think more of the eye of the Jacobin being a clear pearl 

 than apparently does Mr. TJre. A bull eye to my mind spoils 

 the head, but one eye in old days, as now, very frequently came 

 of that objectionable colour, no doubt arising from the white head. 



In regard to the mane, there I differ utterly from Mr. TJre, 

 holding it to be a very great beauty. But the difliculty I find Is 

 in getting the beak short. Oh, for a good short face in addition 

 to other beauties ! then you see a face which gives a fancier 

 pleasure to look at, and with it usually goes that fall in the back 

 which is seen in a good Jacobin. I take, therefore, and endorse 

 the points mentioned by Mr. Ure, " fine head, hood, and chain, 

 thin shoulders and length and silkiness of feather," and add, 

 " pearl eye, good mane, and the Jacobin carriage." The bird 

 has nothing to do with the Baldhead Tumbler, and I want him 

 as unlike that bird as possible. 



The Jacobin is a particularly ornamental Pigeon, and is seen 

 most to advantage when having its free flight about a house 

 quite in the country. See a number of various colours pro- 

 menading on the gravel walks and peeping about the front porch, 

 posing themselves now and then as if for admiration, then flying 

 a few yards and alighting near you, not being birds of much 

 flying powers, and they make admirable ornaments around a 

 house, and the beauty of them is that the better bred they are 

 the more ornamental they are in the estimation of every looker- 

 on. The larger the hood and chain the prettier they look, the 

 smaller the head the neater they look, and so on even to a non- 

 fancier's eye. But I want the silky plumage Mr. Ure speaks of, 

 which when a bird lives at large in the perfectly pure air of the 

 country home adds so much to its beauty, and the long flights 

 and tail. In short, just what a Baldhead should be, a Jacobin 

 should not be. — Wiltshire Rector. 



JACOBINS. 



I AM always specially glad to see an article on Pigeons written 

 by an intelligent fancier who can look back a good many years, 

 because the fancy is an historical thing, not an affair of the last 

 few years. Hence, therefore, I was glad to see the article on 

 Jacobins in our number for July 15th, by the veteran fancier of 

 Dundee, Mr. Ure. 



I agree with him in some things, and differ from him in 

 others. I agree with him in regard to what Jacobins were as 

 far as I can remember, looking back for about thirty-five years, 

 when as a young boy I entered the fancy, and just now Jacobins 

 are specially interesting to me, as I am breediug, watching, and 

 experimenting with that variety of Pigeon. First, the old 

 class of Jacobins had not a stumpy Baldhead look, but had long 



A BEE-KEEPER'S DIARY. 



Last December you inserted an account of my first attempt 

 to save bees from the burning. In September I rescued and 

 fed-up in empty hives altogether twenty-three condemned 

 colonies. All were made snug for the winter months in nine 

 hives, making with two hives which I had before eleven stocks 

 to stand over for this spring. I promised to send to you an 

 account of my success or failure in trying to make the most of 

 them this summer. For the purpose I have kept a diary of my 

 proceedings. 



1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 



oooooooooooooooqo 



t * + 



Position of apiary under a south hedge, with 3-feet walk between 

 it and the back of the hives. Entrances all facing due N., but 

 all provided with plugs which can be used to narrow the door- 

 way to any size required. 



1. Three swarms united September 8th, 1874, from garden. No. S in 

 14-inch hive. 



2, S, 4, 5. Nine ffwarms from cottager's garden. No. 2, September 2na, 

 1874, in 14-inch hives. 



6. Three swarms united, September 8th, 1871, from garden. No. 3, in 

 14 inch hive. 



8, 10, 14. Six swarms from garden. No. 1, Anfrnst 26th, 1874. Bemoved 

 from under a wahiut tree facing S. February 18th, 1875. One hive fonnd 

 dead, foul brood, formerly four hives, with two swarma in each. 



12. Swarm of 1874, from stock purchased March, 1873. Bemoved from 

 under walnut tree, February 18th, 1875. 



16. Bar frame hive tenanted with artificial swarm, May 25th, 1875. 

 7. Swarm from No. 4, in 18-inch hive June 6th, 1875. 



9. Splendid oast from 14, placed in 18-inch hive, June 8th, 1875. 



11. Artificial swarm and bees driven from an old swarmed stock, joined and 

 placed in 20-inch hive, June 14th. 



13 Old stock from which artificial swarm was driven June 14th. Entrance 

 stopped and opened June 17th. 



17. Two heavy swarms bought of villager, united in 20-inch hive May 28th, 

 1875. 



The above will at once show the position of the hives and the 

 origin of their occupants as my apiary now stands. In the 

 following notes the hives are referred to by their numbers. 



i Bar-frame hives. 



' Unoccupied post. 



