10 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



October, 



Said Mr. Baldwin Apple 



To Mrs. Bartlett Pear; 



" You're growing very plump, madame, 



Aiid also very fair. 



And there is Mrs. Clingstone Peach, 



So mellowed by the heat. 



Upon my word she really looks 



Quite good enough to eat." 



And before the month was ended, 



The fruits that looked so fair 



Had vanished from among the leaves. 



And the trees were stripped and bare. 



CAGE BIRDS, PET ANIMALS, ETC. 



Feeding Parrots. 



Although in a wild state Parrots thrive on 

 the simple diet of grain and water, in captivity 

 something more delicate is also desirable for 

 them. Caging, with lack of exercise, alters the 

 constitution and digestive powers. Canary 

 seed should be the main article of food. Hemp- 

 seed tends to impair digestion if fed freely, but 

 a teaspoonful once a week mixed with the Can- 

 ary seed is beneficial. A little dry bread and 

 all the raw fruit they will consume, is proper 

 enough. Celery is a treat now and then. All 

 foods such as meat, cake, biscuit or milk, that 

 contain the slightest amount of grease, salt or 

 pepper, must never be fed. Hot foods and 

 soups are also bad; the feeding of such may 

 prevent the return of feathers after moulting. 

 Keep everything about the cage very clean, and 

 avoid draughts of air upon the bird. 



Ring Doves. 



The common complaint that these are quar- 

 relsome, is not heard where the birds are prop- 

 erly paired off. Whenever there are several 

 hens and one male, the former will quarrel, 

 break their eggs, and otherwise behave as if 

 possessed. 



Ring Doves unlike many cage birds, are 

 adapted to be kept in a plant conservatory. 

 They thrive best on a feed of small grains such 

 as millet, hemp and wheat. Green food does 

 not appear necessary to them, but they will 

 sometimes eat of it. Plenty of clean water for 

 drinking and bathing, are among the essentials 

 in their management. When properly paired, 

 Ring Doves breed with readiness. 



The list of suitable kinds is not small . For 

 ordinary sized tanks we would suggest Cape 

 Pond Weed, {Aponogeton (//j-^air/y';«), Eel Grass, 

 {Vallisneria spiralis,) Arrow Head, {Sagittaria 

 naians or lanceolata) and Small Duck Meat, 

 (Lemna minor). All but the first one named, are 

 natives, familiar to nearly every botanist, and can 

 be gathered where they grow. When this is 

 impracticable, they can usually be had, together 

 with the Cape Pond Weed, of dealers in aquaria. 



About Training Birds, Dogs, Etc. 



For training it will be found that to select 

 from breeds known to possess readiness in 

 learning, will be a great gain. Sufficient train- 

 ing may make an inferior bird, dog or other 

 animal tolerably good, but the time wasted upon 

 such a one would train two or three good ones. 

 A good trainer soon discovers an animal's 

 capacity for learning, and it is a waste of 

 time to train a stupid one if another one can 

 be had. 



Because any boy or girl might not succeed in 

 training an animal quickly, it does not follow 

 that the same animal in the hands of a profes- 

 sional trainer, would not show capacity in that 

 direction. Usually it is the better way for the ! 

 inexperienced to buy a well-trained pet, and after 

 becoming familiar with its ways and attainments, 

 it would be a far easier matter to take in hand 

 another one for training. 



The Fish Tank. 



Failures with goldfish and other species 

 would be less common, if the necessity of grow- 

 ing plants in the tanks was understood. Plants 

 give the air to the water which the fish require. 



The Shetland breed of ponies are natives of 

 Great Britian. When imported they possess a 

 rough and shaggy appearance, which is lost in 

 a measure after the second generation is reached 

 in this country. They grow a little larger here 

 than at home, but only to render them so much 

 more valuable. 



Minks submit to domestication readily if they 

 are taken when young. They breed readily, and 

 command high prices to those who raise them . 



poultry. 



Partridge-Cochin Fowls. 



The Cochin breed of fowls was introduced 

 into England about the year 1847, and soon 

 after into this country. To this event is to be 

 attributed what will long be known as the 

 " poultiy mania," when as high as $500 was 

 repeatedly paid for a single cock. If no other 

 good had come out of introducing this breed, 

 than the stimulus it gave to improving all breeds 



PAIR OF PARTRIDGE-COCHINS. 



of fowls, then their introduction would have 

 been one of great importance. 



The Cochin breed proper, embraces four 

 principle sub-varieties, the white, black, buff 

 and partridge. All of these are favorites, but 

 the white and bufl are perhaps the best known. 

 The Patridge-Cochins are much admired both 

 for their beauty and their productions. In the 

 hens the neck hackles are bright gold, striped 

 with black, the rest of the body being light 

 brown, pencilled with a very dark shade of the 

 same color. The hackles and saddle of the 

 Partridge-Cochin cock are a bright red, striped 

 with black; wings and back are a dark red, the 

 former crossed with a bar of metallic green- 

 black; breast and under parts black. 



The principle merits claimed by breeders of 

 these fowls is hardiness, tameness, rapid growth 

 when young, excellence as winter layers, and 

 ability to do well in limited quarters. 



It is true that with all these good qualities 

 there are also defects. The flesh is inferior, 

 though very fair when eaten young, and the 

 meat of the leg is more tender than is usually 



the case with other breeds. The hen, while an 

 excellent layer, is sometimes troublesome from 

 her desire to sit unduly; but on this account 

 she is valuable where the raising of many 

 chickens is an object. On the whole, the breed 

 is a family rather than a market fowl. 



Fowls for the Table and for Eggs. 



The breed best suited to the wants of the 

 average poultry keeper, is one that combines 

 both the quality of laying well and affording 

 good flesh when killed. The fowls should also 

 be of good form so as to present a fine appearance 

 on the table. 



The too common practice of breeders, in 

 having more regard to plumage, comb and 

 other fancy points, than to size, quality ol flesh, 

 and laying capacity, is entitled to severe cen- 

 sure. Even our old favorite, the Plymouth 

 Rock has not escaped the present absurd regu- 

 lations as to color of plumage, size and carriage 

 of tail laid down by judges. 



As combining both of the good qualities first 

 referred to the Plymouth Rocks and the Hou- 

 dons stand prominently. The flesh of both 

 possesses firmness and delicacy, while they are 

 of good size and handsome shape. Let breeders 

 not carry their so-called improvments to such an 

 extent, as to give us impairment in these quali- 

 ties of great importance. 



A judicious cross may be productive of cap- 

 ital table fowls. One that can be recommended 

 is the Game crossed with the Brahma. Here is 

 secured^the delicate flavor of the former with the 

 size of the latter. Turn a Game cock two years 

 old in with half a dozen large dark Brahma 

 hens and a satisfactory result will be certain. 

 Hatch the chickens of such a cross in March, 

 and with proper care and feeding, they will suit 

 the cook in three or four months. 



Another good cross is the Houdon cock with 

 Brahma hens. 



Preparing for Winter. 



BY L. P. RAINSPUK. 



October is none too early to put the poultry 

 house in order for winter. It would be strange 

 if there were not some cracked and broken 

 lights in the windows, if so the latter should 

 be replaced, while the same is usually true of 

 the former if they are cracked way across. 

 .Short cracks or small corners broken out, can 

 be repaired by the help of putty. 



If the heat of summer has opened cracks in 

 the boards by warping, they should now be 

 stopped up or battened. For adding warmth 

 to the house, old newspapers or building paper 

 tacked over the inside surface, with liberal laps, 

 will do wonders. The newspapers can be had 

 almost for nothing, or perhaps enough could 

 be saved up in the house to answer the purpose; 

 building paper costs about i}( cents a square 

 foot by the roll, in either case the slight expense 

 attending this kind of papering, will soon be 

 made up by the increased productions of the 

 fowls. Where the paper is lapped, light strips 

 of wood, or tacks with leather heads, which 

 anyone can cut and put on, will, if used, make 

 a better job of work. To promote cleanliness 

 and freedom from vermin, the paper after it is 

 on, should receive a coat of lime whitewash. 

 It may be added that tarred paper affords an 

 excellent winter lining for poultry houses, and 

 in itself possesses the advantage of being re- 

 pulsive to all insects, 



