NORWICH AND DISTRICT INDUSTRIES IOI 
During the moult the birds are colour-fed with cayenne pepper, which 
is introduced into their diet in order to prepare them for exhibition 
purposes. It is only possible to improve the colour of the feathers whilst 
they are actually in process of formation, so it is necessary to ensure that 
the blood is impregnated with colour matter ready to be deposited in the 
tissues of the new feathers at the very source of growth. 
With the advent of machinery and factory life, the breeding of the 
Norwich canary is not carried out so extensively as in former years, but 
there is still a considerable number of breeders in the city, and Norwich 
is able to boast of staging each year one of the leading bird exhibitions in 
the country, when as many as 1,500 exhibits have graced the show benches. 
(7) NORFOLK REED THATCHING 
Visitors to the Norfolk Broads in September may see the Reed Beds 
of Phragmites Communis, but harvesting does not begin until December, 
when the frosts and winds have cleared the stems of leaves. Most reed 
beds are best cut every alternate year, and produce a crop known as 
“Double Wale.’ The reeds are tied into bundles or ‘ shoves,’ and five 
of these shoves or six slightly smaller ones measuring six feet round the 
binding of the shoves represent one ‘ Fathom,’ which is the basis of all 
reed measurements. The best thatching reed is from 5 to 6 ft. in length, 
while there is a demand for the longer reed for use at the gables or down 
the valleys of a roof. Thatching should be 12 in. in thickness, and a 
well-secured roof should last about 80 years before it needs half-coating. 
The ridge of sedge (Cladium Mariscus) will hardly survive 20 years, but 
it is both cheap and simple to repair. The best examples of thatching 
in Holland boast purpose-made ridge tiles for the ridging, which could 
well be tried in this country to delay the necessity for ridge repairs. 
Space prevents a detailed account of the thatcher’s art and the use 
of the leggett, liggers, broaches, sways, etc. It is essentially a craft and 
will never be the product of a machine. The main constructional 
principles have remained unchanged during its whole history, and it 
can be numbered among the oldest trades which have survived to the 
twentieth century. Except for a few subsidiary materials or ideas such as 
the use of three-thread jute spun-yarn in place of the hedgerow brambles 
to secure the sways to the rafters, it has hardly changed at all. 
Uninformed critics try to condemn reed roofs. They say that they are 
too inflammable and harbour vermin, yet practically every thatched roof 
fire is caused by faulty flue construction, and while reed is far less 
inflammable than straw, good use can sometimes be made of fire- 
proofing chemicals. Vermin are the guests of the human habitants of 
a home, and the cleanliness of every home depends far more upon the 
characters of the occupants than the dwellers in the roof. Compare 
the merits of Norfolk Reed with any kind of straw and one can immediately 
appreciate the unchallenged advantages derived from the use of reed 
