February Jl, 1865. 



JOUEXAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



ISS 



hence practical men never think of emtarfcing in a pursuit 

 which is found so profitable in other countries. 



We sadly -s-ant sound, reliable, practical infonaation on 

 this subject, and if through tout columns some of your corre- 

 spondents will endeavour to ventilate this question, much 

 public good may be the result. 



If one acre of average land were cropped with the grain, 

 pulse, and roots most suitable for feeding poultrv. how many 

 head should it maintain for one year ? Again : What might 

 be a fair moderate profit to expect per thousand in keeping 

 poolby thus on a large scale, assuming stiitable houses, 

 irannth, care, and ventilation for such stock f 



I have heard and read much on the subject of artificial 

 incubation, and I knew a lady who produced all her own 

 poultry by a most ingenious incubator of her own invention, 

 but I never could ascertain how far the system could be 



relied on in a commercial point of view, which ia the prac- 



, tical test of its merit. If, undoubtedly a success, then I can 



: see no limits to the profitable production of potdtry in 



> England. Turkeys and Geese of the largest breeds are 



now worth very nearly as much as a fat sheep of the smallest 



breeds, and it is passing strange that you must give 2d. for 



a "new-laid egg," when you may buy a quarter of wheat 



for 32s. High authorities teU us it does not pay to feed 



oren, and farmers now say they are selling grain at prices 



j for which it can hardly be grown, so I am induced to ask if 



i the experiment of a regular and well-managed poultry farm 



' would be likely to succeed ? for if so I should be very weU 



j inclined to try if England cannot produce eggs and fowls as 



cheaply as France ; and, further, if the air of our own happy 



; land is not fully as congenial as that of Belgium to an — 



' OsTETTD Rabbit. 



oe]S"ame:s't.ll hen-coop. 



Perhaps "F. P.'s" desire for an ornamental hen-coop 

 may be found difficult to satisfy in the old stereotyped form, 

 so I send yon a drawing of a pheasantry we had many years 

 ago at Stanton Lacey, near Ludlow. I have often thought 

 that a dwarf portable 

 c instruction after that 

 pattern might advan- 

 tageously be made to 

 supersede the old style 

 of coop. The thatch of 

 the above pheasaiitry 

 was of heather; but in 

 its absence reeds or 

 straw could be substi- 

 tuted, and the roof, in 

 the case of the coop, 

 could be made move- 

 able, and fastened by 

 iron hooks and eyes. 

 From being square at 

 the base, it would pre- 

 vent the sun's striking 

 the pen with too much 

 force at mid-day, and 

 would also render the 

 coop warmer at night. 



For combining neat- 

 ness with the safe hous- 

 ing and protecting both 



pheasants and chickens in their young and tender state, 

 when X sent you some papers on rearing the above, von 

 illustrated at page 134, YoL Tm., May, 18-52, a descrip- 

 tion of coop which we have always made use of for the 



LeDgth, -29 fee:; iie'-giit, d ,cec; -sidcj, I- leet, iaci^ding the back bnilding. 



purpose : and when neatly made, and painted a lively green 

 colour, I incline to think it would not he thought other- 

 wise than ornamental even in the kept grounds. I always 

 thought them ornamental rather than otherwise on the 



lawn, backed by ever- 

 green shrubs, &c. The 

 late Earl of Craven was 

 wont to have a number 

 of -them on the lawn at 

 Hampstead Lodge, occu- 

 pied by Bantams with 

 broods of Pheasants and 

 Partridges. A dry lawn 

 or grass plot is the pro- 

 per place on which to 

 set the coop, even when 

 occupied with chickens. 

 The net protection, fi- 

 gured with the coop, 

 serves admirably for the 

 young chickens to feed 

 under, as well as to 

 shield them from birds 

 of prey and other dis- 

 agreeables during the 

 day. The front sliding 

 board acts as a pre- 

 ventive against rats and 

 other prowling vermin 

 during the night. It should be wifchdra^m in the morn- 

 ing, by sunrise, and the coop shifted to a fresh position. — 



TJPWAEDS A^NT) 0*VAEDS. 



SOMETHING AEOUT GOLDEN HAilBTIRGHS. 

 As the shows are nearly over this season, I think one may By-the-by, this brings me to the Poultry Club. There is 

 say something with respect to judgments given. First, I ] one question I should "like to ask the members : How will 

 wiU take Leeds. I cannot think that any good judge of they make congenial the dark gold ground with the light 

 ^^^^"^^^ would have place* the prizes for Golden- ' gold ground in both Pencilled and Spangled Hamburghs i 

 pencilled where they were placed had there been a good ; I have seen good specimens in both light and dark ground. 

 light. It must be remembered that no class of fowls I like the daik ground much better in" both classes, and yet 

 require the same amount of good Ught as the Hamburghs ; ' I have seen men who said they preferred the light groimd 

 because (after pure white ear-lobes, and fine straight combs ' because it showed the black much better.— An OtD 

 set firmly on their heads) they are strictlv a bird of feather. ! HAarBirEGH Bbeedee. 

 I know one man who sent two pens of Golden-peneaied 

 Hamburghs, one a very good pen. indeed, the other worth 

 nothing except for the table; the bad pen was awarded 

 a third prize and the good one was unnoticed : and other 

 mistakes occurred in the same class, that never could have 

 te^made with good %ht and goodjudges. I am satisfied, .^c^.^.,^,,, , 



if the judges ha.i sought to favour the"aforesaid exhibitor, sidered the subject at an end. I^Tot so, however, with 

 tnat they could have done so by giving the prize to his : '•' 0. S. J.," Tvho evidently is anxious to be introduced to a 

 ,oo<i pen ; ajid j adges musc know, that there is no dass of ' salesman, who will purchase eo-g-s not from a poultrv-breeder, 

 men wno know really good specimena.so weU as they who nor even from a person who b5?s them of farmers," but from 

 nave striven ever since the show b^an with a constant , one who buys the eggs third hand as fresh Liid. In your 

 aim .0 perfection. ^^_ ipp endorsed b^ vQur editorial remarks, '=C. S. J." 



PEICE OF NEW-LAID EGGS. 



TThex in reply to your correspondent, "C. S. J.,' 

 that the price of eggs, like that of everything else, must 

 necessarily be regulated by the demand and locality, I con- 



I stated 



