S96 



JOTJENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENEE. 



[ AptU 11, 186S. 



Rosiu* IS Pots lYorkiMrf Amateur). — Twelve (jood Roses for pots. 

 Anna .Alexieff. C. Cecile deCbabrillant, Quii^raljacqueniinnt, John Hopper, 

 Jules Martrottin, Pauline Lantezeur, Scnuteur Vaisse, Meter Verriier. 

 .Sorw&on— Cutherine Ouillot, Souvenir de la Malm.iuon. Jira— Gloire da 

 Wjon, Souvenir d'un Anji. 



Kaii££ op Fbuit {A Constant J?«/irfer).— 2, Rymer ; 4, Northern Green- 

 ing; 6, Lewis's Incomparable ; 6, Trampington. (J". J5., PerjAore),— l.Not 



known, too sweet without crispnesa. 2, Queen Pippin. 4, Benrrt' de Ranee, 

 trora nither late blo,«sani9 5, Not sent, (i, Not known, a kitchm Apple. 



Namks of Plants (fln»i7).— Albiz/.ia Icipbantha, often called Acacia lo- 

 plmniha. (J. J.. Banla).—Yoar plant is the well-known DoK's-toolh 

 Violet. Erythronium dens-citnif. Surely you cannot have shown it to any 

 intelli(fent irirdener. John JEiiwanla rou't send a better speoinicn of his 

 Oxalis sulficient to show its habit, and In (lower. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSEEVATIONS in tlie Suburbs of London for the Woet endLng April 8th. 



Daic. 



BAEOireTKE. 



TBERMOMBTEB. 



Wind. 



Bain 



in 

 inches. 



General Rrmaiiks, 



Air. 



Earth. 



Max. 



30.654 

 30.000 

 30.171 

 30.250 

 30.283 

 30 183 

 30.101 



Min. 



Max. 



Min. 



I ft deep. 



2 ft. deep. 



Sun. 2 

 Mon. 3 

 Tue.s. 4 

 Wed. 5 

 Thnn. 6 

 Fri. 7 

 Sat 8 



Mean 



29.824 

 29 804 

 30.161 

 30.207 

 SO.lOli 

 30.117 

 30.036 



58 

 57 

 53 

 67 

 63 

 65 

 Ti 



29 ■ 44 

 35 44J 

 38 4.5J 

 44 i 46 

 43 47 

 32 48i 



30 ,9J 



42 



43 



43 



44J 



45 



454 



46 



W. 



K. 



E. 

 S.W. 



s.w. 



S.W. 

 S. 



.00 

 .00 

 .01) 

 .00 

 .00 

 .00 

 .00 



Fine throughout. [luize ; overcast ut niijht. 



Fine; very ftne in forenoon; parilaily overcast and dry 



Foggy: fine; very flue. 



Ovtrcast ; rain ; overcast. 



Overcast; vt-ry fine; rain at night. 



Fine; lightly overcast; fine IhrouKbonfc. [atnlffht; cool. 



Foggy : cloudless, with bright sun; hot ; eiceeuingly fine 



30.146 



30 05G 



62.14 



35.85 } 46.43 



44.14 





.06 



POULTRY. B EE, and HO USEHOLD CHRONIC LE. 

 THE COLD WEATHER. 



{Continued from page 258.) 



"When all these funny egs;s are become chickens and the 

 sun shines upon them, and the earth is teeming with insect 

 Ufe, and part of creation bursts into being to feed another 

 part, and a lot of them are luxuriating in a dust-bath and 

 opening their feathers to the sun. we Hke to see a fly of 

 some sort pass just over them. Up they jump, away they 

 go, their little necks are stretched " upward and onward " 

 till one catches it. If it be large enough to require the 

 captor to stop in order to swallow it, the sight of it in his 

 beak makes him the envied of all the others, and although 

 the event is not so disastrous to him as it has been to the 

 fly, he has to suffer the same chase. Very often he goes till 

 his wings droop, his legs drag, and he is obliged to drop 

 his prize, which becomes the prey of another. Or, let the 

 hen give her danger caU whUo they are dusting, see how 

 they start, and mark the clouds of dust they raise. We are 

 fond of watching these things, and childish as they may 

 seem, we dwell on them because they are in reality essential 

 to the well-doing of chickens. They multiply troubles who 

 would improve or teach Nature. When we see artificially- 

 reared chickens, or hear the complaints of those who have 

 undertaken the task— when we see the attic devoted to 

 hens and chickens, the appliances for artificial heat, the floor 

 covered with inches of dust, sand, and gravel, and yet the 

 poor appearance of the chickens— we cannot help contrast- 

 uig them with the healthy rogues basking on a naked but dry 

 bank, and bearing all the inclemency ot January, February, 

 or the most unkind month of March, 1865. Only one thing 

 really torments us, and that is snow. Save us from snow, 

 lno scratch for hens or chickens, no grubs, no worms, no 

 insects. The food sinks in deep, and chickens have not the 

 reindeer's gift, of foraging under the snow, or of smelling 



jji 't. We like them when they are strong, hearty, 

 and defiant ; but often during the tiresome Marcli just gone, 

 we were almost glad that, owing to the scarcity of sitting 

 hens, we had not more chickens— poor little things stepping 

 daintily about, picking some crumbs of choice food, and then 

 listlessly setthng down ; the head sunk between the shoulders, 

 wings and tail drooping, standing like a Heron watching 

 ~^..°^''' ""'^ changing their position only, Iwhen with a 

 pitiful " peep," the head was put under the wing. What a 

 change came about with the change of wind ! Many years 

 ago when smnggling was more thought of, because it 

 was what was called "a hanging matter," an old friend- 

 no, not a fnend, an acrinaintance — did "a little in that 

 way. He was a fine shrewd fellow, but what with being 

 eichequered, running ashore, and losing cargoes, ho lelt 

 off while yet young with more rheumatism than money. 

 The eaot wind sent him to bed, but he has oaen told us 

 that while there, after weeks of confinement, he felt a 

 ^ngc of the wind in the night, and his joints softened. 

 We think our chickens did the same; they wore joyous 



fellows in the morning, while they had been sore grumblers 

 the previous evening. They had been living in a barn, where 

 with our rips we formed a sort of eastern yard, presenting 

 a square inside of open fronts, whilst the backs formed the 

 defence against east winds, tories, rapparees, and every- 

 thing of the sort. Just as Corny Delany, having nothing 

 but herrings to give his mother, persuaded the good woman 

 it was always Lent; so we, thinking bed the best place for 

 them, kept them much in darkness, percuading the hens it 

 was night. This did well for a time, but the moment the 

 weather changed they burst the bands ; they flew over the 

 baiTiers ; they snuffed the sou-wester through the chinks 

 and crevices, and we let them out. 



We have them now under a hayrick, along a dry bank 

 under a quickset hedge, and, hornUle dictu, on the gravelled 

 walks of a kitchen garden. After much experience we are 

 convinced they are good gai'deners. They live much among 

 the strawberries ; they turn over every leaf, they are con- 

 tinually seeking for grubs and insects, and they do no 

 damage. They are growing fast, and whUe we w;itch them 

 daily we say to ourselves. We will make a note of this. 

 Perhaps we shall again next week. 



THE WIGTON EXHIBITION OF POULTRY. 

 The Committee of the Wigton Poultry Show, by a rigid 

 persever.nnce and .annual increase in the value of their pre- 

 miums, ensiu'e not only a continuance, but an enlarged amount 

 of local support to their meeting. We have no doubt, however, 

 that the number of entries to the show just closed was 

 somewhat curtailed from the fact of its taking place simul- 

 taneously with tlie one at Aecrington, or at least from the 

 latter being held so soon afterwards as on the following days ; 

 it was, consequently, impossible for exhibitors to send the 

 same pens of poultry to both. From this cause alone the 

 entries were scarcely numerically equal to those of last season, 

 though the general good quality showed much improvement 

 in the majority of the classes. The weather being most 

 propitious the visitors were numerous, and .u love of poultry 

 culture seems fast extending itself tliroughont the district. 

 As the neighbourhood is very dry, with a gravelly subsoil, 

 none could be more suitable for the raising of young broods, 

 or, in fact, for the maintenance of robust health in the 

 older birds, as every amateur's experience proves that 

 though a damp soil is hopelessly fatal to success, tho 

 majority of breeds of poultry will endure without injury 

 even an excessive amount of cold, if tlio situation is both 

 dry and open. It appu;ir.s, too, that a very spirited emula- 

 tion exists between a numbi.'r of tho local breeders around 

 Wigton, and that thougli truly anxious to excel all rivals 

 the most perfect harmony and goodwill exists on all hands. 

 This is, as it should be, and we are gratified at being able to 

 state this fact, as unfortuuately in some neighbourhoods that 

 we could name, the unsuccessful are prone to give way to 

 irritaVjility and severances of friendship, even if fairly beaten. 

 Ah might be anticipated a considerable number of those 

 hens or pullets that had commenced early laying were 

 i failing a little in condition, and in some instances fast 



