July 25, 1878. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 79 
usually white with patches of blue or chequer in its body. This 
seems to be the Runt of our shows of the present time; but, 
young amateur, you must understand that the show Runts are 
few because of the difficulty of breeding them. The giants of 
the world are few, and we never read of their going about with 
their gigantic families ; but it is quite possible to breed a goodly 
number of, not show Runts, but still very large Pigeons, which 
are very fit indeed for food. These papers are written for the 
benefit of young amateurs, but not necessarily young in years, 
only in Pigeon knowledge. ; 
T have known Runts find favour among middle-aged people who 
have retired from business, and who with their garden, friends, 
and newspaper, and a hobby or two, manage to get on comfort- 
ably. A competence made in trade, or an income left them, they 
take a house with a little garden near a town, and live on in an 
easy innocent way. The husband has usually a well-filled waist- 
coat and broad back ; in fact he is a Runt in the Pigeon sense, 
and so takes to Runts. A little shed is big enough, and he may 
have his birds on the ground floor if no cats are to be feared. 
Now my comfortable, middle-aged, retired tradesman, at peace 
with all the world and everything in it save sometimes that last 
button of that capacious waistcoat of his, likes his dinner. It is 
a sign of middle age, no doubt it is; so therefore he likes, or 
would like, the Pigeon which would best supply him with a dinner, 
and he would like to get his birds as large as he could. Such a 
man should get hold of some Runts not up to show size, and also 
cross them with some other strain, picking them up in a bird shop 
or in the selling class; on no account getting them over-large, 
for rely upon it, if cheap, they are no breeders or very old. Some- 
times at a farm or in some country place a very big Pigeon is to 
be picked up, a common farmyard Runt as it is called; and the 
result is, after a little time and some pleasant walks with an 
abject (a great comfort to my retired friend) a nice lot of mode- 
rate-sized and good breeding Runts are to be got together, and 
some well-filled pigeon pies are the result. These birds, not being 
much of flyers, will not annoy neighbours, but live quietly at 
home. Really fine large birds walking about have a noble appear- 
ance. I own this fancy for Runts is not very high-class, but vit 
is pleasant to be able to add to the family supply of food, in 
addition to the pleasure of seeing, tending, and mating the birds. 
They, like most large things, are kindly and do not fight ; also 
tame, for they will let you slip your hand under them and look at 
ege or young without being angry. ; 
For their quietness and gentleness I have known these medium- 
sized Runts kept as nurses for young Pouters, and they answer 
the purpose well, not being pugnacious like Dragoons. Their 
table qualities also render them {favourites with their fanciers’ 
wives, and they let their husbands enjoy their Runt fancy in 
peace, because of the pies to be forthcoming. But mark, IT warn 
all such who intend to breed for table to keep clear of all ideas of 
Runts of the show size or any approach to it. If such a bird falls 
in their way cross it with a large common Pigeon, and you will 
gain greatly by such a cross, as the common Pigeon is the best 
of all breeders. 
The Runt fancier I have imagined may as he goes on get very 
pretty birds as well as profitable ones. Thus, driving up under 
the archway of an old-fashioned inn in a midland county I was— 
it was long since—much delighted to see a whole flock of White 
Runts quite at home in the square yard. No doubt they were 
kept for use in the first place, for pigeon-pie is a stock dish at an 
hotel, always welcome to guests, particularly to travellers from 
the great City, to whom it smacks of country life and scenes ; but 
the birds must have been selected for the eye as well, as they 
were all white. I have seen large Birmingham Rollers which 
would not make a bad cross to get good table Runts ; also I have 
seen the old-fashioned light-coloured Trumpeters that would 
answer well enough, for they are runtishly built, and any cross 
would add to the fertility of the Runt, providing at the same 
time for size. The table supply is, I think, too much neglected in 
both fancy Pigeons and fancy poultry, but there is no reason it 
should be. Utility has been much sought for in regard to Homing 
Pigeons, why not also breed for the table? Certainly the ordi- 
nary doyehouse bird is very small, and might easily be made 
larger by a cross with the Runt. I fear the Silver Runts so 
generally shown are all related, so I would not match two Silvers, 
uot a pretty colour either, but get other colours, and crossing 
colours you would get variety, which is always pleasing. Indian 
eorn does well for Runts, and I have seen them eat heartily of 
barleymeal and water made thick. I am quite sure a good and 
profitable Pigeon may be bred for the table, giving pleasure to 
the master and quite satisfying the careful provident house- 
wife.—WILTSHIRE RECTOR. 
VARIETIES. 
THE harvest is advancing rapidly to maturity, and in the south 
a few early crops have been cut. In many places the crops are 
light, but in the well-farmed lands of Hssex they are full and 
fine. In the great agricultural district of Lincolnshire and York- 
shire the grain fields have a splendid appearance. Wheat, barley, 
and oats in the fens, and indeed wherever the soil is not light and 
shallow, give promise of abundant crops. The straw is more 
luxuriant than we have ever seen it, and the heads appear generally 
fine. The hay harvest in those districts has proved the best on 
record, and has been secured in fine condition. 
— WE hear there is some chance of the poultry show in con- 
nection with the dairy show at the Agricultural Hall being this 
year on a much more extended scale than heretofore, under the 
patronage and direction of the Poultry Club. 
— We regret to learn that in some cases where extra prizes 
were awarded at the Paris Poultry Show they have not been paid 
in full according to the arrangement made between the French 
and English Jurymen. Remonstrance has been addressed to the 
authorities on the subject, and we have reason to know that if 
redress is not given a protest will be presented to the highest 
authority on the British Commission. 
Owrne to the great heat and protracted drought the 
young turnip crops in Lincolnshire, where this crop is extensively 
grown, are suffering considerably. Potatoes, too, are flagging 
severely, and cannot form tubers for want of rain. This applies 
to the late crops in fields, early sorts in gardens giving a produc- 
tive yield. The mangold wurtzel crops, especially those that had 
been sown early, are looking remarkably well, but rain is urgently 
needed to carry them on. The pastures are quite burnt up, and 
trees and hedges are white asa sheet with dust from the limestone 
roads, 
THE attendance at the Royal Show at Bristol on the last 
day of the Show numbered 30,012, against 31,935 at Liverpool 
and 61,567 at Birmingham. For the week the visitors at Bristol 
were 121,851, against 138,354 at Liverpool and 163,413 at Bir- 
mingham. The receipts were: Liverpool, £12,969 ; Birmingham, 
£12,485, Bristol, about £10,285. Thus Bristol falls below the two 
great towns in which the shows of 1876 and 1877 were held, but 
still gives a large and a profitable return. 
—— WATER FOR SHEEP.—What an unprofitable mistake it is 
to suppose that sheep do not require water. We invariably give 
them the opportunity of settling that question for themselves, and 
it is surprising to see how much they drink, especially milk-giving 
ewes, and also all sheep when eating cake, meal, &c., in addition 
to their green food. I attribute my trifling loss in sheep and 
lambs to their having constant access to water by means of an 
iron tank watercart (Croskill’s) which I have used for thirty odd 
years.—J. J. MECHI (in Mark Lane Express). 
ADVANTAGES OF THE STEWARTON SYSTEM OF 
SUPERING. 
THERE are seyeral obvious advantages in placing empty supers 
upon the top of those which are already occupied, which have 
already been pointed out in former numbers of the Journal of 
Horticulture both by “A RENFREWSHIRE BEE-KEEPER” and 
myself. Upon the old plan of inserting fresh supers between the 
stock and those previously occupied you haye bees constantly 
making fresh comb immediately over the stock, and the super is 
always in danger of invasion by the queen, who, if she chances to 
find her way into it, is almost certain to find empty cells (espe- 
cially if there has been a check in honey-gathering) which she at 
once proceeds to fill with eggs. This very rarely occurs upon the 
Stewarton plan. Stewarton supers are shallow and the combs 
broad. The bees first begin to construct their combs in the box 
next to the stock hive, and then gradually extend their operations 
into the upper chambers, sealing and completing in the first place 
the lower supers. If a good start has been made you have this 
immense advantage, that if the queen enters the super, finding all 
the cells already occupied with honey, she speedily returns into 
the stock hive, and all future supers are almost absolutely secure 
from invasion, as the new combs are always constructed in the 
upper compartments. 
My experience is that upon the old plan it was the exception 
to secure a super perfectly sealed and free from all trace of brood 
and pollen. With the Stewarton system my supers have been 
almost invariably free from all impurity ; and the honey boxes 
next the stock, from two to six in number, haye been completely 
sealed, almost to the last cell. As a matter of course the top 
snpers are neyer completed, as it is always necessary to allow the 
bees plenty of room in adyance of their actual requirements to 
accommodate the bees and prevent swarming. As the lower 
supers are completed it is best to remove them, and bring down 
the pile of boxes in course of progress on to the top of the stock. 
—J. E. BRISCOE, Albrighton, Wolverhampton. 
SUFFOCATION OF BEES. 
A LADY who calls herself “a beewife,” has six stock hives and 
six swarms from them, all in straw hives of an ancient pattern 
and of rustic appearance, wants to know how she can avoid 
stifling the bees at the end of the season. We are pleased to tell 
