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JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 6, 1871. 



speak of is not prodnced by the manure, nor is this more insect-favonring 

 ttian any other kind of manure. The maggots are, no doubt, those which 

 occur in ambury, so destructive to the Cabbage tribe. The btst remedy 

 is Ealt at the rate of about 1 lb. per sq^uare yard applied a few days before 

 cropping. For sowing and pricking-out Broccoli, Cauliflowers, &c., the 

 ground should not be rich from receut manuring, as it is apt to cause 

 damping of the stem, or ''black-legging," and undue luxuriance instead 

 of a stiff sturdy growth. 



Ants on Lawns (Constant Reader, J. S.). — To drive away the ants we 

 advise you to give tbe lawn a dressing with guano at the rate of 2 cwt. 

 per acre, and on the hillock £prii)k!e a little of the same, as much as can 

 be held between the thumb and two forefingers, and if the hillock is large 

 twice that quantity. Tbey may be destroyed by pouring into the hil- 

 locks spirit of turpentine diluted with six times its volume of water. 



Catekpillaes on Gooseberry and Currant Bushes (Mary).— Dust 

 over them fresh white hellebore powder, and nest day syringe the trees. 

 Two or three applications will be needed to subdue them. 



Name of Plant (D. iU".).— Bougainvillea spectabilis. 



FOULTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 



POULTRY-KEEPING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 

 No. 2. 



In recoTmting my earlier poultry experience, as I did the other 

 day, it is strange even to myself how vividly bygone times and 

 scenes revive upon the miod, and how even the individual 

 birds that at various times stocked the yard of my brother and 

 myself, live their short lives over again, and take me back to 

 be once more a. schoolboy with my fowls. I mention it chiefly, 

 because I am icolined to think that if I know anything or care 

 aiy thing about poultry now, it is greatly owing to the fact that 

 I have hitherto always had to be my own poultryman, and have 

 all my life known my birds almost as I have known my friends. 

 I do not undervalue the help of experienced poultry-managers, 

 many of whom it is a real pleasure to me to know and talk 

 ■with, and whose assistance I would gladly avail myself of were 

 it possible; but I thiok sometimes that the individual who is 

 compelled to do without such aid, has an indescribable plea- 

 sure connected with his fowls which the more fortunate pro- 

 prietor does not possess. They become almost dear to him, 

 and there is a higher kind of pleasure in having birds perfect 

 of their kind, when year after year you have bred them your- 

 self, mated them yourself, fed them yourself, and, in fiae, 

 stamped your own views and individuality upon them. Perhaps 

 from want of means or knowledge you began with only mid- 

 dling stock ; then there is a rare fascination in looking over 

 the broods year after year, and seeing how your care and skill 

 are rewarded by the perfecting of beauties, and the banish- 

 ment of defects, till at last your yard becomes one of the re- 

 cognised sources for obtaining the best stock in the kingdom. 

 It is in the true sense youruork, and it may be carried on, and 

 may become known and acknowledged entirely apart from ex- 

 hibition ; for it is a well-known fact that some of the best birds 

 are never shown. It is this spirit I would, if I could, seek to 

 cultivate. I care little about getting more people to try to win 

 prizes, but I care a great deal about getting more to keep and 

 love fowls, and my object in the present two or three papers is 

 to prove that anyone may keep them. 



Some of the birds in my schoolboy days were pets indeed. 

 There was one, in particular, which somehow got stunted while 

 with the hen, and never grew much larger than a Bantam. I 

 have never in all my life seen another bird so tame. Some of 

 the elder branches of the family looked upon our poultry- 

 keeping in general as rather a nuisance ; but everyone had a 

 kind word for little "Brownie." She would jump up on any- 

 one's finger to be fed, and, indeed, rarely fed in any other way ; 

 but for myself her affection was unbounded. Being small she 

 could fly like a bird, and she always did fly whenever I came in 

 sight, making a " dead shot " at me wherever I was, and always 

 alighting on my shoulder. She was an exemplary mother to 

 her own chicks, but a regular little vixen to all besides, and to 

 her sister fowls as well, whom I believe she thought were 

 trying to supplant her in her monopoly of affection. At last 

 she got drowned, which saved us the pain of deciding what 

 to do with her ; for it is the worst of having individual pet 

 fowls — no one can bear to kill them. They may become old and 

 unprofitable — no matter, you cannot kill a thing that comes 

 every day '^ o eat out of your hand. For this reason, while I 



wculd hae study, and personal interest, and always kindness, 

 I would strongly advise everyone not to make especial pets of 

 hia fowls. Pots and profit, in limited space at least, rarely go 

 together. 



The limited space, however, brings me back to my small 

 garden, in which my poultry-keeping has now been six years 

 carried on to my benefit both in mind and body. Before that, 

 myself and "Mrs. Nemo" kept our fowls, as in my boyish expe- 

 rience, in a stone-paved yard, and I may say with the same 

 success. They cost us almost nothing, for the potato peelings 

 and kitchen scraps, with a very little sprinkling of meal, were 

 all they needed, and even the chickens cost little more. Bat I 

 soon became tired of the mongrels we commenced with. I had 

 once had pure-bred Cochins, and the fancy revived again, so we 

 tried first Hamburghs, and then Spanish. The Hamburgbs 

 did not do well on account of the confinement, and the Spanish 

 I had not patience for, their faces were such a never-ending 

 trouble and anxiety. So I sold off both at pretty fair prices, 

 and, having been many months studying, and daily more admir- 

 ing the breed, I determined directly after our removal to keep 

 Dark Brahmas. Had I then had any conception of the cele- 

 brity my strain would attain, I would have endeavoured to 

 have secured a house with more ground, but my object at that 

 time was simply in the first place eggs for the table at a low 

 price, and in the second, an out-door recreation, which should 

 benefit my very indift'erent health without, if possible, costing 

 money. 



I thought at first half our garden might do, and I am sure 

 " Mrs. Nemo " hoped so, but our first success at exhibiting spoilt 

 US, and next season we took up literally every inch of ground. 

 The consequence was, that with really much better birds, for 

 some time I could never win again, the birds being over- 

 crowded, and having no chance to get into condition. For 

 instance, one of the best hens I ever had was hatched from my 

 first stock the first breeding season ; but I never could get 

 more than a high commendation for her, though she bred 

 all my best chickens for three years ; but when I sold her 

 last year, though then four years old, she won a first priz* 

 within six weeks. This has repeatedly been my experience, 

 and I would impress, therefore, on all who may be in similar 

 circumstances, that in such limited space prizes can only be 

 secured by rearing comparatively few chickens. Higher ex- 

 cellence and greater real reputation amongst fanciers may be 

 obtained by rearing more ; but unless some friend in the 

 country will co-operate, most of the honours of exhibition 

 must be foregone. An exception may, perhaps, be made in 

 favour of red, brown, or black fowls, such as Spanish, or Pir- 

 tridge Cochins ; but as regards any breeds in which white 

 forms a part of the plumage, I do not think more than a dozen 

 or so can be reared to be shown with credit. Competition now 

 is closer than it used to be, and birds that would have won 

 even ten years ago, will not win now. Not only perfection in 

 points, but faultless condition are now necessary, and it is- 

 in these small yards chiefly fail. In actual quality I believe 

 they usually surpass the larger ones, perhaps for the reason 

 that the confined space allows of closer study and more care- 

 ful mating; but in show condition they can rarely compare. 

 For this nothing is equal to grass, and the shade of living 

 trees. 



I say all this because I would by no means raise false hopes 

 in anyone. If I were asked. What can be done in such a space 

 as I named the other day ? I certainly do not pretend that the 

 leviathan breeders and exhibitors can be competed with in all 

 respects ; but with care and study, one of two things generally 

 may be done. By keeping only one first-class breeding pen, 

 and devoting all the other space to grass and chickens, and 

 setting all your own selected eggs, a few birds may be annually 

 reared, which shall carry oft' honours at the best shows with 

 any Cumpetitors ; or, on the other hand, by giving up exhibiting, 

 except in rare cases, and devoting the space exclusively to the 

 greatest possible amount of produce, a strain may be speedily 

 established of such a quality that the best breeders shall be glad 

 to secure stock from it for their own yards at high and remune- 

 rative prices : and one or two shows annually shall give sufficient- 

 honours to dispose of all surplus eggs and stock to general pur- 

 chasers. I say either of these may be done ; it does not of 

 course follow they will be, for there is a natural " faculty " in 

 breeding fowls, and some people do not seem to " have it in 

 them" to really learn the secrets of any breed at all. Bat a 

 love for the pursuit — a fondness that can survive disappoint- 

 ment and disaster, will generally command success, and will 

 produce better specimens in a few years from very ordinary 

 stock than mere money can do from the very best birds that 

 are- to be procured. The hobby, therefore, need not be an 

 expensive one as some imagine, even at tbe commencement; 

 I whilst judgment will almost always make it remunerative in 



