August 2i, 1871. ] 



JOUENAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



153 



occupant of his temporary apartment, having ears 21i inches long by 

 4J inches wide ; and the highly commended pen of Mr. S. Greenwood 

 was also good, perhaps rattier heavily marked, yet a fit companion to 

 his more fortunate neighbours. Tlie showy Angora class contained 

 ten entries, including several very fine specimens, some being rather 

 small yet well wooUed, and that with a fineness of texture which I 

 prefer for a specimen of this variety. The first prize went to a doe of 

 large size, clean, and well cared for ; and if exhibitors would consider 

 how much the appearance of their specimens is improved by the 

 comb and a clean bed, I am sure the little time required for these 

 important attentions would be willingly afforded. The second prize 

 ■went to rather an exception as regards colour, being fawn, yet a well- 

 formed Kabbit and worthy of its position. Mr. A. H. Easten's highly 

 commended was a neat specimen — not, perhaps, as fine in fur as the 

 others, yet worthy the third position it took in its class. I may here 

 remark that amongst some of the specimens I found the ears troubled 

 ■with that gum which tends so much to give the animal a dull and 

 stupid appearance irrespective of the pain, and more especially when 

 handled. A little attention in this particular would be advisable, 

 especially when so effective a remedy is at hand. The Himalayans, 

 eight in number, contained some goocl specimens, but not all, as some 

 were far too light in the extremities ; yet the first and second-prize 

 animals I have seldom seen equalled in points of merit, and care was 

 requisite to determine upon the superiority of one over the other, as 

 l)oth were almost equally good. Mr. .J. Boyle's highly commended was 

 by no means an inferior animal, and Mr. J. Bntterworth exhibited 

 another specimen which I doubt not will secure honours. The Silver- 

 Oreys (nine) were very good as a class, and the first-prize one was in my 

 opinion of the true Silver type, even to the very nose ; it was of large 

 size and well formed, general in the silvering, and worthy of its posi- 

 tion. The second-prize specimen was not quite so large, a little 

 darker, yet in every respect a good specimen, and fit companion for her 

 more fortunate sister {both were does). Mr. S. G. Hudson's highly 

 commended doe was also no mean specimen. The Any other variety 

 class contained as usual Belgian Hares and Dutch, and some to my 

 mind almost the perfection of marking were found amongst them. 

 First, with dignified yet placid look, was the Belgian buck of Mr. S. G. 

 Mn dson, a true specimen of what one of this variety should be — I'lrge, 

 wel -proportioned, and general in the shade of the hair, and offering 

 an interesting contrast to the pretty little Dutch Grey and White spe- 

 cimen belonging to Mr. J. Boyle, jun., who also received a high com- 

 mendation for a good specimen of the Belgian Hare. The Selling 

 class contained by no means inferior specimens ; and the first-prize 

 Silver- Grey, and a very finely wooUed yet young Angora as second, 

 were both more than the average found in this class. An excellent 

 Lop from Mr. J. Bntterworth was highly commended and worthy of a 

 passing remark. I hope she will be found as a prize-winner. — Ch--uiles 

 Eayson', Didshury. 



SPANISH HEN INCUBATING. 

 I HAD three Black Spanish hens a few yeara ago, and one of 

 them, a well-bred one, was baulked of sitliag, but would not 

 be done out of her nursing, for she took to a hatch of Bantams 

 that were several weeks old. I have now another Spanish hen 

 which has been wanting to sit for nearly two months, but, 

 being prevented, she tries her best to take possession of some 

 halt-grown chickens, which care nothing about her. — J. Gabe, 

 Beiodley, 



THE CUMULET, VOLANT, AND WHITE EYE 



PIGEON. 

 This Pigeon is of the Tumbler specie?, and imported from 

 Brunswick into this country. It is a distinct breed, and bred 

 true to its points in feather and flying propensity. It is of the 

 Tumbler size, white or marble grey, sometimes lemon shaded 

 in the neck, rather high on a clean coral leg, sharper-faced than 

 the Tambler, and has the invariable, prominent, glittering, 

 pearl-white eye. The bird is called Cumulet in allusion to its 

 cloud-climbing or sky-high-flying peculiarity ; also called Volant 

 in reference to its superlative flying powers, and known as 

 White Eye from its bright white eye described. This Pigeon 

 is as pure a species or sort, as the purest Carrier is of its kind 

 of Pigeon. — Eeadek. 



NEW BOOK. 



The Homing or Carrier Pigeon. By W. B. Tegetmeiee, 

 F.Z.S., &c. London: Eoutledge & Sons. 

 Wae troubles and their accompaniments are in these days 

 soon forgotten. Already the German siege of Paris is little 

 thought of because another has succeeded; and so on, and so 

 on, in this rapidly changing age. Then, too, newspapers are 

 but things of a day, of them the proverb litcra scripta manet 

 is not true. But a book, a distinct book, is a permanent thing. 

 It remains while the newspaper is torn up ; it is placed on 



our shelves and referred to when one war has given place in 

 men's minds to another. 



For these reasons I am glad that Mr. Tegetmeier has pub- 

 lished a book, and a cheap one too, on the deeds of Homing 

 Pigeons, so that the interests aroused for a time in so many 

 minds concerning these birds will be perpetuated, at least with 

 some. Mr. Tegetmeier gives first a history of the Homing 

 Pigeon, and chats pleasantly about Anaoreon, Varro, Pliny, on 

 to our first Pigeon writer, John Moore ; then about English 

 Pigeon races, then about Belgian races ; then tells ua of the 

 longest race on record. 



" But the longest Pigeon race on record was that flown from 

 Rome to Belgium in 1868. Tsvo hundred Pigeons, all of which 

 had been flown from the south of France, but none beyond, 

 were entered for the race. The distance is 900 miles. They 

 were liberated on July 22Qd, at half-past four in the morning, 

 the weather being beautifully fine. The first arrival was en 

 Monday, August 3rd, at five minutes to two in the afternoon, 

 the bird belonging to M. Keyne, of D'Ougree, near L-ege. The 

 second reached home on the same day, the third on August 

 4th, the fourth on August 6tb, the fifth and sixth on August 

 lOtb, the seventh and eighth on August 11th and 12th, the 

 ninth on August ISth, and the tenth on September lltb. This 

 race was one of the most interesting character, as the birds 

 had to fly over 500 miles of country entirely unknown to them. 

 If they flew in a direct line, they must have crossed the Apen- 

 nines, near Monte Cimone, where those mountains are be- 

 tween 6000 and 7000 feet high, and the Alps near the St. 

 Gothard, where the lowest passes are almost 7000 feet, and 

 continued their course across the whole of Switzerland. But 

 it ii most probable those that returned rounded the westward 

 of these mountain chains, and, skirting the coast, came by way 

 of Nice through France. Of the two hundred liberated, not 

 more than twelity ever returned." 



The rate of flight of these wonderful Belgian birds is, it 

 seems, in the best races " more than one mile per minute 

 during a flight that lasts for four hours and three-quarters. 

 Upwards of sixty miles an hour for nearly five hours in suc- 

 cession. Truly, this ia a wonderful performance; and good 

 as it is, it is greatly exceeded in short-distance flights, in which 

 the bird knows its route perfectly." 



We have in chapter the second an account of the different 

 breeds employed as Homing Pigeons. The author clears away 

 the many mistakes as to name. Thn?, the Carrier ia not a 

 homing bird, neither is the show Antwerp. I hope that in aU 

 future Pigeon-writing the term Homing Pigeon will be em- 

 ployed only. The Carrier must not lose his name, although it 

 implies what he does not do, but after a reign of upwards of a 

 hundred years King Carrier must not be dethroned. 



Other chapters relate the management of Homing Pigeons, 

 their training, whether the homing faculty is instinct or in- 

 telligence. With two more chapters on the Anglo-Belgian 

 concours, and Pigeon-flying from balloons, this handy, pretty, 

 and useful little book ends. I am glad to see it at all railway- 

 stalls, and not only will it spread an accurate knowledge of the 

 Homing Pigeon, but also, I think, may lead some of its many 

 readers to wish for others of the " many varieties of fancy 

 Pigeons." — Wiltshire Eeciok. 



QUEENS LEAVING THEIR HIVES— MR. 

 WOODBURY'S DEATH. 



Notwithstanding the apparently corroborative evidence 

 furnished by " B. & W.," in No. 538, that he was correct in 

 his inference that the old queen of the hybrid hive had been 

 taking aerial excuraiona before swarming, yet the facta narrated, 

 strong though they seem, do not in reality prove anything of 

 the kind. There are so many ways of accounting for the 

 curioua circumstances attending the case without violating 

 what I believe to be an invariable rule — namely, that a mother 

 queen never takes an aerial excursion, that, like " E. S." (who 

 does not hesitate to endorse my view, though I assure him H 

 is "no misfortune"), I should never think, if they occurred in 

 my own apiary, of explaining .them as " B. & W." has done, 

 even though the proof were stronger. 



My excuse for recurring to the subject is, that I am anxious 

 that an error of this kind in the habits of the queen bee, pro- 

 mulgated by one of acknowledged authority in apiarian matters, 

 should not pass without challenge. I know it is a popuhr 

 belief among a certain class that queens take " airings " during 

 fine days even in winter, as the common bees do, and a dead 

 or invalided queen found before the hive, is taken as a proof 



