272 



JOUENAIi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 5, 1871. 



it would be greatly in the way. "We should strongly object to 

 the position it is intended to oeoupy when in use. Over the 

 open hive under inspection is the last place we should choose. 

 A moveable stand which could be put up close to, or at^ any 

 distance from, the stock under manipulation, such as a tripod, 

 would be preferable. To any apiarian accustomed to manipu- 

 lation with frames, the two hands of the operator are all that 

 he requires; and to insure gentleness of treatment, with accu- 

 racy and dispatch, he cannot too soon endeavour to acquire 

 such knack and facility of handling to enable him to do every- 

 thing not only without other assistance, but with as few ex- 

 traneous appendages as possible. — Eds.] 



LIGURIANS IN JERSEY. 



liT reply to your correspondent *' D. N., Cantab " I may 

 say that there is nothing strange in his finding Ligurian-marked 

 bees in common stocks kept within a distance of one or two 

 miles from an apiary having one or more pure Ligurian 

 colonies. The circumstance is not, however, due, as he sup- 

 poses, to the desertion of his own bees, but to the fact that the 

 young queens of these outlying hives have met with drones 

 from his Italian stocks. 



The late Mr, Woodbury, not very long after his introduction 

 of Ligurian bees into Exeter, was surprised to find, on driving 

 a cottager's hive located at least two miles and a half from his 

 apiary, that the majority of the bees were well striped. The 

 queen, however, was a common black one. Being desirous of 

 seeing what might come of it, he asked me to put her at the 

 head of one of my colonies, I did so, and had the queen for 

 some years. The majority of her brood came out more or less 

 well-coloured and ringed, but many were quite undistinguish- 

 able from the common brown bees. The drones, however, were 

 perfectly unaltered in colour or markings from those of any 

 other black queen. This last was one of the facts Mr. Wood- 

 bury was desirous of establishing, and he justly thought that 

 this was a good opportunity for doing so. — S. B. Fos. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



HouBAN Hen Sitting Persistently (iT. Itf.).— We are always glad to 

 hear of such, amiable deviations from certain natural rules. We have 

 known them to take place with Spanish and Hamburghs ; we will now add 

 Houdan to the list of those that sometimes enjoy a luxury denied, as a 

 rule, to their fellows in breed. 



Poland Fowl's Crop, Water in (TF. C. D.).— Hold the fowl up by bis 

 legs till the crop is entirely emptied. Feed him frequently and very 

 little at a time. Ground oats slaked with strong beer, and in almost 

 hquid state. If he will not eat, pour down a tablespoonful every three 

 hours. He must never have enough at a time to make the crop hang 

 down. He may have some water twice per day, but only be allowed to 

 sip at it twice each time. 



Plumage of Grey Borking (A. C).— There is no rule for the colour 

 of a Grey Dorking. Any is admissible save black or white. We believe 

 the breeding of Grey Dorkings is more satisfactory than the Silver-Greys. 

 There were many birds in the Silver-Grey classes last year that were dis- 

 qualitied for defects of feather, that would have been successful in general 

 competition. You may show them with confidence, the principal point 

 being weight, and of course freedom from defects of shape. 



Turkeys not Thriving {W. L.). — We believe the brick floor has some- 

 thing to do with your losses. Nothing can be worse. It is worse for 

 Turkeys than fowls. Cover the floor of your house with road grit or 

 gravel, or dry earth at least 6 inches deep. Peed the sickly birds freely 

 on bread and strong ale. Wo cannot help attributing part of your failure 

 to feeding on bad wheat. We have to write every week that the best food 

 is the cheapest. Yerily, those who christened bad and damnged corn 

 "chicken's meat," have a great deal to answer for. If we understand 

 you aright, the Turkeys play an important part at Christmas. In order 

 to leave no stone unturned to ensure their value, you feed them on 

 worthless food, and you arrive at this result, that birds large enough now 

 to weigh 15 lbs., weigh nothing, being but skin and bone. In most 

 counties Turkeys make IQd. per lb. Pay in your locality they make 8d. 

 You have eighty Turkeys should weigh 1200 lbs., value £41 6s. 8d. You 

 have economised ^5 by buying bad instead of good food, and you have 

 eighty Turkeys, 700 lbs., value " nil." Your economy will have cost you 

 at present, at least £30. It is probably not too late to mend it. Have 

 some ground oats with a small quantity, say a tenth, of pea and bean- 

 meal mixed with milk three or four times per day, and feed them with it4 

 As soon as they begin to rally let a trough of the same food be put in 

 their house, and leave the door open that they may go to it when they 

 like, but there must not be enough to turn Suur, and the trough should 

 be well washed out every day. We believe in camphor, but you may try 

 strong beer, and put wormwood in their water. If they have a grass 

 run, well and good ; but if they have not, they should have large sods of 

 growing grass cut every day with plenty of mould on them, and thrown 

 into them. They will eat it all. Lettuces are good for them, and all 

 green food. 



PiGKON Portraits (A. Jf.).— In addition to those you name, Nos. 548, 

 454, 471, 473, 483, and 500. 



Feeding Bees to Obtain Honey (E. ilf. L ). — It would be absurd and 

 valueless to feed your stock for the purpose of taking off honey. If the 

 hive with empty combs has a strong population, it would ha advisable to 



snpply it with sufficient food to bring up its weight, exclusive of hive, to 



at least 15 lbs. before the end of October. If you require honey, and are 

 prepared to sacrifice a strong and prosperous colony, you can drive out 

 the bees of the old stock, and unite them to the swarm, feeding liberally, 

 as in the first case- We should, however, recommend you to keep both 

 your stocks if eufSciently papulous, and if you are willing to afford the 

 necessary outlay for sugar. We should also advise you to get "Bee-keep- 

 ing for the Many," which can be obtained from our office for five stamps, 

 and which will give you the information you requiue on driving bees, as- 

 well as on various other matters. 



Removing Bees {Alpha). — Do not attempt to remove yoiir hive or 

 hives 30 yards, or 3ii0 yards, unless you are prepared to sacrifice 

 many hundreds of valuable lives. You must either take them to a dis- 

 tance of abr>nt two miles, where they must remain a sufficient length of 

 time to cause them to forget the bearings of their old locality, and then 

 bring them back to their permanent stand, or you may move them gradu- 

 ally, at the rate of about 1 foot at a time after every fine day in the direc- 

 tion of the place you wish them to occupy. The autumn and the spring 

 of the year are the worst periods for shifting stocks short distances, as 

 the bees are more liable to become chilled while puzzling to discover 

 their entrances. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



Camden Square, London. 



Lat. 51° 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0° 8' 0" W. ; Altitnde 111 feet. 



Date. 







9 A.M 









In the Day. 





1871. 



i|g ■ 



Hygrome- 

 ter. 



Direc- 

 tion of 

 Wind. 



Temp, 

 of Sou 

 at 1 ft. 



Shade Tem- 

 perature. 



Radiation 

 Tempera- 

 ture. 



.S 

 (4 



Sept. 



Dry. 



Wet. 



Max. 



Min. 



In 1 On 

 sun. grass 



We. 27 

 Th. 28 

 Fri. 29 

 Sat. 30 

 Son. 1 

 Mo. 2 

 Tu. S 



Inches. 

 29.267 

 29.260 

 29.793 

 29.716 

 29.212 

 29.259 

 29.346 



52.8 

 57 5 

 50.3 

 46-7 

 56 

 62.6 

 49.7 



dee. 

 52.5 

 55.6 

 48.7 

 44.2 

 53.0 

 49.6 

 477 



S.E. 

 N.W. 

 N.E. 

 N.W. 

 N.W. 

 N.W. 

 W. 



deg. 

 51.0 

 55.2 

 64.8 

 54.6 

 53.9 

 68.7 

 63.6 



deg. 

 6(^4 

 58.8 

 66 5 

 56.6 

 63.0 

 61.0 

 61.6 



deg. 



42 8 

 62.3 

 45 8 

 446 

 45.2 

 46.4 

 40.8 



dee. 1 deg. 

 87.6 38.3 



61.0 51.8 

 55.6 1 43.6 



93.1 1 45.2 

 104.1 i 42.0 

 102.0 i 43.9 

 106.4 : 89.9 



In. 



0.750 

 0.04) 

 1.220 

 44O 

 0.34O 

 0.05O 



Means 



29.410 



52.2 



50.2 





54.8 



60.8 



45.4 



88.1 1 48.5 



2.840 



REMARKS. 

 27th. — Dull day, warmer but frequent showers, wet evening and night. 

 Great depression of barometer, which fell during the night to 28.8S 

 (reduced). 

 2Sth. — Barometer rising rapidly ; fine morning, but showers in the middle 



of the day, fine evening, 

 29th.— Dull morning, cold and very rainy all day, but fine at night. 

 3 ith. — Heavy ram during the past night, fine day, but wet again in evening. 

 Oct. 1st. — Fine morning, but rain soon after noon, followed by still heavier^ 

 with thunder, lightning, and hail between 1 and 2 p.m. ; showery 

 afternoon and evening. iDut fine night. ["Vening. 



2nd. — A fine day though occasionally cloudy, only one shower till the 

 8rd. — In early part a bracing October day, part'ally overcast after 3 p.m. 

 The rainfa'l of the past week has reached the unusual total of 2.84 ins., 

 which following a week with 1 99 in., makes 4 83 inches in a fortnight, a 

 quantity in this part of England extremely rare. — G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— October 4. 



The supply of wall fruit is beginning to fall ofi", and prices have im- 

 proved. 



FEUIT. 



Apples J sieve 2 



Apricots doz. 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bushel 



Currants ^ sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 1 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 



Gooseberries quart 



Grapes, Hothouse. . . . lb. 1 



Lemons ^lOO 8 



Melons each 2 



s. d. s. d. 



Oto4 

 



s. d. 8. d 



Mulberries lb. 6 to 1 



Nectarines doz. 5 SO 



Oranges ^100 20 C 



Peaches doz. 4 12 



Pears, kitchen doz. 2 



dessert doz. 2 



Pine Apples lb. 3 



Plums i sieve 8 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries lb. 



Walnuts bHshel 10 



ditto Jj^-ioo 1 



VEGETABLES. 



S. d. S. d 



Artichokes doz. 4 to 6 



Asparagus ^100. 



Beans, Kidney.... i sieve SO 



Broad bushel 



Beet,Red doz. 2 3 



Broccoli bundle 6 10 



Brussels Sprouts.. i sieve 2 3 



Cabbage doz. 10 3 



Capsicums ^100 16 2 



Carrots bunch 6 



Cauliflower doz. 8 6 



Celery bundle 16 2 



Coleworts.. doz. bunches 2 4 



Cucumbers each 6 10 



pickling doz. 2 SO 



Endive doz. 2 



Fennel bunch 3 



GarUe lb. S 



Herbs bunch 3 



Horseradish bundle 3 4 



Leeks bunch 



Ijpttuce doz, 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustard & Cress, .punnet 

 Onions per doz. bunches 



pickUng quart 



Parsley sieve 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidoey do. 



Radishes., doz. bunches 



Rhubarb..; bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Marrows.. doz. 



3. d. s. 



8 too 



8 1 







3 

 



POULTRY MARKET.— October 4. 

 Another Michaelmas has passed away, Queen Bess's day is less ob- 

 served every year, and fewer Geese come to mnrket. Those that were 

 good this year sold well, but many that were thin and badly fed and 

 killed will make a poor return. The real market for Geese now is at 

 Christmas. 



