310 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 19, 1871. 



and a piece of red on the occasion of a marriage — without which, 

 it is believed, the bees would never thrive. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Books (TT. S.). — Eaton's book is out of print. 



Standard (A Ecadcr). — Messrs. Groombridgo & Song, 



TuNBRiDGE Wells Poultry Show.— Mr. Sanaway's Bantams wbicb ob- 

 tained the second prize at the above Show were Black Red Game, not 

 Black Bantams as stated. 



Hackle of Light Brahmas (M. £>.). — Perfectly white hackles would 

 be a serious objection if brought into competition with pencilled ones. 



Fowls Becohjing Blind (C. 5.).— Your fowls bavetheroup. Formerly 

 it was considered very contagious. It is not so now; some will catch it, 

 but all will not. Lime-white their houses, cleanse them scrupulously, 

 wash their faces with cold water and vinegar, feed on bread and ale, and 

 give Baiiy's pills. 



Feeding Poultry {A. S. L. If.).— Your feeding is very bad. Alter it 

 all. Give ground oats in the morning, whole corn, barley, or maize at mid- 

 day, but no oats, ao d again in the evening ground oats slaked with water. If 

 you have table and kitchen scraps, give them in lieu of the mid-day meal. 

 If your neighbours fed as you did, we do not wonder they had the same ill- 

 fortune. Have your fowls grass? Have they a supply of green food'? 

 If not. give it to them. Give them a huge sod, cut many inches deep ; 

 you will see them eat it all. It will be to them at first like the one day's 

 fresh air and the one good dinner among trees to the 7^240 children of 

 St. Magnus Parvus, advertised in June and carried out in October— can- 

 not have enough of it. 



Crossing Brahmas and Dorkings (A. F. B.). — It is believed the pro- 

 duce takes more after the hen. The Dorking is the best table fowl, and 

 the intent of the cross is to make a fowl for food. The Dorking should 

 predominate ; put them up then— Dorking pullets and Brahma cock. The 

 first will give delicacy of flesh and flavour, the second hardness of con- 

 stitution. 



Feeding Brahmas (W. H. D.).— You will find the Brahmas hearty 

 feeders, not so hearty as the Cochins, but they will make you a good 

 return for the food they consume. Give them in the morning ground 

 oats mixed with water, at mid-day house scraps of any kind, in the even- 

 ing ground oats again. You say they have limited space, and you want 

 eggs. Do not be persuaded to use stimulants. They do mischief and 

 nothing else. Supply your birds with lots of road grit ; give them large 

 growing sods of grass, cut them with plenty of earth. Whatever you 

 give, throw it down in lumps, and let the birds scatter it. While they 

 are scratching and watching they find food that costs you little or nothing. 

 If you begin to give stimulating food you will spoil the fowls, be they 

 ever so good. 



Legs of Japanese Bantams (H".).- The legs should be so short, and 

 the wings should be carried so low down, that the former should be in- 

 visible. They should, nevertheless, not be booted. 



Brahma Crooked-breasted {J. E. L.).—A crooked breast is only a 

 positive disqualification in a Game cock; it is a disadvantage in any 

 other. It is a disputed point whether the breast of a Brahma cock should 

 be black or speckled. We lean in favour of the latter. 



Colour of Cr^ve-Cceurs [G. ilT.)-— The Creve-Coeur is accepted in 

 England as a black fowl, and we do not think the Cinder (?) Creve-Cceur 

 would have a chance against them. They must go to the " refuge for the 

 destitute and friendless," — the Any other variety class. 



Fowls Turning Black and Dying (A. D.).— Your fowls get at some- 

 thing that is either poisonous 'or so injurious as to cause death. They 

 have every appearance from your description of dying from the former 

 cause. Remove some of them, and see if they sufier when they are else- 

 where. 



Aylesbury Ducks {5. B. S.).— There is no Grey Aylesbury Duck. 

 The pure bird was always white. Grey Aylesbury is an invention. 



Weight of Dorking Cockerel (J. J. W.). — The weight (9 lbs. at five 

 months old), is enormous for a bird of that age, and far above anything 

 we have ever seen in Silver-Greys. We should almost doubt his being 

 Siiver-Grey, Look closely. Is there no suspicion of white on any part of 

 his breast ; no white shade in his tail ; no straw hackle ? We advise you, 

 if yon have any donbt as to his colour, not to run the risk ol his being 

 disqualified as a bird of plumage, but, if aU, be well with him, to put him 

 in general competition. 



Worms in Fowls (W. C. D.). — We know no vermifuge so strong as 

 camphor, and therefore advise you to administer it freely to such of your 

 fowls as suffer like the deceased. Dose, two pieces the size of a garden 

 pea. They must have access to some very improper food, as these worms 

 can only be taken in the state of larvK. What was the colour of them ? 

 It is evident they were not developed till they reached the gizzard. 



Fantail Pigeons iFantail}.—V^'hy at the Crystal Palace Show are 

 prizes of ^2, £1, and 10^. offered for all varieties except White Fantails ? 

 These have only SOs. as a first prize. 



Accidents (Ellen). — We are very glad that you have asked the question, 

 for there is a book — a waistcoat-pocket book, which every one should 

 have— Smee's " Instructions for Prompt Treatment of Accidents." 



Are these Bees Liguhian? {H. B. C.).— The bees sent are certainly 

 not at all Ligurian, but that does not prove that your stock or queen is 

 not of pure blood. It is the common practice of those apiarians who 

 send out Ligurian stocks to make up their chief population by the aid of 

 sealed brood comb, or of adult bees of the ordinary variety. As these die 

 out their place will be filled by the puro progeny of the Italian mother. 

 When the first batch of brood from the present queen takes wing from 

 the hive, you will be able to ascertain whether your bees are pure bred or 

 otherwise. As you do not say when you first received your stock, we 

 cannot tell whether you ought to be able to see young bees this season, 

 or if you will have to wait until spring. We do not know from whom you 

 obtained your so-called Ligurian stock, but we believe that you may 

 depend on obtaining a genuine article from Messrs. Neighbour. 



Removing Bees to a Distance iE. S. Tiddcman).— We would advise 

 yon to defer moving your bees till after the first cold or frosty weather 

 in November, escept, perhaps, the one of which have the combs fallen on 

 the bottom board ; but we should try to move this bodily along with the 



others, board and post together. Bees, after some days' confinement in 

 wet or frosty weather, are easily moved, and seem to make a fresh recon- 

 naissance ot their hives. We should i^lace the bees (boards and hives) 

 as they are on straw in a light spring cart, carefully stopping up the 

 entrances, and walk them the whole sis miles. The less jolting the 

 better. 



Grubs in Comb (IF. i.). — The grubs you mention are probably those 

 of the wax moth. We would examine the hive itself, driving the bees up 

 among the combs with a little smoke. If the bees are few in number 

 and the traces of wax moth considerable, we should advise you to destroy 

 the hive, as you think of doing. But it may be the gi-ubs have only found 

 their way into the super. In this case we should certainly not destroy 

 the hive, but content ourselves with clearing away the combs from the 

 super. The wax moth is not likely to attack the neighbouring hives, 

 unless they happen to be weak in bees ; but we should take care to allow 

 no empty combs to litter about to tempt them to breed and multiply. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



Casiden Square, London. 



Lat. 51° 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0° S' 0" W. ; Altitude 111 feet. 



Date. 



9 A.M. 



In the Day. 





1871. 



Barome- 

 ter at S20 

 and Sea 

 Ijovel. 



Hygrome- 

 ter. 



Direc- 

 tion of 

 Wind. 



Temp, 

 of Son 

 at 1 ft. 



Shade Tem- 

 perature. 



Radiation 

 Tempera- 

 ture. 



.9 



Oct. 



Dry. 



Wet. 



Max. 



Min. 



In 

 sun. 



On 



grass 



s 



We. 11 

 Th. 12 

 Fri. 13 

 Sat. M 

 Sun.15 

 Mo. 16 

 Tu. 17 



Inches. 



31I.23S 

 30.410 

 S0.4S9 

 30.3 5 



So.ooi 



29.390 

 Si).u30 



aeg. 

 45.0 

 40.3 

 40.9 

 S9.8 

 39.6 

 62.9 

 56.5 



aeg. 



44.6 

 44.5 

 40.9 

 89.8 

 89.6 

 52.5 

 54 4 



S.E. 

 N.E. 



E. 



B. 

 Calm 

 S.W. 



S. 



deg. 

 49.7 

 48.9 

 48.0 

 47.5 

 47.4 

 48-8 

 49.8 



deg. 

 52.2 

 55.8 

 57.6 

 57.6 

 57.4 

 61.0 

 64.4 



deg. 

 36,3 

 35.0 

 31.2 

 35.2 

 35.0 

 39.8 

 60.8 



deg. 



57.6 

 82.3 

 81.6 

 S4.0 

 65.0 

 82.0 

 90.8 



deg 

 82.8 

 81.9 

 30.1 

 31.3 

 81.0 

 40.1 

 46.3 



In. 



0.02] 



O.OIO 

 0.120 



Means 



S 1.221 



45.9 



45.2 





48.5 



53.0 



37.6 



77.6 



34.8 



0.150 



REMARKS. 



11th. — Cold, dull, uncomfortable day, though without rain. 



12th. — Very fine in the early part of the day, and moderately so after- 

 wards, but foggy at night. 



13th. — First white frost seen here this season ; hazy morning and eveningj 

 but fine between, and warmer. 



14th. — White fog, clearing off by 11 a.^i., and very fine after. 



15th. — Foggy morning and evening, and rather so all day, though occa- 

 sionally bright. 



16th. — Rather foggy all day. with a little rain and great dampness. 



17th. — Dull morning, very fine afterwards, and so warm as to he rather 

 oppressive. Overcast at 10 p.m. Rain at midnight. 

 Although very little rain has fallen the week has been very damp, the 



air being saturated on three mornings (13th, 14th, and 15th), at 9 a.qi. and 



at several other times. The uniformity in the maximum temperatures 



of those da^s is also striking.— G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— Octoeer 18. 

 This week we have again received heavy supplies of Apples and Pears 

 both from France and the Channel Islands, notwithstanding which, 

 home-grown fruit commands fair prices, and stands of good descriptions 

 are easily cleared. Auction goods, also, have been freely ofi'ered, such 

 as Nuts, Lemons, the Opuntia, and Almiera Grapes, the latter not being 

 so good as they were last season. Agricultural reports state that Potatoes 

 are much diseased in some parts ; good qualities maintain prices. 



Apples J sieve 



Apricots doz. 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bushel 



Currants J sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 



FUberta lb. 



Cobs lb. 



Grapes, Hothonse.... lb. 



Gooseberries quart 



Lemons ¥^100 



Melons each 



Artichokes doz. 



Asparagus li^-lOO. 



Beans, Ividney....*- sieve 



Broad buahel 



Beet, Red doz. 



BroCGoU bundle 



Brnssels Sprouts. -i sieve 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums f^'lOO 



Carrots bunch 



CauUflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Coleworts.. doz. bunches 

 Cucumbers each 



pickUng doz. 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish bundle 



s. d. 8. 

 2 Oto4 

 























6 



6 



















Mulberries lb. 



Nectarines doz. 



Oranges ^100 



Peaches doz. 6 



Peai's, kitchen doz. 3 



dessert doz. 2 



Pine Apples lb. S 



Plums J sieve 3 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries lb. 



Quinces doz. 



Walnuts bushel 10 



ditto ^*100 1 



8. d, 5. 

 OtoO 





 25 

 S 



VEGETABLES. 



d. S, 

 4 too 

 





 

 

 6 

 2 

 1 



1 

 8 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Leeks bunch 



Lettnce doz. 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustard & Cress, .punnet 

 Onions per doz. bunches 



pickling quart 



Parsley sieve 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas qnai-t 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes., doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Marrows. .doz. 



3 too 6 

 8 10 

 2 

 2 9 

 4 

 6 



4 



1 







POTTLTRY MARKET.— October 18. 

 No great change. Game is becoming plentiful, and has some little 

 effect on poultry. If the weather become dry and colder, we may expect 

 an improvement in prices. 



