20 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEK. 



t January 5, 1871. 



before him and others, so as not to devote one single word to its con- 

 sideration ? He will see I do not now stand alone in my opinions, 

 nor can tliey any longer be called peculiar. They are shared more 

 or less by several of the most scientific writers on the subject, I 

 believe fonl brood may originate from other causes, as I hav:^ already 

 stated in the articles referred to ; and on the assumption that Dr. 

 Preuss's theory is a correct one, I could reconcile, I tbiuk, as already 

 expressed, what appear to be conflicting propositions, more especially 

 as to the manner in which foul brood often originates, and, once pro- 

 duced, how it is propagated. 



"A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper," I should notice, is unwilling to 

 concede the point that there is any analogy between brood killed by 

 heat and brood tilled by cold, and ascribes foul brood in the former 

 ease, not to the presence of dead and unremoved larva;, but to the 

 fermenting of the honey, " induced, doubtless, by the effects of the 

 heat and the condensed moisture mixing with the unsealed honey, 

 causing it to ferment, and acting in a deleterious manner on the larvae 

 when fed with it." This is, I think, a very questionable surmise, and 

 for my part I can see no ground whatever for such an itlea. 



I conclude this New Year's communication by cordially wishing "A 

 Renfrewshire Bee-keeper," and all my apiarian brethren who inter- 

 change opinions in our especial corner of the Journal, many happy 

 returns of the season, not forgetting our respected and worthy Editors, 

 by whose hind indulgence I am permitted to say so much. — J. Lowe. 



[Want of space has obliged us to omit some paragraphs. — Ebs.] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Books {H. C.). — The book you mention is 3s'. Gd. unooloured, and 

 7.S. 6d. coloured. Any bookseller can obtain it for you. 



Poultry and Canary Shows. — We have received the lists of prizes 

 awarded at Skeltou and some other show.*, but we do not puidish them, 

 concluding that they are only of local interest, as the committees did 

 not advertise them. 



Gold- SPANGLED Hamburghs (GaUns).~'We cannot find spice for a 

 detail of "the full points of both cock and hen." If you enclose seven 

 postage stamps with your address we will send you, post free, " Poultry 

 Book for the Many." It contains the points of ail tlie varieties. Efiton'g 

 book ia out of print. The late Mr. Brent edited " The Pigeon Book." 

 You can have it post free for twenty postage stamps. 



Exhibiting Together Differently-aged Fowls (AmatL'ur).—^heTe 

 there is no restriction, and no rule to the contrary, birds of different 

 ages may be shown loerether. When the classes are dt-fiued and se- 

 parated, it must not be. as it is at least a dishonourable proceeding. In 

 making up n. pen m! different ages you must be careful that all the birds 

 match in size and appearance. Although nothing is more difticult than 

 to tell the exact ages of fowls after they have reached maturity (say ten 

 months), yet there is often a perceptible difference between a pullet and 

 a hen, and if the judces are bard run, they are glad of anything that will 

 justify them in striking out a pen. 



Brahma Chickens Crooked-breasted (TF. J".).— The crooked breast- 

 bone does not make the bird delicate. We should be disposed to attribute 

 the defect to their having perched too early. Brahmas are birds of quick 

 growth, and are lanky when young. If put on the perch too soon their 

 legs are not strong enough to bear the weight of their bodies by grasping 

 the perch with their toes, and, consequently, they rest their breasts upon 

 it. As the breast-bone is then little better than a cartilage, it takes the 

 impress of the perch. We do not for a moment believe you will find it 

 hereditary, any more than you would expect a child to have a contracted 

 form because its mother when young laced too tit^htly. They will soon 

 lay, but, as a rule, birds that are meant to do so before Christmas sliould 

 be hatched cither late in April or very early in May. We breed many 

 fowls, and are, unfortunately, overrun with rats, but we do not think our 

 chickenB in danger when they are large enough to rtimain ou the perch 

 when put there. 



Sick Fowls (SuhscriheT).— Give No. 1 Baily's pills, and add to them 

 one pill daily of camphor the size of a garden pea. Give No. 2 Baily's 

 pills, and follow them, when the bird is convalescent, with meals of bread 

 and ale three times per day. Give No. 3 castor oil, a table-spoonful every 

 day, till the blood and yellow matter have ceased, and the evacuations 

 are brown and white. You must watch that she be not too much reduced. 

 If she is, give her bread and ale. Case No. 3 is the worst. 



Heating a Barn for Fowls (R. S.).~We are not friendly to heat 

 derived from a flue for poultry. It has a tendency to enervate them. 

 They no longer wander abroad io search of food, but fiuding it cold out of 

 the house they return to it, and squat about io it nil day. The proper 

 way to make fowls lay, and to keep them warm is to feed them well. All 

 they require at night in the way of warmth, is to be lodged in a dry 

 place thoroughly protected from draucht. If you keep as many as a 

 thousand, or even five hundred fowls, you will do better by dividing them 

 in several bouses r ither tlian puttinj:: them all in one. It is far healthier. 

 If you intend t > make a profit from the sale of eggs, you must be careful 

 to <f t n o'lnply iu the winter when they are most saleable. For this you 

 will have to '.-^^ep pullets hatched in April and May. Wo think you will 

 do as well wit i Brahraas and Uochins as with any breed. They are very 

 strong and healt ly. That is what you require where raanyjare kept together. 



Dorking Coc '■■Rp-ls (Gilbert). — Thy ditlerence in a Grey or a tiilver- 

 Grey Dorking co "k is, that in the first there is no decided plumage, but 

 in tiie second til ^ lireast find tail must bo purely black, one white spot 

 would diquilify. The hacklo and saddle must also bo white instead of 

 Btraw-coloured. 



Manchebck^ Snow. — "In consequence of tho address of this Show and 

 that of the exiiibitor being on the same side of tho bibol, my five pens of 

 Spanish which were entered for it, came to rae from a run in Cheshire, 

 where I keep them, instead of being delivered iu Manchenter. I think it 

 would be better in future that tke addresses should be on difi'oroat sides, 

 as at most shows ; as it is very annoying to have one's pens empty when 

 the birds look like winniui:. — H, Vardlev." 



Canaries Stolen at Ipswich (J. N. H.).~V/g do not ihink that more 

 notice would avail. CommitteoB should have moro watchers. 



Cbtstal Palace Snow (OxojiieTisis).~'WQ believe before you see this 

 you will have received the amount. 



Ring Doves {R. L.).—'Wb have frequontlv known them kept in green- 

 houses all the year, and never heard of their suffering fr«m the humid 

 atmosphere. 



Hypo-sulphite or Soda. — This was erroneously printed hypo-sulphate 

 on page 525- 



PoiNTER Diseased (J. P. C.).— The convulsive jerking and twitching of 

 tho neck and chest indicate chorea. Meyrick, in his excellent little 

 volume on dogs, gives the following directions :—" The general health 

 and diet must first be attended to. A few doses of castor oil are usually 

 necessary; accompanied by blue pill (dose five grains), if the liver ia 

 deranged, as shown by the clay colour of the ficces. The food should be 

 givpn twice a-day, and should consist principally of vegetables, potatoes, 

 oatmeal porridge, &c. Wlien a batter state of health is established, it 

 will be time to give medicines to remove the disease itself. For this pur- 

 pose it is best to begin with liquor arsenicalis, mixing two drops with each 

 meal, so that the dog will take four drops in the day. The quantity must 

 be gradually and cautiously increased bv one drop daily, and so increased 

 for a week. The same quantity must then be continued, and will often 

 have to be given regularly every day for a month berore a perfect cure is 

 efifected. As soon as the dog rejects his food, is bloodshot in the eyes, or 

 hfl.s a runnim:: at the nose, it is necess^iry to stop the medicine, at least 

 for a time. If it has had no perceptible effect in subduing the convulsive 

 jerkings of the muscles, it would be advisable to try, night and morning, 

 a bail containing sulphate of zinc, two grains; powdered gentian, ten 

 grains ; syrup of ginger, qu. suff." 



Waterproofing (J. D. L.). — The composition varies according to the 

 object to be attained ; state for what you need it. 



METEOROLOGtCAL OBSERVATIONS 

 In the Suburbs of London for the week ending December 27th. 





BAROMETER. 





THERMOMETEB 





■Wind. 





DiTE. 



Air. 



Earth. 



Rain 





Max. 



Mia. 



Max. 



Min. 



1 ft. 



2 ft. 





Wed... 21 



29.838 



29.662 



33 



21 



43 



43 



E. 



.09 



Thuis. . 22 



29.864 



29 844 



28 



9 



40 



41 



E. 



.00 



Fri.. .. 23 



29 8S8 



29.800 



34 



6 



36 



39 



N. 



.00 



Silt. ... 24 



29.696 



29 614 



28 



2 



35 



88 



N.E. 



.00 



Snn. . . 25 



29.646 



29.598 



84 



14 



84 



88 



N.E. 



.00 



Mod. . . 26 



29.838 



29.724 



34 



16 



34 



86 



N. 



.03 



Tnes.... 27 



29.844 



29.686 



81 



25 



35 



36 



N.E. 



.00 



Mean.. 



29.802 



29.704 



31.57 



13.29 



35.71 



88.71 



■• 



0.00 



21. — Overcast; snow; cold wind, sharp frost. 



2£. — Sharp frost ; snow; clear and frosty. 



23. — Intense frost ; fine, frostv ; clear and frosty. 



24. — Intense frost ; frosty fog ; frosty fog at night. 



25. — Sharp frost ; cold wind ; overcast and frosty. 



26. — Overcast, cold wind; densely overcast; slight snow. 



27.— Sharp frost ; overcast ; heavy fall of enow. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— Jaxcaey 4. 

 Business transactions are limited to supplying the daily wants, and 

 Saturday is now the only market day on which we are likely to get what 

 we require. Hothouse produce, however, is sufficient for present pur- 

 poses, and does not meet with the demand usually experienced at this 

 season. Potatoes are amply supplied. Trade is dull. 



FRUIT. 



B. d. S. 



Apples i sieve 1 



Ohestnuta bushel in e 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 2 



Grapes, Hotbonse.. .. Jb. 4 



Lemons ^100 G 



Melons each 1 



Oranges T?" 100 6 



Pears, kitchen doz. 1 



dessert doz. 1 



Pine Apples lb. 3 



Ploms i sieve 1 



Walnuts bushel 10 



do ^100 1 



a. s. 



OtolO 

 2 



Beans, Kidney ....1*100 2 



Beet.Red doz. 2 



Broccoli bundle 



Bnisaela Sprouts. .4 sieve 2 



Cabbage doz. 1 



Carrots bunch 4 



Cauliflower doz. 9 



Celery bundle 1 6 



VEGETABLES, 

 d. B 



oto;; 



i 



Cole worts., doz. bunches 



Cucumbers each 



Endive d03. 



Fennel buncli 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs buncli 



HorflGradieh .... bundle 

 Leeks bimch 



3 



!i 



2 



8 



8 



8 



S 



4 



Lettuce doz. 



?-'ushrooms pottle 



Mustard & Cresa . . punnet 

 Onions bushel 



pickling quart 



Parsley sieve 



Parsaipa doz. 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes .. doz.bunchea 



Sftvoys dez. 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallota lb. 



Spinaoh bushel 



Tomatoes doz. 



TarnipB bunch 



d. fl 



9 to : 



i 



3 ( 

 c 



4 ( 



( 



9 ] 



i 



'. 

 6 



POULTRY MARKET.— January 4. 



The Christmas arrivals from abroad are not yet quite disposed of. The 

 excitement of Christmas always gives way to positive collapse, and there 

 is no trade worth quoting. Another thing to be noted is, that frost will 

 often stimubito trade, but snow always destrovB it and hinders all de- 

 mand. It also interferes much with supply. We make quotationB to tho 

 host of our ability. 



LarfTO Fowls 3 



SmaUer ditto 2 



Chickens 1 



Dnuks 2 



Ceeso 7 



Pheasants 2 



d. s. 

 G to 4 

 2 

 G 1 

 2 



8. d. 



a. 



Piffcons !l to lt> 



Rabbits 1-1 1 r> 



WUddilto 9 10 



Haves SO 4 



P,^rtnd3:e8 1 G 1 9 



Grouaa 



