March 9, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



191 



Should Mr. Millington prosecute his scheme I shall be glad 

 to co-operate with him.— T. I. Inhan, Tlachney. 



A RABBIT FANCIER'S TROUBLES. 

 I ENTERED fonr Lop-eared Eabbits and an Angora at the last Ports- 

 moath Show. I was up betimes on Monday morning seeing my pets 

 made comfortable, and got them off as soon as possible to the railway 

 station, paid 155., and sent them off per passenger train. Judge of 

 my feelings, on receiving a catalogue, at finding that my Kabbits were 

 never mentioned, and that my friend in the fancy at Doncaster had 

 taken the cups. Next morning a poKte note from the Secretary very 

 solemnly told me tbat my Kabtjits were " too late, or else thoy would 

 have done something." "What important words these, and how sooth- 

 ing ! but the greatest surprise of all was the addition that ho received 

 them on Tuesday evening. I may add that I received them back about 

 six o'clock on Saturday evening, very nearly lost with cold and hunger. 

 "Where has the Society for the Prevention of "Cruelty to Animals its head 

 ■quarters, as this seems a case for it? IMow, a good deal of this trouble 

 would be avoided by such a club as Mr. Millington mentioned in a 

 recent number. Are Kabbit fanciers to pack and send Rabbits off on 

 Sunday ? this will not do, at any rate not for me— I love that day too 

 well. Thus have I spent 30s. in railway fare, and Vis. Qd. entrance, 

 all to no purpose, and simply because the Portsmouth Show opened on 

 Tuesday instead of on "Wednesday, as would have been pointed out by 

 the United Kingdom Eabbit Club ; and the other point this Club would 

 rectify would be to enter the all-meaning words "too late" opposite 

 those names which required it, and not lead the public to believe tbat 

 our Doncaster friend with his two Kabbits had beat all comers, and 

 especially my Rabbits, which beat his at Leeds.— G. H. Hirst. 



VENTILATION OF HIVES DURING WINTER. 



The '* LANARKSHir.E Bee-keeper " states that he has found 

 the plan of lowering the temperature of his hives by means of 

 ventilation, prove very successful in preserving the lives of 

 his bees during the prevalence of snow in spring. May I ash 

 him to favour the readers of " our Journal " with a particular 

 description of the process whereby this' desirable result has 

 been accomplished ? What kind of ventilator does he employ ? 

 and when is the best time to apply it ? Ventilation has been 

 greatly recommended by some high authorities, but a would-be 

 instructor in a book recently published, if I remember rightly, 

 pronounces the whole thing " a mistake." That it can only be 

 so when ill-timed, or the process is faulty, is the opinion of 

 most apiarians who have given it a fair trial. Messrs. Payne 

 and Taylor paid great attention to the subject, and both concur 

 in testifying that it is a valuable expedient for carrying off 

 -vapours in wooden boxes, which are liable, by becoming con- 

 densed, to render the combs mouldy and offensive. I have 

 had too little experience of the use of ventilators to warrant 

 my saying much respecting their merits, but I saw an attempt 

 made a few years ago to give practical expression to the idea 

 thrown out by the " Lanakeshiee Bee-keepee." 



In February, when the snow was on the ground, the bees of 

 a common straw hive suddenly rushed out in great numbers to 

 the open air. The loss of life, through their falling into the 

 snow, was fearful, and to prevent further destruction of his 

 property, the proprietor had recourse to the following plan. 

 Procuring a thick piece of wood he cut a row of doorways in it, 

 of a size just sufficient to prevent the egress of bees, and then 

 fitted it into the entrance. The plug at the top of the hive, 

 which might be 1 inch in diameter, was nest withdrawn, and a 

 milk pan was inverted over the hole, both skep and pan being 

 covered with a thick coat of straw. This device was very suc- 

 cessful in keeping the bees at home, but the cure was as bad 

 as the disease, for the hive was ventilated to death. In the 

 midst of plenty every bee perished ; the community were un- 

 able to hear up against the increased cold caused by a draught 

 of air, which could only have been slight,' passing up through 

 the hive ; and when the plug a few days afterwards was with- 

 drawn, the bee-master had the mortification of seeing nothing 

 but lifeless clusters on the floorboard and between the divisions 

 of the comb?. Is it, then, safe or expedient to have recourse 

 to ventilation at a time when, after a lengthened confinement, 

 "the loaded bees take steps for obtaining relief ? — R. S. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Booxs (W. S,).— There is no book on Cochin-Chinas only. " The Poultry- 

 Book for the IMfiny " contains relative directions for refiring tbem, notes 

 on form, &c. It can be had from our office by post, if you enclose seven 

 postage stamps with your address. (J. Hunt) — " Hous'e Dogs and Sport- 

 ing Dogs." Van Voorst, London. Only one edition. It is a small 

 volume. 



Creve-C(eurs (H'e7t.w(/'c), — The white deaf-ear is not an important 

 point in any way with a Creve-Ccenr cock. It is, as in the case of a 

 Dorking cock, immaterial. Many Creve-Cceurs have them remarkably 

 developed at this time and during the spring. It is not desirable, and if 

 we had to choose between two birds equal in every point save the differ- 

 ence of the ear-lobe, we should take the bird without one. We never- 

 theless repeat, it is not a disquaUficatlon. You may safely set the eggs. 



HoTJDANS {A, C), — The chickens hatched will take after both cocks; 

 some will have the small size, others the faulty plumage, both modified 

 by the qualify of the hens. What do you mean" by faulty plumage? Do 

 you mean colom-ed feathers ? Straw-coloured are a simple disadvantage ; 

 few cocks are without them. Red feathers disqualify. The birds bred 

 from a Light Brahma hen running with a Dark cock will be of mixed 

 plumage, probably white breasts, gi-eat predominance of white in the 

 hackle, and black and white backs and saddles. They lose no valuable 

 properties, but being cross-bred they are fit only for layers and ordinary 

 farmyard fowls. We do not thiok they need be separated for more than 

 a fortnight, or at most three weeks, for the purpose of changing the cock, 

 before the eggs may bo set as the oroduce of the new bird. What do you 

 mean by the sandy tinge ? A Dark Brahma cock has only a *' suspicion " 

 of deep brown on tho wing, and he is better without that. The Silver- 

 Grey Dorkings are not better in Scotland than in England, but the 

 majority of Scotch amateurs will not look on any feather as pure. We 

 do not advise you to apply to any agent to buy or claim birds at a show. 

 If you can go yourself, do so. If not, try to find a competent friend. If 

 still unable, wi'ite to the Secretary of the Birmingham Show to claim for 

 you prize birds of the breeds you require, if they are to be had at a 

 price you must name. We name Birmingham because all the classes 

 there are good. In smaller shows, although they may be good as a whole, 

 yet some classes are mostly weak, and they might be those in which yon 

 were most interested. 



Fowxs IN E0031S— Road Grit (Nottingham). — We much fear you will 

 do little good keeping fowls in rooms. The flooring will not suit. You 

 can obviate that by covering it some inches— 3 or 4 — with road grit. The 

 latter is made up of the scrapings of a road and the trimmings of the 

 side paths when the gutters are cleaned and tho road made straight. 

 This has the property of being always dry, and there are also among it 

 many roots of grass, of whicli the fowls are fond. You will have to 

 supply the fowls with sods of growing herbage daily, and with bricklayers' 

 rubbish. They would want no roosting place, as they are under cover, 

 and ivill choose for themselves a sheltered sleeping place. If you will 

 take this trouble you may keep them and set eggs. Yoa could not rear 

 chickens in such a p'ace. You could keep Brahmas, Cochins, Spanish, 

 or Creve-Cceurs. 



Hen's Legs Become Coarse (A. W. J".).— Your hen has the recently 

 imported malady which has been called the "poultry elephantiasis." It 

 is a tiresome disorder, and can only be tz'eated by frequent lubrications 

 with compound sulphur ointment. 



Draee Chasing Hens (0. A. G.I.— We do not see why you should re- 

 move the drake from the Ducks. The eggs will probably be good through- 

 out the laying, but there is nothing to gain by removing the drake, 



Dorking Chickens Dying {O. C). — If the chickens die of weakness 

 there is something wrong in the feeding. When hatched early — in Feb- 

 ruary or before— they should have strong beer to drink instead of water, 

 I'oung chickens should have chopped egg, bread soaked in beer, bread 

 and milk, coarse coolied meat chopped fine, c^^rd, and dough inade of 

 ground oats if to be had ; if not, of oatmeal. It is possible your chickens 

 die from being infested with vermin. In this case your remedy will be 

 to put heaps of dust and road sand close to the rip in which the hen is 

 confined. Water stron_gly camphorated is an excellent thing for all 

 poultry, and where that is used there is seldom any serious disease. Of 

 course you keep the hens shut up in their rips till the chickens are six 

 weeks old j if you do not, then do so, and feed as we have described. 

 You ought then to rear neatly all your chickens. 



Food for Ducks (J. C. TF.).— We know no better food. You need not 

 be uneasy at having no eggs; in9ny people have none, especially where 

 the Ducks are two or three years old. There is not a week lost, and you 

 need not be uneasy though you have none for the nest three weeks. 



Roup {Hcnricus). — Roup is not so contagious as it used tn be years ago. 

 It is, nevertheless, a great plague and nuisance in a yard. Your remedies 

 have not failed, as probably without them the birds would have died. 

 Give them strongly camphorated water to drink. The ofi'er of nine Silver- 

 spangled Hamhurghs for 50s. was tempting, as good birds are worth more. 

 It does not, however, palliate the ofl'ence of sending diseased birds. 

 These cheap lots generally have some fault, defect, or disease that makes 

 their owners anxious to be rid of them. 



Tumour in Pullet (E. E. F.). — It may be the hen has a tumour, and 

 if so it will be well to kill her at once. Such are common among old 

 birds. But the same appearance would proceed from an egg-bound hen 

 or pullet, and it frequently does so at this time of year. The cure is to 

 pass a wing feather saturated with oil down the egg-passage till it reaches 

 the egg, which will be laid at once after this assistance. Your fowls are 

 well managed, and therefore profitable. Your Ducks and hens give an 

 average of ninety-four eggs from each bird. We can only guess the value 

 of your stock because we have not seen it, but we shoul* not think 5s. 

 each more than their value. It is probably less than many of them are 



Worthi 



Fattening Dorkings fi)f. TF.)— Your poultry-woman does not under- 

 stand, her business. Fowls will keep in good fleehv condition if well fed 

 while running about, but they will not fatten. They should be put in 

 close confinement in a warm, semi-dark, and quiet place, such as is 

 afi'orded bythe outhouses of gentlemen's premises. They m^y be peckers, 

 and fed on a board three times u-day, or put in a coop and crammed. In 

 both cases they must have no liberty, and must be fed at daybreak. We 

 advise you to buy Baily's book on fowls, which gives full instructions, 

 and devotes a long chapter to the subject. The food should be oatmeal 

 and milk; there should be no mixture of pollard with it. Hen Turkeys 

 may be kept till they are four years old, but cf\reful breeders generally 

 change the cock every other year. The Cambridge and Norfolk are both 

 very good ; the former are rather the larger. The same remark applies 

 to Geese. They may be kept five or six years, but the gander should be 

 changed. Seven Geese are too many for a gander, four aro sufficient. 



Hen Nesting but not Laying (C. J.).— Your hen, if not diseased, 

 either does or will lay. Very many have not yet begun, and many aro 



