March 16, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



205 



side slioots and frait on them, which in the autumn are to be cut to two 

 <5yes, and then you have spurs. The best place for a thermometer in a 

 ]ean-to is the centre, about 2 feet from the filass, the back of the instru- 

 ment to the south ; better if suspended under a Vine. 



Desfontainea spinosa Propagating (E. 5.)-— Take cuttiuRS of the 

 ripened shoots — those of the current year ■when they become tirm, and 

 insert them in two parts of sandy loam and one part of sandy peat, with 

 one part of silver sand, the surface of the pot to be covered with an inch 

 ■deep of silver sand. Set the pots in a cool greenhouse, and cover them 

 with a hand or bell-ijlass. Keep them just moist, and shaded from bright 

 sun. 



White Violets with Green Centres (Idem). — We think there is 

 nothing wrong with the Violets. Tbey will improve with finer weather. 

 It is not unusual for the first bloom to bo like those you sent, and the 

 ■double white is very liable to this defect. The opening badly is due to 

 the same cause ; finer weather is needed. 



Carxations in a Bed (Idem). — Stir the soil around them lightly, and 

 add some fresh, light rich compost. They will no doubt fli»wer finely in 

 the bed this summer if not injured by the frost of the past winter. Make 

 layers when the proper time arrives, and in that way prepare material 

 for a fresh bed. 



Pits for Cucctubees and Melons {A Su6«cri6er).— We would have 

 the pits 6 feet wide inside, and with two hot-water pipes along the front 

 for top heat, and two under the be"! for bottom heat. The pits need not 

 be more than 3 feet deep at back, and 1 foot 6 inches deep in front. The 

 length will of course depend on your requirements. The pits intended 

 for Cucumbers should be separated from that proposed to be used for 

 Melons j indeed for successional crops, lensths of three or more lights will 

 need to have a division of bricks, so that the requirements of the plants 

 an their several stages of growth may be secured. If you do not intend 

 to use hot water for heating, but stable dung, then you will need an ex- 

 cavation 2 feet 6iDches deep, and have the walls of the pit 4^ inches thick, 

 built pigeon-hole fashien, H feet high in front, and 3 feet 6 inches at back, 

 and then to the top solid. The front wall may be 4 feet 6 inches, and the 

 back 6 feet 6 inches high, calculating from the foundation. Along the 

 T)ack and front you will need an openinc of 2 feet for hot dung for linings, 

 ■and that will necessitate an outer wall 9 inches thick; it should be brought 

 up to tte ground level, and should have a course of brick-on-eige laid in 

 cement. We have two-light frames 7 feet 6 inches long, three-light ones 

 11 feet 6 inches long, and they are 6 feet 6 inches wide, 1 foot 3 inches 

 high in the front, and 2 feet 2 inches at the back, all external measure- 

 ments. 



Plants for a Corner Border fH". H.).— The plants you name are not 

 too large for the position. The Ricinus sanguineus and Canna indica 

 coccinea should be sown at once in a hotbed of 70^ to 75^, and the Toung 

 plants should be potted when large enough to handle, be grown in the 

 hotbed until the end of May, and then be hardened off. The Cineraria 

 maritima should also be sown at once in the hotbed, and the growth of 

 the young plants encouraged, pricking them off about an inch apart in 

 pans, and hardening off in May. You could not by sowing in the open 

 ground iu May raise any of them so as to be of use this season ; besides, 

 the two formtr are not hardy. 



Bedding Plants Going-off in a Cold Frame (Somtrscf).— Judging 

 from the plant stalks sent we should say your Geraniums have been 

 ■destroyed by the cold of the past winter. That they have been wintered 

 successfully in a cold frame in mild winters no one can doubt, but it is 

 only with extra means of protection that they can be brought safely 

 through winters like the past. We would, as you propose, make up a 

 slight hotbed, which will start those that have any vitality, and the bed 

 will answer for cuttings and for seeds of annuals, and may, after April, be 

 used for l^lelons. The plant of which you enclosed a leaf and flower is 

 Berberis japonica. 



Plants FEoar New Zealand (W. D.I.— The Sophora tetraptera, we 

 should think, would succeed in i\ sheltered situation in Guernsey. Pit- 

 tosporum crassifolium would succeed in a warm situation, and undoubt- 

 edly against a wall ; indeed we should plant them against a wall in the 

 first instance, and afford a slight protection in winter. You could try 

 others afterwards in the open ground. Coprosma grandiflora also plant 

 against a wall, and to propaaate it take cuttings of the ripened shoots, 

 and insert them in sandy peat and loam, in a cold frame or pit, and cover 

 "them with a hand or bell-glass. 



Tricolor and Bronze Pelargonihus (Inquirer). — No leaves were 

 enclosed in your letter. Six Tricolor Pelarfjoniums at Is. to 2^. 6fZ. each 

 are — Lady CuUum, Mrs. Pollock, Picturata, Italia Unita, Sophia Duma- 

 resque, and Lucy Grieve. Six Bronze : Egyptian Queen, Her Majesty, 

 Beauty of Oulton, Edward George Henderson, Firebrand, and Model. 

 For heating a pit 6 feet long and 6 feet wide, no mode would equal gas if 

 you could command it, or failing that, a small stove, in both caees em- 

 ploying hot-water pipes. You could not well use a flue, as there would be 

 a danger of the wood taking fire. 



Navies op Fruits North-east Lincolnshire). — 1, Reinette du Canada; 

 2, Selwood's Reinette ; 3, Winter Red Calville ; 5, Sturmer Pippin ; 7. Hol- 

 land bury ; 8, Cornish Gilliflower; 9, Beauty of Kent; 10, Bess Pool; 

 2,4, Surrey Flat Cap ; 15. White Nonpareil ; 16, Baddow Pippin ; 17, Worms- 

 ley Pippin ; IS, Striped Holland Pippin. ( W. TT.).— 1, King of the Pippins ; 

 2, Broompark ; 3, Messire Jean. 



Names of Plants (J. H. P.).— We cannot name plants except from 

 fresh flowers, (i. Saimtfers).— Your plant is Oxalis versicolor, a garden 

 favourite of olden times; native of the Cape of Good Hope. (T. A.). — 

 Santolinn pectinata, one of the Lavender-Cottons. {J. C.).~l, Nephro- 

 dinm ^ieboldii ; 2, Asplenium cicutarium ; 3, A. auritum ; 4, Phlebodium 

 aureum : 5, Selaginella Martonsii; 6, S. Braunii, usually called S. pubes- 

 cens ; 7, S. Kraussiana ; S, Pteris tremula ; 9, Lastrea decomposita 

 {A.J.Hogg). — Azalea amoena. (John Coofc).— Clematis cirrhosa ; propa- 

 gate it by layering, or take cuttings of short stiff side shoots. The Mag- 

 nolia would probably be most readily propagated by layers, but cuttings 

 may also be tried. {WilUavi). — 1, Omphalodes verna ; 2, Onychium ja- 

 ponicum ; 3, Adiantum diaphanum. (J. Scott).—!, A.spidium coriaceum ; 

 •2, Pteris arguta. (Amateur). — 1, Thunbergia Harrisil; 2, Dredalacanthus 

 nervosus, (TT. Parfci/it'07i).— Not quite capable of identification without 

 flowers. Its leaves have very much the appearance of ttose of Hoya 

 obtusifolia. 



poultry, bee, and PIGEOIf CHEONICLE. 



THE GxVME FOWLS OF NANTWICH. 

 I THisK from " Speotatok's " remarks in No. 517 of our 

 Journal that he cannot be cognisant of the fact that Nantwich 

 is, and for a number of years has been, the home of the Game 

 fowl, as, long before poultry shows were thought of, higher 

 prices were obtained for Nantwich Game fowls than any other 

 birds have since realised, the time of the Cochin mania ex- 

 cluded. Far more and better Game fowls have been bred in 

 this locality than in any other district in England ; and the 

 annual show attracts more distant Game fanciers from all parts 

 of England in search of fresh and good blood of this breed than 

 even Birmingham. Certainly such would not be the case long 

 if the true and carefully bred Nantwich birds were put into 

 competition with the fashionable droop-tail, half-bred, Malay 

 winner at numerous open shows, where he has almost improved 

 the true Game fowl out of the pens. Whilst Dorking has a 

 show of the most useful fowl to the exclusion of the coarse 

 Shanghae or so-called Brahma, Cochin, &c., I hope " Spec- 

 tatok" will not try to prevent Nantwich from keeping intact 

 the most ornamental and usef al fowl combined which we have. — 



COESISH DCCKWING. 



OUTRAGES ON EXHIBITED BIRDS. 



On the 4th inst. my pen of Light Brabmas and a pair of Nun 

 Pigeons returned from the Colchester Show. I at once examined the 

 hampers to see if any prize or commended cards were sent, but to my 

 great annoyance the first thing that caught my eye was that the hen 

 Nun had the hood entirely cut off, evidently by a pair of scissors, and 

 very neatly too. Upon opening the fowl basket I was further alarmed 

 by seeing blood upon the straw, and I found in the right side of the 

 pullet two wounds 3 inches in length and three-quarters of au inch in 

 depth, evidently done by a vei*y sharp instrument, as the feathers were ■ 

 cut through in a line with the wounds. I am happy to inform the 

 aggressor that I think the pullet will recover. I will promise him he 

 will not have the chance again as long as she remains my property, as 

 I have come to the conclusion never to exhibit again unless I can see 

 clearly how exhibitors' property can be better protected. If these 

 practices are to continue, no doubt a great number of other exhibitors 

 will keep their pets at home instead of placing them at the mercy of 

 evil-disposed persons. — T. A. Dean, jMoreton-on-Luffg, near Hereford. 



[In our advertising columns it will be seen that Mr. Dean offers a 

 reward for the discovery of the perpetrator of this dastardly outrage. 

 —Eds.] 



"What can be done to prevent these diabolical and mean acts ? I 

 am persuaded that the following was wilfully committed. On the 

 return of my pair of Spanish birds from Colchester Show last week, 

 where they had just won the first prize, I discovered, much to my 

 grief and disgust, that the cock had lost one of his sickle feathers. 

 On making a closer inspection I found that there was not another 

 feather injured or missing, but there was the hole clear and distinct 

 from which it had been extracted. One can understand a feather 

 being broken and the stump left in the flesh, or a number being pulled 

 out through the carelessness or the bad handling of those packing the 

 birds ; but when it is only one, and that clean pulled out, it seems 

 more than an accident, and looks like the act of some malicious vaga- 

 bond, who, when caught, should be prosecuted with the utmost rigour. 

 — F. C. Nichols, Camheriocll. 



NORTHAMPTON POULTRY SHOW. 



It would be impossible to speak more highly than deserved of the 

 efforts of the Managing Committee of this Show, and a more fitting 

 building than the Corn Exchange, where it was held, is very rarely 

 met with. A very liberal prize schedule brought thrice the entries of 

 last year, and few of the pens contained birds of inferior f[uality, and 

 there was not a diseased bird to be met with. The company on the 

 opening day, March Sth, was good, and numbers of the neighbouring 

 aristocracy were present. The next day, however, being very un- 

 favourable, limited the attendance chiefly to enthusiastic poultry 

 amateurs, but in the evening the Exchange was well filled. 



The Grey Dorliugs were throughout very good, the hens being of 

 unusual merit, and most of the pairs very well matched, both as to 

 size and colour. Cochins rarely show to the greatest advantage so late 

 in the season, and a few pens were evidently overtaxed by almost con- 

 tinuous exhibition. There were some good Bralimas, the Dark- 

 feathered being the better of the two varieties. Spanish were mostly 

 of excellent quality, but many of the cocks were sadly injured by their 

 proximity to the Game fowls. By a complete oversight the pens, 

 wired both back and front, were placed so as to touch each other, or 

 nearly so, when set back to back, and the consequence was the Game 



