2^2 



JOURNAL OP HORTICtJLTUEE AKD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 23, 1^71. 



by fives of the ripe wooi3, put in fho samo as Tine eyes, and placed in 

 brisk heat. They, also, shoald be allowed to dry before insertion. 



Is ARCHING Tr^'I:3 (Idsm.).-—Th(3 best time to inarch last year's cinss to 

 old Vines, is as soon as the stock or old Tines have shoots a few inches 

 long with leaves to attract the sap. and so prevent bleeding. The scions 

 are also better of some crrowth. No union can take place until there is 

 growth, as it is effected by the descending current or elaborated sap. 



iKDiA^n'.TJBBER Plakt kot Thbiting (E. ,S.).— The plftnt is not thriving 

 from its b:-ing recently repottel and kept in a room. It wo aid do better 

 in a creenhonse, anrJ better stii! in a hoase with a moist atmosphere, and 

 a temperature of 55^ to 60^ ; a vinery at work is what it needs. It would 

 have been better had yon not potted it until it bef?an to grow. Though 

 first-rate for a room, it should be removed to a moderately warm house to 

 make new growths, say from February to July, or Angnst, and may then 

 be employed for room-decoration the remainder of the year, giving no 

 more water than enough to keep the leaves fresh. A compost of two 

 parts fibrous licjht loam, one part leaf soil, or well-rotted manure, with a 

 free admixture of sharp sand will grow it well. 



Insects ON FopxED Straweerrv Piamts (Rev. B. D.K.). —The smaM 

 white flies which infest the leaves of the Strawberry plants in your hot- 

 house are a species of Aleyrodep, closely allied to the Aphides and Cocci 

 (A. vaporariornm Westic). As they undergo their transformations on the 

 under sides of the leaves they are difQcuIt to be reached by any fluid 

 application, and we believe that only repeated smoking will kill them in 

 the winged state. Some years ago they were very troublesome in the 

 houses of the Royal Horticnltural Society at Chiswick, and were found 

 most difficult to destroy. — I. O. W. 



Na:iies op Plants (Otter).—!, Pteris serrulata ; 2, Pell^ea hastata ; 

 3, CbeiiaBthes hirta. (Ella, Bath). — Nephvodiam molle, in a very luxu- 

 riant conTlition. ( ). — Two specimens, 1 and 2, leaves only ; we require 



flowers also. 



POITLTIIY, BEE. AND PIGEON CHEONICLE. 



SILVER- SPANGLED AND BLACK HAMBURGHS. 



I WAS glad to see a lettpr a week or two ago upon Silver- 

 spanglecl Hambarghs, for I feel sure that the only reason wby 

 tl'.ey are not more popular in the eonthern counties is that tbey 

 nre not sufficiently understood. Dr. More, in his letter of 

 February 16 :h, does not leave the matter very clear ; and as 

 all your readers may not have read Mr. Teebay's exhaustive 

 article in the " Poultry Book," to which he refers, and which 

 explains the whole subject moat thoroughly, I will, if you will 

 allow me, add a word or two to what Dr. More has said, setting 

 him right on one or two point?. 



He says, "Mr. Tegetmeier (he should have said Mr. Teehay) 

 is very decided as to the propriety of having pure Mooney 

 Wood on one or the other side if you wish brilliant plumage. 

 Mr. Bsldon also, I know, considers this a sine qua iwn in the 

 selection of stock birds ; in fact he has informed me he prefers 

 the dark-necked cocks in all respects." Now this is only half 

 the truth, for it should he distinctly understood that, to produce 

 the beautifully spangled pullets which we see in the post of 

 honour at our exhibitions, it is absolutely necessary to have 

 pure Mooney blood not only on one but on both sides. Siith 

 the parent birds, cock and hen, must be pure Mooneys. Not 

 all Mooney cocks, however, are hen-feathered ; some, perhaps 

 the greater nnmber, have fall-feathered tails. Nor is it the 

 fact that all the best breeders use only hen-feathered cooks ; 

 but whether hen-feathered or long-tailed, they must be pure 

 Mjoneys. But pure Mooneys of either sex very rarely have 

 pure white earlobes, or the cocks — i.e., the long-tailed cocks, 

 clear tails; and both these are points which the judges con- 

 sider imperative in "exhibiuon cocks." So to obtain them we 

 must look elsewhere, and this is the object of crossing with the 

 Silver Pheasant. Our exhibition cocks, therefore, are bred 

 either from a Mooney cock with a half-bred Silver Pheasant 

 laen (I say halt-bred, for I fancy there are very few pure Silver 

 Pheasants left, most of them havinR been crossed with the 

 Moonevf), or from this same sort of hen and a Silver Pheasant 

 or half-bred — i.e., exhibition cock. Formerly, when light- 

 coloured cocks were the fashion they were usually bred in the 

 latter way ; but since the judges have taken to give the prefer- 

 ence to cocks with heavier spangling I believe the former mode 

 is the more usual, it being diiBcnlt to obtiin a sufficient depth 

 of marking from a Pheasant cock. As to size. Dr. More is 

 again only partly correct, as, though Silver Pheasant cocks as 

 a rule are larger than Mooneys, yet on the other hand with 

 respect to the hens the contrary holds good. 



It will be seen from the above that Silver-spangled Ham- 

 barghs may be bred with success even by those who have not 

 the convenience of two yards — viz., by keeping a Mooney cock 

 and allowing him, say, half a dozen wives, part of them being 

 pure Mooneys, and the others pure or half-bred Silver Phea- 

 sants. At the same time, where it can be managed it ia better 

 to have two yards, and keep the two strains distinct. 



It does seem anomalous that at poultry shows, where the 

 judges are required by the rules to look especially for " purity 

 of blood " in making their awards, the prizes should be given 

 to " half-bred mongrels." Still, as long as the present fashion 

 lasts I do not see how it can be helped ; and there is no deny- 

 ing that the pure white earlobe and clear tail greatly enhance 

 the beauty of the bird. 



With regard to Black Hamburghs, I have noticed wi'.h aston- 

 ishment, iu your answers to some correspondents, your advice, 

 or rather encouragement, to them to breed them from a mix- 

 ture of Spanish and Golden-spangled Hamburghs, or Black 

 Hamburgas and Black Game. Such attempts might beinterest- 

 ing as experiments, but I cannot imagine anyone in his senses 

 setting to work to breed Black Hamburghs up to their present 

 standard in either of these ways. I should not envy him his 

 task. They may be called a " manufactured breed," but I fancy 

 they can boast of a longer pedigree than many of the present 

 fashionables, Brahmas to wit. 



One of the most experienced Hamburgh breeders in the 

 kingdom has told me that he remembers seeing Black Ham- 

 burghs in Lancashire when he was a boy, which must be some- 

 thing like forty years ago ; therefore they are not birds of yes- 

 terday. There is no doubt that many of them were crossed 

 with the Spanish some years ago, but the same authority tells 

 me that the object of doing so was to give them greater size. 

 Their liability to white face is not of itself a proof of Spanish 

 origin, because all varieties of Hamburghs, Pencilled and 

 Spangled, are liable to this same defect, though perhaps not 

 to so great an extent as the Black. I have bred, I dare say, 

 nearly a thousand chickens of this variety, and out of them all 

 I never had but three with single combs. This does not look 

 as if their origin had been very recent. I fancy your corre- 

 spondent who is setting to worS de novo will have to persevere 

 for many seasons before he attains to such uniformity. 



As to hardiness, there is no question about that. They are 

 much hardier than any other variety of Hamburgh. In fact, 

 I believe that they are the most profitable breed anyone can 

 keep ; in point of utility at all events, though not perhaps as 

 regards exhibition, for they do not command the same fabulous 

 prices as Cochins, Game, and Dorkings. Good birds, however, 

 will always realise good prices ; and now that they have sepa- 

 rate classes allotted to them at all the best shows their popu- 

 larity seems to be increasing very fast. — Shf.opshlee Eecioe. 



BLUE DUN GAME FOWLS. 



Is reply to " A Toukg Beginner," I beg to observe that the 

 " Dun Gams fowls " are by no means extinct yet. I have four 

 Dan Game hens in mv own run — two Tassel Dark Blue Duns, 

 and one Brown Bed Blue Dun ; also a Ginger Dan hen. One 

 of the Tassel Dun hens is also from Brown Eed blood. I have 

 no Blue Dun cocks, they being more difficult to breed than the 

 hens are. I have met with both P.ed and Blue Dun Game 

 fowls in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Warwickshire, and 

 Suffolk ; but they are not very common. The Eed Duns in 

 Warwickshire are splendid birds for high courage, and no Game 

 fowl is gamer than a good white-legged, red-eyed, blood red 



Dun cock. — NEWlIiKEET. 



HANDLING FOWLS AT POULTRY SHOWS. 



All fowls at exhibitions should be carefully handled, and the 

 right way to hold them, in my opinion, is to grasp the wing and 

 thigh in one firm, but gentle and strong grasp, the thumb over 

 the wing, and the fingers under the thigh, which is the most 

 secure way c£ holding any fowl. Game or not. Game fowls 

 should be handled when judged, or you cannot tell whether 

 they possess the requisite hardness of flesh. I quite agree with 

 Mr. Hinton, of Warminster, that sticks shoald not be admitted 

 into poultry exhibitions, though required al cattle and pig ex- 

 hibitions. — Teevob. 



OUTRAGES ON PRIZE BIRDS. 



UxTDER this heading yon have lately had several commnnicntiong 

 from correspondents, whose birds have lost sickle feathers in Roinf» to, 

 at, or returning from various poultry shows, and I think in every 

 instance the secretary and committee have been blamed for not look- 

 ing better after the birds, and preventing snch malpractices. Now, I 

 think the blame is placed on the wrong shoulders, end the fault of 

 the birds' sickle feathers being broken rests more with the railway 

 officials. When the birds are packed after a show, and dehvered at 

 the railway station, the baskets arc opened to see that the birds are 



