April 6, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF EORTIOULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



265 



100 Duoka' eggs weighed 11.8 lbs., and the sheila, 1.54 lbs. The 

 solid substance of the former was 26 01 per cent., and of the 

 latter 28.98. The fat amounted to 11.27 per cent in the fowls', 

 and to 14.49 in the Ducks' eggs. The Ducks thus appear to be 

 the winners in the competition. — {Food Journal.) 



STEOUD CANARY SHOW. 



I WISH to draw the attention of Canary-fanciers to tho fact that 

 there will be a show at Strond at the end of May. I havo had a 

 schednle forwarded to me, and I find that the committee havo arranged 

 a most liberal prize-list, by far the best I have seen at any show in its 

 infancy .^ There is also a cup, value £3 3s., for the exhibitor who gains 

 most points, and very high commendations are not to count. Nothing 

 will have such a damaging effect to shows in general than this intensely 

 stupid plan of giving points to very highly commendeds, and I most 

 earnestly hope that exhibitors will set their faces against it, and 

 decline altogether to havo anything to do with shows where this plan is 

 adopted ; I for one certainly shall. And again, I think it would bo a good 

 plan if, when entering for a cup, exhibitors were made to sign something 

 to this effect. "I solemnly declare that the birds entered by me to 



compete for the cup No. are solely my property, and that I have 



not borrowed a bird from anybody." It is easy enough to win if you 

 have tho pick of half a dozen studs, but borrowing is surely not fair, 

 and ought to be put a stop to, both in Canaries and poultry. 



I hope exhibitors will enter largely at Stroud, for if the Show succeed 

 this time, I have good authority when I say that " it will become a 

 permanent association, and the exhibition next year and in future will 

 be on a much more extended scale." — Howaeth Ashtox, Prcsfwich. 



NOTES FROM MY CANARY ROOM.— No. 4. 



How are the birds getting on by this time? In all proba- 

 bility they have had a few quarrels on the amantiam iree prin- 

 ciple, and are now good friends. Here the weather has been 

 very cold indeed, which has its effects in retarding their matri- 

 monial and house-keeping duties ; but in more favoured situa- 

 tions, and specially in rooms where there is a fire, matters 

 ought to have progressed more rapidly. Some, I daresay, are 

 thinking about building, carrying stuff about, putting it in the 

 nest box very carefully, and taking it out again as carefully. 

 Have a little patience and you will find things will go on very 

 pleasantly in the course of a day or two. Others will have 

 settled down to the duties of their position in an old-fashioned 

 •way it is good to see, portending a due attention to parental 

 requirements : will be sitting on the edge of the neat talking 

 matters over and making love in whispers, while the young 

 wife shows her spouse how prettily she has lined her berceau- 

 ■nette. _ When the hen lays her first egg remove it, and put it 

 away in a spare nest or any convenient receptacle having a soft 

 lining. Continue to do this tiU she has laid her third, and on 

 the evening of that day or on the morning of the fourth give 

 her the eggs, when she will at once begin to sit, unless, as is 

 sometimes the C!ise, she be going to lay above the average 

 number, in which case she will moat likely not commence 

 sitting in earnest till she has laid more than four. 



All hens do not commence to sit when the first egg is laid, but 

 some do ; many do, and if such be the case, all the young ones 

 will not chip at the same time. It is to remedy this that I 

 recommend the eggs to be removed till the hen has laid what 

 may be considered an average nest. The young ones will make 

 their appearance on the morning of the thirteenth day, follow- 

 ing that on which the hen began to sit, and it is desirable to 

 have all of the same age in the same nest. A day makes a 

 world of difference in the size, strength, and take-care-of-your- 

 self character of a young Canary. 



But lam counting chickens too soon. The hens must lay 

 the eggs first, and in performing this duty they sometimes give 

 aanse for uneasiness. A little observation and experience will 

 soon indicate when a hen may be expected to lay, the lower 

 part of the body being much distended. It may possibly be 

 announced by the hen's being seen in the middle of the day 

 apparently in robust health, bustling about in a matronly 

 fashion, and being found an hour or two later at the bottom of 

 the cage with closed eyes and outstretched wings, the verypicture 

 of misery, and apparently hastening rapidly to her end. This 

 need not cause any alarm. It is all as it should be, and as Mrs. 

 Gamp would say, " Betsy 'Arria, she'll 'ave to be worse afore 

 she's better." Do not molesther in any way. She willmanage 

 to find her way into the nest, and next morning tho egg will be 

 there. 



But, if such should not be the case, and the hen be " egg- 

 bound," unable to lay, take her gently bat firmly in the left 

 band, with the tail projecting between the thumb and first 



finger, and expose the vent freely to the steam of boiling water, 

 by holding it over the neck of a jug about three parts full, which 

 will generate vapour hot enough to make even the exposed part 

 of the hand uncomfortable — a very good gauge. Give her two 

 or three minutes of this vapour bath, and then let fall one or 

 two drops of sweet oil on the vent, which by a spasmodic action 

 will absorb it. Place the hen gently in her nest, and in nearly 

 every instance she will lay almost immediately. 



Continue to supply freah water daily, and if the hen feel dis- 

 posed to have a bath, let her indulge. It will do good rather 

 than harm. She will not often leave her nest to feed, and a 

 little egg given now and then will be carried to her by the cock. 



When the hen has begun to sit, or sooner if need be, the coek 

 may be passed through to the second hen it second hen there 

 be. The loss of her mate may make her just a little restless at 

 first, but her love for her eggs, and the instinct which leads her 

 to sit on them will' soon overcome this. — W. A. Blakston. 



VENTILATION OP HIVES. 



The prosperity of bees is dependant to some extent upon the 

 material of which their hives are formed, but whether straw is 

 greatly preferable to wood may admit of debate. Many give 

 their verdict in favour of straw, because it possesses the excel- 

 lent property of being a good non-conductor of heat or cold ; but 

 in the hot summer of last year the combs of several straw hives 

 melted and fell down, whilst those of wooden boxes in the same 

 situation sustained no injury. It is also alleged that hives of 

 wood are much more liable to be afflicted with internal moisture 

 than hives which are made of straw. De Gelieu, however, who 

 had long experience in the use of both tells us, in effect, that 

 he never could perceive any difference between them ; and Mr. 

 Lowe, who is a high authority, mentioned to me some time ago, 

 that in his boxes, which are well protected by sheds, internal 

 moisture is a thing unknown. Now this immunity which his 

 bees enjoy from an evil with which our apiaries are occasionally 

 visited is not due to ventilation or any of those appliances which 

 have been recommended for carrying off vapours, and I am 

 inclined to think that when these vapours are condensed, it is 

 oftener to be ascribed to some peculiar state of the bees under 

 unfavourable conditions of atmosphere than to the wood of 

 which hives are made. 



The mode of ventilation employed by " J. E. B." is a very 

 good one, and I quite approve of the period when he begins to 

 put it in practice ; but the question I wished the " L.anakk- 

 SHiKE Bee-keepee" to auswer referred to the propriety Or uou- 

 propriety of having recourse to ventilation after tho fall of snow, 

 in order to prevent the exodua of bees. If the ventilating pro- 

 ceaa ia applied in November, will its virtue extend to early 

 spring and operate in counteracting the evil inflaences of warm 

 rays and reflected light which so often allure bees to destruc- 

 tion ? For several winters my unventilated boxes, whether 

 wholly or partially protected, have been exempt from dampness, 

 and I have had no reason for complaint since the winter of 

 1864-5, when its presence was manifested in every kind of hive. 



The superiority of straw over wood is certainly not very great, 

 and as there are many who would like to have boxes, but are 

 deterred from getting them on account of the expense, they will 

 perhaps be pleased to learn that this need be no longer an 

 obstacle in their way ; for bees will thrive well in any kind of 

 wooden boxes, and it is not at all essential to their well-being 

 that the boards of which the boxes are made should be an inch 

 or an inch and a half in thickness, aa is generally recommended. 

 It is now seven years since I first made use of half-inch wood, 

 and in domiciles made of this thin jnateiial, I have found that 

 swarms wintered nearly, if not quite as well as in those which 

 were made 1 inch thick, and of the beet American yellow pine. 

 Packing cases — such as those in which litohis are sent from 

 China to this country make excellent hives. I have no doubt 

 that plenty of them can be had in London for &d. or l.s. each, 

 and any person who can use a saw and hammer may with very 

 little trouble reduce them to the dimensions required. I speak 

 advisedly, having fully tested them. 



But whilst affirming that boxes of the description referred to 

 will be found to answer the purposes of the apiarian very well, 

 it must not be supposed that I regard them as in any degree 

 superior to the more substantial and costly. The results, how- 

 ever, which they give are very different from what their appear- 

 ance would at first sight lead us to expect. 



As showing how capable bees are of passing successfully 

 through a severe winter in thin wooden hives, I may relate an 

 experiment which I made in October last. Having a £ mill bos 



