314 



JOUKNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEK. 



■ [ April 27, 1871. 



assisting in this way for a day or two, secondecl by the coek, 

 who will always watch his opportunity to give them a mouth- 

 ful, the hen seems to overcome her disinclination to feed, and 

 things go on famously; but there is all the difference imagin- 

 able between a nest which is well and regularly fed, and one 

 attended to by fits and starts. Continue this diet till nest 

 week. — W. A. Blakston. 



HERMAPHRODITE BEES. 



I HEEEwiTH enclose another hermaphrodite bee of a different 

 type than the last. I noticed several errors in my last article 

 on these bees. It read as if it was the worker that had the 

 curved Eting, whereas it is the queen that possesses that pro- 

 perty. Also the heat was stated to be 80°, but ought to have 

 been 8', being 24° of frost. — A Lanaekshiee Bee-keepee. 



[We forwarded the specimen to Frederick Smith, Esq., of the 

 British Museum, who has kindly sent us the result of his 

 inspection. 



"With regard to the bee received, I must say that the inter- 

 mixture of sex is not so marked as in the specimen I received 

 a short time ago. The head is that of a male — in fact, it is 

 only the left posterior leg that exhibits the worker form ; both 

 the antenna"' are male. 



" There is a paper by Professor Siebold in Kolliker's ' Zeil- 

 schrift,' 1864, page 73, ' On Hermaphrodite Bees.' It appears 

 that a hive sometimes contains numbers of these monstrosities, 

 and that the degree of mixture of sex is infinite, frequently only 

 presenting itself in a single organ— the mandible, eye, antenna, 

 or a single leg. The remarks are upon hives of the Italian 

 bee. It is stated that ' these hermaphrodite bees are seized by 

 the workers at the moment of their issuing from the cells, and 

 thrown out of the hive.' The queen of the hive that produced 

 these hermaphrodites was pure Italian, and five years old."] 



Ceamp in Pigeons ( IT'. .V.).— Cramp is caused by cold or damp. Give 

 your young bird hempseed in its food, and place it in a warmer sitn- 

 ation. 



Blue Jacobins (B. 31. Smith).— The lastElue Jacobins we saw were, if 

 our memory serves us right, at the last Southampton Show. We have 

 sent your letter to more than one Pigeon fancier but without success. 

 An advertisement would be the only way to bring you what yon want, 

 as if Blue Jacobins are to be had, some one possessing them would either 

 see or hear of the advertisement. 



Pigeons Losing Feathers, &c. (TF. T. S.).— We fear your birds arenot 

 moulting, but have the rot feather, which liberty, the bath, and change 

 of food may help to cure. You.- Barb's disease arises from cold ; put 

 him in a warmer place and give him stimulating food, such as hemp- 

 seed. 



Canary Eggs U.nfehtile (A Novice}.— Th<i onus rests with the mal& 

 bird. Try another. You can easily determin'^ whether it be a Goldfinch 

 :\Iute by its general resemblance to the GoMfinch, principally about the 

 head, which will bear the crimson " flourish " in a greater or less degree. 

 If it be a Mule, it is of no use except as a song bird. 



Inccbators (Z/;?ioramus).— There have been manyinvented, but not one 

 has proved useful. They have been tried by many, and invariably their 

 use abandoned. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Sale of Poultry IDuckli n:i).~T\i(^Te fire none sold in Covent Garden. 

 "Write to some salesman in Leadenball Market. 



Dark Eeahmas (T. Rains). — You had better write to the advertiser; we 

 cannot find space for the corresiiondence. 



Pullet xot Seeing Food (H. r.}.—Yonr pullet is nearly blind. The 

 complaint sbe has is in most cases liereditary. and used to be known in 

 former years as beincr Jerry-eyed, been cse a celebrated cock named Jerry, 

 the I'roperty of Mr. Sturaeon, was afilicted in that way. if yon examine 

 the eye minutely, you will easily see the defect It is a defect, and an 

 obliquity of vision; the bird can see to avoid anything, but cannot see 

 straightly enough to pick up a grain of coiii. 



Guinea Fowls ^tot Exhibited (E iT.).— There is nothing to show in 

 Guinea Fowls. There are no distin^aishing mirks. They are unprofit- 

 able to keep. There can be no judgment; Casar and Pompey are so 

 very much alike. 



Cock with Swollen Foot fPoit^^r;/!.— If he is not very valuable, or if 

 he is not essential to your yard, kill him. He will only lead to disap- 

 pointment. 



Keeping Eggs for Sitting (One Who Reckons Her Chickens). — We 

 never trouble our.=!elves about the position of the eggs. We make it a 

 rule to put them under the hen while they are very fresh, and do not 

 bp-lieve under the circumstancps it matters at all a' out the position in 

 ' which they lie en attendant. Cryve-Cceureggs are not moro unfertile than 

 othprs. The breed difi'ers only from many others by being non-sitters. 

 At the same time we are bound to admit Brabmas and Cochins hatch 

 ■wondcrfullv. Whilcwe are on the siibject.we will add one word— the ex- 

 perience of this season has convinced us that Dorkings are the best 

 mother^ of any of our large breeds. 



Preparing Fowls for Exhieiti«n (Talhj-ho).—A]} that is necessary 

 to prepare fowls for exhibition is to feed them well and keep them clean. 

 In hreedintr Game Bantams the necessity is to. reduce the size, aud the 

 difficulty is to keep all the attributes and points of the large bird, 

 borrowing only diminuMve siz*! from the Bantam. A crooked breast is 

 always a disqualification in a Game fowl. 



Most Profitable Fowls {A Snhscriber, W. E. H. P.).— You must be 

 more explicit before we can answer your question. How do you propose 

 to make your fowls profitable ?— by the sale of them at market for table 

 Xmi-poses, or by the sale of eggs ? If you want a good hardy fowl of all 

 work, kepj) the Brabroa Pootra. If you patronise the " upper ten 

 thousand," try the Dorking, 



Fowls versus Ducks f -).— We do not admire your feeding, you fall 



into a common error. You give a quantity of indifferent food in order to 

 patisfy the hunger of your Ducks, but there is not sufficipnt stay in it. 

 Indian meal is" had feeding, and the thirds do not much improve it. 

 Tbey do not want their food scalded with hot water. If your Ducks are 

 fed 'in confinement, give them oatmeal or whole oats put in a shallow 

 vessel of water. If at liberty, throw them whole oats on the ground close 

 to the water. 



"Royal Dublin Society's Poultry Show— "The name of the ex- 

 hibitor whono birds were disqualifled fortrimminff in the Gamoclasses, is 

 Mr. G. A. Perrio. A large number of the backle feat'iers had been cut 

 nut. In that part of the report which refers to Ponter Pigeons, read 

 7i inches in place of 9.i.— Your Reporter." 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



CA3IDEN Square, London. 



Lat. 51° 32' -iO" N. ; Long. 0° S' 0" W. ; Altitude 111 feet. 



Date. 



9 A.M. 



In the Day. 





1871. 





Hygrome- 

 ter. 



Direc- 

 tion of 

 Wind. 



Temp, 

 of Soil 

 at 1 ft. 



Shade Tem- 

 perature. 



Radiation 

 Tempera- 

 ture. 





April. 



Max. 



Mm. 



to 

 Bun. 



On 



grass 





Dry. , Wet. 





We. 19 

 Th. 20 

 Fri. 21 



Sat. 22 

 Sun.23 

 JIo. 24 

 Tu. 25 



Inches. 

 29.173 

 29.2SS 

 29.551 

 29.801 

 29.615 

 29.949 

 30.071 



dpg. dot! 

 53.9 : 52.8 

 47.6 1 463 

 51.5 ! 47.2 



52.5 1 51 3 



52.6 i 49.0 

 4S.0 46.0 

 50.0 47.2 



S.W. 

 S.W. 

 N.W. 

 N.W. 

 N.W. 



N. 

 S.E. 



deg. 

 49.6 

 49.3 

 4S.S 

 49.1 

 49.5 

 49.4 

 43.9 



deg. 

 59.0 

 52 8 

 57.9 

 61.5 

 61.0 

 54.9 

 57.2 



deR. 

 60 

 41.2 

 458 

 48.5 

 45.9 

 41.2 

 41.9 



■leff. 

 90.0 

 89 

 94.0 

 99.2 

 112.0 

 71.0 

 85.3 



deg. 

 49.4 

 S9.0 

 42.7 

 43.4 

 42.S 

 38.2 

 89.0 



In. 

 0.066 

 0.050 

 0.040 

 0.020 

 0.030 



Means 



29.681 



50.9 



43.5 





49.2 



57.7 



44.9 



91.5 1 42.0 



0.20G 



REMARKS. 



19th. — Rain in the night and till noon, fine afternoon though there were 



slight showers, lightnin? at 4.15 p.m., but fine evening. 

 20th.— Heavy rain from 8 to 9 a.si., occasional showers till 5 p 3i., then 



fine, shower at 10 p.m., but soon over. 

 21st. — Very fine till noon, then cloudy and dull, rain between 5 and Gp.si.^ 



and damp all the evening. 

 22nd. — Rain at S 50 and till 2 p.m., then clearei off, evening rather dull. 

 23rd. — Fine in early morning, rain at 9.50 a.m , the fine rain again at 5.50j 



but fine evening. 

 24th.— Rather dull all day, but without rain. 

 25th.— Dull and heavy, but with occasional sunshine.— G. J. Syiions. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— April 2G. 

 Some improvement has taken place in the demand during the past" 

 week, but not sufficient to cause any advance in prices, business being 

 generally of a steady character. A considerable qaantity of late Apples 

 are still offered, sacb as Golden Knob, Deux An^, and Gooseberry Pix>pin. 

 Dessert varieties, however, are not so plentiful. Pears are nearly over 

 for this season. Markets for old Potatoes are very heavy, and large con- 

 signments of Lisbon and Maltese new ones are to hand, ranging from 

 20s. to 3,5. per cwt. 



FRUIT. 



Apples 1 sieve 



Apricots doz. 



Cherries Jo"('',b. 



s, d. 



6 to 3 







Chestnuts bi /lel 10 



CuiTants i sieve 



Black do. 



Fijzs doz. 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 2 



Googel>eiTie8 quart 1 



Grapes, Hothouse.... lb. 8 



Lemons ¥^100 



Melons each 



10 

 



Mulberries lb. 



Nectarines doz. 



Orancres ^ 100 6 



Peaches doz. 40 



Pears, kitchen doz. 2 



dessert doz. 



Pine Apples lb. 



Plums i sieve 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries oz. 



WalnntR bnsbel 10 



ditto i^-lOO 1 



d. s. 

 too 

 

 n 10 

 60 

 6 

 

 10 

 

 

 

 1 

 16 



n 

 6 



VEGF,TABLES. 



Artichokes doz. 



AaparafTus x*- 100 



Beans, Kidney 1^100 



Broad bushel 



Beet. Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Brussels Sprouts . . i sieve 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums 1^100 



Carrots bunch 



CanUflo wer doz. 



a. 



Oto 



















9 















4 



Celery bundle 1 6 



Colewort9..doz. bunches S 



Cucumbers each fi 



pickling do?.. 



Endive doz, 9 



Fennel bunch 3 



Garlic lb. 8 



Herbs bunch 8 



Horseradish .... bundle 3 



Leeks bunch 



Lettnoo doz. 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustard & Cress.. punnet 

 Onions bushel 



pickling quart 



Parsley sieve 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes .. doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatnes doa. 



Turnips bnncb 



Vegetable Marrows . . doz. 



d. 9. 

 4 too 

 2 

 3 



a 



10 

 

 6 

 I 



10 

 4 



I 



