362 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ May 18, 1871. 



so. Laying double eggs is injarious to a bird, and reveals a state of in- 

 ternal disease, which, if the bird be a valuable one, should be remedied 

 Castor oil should be given freely, a table-spoonful every other evening. 

 It would be well to follow this with Baily'a pills. 



Bbahma Hen not Laying ISulscriber). — Your hen is, beyond a doubt, 

 out of order — very like'y too fat. We think she is (o fat internally that 

 the functions of the body are interrupted, and the passage almost stopped. 

 This would account for the inflated crop. The treatment will be the same 

 as that of the former case, but it will have to be continued longer. 8he 

 will not be well till she is cleared of her fat. Feed on ground oats or 

 barleymeal in the morning, some scraps midday, and meal in the even- 

 ing. Feed scantily, and avoid all made foods of every kind. 



Ascertaining the Fertilitv of an Egg i Serafina).— It can be seen 

 at the end of four days whether an egg is fertile. It is only necessary to 

 look through the egg from a dark place into a strong light. The contri- 

 vance of our fanciers aud breeders of former years, was to take the sun as 

 nearly as possible at meridian, to shut themselves in a dark stable or out- 

 house, and close the door with the exception of a crack. The two hands 

 were then put together telescope fashion, with the egg at the extremity 

 brought to the crack in a line with the sun. The eye was then applied to 

 the other end of the improvised telescope, and sought the sun through 

 the egg. If it be fertile, and life has begun, there is a dark streak visible 

 in the yolk. If at the end of four days everything remains insta'u quo 

 there is no hope of a chicken. If a chicken hsis been formed, aud is dead 

 in the egg, there is fault with the hen or her masters. 



Hens in Two Hundred Square Yards (Alpha).— Yoxi cannot do better 

 than have Brahmas If you have non-sitters, you must give up all idea 

 " of a fowl now and then for the table." Thev will not eat lawn cuttincs. 

 If they get too fat feed them leas, and if they have no grass, let them 

 have as often as may be convenient some large sods of growing grass cut 

 with plenty of m-^uld. If you make up your mmd for non-sitters, try 

 Spanish, or Cre^e Cceurs, the latter we think the hardier. 



A FOCR-CLAWED AND A FiVE-CLAWED CHICKEN IN OnE EgG (F. P.)- 



— That which you relate was denied for many years, but has now oc- 

 curred so often it ranks among admi ted fact'J. Although it is unthankful 

 evidence, we should look askew at the parent of a four-clawed Houian 

 Sports and freaks will occur, as, for instance, a Dorking may come four 

 claws, or a HamV urgh with five, but there is always the suspicion of a 

 " bad cross," and that the fault is inherited from it. 



Rearing Young Partridges (Subscriber).— There is no difliculty in 

 rearing Partridges They are batched to take self-care. Let the hen be 

 in her rip in a dry field, a grass field is best. Mow a place in front of the 

 rip 2 yards square. Keep them well supplied with fresh water, and feed 

 them with bread and milk, chopped egg, curd, and bruised wheat. You 

 may at times give some dough mixed dry enough to crumble when thrown 

 down. 



Egg-eating Hens (De/iimir). —It is an unnatural propensity, and has 

 arisen from neglect and from the want of proper feeding and attention. 

 All the liens do not indulge such a depraved appetite, and halt the eggs 

 are gone. Kill the peccant fowls, and place all the remaining eggs nnder 

 tlie virtuous ones. When convenient, send them all to the cook. If you 

 are in diflaculty about this, shut them in very low baskets where they 

 cannot move, keep them there till they hatch, taking them out once 

 every day to feed. 



Various (W. B. 7.).— It is not necessary nor desirable for Black Red 

 Game Bantams to have partridge markings on the wings ; the hen will be 

 better without them. It is not necessary that an Antwerp Pigeon should 

 have a black beak. 



Sei of Eggs {Idem).~The question oF the sex of eggs goes back to 

 Columella. The moderns have tried to discover the "real thing." The 

 result has been that it is heresy to deny that pointed eggs contain cocks 

 and round ones pullets. Just as the possessor of the philosopher's stone 

 was always the poorest man in company, so the last man who understood 

 the sexes of eggs in our presence picked twelve pullets, and out of them 

 (Houdin outdone) produced twelve cocks. 



Sick Pigeon, Ac. (Wfst Fi«tc) —Has not yonr Dragoon the roup ? Has 

 lie no dischnrge from his nostrils and mouth? Warmth and hempse^d 

 are best. We know of nothing that will make your hen keep longer to 

 her chickens ; it is unfortunate, as the chickens are sure to be the worse 

 80 early in the year. If the hen absolutely leaves them put them at nittbt 

 in a warm coop on straw, and cover over the front with mat or carpet. 

 You can breed one year from the same strain without iojury. 



Poison instantly Killing Mice (An Original Subseriber).—"lf you 

 had read my article more carefully you would have noticed that the mice 

 so instantaneously killed were not in my Canary's cage, but in the cage of 

 ' a lady.' I have, through a friend, put myself in communication with the 

 lady, who says the poison used is ctlled ' vermin-killer,' and sold in thi^ 

 neighbourhood, but I do not know it. The points of the story which 

 struck me were the adroitaeis with whicli mice will get into a cage, and 

 the care to be used to avoid their inroads. — Wiltshire Rector." 



CiNARiBB (W., St. Leonardt-on-Std). — Brent's "Canary and thfl British 

 Finches" contains all that you inquire about. You can have it free 

 by post from our oCBc? if you encloae Is. Id. in postage stamps with 

 your addreai. 



A Strong Stock: not Working (E. Millg).~YonT hive a^ems to have 

 lost ita queen. If you can procure a small piece of comb with eggs or 

 brood of a suitable age, ineert it among the brood combs of your hive, 

 and your bees will moit probably raise a queen. If you could obtain a 

 fertile queen, and could introduce her fucceasfully, of course you would 

 gain a considerable amount of time, but the first plan is the moat simple. 

 Wecoald not reply to your query In time for last week's issue as you 

 requested. 



HrvE NOT Working (E. H. R ).— Your hive has most probably lost its 

 queen. If it is populous give it a small piece of brood comb containing 

 worker eggs or very young larvre, and the bees will most probably raise a 

 queen. If a moveable bar hive the process is very easy ; but if not, you 

 must turn the hive up, and in the best way you can cut out a piece of one 

 of the central combs and insert the piece of brood comb. 



Rubbish Cast out of a Hive (A Novice).— The specimen of the rub- 

 bish seat seems to consist of the debris of granulated honey, scales of 

 wax as dropped from the bodies of the workers, and the excrement of the 

 larvse of the wax moth. There was also one of these grubs in a very 



thriving condition. The fact of the bees being busily engaged in dragging 

 out this refuse from tlie hive induces us to advise you leaving them alone 

 at present If the state of things should, however, not improve in the 

 course of two or three weeks perhaps you will communicate with us again. 



Artificial Swarming (Idrone). — It may be laid down as an unalterable 

 rule that the hive which contains the old queen should always occupy 

 the original stand. This applies, whether you remove a single comb 

 with the queen on it and place it in a new box, or whether you make 

 an artificial swarm by taking out suitable brood combs with a Bufficient 

 number of bees in order to raise queens. 



Bees Deserting Hive (B ). — From some cause or other your swarm 

 had lost its queen, which will account for their desertion. Those bees 

 you saw when you lifted off the cover were probably stragglers from the 

 swarm or from other stocks. We cannot understand why yon removed 

 the central frames to give room for the bees to cluster; at any rate it 

 was a great mistake. Your hive did not require any dressing to induce- 

 the bees to remain. 



Bee-keeping— Bee Species (E. S. P., jun., Penzance).— The l&T^ehea 

 sent is the female of Anthrophora acenorum, the other is the worker of 

 the common hive bee. Apis mellifica. Without knowing your capabilities- 

 as a bee-keeper we cannot advise you as to the sort of hive best for your 

 purpose. It is not advisable to allow swarms of the current year to throw 

 off swarms, but rather to check the propensity if it should manifest itself. 

 Bees can be kept away from any garden. A room or loft may do very 

 well, but there is often more uncertainty as regards the securing of 

 swarms. We would not advise your keeping them in a loft over a stablfc 

 occupied by horses. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 



Camden Square, London. 



Lat. 51° 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0^ 8' 0" W. ; Altitude 111 feet. 



DiTE. 



9 A.M. 



Is THI DiT. 





1871. 



-.Is. 



Hygrome- 

 ter. 



Direc- 

 tion of 

 Wind. 



Temp 

 of Soil 

 at 1 ft. 



Shade Tem- 

 perature. 



Radiation 

 Tempera- 

 ture. 





May. 



Dry. Wet. 



Max. 



Mm. 



In 1 On 

 son. ' grass 





We. 10 

 Th. 11 

 Fri. 12 

 Sat. IS 

 San. 14 

 Mo. 15 

 Tq. 16 



Inches 

 30.-217 

 311.155 

 30.0M 

 30.014 

 29.870 



29.860 



i'g. 

 47.5 

 45.3 

 43.7 

 46.2 

 49.4 

 51.0 

 56. 



de<r. 

 44.3 

 41.9 

 45.5 

 42 3 

 44.0 

 44.7 

 49.4 



S.E. 

 N.E. 



E. 

 N.E. 



N. 

 S.B. 

 N.W. 



liesr. 

 51.3 

 50.3 

 49.9 

 51.2 

 60.3 

 50.3 

 51.S 



deg. 

 54.6 

 56 3 

 G3.5 

 52.2 

 59.S 

 Gl.O 

 63.9 



deg. 

 SS.I 

 41.4 

 35.0 

 42.3 

 40.2 

 SS.3 

 37.2 



deg. 



85.7 



90 

 111.6 



70.2 

 108.9 

 11>.2 

 109.6 



deg. 

 86.4 

 40.9 

 S3.2 

 42.8 

 40.5 

 39.1 

 35.2 



In. 



Means 



30.008 



49.3 



44.6 





50.7 



53 8 



89.0 



93.S 



38.2 



— 



REMARKS. 

 10th.— Cold and dull all day but no rain, gleam of sunshine at 4.30 p ai. 

 11th. — Cold, dry, and fine. 

 12th.— Cold, dull, and cloudy in morning, fine afternoon, and cloudy at 



night. 

 13th. — Dull and cold morning, fine afternoon. 

 14th. — Sunshine and very bright at intervals, fine day. 

 15th.— Bright morning, hot sun, and fine day. 

 16th. — Warmer, fine day, but few drops of rain about 4p.ir. 



The week has been rainless except a few drops on Tuesday, colder thao 

 last week, and rather below the average of the time of year. — G. J. Symons. 



COVENT GARDEN MAREET.— Mat 17. 

 An active market for rough goods has somewhat raised the prices, anj 

 large quantities are still going north to the local markets, such as Cab- 

 bagps, Carrots, Turnips, and other spring vegetables. Importations have- 

 been moderate, the bulk meeting with a ready sale. Among other things 

 this day we hive received Strawberries and Cheiries from France and 

 Spain, but they are scarce worth quoting in the list yet. New Potatoes 

 have fallen very much in price, now selling in the retail shops at 2d. and 

 id. per lb. 



FRUIT. 



B. d. s. d 



Apples J sieve 1 



Apriceta doz. 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bushel 



Carrftnts J sieve 



Black do. 



Figi doz. 8 15 



Filberts lb. 2 



Cobs lb. 2 2 



Gooseberries quart 8 1 



Grapes, Hothouse.... lb. 6 12 



Lemons %*100 6 10 



Melone each 6 12 



Malberriea lb. 



Nectarines dos. 12 



Oranees ¥-100 6 



Peaches doz. 12 



Pears, kitchen doz. 



dessert doz. 



Pine Apples lb. fl 



PInms i sieve 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries oz. 



Walnuts bushel 10 



ditto VlOO 1 



H. a. 



too 

 24 

 10 

 S4 

 

 

 10 

 

 

 

 1 



16 a 

 a 



VEGETABLES. 



, d. S. 



OtO 6 

 



Artichokes doz. 



AsparajTUB 39- 100 



Beans, Kidney ^100 2 3 



Broad bushel 



Beet. Red doz. 2 8 



Broccoli bundle 9 1 



Brussels Sprouts. . i sieve 



Cabbage doz. 10 2 



Capsicums ^100 



Carrots bnnch 8 1 



CauUflower doz. 3 8 



Celery bundle 16 2 



Coieworts.. doz. bunches 8 8 



Cucumbers each 6 1 



pickling doz. 



Endive doz. 2 



Fennel bxmoh 3 



Garlic lb. 8 



Herbs bunch 8 6 



Horseradish .... handle 8 G 



Leeks bunch 



LettucB doz. 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustard & Cress . . punnet 

 Onions bushel 



pickliog 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 



Tomatoes doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Marrows.. doz. 



d. B. 



4 too 

 2 



I 



