268 



JOUKNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. [ September 29, 1870. 



a prize to Aylesbury or Rouen Docks with bad bills. The bills should be 

 wetted and then rubbed with pumice 3tone till the outer skin is removed 

 Some rub them with sand. It improves the bills of Ducks if th«y are 

 allowed to run in meadows when the cold dew is on the grass. Dark 

 water makes dark bills, especially peat water. The colour of them is im- 

 proved by having stone grit in the water. 



Fowls foe Family Use (A Monthly Reader). — You may depend upon 

 it that no fowl will do so well in confinement as at liberty, and no fowl 

 suffers so much from being shut up as a Dorking. The fertility of eggs 

 depends much on weather, they fail more frequently in severe, especially 

 Bnowy weather, than any other ; they are also frequently frosted and 

 chilled. You cannot expect to have good sitters when you mix breeds as 

 you do. You have Silver Hamburghs, they are non-sitters. It is very 

 likely among the seven mixed breeds you have others. You are wilfully 

 causing that of which you complain. Situated as you are, we see no 

 necessity for mixed breeds at all. There is no breed that will produce 

 eggs and chickens without proper feeding and painstaking. Where this 

 is carried out any breed will do well. It would be far more satisfactory 

 to us to keep only one breed. You have probably been led away like 

 many others. When complaining you had no eggs, you were told it was 

 because you had no Hamburghs, you bought some; still wanting eggs 

 you were told of another breed, and you still want eggs. There is, how- | 

 ever, a light breaking-in upon you. You say you will have earlier eggs i 

 because you have earlier pullets. You are right, and we tell you the 

 sooner they begin to lay, the earlier they will be broody. Feed your fowls 

 well gather the eg?s as fast as they are laid, and keep the earliest pullets 

 every year for stock. We advise you to keep to one breed. Dorkings are 

 best, Brahma Pootras the least trouble. We conclude as we began, never 

 shut up a fowl if you can allow it to be at liberty. 



Owl Pigeons (A. Jackson).— The classing of Owls does not so much 

 depend on colour as size and appearance. The African Owls are exceed- 

 ingly diminutive, they to English Owls are what Short-faced Tumblers 

 are to their longer-faced brethren. Yellow is a colour sometimes met 

 with in English Owls. Most probably yours are English. The colour of 

 the eye in Owls should be pearl or gravel. 



Diarrhcea in Pouteb3 (H. le S.).— Put a little sulphate of iron in their , 

 drinking water sufficient to give a decidedly inky taste. Feed entirely on j 

 old beans for a time, cram them if necessary. Put down their throats ; 

 each day three bits of old mortar the size of a pea. Cleanse and limewash ! 

 the loft thoroughly, sprinkle the wookwork with chloride of lime, and 

 separate the diseased from the healthy. Pouters are very liable to 

 diarrhoea. 



Separating Pouters (P. <?.).— It is not at all necessary to separate 

 Pouters during the winter. The great Scotch fanciers do not, they merely j 

 turn the penB upside down, or remove all places of lajing. 



Points of Lop-eared Rabbits (A. B.). — Lop-eared Rabbits are gene- 

 rally judged from the seven following points when for all properties. 

 1st, Length of ear from tip to tip ; 2, width of ear ; 3, colour, as blue and j 

 white, black and white ; yellow and white, grey and white, tortoiseshell i 

 or self ; 4, position of ears ; 5, size of eye, and the larger the better ; 6, car- ! 

 riage of the body ; 7, size. It is not often that a Rabbit is perfect in all | 

 these points, yet the nearer it approaches perfection the better, and such | 

 a specimen is of great value. 



Cider Making (C. T.). — The quantity of apples required for making a ' 

 gallon of cider depends upon the soil, season, and the kind of apple ; 

 employed, but we know it has been calculated that one peck of the best 

 cider apples ought to yield a gallon of juice. In the grinding the fruit j 

 should be reduced as nearly as possible to a uniform consistence, in such J 

 a manner that the rinds and kernels may be scarcely discernible from 

 the general mass, the operation proceeding slowly, with a free access of j 

 air. Preparing the ground fruit. — The pommage should be carried to the , 

 press in from about eighteen to twenty-four hours, and a square cake or I 

 cheese made of it by placing very clean sweet straw or reeds between the i 

 alternate layers of pulp, or pommage, or by putting it into haircloths i 

 spread upon the vats, and placing them one upon another ; they are \ 

 turned up on the Bides, and cover over the pulp, so as nearly to meet in | 

 the centres. They should be laid very even, and ten or twelve may be 

 laid over each other in regular layers, the square frame of the press 

 being raised with them, keeping the pile of a uniform size. Upon the 

 whole a strong hoard is placed, wider than the pile, on which the blocks 

 of the press rest. It is of the utmost importance that the straw or reed, 

 where it is used, should be sweet and perfectly free from fustiness. Par- 

 ticular care ought also to be taken to keep the hair cloths sweet by fre- 

 quently washing and drying. To this cake or cheese, after standing 

 awhile, a slight pressure is at first to be given by lowering the screw of 

 the press, which must he gradually increased as the cakes become drier, 

 until all the must or juice is expressed, which is usually completed by a 

 long lever and windlass, after which the juice must be strained through 

 a coarse hair sieve, and put either into open vats or close casks. Fer- 

 mentation. — Fermentation should not, by too much heat, be carried on 

 too rapidly, nor by extreme cold too slowly. The degree of warmth may 

 be understood to be between 40° or 50° of Fahrenheit's thermometer. 

 When the liquor appears tolerably clear, and his a piquant vinous sharp- 

 ness on the tongue, then the least hissing noise heard in the fermenting 

 liquor in this state shows that the place in which it stands is too warm, 

 and that air must be admitted. This is the critical moment for racking 

 the liquor, which is doDe by drawing off the pure part into opes vessels, 

 which must be placed in a more cool situation for a day or two, after 

 which it may be again barrelled and placed in some moderately cool 

 situation for the winter. The casks into which the liquor is put, when- 

 ever racked off, should always be previously thoroughly scalded and dried 

 again, and aach should want several gallons of being full, to expose a 

 larger surface to the air. Having attended to these rules so far, the 

 •ider will require very little further attention beyond filling up the 

 vessels every two or three weeks, to supply the waste by the insensible 

 fermentation, until the beginning of the succeeding March, at which 

 time it may be reasonably expected the cider will be bright, pure, and in 

 a fit state for its final racking. This should be done in fair weather ; but 

 should the cider not prove as bright and of as good a colour as desired, 

 put 2 lbs. of lump sugar into a hogshead of cider. If you wish the cider 

 to be of a higher colour than the fruit gives it, melt 1 lb. of loaf sugar 

 in a stewpan over a clear Are, Btirring it frequently until it comes to a 

 very dark brown colour ; then take it off the fire, and as it cools add 

 some cider by little and little, continuing to stir it till it becomes a thin 

 uniform fluid. About a pint of this colouring to a hogshead of cider is 

 sufficient. Soon after the spring racking the caBks may be gradually 

 stopped by firtt laying the cork on the bunghole, and in the course of a 



few days forcing it very tightly into it, covering it over with melted 

 resin, or any other similar substance. Bottling the Cider.— This should be 

 done a month after the spring rackings, when the liquor has acquired in 

 the cask its highest degree of perfection ; then, when the weather is fair, 

 let the bottles be filled, setting them by uncorked until the morning; 

 then let the corks be driven very tightly into the necks of the bottles, 

 tied down with small strong twine or wire, and well secured with melted 

 resin. 



Blackberry Wine (Jane).— Put fully ripe blackberries into a large ves- 

 sel with a tap to it ; pour on as much boiling water as will cover them, 

 and, as soon as the heat will permit, bruise them well with the hand till 

 all the berries are broken ; cover them, and in about three or four days, 

 when the berries rise to the top, draw off the clear part into another ves- 

 sel ; add to every ten quarts of the liquor 1 lb. of sugar; stir it well in, 

 and 1st it stand a week or ten days to work. Draw it off through a jelly- 

 bag. Steep 4 ozs. of isinglass in one pint of sweet wine for twelve hours ; 

 then boil it slowly till dissolved ; put it into one gallon of the blackberry- 

 j uice ; boil them, and put all together. Let it stand a few days, and bottle. 



Obtaining an Early Swarm (Super).— You had better take off the super 

 at once, and weigh the stock hive ; if its nett contents are less than 17 to 

 18 lbs. the bees should be fed bv means of an inverted pickle-bottle filled 

 every evening until they attain that weight. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 

 In the Suburbs of London for the week ending September 27th. 





BABOHETEB. 





THEBSIOMETEB 





■Wind. 





Date. 



Air. 



Earth. 



Rain. 





Max. 



Min. 



Mas. 1 Min. 



1 ft 



2 ft. 





Wed... 21 

 Thurs. . 22 

 Fri.. .. S3 

 Sot. ... 24 

 Snn. . . 25 

 Mon. . . 26 

 Taes.... 27 



30.227 

 30.253 

 30.253 

 30.230 

 30.254 

 30.111 

 30.152 



80.204 

 S0.229 

 30.216 

 30.194 

 30.181 

 3J.074 

 80.146 



72 

 63 

 65 

 63 

 69 

 72 

 72 



40 



83 

 30 

 30 

 32 

 83 

 So 



56 

 56 

 54 

 53 

 53 

 53 

 53 



54.71 



54 

 54 

 54 

 54 

 53 

 53 

 52 



S. 

 E. 

 E. 

 E. 

 E. 

 E. 

 E. 



.00 

 .00 

 .00 

 .00 

 .00 

 ■00 

 .00 



Mean.. 



30.211 



30.173 



69.43 



38.29 



63.43 



" 



0.00 



21.— Foggy ; very fine ; clear and fine, starlight. 

 22.— Dense fog ; fine, fine and clear. 

 23.— Foggy; very fine; clear and cold at night. 

 24.— Very fine ; very fine ; clear and fine, foggy. 

 25.— Dense fog; clear and fine ; clear and fine. 

 26. — Dense fog : very fine ; fine, cold wind. 

 27.— Foggy ; exceedingly fine ; clear, starlight. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— September 28. 

 The demand is steady, but very low prices are realised, although the 

 general description of produce is better than it has been for some time 

 past. _ Peaches and Nectarines continue to be well supplied, and late 

 varieties of Dessert Plums are abundant and good. Potato trade heavy; 

 large quantities are offered both by rail and coastwise. 





. bushel 

 lb. 



do. 



s. 

 1 

 

 

 

 S 

 

 

 1 

 1 

 

 2 

 10 

 1 



d. b. 

 to 2 

 

 

 6 1 

 4 

 

 6 1 

 2 

 6 2 

 

 5 

 16 

 4 



VEG 



d 

 0. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



EI 







s. d. 

 

 S 







1 

 1 

 1 

 S 

 1 6 

 1 

 





 10 



1 



s. d 

 00 



4 

 20 



8 8 



2 



3 



5 

 3 S 



Black 



Pears, kitchen . 



doz. 









lb. 

 lb. 





lb. 

 lb. 





e.... lb. 

 . .. ^-100 





Grapes, Hothous 



Strawberries . 

 do 



















AELES. 









»100 

 i sieve, 

 bushel 



. bundle 

 . . i Bieve 



8. 





 

 3 

 

 2 

 

 

 1 

 1 

 

 2 

 1 

 3 

 

 2 

 2 

 

 

 

 S 



d. e. 

 OtoO 

 

 4 

 

 3 

 

 

 2 

 1 



4 

 6 

 6 2 

 6 

 1 

 4 

 

 3 

 8 



5 

 6 



a 





 

 

 

 

 

 u 

 

 6 

 8 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



II 





 





..punnet 

 . bushel 



s. a. 



4t 



1 6 

 1 

 9 

 4 

 4 

 8 

 9 

 

 3 

 i 

 

 

 

 



6 



1 



1 » 



6 



1 



B. « 



Beans, Kidney . 



Beet, Red 



Brussels Sprouts 



MuBtard & Cress 



3 e 

 ] e 





 6 

 1 

 





f 100 



bundle 

 lunches 





Coleworts..doz. 



Radishes .. doz.buncheB 

 Vegetable Marrows . . doi. 



4 1 



C 



4 

 » 



o e 



9 

 



Herbs 



Horseradish . . . 



lb. 

 bunch 

 bundle 



i « 







8 



POULTRY HAUKET.— Siptekbeb, 28. 

 Trade has seldom been so bad as it is now, there is little demand lor 

 anything. Michaelmas becomes less year by year, bat the old remark 

 holds good, " U all Geese are good, the heariest are worth most." 



s. d. b. d. 



LargeFowls 2 to 2 6 



Smaller ditto 3 



Chickens 1 6 1 9 



Dnoks 2 2 6 



Geese 6 11 



Turkeys 



s. d. s. d 



Pigeons 8 to 9 



Rabbits 14 IS 



Wildditto 9 10 



HareB 



Partridges 1 2 1 4 



Grouse 3 3 



