November 22, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



411 



understand, AyleBburienses, yon are one short of the Silkies of 

 1876, and, on the same principle as they were, are doomed for 

 1878, good, however, as you all were in 1877. Rouens, on the 

 other hand, balanced them, for they made thirty pens, and very 

 good they were. Black Duck breeders appeared to have made 

 one parting struggle to wrest one prize from Mr. Kelleway, and 

 twenty-one pens were entered for the fray, but it was not to be. 

 Then come Ornamental Waterfowl, Mandarins and Pekins, 

 Carolinas and Muscovies — all mixed up in woeful confusion. 

 So unkind of the Committee. 



Geese were very nice. Mr. Everett seema making his mark 

 since Mr. Cresswell was first bold enough to throw out old 

 stagers for a new pen; second also were Grey, and third White. 



Turkeys. — We had seen Mr. Howard's letter to an exhibitor 

 to say they intended to have two Judges to award the prizes 

 to try and avoid the repetition of last year's awards. The 

 winners were well chosen, the first old hen being in lovely 

 order, the first cockerel very fine, and the first young hen ex- 

 tremely good, large, and apparently heavy. We are requested 

 to state that Mr, Walker did not exhibit. — W. 

 PIGEONS. 



Barbs had six classes, only averaging seven birds a class. 

 The cup for old birds went to an astounding Black; second in 

 cocks was a very good Red, healthy in eye ; third a Black with 

 a capital beak, but not equal to the first in eye wattle. In hens 

 a Yellow was easily first, a Black second, and a Red third. 

 Young Cocks (Black or Dun). — First was a beautiful Black, 

 apparently very young ; second and third also Blacks. The 

 winning young hens were all Blacks. But one poor Yellow put 

 in an appearanoe in the class for young cooks, any other colour, 

 and the prizes were withheld. The first hen was a Red, uneven 

 in colour ; second another Red ; and third a Yellow. 



Jacobins. — Red cocks numbered thirty, and were a fine class. 

 First was a rioh Red with beautiful face and an immense m»ne ; 

 second was small with exquisite head properties, not very good 

 in colour ; third rather large, but grand in chain and hood. We 

 thought the first Red hen a perfect model, the prettiest in face 

 and head we have ever seen. Second too long in beak, otherwise 

 good. Yellow cocks were another excellent class. The cnp 

 went to the first bird in this class, rich in colour aud good in 

 every point. The first and second hens were good, but none 

 came near the cup cock. The class for Whites brought fourteen 

 entries. The first we thought rather large and open in hood ; 

 seeond very fair, but after the Yellows the hoods of the Whites 

 do not show to advantage. The winners in the cla3S for Any 

 other variety were all Black?. 



Fantails.— The olass of twenty-four for White cocks was 

 marked by the Judge as " an excellent one," and most de- 

 servedly so. The first cock had an admirable tail and apparently 

 good motion, but was too timid in his pen to Bhow this ; second 

 and third, though hardly his equal in tail, were capital in 

 carriage. Twenty-five White hens were shown, and the cup 

 went to Mr. Cresswell's little bird, first in this class ; Bhe is a 

 gem, combining motion with a perfect tail ; second a large bird, 

 but with a flat tail and good carriage ; third good in tail too. 

 The Coloured Fantails made a fair olaes, but with many empty 

 pens; the winners all Blue, the first being by far the best ; the 

 seoond had a break in its tail; and third carried its tail too 

 muoh over it. A young Black was highly commended. 



Nutis made a large olass, but do not appear to us equal to 

 former days, scarcely any having the due number of coloured 

 flights. The first, a Black, was about the only bird correct in 

 this respect; second was a good-coloured Yellow ; third a Red. 

 Trumpeters have become a most uninteresting class. A few 

 done-up dumpy birds win everywhere. First was slightly 

 mottled, second Mottled, and third Black, all in points splendid 

 epeoimens of the Russian type. Owls. — In EDglish cocks the 

 prizes all went to Blues. First is a well-known bird, second very 

 good in frill, third very dark in colour ; all these birds are excel- 

 lent in head. In hens first was a pale Silver, Becond a lovely 

 little Silver, and third a Blue. In the olass for young birds all 

 the prizes went to Silvers. First wonderfully good ; third rather 

 large and coarBe, but good in head. The three prize birds in 

 class for Foreign Owls were all Whites, a sweet little Black 

 being very highly commended. 



Turbits had six classes. First in Blue or Silver cocks is 

 Mr. Ecroyd's Blue; second an old Silver, formerly known in 

 the hands of Mr. Dear ; third a Silver, which looks young. Blue 

 or Silver hens were a small class. First was a lovely Silver; 

 3econd Mr. Burnell's little Blue, with tiny beak ; third a Blue, 

 a little inclined to be dingy. Red or Yellow cocks. — First Mr. 

 Burnell's pale Yellow, with good head ; second a Red, beautiful 

 in head and face, but not very good in colour ; third a rich 

 bright Yellow. Any other colour. — The now well-known Black 

 Shell, which is really no Shell at all, was first ; second a down- 

 faced Black Peak; third a good White. Mr. Ecroyd's and Mr. 

 Cresswell's Black Peaks (the latter first last year at the Palace) 

 were strangely passed by. Hens, any other colour, were a good 

 class, but require subdivision like the cocks. First a beautiful 

 orich-coloured little Yellow, second a small bright Yellow with 



a bad peak, third a fair Black. The little Oxford cup Yellow 

 with a wonderful frill was not highly commended. " Hatched 

 in 1877" were a fine class, and the judging must have been 

 to some extent a matter of choice between colours. First was 

 a Blue, beautiful in head and colour ; second a Silver ; and third 

 a Red, with a good down face. 



Magpies numbered twenty-one. First a Black, splendid in 

 colour ; the other winners also Blacks. Archangels were a very 

 good class. All the prizes went to birds with the darker colour 

 of head and breast. We rather regret to see very brilliant birds 

 of a somewhat lighter hue, such as No. 3G13 (Packham), un- 

 noticed. Bunts looked more unwieldy than usual ; perhaps 

 this was owing to their being judged by weight, and as a conse- 

 quence in all probability fattened beforehand. Any other variety. 

 — This class was for pairs. First were Red Frillbacka, second 

 Ice, third Black Plain-headed Turbiteens, and fourth Eastern- 

 frilled birds, Brunettes we think. 



THE HONEY HARVEST IN WEST NORFOLK. 



To all appearance we have been more fortunate than most of 

 our countrymen in having had two chances, one in June and a 

 second towards the end of July. Here, as elsewhere, the un- 

 favourable spring left even those hives which promised well at 

 the end of February ill provided at the beginning of the year ; 

 hence there were so many empty cells to fill up that those 

 swarms which did issue were late. The many, with whom s warm- 

 ing is the only sucoess, and who do not practise artificial 

 swarming, lost much valuable time ; but they fared better thau 

 they deserved, for some swarms whioh came off late in July 

 attained considerable weight in a very short time. This was 

 the case with my two swarms of the 20th aud 21st July, the 

 latter of which filled a 15-inch straw hive in less than a fort- 

 night, and, calling out for more room, was accommodated with 

 a super containing 6 or 7 lbs., whioh was filled and sealed up in 

 another fortnight. 



I feel sure that I was right, so far as this year is concerned, in 

 the course I pursued of taking every advantage that offered of 

 gettiDg supers filled instead of taking artificial swarms in June, 

 since between the two harvests there was a barren interval 

 which would certainly have starved the swarms unless they had 

 been largely fed. By supering and nadiring I have obtained 

 more, than 170 lbs. of honey (most of it fine honeycomb) from 

 four hives, two wooden and two straw, besides gaining from one 

 of the former, which swarmed, an additional stock. More than 

 60 lbs. is due to one stock occupying a wooden hive only a foot 

 square, an old Nutt's "Pavilion." Of my three other hives I 

 may say that they have done only a little less than might have 

 been expected of them in an average year. 



A neighbour, whose apiary is near the sea, has also met with 

 fair sucoess. He has harvested 120 lbs. of honey from six hives 

 and inoreased his stock by two. The sea lavender, like the 

 heather, has yielded little honey thiB year, or no doubt he would 

 have done still better. — E. H. R. 



SIZE AND SHAPE OP HIVES— BEE 

 MANAGEMENT. 



"A Kilkenny Beekeeper" asks the following questions : — 

 1, " What is the best size for a strong stock in winter, and what 

 height for a frame hive ? 2, What advantage is there in haviDg 

 hives shallow in preference to having them say a foot high 1 

 3, What is Mr. Pettigrew's system of bee-keeping 1" 



The first question of your correspondent is important and 

 difficult to answer. In considering the question of sizes we 

 arrive at " good " and " better," but who dares say which is the 

 "best?" Many strong and valuable stocks are wintered in hives 

 containing from 2000 to 3000 cubic inches of space. A well- 

 made straw hive 18 inches wide and 11 inches deep is, in my 

 opinion, " a model " of Bize and beauty, but I dare not venture 

 to say that it is the best size. We have hives 20 inches wide 

 and 12 deep, two 18 inches wide and 16 inches deep, and many 

 only 16 inches wide and 12 inches deep, and invariably find that 

 18-inch hives proportionately filled with bees in autumn are as 

 soon ready to Bwarm as 16-inch hives, and contain more honey ; 

 and if large hives are as soon ready to swarm as smaller ones, 

 they are as soon ready to fill supers as are the smaller, and more 

 able to do this when they are ready. There have often appeared 

 statements to this effect that large hives are best for good neigh- 

 bourhoods and rich pasture, and small hives are best for un- 

 favourable localities for honey. I think such statements are 

 without foundation and are illogical. Wherever large hives are 

 introduced and fairly tried they carry the day, and small hives 

 disappear. 



Frame hives are generally about 9 inches deep, but some are 

 less and some more. The bar-frame school has not yet arrived 

 at a standard of sizes, and probably will not come to a settle- 

 ment of this point for years to come. Probably hives of this 

 kind 16 or 17 inches wide and 10 inches deep are good models. 



In answer to your correspondent's seoond question I have to 



