July 19, 1864. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



59 



wicks " and " Satinettes." His opinion quite agrees with 

 mine — namely, that the Brunswicks are only one of the 

 varieties of Priest Pigeons, and the Satinettes are a spangled- 

 shouldered variety of Turbits. I do not know anything of 

 the green Pigeons described by Dr. Livingstone, but no 

 doubt they are a distinct species from the domestic Pigeon. 

 — B. P. Brent. 



GOOSE BEEEDING. 



As Geese are long-lived, so they are long in reaching 

 maturity, not becoming good for breeding purposes before 

 they are from three to five years of age. The third or fourth 

 year is as early as is desirable to mate Geese for this pur- 

 pose. Then having selected the best of their kind, one gander 

 to no more than two Geese (and some males will only mate 

 with one female), and the gander not related to the Geese, 

 the breeder may consider that he is supplied with a good 

 breeding stock for at least the next twenty years, or, as one 

 writer says, " for life." 



In confirmation of this statement, Mr. S. Jaques, jun., of 

 Boston, Massachusetts, wrote, in 1850, of a Bremen Goose 

 that his father imported in 1821 : " She has never failed to 

 lay from twelve to sixteen eggs every year for the last 

 twenty-seven years, and has always been an excellent 

 breeder and nurse, as has all the stock and offspring con- 

 nected with her. I had the curiosity to weigh one of her 

 brood in 1849, when nine months old exactly, and his weight 

 in feather sent up 22 lbs. in the opposite scale." The earlier 

 the goslings are hatched in spring the better, and there is 

 no agent so good for this purpose as the Goose, though the 

 Ducks do very well. Hens appear to have too dry a heat 

 for the purpose, and though a part of the eggs may hatch, 

 the goslings are not as strong as those hatched by the Goose 

 or a Duck. For the first twenty-four hours after hatching, 

 like chickens, the young require no feeding. On the second 

 day they will begin to nibble a little fine grass, or young 

 clover, from a fresh sod placed near the nest. They will 

 also want a little scalded corn meal or oatmeal, or a few 

 bread crumbs, and a shallow vessel of water. If the weather 

 is fine, it will soon do to "turn them out to grass," but they 

 should be housed every night and during stormy weather, 

 on a dry floor, until several weeks old ; and the better the 

 young are fed for the rest of the season, the larger and 

 better the fall goslings. "Wheat bran or the best class of 

 " shorts " mixed with boiled potatoes makes a good feed for 

 goslings after a few weeks old. — (U.S. Agricultural Report.) 



POULTEY, PIGEON, EABBIT, AND CANAEY 

 LOEE. 



I should be very pleased if Poultry, Pigeon, Rabbit, and 

 Canary fanciers would follow the example set in The Journal 

 of Horticulture by the bee-keepers, and interchange in its 

 pages their experiments and experiences. Poultry lore seems 

 now reduced to an account of the prize lists of some of the 

 shows, or an occasional cry from some despairing Brahma 

 fancier ; still less is now written on Pigeons, while Rabbits 

 and Canaries are quite forgotten. I am very desirous of 

 seeing more communications on these subjects, and willing 

 to do what I can in the cause. — B. P. Brent. 



[Our wish is an echo of Mr. Brent's. Our columns are 

 open to the fanciers of all the pets enumerated by him, and 

 we wish that one and all would communicate their modes of 

 management, observations on their merits, diseases, or other 

 relative topics. — Editors.] 



Pride in Fowls. — Fowls have plenty of vanity and pride. 

 They are very sensible to admiration from man, and miss 

 accustomed notice. The queen of the poultry-yard must eat 

 first, and stand by the king at feeding time. She resists 

 any invasion upon her rights, and will have a precedence in 

 all things. Indeed, precedence in the court-yard seems as 

 valued as at earthly courts. Age and priority of residence 

 in the yard, not less than size and strength, constitute right 

 to precedence. No dowager ever treated young chits of girls 



more contemptuously than the senior hen treats her juniors. 

 One has heard of a Swiss cow which died of vexation when 

 her bell was taken from her. So did a hen of mine, long 

 mistress of the poultry-yard, die of smothered pride, when 

 a new queen-hen, partner to a new king (a pair I bought at 

 a poultry show), came into my enclosure. The rival queens 

 eyed each other for a moment steadfastly, then rushed to the 

 combat. The new comer, though the old hen fought bravely, 

 was the stronger. Mrs. Mercury, as we called the old hen, 

 from the wing-like feathering on her legs, never attempted 

 to try her chance again, succumbed in a melancholy manner, 

 and after a few days' moping gave up the ghost. — (All the 

 Tear Bound.) 



[Note et Ed. C. F.— The above is no fiction. "We had a 

 beautifulBantam cock, which died of mortified pride. A Black 

 Spanish cock was uncooped in the same yard in which the 

 Bantam was strutting about, when the latter attacked the 

 new comer with beak and nail. The Spaniard treated the 

 little fellow with cool contempt, and from that moment the 

 Bantam pined, drooped, refused food, and at length died.] — 

 (Canada Farmer.) 



ANTWEEP PIGEONS. 



In accordance with the request of " Parvo" I will endea- 

 vour to describe the properties of the various breeds of 

 Pigeons known as "Antwerp Carriers." 



The inhabitants of Belgium have long been famous for 

 Pigeon-flying, and consequently we find among them several 

 very superior strains of homing birds. The basis of these 

 breeds, it would appear, was a cross between the Dovehouse 

 Pigeons, or Rocks, and Tumblers. Such birds, known as 

 Volans and Voyageurs, are common on the continent, and 

 are esteemed for their high flying. Such Pigeons having 

 strayed or been lost have betaken themselves to the lofty 

 towers and steeples of the churches, So., in the larger towns, 

 where they have had for ages to take care of themselves, 

 and run the gauntlet against all sportsmen and birds of 

 prey, which are tolerably numerous ; and it is easy to under- 

 stand that the remnant of such a breed would be pre- 

 eminent as homing birds, and such, I am informed, is the 

 origin of the real Antwerp Carrier Pigeon. I can only 

 describe the breed as a small mealy Rock, which colour 

 greatly predominates among the Dovehouse Pigeons there- 

 abouts. 



The true Antwerp is in shape much like a Rock or Dove- 

 house Pigeon, but rather slighter built, bolting eye, and 

 clean sharp-looking head. 



Many other kinds are bred ; for instance, about Liege the 

 Owl form predominates. The Smerles, as they are there 

 called, are very much like an Owl Pigeon, their colours being 

 mealy, red or blue chequered, and sometimes blue. This 

 breed is even more widely diffused than the Antwerp. 

 Their powers of flight are extraordinary; and, from some 

 accounts of Pigeon-flying, I have computed that they home 

 at the rate of forty-seven miles an hour. I do not know 

 that there are any very particular points of outward appear- 

 ance, but their homing faculty is their main recommenda- 

 tion. These Smerles have been crossed with the English 

 Dragoon, and have produced a stronger and stouter bird. 



I have also heard of Blue Pigeons, with feathered feet, of 

 excellent homing qualities, brought from Antwerp; and, 

 doubtless, in a country so famous for flying Pigeon races, 

 there are many choice strains that are little known except to 

 their proprietors, particulars of which I am quite unable to 

 give. — B. P. Brent. 



BEES IN LINCOLNSHIRE. 

 As I some time ago troubled you with a chapter of lamen- 

 tations, it is but fair that I should let you know something 

 of my better success. The season in this neighbourhood has 

 been a most wretched one so far as multiplication by natural 

 swarming is concerned, though a good one for honey-harvest- 

 ing. Few bee-keepers have had more than about one swarm 

 from every six hives which they possessed, and very many have 

 had none at all. My last autumn and winter's disasters left 



