162 



JOURNAL op horticulture and cottage gardenek. 



[ AngU8t2S, 1864. 



of great consequence, the quality of the water they drink ; 

 for I think this is of much importance to a bird that drinks 

 so copiously as the Pigeon, the water often containing 

 various earths and salts according to the nature of the soil 

 from which it is obtained. The subject of food, I think, is 

 one well worth the trouble of a little investigation, and I 

 shall be pleased to hear the opinions of others. — Bernard 

 P. Brent, Dallington, near Bobertsbridge, S^lssex. 



PIGEONS AT NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE 

 AND DARLINGTON SHOWS. 



A letter in your last Number, page 139, signed "A 

 Fancier," I cannot allow to pass without giving some 

 explanation. I regret exceedingly that there should be any 

 ground for complaint as to the judging of Pigeons at the 

 Newcastle Show, as I had, perhaps, more to do with select- 

 ing the Judges than any one else. 



When the Newcastle Show was first decided upon, Mr. 

 Hewitt was fixed on as Judge, knowing that this gentle- 

 man's decisions almost invariably give satisfaction. He 

 was written to, and accepted the office; but a few days 

 previous to the Show taking place I received a letter from 

 Mr. Hewitt, stating that he thought he could not comfort- 

 ably get through the number of entries by himself in the time 

 allotted, and suggested some one at least should be secured 

 to take the Pigeons off his hands. I was, consequently, 

 tied for time to obtain a Judge for this department ; but 

 happening to place my hands upon the Darlington catalogue 

 for last year, I noticed Mr. Botcherby acted as Judge there, 

 so I concluded at once that if Mr. Botcherby was compe- 

 tent to judge at an important Show like that at Darlington, 

 I could not be wrong in asking that gentleman to do so here, 

 and I wrote to him immediately, and procured his sanction, 

 consequently the matter was decided. Previous to this I 

 had not heard a single word about the dissatisfaction his 

 judging had given at Darlington, or you may depend upon 

 it I should have avoided the services of Mr. Botcherby. 

 However, I believe Mr. Botcherby to be highly respectable 

 and honest as a judge, but as to his competency for such a 

 task I confess I know but little. 



You must also permit me to rectify an error in the letter 

 referred to. I did not reverse a single card that Mr. 

 Botcherby had placed upon the Pigeon classes ; but unfor- 

 tunately some of Mr. Tardley's birds had remained in the 

 basket until after the awards were made : regretting this as 

 I did, I proposed to Mr. Tardley that if the amount of a 

 first prize would satisfy him for the oversight in not putting 

 the birds in their proper place in time, I should be most 

 happy to pay over the extra amount, which Mr. Tardley 

 accepted. — J. Shorthose. 



On looking over your last Number, I find a letter from 

 " A Fancier " criticising the judging of the Pigeons at the 

 Newcastle and Darlington Shows. His strictures upon the 

 former may be all very right, I am not in a position to give 

 an opinion; but some of his remarks upon the latter are 

 quite beside the mark. 



In the first place, he gives his readers to understand that 

 Mr. Botcherby was the only judge at Darlington; but on refer- 

 ring to the catalogue, which I happen to have, I find, under 

 the Pigeon Judges, the names J. W. Botcherby, Esq., 

 P. Bellamy, Esq. "Fancier" altogether ignores the fact 

 of the latter gentleman's having officiated. Now, I know 

 nothing whatever about Mr. Botcherby' s capabilities ; but I 

 think every fancier will admit at once that Mr. Bellamy is 

 a thoroughly competent judge, and, taking his presence at 

 Darlington into consideration, I cannot think the awards 

 were so outrageously bad as " A Fancier " would have us 

 believe. 



Again : he says, " The silver cup for the best pen in the 

 Show was awarded to an old Dun cock, a draft from the loft 

 of one of our well-known exhibitors ; while one of the best 

 Carriers in the kingdom and in her prime, a black hen be- 

 longing to Mr. Else, of London, was shown." Now, I am 

 prepared to prove that the Dun cock spoken of was, when 

 exhibited at Darlington, under three years old, and, to use 

 " A Fancier's " own words, in his prime, and one of the 

 best Carriers in the kingdom. 



"With these misstatements before me I cannot help think- 

 ing that if inquired into some other of "A Fancier's " " facts 

 incontrovertible " might prove fictions. To my thinking 

 there is a feeling of soreness throughout his letter which 

 reminds one very forcibly of "sour grapes." — J. I. D. 



"A DEVONSHIRE BEE-KEEPER" vbbsus THE 



"TIMES" BEE-MASTER. 



For the credit of British journalism, I regret to state that 

 my second letter in reply to the acrimonious tirade of the 

 " Bee-keeper " in the employ of the Times, who turns out to 

 be Dr. Gumming, the well-known controversialist, has been 

 refused insertion in that paper, although another violent 

 attack on me from the learned (?) doctor's pen appeared in 

 the Times of the 12th inst. Of this precious production I 

 need only remark that it is worthy of its predecessor, and 

 that it fulfils a prediction made by the Aberdeen Free Press 

 of the 5th inst. — viz., that the doctor was using his influence 

 with the view of puffing a book which he intends publishing. 

 Unlike Dr. Cumming's own interpretations of prophecy, 

 this prediction has been literally fulfilled by the astonishing 

 announcement that a man, who cannot write a letter on the 

 subject of bees without blundering in every paragraph, is 

 not only about to " put together " a book upon them, but 

 has actually found a publisher willing to run the risk of 

 printing it ! Although the publishers of cheap literature 

 have been notoriously unfortunate in their selection of api- 

 arian writers, and the compilations of Messrs. Richardson 

 and Wood must therefore be deemed formidable competitors 

 in the race for pre-eminence in ill, Messrs. Low may safely 

 be congratulated on having secured the copyright of what 

 will in all probability turn out to be the most inaccurate 

 bee-book ever manufactured. — A Devonshire Bee-e^eper. 



ILL-SUCCESS IN BEE-KEEPING. 



The letters in the Times about bees have somewhat revived 

 my interest in my own, which for several years I have re- 

 signed to the care of the gardener, an old-fashioned man, 

 whose only ideas on the subject are ti n k lin g and burning. 

 For the last three years I have had neither swarm nor honey, 

 and my six or eight hives have diminished to two, the reason 

 being, as the gardener insists, that I gave away my luck by 

 giving a swarm to a friend ! 



Now, I wish to try if I cannot bring back my luck by 

 taking them in hand myself; and I venture to ask if you 

 will be kind enough to tell me what is the simplest and best 

 kind of hive ? I had been thinking of obtaining one of the 

 n wlir-hives, recommended in the Be v. W. Law's letter in the 

 Times; but it occurred to me before I saw by Mr. Wood- 

 bury's letter that the principle was contrary to the nature 

 of the bee, and therefore I am hesitating what to do. Can 

 you also kindly advise me what to do under the present state 

 of affairs ? 



Two or three days ago, on opening the bee-house, which I 

 had not looked into before this year, I found that the bees 

 (in two common straw hives with flat tops), had made an 

 immense quantity of comb outside the hives, thus connecting 

 them together and with the roof of the house, which is now 

 nearly filled with honey, and covered with clusters of bees. 

 The two hives stand on a shelf. The gardener says the 

 only thing to be done, is, later in the season, to burn the 

 bees and take the honey ; but I am most anxious to save 

 the life of my poor bees, and should feel very much obliged 

 if you could put me in the way of doing so, and also of going 

 on better for the future. 



Some years ago I tried putting a glass over the hole in 

 the centre of the hive; but though the bees on one occasion 

 made a small piece of comb in it, they did not fill it, and I 

 have never succeeded in obtaining honey in that way. — 

 C.S.B. 



[You cannot do better than use flat-topped straw hives, 

 with a three-inch hole in the top. You require the assist- 

 ance of a practical apiarian, who, by the aid of a little smoke, 

 would soon cut away the extraneous combs, and compel the 

 bees to retire to their hives. Had you supered your stocks 

 this season, you would doubtless have obtained a large 



