

JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ November 29, 1804. 



I might have said " looks ;" hut I will write no more than 

 — T. B. A. Z. 



Since writing 1 the ahove, "our Journal" with "B.'s" 

 letter has reached me. I will only add, taking your words, 

 that I want the " essentials on which a distinct breed can 

 be founded." I should also like to know the breeds you do 

 consider pure, we shall then have some foundation for the 

 discussion. — T. B. A. Z. 



RAILWAY CHARGES eoe POULTRY CARRIAGE. 



I notice with much satisfaction that some one has ven- 

 tilated the question of the high rates charged for carriage of 

 poultry by railway companies in general, and the London 

 and North-Western in particular. 



Having large dealings with the latter company, I tried the 

 effect of individual influence and representation, but in 

 vain. On many others besides myself, who live at a great 

 distance from all shows, this high carriage question be- 

 comes a grinding oppression, and reduces in many cases 

 our contributions to shows to a very small minimum. If a 

 united appeal were to be made by a united body of exhi- 

 bitors, such as meet at Birmingham, I am sure the directors 

 would at once mitigate the evil complained of, which is so 

 much at variance with the spirit of the age, and which while 

 it checks progress, must curtail those profits which from 

 poultry shows and exhibitors ought to be something con- 

 siderable. 



While carrying unsold stock back free, on what principle 

 is an extra rate levied on poultry ? What has the feathered 

 world done to merit so unenviable a distinction ? — Victim. 



THE SWARMING [SYSTEM. 

 Eeom my own observations this year and last, I am satis- 

 fied that hives which are permitted to swarm, if forward, will 

 yield a larger harvest of honey than they would do if kept 

 upon the conservative principle. I made a swarm on the 

 18th of May by taking a frame out of a bar-and-frame hive 

 with the queen, and then placing it in an empty hive which 

 was then located upon the stand of the old hive. I weighed 

 this swarm a few days ago, and found it weighed about 

 40 lbs. nett. At the end of July it would have been at least 

 7 or 8 lbs. more, as my bees have done nothing since that 

 time. A second swarm was made from the same stock, yet 

 the old hive was equal in weight to the first swarm. Three 

 storified hives yielded on an average 35 lbs. each of pure 

 honey in their supers ; but the stock hives were in each case 

 very light, and required copious feeding to make them safe 

 for the winter. Other hives which swarmed were very 

 heavy. — J. E. B. 



BEES CAREFULLY FEASTED. 



We are told by the wise man that "There is nothing new 

 under the sun ;" and although sorry to brush off the bloom 

 of novelty from "Rttby Blush's" proposition of making 

 our poorer hives sharers in our Christmas festivities, I may 

 relate a circumstance of a somewhat similar kind which I 

 am assured actually took place. 



Among the superstitions yet current in some parts of this 

 county is one which would certainly commend itself to the 

 sympathies of Jonas Jackson if he ever heard of it ; and if 

 he has not, I hope he will forthwith add it to the list of 

 customs which he has already promulgated, and the religious 

 observance of which he proclaims to be essentially necessary 

 to all who would attain eminence in the occult mystery of 

 successful bee-keeping.* Not only is it requisite, as he 

 says, whenever any joyous event takes place, such as a 

 marriage or a christening, to make the bees partakers of 

 the good cheer provided for the occasion, but it is absolutely 

 essential that no one item of either the dainties or the sub- 

 stantials should be omitted. 



The evening of the day which had witnessed the departure 



of a newly married couple having arrived, the " gude man " 



proceeded to question his spouse as to the due fulfilment of 



the indispensable ceremony of presenting the bees with a 



* Vide Journal or Hokticdlture, ToL V,, page 99. 



modicum of every eatable and drinkable that had been pro- 

 vided for the wedding feast. " Had they had a bit of the 

 turkey, the chicken, the ham, the boiled beef, and, though 

 last not least, the wedding cake ?" " Tes." " Some of the 

 spirits [rum, I hope, not being omitted], ale [Scotch, of 

 course], and cider ?" "Tes." "Baccy?" " No, what could 

 they do with baccy ? bees can't smoke," urged the wife. 

 "Nonsense, Betty," replied her lord and master; if they 

 can't smoke they can chaw I" And so the omission was 

 supplied in good time, " baccy " being forthwith added to 

 the previously incomplete list of dainties ; and having been, 

 we may presume, in due course " catawamptiously chawed 

 up," as the Yankees have it, the care and anxiety of the 

 worthy couple were doubtless rewarded by the continued 

 and unfailing prosperity of their well-cared-for apiary. — A 

 Devonshire Bee-keepeb. 



Cows Milking- Themselves. — I know for a certainty that 

 cows sometimes do suck themselves. The proper remedy 

 — the one used in the Vale of Black Moor, in the county of 

 Dorset — is a headstall with spikes in the nose-band. — W. F. 

 Radclyefe, Rusliton. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Editorial Responsibility (-5".).— Your informant, and the correspondent 

 in a contemporary, are totally wrong. No one, except the two gentlemen 

 whose names appear upon our first page, has any control over the editing- of 

 this Journal. They are responsible for all its contents, and nothing appears 

 in its columns without their assent. 



Giddy Goose (G. A.).~A. small blood vessel has burst upon the brain. 

 Quiet and the avoidance of hard corn are your only available helps. 



White Cochin-China Fowls(.4. Very Old Subscriber). — We do not know 

 the address, and certainly would have no dealings with the person you 

 name. Write to some of the prize-takers, or, what is better, go to some 

 poultry exhibition, and buy pullets from one exhibitor and a cockerel from 

 another. 



Hens Eating the Egos they are Sitting on (J. W.).~ Hens with such 

 a habit as you mention should be marked for the kitchen, and killed as soon 

 as they have done laying. To allow such to sit is to jeopardise valuable 

 broods at this season of the year. The driver of a Hansom cab in which 

 we were riding a short time since, assured us, when Ihe horse hid kicked 

 away all the front except the iron framework, that " There never wos a quiter 

 oss after the first few minutes." In fact he was fresh. We should like in 

 future to have him well worked before we rode behind him. It maybe 

 your hen, like the cab horse, is only vicious "at first." Therefore, if yon 

 wish to retain her services, put her for some days on some good hard arti- 

 ficial eggs. She will peck them till she is tired, and will then give up the 

 job in disgust. We can hardly give an opinion about the pen of Dorkings 

 at Islington. Mistakes are unavoidable sometimes, and this may have been 

 one. 



Bantams with Cochin-Chinas ( Freeland) .— We say yes. We have done 

 it for years with perfect safety. 



Poultry Eating Walnut Husks (J. If.).— We have never known the 

 green husks of walnuts to injure poultry. We have two pens entirely 

 shadowed with walnut trees, and after they are threshed the ground is 

 covered with husks. We have never seen fowls pick them up. We shall 

 feel glad to have the opinions of competent persons as to the properties of 

 these husks. Our correspondent had a Dorking cockerel die after thirty- 

 six hours illness. His crop was full of walnut husks. 



White Fluff at Base of Black Bed Game Cock's Tail {A Doubter). 

 —Yes! it iB always there. The amount is uncertain, and varies much. It 

 is not a desirable thing in an exhibition bird, nor indeed in any other. If 

 two birds of equal merit and value were offered to us, but one had this 

 peculiarity more developed than the other, we should reject hiin on that 

 account. 



Training High-flying Tumbler Pigeons (W. G. T.).-~ Your beel and 

 easiest way is to obtain a few pairs of already-trained highflyers, which will 

 save you much trouble. If, however, you have already a breed of good 

 pedigree which you wish to train, you must take the trouble to see that 

 they are well looked after, fed on good food, as peas, tares, lentils, or Indian 

 corn ■ that all that can fly well are turned out once a-day, in the morning is 

 best, and put on the wing. At first you must mak.e them fly, if it is only 

 for five minutes. The time cau be gradually increased, until they will fly 

 without trouble for from two to four hours. As soon as they settle they 

 should be coaxed in, and kept confined for the rest of the day; nor must 

 they be allowed to fly about with other Pigeons. As they become accustomed 

 to daily exercise they will not have much desire to feed until they have 

 flown. To prevent their going out quite empty it is as well to give them a 

 small feed of hemp or canary seed ; but they must not be full fed, for they 

 cannot fly well with a heavy crop full, but after a long fly they will eat 

 ravenously. Care must be taken to associate being out with flying. Lazy 

 birds, sick ones, or such as have a bad habit of settling on some chimney or 

 high building, must not be let out, or had better be got rid of.— B. P. Brent. 



Love Birds Dying (A Lady Subscriber).— It is impossible to say what 

 was the cause of your birds dying. The general treatment is to keep them 

 warm and feed them on canary seed; also give them, in a separate fVeding- 

 box,some millet, and occasionally a few oats (soaked all night in cold water), 

 and the tops of watercress sparingly. Groundsel is only good for them, 

 in the spring of the year, and the early part of the summer, and then but 

 very sparingly. We presume that you have given them water, which is 

 necessary. 



