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JOURNAL OF HOETICULTTJBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. [ December 20, 1864. 



carriage ; and the other shows through the country -would 

 soon follow the example. This is of the greatest importance 

 just now, as I am told the railway companies have ordered 

 that poultry should pay fifty per cent, more tlian any other class 

 of goods ! I must say I think this one of the most monstrous 

 and disgraceful acts on the part of the railway companies 

 that I have ever heard of. It really means that they will 

 put a stop to most of the poultry shows throughout the 

 tino'dom ; and why they should do this I cannot conceive. 

 I hope you will write down this attempt at extortion, and 

 prevent, ere it be too late, this gross imposition. Here is a 

 capital opportunity for the Poultry Club to show its utility, 

 by raising an agitation, and by its members all uniting in a 

 remonstrance against the project. Already the charges are 

 excessive, and ought to be reduced. — John K. Eotvlee, 

 Prebendal Farm, Aylesbury. 



[Not only the Poultry Club, but all exhibitors of poultry, 

 and all committees of poultry exhibitions, should unite in 

 memorialising the directors of such lines as so unjustly and 

 short-sightedly have raised the charge for poultry carriage, 

 request to be informed of the reason why it is so raised, 

 and endeavour to remove the reason assigned. Failing in 

 this, we would have it stated in Parliament as one of the 

 instances rendering it desirable to have the railway mono- 

 poly abated ; because, let it be remembered that the question 

 of terminating that monopoly in many bines will soon have 

 to be debated and decided by the Legislature.] 



OLD COMB. 



Hb. S. Betas' Fox in the report of his apiary for 1864 

 states that the comb in one of his straw Mve3, although 

 eight years old, " appeared by no means worn out." This 

 shows the wisdom of Mr. Woodbury's advice at page 244 of 

 the Journal, where he counsels us, as a rule, never to " resort 

 to comb-pruning with the view of rejuvenating old stocks." 



Seldom, if ever, do old stocks die simply from their combs 

 having become, through age, unfit for breeding purposes. 

 At all events I never met with a case, and I have seen some 

 very aged hives. 



Those managed on Watt's system and in which swarming 

 has been effectually prevented, are in a few years left with 

 aged and effete queens, which besides being unable to keep 

 the population up to the mark, may perish in winter or at a 

 time when their loss cannot be repaired. 



Those old stocks, again, in which swarming is allowed, 

 are left with the younger queens, and if the season is ad- 

 vanced or proves wet and unfavourable, they may meet with 

 an accident in their wedding flight, or through impregnation 

 being retarded, turn out drone-breeders, and thus bring ruin 

 on their hives. Besides, stocks which give out swarms are 

 sometimes left with a very small population at the close of 

 the season, and are, consequently, unable to bear up against 

 the rigours of winter. In addition to these evils the stores 

 of old stocks which have given out swarms are often greatly 

 reduced, not only by what the young brood has consumed, 

 but by what the swarms have carried off. I, therefore, re- 

 gard, not comb old and unfit for breeding purposes, but 

 paucity of numbers, poverty of store, and accidents of one 

 kind and another as the destroyers of old stocks. I have 

 seen the bees demolish 3 or 4 square inches of old and unfit 

 comb composed of worker-cells, and insert comb with drone 

 cells in its place. I say then, with Mr. Woodbury, As a 

 rule, leave the bees to themselves to renew their aged combs. 

 — E.S. 



FOUL BEOOD, 



It is certainly most singular that the position of pupte 

 in foul-breeding stocks should be found reversed. Whether 

 such peculiarity may yet afford a clue to the elucidation of the 

 greatest of all apiarian mysteries — foul brood, or is simply a 

 cortortion of weakness or approaching dissolution, a turning 

 of the face to the wall, as it were, remains yet to be explained. 



In the black stock sent " A Devonshire Bee-keefeb " 

 last year to be ligurianised, ere yet he had discovered the 

 cause of his " dwindling apiary," and which had been infected 

 from his Ligurians, he informed me of having discovered, on 

 cutting up a royal cell, a defunct princess in this novel pre- 



dicament. I looked on the matter at the time, as very 

 possibly did my esteemed correspondent, as purely acci- 

 dental. On foul brood showing itself generally in my apiary 

 in the end of last season I was very much puzzled at finding 

 worker brood so placed, and on making a renewed acquaint- 

 anceship with this vile scourge this season paid particular 

 attention to this, and invariably found the diseased grubs 

 reversed, the only stray exceptions to the rule being defunct 

 embryos that had. evidently advanced a stage or two further 

 before then- demise, and were, besides, not in so foul or 

 rapidly decomposing a condition. 



Noticing that the attention of the Entomological Society 

 has been directed to this subject, it would be of the highest 

 importance to apiarians generally were some member of that 

 learned body to take up and investigate the point — say by 

 making a daily microscopic comparison during the coming 

 season of the evolutions of the pupa? from the egg upwards, 

 in a diseased and healthy stock, thereby detecting the exact 

 stage, if not the cause of the change of posture and demise. 



The above allusion to this season's experience of foul 

 brood reminds me that ray contributions to the apiarian 

 corner of "our Journal'' have fallen grievously behind, and 

 if occupation with other matters do not supervene, some 

 older jottings may be pardonable during the dormant season, 

 when, generally, there is a greater lack of more stirring 

 events. — A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper. 



OUR LETTEE BOX. 



To Poultry Breeders and the Trading Community Generally.— Has 

 any one had dealings with a person, calling himself Thomas Andrew, writing 

 on letter paper headed Andrew Brothers, African Merchants, 48, Dale Street, 

 Liverpool, and what was the result? 



Ceoss Between "White Cochin-China and Silver Grsy Dorkings ( W. TJ. 

 — Never having seen the progeny from this cross-breeding we cannot give 

 an opinion upon them. "We should expect them to be good table fowls. 



Brighton Show (T. C. S.). — Yon will mid a notice of this show at p. 483. 



Darlingtom Poultry Show. — Mr. Kershaw, Ashton-under-Lyne, informs 

 ns that his Cochin-China cock (any variety) was " highly commended" at 

 tbi* Show. 



White Bantams (J. W.).~ We most unhesitatingly say, Select the small 

 birds. We hardly know what to call good ears, as the white ears are not 

 imperative in them, as in Black Bantams. "Where other points are equal, 

 there can be no doubt whatever that smaller size should turn the scale in 

 favour of the birds exhibited. 



Tail of Partridge Cochin-China Cock (Cochin-China).— One or two 

 white feathers are not a disqualification. It is common in old birds. The 

 only feather- disqualification, is red, or blotched breast. 



Brahma Pootra Pcllet Staggering (Country Rector). — Administer 

 castor oil freely, in doses of a tablespoonful. If this fail, yon may bleed 

 from the comb, but do not cut off any of the points or serrations. Feed 

 entirely on soft food, as bread, meal, &c. 



"Various (Rouen).— You must choose your breeds. Brahmas, Spanish, 

 Cochins, and Cre*ve Cceurs, and also La Fleche, will do well in a small 

 space. You do not say you mean to rear chickens. If you want only eggs 

 you will not require to change your cock. If you wish to breed only 

 Brahmas you must keep with them Cr£ve Cceur or Spanish ; they lay white 

 eggs, the "Brahmas brown. Give them as much sun as you can. If your 

 yard is paved, cover It with loose gravel an inch or two deep, and supply 

 them with turfs, cut with plenty of mould. No bird bears confinement 

 worse than a Dorking. Three, or at most four Ducks, are enough for a 

 drake. They do not require to be fattened" from the time of hatching ; 

 but a bird that is intended to be a winner at some time must alw.iys be kept 

 in the highest condition, and may be put np for a fortnight before it is sent 

 to a show, for the purpose of increasing weight. A Duck is never in better 

 condition than at ten or twelve months old, but she often gets heavier as 

 she gets older. 



Profits of Poultry-keeping (R. F. JE.).— Poultry-keeping, on a small 

 scale, will help a man to live, but will not secure a living, we think j but we 

 commence a series of papers on the subject to-day. New-laid eggs in the 

 winter are very profitable. 



Weight of Bantams (J?. U.). — There is no fixed weight for any bat the 

 Sebright Bantam. These should not exceed— cock, 17ozs. ; hen, 14 ozs. 

 A Bantam cannot be too small. The hen is out of condition. If she wants 

 medicine, give castor oil. The appearance you speak of is indicative of 

 poverty • feed well, and, as the laying season comes on, the comb will be red. 



Early Brood of Silver-pencilled Hahburghs {Poultry), — Let your 

 chickens have good sound, and net weak beer to drink. Give them groats, 

 bread and milk, cooked meat chopped fine. Feed them after dark and before 

 daylight- by candlelight. Always recollect you have sixteen hours night 

 to eight of daylight, and you must lessen the consequences by late and 

 early feeding. Let the rip with the heu under it be in a sheltered and dry 

 place. Let it be warmed, but it does not require to be artificially warmed. 

 The later they are fed at night the less necessity there is for early morning 

 feeding. 



Partridges.— On the 7th inst. some amusement was created in the quiet 

 little market town of Lutterworth by a covey of five or six Partridges 

 alighting in the centre of the town, causing an immediate scramble amongst 

 those persons who happened to be in the street. Nor is this a solitary 

 instance— on ihe Wednesday previous one bird was captured in the same 

 locality, and on Sunday last two more were also taken. Can you give me 

 any information as to the cause I — A Subscriber. 



[Excessive terror from being pursued by a hawk was the probable cause. 

 A Pheasant about three years since was flushed before the County Hospital 

 in the centre of Winchester.] 



