KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



303 



and stronger plants than later ones, and are there- 

 fore much to be preferred. 



Water copiously all plants in pots, newly-planted 

 seedlings, &c, in the evenings. Gather all de- 

 cayed flowers, as it prolongs the flowering season 

 of such plants as Calceolarias, China Roses, &c, 

 and is, besides, a nice occupation for children. 

 Destroy weeds. Tie up all advancing flower-stems 

 at an early period , for if allowed to grow strag- 

 gling at first, no after-management will make them 

 look neat. Examine the buds of Roses for grubs : 

 any plants infested with worms may be cleansed 

 of them by watering with lime-water. 



POULTRY AND EGGS,— &c. 



FOWLS WITH TOP-KNOTS. 



Under the new classification of poultry, 

 Mr. Editor, it has become fashionable to call all 

 fowls with crests or tufts of feathers on their 

 heads by the name of Polish. I am at a loss to 

 understand from what reason, since Poland cer- 

 tainly has nothing to do with the origin of any of 

 our breeds of fowls. The name is a misnomer, or 

 at^ least a corruption of something else. Nor am 

 I inclinedto consider all the top-knotted varieties 

 of domestic fowls of the same origin. 



The following are the varieties which I think 

 should be acknowledged. 1. — The Padua fowl, 

 so called from the fact of their having been culti- 

 vated in Padua, a Venetian legation of Austrian 

 Italy, chief-town Padua. They are described as 

 being very large fowls, the cock so tall that it can 

 peck crumbs from a common dining-table, and 

 often weighing as much as ten pounds ; the comb 

 moderate sized, behind which is a large tuft of 

 feathers, which is still larger in the hens, their 

 voice hoarse, eggs large, legs yellow, plumage 

 various ; they are supposed to be descended from 

 the Gallus giganteus of Sumatra. Does not this 

 description answer to a tufted Malay ? Poles were 

 also a large fowl. They were of Spanish extrac- 

 tion, but where the Spaniards first obtained them 

 is a matter of doubt ; most likely from some of 

 their western possessions. St. Jago has been 

 named, but which St. Jago is not specified. They 

 were introduced by the Spaniards into the Nether- 

 lands, from whence we obtained them. The Poles 

 were very large roundly-built fowls, rather low on 

 the legs, which were dark-slate or lead-colored ; 

 they were destitute of combs, and had large top- 

 knots of feathers on their heads, that fell over on 

 all sides. They were considered good layers, and 

 of excellent quality of flesh. There were three 

 varieties of colors : the black with white top-knots, 

 the white with black top-knots, and the spangled, 

 the ground color of which was a mixture of ochre, 

 yellow, and black, each feather having a white 

 spangle at its extremity. These three varieties 

 are now very scarce, if indeed they are not quite 

 extinct. 



The Hamburghs (by this name I allude to the 

 tufted fowls formerly known by that name, and 

 not to the Dutch every-day layers, which are 

 now generally known by it,) were, and still are, 

 imported from Hamburgh. I believe them to be 

 a mongrel of the Poles. They are smaller, their 

 tufts are not so large, and are fronted by a small 



comb. They have generally a profusion of beard 

 and whiskers ; their legs are dark, and their 

 plumage is either golden or silver, laced or phea- 

 santed. The laced marking is where the feathers, 

 either golden or silver, are edged or bordered with 

 black, giving them an imbricated appearance. 

 The pheasant marking is where the feathers, 

 either of gold or silver ground colored, are marked 

 or dotted with black at the extremity only, re- 

 sembling the feathers of a cock-pheasant's neck ; 

 whence the name. This marking is often, impro- 

 perly I think, called spangled. 



Polands, Polish, etc., such as are now generally 

 known by these names, are a mixed lot. They 

 are crosses from the foregoing, and, perhaps, also 

 from some others, and, consequently, vary con- 

 siderably. Hence arise the disputes respecting 

 the beards, etc. Beards, or muffles, are pre- 

 eminently a characteristic of the old Hamburghs, 

 but it did also occasionally occur in the Paduans 

 and Poles, as it frequently does in all other tufted 

 fowls. 



There is a tufted cuckoo, or slate-colored fowl, 

 known as Egyptians or blue Polands. Also a 

 common white-tufted fowl called the lark-crested 

 fowl. Moreover, a variety of game fowls, with 

 small tufts, used to be very plentiful some years 

 back, and esteemed for their courage ; from which 

 I think it is evident that all tufted fowls can hardly 

 be considered of one common origin. — B. P. 

 Brent, Besseh Green, Seven-Oaks, Kent. 



HOW TO KEEP EGGS FRESH. 



Some of your readers may like to know how to 

 keep eggs fresh. I send you an account of the 

 method practised here : — Take a half-inch board 

 of any convenient length and breadth, and pierce 

 it as full of holes (each one and a half inch in 

 diameter) as you can, without the risk of break- 

 ing one hole into another. I find that a board 

 of two feet six inches in length, and one foot 

 broad has five dozen in it, say twelve rows of five 

 each. Then take four strips of the same board of 

 two inches broad, and nail them together edge- 

 wise into a rectangular frame of the same size as 

 your board. Nail the board upon the frame, and 

 the work is done ; unless you choose, for the sake 

 of appearance, to nail a beading of three-quarters 

 of an inch round the board on the top. This looks 

 better, and sometimes may prevent an egg from 

 rolling off. 



Put your eggs in this board as they come in 

 from the poultry-house, the small end down, and 

 they will keep good for six months if you take the 

 following precautions : — Take care that the eggs 

 do not get wet either in the nest or afterwards 

 (in summer, hens are fond of laying among the 

 nettles or long grass, and any eggs taken from 

 such nests in wet weather should be put away for 

 immediate use) ; keep them in a cool room in 

 summer, and out of the reach of frost in winter, 

 and then, I think, the party trying the experi- 

 ment will have abundant reason to be satisfied 

 with it. I find there are some in my larder which 

 I am assured have been there nearer eight months 

 than six, and which are still perfectly fresh and 

 good. In fact, it is a practice here to accumulate 

 a large stock of eggs in August, September, and 



