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KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



blooms generally having attracted much notice, 

 I beg, Mr. Editor, to offer, through you, a few 

 brief remarks upon its culture, more especially 

 as respects watering. I have tried all kinds of 

 manure, likewise guano; but I have found 

 nothing, as yet, equal to soot water and soap- 

 suds. It is a general rule with most growers to 

 place half-rotten manure round the roots, and 

 then draw the earth up so as to form a basin, a 

 practice which is greatly required; but there is 

 an evil attending it, for oftentimes when the 

 roots are taken up to be stored, they are found 

 to be very much cankered or warty, and hundreds 

 of worms are also discovered there ; by watering 

 with soot- water and soapsuds the roots will be 

 perfectly clean and free from all insects, and 

 much larger flowers may be expected. The most 

 successful traps for earwigs, I have found to be 

 the bloom stalks of hog- weed, or rhubarb, &c , 

 dipped in milk, to soften the pith, which earwigs 

 are particularly fond of; blowing them out of 

 the stems into a bottle, and pouring scalding 

 water on them, is the quickest way to dispose of 

 so great an enemy. — E. Bennett, Perdiswell. 



A sagacious and cunning Dog. — All dogs are 

 clever, Mr. Editor, but some are like certain 

 specimens of the genus "homo," "cunning" to 

 boot. The late Sir Richard Sullivan, of Thames 

 JDitton, had one of these cunning dogs ; and as I 

 personally know his beginning and his end, you 

 shall, in few words, learn his history. You insist, 

 very properly, on the early education of every 

 animal being carefully attended to. I fear this 

 Newfoundland dog was educated in a bad school, 

 or his " opportunities" were neglected. A charge 

 was once brought against him of having " worried 

 some sheep to death." As he was always kept 

 chained up, his master indignantly replied that 

 it was impossible. Still, however, repeated com- 

 plaints of a similar kind continued to pour in. His 

 fate was sealed. The farmer who owned the 

 flock of sheep set a watch upon my gentleman. 

 One moonlight night, when he thought all was 

 quiet, he was observed to look warily round ; and 

 thinking the coast was clear, he proceeded to 

 slip his head through the collar which was round 

 his neck. Away he flew, with a light step, to 

 the sheep-fold, singled out two sheep, and killed 

 them both. He then returned home, and gently 

 slipped on his collar — looking, in the morning, as 

 demure as a Jesuit. His time was come. The 

 executioner entered. A glance passed between 

 the two; the blow fell — the dog was dead! — 

 Verax. 



Vermin in Bird Cages. — I have derived so 

 much valuable information, Mr. Editor, from 

 Our Jowrnal, that I feel it a pleasant duty to 

 assist in extending its usefulness. This cannot be 

 done better than by contributing to it the results 

 of my experience. You have written powerfully 

 about the Thugs, or minute vermin, that infest 

 bird-cages. They are indeed formidable, deadly 

 adversaries to our little " pets." I have found 

 your remarks very just, and your remedy good ; 

 but I have found one remedy, — one cure, that is 

 unfailing, I send it you, impressed with the 

 firm conviction that " one trial will prove the 

 fact." My cages have been full of vermin of late, 



and one in particular I was about to burn. How- 

 ever, as it was a first-rate cage, I thought I 

 would just try " once more." I procured some 

 rectified vegetable naptha, and with this I went 

 carefully to work. I first poured some of the 

 spirit into a small tin oil-can, and with a 

 camel hair-brush dipped into it, I anointed 

 every crack and every crevice in the cage. Sub- 

 tle as the Prince of Darkness, every portion of the 

 unction penetrated the innermost portions of the 

 wood. The enemy fell like hail; in five minutes 

 every one of them was slain. No need will there 

 ever be for a second dose. Tell your subscribers 

 this, and you and I shall descend to the grave 

 as public benefactors. — G. S. B., Burnley. 



[Very many thanks for this. It will be wel- 

 comed all over the world.] 



Eggs carried away by Crows. — Some time ago, 

 as I was riding in the country, I saw a carrion 

 crow {Corvus cot one) fly out of a barn with an 

 egg in its beak. It flew about sixty yards into a 

 field, laid down the egg, and went for another. 

 I then disturbed it, when it flew three or four 

 hundred yards, with the other egg, to its feast. 

 I searched for the first, which I had great diffi- 

 culty in finding It was placed in the print of a 

 horse's foot, and completely covered over with 

 clods. It was perfectly uninjured. I was ex- 

 tremely surprised to find that it could carry so 

 large a substance, notwithstanding the saw-like 

 edge of the mandible. The general impression 

 is, that it pierces the egg with one mandible. 

 Such, however, appears not to be the case. — F. D., 

 Pershore. 



Average Speed of Camels. — Mr. Editor, — In 

 Captain Peel's "Ride through the Nubian 

 Desert/' are some curious particulars of the 

 camel. The following, referring to their speed, 

 is interesting: — " In crossing the Nubian Desert, I 

 paid considerable attention to the march of the 

 camels, hoping it may be of some service here- 

 after in determining our position. The number 

 of strides in a minute with the same foot, varied 

 very little, only from thirty-seven to thirty-nine, 

 and thirty-eight was the average; but the length 

 of the stride was more uncertain, varying from 

 six feet six inches to seven feet six. As we were 

 always urging the camels, who seemed, like our- 

 selves, to know the necessity of pushing on across 

 that fearful tract, I took seven feet as the 

 average. This gives a speed of 2*62 geographical 

 miles per hour, or exactly three English miles, 

 which may be considered as the highest speed 

 that camels lightly loaded can keep up on"- a 

 journejr. In general, it will not be more than 

 two-and-a-half English miles. My dromedary 

 was one of the tallest, and the seat of the saddle 

 was six feet six inches above the ground." — 

 Anne D. 



The Gutta Percha Tree.— The Taban (Json- 

 andragutta), which was formerly so plentiful, has 

 long since been extinct at Singapore. A few 

 isolated trees may here and there occur; but 

 they are very scarce, and I have not been able to 

 obtain even the sight of one. It must ever be an 

 object of regret, that on the first introduction of 

 the Taban gum, its proper name was not pre- 



