112 
Our  Canaries 
year  at  this  stage,  and  I  know  of  no  remedy  to  cure  it.  A  pinch  of  Epsom 
salts  in  the  birds'  drinking  water  sometimes  works  wonders,  but  for  one  nest 
you  rear  you  will  lose  a  dozen  if  they  begin  to  show  these  symptoms  at  this 
stage. 
WATCH  THE  HENS. 
Some  hens,  I  believe,  would  sit  three  months  if  they  were  allowed  to  do  so. 
These  I  call  wasters.  They  seem  to  forget  that  the  youngsters  want  feeding, 
or  do  not  care.  They  will  squash  them  flat  in  the  bottom  of  the  nest  in  two 
days.  I  have  kept  some  of  this  sort  until  another  season,  but  I  find  nine  out 
of  ten  are  the  same  the  year  after.  The  best  plan  if  you  have  a  hen  of  this 
description  is  to  remove  the  eggs  to  another  hen  and  try  to  rear  the  young  that 
way.  There  is  a  great  opening  for  scientists  to  discover  a  good  rehable  feeding 
mixture  that  would  be  safe  to  make  them  feed,  but  then  it  may  not  all  be  for 
the  best,  as  we  should  get  overstocked.  The  market  would  soon  be  full. 
They  would  get  practically  of  no  value,  so  it  perhaps  works  out  right." 
AFTER  REMOVAL. 
Continuing  from  this  stage,  Mr.  Thos.  Arnot,  of  Hawick,  of  Border  Fancy 
fame,  gives  his  method  of  treating  the  young  in  the  following  sentences : — 
"  From  the  time  I  take  the  young  from  their  parents,  I  continue  the  egg 
food  and  crushed  hemp  seed,  with  a  piece  of  stale  bread  soaked  in  boiled  milk, 
three  times  a  week ;  and  twice  a  week  I  take  a  little  grit  and  sieve  it,  putting 
the  finest  amongst  the  egg  food  until  the  young  are  able  to  crack  the  Canary 
seed,  which  is  generally  when  about  six  weeks  old.  I  also  give  a  little  German 
rape  seed  on  the  top  of  their  Canary  seed ;  this  they  seem  very  fond  of. 
Should  any  show  signs  of  softness  caused  by  scouring,  I  add  some  cuttle-fish  bone 
amongst  the  egg  food,  and  if  it  does  not  put  them  right  I  just  try  tincture  of 
gentian,  lo  to  15  drops  in  the  drinking  water,  and  keep  sprinkling  the  floor 
with  permanganate  of  potash  during  hot  weather,  and  add  15  to  20  drops  to 
the  bathing  water." 
WEANING  THE  SPANGLED  ONES. 
In  no  variety  is  more  care  required  durmg  tne  nestling  and  weaning  stage 
than  in  the  Lizards.  One  little  error  of  judgment  which  exposes  the  plucking 
by  the  hen  for  a  single  day  may  be  fatal  to  the  show  career  of  a  promising 
bird.  It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  to  find  the  most  skilful  breeders  of  the 
variety  adopting  somewhat  drastic  methods  of  weaning,  as  shown  in  these 
notes  from  that  veteran  fancier  Mr.  Levi  Butterworth,  of  Rochdale. 
"  In  the  weaning  process,"  writes  Mr.  Butterworth,  "  many  of  the  old 
fanciers  had  difl"erent  methods,  as  fanciers  have  to-day,  some  preferred  taking 
the  hen  from  the  young,  leaving  the  young  in  the  cage  they  were  reared  in. 
