500 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
it can be clearly ascertained how the birds are bred ; but that is 
a matter as to which breeders do not always care to be explicit, 
and conscious ignorance is preferable to supposed knowledge. 
In choosing a bird to cross into a strain regard should be had 
to the points, if any, in which the strain is deficient. The bird 
selected should be of extra merit in such points, and, if it is not 
intended to in-breed to the new purchase, exaggerated develop¬ 
ment in the points will be advantageous. A knowledge of the 
family from which the selected bird is descended is also of im¬ 
portance for reasons already noted, and where practicable that 
family should be (except as regard defects) as much as possible of 
the same type as the breeder’s own strain. Where the breed kept 
is one in which it is customary to mate up separate yards for 
breeding cockerels and pullets, and that plan is not followed by 
the intending purchaser, extra care is necessary in ascertaining 
the family history of the new purchase. We have known cases 
in which most unlooked-for peculiarities have turned up in 
cockerels hatched from birds which were only intended for pullet¬ 
breeding and vice versa, and such peculiarities are generally very 
difficult to breed out. In addition to cases in which the intro¬ 
duction of fresh blood becomes necessary to counteract the ill 
effects of in-breeding, there are also cases in which in consequence 
of some original deficiency in the strain fresh blood has to be 
infused. These cases require special mention, inasmuch as the 
existence of such a defect generally necessitates the crossing-in 
of the new blood—intended to counteract it—more than once, 
and in fact leads rather to the formation of a new strain than to 
the mere introduction of fresh blood into a strain already formed. 
In such circumstances the new blood must be of special excellence 
in the point in which the old strain was defective, and must also 
be of such general excellence as to be fit to form the foundation 
of a strain. 
The considerations which are applied to the introduction of 
fresh blood to the poultry yard are generally applicable to the 
Pigeon loft, with the exception that as Pigeons are monogamous 
it is immaterial as regards space whether a cock or hen be used 
to infuse the necessary fresh blood. The choice need, therefore, 
only be affected by regard to the preponderating influence of the 
cock or hen in reference to the points in the strain which most 
require amendment. If the weak points be those in which the 
male parent has most influence, a cock should be selected of 
special merit in these points, and vice versa. The last-named 
consideration also deserves attention where fresh blood is intro¬ 
duced into the poultry yard to counteract defects of the strain. 
(To be continued.) 
POULTRY NOTES. 
Those not well acquainted with the so-called “ non-sitting ” 
varieties of poultry very frequently are alarmed if a Spanish, 
Hamburgh, or Polish hen by chance shows a desire to incubate, 
fearing it an indication that she is not of a well-bred race. It 
may be well at this time of year to inform them that such cases 
arc by no means uncommon, that they do not prove any impurity 
of breed, and that as a rule such hens turn out excellent sitters 
and mothers. If we remember rightly Mrs. Arbuthnot, a very 
accurate authority on poultry lore, gives her experience in her 
book that Hamburghs which enjoy a wide range frequently sit. 
Our observation leads us to agree entirely with her, for our Golden- 
pencils, which range at large through woods, sit year after year, 
and rear immense broods, though generally a little late in the 
season. A single Silver-pencilled hen too of high pedigree, which 
we possess, has both last year and this year done the same. 
None are more careful and faithful mothers; they are peculiarly 
adapted to Bantams and Pheasants.—C. 
TOY PIGEONS. 
(ORIENTAL FRILLED PIGEONS.) 
The importations from the East which have brought us Tur- 
biteens have also brought us many other frilled Pigeons of great 
beauty and delicate colours and markings. Like Turbiteens they 
are all frilled on the breast, have feathered hocks and legs, and, 
like Turbiteens, they may either be plain-headed or point-crested. 
Their general form and points of form, too, are the same as those 
of Turbiteens, but there is a difference in their markings ; in fact 
there are, so to speak, two distinct families of them. Some, 
Turbit-like, have white for their ground and a shield of varie¬ 
gated colour on the wing, where Turbits have one whole colour; 
their tails are coloured too, as those of some English Turbits seem 
to have been of old ; others are parti-coloured all over, and so more 
like Owls. 
The principal sub-varieties of the former class are called Satinettes, 
Brunettes, Bluettes, and Silverettes; of the latter class Blondinettes 
are the only very distinctive type. It m ust be remembered that there 
is no generic difference between the different sub-varieties of the 
Satinette tribe, as there is no generic difference between Red, Yellow, 
and Black Jacobins or Turbits. The difference is chiefly one of the 
degree of shades, the production of which must be studied by a 
fancier who makes any attempt at scientific breeding. The colour 
of the shoulder or shield of Satinettes is very peculiar ; it is a mix¬ 
ture of black, white, and a kind of pink ; these shades are inter¬ 
mixed in different ways. The marking of the tail in good speci¬ 
mens is very accurate and distinctive, each feather having a round 
white spot on a darker ground at the end of it. The Brunette, is 
simply a lighter Satinette, to which it has much the same relation 
that a Yellow Turbit has to a Red. Bluettes and Silverettes have 
bars on their wings, and so correspond with Blue and Silver 
Turbits. The colour of their shoulders and tails is blue and silver 
respectively, and their bars are double— i.e., two distinct lines of 
white and brown, like those of Blue “ Shields ” in their younger 
stage, though we believe in the case of Silverettes brown should 
be absent from the wing, and the bars should be black and white. 
Blondinettes, which, as we have said, are coloured all over, are 
very varied in the degree of their shades. Their general colour is 
a mixture of blue and the pink of Satinettes. The head, neck, 
and body show the blue most clearly, while the pink marking is 
most distinctly seen on the shoulders. Their flight feathers are 
generally laced with black, and the tail marking is very distinct. 
It is in vain to search any of the old works on Pigeons for 
information on these varieties. They were not known to our 
ancestors. All the more interesting is it for young fanciers to 
master for themselves their peculiarities, and the effects of various 
unions of the different sub-varieties. We are too apt in these 
days to trust entirely to books and to the labours of others. A 
little observation would in this case be well worth the while of 
any intelligent lover of Pigeons. That the Eastern fanciers must 
have spent much time in producing birds so unlike in colour to 
the original wild Pigeon, and which accurately reproduce mark¬ 
ings so peculiar as those of the tails of these birds, is without 
doubt. Our observation of them may be much helped by a visit 
to the autumn show at Birmingham. Special classes are now 
made there for oriental frilled Pigeons, and it is a real treat to 
see the beautiful collections which Mr. Ludlow and other of their 
admirers there exhibit. We do not profess ourselves to have had 
any large experience in them, but those which we have tried have 
proved very hardy when kept in a natural way and chiefly at 
liberty. We believe that other sub-varieties may still be imported ; 
indeed, we have seen several, but do not venture to assert that 
they have been bred long enough to one distinctive type to repro¬ 
duce their like. We once much admired at Birmingham a “ Blue 
Vizor.” His body was white, his wings blue with white bars, and 
his tail blue with white markings ; but his distinctive feature was 
a blue head, as if a coloured veil had been drawn over it. Such 
rarities, however, can only be acquired by fanciers who can afford 
to pay for them.—C. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE,LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 32'40" N.; Long.0°8'0" W.; Altitude.lll feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
d 
1881. 
June. 
| Barome- 
! ter at 32° 
1 and Sea 
i Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grtss. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Tn. 
Sun. 5 
29.600 
59.2 
55.8 
S.W 
64.0 
64.2 
54.4 
81.5 
51.6 
0.575 
Mon. 6 
29.447 
48.5 
48.2 
N. 
60.9 
62.7 
46.8 
120.7 
48-4 
0.392 
Tues. 7 
29.5S9 
50.8 
47.7 
N. 
58.4 
55.6 
43.9 
94.5 
42.7 
0.028 
Wed. 8 
29.883 
53.0 
47.4 
N.E. 
56.2 
63.0 
41.0 
118.7 
36.6 
— 
Thurs. 9 
30.180 
50.9 
45.1 
N.W. 
55.0 
58.0 
37.4 
113.6 
34.5 
— 
Friday 10 
30.190 
55.4 
46.4 
N.W. 
55.1 
63.5 
39.6 
120.8 
36.5 
0.010 
Satur. 11 
30.012 
57.0 
60.2 
N.E. 
56.8 
64.4 
47.6 
101.3 
46.7 
— 
Means. 
29.845 
53.5 
48.7 
58.0 
61.6 
44.4 
107.3 
42.3 
1.005 
REMARKS. 
5th.—Dull and overcast; rain commenced 0.30 P.M., continued steadily rest of 
the day. 
6th.—Wet morning; afternoon fine, with some sunshine and thunder at in¬ 
tervals ; thunderstorm in N.W. 6.40 to 7 p.M.; wet evening. 
7th.—Cooler, with slight showers during the day ; hail at 11 A.M.; fine evening. 
8th.—Cool, fine generally ; slight showers in forenoon. 
9th.—Cold ; fair on the whole ; windy. 
10th.—Calm, fair, cloudy, and cool. 
11th.—Fine morning ; hazy and thick in afternoon ; fair evening. 
A most remarkable fall of temperature followed the heat of the week ending 
with June 4th. The fall has affected all the elements of temperature, but most 
markedly the average maximum temperature in shade, which in last week was 
78-5°, and this week only 61 - 6°, a fall of 16 - 9°—a rare if not unprecedented fall.— 
G. J. Symons. 
