February 2,1882. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 103 
tunity, yet their numerous rootlets and fibres that spread near 
the surface and take in plant food when the plant requires it 
most—namely, at the time of producing the lateral shoots, the 
burr, and the Hop. 
We must next consider the manures usually applied for Hop 
plants, and experience teaches us that manures rich in nitrogen 
are the best, especially as what we call baud manures being of 
small bulk and easily applied with the greatest economy, in which 
catalogue we must include woollen rags, shoddy, Rape dust, 
guano, superphosphate, fur waste, bone dust, and blood manure. 
The bulky manures and the most lasting are probably the most 
advisable, except for temporary purposes at and during the 
periods of growth of the plants. These consist of farmyard 
manure improved by the oilcake consumed by cattle, also sprats 
and other fish mixed in earth or dung for a time before appli¬ 
cation to the hills, and should be forked into the ground. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—The weather having been foggy, but without rain 
or frost up to the time we are writing, has enabled the fallow plough¬ 
ing to be completed. The work lately has been carting dung from 
the cattle yards and boxes to a heap for land which will come in for 
Mangolds. As the land has been fallow-ploughed it is not yet dry 
enough to lay out and plough in the dung ; it therefore is made into 
a heap in a convenient place adjoining the field. This would be 
without much advantage, except that in distant fields it accelerates 
the work of laying out, when the heap is made in or near the field 
where it will be required for use, and saves labour at a more impor¬ 
tant and busy period. Otherwise we prefer to allow the dung to 
remain and accumulate in the boxes and cattle pens, and lay it out 
fresh rather than draw it to heap where fermentation and consequent 
loss of ammonia is always going on. When, however, the carts are 
allowed to pass over the heap as the loads are added, the compression 
caused thereby reduces to a minimum any serious loss when the 
dung is required to be laid out and spread within a month or six 
weeks from the time of making the mixen. 
Live Stock .—The Down lambs now in many instances are becoming 
strong enough to follow the ewes in the Turnip fields, and should be 
enticed into root and hay feeding ; but in order to induce them to eat 
cake or meal early the roots should be passed twice through the 
cutter, in which case, the pieces being very small, the lambs can eat 
them whilst very young. To enable them to eat cake or meal early 
it should be made fine and mixed with the cut roots, Carrots being 
the best roots except Savoy Cabbages, which give very small pieces 
of leaf to mix with the cake, and can therefore be eaten more easily 
by young lambs at the earliest possible period. The dairy cows 
should now at the mangers have as much in the value as a fatting 
bullock if they are in full milk or just calved, and they will pay as 
well for liberal feeding as the oxen, especially if a suckling dairy is 
kept, and this will pay better than selling milk unless it is done near 
a town or railway station. All the young steers and heifers may go 
out at daytime on to dry pastures, as they afterwards eat their food 
in the yards with more relish, whether it consists of straw, roots, 
and cotton cake, or of only roots and straw less the cake. The 
bullocks feeding for the butcher in the boxes must now be fed at 
full head—that is to say, having 4 tbs. of linseed cake and 2 tbs. of 
bean or bai'leymeal, or otherwise say 5 tbs. of cotton cake with the 
meal; but in order to insure good health and steady progress let the 
cake be mixed with the cut roots, which should not exceed of Swedes 
65 tbs. per day, and if with Mangolds 56 tbs. will be sufficient, and 
with as much clean sweet Oat straw as they will eat, but without 
hay. 
THE PRODUCTION OF NEW VARIETIES OF 
POULTRY. 
Poultry fanciers are not so experimental as they might be. 
German Pigeon fanciers have long been celebrated for their 
talent in the production of new varieties of “Toys indeed, it 
has been said that, given a desired pattern and four or five years, 
a German breeder will produce its like in Pigeons. There is, of 
course, some exaggeration in this ; still, so various and interesting 
are the new types of Pigeons which are constantly arriving 
from Germany, that there can be no question of the great skill of 
the producers. Do poultry fanciers never make any attempts in 
the same line ? In times past they have certainly done so. 
Witness the results of Sir John Sebright’s labours in a breed, not 
only in marking and plumage peculiarly distinctive, but in form, 
too, singular from its freedom from sickles and hackle in the 
male bird. Long, however, before the days of Laced Bantams, 
there seem3 every reason to think that there have been fanciers 
who have bred alike for form and useful qualities. Thus 
probably were by degrees established, the non-sitting varieties by 
constant selection of those hens which produced the greatest 
number of eggs and least often became broody. 
Natural selection may cause curious changes, but there is no 
kind of evidence that the more peculiar and distinctive races of 
poultry, as we now possess them, were ever in a wild state. On 
the contrary, there is much to show that at some time or other 
they have been produced by selection of set purpose. We do not 
believe in the very modern origin often assigned to the chief 
French breeds, for the good reason that in pictures, especially 
Dutch, of the seventeenth century, the fowls generally roughly 
resemble the Houdan ; but undoubtedly particular races of 
tuEted fowls descended from common ancestors with the tribe 
of Polands, have been specially cultivated in different French 
districts, and in all probability the one most suitable for the table 
—viz., the Houdan, has at some time or other been improved in 
shape and plumpness by the introduction of the blood of the 
English table fowl the Dorking. To come, however, to very 
recent times, it is not, we believe, thirty years since the now 
everywhere popular Brahma was first introduced. It was origi¬ 
nally a grey fowl, or almost a blue one. It is needless to state 
that from this grey fowl were produced by selection both the 
Dark and Light breeds, now so perfectly distinct, and both bred 
up to the severest standards of minute detail in marking and 
plumage. Here is assuredly much encouragement for anyone 
who (to quote the phraseology of the columbarian societies), 
wishes to indulge in the “ naturalistic pastime ” of producing 
something new in the poultry line. 
Let us see where there is an opening for experiments. It would, 
perhaps, be best to begin by attempting to revive some of the lost 
sub-varieties, which undoubtedly have existed, but are now, so far 
as we know, lost. If a single specimen can be found at all ap¬ 
proaching the desired standard much of the work is already done. 
We believe in the early days of the Cochin mania, when there 
were but a few dozen birds in England, that several strains—good 
according to the then prevailing idea—were founded on a single 
pure-bred bird. Some mongrel remotely resembling the treasure 
was found and mated with it. The most promising of the produce 
were mated again with the genuine parent, and the best of the 
second generation again with the original bird. In the same way 
a famous strain of laced Fantail Pigeons were derived from a 
single imported laced bird. There are probably here and there 
still to be found birds which in some degree resemble most of the 
lost breeds, which would help much in their revival. If we turn 
to the lists of Game fowls published thirty years ago, how many 
sub-varieties do we read of, now quite unknown in the exhibition 
room, yet not necessarily quite extinct ? To rescue some of these 
from extinction would be a profitable task for any intelligent 
b.eeder. Where are the Black Game described in “The Poultry 
Book ” as a peculiarly pure race of great richness of black and of 
high courage ? Or where the Brassy-winged, the Blues, and the 
Cuckoos ? Probably they may live in their descendants of a more 
or less hybrid and degenerate type in the districts where they 
once were bred for fighting ; they certainly are unknown to the 
ordinary fancier and exhibitor. The famous old Knowsley breed 
of Black-breasted Reds with white legs has disappeared as a fancy 
fowl. Or coming to the tufted races, the last of the White 
Polands with black crests was probably that seen by Mr. Brent 
in 1845, so there is not much chance of a survivor of the race being 
found in 1882 ; but here and there a Cuckoo Poland has been 
seen in recent years, and this marking could probably be pro¬ 
duced by judicious crosses among the sub-varieties of Polands 
without the introduction of extraneous blood. Blue with white 
crests, too, are hardly so distinct from the blacks as to be difficult 
of production. Whites are not absolutely extinct, as shown by the 
appearance of a pen or two at the late show of the Poultry Club. 
Here are some good openings for experimental fanciers, and that 
in a breed which will live in health and contentment in quite con¬ 
fined quarters. 
New varieties, too, we have seen of late in “ variety ” classes, 
such as “ Eymore Blacks ” and “ Malvern Greys,” fertile sources 
of amusing controversy now and then when judges are puzzled 
about them. We are not, however, here occupied with crosses, 
first or second, which in their way are extremely useful, and about 
which we have written much, but about the production or revival 
of something more characteristic and permanent. A few years 
ago Japanese Silkies were all white ; we never now see a class of 
the breed without some Brown specimens, very quaint and pretty, 
yet confessedly a recent production. All that they require is a 
little more of the silkiness of the genuine Japanese birds ; a few 
generations of careful selection with a view to this particular 
