294 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 6, 1882. 
discard it we know not, but we strongly advise those breeders who 
require a profitable and handsome laying breed to select fine and 
robust Leghorns, irrespective of the tint of their ears. We have 
seen in Italy many good-looking Cuckoo birds, and have lately seen 
some such shown in England. They are pretty, the yellow leg con¬ 
trasting well with the blue plumage ; and Cuckoo fowls are usually 
hardy, so we fancy an importation of them might pay. 
2, The races of the Spanish peninsula. First and foremost among 
these must, of course, stand the White-faced breed, not for its 
merits nor as a useful fowl, but for its old celebrity. There was, 
we believe, a time when from an exhibitor’s point of view size was 
much more thought of than it now is in the breed. Spanish have 
long been famous about Bristol, and we believe that in one yard 
thereabouts long pre-eminent there were grand and most robust 
birds. Such doubtless made the reputation of Spanish hens as 
layers. Too much stress has long been laid on the abnormal deve¬ 
lopment of the white face; hence, doubtless, the degeneracy of the 
breed, or at least of many strains of it, in laying powers. Pure 
white White-faced Spanish have been. They seem to have been 
the albinos of their kind, and not a separate family, and therefore 
should hardly be sought, however pretty, as profitable poultry. 
Minorcas (or, as some people call them, Red-faced Spanish) are mar¬ 
vellous egg-producers. They show by far the greatest development 
of comb of all this large-combed race, and certainly surpass all others 
as layers. A handsome pen of glossy black Minorcas in good con¬ 
dition is a pretty sight. The white variety, too, though not so 
common, seems a distinct and equally hardy race. With these the 
white earlobe is natural, and very pretty it looks against their bright 
red faces. Of all the bright or delicate colours of fowls there is none 
which we have found so much to catch the eye and take the fancy 
of non-fanciers as the soft dun and rich steel-blues of Andalusians. 
Their tints cannot be described; they must be seen to be admired. 
A class of Andalusians at a large poultry show generally has a crowd 
about it. They, too, are very good layers, and we only hope that 
the efforts of fanciers to produce hyper-exactness of lacing on the 
breast or other fancy points will not cause them to overlook size and 
vigour. It is a useful and beautiful breed. It would be a sad pity 
for the sake of one additional point of beauty to risk degeneracy. 
One more variety there is, very little known, which lovers of the 
race might care to cultivate. We mean the Ancona breed. Of 
course, if correctly named it should be classed with Italian fowls, 
but those we have seen had so much more the look of the Spanish 
sub-varieties that we should fancy its nomenclature might be incor¬ 
rect. However that may be, Anconas are speckled black and white, 
and in form resemble small Minorcas. It is a long while since we 
saw any in England. Some were shown in 1879 at the Jersey show, 
and are probably still to be found in the island or in our south-western 
counties. 
Such are the varieties of a race of fowls which we believe to be 
almost unrivalled as layers of large eggs. Hamburghs may surpass 
them in number, but do not approach them in size of eggs. All of 
them bear moderate confinement well, and if a fair proportion of 
early pullets are annually kept to lay through the autumn and 
early winter will, with tolerable management, form profitable egg- 
producers. As, however, we have said, where profit is the deside¬ 
ratum, though a pure and distinctive breed may be selected, other 
points must be looked to than mere fancy ones in the selection of 
stock. Here and there the best cupwinner may also be the best 
layer, but, as a rule, the race will not stand interbreeding to bring 
out particular points.—0. 
INCUBATORS. 
I sitall be glad to know how any of your readers who have a 
“ henwife ” incubator have succeeded with it or vice versa. A 
register also of heats in drawers, &c., and times of attention during 
the twenty-four hours, will greatly oblige.'—C. T. H. 
[The “ henwife ” incubator, having a somewhat small watertank, 
requires to be worked in a room with a fairly even temperature. 
We believe it has in several cases given very good results. It re¬ 
quires about one gallon of water three, times daily. We use one 
as a drying box, and find it keeps up its heat very well for that 
purpose with one gallon and a half night and morning.] 
THE POULTRY CLUB. 
A meeting of the Committee of the Poultry Club was held on 
Friday, March 31st, at the Charing Cross Hotel. There were present 
the Hon. and Rev. F. G. Dutton (in .the chair), Messrs. T. W. 
Anns, R. A. Boissier, G. B. C. Breeze, A. Comyns, S. Lucas, and C. F. 
Montresor. 
New Member.— The following new member was elected—John E. 
Mapplebeck, F.L.S., Hartfield, Moseley Wake Green, Birmingham. 
Disqualification at Dove Yalley Snow.—A case which had on 
several previous occasions been under the consideration of the Com¬ 
mittee, and had been postponed for the purpose of obtaining further 
evidence, was again considered. The Secretary of the Dove Yalley 
Show, which was held under Poultry Club rules, reported on 
January 7th that at the show held on December 28th, 1881, a Duck¬ 
wing Game Bantam cockerel, shown by Mr. W. Knapton of Rother¬ 
ham, had been disqualified by the Judge (Mr. E. Hutton) for being 
overtrimmed, two of the feathers on each side of the bird’s tail having 
been removed. Mr. Knapton upon being asked for an explanation 
alleged that an accident had happened to the bird on the railway 
platform as he was about sending it off, when he had taken it from 
its hamper to show to a friend, and some feathers were accidentally 
pulled from the tail. This account was corroborated by the person to 
whom the bird was alleged to have been shown. On the other hand, 
there was the testimony of the Judge, the Secretary, and four other 
witnesses that the bird’s tail had the appearance of having had two 
of the quill feathers on each side cut off close to the root in such a 
way that the skin would probably grow over them. Mr. Knapton had 
purchased the bird in the previous July, and it had moulted in his 
possession. It was resolved— 
“ That Mr. IV. Knapton be disqualified for one year from March 31st, 1882, from 
exhibiting at shows held under Poultry Club rules.” 
The Disqualification at Gosforth Show.— This case, the par¬ 
ticulars of which have already appeared in the poultry papers, was 
under consideration, but the decision of it was postponed until a special 
meeting of the Committee to be held on the 17th inst. 
Honorary Life Members. —The position and privileges of hono¬ 
rary life members were, at the instance of the Secretary, discussed, 
and defined to be the same in all respects as those of full members. 
Next Meeting. —The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 
the 17th inst. at the Charing Cross Hotel at 2 p.m. — Alex. Comyns, 
Hon. Sec.. 47, Chancery Lane, London, W.C. April 4th, 1882. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Pullets Losing their Feathers (A. (7.).—We do not quite understand 
your query. If it be on their backs that your pullets are losing their feathers, 
the only remedy is to separate them from the male bird, or allow him a greater 
number of hens. If it be on the under parts we can only suggest vermin as the 
cause. If these be present rub in flowers of sulphur and sprinkle paraffin in the 
nests, &c. 
Fowl House (J. B .).—Whitewash the entire inside of your fowl house. It 
will keep it cool instead of adding to the heat as suggested. You must give 
more ventilation in the summer than just now. If you add a pound of pitch to 
each gallon of tar and apply hot, throwing fine sand or lime over the roof after¬ 
wards, you will find it dry quickly and make a good roof. 
Hen Laying Yolkless Eggs ( J.B .).—Your hen is suffering from some 
disorder of the oviduct. Put her on a non-stimulating diet, and give a dose of 
oil. 
Manure for Carrots (IF. J. C .).—In all soils congenial to the growth of 
Carrots, where a liberal course of cultivation has been pursued for some years 
previously, we do not find the Carrot crop requires any manure, a large and 
heavy produce being almost certain ; yet we have found it advantageous to 
drill with the seed about 2 cwt. of bone superphosphate per acre with a few 
ashes for the purpose of forwarding the young plants. We cannot advise the 
use of farmyard dung for this crop, but in the case of land being out of culti¬ 
vation, or not well suited for the crop, we would apply some artificial manure. 
We think that Peruvian guano is best, and applied broadcast previous to the 
last ploughing, as we have found when harrowed-in on the surface it encourages 
the growth of weeds, and causes the Carrot plant to throw out an unusual 
number of small surface roots, which are detrimental to its growth. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 32'40” N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.; Altitude,111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
1882. 
March. 
• O 
0> O* c3„ 
S cu 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
0 . 
O 
£ a 
or* 
| Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Rain. 
April. 
5 « g’ -1 
Dry. 
Wet. 
5 o 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass. 
Sun. 26 
Inches. 
29.322 
deg. 
41.0 
deg. 
38.4 
N.W. 
deg. 
44.2 
deg. 
50.1 
deg. 
32.8 
deg 
104.0 
deg. 
32.9 
In. 
Mon. 27 
30.130 
45.0 
41.6 
W. 
43.8 
63.3 
35.5 
101.4 
31.3 
—. 
Tues. 28 
30.248 
48.4 
45.6 
w. 
43.6 
55.3 
38.2 
90.0 
31.9 
— 
Wed. 29 
30.003 
52.4 
50.3 
w. 
44.8 
58.7 
48.3 
82.5 
45.9 
0.010 
Thurs. 30 
30.670 
48.3 
44.3 
w. 
45.6 
56.4 
42.0 
108.5 
38 G 
0.080 
Friday 31 
29.547 
45.9 
42.2 
N.W. 
45.7 
55.6 
38.2 
104.8 
32 3 
— 
Satur. 1 
29.758 
51.3 
4G.2 
S.E. 
45.5 
60.8 
38.8 
110.0 
35.3 
— 
29.954 
47.5 
44.1 
44.7 
55.7 
39.1 
100.2 
35.5 
0.090 
REMARKS. 
26th.—Heavy squall with rain and snow 6.5 to 6.15 A.M.; fine after 9 A.M., with 
cold squally wind. 
27th.—Cold and overcast, with fine bright intervals; still windy. 
28th.—Cloudy ; bright sunshine at intervals. 
29th.—Warmer ; cloudy ; slight rain at times. 
30th.—Fine bright sunshine and cold wind ; calm with rain in evening. 
31st.—Overcast at times, but generally fine and bright. 
1st.—Fine and bright, with cold wind. 
Temperature higher than last week, the nights being warmer. This is the 
seventh consecutive week of which the temperature has been above the average. 
—G. J. Symons. 
