JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
370 
ri 
[ October 20, 1881. 
possesses the good and useful qualities of the old Maple. The 
advantage conferred by the new Pea will be appreciated by agri¬ 
culturists, as, if sown in February, the ground can, in an ordinary 
season, be cleared early in July, and a successional fall crop 
secured. The yield of this variety in 1880, from unmanured 
ground under plough, was at the rate of eight quarters per 
acre. In the past season the crop was harvested in good con¬ 
dition before the autumn rains commenced, and no better ex¬ 
emplification for the necessity of this variety could be afforded, 
as in most instances late Peas have been harvested in a very 
unsatisfactory manner in 1881. 
POULTRY HOUSES AND YARDS. 
To the fancier that is, or is to be, autumn should be suggestive 
of the subject of poultry houses. Those who have them may he 
quite sure that before winter they require some repair and attention. 
Those who are for the first time going to set up poultry—and be it 
remembered that the late autumn is a very good time to begin—will 
find some hints on the construction of abodes to their birds not out 
of place. 
We need hardly repeat what we insisted upon hut a few weeks 
ago, that the absolutely necessary requirements for a poultry house 
are a watertight roof and a dry floor. \Ve have known birds thrive 
well in poor draughty sheds, yet dry above and below. Thatch, 
besides being picturesque where poultry houses are in shrubberies 
and pleasure grounds, is an excellent covering, warm in winter and 
cool in summer, if it be well kept up and recovered from time to 
time ; this, however, makes it a somewhat expensive luxury. Where 
roofing has entirely to be renewed we should recommend corrugated 
iron—not, however, as the sole covering, for this would be too cold, 
but as the outside covering of an inner boarded roof. A laj’er of 
straw may with advantage be placed between the boards and iron. 
We need hardly say that the flooring must not be of bricks or stone, 
but of earth rammed down hard, elevated a few inches above the 
surrounding soil; over this hard substratum some sand or sifted 
earth may be thrown, which much facilitates the cleaning process 
and helps to keep the abode sweet. A house with a damp floor can¬ 
not possibly he clean or healthy. To those who have no poultry 
houses at all to begin with, and are going to construct them, it is 
only possible to give somewhat vague advice. Circumstances and 
premises are too various for there to be any stereotyped model h use 
suitable to all; these absolute requisites must be borne in mind, and 
the best be made of any sheds and appliances to hand. We have 
houses of very great variety, and suitable to the requirements of 
fanciers very differently situated. For those whose space is small, 
and who wish to see the whole of their feathered stock at a glance, 
a row of small houses under one roof is useful. Each house, of 
course, has its own small run in front, and the inmates of each in 
turn are let out on to some grass plat or into some little shrubbery 
for exercise and recreation. When space is no object entirely 
detached houses are best; there is in such little fear of disease 
spreading or of the ground being tainted. Cheap and comfortable 
dwellings for a family of Bantams or a couple of larger birds may 
often he constructed in corners of walled yards ; two sides only of 
boarding are required, and if the aspect be good the shelter is com¬ 
plete. For tufted fowls especially such places are very desirable, 
and in addition the whole of the little run attached may with advan¬ 
tage be covered over. The remote detached house, buried in a wood 
or in a rich meadow with long grass, which is a perfect paradise for 
Dorkings or Game, would be death to Polish, which are sure from 
their impeded vision to lose their way in rough places. The small 
cage-like abode, on the other hand, which will do well enough for 
them provided they get an occasional grass run, would be an abso¬ 
lute prison to more peripatetic breeds. 
Moveable houses are a great boon to every fancier who has plenty 
of room ; ground may thus be constantly changed without any 
trouble of its artificial refreshment, and if only ordinary care be 
taken both garden soil and grass land may be benefited as much 
as the birds. Moveable houses may be variously constructed. We 
have seen some among the prize appliances at exhibitions floored 
and raised high on wheels, not unlike the houses of gipsies, to 
be moved by horse or donkey. For our part we always prefer 
house, coops, and all such things of very simple construction. Our 
own moveable houses are small cabins, some with wooden floors 
3 or 4 inches from the ground, and on small wheels. They are 
easily pushed about from place to place. Others have no floors or 
wheels, but are lifted by handles. These are specially adapted for 
grass fields and for summer use. If they are constantly moved 
the grass is greatly benefited by the droppings. We put our 
broods into them as they outgrow their coops. A house is easily 
brought to the po ition of the coops and put in its stead. The 
chickens at once take to it, and then it is pushed off by degrees in 
any direction desired. The bottoms of these houses, which rest on 
the ground, are apt to rot if used through winter in damp places. 
Yards now require attention as well as houses. The gravel of 
small wired-in aviaries becomes tainted sooner than one would 
think, and often is so while it still lo >ks clean. It shou'd be 
renewed now, or if of a very shingly and rough nature may he 
taken up and washed by being pumped on in coarse garden sieves 
and then put back again. Turf which has been eaten and trampled 
down through the summer should now spring up luxuriantly when 
the stock of birds is not too numerous for their runs ; when it does 
so it will absorb the taint of summer, but if it fails to grow properly 
it should now be taken up (for manure and potting it will be very 
valuable), and fresh laid down in its stead. When poultry run 
under shrubs and pat down, as they generally do, the earth, it 
should now be forked over. Shrubs and birds will both profit by 
the operation. Every enclosed grass run is the better for a grand 
walk through it; this affords a dry spot, where the birds can always 
stand in wet weather, and they are at the same time provided with 
a stock of grit to peck at. 
We need hardly say that if poultry runs are in a damp situation 
and on a damp soil they must be well drained, and if they are 
already drained this is the t'me to see that all pipes are clear and in 
working order. Gallinaceous birds are natives of lands for the 
most part dry, and if creatures whose delight it is in a state of 
nature to roll and bask in dusky banks are kept in muddy swamps 
they cannot possibly thrive. We should be almost ashamed to treat 
our readers to such simple instructions were it not that we are 
constantly seeing poultry kept in conditions in which it is quite 
impossible for them to bring pleasure or profit to their owners, and 
this not by those who utterly ignore them as unworthy of their 
attention, but by people who consider themselves fanciers, and 
believe their arrangements peculiarly good It is often painful for 
a real lover of birds to see the misery which many endure through 
the long English winter from the utter ignorance or indifference of 
their owners about their nature and habi's; we do not therefore let 
pass a season in which much may be done towards housing them in 
a humane manner through the coming winter.—C. 
Pekin Ducks. —Your correspondent “ C.” appears to miss the 
point of the especial merits of Pekin Ducks—namely, their hardi¬ 
ness, fertility, and early maturity. My experience has been 
greatly in their favour on these points ; whole sittings hatching 
out without fail, very few young birds dying, and their being 
ready for table by the time they are fourteen to sixteen weeks 
old, and then weighing over 4 lbs. They should be eaten before 
their first moult.—F. R. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE LONDON. 
Lab. 51° 32-40''N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.; Altitude,111 feet. 
GATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
• O 
Hygrome- 
P . 
Shade Tern- 
Radiation 
P 
h” O) 01 
ter. 
S P 
p,— o 
a'P o 
perature. 
Temperature. 
cS 
C5 
October. 
5 IS c- 3 
a 9*- 
<V D 
In 
On 
C 2 03 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Co 
Max. 
Min. 
snn. 
grass. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sun. 9 
29.833 
45.0 
44.2 
N.W. 
49.5 
52 1 
42.2 
65.4 
40.8 
0.010 
Mon. io 
30.044 
44.8 
42.7 
W. 
49.1 
57.4 
37.6 
90.8 
32.4 
_ 
Tues. ll 
29.754 
576 
54.8 
S.W. 
49.5 
63.4 
49.4 
91.7 
45.3 
_ 
Wed. 12 
29-826 
51.0 
47.6 
w. 
50.3 
57.3 
44.6 
80.6 
37.9 
0.013 
Thurs. 13 
29.832 
48.7 
45.5 
N.W. 
50.2 
55.3 
43.0 
92.6 
35.7 
0.556 
Friday 14 
29.070 
50.9 
50.5 
w. 
50.4 
59.3 
47.9 
K0.6 
45.6 
0.028 
Satur. 15 
29.928 
43.8 
40.8 
N.W. 
49.7 
51.4 
31.7 
97.5 
31.0 
0.070 
29.755 
49.7 
40.5 
41.8 
56.6 
43.1 
88.5 
38.4 
0.677 
REMARKS. 
9th.—Fair, but cloudy and cool; brighter with slight sunshine at 4 r.M.; 
slight shover in evening. 
10tb.—Cloudy and dull nearly die whole day. 
11th.—Fine pleasant day, but rather cloudy, especially in the morning. 
12th.—Fine pleasant morning with a little sunshine; dull afternoon and evening, 
with slight showers. 
13th.—Fine morning, dull afternoon, wet evening and night. 
14th.—Unusually strong westerly gale all day, with occasional sharp showers. 
15th— On the whole fine and bright, but with a very heavy shower just after 
noon. 
The chief feature of the week has been the very heavy gale on Friday the 14th 
and the sudden fall of the barometer which preceded and accompanied it. The 
temperature was very similar to that of the previous week, and not far from the 
average—G. J. Symons. 
