440 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 10, 1881. 
constructed for Polish. The fronts of the outer parts are partially 
glazed like garden lights, and the doors of sparrow-proof wire. 
In these the birds are fed and entirely confined in wet or bad 
weather ; the good result is very apparent in their bright glossy 
condition and fully expanded crests. These and all the houses 
are made ratproof. Strong small-meshed wire netting is nailed 
to the wall and sunk 6 inches into the ground, and then a layer 
of cement is laid over all the floor, topped of course with dry 
earth. The yards are entirely covered with coarse clean gravel 
from the neighbouring river, and their inmates supplied twice 
daily with fresh green food. First are a mixed collection of 
various promising Polish chickens, then a pen of adult White- 
crested Blacks ; then Golden, one hen with a magnificent crest; 
then Padue Chamois, a beautiful lot; we have never seen their 
like since the great Paris Exhibition ; the cock rich in his tints 
of sienna and Iudian yellow, and well nigh through the moult, 
and one hen in particular with great clearness of the white 
spangling on her canary plumage. As we proceed, here and there 
a walk crosses the main walk at right angles, running up to the 
wall with ranges of minor runs on each. In the first of these 
lesser alleys is one somewhat larger house, the habitation of a 
multitude of small stock, which run out on the grass lawn. Double 
gates across the chief path prevent their trespassing upon it as 
they cross to their runs. These and all the gates about the place 
have small hooks on both sides to prevent all chance of accident 
from their being blown open. 
Bantams of endless variety in form and colour are tenants of 
the next places ; all have little perches upon which the cocks 
delight to elevate themselves and crow. There are White Rose- 
combed and Black Rose-combed—a cock of the latter kind we 
specially admired ; Cuckoo—like miniature Scotch Greys—White 
Japanese with black tails ; Dark Japanese, black with brown 
hackles, the offspring of Lady Brassey’s famous stock brought 
home in the Sunbeam, but hardly so short on the leg as their 
parents ; Tailless of various colours, one cock light-coloured in 
body with glowing parti-coloured saddle hackle such as we have 
seen imported from India ; Nankins of various merit, rose- 
combed and single-combed, by far the best of them being a 
tiny single-combed cock, which confirmed our long-formed 
opinion that the smallest specimens of the breed are single- 
combed ; Black and Wbite-booted, one pair of the former very 
short and compact; Silver-laced and Gold-laced, three pullets of 
the latter much took our fancy for their bright ground colour and 
even lacing ; Game Bantams of every sub-variety, many of high 
style and well fitted for the exhibition pen ; there are Black Reds 
which we saw in a first-prize pen at Wolverhampton, and wheaten 
hens, and a cock of splendid colour evidently bred from one 
which we greatly admired for his splendid hues, now too often 
sacrificed to form ; beautiful Brown Reds, among them one pullet 
splendid in golden neck ; Duckwings and Birchen Duckwing'', 
and Piles as handsome for their rich markings as their tiny size ; 
one pair would grace any show room. The contrivance of their 
many little iuns and houses of all shapes and sizes is most clever, 
and seems a very labyrinth. 
At one place we came upon a novel and comfortable home for a 
troop of infant Bantams, for, like all enthusiastic fanciers of these 
pygmies, Mrs. Ricketts rears some late-batched broods ; but what a 
shock to the gardener’s feelings 1 Cuttings have been ousted and 
chickens reign in a garden frame ; the little things twittering happily 
under the glass, and utterly unconscious of withering east wind 
outside. More and more blocks of larger and equally well-kept 
yards! We can scarcely remember all their inmates ; white 
Silkies and coloured Silkies, rich quaint-coloured Brownies clad in 
aesthetic shades of gold and bronze, whose origin was in a famous 
Shropshire yard ; La Flbche, and pure White Houdans, not 
mongrels, but veritable Houdans in comb and claw ; then a beau¬ 
tiful bird, a Pile Houdan cock, his red and yellow markings deep 
and good, a sprightly vigorous fellow ; then come Polish again, 
Silvers, and next our favourite the old-fashioned pure White, some 
of them mediocre, but one hen a really grand bird. Then last of 
the Polish, some chickens whose race is not jet distinctively 
founded, blue with white crests, promising to be lovely. Last, but 
not least, in the range were Sultans, a fine pen and getting fast 
through the moult, as were nearly all the birds in these warm 
and nice quarters. We shall hope to see them exhibited, for the 
cock and at least two hens are well worthy of it, and with their 
two-roomed house, like the other tufted birds they are well 
screened from sun and rain. A grass run is being cut off from 
the larger chickens’ lawn for their special benefit. Here we turn 
round to the left and come hack by the said lawn ; on it are 
several coop-like houses with little runs in front, and over it run 
little B-mtams of all kinds mixed with Sultans, Andalusians, and 
White Leg torns. 
Through all this multitude we scarcely saw a drooping or sickly 
bird. The secret of this is that every house and yard is kept 
scrupulously clean, purified every morning, anl constantly dis¬ 
infected. All are carefully watched by the eye of their mi-tress, 
and any that ail are at once removed to a hospital and doctored. 
Even beyond the special playground of the chickens are still 
younger chickens in the remaining portion of the kitchen garden. 
Their mothers are cooped, and they run merrily among the vege¬ 
tables in quest of insect food. But we are outrunning our space ; 
our tale is scarcely half told, and is, we are sure, too interesting 
to a true fancier to be curtailed, so we must resume it in another 
number.—C. 
THE POULTRY CLUB. 
Will you kindly allow me to remind vour readers that the 
Annual General Meeting of the Poultry Club will be held at the 
Crystal Palace on Tuesday next, at 3.30 P.M. ? 
The Report will be then submitted, and several questions con¬ 
nected with the preparation of the Standard of Excellence and 
other matters will be discussed. 
The Meeting is open to all who may desire to attend. 
I may perhaps mention that the subscriptions of Members 
elected at the Palace Meeting run from the 1st January next. 
47, Chancery Lane, W.C. Alex. Com yes, 
Nov. 8th, 1881. Hon. Sec., Poultry Chib. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Stocking a Rabbit Warren ( Old Subscriber ).—Wild rabbits are better 
than tame for a warren, and the best time for stocking is early spring. One 
male to thirty females will soon stock an acre. The number that can be grown 
depends entirely on the pasturage and the food that is otherwise supplied. If 
they eat the trunks of established trees it is evidence that the warren is over¬ 
stocked, and the animals must either be reduced in numbers or the food supply 
increased. Rabbits will bark young Larches and destroy them—that is, trees 
that have been newly planted, but they will not attack established trees unless 
driven by famine to do so. Galvanised wire netting 3 feet above ground will 
suffice if it is properly fixed belowground also. It is little use sinking ic straight 
down, as the animals are very persevering, and will burrow under it sooner or 
later. The best mode of fixing is to bend the bottom of the wire inwards, or 
facing the warren, covering a foot of it 3 or 4 inches deep. They invariably 
commence scratching within a foot of the fence, and of course, if they come in 
contact with a layer of wire, their further progress is obstructed ; but if there is 
no such obstacle they will descend for 3 or 4 feet if the soil is light. 
Roup (F. R ).—We can only suggest the application of the usual roup reme¬ 
dies. Begin with a dose of castor oil, afterwards wash the face and nostrils 
frequently with Labarraque’s solution of chlorinated soda diluted with twice its 
quantity of water. Give also Walton’s roup pills as directed on the box. The 
house where the birds have been should be thoroughly disinfected. If there are 
any other symptoms than those you have described write again, and we will 
advise you as to further treatment. We cannot understand the blindness of the 
recovered birds. l)o you mean that one eye remains closed, or that the sight of 
one eye is destroyed ? 
Distinguishing the Sexes of Canaries (C. L. R ). —Cock birds are 
more bold and fierce in general appearance than hens, and have a more bloomy 
plumage. Their heads are somewhat larger and longer than the hens’, and they 
stand a little higher upon their legs. They are also more sprightly in their 
action. When in full vigour of sc-ng, especially approaching the breeding 
season, the cock birds can generally be told by (what is understood by the fancy), 
“ blowing ” them. Many fanciers can easily pick out the cock birds from the 
hens when in their nests. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE LONDON. 
Lat. 61° 33-40" N.; Long.0°8'0” W.; Altitude.il 1 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAT. 
Rain. 
1881. 
October. 
November. 
i 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 
snn. 
On 
grass. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sun. 30 
3 .230 
37.3 
35.0 
N.E. 
43.2 
44.4 
31.4 
84.8 
26.4 
_ 
Mon. 31 
3 -.213 
32.8 
32.4 
N. 
4 2.2 
40.0 
28.7 
55.6 
22.8 
_ 
Tues. l 
20.878 
35.3 
83.fi 
S.E. 
41.3 
39.3 
31.9 
44.6 
28.3 
0.028 
Wed. 2 
29.827 
99.2 
37.0 
E. 
40.9 
42.0 
32.8 
02.6 
27.4 
0.075 
Thurs. 3 
29.789 
38.7 
38.4 
S.E. 
41.2 
53.5 
36.7 
62.2 
33 3 
0.2*)2 
Friday 4 
29.883 
56.9 
66.6 
s. 
42.6 
60.4 
33.4 
60.1 
38.4 
0 015 
Satur. 5 
29.973 
67.9 
64.7 
S. 
45.4 
62.5 
53.6 
90.2 
40.6 
0.124 
2 .971 
42.6 
41.2 
42.4 
48.9 
36.2 
65.2 
31.9 
0.444 
REMARKS. 
30th.—Fine, bright, and cold. 
31st.—Hazy ; calm, fair, cold. 
1st.—Hazy, cold, with showers of snow and sleet. 
2nd.—Fair, sunshine at intervals. 
3rd.—Rain and fog, but milder ; clear in evening. 
4th.—Very damp and warm, house walls streaming with wet. 
6th.—Fine, warm, spring-like day. 
The mean temperature of the week is considerably below the average, 
although the last two days were exceptionally warm ; no better proof could be 
given of the low temperature prevailing in the early part of the week.— G. J. 
St MON s. 
