JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
472 
complaints being made, and we think justly. The cup and second 
were very large birds, very narrow with enormous hocks ; the second 
had also a dark smutty hackle ; third was a good all-round bird and 
deserved his position ; the fourth we preferred to any, and should 
have placed him first with 630 (Ive), unnoticed, second, and put 629 
highly commended (While) fourth. Old hens were good, and most of 
them well through the moult. The cup went to a beautifully coloured 
bird of Mr. Lingwood ; she only wants a little more leg feather to 
make her almost perfect. Second went to a fine large hen rather too 
Cochiny for our taste; third and fourth were both rather sandy in 
colour, and we preferred Mr. Mitchell’s, 646, highly commended, to 
either - . The cup cockerel we did not much admire, as he was yellow 
and rather hollow-chested. The second was rather better, but we 
would rather have had the sixth-prize bird than either ; he was grand 
in colour, shape, and leg feather, but unfortunately had slipped his 
wing, had it been all right we think he would undoubtedly have won 
the cup. Third we thought should have won, being the best all-round, 
though several had better individual points. Fourth showed rather 
white in tail, but otherwise was a good bird, and might well have been 
higher. Fifth also rather too white a tail, and failed a little in depth 
of chest. 675 (Wood), highly commended, was a good bird, and would 
have stood a better chance if he had been on the lower row ; in fact, 
some of the birds being on one level and some on another made a 
material difference in the chances of many. Pullets were the best 
class we have seen for some time. The cup went to a splendid bird, 
almost her only fault was rather a lack of foot feather. Second and 
third were both rather creamy, but otherwise were both good pullets, 
though we rather preferred Mr. Lingwood’s fifth-prize bird, which 
was a beautifully clear colour, and very good in general Brahma 
characteristics. Fourth was a grand pullet, and had she been properly 
washed would have very likely taken a higher position. Sixth was a 
fine large bird, but rather too creamy in colour—a very prevailing 
fault. Amongst the unnoticed birds we thought Mr. G. H. Wood (706) 
was the best. 
(To be continued, witli the prize list next week.) 
VARIETIES. 
Broxburn Ornithological Society. —The first annual Exhi¬ 
bition and Competition of Poultry, Pigeons, and Canaries (open to 
the United Kingdom), will be held in the Town Hall, Broxburn, on 
Saturday the 25th December, 1880. The assistance of fanciers is 
requested to make the Show a success, and enable the Committee to 
increase their prize list on future occasions. 
-Irish Butter. —The butters of Ireland, as seen at the leading 
shows, will not suffer by comparison, all things considered, with 
those of England, or of the countries of northern Europe. That 
there is a larger proportion of inferior butter made in Ireland than 
in any other country which reckons to be a dairying country at all 
is probably true, but it is equally true that some of the best butter 
in the world is made there. It is merely a question of care and 
cleanliness. At any rate a collection of Irish butters shows more 
body, substance, and general quality than we have found to be the 
case in other countries. At the same time we must admit that they 
are less skilfully made and less neatly finished off and presented 
than, for instance, the butters of Denmark or of Finland. Possessing 
an inherent superior quality they lose the advantage of not being so 
skilfully made. With one of the finest climates on earth for dairying 
purposes ; with a soil and herbage which are not easily equalled ; 
with a breed of cows excellent in many respects, and still improving ; 
and with milk pre-eminently suited to butter-making—more so, 
perhaps, than the milk of any other country in the world—the Irish 
people are provided with the first requisites for becoming the leading 
butter-producing nation in Europe. But to attain this position re¬ 
quires, in our opinion, the untiring industry, the scrupulous clean¬ 
liness, the intelligent thought, and the pride in work which are 
conspicuous among the Dutch and the Danes.—(From “ Dairy Farm¬ 
ing ,” by Professor Sheldon, for November.) 
- The American Dairy Industry. —At the late convention 
of the American Butter and Cheese Association the President of the 
North-western Dairyman’s Association, Hon. G. P. Lord of Elgin, 
Ill., read a paper, in which he estimated the number of milch cows in 
the United States at over 13,000,000, requiring the annual product of 
52,000,000 acres of land for feed, giving employment to 650,000 men, 
and requiring the labour of 866,600 horses. Estimating the cows at 
30 dollars each, the horses 80 dollars, and the land at 30 dollars per 
acre, together with 200 , 000,000 dollars for agricultural and dairy 
implements, and the total amount invested in the industry is 
[ November 18, 1880. 
2,219,328,000 dollars. This is considerably more than the amount 
invested in banking and the commercial and manufacturing interests 
of the country, which is 1,800,964,586 dols. Accepting 12 cents per 
gallon as a basis for computing the value of the milk product, and 
446 gallons as the average per annum (this being the average yield 
in sixteen States in 1860), the 13,000,000 cows produce annually 
5,793,000,000 gallons of milk, worth 695,760,000 dollars. Analysis 
shows that 3 h tbs. of milk contain the same kind and amount of 
nutrition as 1 lb. of boneless beef. The total weight of product is 
50,732,600,000 tbs., equal to 14,495,000,000 tbs. of boneless beef. 
About 50 per cent, of a fat steer is boneless meat, so that it will 
require 20,650.000 steers of 1400 lbs. weight to produce the same 
amount of nutrition as the annual milk product. Such fat steers 
would sell at 4‘50 dollars per cwt., or G3 dollars each—a total of 
1,300,950,000 dollars; deducting from this amount hide and tallow, 
260,190,000 dollars, leaves the meat value 1,040,760,000 dollars. This 
gives the food value of the milk product in the United States annually. 
Willard, in his “ Practical Dairy Husbandry,” says that “ milk at 
24 cents per gallon is equivalent in value to boneless beef at 9 cents 
per pound.” It is false economy, therefore, that substitutes meat for 
milk as an article of food. 
- The Wheat Supply and Prices.—A daily contemporary 
concludes an exhaustive article on this subject as follows:—“We 
have received up to November 6 th from all foreign and colonial 
sources of supply 15,937,026 cwt. of Wheat and flour against 
18,082,870 cwt. in the same period last year, or a falling-off of 11J per 
cent. We are importing at the rate of about one-ninth less than 
the 16i million quarters imported in the twelve months ended in 
August, and if 14J or 15 million quarters will be sufficient to supple¬ 
ment our weak home crop of probably 9,000,000 quarters until next 
harvest, imports coming in at present speed will be all we require. 
The backwardness which has ruled in the movement of American 
grain may continue, and the failure of great shipments from Russia 
and Germany may not be made up from other sources beyond the 
sea; but we really want no more for the year than is pointed to by 
the arrivals during the last two and a half months, it being admitted 
on all hands that our home crop of Wheat—deficient as it is compared 
with a fair average—greatly surpasses the starvation product of 1879, 
when I 65 million quarters of imports were found ample for our con¬ 
sumption. Agriculturists may be gratified with the brisker markets 
they are hoping for, but there seems little probability of the rise 
being anything more than a moderate advance, and that, perhaps, 
not long continued.” 
- The Milk Supply for London.—T he Report of the Local 
Government Board for 1879-80 states that “ Londoners are paying 
between £70,000 and £80,000 a year for water sold under the name of 
milk,” and the statement is supported by figures which leave the im¬ 
pression of its truth. No return of the milk supply has ever been 
made, and the actual quantity consumed is estimated from data which 
are not very clear or satisfactory. It is found that the railways 
bring into London nearly 20,000,000 gallons a year. The Board 
reckons that some 3,000,000 gallons are probably produced within the 
metropolitan area ; and the 23,000,000 gallons thus supposed to con¬ 
stitute the whole supply allow to each person one pint of milk a 
week. This estimate of individual consumption seems to us to be 
far too low, unless the working classes in London are very sparing 
in their use of this article of food. It represents, however, at 5 d. a 
quart an outlay of about £ 2 , 000,000 sterling. 
QUEEN ENCASEMENT, OR REGICIDAL KNOTS. 
This question has lately been discussed in a thoughtful letter 
by Mr. Cheshire. At one time I was inclined to believe that the 
clusters of bees surrounding queens, so often seen in uniting 
swarms, were formed to protect them amongst strangers or from 
those bent on their destruction. In every case of this kind that 
has come under my notice during the last ten years, the knots or 
clusters were formed with murderous intent, and now I am con¬ 
vinced that all the small hard clusters of bees encasing queens are 
regicida! in their aims and never protective of life. Last summer 
I noticed two interesting cases. One was formed by the bees of 
