of it with white and purple flowers, and one that 
is white with a pink eye; the last is the prettiest. 
£1 )t Poulin) |)nn3. 
WYANDOTTES. 
[a new breed.] 
At the last meeting of the American Poultry 
Association, held in Worcester, Mass., Febru¬ 
ary 1, 2, 1888, the Ameiican Sebright, also 
known as the Eureka, was admitted to the 
standard as a variety sufficiently established 
to perpetuate the characteristics claimed for 
it as individual. It was given the name of 
Wyandotte. The originators of the variety 
are not known, nor can its history be satisfac¬ 
torily traced beyond the time when it appeared 
almost simultaneously in different parts of the 
country. The several ‘strains’ differed certainly 
in minor points, but all embodied the same 
dea: a medium-sized bird that should com¬ 
bine the intrinsic values of the most desira¬ 
ble breeds with extrinsic qualities that it would 
not require the deteriorating tendencies of 
n-breeding to maintain; in other words, a 
bird the farmer could breed with all profit 
for economic purposes, and, without destroy¬ 
ing its value by improper mating to gain that 
end, have specimens as well for the show pen. 
The Plymouth Rock promised to be all this, 
but, while the commonly bred bird must, be¬ 
cause of its components, ever remain of great 
economic value, the points of color, marking 
and size have been so manipulated that the 
natural bird, the farmer’s fowl, has been super¬ 
seded, and the “best blood,” as decided by the 
standard score of the show pen, is of an arti¬ 
ficial bird, and only to lie bred for fancy points. 
All this has combined to drive the variety from 
the place it was made to fill, but which the 
Wyandotte seems destined to occupy. 
The Wyandotte shows its composite origin, 
by its prominent characteristics and sports, to 
have been in the Hamburg, the Brahma and 
the Cochin, and from it are eliminated the ob¬ 
jectionable points of each by improving the size 
and hardiness of the meaty and prolific Dutch 
fowl, and by reducing the disposition to brood¬ 
iness and excess of adipose which, as a rule, 
renders the Asiatic worthless through half the 
year. 
The first appearance of the variety as stand¬ 
ard specimens was at the exhibition of the Fan¬ 
ciers’ Club in New' York City last month, wheu 
the large display, new to the show-room, in 
the black and white velvety plumage attracted 
great attention. The perfect bird was not 
there, the best adults, male and female, scoring 
respectively 88}., and S2>£; the first prize-win¬ 
ning chicks reachiug 92}^ and 93>£. The 
awards were to G. D. Millington, North Ben¬ 
nington, Vt., first and second for breeding 
pens, first for fowls; first and second for chicks 
to H. D. Macumber, Truxton, N. Y.; second 
for fowls, to Kate Of. Ash, Lima, Pa., third 
for chicks. Both breeding-pens were sold be¬ 
fore the show' closed, the first going to one of 
the Harper Bros,, the second to Philip Timson. 
The standard birds are w ell pictured in the 
illustration. The head of the male is rather 
short and broad; the comb rose, oval in front 
and wide at the base behind, the spike being 
less developed than in the Hamburg. The 
face of both male and female should bo bright 
red, the eyes of bright bay color, the ear-lobe 
and wattles medium in size and of fine texture. 
The sole colors in the plumage are black and 
white, or where they mingle, as iu the fluff, 
nder-body or t Jighs and back of upper part 
of the neck, having the appearance of gray. 
Of the male the hackle and saddle are long 
and flowing, each feather having the center 
black, tapering gradually from the full width 
at the down to a. fine point at the extremity. 
The back is broad, the body deep, full and 
rounded at the sides; the breast broad and car¬ 
ried prominently forward. The feathers of the 
breast of both male and female to have the 
web white and the edge black, showing as a 
whole a regular and weU-defiued lacing, The 
wings are medium in size and fold close: both 
flights and secondaries to have the inner web 
black, the outer edge of the former t-o be white, 
of the latter laced with white. The coverts 
white w'ith black center strijje, widening to¬ 
ward the tip, producing the effect of a double 
bar. Wing bows, white. The thiglis short, 
plump; the feathers short and fluffy. The legs 
and feet of both male and female to be naked 
and bright yellow in color. The hackle feathers 
of the hen to be shorter than of the male, and 
with broader marking. The back is short and 
broad, with body deep and w r oll rounded at 
the sides. The feathering of the former is 
black with white center; of the latter is evenly 
laced with black. The wings are of medium 
size and neatly tucked up; the flights black, 
the lower edge laced with white; the second¬ 
aries with the inner web and tip black. Tail 
black with coverts penciled with white. The 
tail of the cock resemblas that of the Asiatics, 
but is rather more developed; in color, black. 
In weight the cock should be pounds; the 
cockerel, 7the hen, f%; the pullet, 5}^. 
The score card gives value to points as follows: 
Condition 8, head 6, comb 8, symmetry 10, 
size and weight 10 (losing two points for every 
■» — ■ - — ■ - - 
pound less than the recognized standard), 
wattles and ear-lobe 5, neck 8, back 8, breast 
and body 10, wings 8, tail 7, fluff 5, legs and 
toes 7; total 100. The disqualifications are: 
Comb other than rose, crooked back or breast 
bone, wry tail, twisted feathers in wing or 
tail, absence of wattles, ear-lobes of any other 
color than red. legs turning in at hock, or any 
other color than yellow, feathered shanks, 
crooked toes, solid black or white breast, and 
birds not matching in the show pen. 
floriculture L 
PERIWINKLES. 
The Lesser Periwinkle, botanically named 
Vinca minor, is the little evergreen plant 
known (but erroneously) as “myrtle,” and of 
which so much is used throughout the country 
for garden and cemetery work. It is a native 
of Central and Southern Europe and quite 
hardy here. It delights in a faintly-shaded 
place and free, rich soil, but it Is not very par¬ 
ticular as to quarters. It is planted in beds or 
borders in cemeteries, leeause it is neat and 
evergreen, grows into such a solid mat and re¬ 
quires so little attention. It is better than the 
English Ivy for borders to walks under trees 
where grass would not form a sod, and even in 
open, sunny places it makes, with a trimming 
twice a year, one of the prettiest of borders. 
There are blue, purple and white-flowered va¬ 
rieties of it, as well as some double-flowered 
forms; there are also variegated-leaved kinds 
of it. In addition to its comeliness as a neat 
little evergreen it is a copious bloomer; it 
flowers in Spring to early Summer. 
The Larger Periwinkle (V. major) is the 
strong-growing kind so freely used by florists 
in summer-vases when the vines hang down 
over the sides of the vase or tub for a yard or 
more. There are also several forms of this 
species: the leaves of the typical plant are al¬ 
together green; another variety has white- 
margined leaves; one yellow-edged; one yel¬ 
low-blotched, and another yellow-netted like 
the Golden-netted Honeysuckle. The Periwinkle * 
is not hardy, but if not subjected to more than 
10 to 12 degrees of frost it will winter well 
enough in a cold-frame; in fact, if covered up 
well in Winter and not uncovered too early in 
Spring it will sometimes survive our Winters 
out-of-doors. Its flowers are blue, large and 
conspicuous. It makes a pretty vine for a 
bracket-pot in a sunless window in Winter. 
Another Periwinkle (V. aeutiloba) from 
Southern Italy is not much unlike the last. 
Its leaves are smaller and more pointed, and 
its blossoms white. It is only half-hardy. 
The Herbaceous Periwinkle (V. herbacea) is 
a slender little vine that crawls around every¬ 
where, rooting as it goes. It loses all its 
leaves iu Winter, and in Spring when it be¬ 
gins to grow bears a great profusion of bright 
and really pretty blue flowers. It is quite hardy 
and loves a warm, well drained and sunny place. 
All the above Periwinkles, with the exception 
of Aeutiloba, are common garden plants of the 
easiest possible culture, and they may be mul¬ 
tiplied exceedingly by dividing them; they 
root at every joint, and the rooted shoots cut 
iu pieces and planted soon make nice plants. 
The Periwinkle has been cultivated iu gardens 
from time immemorial, and many medicinal 
virtues and ridiculous superstitious have been 
attached to it. Although Periwinkle is its 
accepted name it has many another title, 
as Sorcerer’s Violet, Hundred Eyes, Virgin 
Flower and Death’s Flower. Because of the 
inharmonious name, Periwinkle, undoubtedly 
it has been so generally omitted in poetical 
writings, but Chaucer refers to it frequently 
as Pervinke: 
“There sprauge the Violet al newe, 
And fresh Pervinke, rich of hewe.” 
Another common garden plant of this genus 
is the tender Vinca rosea used so much in pur 
Summer gardens. It is a native of the West 
Indies, a perennial if kept along, but far more 
satisfactory when treated os au annual. It 
should be sown in or before February, and 
grown along in a good brisk temperature till 
the end of May, when it may be planted out. 
It blossoms all Summer long and delights in 
an open, sunny exposure. Tnere are varieties 
The Lesser Periwinkle, Vinca Minor—Fig. 100. 
Wyandotte Fowls—Fig. 101. 
iiliscfUatuous. 
Early, Medium and Late Strawberries 
—By exerting a little care in making a selec¬ 
tion we may be able to extend the season of 
the strawberry over a period of four or live 
weeks, instead of two or ttmee, as is often the 
case. And if the early varieties are planted 
on a light soil, or on ground with a southern 
slope, and the late varieties ou heavier soil, or 
on ground with a northern slope, then the 
strawberry season may frequently be made to 
last a week or two longer. To assist others in 
making a selection, Mr. John S. Collins has 
classified some of tlie best of the leading sorts, 
as follows: 
For light or dry sandy soil— 
EARLY. MEDIUM. 
Crescent Seedling. Crescent Seedling, 
Wilson’s Albany, Wilson’s Albany, 
Btdwell, Miner's Great Prolific, 
Crystal City. Manchester. 
LATIS* 
Mt. Vernon, Capt. Jack, 
Manchester, Kentucky, 
On moist, rich, loamy or clay soil— 
EARLY. 
Crescent Seedling, 
Duchesse, 
Warren. 
Btdwell, 
Cumberland Triumph. 
MEDIUM. 
Miner’s Great Prolific, 
Cumberland Triumph 
Sharpless, 
Jersey Queen, 
Big Bob, 
Manchester, 
LATE. 
Mt. Vernon, Manchester, 
Jersey Queen, Big Bob, 
Kentucky. Windsor Chief. 
On potatoes the use of special fertilizers pro¬ 
duces some surprising results, according to Dr. 
F. M. Hexamor. Four rows in his experimen¬ 
tal field were planted w ithout manure of any 
kind, the adjoining four with Mapes’s Potato 
manure, and the next four with ordinary sta¬ 
ble manure. All started finely and grew until 
the dry weather set in, w'hen the tops died 
down gradually and the crop was considered a 
loss; but with the beginning of the Fall rains 
the rows with the chemical fertilizer started 
into new life, grew vigorously until frost, and 
produced a good crop of fine potatoes, while 
the adjoining rows, on either side, showed but 
little growth and yielded a very poor crop. 
hardly worth digging. 
-- 
Experience in Soiling.— Mr. Peer gave the 
Elmira Farmer's Club an account of his expe¬ 
rience iu soiling ou a farm that was poor iu 
fertility; the fences were decayed, and all 
things were very discouraging to a young, as¬ 
piring farmer. After several years’ trial Mr. 
Peer claims that the new system has these ad¬ 
vantages, viz: 1. A saving of land; 2. A sav¬ 
ing of fence; 8. A saving of food; 4. A better 
condition of stock; 5, Greater production ol 
beef, milk and butter; <>. An increased quan¬ 
tity and quality of manure. Against the sys¬ 
tem ho finds as the most important arguments: 
first, that it requires more labor, and, second, 
that by it farm animals are deprived of that 
freedom which to some persons appeal’s t<o be 
an essential requisite of thrift. The question 
was asked him, us reported iu the Husband¬ 
man, what he depended on for green food from 
the middle of May, when we usually turn to 
pasture, say until July ? Mr. Peer replied, 
rye, usually. Tliat is earlier than any other 
soiling crop in common use, but it is hardly 
available until the last of Mayor perhaps early 
in June. 
WORTH NOTING. 
The temperature of most plants during the 
night should not be, according to Mr. Peter 
Henderson, above 55 degrees. It will do no 
harm if. occasionally, it fulls to 45 degrees. If 
a plant is sickly and shows but little sign of 
growth, the remedy is to withhold water al¬ 
most to the point of shriveling the plant. 
Avoid all fertilizers in such cases. Wo must 
not gorge a sick creature with rich food. 
Those who aim to tell the truth are often¬ 
times very bad shots. 
A milkman writes to the Husbandman that 
he puts no better feed for cows iu Ins barn 
than well-cured green oats. 
Dr. Walcott thinks there is one plant, the 
fraxinellu, which will flourish year after year 
without removal; he knows a plant 75 years 
old, which blooms just as well as ever. It is 
the typical hard)’ perennial. 
C. M_ Hovky regards Asclepias tuberosa 
(Butterfly-weed or Pleurisy-root) the most 
beautiful of all our native plants. 
The herbaceous ptrony is everybody’s flow¬ 
er, Mr. Ilovey remarked before tlie Maas. 
Hort. Society; it is easily grown and makes 
an unsurpassed show iu the garden. The del¬ 
phinium has been much improved; some of 
the new kinds are apt to die off, but the old 
old ones are very stately. The dahlia is again 
coming up in single form.. 
