October 27 . 
quarters in the Bee way, and this has become so serious, 
that people begin to give them up in despair; stocks are 
dead and dying in every direction, some have swarmed, and 
alighted, in their usual manner, so late as the month of 
October, but upon inspecting the hives they left, it has 
proved to be a complete desertion, for not a bee nor a 
particle of honey was left in them. 
Preserving Hives of Comb. —Where the Bees have 
deserted their hives (and it is swarms of the present year 
that have generally done so) the combs should be carefully 
preserved by placing the hives in some dry spot out of the 
reach of mice or insects, for the purpose of hiving swarms 
into them in the spriug. The advantages afforded to a 
swarm, by putting it into a hive of fresh clean comb, are 
scarcely to be credited by those who have not experienced 
it. 
Wasps.—I find that Wasps have been unusually abundant 
this year, in some places, so as to render feeding quite 
impossible, and so severe have their attacks been upon 
weak, and even upon populous, hives as to destroy thorn 
entirely. 
Feeding. — I think that after this sad tale it will be 
unnecessary to urge upon those persons who are so for¬ 
tunate ns to have a few stocks remaining the necessity of 
feeding, for without it, I feel assured that very few will 
survive the winter. 
Uniting Stocks. —Where there are many weak stocks in 
the same apiary, which I fear is not uncommon at this 
present time, to avoid the trouble of feeding them separately, 
as well as the risk of carrying them through the winter, it will 
be better to unite them; the methods are various, some 
persons prefer simply driving, others fumigating with puff¬ 
ball, bissus ifce, and some even with chloroform, all of which 
have already been given in the pages of The Cottage 
Gardener. 
THE CULTURE OF A ROOD OF GROUND. 
November. 
The operations that I' have noticed for October are also 
applicable for this month ; and if what was then recom¬ 
mended to be done has been neglected, it should be attended 
to the earliest opportunity. No time should be lost in secur¬ 
ing all the root-crops from frost during the winter; and 
every leisure hour should be occupied in manuring and 
digging all vacant ground, so that it may be in readiness for 
early spring cropping. 
If early Spring Cabbages have been neglected to be set 
out in October, no time should be lost in getting them out 
as early as possible this month, in the manner described in 
my notes for last month. Where a rood of ground is highly 
cultivated, and cropped with a variety of garden vegetables, 
Ac., much more is necessary to be attended to this month 
than I have attempted to describe; but this is a business I 
leave to more competent and experienced hands that have 
been properly trained to the calling. 
Poultry. —In my notes for September, I mentioned the 
number of chickens our Shanghae pullet had produced us ; 
and also, that I should, in a future paper, give some account 
how we managed our Finals. I, therefore, shall endeavour 
to give a brief description of our system. 
I have previously stated how we commenced with our 
poultry, by being presented with a pair of chickens, of the 
above breed, by E. George, Esq., of Chaldon, Surrey; and 
from this pair alone wo obtained our stock of one hundred 
and eleven chickens. The plan we pursued in hatching 
them was by placing the eggs under the common hens; 
and, in order to prevent any interruption by the common 
fowls which we had previously kept, we had them sit in a 
shed adjoining the house by themselves ; the nests we pre¬ 
pared for them were some old cast-off bee-hives, which 
answered the purpose exceedingly well; and, the eggs of 
this variety of fowl being invaluable, we took every precau¬ 
tion to prevent their being broken, or the hens forsaking 
them, or being off the nests too long, fearing the eggs 
might be spoiled from the severity of the weather in the 
latter part of February and the beginning of March ; and to 
prevent a sitting being spoiled the hens were regularly 
taken off every morning, and fed abundantly with a variety 
07 
of food, such as tail-wheat, barley, and barley-meal, mixed 
with boiled potatoes, with plenty of clean water to drink. 
t\ e allowed them to be off from ten to fifteen minutes, but 
never longer; and never left them till we saw that they went 
to their nests, and settled properly on their eggs. If they 
showed any inclination to be restle'ss, or wanted to leave 
their nest, we used to place a board over the hive to prevent 
their doing so (taking care to leave sufficient ventilation), 
and in taking this precaution, we succeeded in hatching 
every sitting of eggs that we placed under them, and very 
rarely wo lost a chicken, although the weather was, 
during the whole of the above period, very severe. From 
inquiry that I had made iu our neigbourhood, I was in¬ 
formed that several persons had lost their sittings of eggs, 
by not properly attending to the hens during the sharp 
weather; and several instances where they had left their nest 
too long the eggs were frozen. I "was also informed 
by a gentleman well acquainted with a noted breeder of 
Cochins, that out of several hundred eggs that were sat on 
during the severe weather, as above stated, he succeeded 
in hatching only twelve chickens. 
Management of Chickens.— Mr. Trotter, in his “ Prize 
Essay ” on Poultry,says—“ Chickens, for the first twenty four 
hours of their existence, do not require food. During this 
time they are supported by a large portion of the yolk, 
which, previous to their breaking the shell, had not entered 
into their system.” This plan we have adopted, and found 
it to answer exceedingly well—dispensing with the old 
woman’s practice of cramming a pepper-kernel down then- 
throats as soon as batched. After being hatched the above time, 
we find they soon begin to pick for themselves, and the food 
we prepare for them is soaked bread mixed with oat, or 
barley-meal; and after a few days we give them a little tail- 
wheat in addition to the above; in this way we find they 
thrive well, and we have found them to be more hardy and 
less trouble to bring up than the common fowl; and with 
proper attention (which is the great secret in the art of 
rearing chickens), they will grow rapidly, and cau be made 
fit for the table in much less time than the common ones. 
The best food we find to fatten with is barley-meal moist¬ 
ened with water (or milk, when it can be procured) ; if a 
little fat or grease is added it will hasten the process; but 
as we have, up to the present, found a sale for them for 
store at better prices than we can make of them for the 
table, we have not been selling them for that purpose. 
From their docile habits, great weight, and shortness of 
wings, they are incapable of flying; we, therefore, much 
prefer them to the common fowl, as we find they can be 
kept, in the yard, enclosed with a fence only three feet 
high. We have kept them in our yard, this summer, with 
only a common sheep-netting of the above height. 
In consideration of their excellence as layers and quiet 
habits, 1 am inclined to think they are the best adapted for 
the cottager to keep, who has but a small space of ground, 
and would wish to prevent his fowls trespassing in his 
garden, where they are generally very unwelcome visitors. 
Bees.— I am sorry to say I cannot give so favourable an 
account of our Bees as our Poultry. From inquiries that I 
have made in this district (East Suffolk), I find the general 
complaint is, that the present has not been a honey-produc¬ 
ing season; indeed, persons that I know of that have burnt 
their Bees (for this is the common practice adopted here, 
although so much condemned by all authors), complain that 
they have taken no honey. They must have been aware 
they could not get any by merely feeling the weight of the 
hive, yet they prefer destroying the Bees in the hives that 
are light, rather than to take the trouble to unite them to a 
stronger stock, or to be at the trifling expense of affording 
them a little honey for their support during the winter, that 
they might be enabled to repay them ten-fold the following 
season. In keeping Bees we are but young beginners; 
therefore I can say but little at present as to any practical 
knowledge of their management. I can only say of our 
stocks, that they are very light (excepting one old stock) and 
will require feeding to support them through the winter, 
which we intend to do, as we cannot afford to be so extrava¬ 
gant and cruel as to burn them. We want to preserve their 
lives, with the hope that they will repay us with an abundant 
supply of honey another season, as a reward for our giving 
them food when they were incapable of supporting them" 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
