272 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 5. 
is the same (except as regards warmth), no more will be 
said on the subject of glasses specially. 
Floor-boards .—These should be of the same shape as and 
about two inches broader than the lower part of the stock- 
hive, and may he made of any stout stuff not less than an 
inch in thickness. Two bits of wood or clips about nine 
inches long, two deep, and one broad, should be screwed 
underneath them across the grain. These clips prevent the 
floor-board twisting, and should be about six inches apart so 
as to drop over the head of the pedestal, or bee-stand, which 
will be next described; by this means the whole is kept 
firm. It is advisable to nail or screw a thin piece of deal 
(i-inch stuff), the exact size of the lower part of the stock- 
hive, on the upper surface of the floor-board,in such manner 
that the grains may run in exactly opposite directions; the 
grain of the thin piece, in fact, running in the same direction 
as the clips. In this thin piece, or if the thin piece be not used, 
then in the floor-board itself, the entrance, which should be 
four or live inches wide, and lialf-an-inch deep, ought to be 
formed. To do this,make two saw cuts just so far apart as is 
required for the width of the entrance, and running in the 
same direction as the clips from the edge towards the centre 
of the floor-board. Let this cut be rather more than half-an - 
inch deep at the edge, and go off to nothing at the middle; 
then pare all the wood between these cuts away, and you 
have a slope leading up into the hive; then neatly fix 
another small piece of wood in front of this slope, where 
the bees can alight, and the floor-board is complete. An 
entrance in the hive itself (which not only helps to destroy 
the hive, but is, as already mentioned, greatly in the way in 
operating) is, by this means, rendered unnecessary. It is 
always advisable to bevel off the edges of the floor-board, 
to assist the passing off of any drip, Stone or slate for 
floors must not be thought of for an instant: such materials 
are far too cold. There should always be extra floor-boards 
ready for use. 
Pedestals , or Bee-stands —Each hive should have its sepa¬ 
rate pedestal, and in fixing them an eye should be given to 
future operations. There should, if possible, be room to get 
behind them. They may be placed in two’s at such a 
distance apart that the floor-boards, when placed upon 
them, may be about three inches apart. Room should be 
left between each set of two to fix a third, if necessary. A 
pedestal of unbarked fir or larch, about five or six inches 
thick, looks as neat as anything. It should stand about a 
foot or fifteen inches above the ground, and be sunk at 
least two feet into it; the earth must then be rammed down 
hard all round it. It is as well to give the pedestal the 
slightest possible inclination forwards, that any moisture 
which may be condensed upon the combs and may run down 
to the floor-board may be thrown off at the hive entrance. 
Before it is fixed, a cross-piece, barely six inches broad, 
must he nailed firmly to the head of it, over which the clips 
of the floor-board are to drop. Should it be difficult to 
procure such stands as these, old beer barrels, or pieces of 
stout wood six inches in breadth and fixed on three stout 
legs, milking-stool fashion, or anything that can be firmly 
fixed will do as well—neatness, however, is always desirable. 
The cross pieces, in fixing the pedestals, must be made to 
face forwards, in order that the entrances in the floor-boards 
may come into the right position. 
(To be continued.) 
TO CORRESPONDENTS, 
Ice-water (J. L .).—We do not know of any plan by which you could 
keep clean ice along with ice that is not clean. If you were to put a 
I quantity of clean ice in a metal or wooden case, and bury it in the centre 
! of the dirty ice, it would be a great waste, as a leaf or a twig among it 
j will cause it to waste ; besides, the melting of the dirty ice would soon 
; impregnate the purer article, unless the containing vessel was made of 
j zinc and water-tight. If you could keep it so, and your master put a 
lump or two of it into his drinking water, you would soon have to look 
out for another master who valued his health more, for there is nothing 
more unwholesome to drink than ice-water, unless it be the doctored 
wash in the cellar of a beer-house, and that never gives the threat disease 
called goitre, which icc-watcr is apt to do sooner or later. If your 
master must have iced-water, the cheapest way by far, is to make new 
clean ice for him two or three times a week, from water drawn from his 
own pump. How that is done we mean to show very soon, and we are 
glad of your letter to remind us to warn our readers against using ice- 
water even from the purest source. To make new ice every morning in 
July is a much less costly process than to keep old ice in this country. 
Birmingham Poultry Show. —The sales in the Poultry Department 
have been very numerous, the majority of the pens having been disposed ! 
of—a fact which may be attributed to the moderate prices most of the j 
exhibitors placed upon the birds which there was no intention of retaining 
by the naming in the certificates of a prohibitory one. One of the lots 
sold was the pen of the yet scarce Bramah Pootras, sent by Prince ! 
Albert. The price was £50 ; but we believe Mr. John Baily, the eminent I 
and respected poultry dealer, of London, received ^ 110 for a pair of fine 
specimens of this variety. These sums are by no means so fabulous or ' 
absurd as some unreflecting persons may imagine, when we bear in mind ' 
that they are given for a desirable addition to the ordinary kinds of i 
domestic poultry, which, for some time to come, must be very scarce in 
this country, and eagerly sought after. Fowls, under ordinarily favour- I 
able circumstances, arc, we know, prolific, and with the number of 
chickens which, with skilful management, may be obtained from three 
or four hens, in the course of a season, a spirited breeder may reasonably 
expect to repay himself such outlays as those we have mentioned. Mr. 
Andrews, of Dorchester, we believe, sold a pen of Cochin-China fowls for 
.£'50., and some other pens sold for the same sum ; .£40, .£30, and ,£20 
being given in tolerably numerous cases. The bulk of the transfers took 
place on the first day, when they amounted to £1,125 6s.; on Wednes¬ 
day, to £295 13s.; on Thursday, to £136 6s.; and on Friday, to 
£123 15s.; the total being £1,681.—( Midland Counties Herald.) We 
have many complaints of pens of birds being sold before any visitor 
could look at them. Two hours should be allowed for inspection before 
the sale office is opened. 
Adam’s Oak. — P. writes to us as follows: “Between Hemsworth 
and Great Houghton is a famous old Oak, called ‘Adam Oak;’ when 
the sun favours us again I hope to send you a photograph of it, to be 
engraved in The Cottage Gardener. Also, I should be glad if any 
of your readers would favour me with any well authenticated history , 
legend , &c., relating to it. It is situated on Brierly Common, and by 
its side once stood ‘ Eve,’ another Oak, which has been cut down to 
make a road across the Common!—at least, so I am told.” Can any of 
our readers give the desired information ? 
Roup Contagious. — Mrs. C. writes as followsI have some I 
valuable poultry, purchased from Capt. Hornby and others, and a fort¬ 
night ago I purchased a few Shanghaes in this neighbourhood; the even¬ 
ing after ttr-y were bought, I observed something remarkable about the 
fowls, especially one which I examined and removed. I gathered from 
The Poultry Book it must be Roup. I therefore removed them all, and 
sent my best stock a few miles in the country to board. I am fully 
aware that they all drank together, and it is evident to me that in no 
other way could the contagion have spread, for they did not run together, 
only met in the yard. The common fowls I kept at home have nearly all 
taken it, and upwards of thirty I had killed. My question on this head 
is—When may I safely venture to have my best stock home, without hazard 1 
to any that have not been infected by it ? One question more, if you will 
allow me. Our Poultry Show is fixed for next week. If the nostrils and 
eyes of my best fowls should be dry, would it be any risk to cage them 
together during those two days ? ” We should not hesitate to have the 
birds back to the yard if it was purified by chloride of lime, &c., as re¬ 
commended by us recently ; and the yard allowed to remain empty for a 
week or two. Nothing would justity exhibiting the birds for some 
months, or until quite well. 
Spanish Fowls Eggs (T. F .).—We should put them under a Game 
hen rather than under a Dorking hen. Poultry Houses are treated of ( 
most copiously in the first number of The Poultry Book. 
Norwich Show. — Mr. Playford says we were wrong in considering | 
that he alluded to Mr. Cattling when commenting upon the award of the j 
Prizes, “ because he was not there ; and if he had been, is sure he would 1 
not have done it.” So we said. 
Golden Ham burghs (S. B.). —If there is any difference, the Spangled 
are rather hardier than the Pencilled. The latter, however, are the best 
layers. Write to any one who has taken prizes for them, and state what 
you require. 
Turkeys (A Worcestershire Lady). —We think from four to six hens 
are the best numbers for one cock, and we prefer the smaller number. 
Lame Siianghae Cockerel (W. Wxndlcy). —What kind of lameness 
is it? Is it a limping with one leg, or a want of power to move it; or is 
it a spasmodic lifting up of the legs higher than usual when walking? 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published by William 
Somerville Orr, of Church Hill, Walthamstow, in the County of 
Essex, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of Christ 
Church, City of London.—January 6th, 1854. 
