373 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 9. 
two calves. We scald our milk over gas, on the Devonshire 
plan ; and feed the Cows on Swedes and hay, but have never 
any ill flavour in the butter. We could dispose of much 
more butter than we make.— Spes ( a Wilts Clergyman). 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Plan of Peach House ( T .).—It would not do often to engrave 
plans, but if you tell us your situation, and what you purpose, we will 
advise. The subject has frequently been referred to, and the simplest is 
the best. The best Peaches are generally obtained from houses where 
the trees take the direction of the glass, being trained fifteen or eighteen 
inches from it. 
Contemplated Greenhouse {Omagh). —The sun does not shine 
after ten o’clock, a.m., upon your ground. We should not like to advise 
you, though we have no doubt you would grow such things as Camellias, 
Azaleas, and even Geraniums, and Heaths, if you gave them planty of 
air, and all the light you could. The plants would have the advantage of 
refracted light, even though the sun did not shine after ten, a.m. The 
worst of it would be in winter, as your plants would hardly have a ray at 
all, but they would be no worse than most plants facing the south this 
season, as the hours of sunshine might soon be counted. Had we the 
house, up it should go, maugre all disappointments in some things, but 
wc have not proved plants in such a place for a twelvemonth, with the 
exception of Camellias, Fuchsias, and Azaleas, and they were set out-of- 
doors for a couple of months, about August. Unless you have abundance 
of air, Pelargoniums, &c., would get leggy. 
Russian Anemone (A recent Subscriber) .—We presume it requires 
no particular treatment, but we are not sure which it is. 
Seedling Pansies {Ibid). —Wintered in a frame, should have abun¬ 
dance of air in favourable weather, be well hardened off, and be planted 
out in rich, mellow, well aired ground, about the end of March, or the 
beginning of April. If the weather is rather mild do it earlier, and 
protect after planting if it should be severe on a sudden. 
Andalusian Laughing Pigeons {Durham). —With regard to the 
Laughing Pigeons, so little kept by fanciers, the fullest account of these 
birds is in Mr. Eaton’s work on “ Pigeons,” p./!• “ This Pigeon is 
about the size of middling Hunts, and much of the same make; and I 
am informed has a very bright pearl eye, almost -white; as for its feather, 
it is red-mottled, and some tell me that they have seen blues, They are 
said to come from the Holy Land, near Jerusalem. When the cock 
plays to his hen, he has a hoarse coo, not unlike the gurgling of a bottle 
of water when poured out, and then makes a noise which very much 
imitates a soft laughter, and from thence this bird has its name.” We 
think the gentlemen who keep the Laughing Pigeons should also keep 
the Trumpeter. Both birds being of the Runt.ish kind, and having 
such strange voices, and if a cross comes from these birds, who knows 
but their offspring might laugh and trumpet in the same bird. 
Jacobin Pigeons (R. Stone). —You mention that you bought a pair 
of Jacobins, but you do not mention whether they arc two cocks or two 
hens. I presume you bought them for cock and hen, and your complaint 
is that they do not match up. The probability is, that if they are two cocks 
or two hens they never will, although the experienced fanciers frequently 
witness two hens matching up, laying four eggs in the nest, relieving 
each other in sitting; the eggs, as a matter of course, coming to nothing, 
although plenty of cocks are in the loft. The same will take place with 
regard to the cocks—two cocks forsaking their hens, matching up, 
sitting, although no eggs in the pan, and relieving each other in their 
sitting. It never struck me to observe if the cocks would sit at night. 
You must prove your Jacobins thus, putting a forward hen to each, and 
if they play up, then you have two cocks; on the contrary, try two cocks 
to the Jacobins, and if they match up, then you have two hens. If, 
after all, the pair should be cock and hen, place them in a pen with lath 
petitions between them, feed and water them out of the same utensils : 
feed them on small beans, and give them a good supply of hemp-seed, 
and when you observe the hen sweep her tail, and shew, as it is called, 
to the cock, and as she plays in the other pen or basket, you may put 
her to him, and they will soon be matched.—J. M. E. 
White Bantams {Julia Williams , and A White Bantam).— Both 
these enquiries may be answered together. The fact of the first prize in 
the class for White Bantams having been awarded, at the late Metropolitan 
Show, to a pair of rough-legged, tufted, white birds, has created some 
surprise, and fault has consequently been found with the judges for this 
decision. But it appears to us that these gentlemen would be bound by 
the wording of the prize-list, and that no matter whether the birds in 
question were booted or tufted, the fact of their colour entitled them to 
be shown in that class. The question of how far they merited the prize, 
j i 8 , however, entirely distinct. The matter in dispute proceeds entirely 
I from the wording of the prize-list, and the usual description of birds that 
have appeared for competition as “ White Bantams,” being at variance, 
j It has, doubtless, been generally understood that the points of excellence 
I that would here confer a prize were widely opposed to the “booting” 
| and “tuft” that decorated the winners on this occasion, and remedy 
must be sought for in the more accurate enumeration of points required 
in certain classes, and those of which the possession would place the 
candidates in a different position: strictly speaking, there was nothing in 
; the rule, subject to which these birds were exhibited, to debar their com¬ 
petition, but henceforth such difficulties might be avoided, by limiting a 
j class to clean-legged, untufted specimens, or by requiring the tufted 
| birds to be shown in a distinct class by themselves. This, no less than 
many like difficulties that have occurred, proves the necessity of greater 
accuracy in the terms of our prize lists, as also of a more generally 
recognized standard of merit, by which the points of competing pens 
j have judgment passed upon them. 
Minorca Fowls (M. F., Taunton). —1. The Minorca cannot be called 
a “ distinct race ” of fowls. Excellence in Spanish requires the white 
face; the Minorca’s scarlet countenance causes it to be ranked as a dege¬ 
nerate sub-variety of the first-named bird, with which they have, doubt¬ 
less, had a common origin ; and Spanish breeders are, moreover, but too 
well aware of the constant tendency, in even their best birds, to throw 
chickens with more or less of this objectionable feature. 2. The Minorca 
is commonly exhibited in the class for “ fowls of any other distinct va¬ 
riety J *—a position they would improperly occupy if in any way possessed 
of Spanish blood ; but if this class were “ for fowls of any variety nut 
enumerated above,” this might be assigned as their best place.—W. 
Perpetual Roses (IF. IF.).—They are not very suitable against a 
house, unless you had some on tall standards, and others as dwarfs. 
The following twelve will suit you best:—1. Boquet de Flora; 2. Le 
Grenadier; 3. Madame Lachanne; 4. Purpure de Tyre, or Tyiian 
Purple ; 5. Malmaison, or Souvenir de la Malmaison ; and 6, Acidale. 
These Bourbons ought to be on tall standards, and the following hybrid 
perpetuals as dwarfs:—1. Mrs. Elliott; 2. William Jesse ; 3. Madame 
Laffay; 4. Baron Provost; 5. Duchess of Sutherland; and 6. Earl 
Talbot. Or, if the Bourbons do not suit you, take the following— 
1. Standard of Merango; 2. Sidonie; 3. Queen; 4. Pius the Ninth; 
5. Jacques Lafitte; and 6. Auguste Mie. All these grow very strong, 
and will flower from May to November. 
Rose Cuttings {G. P. IF.).—Rose cuttings when they are pruned, 
and elementary essays on the first lessons, to you, and such as you, are 
to commence next week, and will be continued for a long time at short 
intervals. 
Diseased Geranium Leaves {Isabel). —General debility from low 
temperature, want of roots, and good soil, seem to be the only fault, and 
that you are in the right way to get over; but you certainly potted them 
one month too soon, because you did not keep a brisk heat lor a week 
or two after shaking them from the poor stuff. Pray do not blame Susan. 
Your “ clear directions” were all Greek to her, no doubt. Give very 
weak draughts from the hand-basin, at every other watering, all through 
the spring, and milk-warm, of course; and when the sun comes out 
strong, shade them in the middle of the day till April, and do not give 
them another potting till they flower. 
Age of Eggs for Sitting {S. S.). —We prefer eggs not older than 
a fortnight. Eggs much older have produced thrifty chickens, but it is 
certain, as a general rule, than the older the egg the weaker its progeny 
Broken Beak {H. Lawrence). —The hook broken off the upper 
mandible, or jaw, of the cock’s beak will never be restored. The beau¬ 
tiful fresh redness in the combs of fowls, which you justly admire, is the 
result of good keeping. To tell what this is occupies the space of half 
“ The Poultry Book.” 
Cow Insurance {N. M. G .).—There were two Societies in London 
for insuring the lives of cattle, but we fear they are both extinct. 
“The Bees. A Poem.”—W here can this volume, written by Dr. 
Evans, be obtained ? 
Buff Shangiiae Eggs (A. Z., Jersey ).—Write to G. W. Johnson, 
Esq., Canon-street, Winchester. They are all from prize birds, and are 
20s. for thirteen, including the box. 
German Barm or Yeast (J. IF. M .).—Can any of our readers tell 
us how this is made ? The mode of preserving yeast in Germany is 
thus detailed. Put the yeast from new beer into a clean linen bag, place 
this in a vessel half full of fine wood ashes, cover it three inches deep 
with similar ashes, and press gently. Leave it for a day or two, until the 
yeast has become a thick paste. Then form it into small balls, dry them 
in a moderate heat, and store them in bags in a dry, airy place. When 
yeast is required, dissolve as many of the balls as may be sufficient in a 
little warm beer. 
Exchange of Poultry (IF. H. Lockyer ).—It must be put in as an 
advertisement. 
Hartley’s Plate Glass (IF. D.). —This might be employed for a 
greenhouse without over-lapping. It might be fitted together like plate 
glass, and all wet excluded, if the edges were done over with liquid 
putty before being joined together. Coloured illustrations are impossible 
for us. 
Fowls eating each other’s Feathers {John Chinaman).— If 
you supply your fowls with a little animal food daily, and powdered 
oyster-shells, they will, probably, leave off their canibalism. 
Concrete Walks {A Constant Reader). —Full directions are given 
in previous volumes, as you will find in the indexes. We never saw the 
rockwork at the Colliseum. 
Gooseberry and Currant-trees {Suburban). —By all means give 
them a bed to themselves. If grown among vegetables, or round the 
main quarters, their roots are continually being injured by the spade. 
The soil is too rich, too deep, and, probably, too moist, for your fruit- 
trees. Take up the young ones, and plant on statiojis on the surface, as 
so often described by Mr. Errington. 
Silver Poland Fowls {A Pole).— Write to those who you see have 
taken prizes, and ask them if they can supply your wants. 
Worms in Dogs {E. IF.).—Mr. Youatt says, that glass finely powdered 
is almost an unfailing remedy. Make the powdered glass into a ball with 
I lard and a little ginger powder. 
Rabbits barking Trees {A Subscribe?').— To prevent this paint the 
stems with cold coal tar as high as the vermin can reach. Sec, also, 
what Mr. Appleby says to-day. 
Names of Plants (A Subscribe ?').—Your Fern is Ptcris serrulata , 
and requires a stove. ( W. Place), —Your seeds are of Staphyleapiniiata, 
or Common Bladder Nut. 
Rendle’s Price Current (F).—You can have one on application to 
Mr. Rendle, Nurseryman, Plymouth. It is very well got up. 
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.—February 9th, 1854. 
