62 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Ai’RiL 27. 
Fact No. 1. —Table drawn up from my egg-book: 
Produce of three Cochin and three Spanish pullets during the first three 
months of the present year. The six birds were all about the same 
age; they were fed alike, but kept in separate enclosures. 
JAN. 
FED. 
MAR. 
JAN. 
FEB. 
MAR. 
Cochin, 1 r 
No. 1. J 20 ’ 
10 .. 
23 . 
Total 
59 
Spanish, 
No. 1. / 7 * 
14 .. 
Total 
18 .. 39 
Cochin, l 
No. 2. / 21 ‘ 
21 .. 
— . 
45 
Spanish, \ on 
No. 2. / * 
20 .. 
23 ,. 63 
Cochin, 1 
No. 3. •• 
22 .. 
12 . 
57 
Spanish, 1fl 
No. 3. J 10 ** 
19 .. 
24 .. 59 
Altogether Cochins 
Laid 
161 
Altogether Spanish Laid 161 
Cochin No. 2 was set on the 23rd of February. No. 3, 
which had been laying without cessation ever since Mi¬ 
chaelmas, was set on 17th of March. No. 1 wanted to sit 
early in February, but was prevented from doing so ; she 
resumed her laying in about a fortnight, and was set on the 
23rd of March. In spite of these interruptions, you will see 
that the Cochins produced exactly the same number of eggs 
as did the Spanish. 
Fact No. 2.—A Cochin hen, bought at Mr. Fairlie’s sale, 
last October, never laid, but continued to increase in weight 
up to April 3rd, when by an accident she was killed. She 
was taken up suddenly, and carried by the legs a few' yards, 
when she had a fit and died. She then weighed lOj-lbs.; 
and on being opened, 2 lbs. of pure fat was found encasing 
the entire mass of entrails. She never had any animal 
food, but was fed on grain and mixed meal and pollard. 
Fact No. 3.—A yellow Cochin pullet was running in the 
yard with a Spanish cockerel. I had a very fine yellow 
Cochin cockerel lent me for a fortnight; I put the Cochin 
pullet with him in a separate place; the pullet was laying 
at the time. I discarded the first two eggs, and set the 
next seven. From the seven eggs, seven chicks made their 
appearance. Two were black, clean legged cockerels, evi¬ 
dently half-bred Spanish, and the remaining five are very 
promising, clear yellow Cochins, with no sign of cross¬ 
breeding about them. 
Fact No. 4. —A Cochin hen was running with a Cochin 
cockerel, and had been laying freely, and the eggs set from 
her proved very productive of chickens. The cockerel u r as 
removed one Wednesday, and the seven eggs laid by her in 
that week, ending on Saturday, were given to a person who 
set them. He had, however, but two chickens from the 
eggs, although, from earlier sittings of the same hen’s eggs, 
an average of five might have been expected. 
Fact No. 5.—Early in April, and late in May, two broods 
were hatched; half the eggs in each case being Spanish 
and half Cochin. The (April) Cochin pullets began to lay 
in September; the Spanish pullet did not produce an egg 
until the middle of December. The (May) Cochin pullets 
all laid in November; their sisters of Spanish blood did 
not lay until the new year had been in some days. The 
Spanish pullets stopped laying when the snow came, but 
the Cochin laid throughout the. severe weather. The April 
Cochins all moulted in December, but the Spanish did not 
change a feather. These facts were all observed last winter 
by —A Norfolk Curate. 
APIARIAN’S CALENDAR.— May. 
By J. H. Payne, Esq., Author of “ The Bee-Keeper's 
Guide," itc. 
Hives.— The time has now arrived for those persons who 
are wishing their bees to swarm to have a supply of hives 
in readiness; and where straw hives are used, I would re¬ 
commend new ones in all cases, except where a swarm of 
the last year has died, and the combs still remaining in the 
hive, the combs being dry and free from mould; a hive of 
this kind is«a great help to a swarm, for one treated in this 
manner will generally be found better than one a fortnight 
or three weeks earlier that has been put into an empty hive. 
Feeding. —Weak stocks must still continue to have bar¬ 
ley-sugar supplied to them, for during the prevalence of 
north and easterly winds but little food can be collected. 
Wasps. —Queen wasps are more numerous this year than 
usual; it is, therefore, necessary for the Apiarian, as well as 
every gardener, to be active in destroying them. With the 
help of a “Read’s Hand Syringe" I have captured almost 
every one that I have yet seen. 
Depriving Hives. —It will now be time to have small 
hives,boxes or glasses,in readiness to place upon stock hives; 
each box or glass should have a few pieces of guide-comb 
neatly' fixed in it, but refrain from putting them on until 
there are evident signs of want of room ; this may be ascer¬ 
tained by the bees thickening at the entrance, and by a loud 
hum inside; for if put on too early it will retard the hatch¬ 
ing of the brood, as well as give the bees an unwillingness 
to enter it at all. The most desirable time for placing a glass 
or box upon a stock hive is the exact time when they will 1 
enter it immediately; but the knowledge of this, I am 
aware, is attended with some difficulty. I have always 
found, that by giving a glass too early in the season 
bees appear to take a dislike to it, and will swarm rather i 
than enter it. When I have been able to put a glass upon j 
a crowded hive at about nine o’clock on the morning of a i 
warm day, it has scarcely ever failed to be filled with bees 
immediately'. 
VEGETABLES AND FRUITS OBTAINABLE 
IN APRIL. 
Tiiep.e is no great difference now and what was men¬ 
tioned for February and March, only that many things that 
were scarce, such as French Beans, young Potatoes, and 
Strawberries, and Cucumbers, will now be more plentiful; 
and other things, such as Rhubarb, and Sea-kale, and 
Radishes, that required forcing, will now be obtained natu¬ 
rally, so far as heat is concerned. Nice, crisp Lettuces, and 
young Cabbages, where they have not been injured, will 
supply a gap where Brocoli has been destroyed, and before 
Cauliflower has been hastened in. Celery, so far as free¬ 
ness from running is concerned, will soon disappear; but 
even before they are in blossom, Green Teas are being 
enquired about; whilst, just to oblige us, Asparagus is 
coming earlier this season than I ever knew it before. In 
almost all things, with the exception of Pears on walls, 
there is, in general, a more than ordinary supply of fruit- 
blossom, and young Apricots are already finding their way 
into the tart dish. A few notes may be more useful than a 
dry recapitulation. 
1. Strawberries. —If this sunny weather lasts these will 
be early out-of-doors this season, and may be forwarded by 
matting over at night, and, better still, by setting a frame 
with sashes over a few good rows. Slates between the 
rows, so as to absorb and then radiate heat, will be an 
advantage. 
2. French Beans. —Few care about having them in their 
houses after the middle of this month. Plants raised in 
boxes, or in small pots, and planted out-of-doors, will come, 
with a little protection, a few weeks earlier, and will well 
repay a moderate hotbed, covered either with glass, or hoops 
and mats. 
3. Turnips. —Everybody likes an early Turnip. The great 
drawbacks to their being got are the cold nights and sunny 
days, which give such checks as to start the plant pre¬ 
maturely into seed. Protection by night, with mats, or 
the growiug them in a bed covered with glass, are the best 
remedies. If a small Turnip early is worth from three to 
four Oranges, this care will not be thrown away. 
4. Sea hale. —Instead of the paraphernalia of pots, boxes, 
and manure, this vegetable may be had during the month 
in fine style by covering the crowns with mounds of dryish 
earth or ashes. At a place I once lived, for this vegetable, 
forced and unforced, they used a covering of black mossy 
peat from a morass, and I have never seen Sea-kale finer, 
cleaner, or sweeter. 
5. Parsnips, Carrots, Beet root, Ac.—All these should now 
be stored in a cool underground cellar; and to save the 
properties of the two first the crowns should be cut of. 
0. Mushrooms.— The hot, dry weather is almost too much 
for these in Mushroom-houses on shelves. They will thrive 
nicely in underground cellars, and in June and July the 
place cannot be too cool for them. Without these appliances, 
those who want them in the dog-days should make a bed 
under the shade of trees, and yet where there will be a 
