184 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
June 8. 
portanee, they should sink into insignificance. May I be 
allowed to offer one or two remarks. One rule of many ex- 
' hibitions is, that the fowls are to he bond fide the property 
' of the exhibitor. Now, it happens, that an exhibitor could 
greatly improve his pen by substituting a bird borrowed 
j from a friend for one of his own, but he will not transgress 
| the rules of the society by doing so; while another, less 
scrupulous, makes up a superior lot, and the honest com¬ 
petitor is thus placed at a disadvantage. In such cases, it is 
surely not too much to expect that committees should have 
the courage to enforce their rules, by exacting the penalties 
1 which they'have themselves imposed; otherwise, with what 
security can the honourable-minded exhibitor compete? He 
| can have no more confidence in the justice by which the 
i fate of his adult birds is decided, than the exhibitor of 
j chickens can rely on his birds occupying their due position, 
I when competing with others on unequal terms, in con¬ 
sequence of the statements of ago being falsely entered.—A ” j 
[All that our correspondent says is true, and the coin- j 
mittee of any poultry exhibition would bo obliged by his ; 
standing forward as an approver, whenever he knows that 
the frauds which he complains of have been perpetrated. 
There would be no difficulty in obtaining justice, if evidence 
could be produced. This is the obstacle.] 
GOOD POINTS IN SILVER-PENCILLED 
HAMBURG IIS. 
“ I have observed, at many exhibitions, that prizes have 
been awarded to Silver-pencilled Hamburgh cocks, with 
some of the scimitar feathers edged (if not more) with 
white, whilst others with pure black tail have been passed 
over. It appeared to me that it was because the first- j 
mentioned birds had two scimitar feathers, like a Gold- 
pencilled Hamburgh, whilst the others I referred to had 
shorter scimitars, and a more compact tail. I always 
imagined that the compact tail was the peculiarity of the 
Silvers, whilst the two long, bronze scimitars were the pecu¬ 
liarity of the Gold. Will you set me right on this ? 
“ I also imagined, that a pure black tail, without a shade 
of white, was a sine qua non to the Silver-pencilled Ham¬ 
burgh ; but at the Exeter exhibition, first, second, and third 
prizes were all awarded to birds, as I considered, having 
the defect of a whitish tail. 
“ Not exhibiting myself, I was an uninterested spectator 
as to who gained them. — B. J. Lord.” 
[The cause of the preference to which you allude, was, 
doubtless, the “Silvered” tail. In both varieties of Pen¬ 
cilled Hamburghs, an ample, yet compact, sickle tail should 
ho present; in the Gold this must be black bronzed over; 
I in the Silver black silvered over. This silvering should 
commence with a very minute line of white at the edge of 
the feather, the remaining portion of which exhibits a bright 
silver hue when reflected in a good light. The inter¬ 
mixture of white in any quantity, as in the tail of the Silver- 
j spangled Hamburgh, would, of course, be objectionable. 
I The bronzing of the tail of the Golden-pencilled cock is 
| similar in its proportion of colours, merely substituting 
j bronze for silver.—W.] 
- HOUSEKEEPING. 
GERMAN YEAST. 
“You have had several articles on Bread in The Cottage 
Gardener, which are valuable to all who bake at home. I 
am, therefore, induced to address a few lines to you on an 
indispensable article for making it good— Yeast. This, in 
all country towns and villages, as well as in detached houses, 
is universally scarce; and that from the brewers generally 
bad and very bitter. Except to the few who brew at home, 
it is almost impossible to pronounce it good, or even 
tolerable. 
“Now, the ‘German Yeast’ is always excellent, and 
can be had cheaply at several places in London. But it will not 
keep any time; it is, therefore, essential to have it fresh, 
and in small quantities. It is said to be imported; but it 
must certainly be made by those who sell it, I imagine; 
because, the fact of its very soon spoiling when bought, 
seems to he quite against its being sent from Germany in 
the larger quantities which could make it answer, unless it 
came in dry cakes, and was then manufactured into the 
moist-balls by those who sell it in England. 
“ I do not know whether this subject may be at all within 
your department. If you think so, and can procure a 
receipt for the German Yeast, or if it is imported in a dry 
state that will keep, how to manage it, and where to get it, 
I think it would he of great service to many, especially the 
poor. And it might procure a little branch of trade to any¬ 
one who could make and sell it at a moderate price. 
“ It is sold at Is. per pound, at present, by Williams and 
Pugh, 4, Spread Eagle Court, Threadneedle-street, London. 
« From London we are obliged to pay Is. for all parcels, 
however small, which makes the yeast very expensive.— 
H. A. S." 
[The German Y r cast sold by the firm mentioned by our 
correspondent is said to be formed of the remains of the 
corn, Ac., after distilling the genuine Hollands spirit. This 
yeast melts and decomposes in very hot weather. A solid 
yeast is made by the J Bulgarians, as well as by the Dutch 
and Germans, but it all passes under the name of “ German 
Yeast.” The Hungarians are said to make it as follows :— 
Boil a quarter of a pound of bean meal, in six quarts ol 
water, for half an hour; pour it into a vessel capable of 
holding twelve quarts, and add three pounds-and-a-half of 
wheat Hour, mix them thoroughly, and when cooled to o5°, 
add two quarts of beer yeast. Mix them thoroughly, and 
keep the mixture at the temperature of about .i0°. In 
twenty-four hours after this mixture has begun fermenting, 
add seven pounds of barley-meal, make the whole into a 
•thoroughly kneaded dough, roll it out as thin as a dollar, 
cut it into cakes by pressing through it the rim of a wine- 
j glass, place the cakes so cut on sieves or laths of wood to 
dry in the sun, and keep them in a thoroughly dry place. 
When required for use, some of these cakes are to be broken 
into pieces, put into warm water, and kept at the tempera¬ 
ture of about 05° for twelve hours. They form a soft mass 
• which answers all the purposes of yeast.] 
j SOME ACCOUNT OF THE HORTICULTURE OF 
TACNA IN PERU. 
BY JOHN REID, ESQ. 
(Concluded from page 108.) 
Cauliflower, —This excellent vegetable is plentiful in 
Chili and Lima, bu^ has only lately been brought to Tacna. 
About three years ago some hundreds of plants were raised 
in one of the. “ cbacras" in the vicinity; in due time they 
were planted out, and produced very fair heads; the pro¬ 
pagation, as of Cabbage, by offsets, was tried, but this 
member of the Brassica family would by no means consent 
to it, and the result has been that the sprouts from the 
original stems are cut off as they appear, and sold for 
“ Colillores ; ’’ while the parent stems are gradually approach¬ 
ing that ligneous state, when neither leaves nor flowers can 
bo produced by them, and unless a new generation from 
seed be speedily obtained, the Cahflower, as formerly, will 
become unknown. 
Lettuce. —Of all European vegetables this is the one 
which is produced here in the greatest abundance and 
j perfection; there is but one sort, and it appears a hybrid 
between our long green Goss and Cabbage kinds; little care 
is taken of this plant, it is generally self-sown from the 
numbers that are allowed to run to seed, which is sold for 
bird’s-meat at Is. the pound, and thus produces heads as 
large, and nearly as heavy, as our best dwarf Cabbage in 
Scotland. It is in season all the year round and it is in 
universal use. 
I have now mentioned the principal vegetables of 
European extraction in cultivation here, and although a few 
others are now and then met with, they are hardly worthy 
of a separate notice. IVe have occasionally, as a paper of 
seed may chance to arrive, a few Carrots, and they are good 
of their kind, and seem to agree well with the climate and 
soil. Radishes I have once or twice seen, but as the growers 
did not think they had arrived at perfection until they were 
adorned with a flower several feet in height, it was found 
