Febkuary 17. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
393 
j for the young pheasants to feed under; also to protect them 
from birds of prey, or other disagreeables during the day, 
i The front sliding board acting as a presen^ative against rats 
and otlier prowling vermin by night. It requires to be 
withdrawn very early in the morning, say by sunrise, and 
I the coop shifted on to a fresh position. I'he birds ai’e then 
fed, a repetition of which should take place every two hours 
; at least during the day, consisting of variations from tlie 
i follomng bill of fare, 
1 Hard boiled eggs and bread crumbs mixed. Crushed 
1 groats, fresh from the mill, if to be had. Alum curd, ant 
I the ants and liies accompanying them. Wheat 
j after the first fortnight. Dispense wdth the egg, bread 
I crumbs, and ciu'd, after the first three weeks. With the 
j groats at a month. Alternate barley with wheat, when the 
I birds arrive at the age of six, or seven weeks. Any kind of 
fruit will always prove acceptable; and, above all things, a 
constant sup])ly of clean fresh water. If they are not placed 
upon turf this necessary adjunct must bo given in the shape 
of sods. Often scatter calcined, and pounded oyster shells, 
or pounded egg shells, for them to peck up at their pleasure; 
it keeps off the rickets, oc., it strengthens their bones. 
This to some will appear a very chic mode of living; 
nevertheless, each and all of the good things mentioned 
above will he found as necessary to the artificial rearing, 
and |)roper personnel of the Pheasant tribe, as turtle soup, 
(i'C., is to the proper wellbeing of an alderman. 
The curd is produced, simply by poui’ing half-a-pint of 
milk into a saucepan along with a piece of alum about the 
size of a nut; xdf^ce it near or upon the fire till its casslin 
or muscle-forming properties (cheese) become apparent: 
strain ofi’ the whey, crumble the eiu’d, and it is ready for 
use. Upwards and On^vahds. 
HINTS ON POULTRY BREEDING. 
As it is desirable the highly descriptive and euphonious 
Saxon term, “ gawky,” should not descend in the persons of 
our Shanghae pets, T would venture a word in season to our 
zealous ])oultry-keepers, not to breed from verjj youiKj birds; 
for assuredly, in the generality of instances, “like produces 
like; ’’ and the older, and, consequently, more developed the 
parents are, in shortness of leg, breadth of frame, tJcc., so 
much tlie more will their chickens take after them in early 
maturity and 2 )recocity. If you wish to have chickens (high 
bred), loose and leggy, running about for six or eight montJis 
before they fall into shape, and deserving the characteristic 
term of the 7V»ic.s Editor, then breed from young parents 
before they have attained their size and character, which is 
frequently done with birds under seven months of age. Tlie 
lien should, at least, be twelve months, and the cock two 
years if jiossible. It is also of importance that you select 
hens which iiroduce the longest egg ; for there is a marked 
difference in this respect, and our breed will fall into disre¬ 
pute if this point is not more attended to. I maintain, one 
of the chief points of excellence in the Shanghae, is their 
property of laying throughout the cold winter months; in 
tills respect somewhat singularly resembling our Chinese 
plants, which usually produce their tlowers during our incle 
ment winter season.— Henry Curtis, IVesibnry-on-Trymj 
Bristol. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
♦** We request that no one will write to the departmental writers of 
The Cottage Gardener. It gives them unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. All rommunications should be addressed “ To the Editor of 
the Cottage (iarde7ier, 2, Ame7i Corner^ Pat€r7ioster RoWj London,** 
ERROR.*-At p. .S51, col. 2, line 34 from the bottom, for “ longitudinal ** 
read transverse.^’ 
Impressions of Leaves and Flowers (IK. H.). —Our corres¬ 
pondent will be obliged by information as to the best mode of taking 
these. 
Thorough-bred Dorkings {Charlotte Elizabeth). —Apply to any 
of the cluef priije-takers either at the late Birmingham or Metropolitan 
Show. To give you the characteristics of these birds in the compass of 
a note is not in our power. You will have them given fully in the 
third number of ** The Poultry Book.” In the meantime, it will be a 
sufficient guide to say, that the eock bird should be single-combed, 
that the comb should be stout, well arched, and regularly toothed or 
jagged; wattles long and large, and bright crimson like the comb; 
breast wide and very prominently round; back broad and stout; neck 
hackles long, and forming quite a pellerine; tail ample, and well 
sickled; legs white or blue, short and stout; toes five in number. 
Weight not less than lulbs. Carriage peculiarly bold and erect, and, 
when standing fully upright, about 22 inches high. The double, or 
rose-combed, differs only in that peculiarity. The hp7i bird, when fully 
erect, is about 19 inches high, and should not weigh less* than 7lbs. 
Comb single and very low, in this or in the rose-combed variety; breast 
broad and prominent; compact in form; short in the legs, and these 
blue or white; feet five-tocd, as in the cock, by an extra one behind. 
The colours are very various. If the skull of your Spa7iish Pullet 
is scalped, or laid bare, nothing, we fear, will induce the skin to re¬ 
form over it. We should put on a piece of Diachylon plaister, and 
leave the rest to nature. 
Keeping Eggs {It. B,). —For 7tsing in pttddings, we have known 
eggs laid in August good at Christmas. They had their shells greased 
all over with melted suet. Others have been kept as long in lime 
water. For sittuig purposes, or breeding, there is no doulit that the 
fresher the eggs the better. A fortnight, or tliree weeks, is the extreme 
age of an egg that we should take for this jiurposc, where a choice is 
practicable. At the same time, if eggs are of a choice variety, we 
should not despair of their productiveness, though more than two 
months old; for we have been assured, i)y a practiced breeder of 
poultry, that six out of nine Bramah Pootra eggs produced chickens 
when full nine weeks old. 
Vines fob Cold Greenhouse {Amxctis). —Your eleven Vines should 
be—Six Black Hamburghs ; two Black Prince; two Royal Muscadine, 
and one Dutch Sweet VVater. You could start them a little earlier in 
the spring by a hotbed within the house; but take care to start the root.s 
a little earlier by a similar application. Can you not let the Vines into 
the house, by having the front lights made as depicted by us a few 
months ago? Carry this year’s shoots into the house, and shorten them 
just within-side. Plant immediately Vines growing now in pots. We 
only know the Raisin de Calubre by name. Nothing more than this is 
given in the Horticultural Society’s Catalogue. 
Soft and Imperfect Eggs (/. B.). —Your Shanghae hen, which 
continues to lay so irregularly and so imperfectly, we have no doubt is 
suffering from inffammation, either of the ovarium or of the egg-passage. 
Take her away from the cock for a few days, giving her at once one grain 
of calomel and one-twelfth of a grain of tartrate of antimony. Keep her 
in a moderately-warm, dry place, and repeat the dose at the end of two 
days if the imperfect laying continues. 
Spanish Cockerel (IK. H. S.). —We never knew abird affected with 
white lumps, like maggots, below the tongue, therefore cannot advise 
you. “ The Poultry-Book ” will be published in half-crown parts. 
Ledcothoe {Subsenbex'). — Leucothoe is one of the many second 
names given to A7idroineda ; you may see whole beds of them at Kew 
under that name, also the one you inquire about, Andromeda 7ieriifoliu, 
The Pentstemon ge7itianoides, the Cobeea, and the blue Lobelias, men¬ 
tioned by Mr. Appleby, are on sale at his own nursery; and if he or any 
other nurseryman chooses, he can get for you any plant that is on sale, 
either in Europe or America. A plan is in contemplation whereby you 
may be aided. 
Cyclamens {WelUtvishe)', Isle of Nan), — The leaves perished on the 
way from London, and tlie growth is suspended—what is to be done ? 
They must have their time; you cannot force them. Keep them in a state 
between dry and damp till they show growth, or enter their natural 
period of rest. 
Amaryllis Atamasco {Ibid). —It is 7jeph\p'Qnthes Atamasco, and a 
pretty little thing it is, and as easy to grow as a Crocus, and very much 
in the same way when they are in pots, only that the Atamasco requires 
lighter earth, not peat. A five-inch pot will grow and flower seven full- 
sized bulbs of this Amaryllid, but they will do much better out in front 
of your greenhouse, in pots. Atamasco will not bear the least forcing. 
If the leaves do not come up soon, plunge the pot in the border outside 
at once. 
Amaryllis pormosissima, or Jacob^ba Iax.^ {Sprekelia). —Itmight 
be forced into flower from this time to the middle of May, exactly as they 
force Hyacinths; this blooms when the leaves have advanced from three 
to five inches, not before or after. This bulb should be planted out-of- 
doors by the middle of May, and left out till the frost comes, then to be 
taken up and dried for the winter; and, where there is only a greenhouse, j 
April will be time enough to pot them ; they will grow in any soil that ; 
will grow good potatoes. Huxidsome clhnbers** wiW tease you to des- j 
peration, if you attempt to confine them to a space of two feet wall below 
the windows ; pray be advised from your purpose, and put in Tea-scented ' 
Roses, or, indeed, anything but climbers; but if you must have your own r 
way, take Clematis azurea giumdifiora, and Sieboldi; Calystegia pubes- 
cens, Mitraria coccinea, and Lapageria 7'osea at one end, with Bomarea 
acutifolia at the opposite end, and these two to make a fringe across 
above the others. i 
Flower Garden Plan (E. B.). —Has there been a revolution in the 
Isle of Man lately, or have the ladies got the upper hand in the island, ^ 
that so many of them find time to write such extraordinary long letters ? 
If so, let us hope the rest of the “western islands ” will not turn upside 
down also. This “ plan” is drawn perfectly well for our purpose; the 
four corner figures in it, marked 10, are in better taste than any we know 
of near London. In the centre figure, the Lobelias in 2 and 6 ought to 
he in 2 and 6, being the opposite and match pair. The two kinds of 
Calceolarias in 5 and 7 should be in 5 and 2, or in 7 and 4, according 
