February 24. 
THE COTTAGE GARHENEE. 
411 
is tlie protection of our greenhouse plants from sudden 
and unexpected falls in temperatm-e. True, the climate on 
the whole is mild, so much so, that up to the 1st of this 
month ('February), I have not had occasion to light my 
fm’nace more than three times. Now the frosts of these 
three nights were clearly indicated in the early part of the 
days, or, at all events, previous to night setting in, and in 
these cases there was no difficulty in being prepared for the 
icy king; but since the commencement of the present month 
we have had several sharpish and injurious white frosts 
towards the break of day, (and these after determined wet 
days, continuing up to midnight); and it is here that the 
amateur, who has retired to bed quite satisfied of having no 
frost for that night, finds to his sorrow, on looking over his 
pets in the morning, that some of the most tender have aU 
but perished. 
To guard them against these vicissitudes is what I want 
to accomplish, without the toil of lighting fires constantly. 
Now I am passionately fond of my greenhouse plants, of 
which I have a large and various stock, and often as I sit 
over my parlour fire I think it a pity that I have not made 
it available for the protection of my plants, in fact, we do 
not receive half the benefit we might from our fires. 
The exclusion of frost, or the ranging of the theiTnometer 
between 45° and 40°, is all I aim at, for in the case of very 
severe and continuous frost I can heat my brick flues. I 
would now, therefore, crave the benefit of a share of that 
mass of intellect which is brought into operation in the 
varied and excellent articles that appear in the pages of 
The Cottage Gardener, in carrying out my project, and 
1st. Could I not set in the back of my parlour-grate, or, 
indeed, in the kitchen fire-place, which is just as convenient, 
a small copper boiler made to fit in the back of the fire-place, 
and have hot water piping running from thence into the 
greenhouse ? I am sure you will answer me, “ You can, to 
be sure.'’ 
[You are quite right in your anticipation of our answer. 
You can accomplish what you wish by imitating the arrange¬ 
ment of pipes adopted by Mr. Bradbury, of which a plan 
was given in our last number, p. :187.— Ed. C. G.] 
2nd. What sized lead pipe would be necessary for the flow 
and return pipes which are to connect the boiler and the 
iron pipes in the greenhouse, for, mind you, there is a dis¬ 
tance of thirty feet between the kitchen grate and the green¬ 
house; and, in addition to asking you what bore will be 
necessary for the conducting pipes, I must also ask you, after 
what manner shall I lay them in the ground, so that as little 
cooling as possible may take place in the transit of the hot 
water for the said distance of thirty feet. 
[Do not use lead pipes at all. If your greenhouse is 
small, three-inch cast-iron pipes will answer your pm-pose if 
carried the whole length of the house and back again. To 
keep the pipe from cooling in the thirty feet underground, 
you cannot use anything better than a six-inch covering of 
dry sawdust all round.—E d. C. G.] 
I propose so to set the boiler that I need not let the 
kitchen fire act on it but when I please; this can be done 
by the removal of a fire brick, a furnace door, or such like. 
If I can accomplish all this, I can let my kitchen fire remain 
for the night during all suspicious weather, thereby pro¬ 
ducing warmth from the hot-water apparatus sufficient to 
keep out frost without exciting, and thereby attenuating the 
plants. It would also save me many anxious hours on 
nights which would not justify the heating of the present 
brick flues, very troublesome and very dirty work for the 
amateur. 
[We like your idea of only having the apparatus heated 
when you wish. This might be accomplished by means of 
a false back of cast iron, made so as to slip in and secure a 
vacancy of two or three inches between the fire and the 
apx>aratus. The air in those two or three inches would form 
the best non-conductor of heat.— Ed. C. G.] 
The objects to be attained are,— 
Ist. An almost inexhaustible source of gentle heat, at all 
times wanted, from a fire constantly at work for other pur¬ 
poses, and without, I may say, the cost of fuel. 
2nd. The immense saving of trouble, cost, dirt, and ex¬ 
pense of lighting outside fires in the flues, which want con¬ 
stant attention, and which \ery often fail to give out heat at 
that period (the break of day), when most needed, and when 
the amateur fancies all is right.—A Constant Subscriber. 
DISEASES OF POULTRY. 
EXHIBITION FEVER. 
I AH rejoiced to see you taking up the subject of the 
late Birmingham Poultry Show, and can fully bear my tes¬ 
timony to your remarks, having been a sufferer myself. I 
bought a pen of Dorldngs, and, when they arrived, two of 
them were much affected with a disease in their eyes, and 
one could scarcely eat. They have infected all my poultry. 
The cock I purchased is since dead, and one hen still very 
ill, and all the rest suffering, more or less. Now, it does 
seem to me that every care should be taken by the authori¬ 
ties to prevent diseased fowls being admitted, which I under¬ 
stand they were, and, indeed, on the Tuesday I was there, 
I saw some myself in that state, and considering the 
value of the poultry, and the high prices given for them, it 
is vexatious to lose them by a carelessness which might be 
prevented. 
As your correspondent, Mr. Tegetmeier, is kindly writing 
on the diseases of fowls, I should much like to know what 
he considers the jiroper treatment for this complaint. The 
symptoms are, eyes closed with froth, a stretching out of 
the neck, with constant husky cough, total loss of appetite, 
and evidently great pain in swallowing food put down the 
throat. I tried the pill recommended in one of your num¬ 
bers, of hydriodate of potash, and gentian-root powder, 
which I think has done good. The pain, however, of swal¬ 
lowing became so great, it seemed cruel to force food down, 
and, as a last resource, we pinned a mustard poultice round 
her throat for ten minutes, when she evidently felt it. The 
relief to the throat was immediate, and she has since 
swallowed the soft bread and water put down her throat 
without pain. Two days after we repeated the mustard 
poultice, always continuing the pill. The hen, though still 
very ill, is now able to peck a tittle herself, and seems to 
have some appetite, but the eye still requires the froth to be 
constantly removed. Her excrements are quite green and 
loose. The rest of the fowls have the cough, and a little 
froth on the eye, and have suddenly stopped laying; and 
I should be glad to know what to do for them.—W. A. E. 
[It will not be until after many of the most valuable 
poultry yards in the kingdom are depopulated by this con¬ 
tagious disease (which has been so characteristically named 
by our Editor “ the Exhibition fever "), that the time which 
the fowls are kept in an over-crowded show will be shortened, 
or the gross feeding with greaves and other stimulating 
animal food abolished. 
For typhoid fevers of this kind, whether known as gaol 
fever, exhibition fever, &c., there is no cure. The only 
mode of treatment that can be recommended, in addition to 
the precautions advised at page 371, is to treat the symptoms 
as they arise. If, as in the above case, the liver is much 
affected, as indicated by the green dung, I would give one- 
grain doses of calomel every one or two days. The mustard 
poultice to the throat, to relieve the inflammation there 
situated, I regard as exceedingly judicious treatment. Not 
so, however, the hydriodate of potash, which has an irri¬ 
tating effect on the lining of the throat, stomach, &c., likely 
to prove detrimental. 
Should the bird appear sinking from weakness, a little 
stimulant might be very advantageous, such as weak brandy 
and water, or ale, given in small quantities, at short inter¬ 
vals. I very much deplore the time for which fowls are 
detained at the shows, and am quite conlident that it jire- 
vents many sending their birds. So great is the dread of 
the disease, that one of the most successful exhibitors told 
me, he sold all his pens at the Great Metropolitan, some at 
a very great sacrifice, rather tlian take them home again to 
the risk of injuring his stock.—W. B. Tegetmeier, Tot¬ 
tenham.} 
INFLUENCING THE SEX OF CHICKENS. 
Most persons are aware of the existence of the idea, as 
old as the time of the Romans, that the sex of the chicken 
