^rARCIl 10. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
I 
410 
liefore alliuled to, lias just had one sent to him, and I fancy 
the same as your>, that really, really, was not a fair example. 
It was actually the piece of a large feather, extracted from 
the wing coverlets 1 Now, siich feathers are always laced in 
the purest specimens of spumjlcd Polands I even in the 
spangled Hamburgh, if my recollection does not fail me, 
such are laced too. 
If yours are similar feathers, then, depend upon it, 
“ Scrutator” is a wag, and but joking with the good-natured 
credulity of your readers. Ho ask him for feathers from 
the breast, not from the sides of the breast, but crop feathers; 
these are the touchstone of lacing ; so bait your trair, and, 
my word for it, lie will be caught, if he be “ poking fun ” 
at us all. 
i’inally, I enclose you a larger-sized feather (but le.ss 
than my friend had sent him), from the wing covert of, 
perhaps, as line and true a Spanyled Poland as can well be; 
of course the lacing of the feather is perfect, for all purely- 
spangled fowls have the larger leathers of the wing coverts 
laced 1—r. 11. Houneu. 
[The feathers sent to us by “ Scrutator,’' whose direction 
we very much wish for, as we have some questions he could 
probably answer, were good and entire specimens. We 
shall publish, next week, an engraving of a laced feather 
which came from him.—Kn. C. G.] 
P. S. Mr. Hailey, in his recent work on Poultry, and all 
other authors, describe the Golden Poland as a spangled 
fowl. Hy-the-by, IMr. Hrent’s notion of a spangle is truly 
unique, and, let me assure him, it is quite apocryphal. The 
colour of the spangle may be any one of the prismatic 
colours—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, or violet, 
or, it may be, black, or white, on a contrasted ground 
colour.—P. 11. H. 
[It is only within a very recent period that the character¬ 
istic markings of fowls have been generally recognised and 
sanctioned tiy the awards of judges. 
That twenty years ago there existed a breed of laced 
Polands, with cverg feather in strict compliance with the 
requirements of that marking, we are not at present pre¬ 
pared either to prove or deny. All we say is simply this,—• 
that such birds w« have not ourselves seen. 
“Scrutator’s” specimen of the silver-laced feather was 
unipiestionably good, whether it was a wing covert, or from 
tile breast or back. As a mere feather individually, and po¬ 
se did we then speak of it, e.xpressing our wish to know 
where birds thus marked throughout might be attainable. 
We then alluded to such laced birds being distinct from 
those termed spangled; and Hr. Horner, we imagine, is 
correct in saying that the greater w'ing coverts, in both gold 
and silver Polands, are usually laced, at least, that the 
spangle is so prolonged in a narrow line on the outer 
margin of the feather on each side, as to warrant the appli¬ 
cation of this term to those particular feathers. 
Hut the shape of this spangle varies. To our own eye, 
I that which presents a convex side to the base of the feather 
! would have the preference over what, from its concave form, 
i might be called the horse-shoe spangle ; the outline is 
better defined, and the colour better massed. Tlie whole 
question, however, of “ spangle versus lacing ” stands thus :— 
The class “ Gold and Silver Polands" is commonly under¬ 
stood to denote Spangled birds ; so that when a truly laced 
fowl of this family, i. e. not with lacing in any one part of its 
body only, but with lacing throughout as the main cha¬ 
racteristic of its plumage, shall make its appearance, com¬ 
petent authorities must then determine whether it shall 
compete on ecjual terms with its Spangled relative, or require 
the formation of a separate class. But such a fowl, we 
repeat, w'e have never yet seen, for the Spangle, more or 
less, has ever been apparent; hence, therefore, our desire 
for such as we pictured to ourselves when “ Scrutator’s ” 
specimen was laid before us, and his description perused. 
'Tlie Spangle, from the contrast of greater masses of colour, 
may be, perhaps, considered as the most effective marking; 
ibut we cannot lightly pass over the claims of the well-defined 
laced feather, where the ground colour, encircled by its 
clear dark margin, appears in such strong relief. 
1 'The lacing is necessarily seen to great disadvantage on 
Ui« same feather with the spangle; the latter occupying 
he best portion of the feather, both as regards texture and 
display. Separate feathers .should, therefore, be taken for 
comparison. Hut we must wait for a Gold or Silver I’oland 
with unbroken lacing before we venture to discuss tlie 
question at greater length. Hut, in the meanwhile, let not 
our thunks be forgotten, both to “ Scrutator,” for the com¬ 
munication of his views of Polish excellence, and to Hr. 
Horner, whose experience with his breed wdll ensure the 
careful consideration of his letter by every reader of 'The 
Cottage G.vhdenek.—IV.] 
BEE-BOXES. 
“ Exoniensis” agrees in nearly all the observations 1 
have formerly maile in your paper in IfSbq. It is quite 
true that boxes, in a general way, do not answer so well 
as straw’ hives ; they are more apt to get over-heated in 
summer, and more liable to be infested with spiders, which 
are insidious enemies to the bees, by entrapping them in 
detail, and, as your correspondent says, are too expensive 
for poor cottagers. What I wish to see is, 'some new- 
fashioned cheap box-hive invented by some apiarian, which 
a carpenter can afford to sell at a price nearly the same as 
the straw hive ; timber was never cheaper, for the last fifty 
years, than at the present moment; and surely well-sea¬ 
soned wood might be had, and a good plain bo.x invented 
one-and-a-half inch thick, at one quarter the price of those 
advertised, which I have stated to be entirely out of the 
reach of cottagers. I envy “ Exoniensis ” when I read his 
account of his bee country; Devonshire is, generally speak- ; 
ing, a good bee country. In 1849, 1 was at Ilfracombe. 
North Devon, and I purchased some of the finest honey I 
ever tasted. 'The combs w’ore verj’ heavy, and, as in Glou¬ 
cestershire, it was but a poor season for honey, it plainly 
shows how favourable the bee pasture must be, as it was 
rather a dripping season in that locality. At the Chepstow 
Elower Show, in 1848 (a very poor season with us in Glou¬ 
cestershire), I saw a box of bees exhibited with at least 
f)0 Ib.s. weight of pure honey, probably from a good county 
not half stocked. 
It is very well for bee-fanciers to praise the different 
curious bo.xes, which look very pretty, and answer very well 
in a general way, but who ever expects to see them general 
amongst the cottages of the labourers? ; 
“ Exoniensis” does not state whether any of his hives are , 
in bee-houses, or whether they all stand separate. He says j 
his boxes are fourteen inches square and seven inches deep ; - 
I like those made twelve inches square and nine inches 
deep. I approve very much of his glasses, as this is the I 
best way of getting pure honey without destroying the bees, I 
and is what I have recommended in preference to the un¬ 
certain mode of deprivation of the main body of the combs, 
which irritates the bees much more, and leaves a cause for 
many casualties. 
Ei'om the immense quantity of rain fallen within the last 
four months, I fear the earth may be so chilled as to cause 
a very late spring; tliis will be the destruction of many weak 
stocks of bees where feeding has been at all neglected. 
I have lately had some of the Melilolus leucanlha, for the 
first time, in my garden, and recommoiul it very strongly as 
an excellent bee-tlower. 'This is one of the good bee-flowers 
I omitted to mention in ray list in those enumerated in 'The 
Cottage Gabdenek in the summer of 18')“.—H. AY. New- 
wan, New House, Stroud. 
rOULTRY ON SHIPBOARD. 
I see you are publishing a work on Poultry. I have often 
wished for information on the subject, with a view to stock 
for shipboard. It is lamentable to see what numbers die 
in the over-crow'ded coops, especially in tropical climates, 
in a week or two after the sailing of the vessel; and with 
respect to those that do not die naturally, the leanness of 
the bird makes it hardly worth cooking. Blindness, partial 
or complete, is a common occurrence; but that does not 
hinder fow’ls being brought to table. In an East India 
passenger-ship, I have seen a dozen birds thrown overboard 
daily, or every other day, for a considerable period. Guinea 
