;?P)0 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Let them have a dry shed, with some sand in it, where tliey 
can bnsk wlien rain, snow, or frost, prevent their liaving 
that enjoyment abroad. Giving them warm food is quite 
needless. Your rations allowed we think quite enough,—if 
they have plenty of grass or other green food. No poultry 
will be healthy without green food.] 
AMBITION’S LADDER. 
Beginning with the bo}', and ending wdth the man, or with 
the girl, and ending with the woman, there is a spirit of 
emulation throughout;—a seeking after excellence, a getting 
sought after, which pei-meates our entire natures. With the 
harsher sex it shows itself first in tlie best taw, the largest 
box-top; after a few years, rabbits, a nice little terrier, a 
ferret, a gun, fishing-rod, itc. All these are emulatory ex¬ 
citements, and conducive to the healthy relaxation from 
study; comparatively speaking, tliese are speculations of a no 
very expensive outlay, for youth is always changing: but by- 
and-by, in riper years comes that irresistible fancy for 
horses, a never-ending expense, and never-to-be-satisfied 
mania, often leading to bad results from the enormous calls 
on the purse. By some lucky chance you get three screws, 
following, palmed off on you. Your depending man mar¬ 
ries the best fellow-servant of the establishment; the lady, 
or ladies of the house refuse to drive with your never-to-hc- 
(lepcnded-on horse; and you see, very clearly, your love for 
horse-llesh has upset the whole household. ’Tis summer, 
and you find your party, at a horticultural meeting, in a 
poultry marquee, adjoining a lloricultural one, admii’ing a lot 
of fowls (a thing never dreamt of) ; the Hamburghg and 
Polands, with their beautiful crests, combs, and plumage, 
attract, and justly so, a great deal of attention. The bold 
Game and Malay, as, also, the odd-looking Spanish, the 
Brahma and other Chinese birds, together with the Bantams 
and Pigeons, pass in review; till, at length, you actually be¬ 
come the purchaser of pen 1!)2. 'Ihey gain a prize for you 
at the next show, however, although unsuccessful at your 
other attempts to obtain a position, you have gained, by ob¬ 
servation, experience, and contact with congenial spirits, an 
intimate knowledge of this branch of natural history; and, 
although the study commenced in caprice, and even con- 
traiy to your taste, it has the elements of emulation ; and, 
therefore, unwittingly forces itself on your notice and time. 
And others, watching your quiet attention and perseverance, 
so diametrically apart from the expensive and ever-wearing 
scenes of horse fancying, readily take part in your new fancy, 
and work with you. Chickens and eggs are always at hand ; 
the cob, from being more naturally treated, i. e., less corned, 
and more worked, is steadier; the winter arrives; the Co¬ 
chins lay an egg every day but one in the week, and are 
ready as early as you like in the spring to sit on the eggs 
of your favourite sort, accommodating you with the chickens 
if you have the Asparagus ; and all these advantages, alike 
open to the emulation of either sex, stand boldly forth as, 
indeed, something worth being excited about, because it 
really is very emulatory, inexpensive, and useful.—W. H. 
CHINESE GEESE AND THEIR HYBRIDS. 
These Geese, which are distinguished by more aliaites than 
a thief at the Old Bailey, have long been favourites of mine. 
I admire the modest arrangement of colour in the plumage, 
the orange legs and feet, the graceful swan-like neck, with 
its dark stripe down the back, and the black skin, which, ex¬ 
tending from the upper mandible, covers the fore part of 
the head like a mask. On the water their movements are 
so graceful and swan-like, that Cuvier arranged them with 
the Swans, and even now they .are usually termed Swan 
Geese, or Cygnoides. Their character as “ profitable 
poultry,” has also commended them to my notice; they are 
ijifinitely superior, as layei-s, to the common geese, usually 
laying more than thirty eggs before wanting to sit; com¬ 
mencing in the very cold weather, and laying two or threo 
batches of eggs in the year. They are good grazers, but 
obtain a larger proportion of their food from streams than 
the common species. 
Nevertheless, like all sublunary things, they have their 
Decemuer 25. 
drawbacks, they are often accused of keeping up an in¬ 
cessant screaming clang, which is said often to be continued 
tillougliout the night; that their voice has a disagreeable 
metallic resonance, is perfectly true, Imt it is uttered so 
seldom, as to be ipiite unobjectionable. I liave never heard 
it during the night, and seldom in the day, except wb.en tlicy 
are frightened, or come home hungry. In the first case, 1 
regard it as advantageous, as it may be regarded as a cry 
for your assistance, or a warning that yom- property is in 
danger; and in the second, their mouths ai’e soon closed by 
a handful of oats or barley. 
'Lliey are very domesticated, keeping near home, and 
returning constantly in the afternoon, but if they are not 
shut up a little before dark, they take to the river, and, spite 
of all coaxing and remonstrance, jiersist in spending the 
night out-of-doors. This propensity is (in a place where 
they may meet with more admirers than their owner) some¬ 
what of an objection; but it is the only fault that I can 
allege against them. As table birds, they are stated, by 
those who have eaten them, to be of very supeiior quality. 
They breed freely with the common Goose, and what is 
very remarkable, the hybrid is fertile if mated with either a 
Chinese or common Goose, but there is some doubt whether 
they are fertile, inter se, that is. if mated with each other, so 
as to perpetuate true cross. The experiment has been tiled 
with birds of the same brood, but the only way in which it 
can be satisfactorily performed, is by pairing two half-bi’cd 
birds not related, and my object in writing this, is to request 
some keeper of Chinese Geese to add a common Goose to 
his stock, a plan I mean to adopt, and then, by the ex¬ 
change of a half-bred bird, the experiment, which is of some 
considerable importance, in a scientific iioint of view, could 
be fairly tried. 
The plan of feeding that I adopt is as follows ;—In the 
morning early they are let out, when they immediately 
proceed to the river, and feed for an hour or two, they then 
come out, dress their feathers, and graze, afterwards they 
return to the river and w'ander about until two, p.m., when 
they return, and are rewarded for their attachment to home 
by a little corn. At dusk they are shut up, about two hand- 
fulls of oats or barley being allowed to each bird. This is 
placed in a large pan of water in the house where they are 
enclosed.—W. B. 'Tegetmeiee, Wood Oreoi, Tottenham. 
THE HOUSEHOLD. 
(We shall be much obliged by any of our readers 
sending us approved receipts in cookery, hints for house' 
hold management, or any otlier domestic utilities, for 
insertion in this department of our columns.) 
R.4.srBEERY Vinegar. —To every pint of vinegar put, threo 
pints of raspben'ies. Let them lie together two or three 
days ; then mash them up and put them in a bag to strain. 
To every pint, when strained, put a pound of crushed sugar. 
Boil it twenty minutes, and skim it. Bottle it when cold. 
To JUKE Yeast.— Take one handful of hops, one apple, 
one potato sliced, boil in two quarts of water; while hot, 
strain off and stir in wheat flour until it is thick as paste— 
coarse flour is best. Grate one large apple, ono large 
potato, place them in a ga]lon jar, pour in the l>atter, wlien 
sufliciently cool, add a little yeast; in twelve hours it will 
be fit for use .—Ohio Cultivator. 
Quick-made Blacking for Shoes. —Beat up two eggs, 
add a teaspoonful of alcohol, a lump of sugar and ivory black 
to thicken; it should bo laid on and polished like leather 
blacking, and left a day to harden before it is used. 
Hoppers in Ham. —In answer to “B. B.,” I beg to inform 
him, that if Hams are properly cured and kept, Hoppers will 
not get into them ; but in case they should make tlieir ap¬ 
pearance, take a small quantity of unshicked lime, slack it, 
and when there has been sufficient water added to make it 
the thickness of cream, take a brush, and paint the liams .all 
over ; this will stop them. Hams so attacked should be cut 
up for broiling, and not be boiled. Tliere is another very 
excellent plan whicli I tiled, with some success, on some 
