May 29.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER,, 
135 
announced in the catalogue, and, to my great regret, I found 
that ten out of the sixteen had very recently died, their 
i owner having died a week or two ago, and feeding, in con¬ 
sequence, had been neglected. Half a dozen pounds of 
' sugar in syrup, or barley sugar, distributed amongst them 
| about the middle of April, would, in all probability, have 
saved them all; want of food was the cause of their death. 
[ But had I inquired of the villagers, who stood around me 
I expressing to each other their astonishment at my fearless 
| manner whilst examining them, they would, in all proba¬ 
bility (at least some of them), have attributed their death 
i to a very different cause, and have told me it was “ because 
the bees had not been put in mourning on the death of their 
master,” no appearance of which was to be seen on any of 
the hives. It is by no means unusual to see a piece of 
black cloth or crape fixed to a row of beehives, and if the 
reason he asked, tire reply is, “ their master has lately died, 
and without this attention the bees would certainly have 
died also.” 
That much has already been done, must be acknowledged, 
and thankfully too, to improve the minds of the labouring 
population of our villages, by the establishment of schools, 
ifcc., but this one circumstance proves how much still remains 
to be done. Having this, and many other equally ridiculous 
prejudices to combat with, shews how very difficult it must 
have been to induce the cottager to forego his cruel and 
almost profitless manner of managing his bees, for one that 
is both humane and lucrative. I fear that from the cold 
easterly winds of the last few days, many persons will he 
surprised at finding their stocks dead that were apparently 
doing well a week ago; indeed, a clergyman told me only 
yesterday, the 12tli of May, that he had lost three out of six 
during the last week; and if persons will not take the trouble 
to put a little barley sugar into their weak hives (the easiest 
and safest of all methods of feeding), they must, in such a 
season as this, lose their bees. 
THE YEARLY TRANSACTIONS OF THE HEN-YARD. 
A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR THOSE WHO HAY WISH TO KEEP A 
FEW FOWLS AND FIND THEM PROFITABLE. 
JUNE. 
I do not know that I can better conclude the directions 
which are to guide my readers in the management of their 
fowls through the busy period of sitting, hatching, and 
rearing the young chickens, nor give them a better idea of 
the attention which I consider requisite to attain success, 
than by describing two days in my own poultry yard. 
As soon as I am down in the morning I go out among my 
feathered favourites ; the sun, we will suppose, shines warm 
and bright through the yet scarcely unfolded leaves, the 
yard looks clean and pleasant, and the grass of the orchard 
most invitingly fresh and green. On opening the hen-house 
door a deafening noise salutes the ear. All the young 
chickens of the stock, placed in captivity at night for safety, 
unite their voices in screaming for liberty, and are joined by 
the loud, impatient clucking of their mothers. Amid such a 
bewildering uproar, one feels at a loss where to bestow the 
attention so loudly demanded, and turning, perhaps, to the 
least urgent first, because they are the most quickly disposed 
of, I let out such of the old fowls as are not engaged either 
as mothers or sitters into the orchard, and throw them 
I down their corn; next, brood by brood is silenced by 
| mother and chicks getting their own way; the mothers are 
i placed out under coops, and the little ones run and shake 
their tiny wings and twitter in the sunshine, not forgetting 
to pay due respect to the ample provision of oats, porridge, 
and boiled corn, which is placed either under each coop or 
close against it. A shallow pan of water for each little 
family must not be forgotten. 
These noisy applicants thus quieted, I hasten to uncover 
the more patient incubaters, notice that each eager feeder 
gets a good supply without molesting the young chickens, 
and returns to her nest in time to prevent her eggs becoming 
too cool. If they are ready to come off at once when they 
are uncovered, and return and make themselves comfortable 
by my usual breakfast hour, I consider this very good 
behaviour on their parts. In the meantime as the larder 
(in which I retain a slab for my own especial use) and also 
the kitchen overlook the yard, spare minutes may be 
occupied in boiling corn and mixing porridge enough to last 
the rest of the day. Being thus provided with a store of 
food, the attention which the chickens require for the rest of 
the day will not occupy much time. The broods must be 
supplied with food every two hours at farthest, and each 
mother of healthy chickens will be bcnefitted by having her 
liberty for an hour or two's ramble in the course of the day. 
In very hot weather I put up the hens and chickens in the 
cool hen-house for an hour in the middle of the day, and I 
find this little siesta refreshes and strengthens the young 
things very much. When I think such stimulant advisable, 
I give each brood, at noon, a little bit of meat or boiled 
bullock’s liver; about the middle of the day they have a 
feed of potatoes or rice, and before five are put to roost, 
each hen with her family in a large hamper with a lid. 
Then I know they are safe from cats and rats, from being 
pecked by other fowls before they are let out in the morning, 
and from soiling nests not intended for their use. In each 
hamper is placed a small basin of food for the chicks to eat 
early in the morning, for they are very early risers—I am 
not. 
Thus glides a fine sun-shiny day. The chickens are 
contented, the mothers are pleased, and so are their owners. 
But, alas! every day, in England, is not fine and bright, as 
we have felt this spring especially; and a dull, wet day is a 
contrast to all I have been speaking of. The chickens look 
rough and discontented, the mothers are cross, and it is 
well if those who have the care of them are not so too. In 
drenching wet weather alone young chickens are really 
troublesome, especially if you happen to have several 
broods still unhedged. Means must be taken to keep them 
dry, and it is necessary to take care that the old hens do not 
vent their ill-humour (an attack of which they are sure to 
be troubled with) on each other’s broods. At such a time a 
good warm hen-house is worth double its value, and an 
unused room, or the floor of a conservatory, are invaluable. 
If the coops are set down where hens are sitting, it is 
necessary to notice that the sitters are not disturbed by the 
noise of the chickens, and if they seem restless, to cover 
them over with a bit of cotton or muslin. The chickens 
are generally tired, or rather perhaps weary and dis¬ 
contented in weather like this, and are ready to go to hed 
about four o’clock, where those who attend to them are 
very glad to see them safely shut in. 
Before concluding the subject of young chickens, I must 
say a few words on the dangers to which they are exposed. 
The chief of these I believe to be (my experience lies in 
the neighbourhood of London) rats, cats, and water. Rats 
may be guarded against by the use of good traps, by 
stopping their holes, by raising the nests off the ground, and 
by putting up the chickens in strong baskets at night; 
drowning may be prevented by removing all deep vessels of 
water, leaving the fowls no pans to diink from beyond two 
or three inches deep; but cats, those pests of the poultry 
yard, it is very difficult to provide against. They are as 
vigilant as they are mischievous, they are as watchful 
against surprise a,s they are ready to take advantage of the 
smallest opportunity. The trouble of my poultry was 
doubled last year, from trying to guard against their depre¬ 
dations, and yet both chickens and ducklings fell a sacrifice 
to their thievish practices. I know of no better remedy for 
this evil, than a good terrier and constant watching—a 
somewhat troublesome process the latter, it must be 
confessed. 
And now, I believe, I have entered with sufficient par¬ 
ticularity into the work of the hen-yard during the only por¬ 
tion of the year, when keeping a few fowls need really occupy 
much of the attention of those who take charge of them. 
As the young broods become fledged a time of leisure 
approaches, and I am anxious to avail myself of the space 
and leisure thus presented, to enter on a subject which I 
have long wished to introduce—a subject which becomes 
daily more interesting to me and, I have reason to think, to 
many of our readers also—I speak of Cochin China fowls. 
Respecting a mill for crushing corn (which makes ex¬ 
cellent food for young chickens), a correspondent signing 
himself LI. L. K. has kindly furnished me with the following 
particulars, “It is a common, ‘country made’ mill for 
grinding Indian corn, its cost is 9s., and it may be had at 
