200 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[Junk 20. 
(Cr oxford), 5 ft by 2.J ft. (Carson), 5 ft by 3 ft. (Speed), 5 ft by 3 ft. 
Sphbnotom a gkacile (Taylor), 2 ft by 2 ft. (Carson), 2) ft by 2 ft. 
(Cole), 2J ft by 2 ft. 
Tbtbatheca vkrticillata (Watson), 2 ft by 2 ft. (Speed), 2J ft 
by 2J ft. 
Vinca ocellata (Speed), 2 ft by 3 ft. 
V. ROSEA ALBA (Stanley), 2 ft by 2 ft. . 
Zychia inophylla (Stanley), 3 ft by 2 ft, nicely trained. 
In Collections of Twenty. —First prize, Mr. May, 
gardener to Mrs. Lawrence, of Ealing Park. Second prize, 
Mr. Cole, gardener to H. Colleger, Esq. Third prize, Mr. 
Frazer, nurseryman, Lea Bridge. Fourth prize,- Mr. Stanley, 
gardener to H. Berens, Esq., Sidcup, Kent. Fifth prize, 
Mr. Pamplin, Lea Bridge-road. 
In Collections of Fifteen.— First prize, Mr. Green. 
Second prize, Mr. Carson. Third prize, Mr. Taylor, gar¬ 
dener to J. Castor, Esq., Streatham. 
In Collections of Ten. —First prize, Mr. Speed, of Ed¬ 
monton. Second prize, Mr. CroxforJ, gardener to FI. 
Barnes, Esq., of Stamford Hill. 
In Collections of Six. —First prize, Mr. Kinyhorn. 
Second prize, Mr. Watson, gardener to Mrs. Tredwell. 
Third prize, Mr. Hamp, gardener to J. Thorne, Esq. Fourth 
prize, Mr. Stuart, gardener to T. Huggins, Esq., of Nor¬ 
wood. Fifth prize, Mr. Williams. 
(To be continued .) 
THE DOMESTIC TIGEON. 
THE DISEASES OF PIGEONS. 
(Continued from paye 3F1, vol. v.) 
Laying Soft Eggs. —To lay eggs without shells, soft, and 
merely covered with a simple membrane, more or less 
rough, is a disease of the hen, either constitutional or acci¬ 
dental ; if the first, it is incurable, hut if the second, it may 
easily be cured. When it is constitutional, it is doubtless 
produced by a defect of conformation in the organ which 
should secrete the calcareous matter, or chalk, of which the 
hard part of the shell is formed; in this case, we shall per¬ 
ceive the disease at the first laying; be certain of it at the 
second; and abandon the female before the third, after 
having previously submitted her to the proper treatment, 
provided she is worth the trouble. 
When a female lays soft eggs, and is not in the habit of 
doing so, we shall most frequently find that it proceeds from 
over laying. If her eggs have been taken from her twice 
following, and her male being too ardent, has, by pursuing 
her to the nest, not allowed her sufficient interval between 
each brood, it is almost certain that the third time her eggs 
will be soft. We must, therefore, allow her to set, by 
cleverly substituting the eggs of other pigeons, or even false 
eggs, if we have no other. If this evil should reappear the 
next laying, we must uncouple her, and place her alone in a 
separate breeding-cage, and keep her there rather more 
than a month, feeding her with nothing but barley, and 
giving her pure water to drink ; after this we might couple 
her again. Should the complaint continue, we must expect 
nothing more from her. 
Apoplexy kills a pigeon in an instant, if an immediate 
remedy is not applied, and yet the means hitherto employed 
very rarely succeed. Apoplexy, or a violent rush of the 
blood to the head, is generally the consequence of excitement, 
added to stimulating food, such as canary or hemp seed. 
The pigeon attacked with it, falls suddenly to the ground, 
struggles for some moments, strongly convulsed, whilst the 
blood proceeds from the beak, and dies at the expiration of 
an hour or two. If it is perceived at the moment when the 
attack commences, it should be bled, by cutting two of its 
nails, one on each foot, near enough to the claw that a good 
deal of blood may flow ; its feet should then be plunged into 
lukewarm water, to increase the flowing of the blood, and be 
kept in until the animal begins to return to life. When it 
no longer shows any sign of inflammation in its organs, it is 
placed in a breeding-cage, where it must be kept to a strict 
diet until entirely recovered. This dangerous disease par¬ 
ticularly attacks those pigeons which have two hens, or are 
unfaithful to their own ; very few escape it. 
Palpitations, to which pigeons are so subject when 
frightened that we may hear the violent beating of their 
heart, sometimes occasions sudden death, by the effusion of 
blood within, when an artery or any other bleeding-vessel 
gives way. The only means of preventing this accident, 
otherwise very rare, is to keep them as quiet as possible. 
Indigestion among pigeons is very often the consequence 
of a long and forced abstinence; for then, as soon as they 
have any quantity of grain given them, they devour it 
greedily, and swallow such a quantity that, not being able to 
digest it, it remains in the esophagus, or crop, becomes fer¬ 
mented and corrupted, and endangers the life of the animal. 
Two meams are employed to cure this disease. The first 
consists in treating them like the Pouters affected with a 
paralysis of the crop (see page 70, vol. v.). When it is 
suspended in the bag it is made to swallow a little garlick, 
to stimulate the muscles of the stomach, and the only food 
given it is a little water occasionally. If at the expiration 
of two or three days this means does not succeed, the follow¬ 
ing operation must be resorted to—a part of the crop, a 
little above the side, must first be made bare, by pulling out 
some feathers carefully, so as not to tear the skin ; then a 
pair of fine scissors, that cut well, must be taken, or, what is 
still better, an incision knife, or a very sharp penknife, and 
a longitudinal incision is made, about an inch long, taking 
care to penetrate with one stroke the skin and the mem¬ 
brane of the esophagus. This accomplished, the whole of 
the grain is taken out, the interior is cleaned and well 
washed with lukewarm-water, in which is mixed a little 
wine, the opening is then sown up with white silk; the 
stitches are taken so as to catch the skin and the membrane 
over and under, and crossing them, like lacing a pair of 
stays. When the operation is finished, and the lips of the 
wound are well closed, they must be greased with a little 
olive-oil, and the wound left to unite by keeping the sick 
bird on the most rigorous diet. We have frequently seen 
this operation practised with success ; still, it is not recom¬ 
mended to an unpractised hand, except in those cases when 
other means have proved ineffectual. In both cases the 
bird is dieted for some considerable time ; some boiled fish 
is given it to flick, and it is made to drink water, with some 
nitre or alum dissolved in it. 
The Chancle is, of all diseases to which Pigeons are 
subject, the most terrible, by the ravages it makes in a dove- 
house, where it spreads with the greatest rapidity, if those 
affected with it are not immediately removed. No complaint 
is more contagious, or requires so much precaution. As 
soon as a bird is attacked we should take it away, and 
clean its nest most scrupulously. The chancre may be 
produced by several causes, but it is most commonly caused 
by a bad or false moulting. As soon as we perceive a bird 
affected with it, we should prevent its having any communi¬ 
cation with the others. Open the beak, and remove all the 
yellow mucus found in the throat with a kind of brush made 
of lint, soaked in water and vinegar. If any ulcerations are 
peceived that can be reached, they should be burnt away 
by passing some caustic over it once, or, perhaps, several 
times, and the cure will be certain if there are no more 
there ; but, unfortunately, the most important ulcers cannot 
be perceived, from their being so low in the throat. There 
is but one remedy for this, which is to administer the 
receipt published in 1818, by Messrs, rarmenter and Boiste, 
and which we will extract in the author’s own words : “ Here 
is, they say, a receipt that we are assured has been employed 
successful!)' by a proprietor who had in his dovecote a 
certain number of Pigeons attacked with the complaint 
known by the name of the Chancre, and which he ob¬ 
tained from a man who had for a long time made a secret 
of it. Cummin, oil of sorrel, oil of lavender, essence of 
spoonwort, the whole in nearly equal quantities. Night and 
morning he took one of the wing feathers of a pigeon, 
dipped it in the mixture, and then put it in the throat of the 
pigeon. Out of five individuals treated in this manner two 
are dead, three are cured, with the exception of ouo only 
which has not recovered its voice. We must observe, also, 
that the disease had already made great progress with those 
pigeons which could not resist this remedy, the effect of 
which appeared to be to make them expectorate fom - or five 
days a very thick sharp humour. At the expiration of this 
treatment he puts a small quantity of nitre in the water he 
gives them. If any of the oily mixture penetrates into their 
windpipe, it kills them almost instantly.” If we perceive 
