June 16. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
205 
| 
In the “Thorough-bred," class, Mr. Fairlie’s “ Scotch 
Bakies, or Dumpies conveyed tlie idea of a Dorking on 
stumps; Mr. Pott’s White Bolands were excellent; and 
some Silk fowls, belonging to Mrs. W. H. Hyett, were the 
best of their kind we ever saw, and shown, moreover, in the 
best condition. 
A first pri/.e was taken by the Rev. J. Herbert for Dork¬ 
ing chickens, large, robust birds. 
Turkics would not call for any special notice, beyond the 
poults exhibited by Mr. Fairlie, which were the most forward 
for the season that we ever remember to have seen. 
In Pigeons, Mr. Adkins, as usual, headed the list. His 
Carriers, Runts, Pouters, and Jacobins, were excellent. 
His “ Australian Bronze-wings ” should, however, have had 
a better light for the display of the resplendent colours of 
their plumage. Mrs. Bailey, of Mount-street, had a very 
beautiful pair of Scanderoon Pigeons, the elongation of 
| their neck and wing indicating great power of flight. Mr. 
J. Bailey, Jun., exhibited a remarkably good pair of Arch¬ 
angel Pigeons. 
Geese, the Toulouse alone excepted, were an ordinary lot; 
and the Rouen Ducks were the best ol their family, the 
Aylesbury being deficient in condition, no less than size. 
Such were the observations that occurred to us as each class 
was passed in review. The birds, wo should observe, were 
shown in round baskets, a plan no doubt possessing advan¬ 
tages, as enabling the Judges to place competing pens side 
by side; but, even if this should be thought essential, it 
would be no hard task to contrive pens for this purpose; 
and the wicker-work sadly interferes with a good view, and 
on this occasion cramped the fowls in too narrow a space. 
The repeated exclamations of “ Get up, old fellow! ” and 
“ let's have a look at you," accompanied by the insertion of 
walking-sticks and parasols, suggested the necessity of some 
arrangement by which the hazard thus incurred may hence¬ 
forth be avoided. Deliberate injury is not intended; but 
mere spectators are seldom aware how slight a blow may 
result in serious consequences. 
The Messrs. Jessop, on whom the whole responsibility 
seems to have rested, did wisely in securing the services of 
Mr. Bond, Mr. Bissell, and Mr. Cottle, to the justice of 
whose decisions we give our ready assent. 
THE VEGETABLE MARROW ; 
ITS VALUE AS AN ARTICLE OF FOOD TO THE COTTAGER. 
A gentleman, who lias taken great interest in my pui- 
suits, very kindly presented me, last year, with a few "\ ege- 
table Marrow seeds, and recommended me to grow them as 
being a very delicious and wholesome vegetable, and as an 
excellent substitute for the potato. I accordingly put the 
seed into a flower-pot, with some rich mould, and raised the 
plants in a manure-heap, in the same way as cucumbers ; as 
boon as the plants were sufficiently strong, I transplanted 
them, in the open ground, in the following manner: I dug 
a trench, two feet wide, and eighteen inches deep, and filled 
it up with manure, and spread some rich mould on the top, 
about two or three inches deep, to fix the plants in, and set 
them at three feet apart. I supplied them liberally with 
I water, and, for two or three days, shaded them from the sun 
! till they had sufficiently recovered from their removal. The 
j number of plants that I set out were only eight, and the 
quantity of fruit they produced was surprising. Some of 
them were very large, weighing as much as fourteen pounds. 
Besides giving several away to our friends and neigh¬ 
bours, we had an abundance for our own consumption, both 
in the ripe and unripe state. Whilst they were young, we 
found them excellent to eat, cooked in the following manner : 
When about half-grown, we cut them in quarters, and boiled 
I them in plenty of water (adding a small quantity of salt) for 
! twenty minutes; then took them up carefully, and seasoned 
i them with pepper, and salt, and a little plain buttei. in this 
way they are delicious. But the most advantageous way we 
found in using them was in their ripe state, for pies, and 
with the addition of a few apples or bullaces, they make 
substantial food for large families; or, if cut up in small 
i pieces, about one inch square, and stewed well, with a little 
! treacle added, they are excellent. They are also very nice 
when well-boiled, and the peel taken off; then mashed with 
butter, pepper, and salt, in the same way as potatoes or 
turnips. 
Respecting their quality, we find them far superior to the 
pumpkin, as they contain a greater portion of floury matter, 
and they will keep a much longer time. The way we pre¬ 
served them through the winter, was by keeping them in a 
dry, cool chamber, laying them separately on the floor, and 
protecting them from the frost; we had several of them 
quite sound till the month of April. 
Having found them such a valuable vegetable, I am, this 
year, growing them on a larger scale, planting them in 
every odd corner, and on my manure-heaps. Besides being 
excellent as human food, they are also very good for fatten¬ 
ing pigs, when boiled and mixed with a portion of pollard 
or barley-meal. 
The proper time for sowing the seed is about the last 
week in May, or the first week in June. They can either be 
raised in a hot-bed, or sown where they are to stand, by 
putting them into some rich mould, and watering them 
plentifully. I am sowing them in this way this season. 
From the success that I have met with, I have induced 
several cottagers to try the cultivation of this valuable vege¬ 
table, and have given them some seed to begin with. 
John Sillett. 
OBSTRUCTIONS OF THE EGG-PASSAGE. 
Thai affections of the egg-passage in poultry are very 
important, is manifest from recent contributions to your 
pages; the following cases, also, are somewhat illustrative 
of the subject:— 
A large Cochin hen dropped from her perch, and died ; 
the vessels of the bead were found highly congested, but 
the result was somewhat inexplicable, as she had been by j 
no means highly fed. A day or two subsequently, I was 
shewn an egg of very large size, which she had laid a day 
or two previous to her death. I then concluded that deter¬ 
mination of blood to the head had probably resulted from 
obstruction, or irritation of the egg-passage. 
A few days ago, a Duck was missing from her walk for 
two or three days; a boy found her on some water at a 
distance from home; he thought she looked queer, and he 
accordingly carried her home by the wings. On being 
placed on the ground, she turned her head once or twice 
from side to side, and died. At first, it was supposed that j 
she had been hit upon the head by boys throwing stones at 
her, but this supposition was not confirmed by any mark of i 
a blow. On a post-mortem examination, a very large egg , 
was found imparted transversely at the extremity of the j 
egg-passage ; anterior to this was another full-formed egg, i 
and again anterior to this was a third full-sized egg, but 
broken-, the ovary was a large mass of 30 eggs, or more. 
Here, then, was a decided case of obstruction of the egg- 
passage, producing apoplexy and death. 
Chirurgus, Oswestry. 
SKELETONS OF LEAVES. 
To form these, soak the leaves, when at their full growth, 
in a tub of rain-water. They must remain in the water, 
just so long as to rot the parenchyma (or soft, juicy 
parts), without sensibly affecting the nerves._ This state 
can only be ascertained by frequent examination, and sub¬ 
jecting them to the next process,, when it will be easily seen 
if they need further soaking. To clear away the paren¬ 
chyma, lay the leaves on a smooth board, and pump upon 
them : any slight adhesions of parenchyma may be picked 
out with a needle, but the stream of water is the only mode 
of doing the work safely and expeditiously. Bleach the 
skeletons in a moderately strong solution of chloride of 
lime ; then dry and press them. 
If a large number of leaves are to be done at once, it 
mierht be as well to remove them from their tub, and allow 
them to remain for a few hours in a vessel of pure water, 
before bringing them to the pump, as the smell is apt to be 
offensive. Sigma. 
