448 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 8. 
The best time for feeding Tares with sheep is just 
before they begin to bloom, and up to the period of full 
bloom, and after that they are valuable to cut for 
soiling horses, &c., as long as the haulm is green. I 
must here observe, that in case of feeding with sheep, 
when the crop is very abundant, or getting old, it is the 
best plan to cut with the scythe, and put into racks or 
cages, in order that any portion not eaten by the stock 
may be easily removed. 
When the land is intended for Wheat (particularly 
upon heavy soils), a portion of the crop being left uncou- 
sumed may be ploughed in and buried with advantage ; 
and if the land be sown with White Mustard, and fed on 
the land, not too late in the season, it will prove an ex¬ 
cellent preparation for a Wheat crop. 
Joseph Blundell. 
BRAHMA POUTRA FOWLS. 
I trust you will be able to spare a little space for me on 
the subject of Brahma Poutra Fowls, so much discussed of 
late. 
I can scarcely understand your merciless condemnation 
of these so-called Brahma Poutras, and think that, in the 
absence of direct evidence of their being the result of a cross, 
you should pause before knocking them down in the manner 
you have done. I contend that no evidence calculated to 
stamp them as mongrels has yet been before the public ; on 
the contrary, all we hear and see, if well looked into, leads 
to the fact of their being, at least, a distinct variety of the 
Shanghae, as distinct and pure as are the Buffs, Whites, or 
any other colour. I am aware that several persons have 
accidentally (as was imagined) produced birds resembling 
these in plumage; but on enquiring, you will find, as I 
have, that either the father or mother w^ere of this de¬ 
scription, and have come from some of Mr. Stainton’s Greys. I 
This I can prove to be the case in several instances; and 
with reference to some of the chicks being Buff, and others 
Grey, some have taken after one point, and some after the 
other ; and do.we not see the same thing continually among 
Buffs and Partridge birds, where there is even the slightest j 
tinge of a cross ; and I have no doubt that the birds thus 
produced, would throw back, even if mated with birds of the 
same colour as themselves and pure breed, and some of the 
chickens would show unmistakeable symptoms of mon- 
grelism: but I firmly believe that birds bred from her 
Majesty’s, I)r. Gwynne’s, or Mr. Sheehan’s stocks, will pro¬ 
duce birds as true to feather, the next and the next genera¬ 
tions, as they have this; and that they have doneso this year is 
an undeniable fact, and of which I have evidence as regards 
the first two strains running in my yard, and shall be happy 
to shew you, or any other person wishing to see them. 
I must beg to be allowed to say a few words on the com¬ 
munication of your correspondent in this week’s number of 
The Cottage Gardener. lie says, “ a poor gardener, by 
name Turner, received a grey cock in payment of his services 
from Mr. Griggs,” but he does not say where Mr. Griggs 
obtained him. If I am not mistaken, I think you will find 
that Mr. Griggs imported him; he describes him as a re¬ 
markably fine bird, but not liking the colour, he sold him to 
Turner for a fair price ; but no such bargain as your cor 
respondent states was made for him. lie also lays great 
stress on the fact of so small a sum as 10s. cash being paid 
for the chickens (which he acknowledges were only half- 
bred, being between the Grey cock and Buff hens.) If I 
mistake not, 10s. each was not considered such a very low 
price for chickens three or four years back, particularly for 
birds which were not known. I have seen first-rate birds 
sold for quite as little; in fact, I think tbe price was a good 
one, and quite sufficient to establish the fact that some one 
bad discrimination enough to see their good points. The 
fact of Mr. Stainton, and others, discarding them on account 
of their colour, ought not to condemn them; because you 
may find plenty of people now who prefer Partridge birds to 
Buffs, but that does not make the latter any worse ; it is 
merely a matter of taste; and if you have your taste, in 
fairness you should let me have mine; yours may be black; 
mine, white. 
Again, your correspondent says, with reference to the sale 
of some of these birds last year, “that nobody would look 
at them ; and that many were sold for a trifle ; and that he 
stood by and saw six or seven lots put up without a bidder.” 
It is very easy to make assertions, but not always so easy to 
prove them. I happen to have marked catalogues of nearly 
every sale at Stevens’s since last September; and only on 
two occasions do I remember seeing any of these Greys put 
up. The first was on the 22nd September, when lots 28 to 
47, all Greys, and most of them only chickens, fetched 
respectively the following prices, namely :—22s., 75s., 03s., 
4Gs., 34s., 30s., 42s., 42s., 44s., and 23s. I think for that 
time these were not very bad prices; and lot 30, 75s., 
has since, I believe, been sold for T6 15s. The next time 
any of these were sold was November 0th., when five lots 
were put up. They were very inferior to the others, and all 
appeared to have had a sort of tuft plucked out of the back 
of the head; they were, however, all sold, at prices varying 
from 10s. to 14s.; they were all chickens a few months old. 
Your correspondent also says of these birds, “ that 
nothing can be more common or ugly-looking;” but it appears 
he is speaking of only one lot of birds, and which are 
acknowledged, even by their owner, to be but inferior 
specimens. If he would take the trouble to pay me a visit, 
he can see some chickens from the Queen’s and Dr. 
Gwynne's stocks, which, I am sure, can neither be set down 
as ugly or common looking, in fact, they are the admiration 
of all who see them. I should like him to see them running, 
as they look much better on the ground than in a pen. If he 
thinks it worth while, and would let me know when he would 
come, I should be happy to receive him. 
P. Jones, Jun., High Street, Fulham. 
[Where is our “ merciless condemnation ” of Brahma 
Poutras? Our condemnation, and merciless too, is of the 
attempts to give them a value to which they are not entitled. 
If they are admitted to be mere Grey Shangliaes, and that 
they do not lay eggs as large as Turkies; and that they are 
not superior to all other Shangliaes; then have we done 
some service in preventing the public being duped.— 
Ed. C. G.] 
CULTURE OF BRITISH ORCHISES. 
As I have never yet heard of anybody who has succeeded 
in growing our native Chalk Orchises, which failure appears 
to me to proceed from a want of knowledge of their likings 
and dislikings, and having no means of trying them properly 
myself, I venture to send you the following remarks, hoping | 
to induce some enterprising botanist to enter on the 
attempt. “ Grow the Chalk Orchises! Nonsense! Y r ou’ll 
never get them to do; they may live one year, or perhaps 
two, if you’re lucky, but they will all die off after that.” 
These are the sort of remarks with which these suggestions, 
and with which any one who attempts to grow these 
beautiful and singular plants, is greeted on all sides; and 
some Mr. A. or Mr. B. is always brought forward “who dug 
out a flower-bed, several feet, ancl filled it witli chalky soil, 
and having put in the bulbs in the autumn with great care, 
waited for the spring to see the result, and not one of them 
flowered!" 
Astonishing fact! Having been put in a situation which 
was about the last they would have chosen, it was marvellous 
that they did not thrive. The Chalk Orchises (by which I 
do not mean the three or four to which modern science has 
restricted the class, but the tribes of Ophrys, Hahenaria, 
Gymnadenia, and Aceras as well) are infected with a sort of 
hydrophobia. Not content with keeping out the rain by 
means of a close chalky soil, they require (at least, so I 
believe) a decided slope to grow upon, that the heavy rain 
may run down and leave them dry. This I take to be much 
more important than the chalky soil. I have in a llower-bed 
a row of Bee Orchises which have lived and flowered (though 
not in perfection) four years. Bee Orchises have been 
planted in the front and middle of the same bed; and in 
