THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
i August 20.] 
irritability, similar to that in the Roekrose and Barberry. It 
is well known that the painter in water colours takes ad- 
i vantage of the bright blue of the Corn-blue-bottle, the juice 
j of the petals being used mixed with alum water. Smith 
j mentions the interesting fact, that the separate floret in 
I English Botiing coloured with this, by way of experiment, 
| had stood well for thirty years, winch is no mean recom- 
I mendation to (his floral colour. During the month of 
I August we have two plants in flower, which, although they 
are not in themselves of great interest or importance, arc in- 
I teresting to the botanist, as being each the single British re¬ 
presentative of a largo American genus, forming a con¬ 
spicuous feature in the western wilds. The common Star 
Wort (Aster tripolium ), is the only member of the extensive 
family of Asters which we possess ; we daresay, beautiful as 
is mu - salt marsh plant, it cannot in respect of beauty be 
compared with the species of other lands, and there seems 
little sympathy betwixt it and the China Asters of our 
gardens. The Golden Rod—so variable in its stature—is 
one of our next showy northern plants; and the great family 
of Solidagos to which it belongs is one of the most con¬ 
spicuous on the North American Continent. 
G. Lawson, F.B.S., &c., Edinburgh. 
THE POULTRY-KEEPER'S CALENDAR.— September. 
By Mur tin Boyle, Author of “Hints to Small Farmers," Ac. 
Eowr.s.—Though the hatching of chickens at this late 
season is to be totally discouraged, on account of the ex¬ 
ceeding difficulty of rearing them at the approach of winter, 
there is no reason why hens should not be at any time 
allowed to indulge their desire for sitting, if ducks’ eggs 
can be provided for them. Ducklings can be reared, with 
moderate pains-taking, during our ordinary winters, espe¬ 
cially by cottagers who will not object to have their kitchen 
occupied by the tender brood until they can bear removal to 
less comfortable quarters. Ducklings reared at seasons 
when they are very rare luxuries for the table bring a price 
which repays for the extra trouble of rearing them-. Those 
poultry-keepers, then, who can provide ducks’ eggs for hens, 
as we have recommended, in the seasons when a brood 
of chickens cannot be brought forth with a reasonable pros¬ 
pect of success, need never check the determined disposition 
of a hen to sit; and are altogether inexcusable if they use 
cruel methods (such as that of throwing the hen into a cold 
bath) in order to check the natural desire. As a hen cannot 
cover more than five goose eggs, it is better to let her hatch 
ducklings than goslings, and leave the hatching of the latter 
now to a Turkey hen disposed to incubation. 
On account of the violent quarrels which unexpectedly 
arise among hens, it is requisite to have separate places in 
which they may be kept for a time apart. Twice within 
nine months a terrible outbreak has occurred in our own 
poultry yard, and without any apparent cause. This cir¬ 
cumstance has led us to consider what may be the best 
secondary punishments for refractory and quarrelsome hens. 
The first case was as follows : six well-grown white Dorking 
pullets, and a cock of the same brood, were purchased in 
1 lecember last, and introduced to a family consisting of a 
few dark-coloured hens of the Dorking kind also. The new 
comers were kindly received by the old stagers, and the 
utmost harmony prevailed among them until the middle of 
,1 uue last, when two of the older hens assaulted two of the 
younger ones, pecked them until they drew blood from them, 
and nearly blinded one of them. The poor persecuted 
creatures were unable to eat, and feared to go to the common 
roost during two nights, or venture out of their hiding-places 
by day. Disliking the notion of capital punishment, by 
strangling, or the blade (and partly swayed by the consi¬ 
deration that their flesh was nearly uneatable), and wishing 
to ascertain the effect of imprisonment in such case, we 
confined the criminals, and also cut off their wings, in order 
to mortify their vanity, and prevent them from rising up to a 
roost over their heads. They were allowed dry corn and 
water, and a few rays of light entered them cell. After 48 
hours’ confinement they were discharged; and on their 
liberation they did not attempt to renew the assault for 
which they had been so justly punished. In the meantime, 
337 
the young hen who had been so sorely beaten was most 
tenderly nursed by the cock, who seemed as if ashamed of 
himself for not having interfered in the first instance to 
prevent the outrage. At the end of July the same white 
hens were beaten by the same dark feathered ones, but not 
severely, without any discoverable cause. It is not a war of 
races, for the whites and blacks were in perfect amity at the 
beginning of their acquaintance, and are derived from the 
same stock. Jealousy does not seem to have caused it: the 
cock has but eight wives altogether—fewer by many than 
those of the Nepauleso ambassador, and seems equally atten¬ 
tive and affectionate to all. Confinement has not altogether 
succeeded in this case of gross misconduct, and it may make 
matters worse—the offender, whether a cock or hen, at the 
expiration of the term of imprisonment often renews the 
assault, or perhaps suffers one, and interference does little 
more good than in other family quarrels. Perhaps the best 
way is to let matters settle of themselves; and if poultry 
cannot or will not fall into quietude, the only certain remedy 
(and it then becomes a just punishment) is to make a meal 
of them as soon as they can be rendered fat for this 
purpose. 
Some cottagers prevent their hens from getting into 
their neighbours’ gai'dens or stubble fields, through hedges, 
hy making a sort of yoke, which is simply a stick laid hori¬ 
zontally across the shoulders, and fastened round the neck 
hy a necklace of string. 
Eggs. —The gleanings of harvest now afford so great 
supply of food to fowls that they lay abundantly. Eggs 
become cheaper than at any former season of the year ; and 
for a few weeks to come the price of them will not rise. 
This is the time, therefore, for thrifty housekeepers to lay 
in a stock of eggs for winter cooking purposes—whatever 
mode of preserving them they may think fit to adopt. 
Preparing Fowls fob the Table. —The new wheat, bar¬ 
ley, <fce., brings them speedily into such good condition, that 
they are fit for table without any further fatting. A barn¬ 
door fowl is undoubtedly superior in flavour to the over-fed, 
flabby, greasy birds which the London cooks like to have 
under their hands. To make fowls fat to their taste they 
must be prevented from taking exercise by close cooping, 
and kept almost in darkness to insure perfect quietude. 
Turkeys and Guinea Fowls. —Great attention should be 
given to turkey poults now, when the tail feathers are begin¬ 
ning to grow ; they require good nourishment to sustain the 
exhaustion of strength during this period of their growth; 
barley-meal mixed with their food should be abundantly 
afforded to them, as their future vigour and size will mainly 
depend on the care now taken of them. Guinea fowls are 
now shooting their horns, as it is termed, and will also 
require a full supply of food to carry them well through 
this important stage of then- lives. 
THE BEE-KEEPER’S CALENDAR.— September. 
By J. II. Payne , Esq., Author of “ The Bee-keeper's 
Guide," Ac. 
Autumnal Unions. —The time has now arrived for these 
operations, which are so strongly recommended by Gelieu 
and many other apiarians ; and, indeed, their necessity, as 
well as their utility, cannot be too much insisted upon, and 
especially as the method which I have adopted is so very 
simple, and which I had pledged myself at page 295 of the 
present volume of The Cottage Gardener to give in this 
place, but which now becomes unnecessary, for my plan, as 
well as every other one that I have either seen or heard of, 
is, I am happy to say, entirely superseded by the method 
given by “A Country Curate” in page 279, No. 90, of The 
Cottage Gaedenee, for which communication he has my 
best thanks; and he deserves, also, the thanks of every apia¬ 
rian in the kingdom,—his plan being so safe, so simple, and 
so effectual; for here is no fumigating, no stupifying, which 
I have always found to be injurious, and, indeed (beyond a 
puff or two of tobacco-smoke, and even that only on especial 
occasions) unnecessary. This method, however, applies to 
entire deprivation, and is recommended to be done early in 
August, whilst those of Gelieu are at the end of September; 
