Ill 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, November 20, 1860. 
and every feather tipped, mooned, or spangled with black at the 
extremity. 
Golden.— The breast of the cock should be spangled all over. 
The orange or lighter hue is inferior to the richer and deeper 
colour. The size of a fowl of this breed is almost unimportant 
compared with the points of colour, mooning or spangling. 
We are always happy to give every information to querists; 
and at the risk of being thought tiresome we will repeat, legs 
should be blue, hackles well striped, tails clear, combs firm and 
well spiked, point turning upwards, breast spangled, colour 
rich, ear-lobe pure white and not too large, and general ap¬ 
pearance cheerful.] 
BIRMINGHAM SHOW, ENTRIES EOR. 
The entries for the approaching Show in Bingley Hall are in 
all respects satisfactory. We subjoin a statement of the total 
numbers in the various departments in 1858, 1859, and in the 
present year:— 
1858. 1859. 1860. 
Poultry.13S7. 1342. 1134 
Pigeons. 222. 214. 168 
There is, it will be noticed, a slight falling off in the entries, 
which has arisen from the circumstance of some of the principal 
breeders reserving a portion of their birds for the Crystal 
Palace Show in the following week ; but at the same time all 
the best poultry-yards in the kingdom will have representatives 
in Bingley Hall, and the collection will therefore lose none of its 
interest, nor be less excellent as to the quality of the specimens. 
FIFTEENTH RULE OF THE BIRMINGHAM 
POULTRY SHOW. 
In October last I had a prize list sent me. On looking 
through the rules and regulations I came to rule 15 where, I 
apprehended, that none but donors or subscribers of not less 
than £1 per annum will be entitled to compete for the prizes. 
Exhibitors, in addition to their annual subscription, will be 
charged 2 s. 6 d. for each pen of poultry; but no subscriber can 
enter moro than two pens in any one class, nor more than 
four pens in the whole. This rule, I think, ought entirely 
to be expunged, and made something similar to that of the 
Crystal Palace Exhibition, or they might confine the rule 
in this way—“ that 10 s. only be charged, for which either one 
or two pens may be exhibited.” I suggest a rule be made for 
another year something similar to the one I now propose. 
I intended to have exhibited at Birmingham, but on looking 
at the rules I withdrew my intention, and entered my birds to 
run at the Crystal Palace at 65 . each entry. It being a great 
denial to small breeders who keep only a few and first-class 
birds that they cannot exhibit their birds on account of the 
subscription, entrance-fees, and railway-carriage expenses, which 
amount to a good round sum on their arrival. 
I am of opinion that if a similar rule be made to the one I 
now allude to it would give the small breeder a chance of send¬ 
ing his birds to the chief Exhibition which now excludes those 
who would send. Not only does the present rule exclude small 
breeders, but excludes some of the principal birds from attend¬ 
ing at Bingley Hall which would attend, provided the entrance- 
fee was not so great. 
I believe that if an alteration be made that exhibitors would 
attend at Bingley Hall more than hitherto have attended on 
any other former occasion. I leave the subject with your 
readers, and hope the matter may be taken into consideration 
before the prize lists are distributed for 1861 .-—An Exhibitor. 
SIZE OF NESTS FOR PIGEONS. 
I want to begin keeping a few Pigeons, a pair or two of 
Runts, and perhaps a pair of little Tumblers. Will you tell me 
what size the nests should be, and whether it would be a good 
plan to have room for two nests for the same pair with only one 
entrance-hole ? Would not this keep them warmer ? I could 
only have a box fixed against a wall, I thought about five feet 
or six feet from the ground, as I believe the large Runts cannot 
fly high. Would the enclosed dimensions be anything like 
right ? or are they larger than necessary ? What ought I to pay 
for good birds of the aforementioned sorts to begin with, and 
where could I get them—I mean those very big Runts—or is 
there any other sort likely to be more paying ? Do you think 
there is any chance of a school-boy making a little pocket-money 
by them ? I would attend to them and feed them twice a-day 
regularly. Is buckwheat good food for them.—S chool-Boy. 
[The dimensions you give will be sufficient for Runts ; but I 
do not think it advisable to place small Tumblers in their com- 
pany, which would have no chance of maintaining their own house 
free from attack. The objection to one pair of nests having 
only one entrance is the facility offered to the young to run 
into and disturb their parents while sitting again, which they 
often do before the former hatch can fly. Very fair birds may 
be bought from £1 j'to £5 per pair; but if “School-Boy” 
really wishes to increase his pocket-money, I should advise his 
beginning at the bottom of the ladder, and gradually ascending 
as he gains experience. A couple of pairs of common Pigeons 
would cost from 3s. to 4 s. Get them of a healthy stock not 
related, and the two pairs will cost him about 3d. per week, and 
should produce a pair of young ones each every five or six 
weeks, which he could sell to his mother at 2s. per pair. When 
he has managed the first lesson, he can advance a step higher 
without much fear of falling; but to breed first-class fancy 
Pigeons, worth from £10 to £20 per pair, requires much 
experience and judgment.—B. P. Brent.] 
CROSSING GEESE. 
I have three Geese of the breed of this county, which is 
rather small; I did not breed from them last season, as I had no 
gander ; I am now about to obtain one. Would it be desirable 
to cross them with the Toulouse, or any other kind ? and where 
might such be obtained at a moderate price P—A Devonshire 
Yicar. 
[We think the cross of breed by introducing a Toulouse 
gander most desirable, as that breed has size and weight, besides 
being hardy. A moderate bird of the breed may be obtained 
from Baily, 113, Mount Street, W., London.] 
REMOVING DAMPNESS FROM HIVES- 
FEEDING BEES BY A BOTTLE. 
Will you inform me the best plan to get rid of the condensed 
vapour from a wood-and-glass bar-hive, and tell me in what 
part of the top I should make the hole to allow the vapour to 
rise and condense, as I find as soon as the weather sets in cold 
there is much dampness, and I am afraid when frost arrives 
this dampness will cause the death of the bees ? Would you 
also say how to use the bottle and net for feeding bar-hives, and 
in refilling the bottle how do you get rid of the bees that may be 
sticking to it ?—A. Y. 
[A bell-glass resting in a feeding-pan and placed over a central 
aperture in the top of the box (which should be covered with 
perforated zinc) is usually recommended as the best means of 
getting rid of moisture in wooden hives. As yours is a bar 
hive, advantage may be taken of the first fine and mild day to 
shift the bees and combs into a dry box. The engraving in p. 42 
of our present volume show’s how a bottle and net are used in 
feeding a bar-hive. We may add in explanation, that the 
aperture in the top of the box in the centre is two inches long 
by five-eighths of an inch wide, and will not admit the bottle¬ 
neck, which is kept upright by being inserted in a perforated 
wooden block. A piece of perforated zinc intervenes between 
the top of the hive and the mouth of the bottle, which, whilst it 
prevents the bees clinging to the net, does not interfere with their 
appropriating the contents of the feeding-bottle.] 
BEE-FEEDING ANDj ITS EFFECTS. 
Like most apiarians, I have had something to do this autumn 
in making up the deficiency of the poor honey season of 1860; 
the feeding employed being to every six lbs. good Barbadoes 
su^ar two pints water, boiled three minutes, divided into four 
feeds, a tablespoonful or two of honey (squeezings of comb), 
added to each make a most acceptable compound. Crushed 
sugar I tried, but gave it up in consequence of always finding a 
deposit of crystals left in feeder, which the bees seemed to 
dislike. 
Believing that there exists a strong connection between the 
supply of food and the increase of the species, breeding generally 
commencing with the first appoarance of a supply and termi- 
