78 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER 
AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, May 5, 1857. 
the proprietorship of the poultry competing. These are 
truisms that few will have the temerity to dispute, and the 
tendency to cause evil reports and misgivings will be 
j equally evident in cases where arbitrators have themselves 
I supplied particular pens at extraordinary prices, under the 
j direct stipulation from the purchaser and exhibitor, to at they 
are “wanted” to win at such and such a Poultry Meeting. 
That Poultry Judges of anything like extended practice 
I should in various instances at once recognise many of the 
i leading pens that frequently come under their arbitration 
! is easily supposed, and will by most poultry breeders be at 
once accredited; but that such officials should actually 
i themselves supply or even select, prior to exhibition, poultry 
1 from the yards of exhibitors, in particular cases where they 
themselves are afterwards to fulfil the duty of finally 
j disposing of valuable trophies of superiority, is so com¬ 
pletely inconsistent with all rules of rectitude and straight- 
| forwardness, that it now certainly becomes the especial 
duty of exhibitors generally to denounce the system 
altogether, and insure to the best of their belief that the most 
perfect fowls, and they only, shall win.— Chanticleer. 
BELGIAN CANARIES. 
I feel a deep interest in breeding the real Belgian 
Canary, and as your correspondent, Mr. Moore, justly ob¬ 
served, “ parties wishing to keep up the standard of that 
breed cannot be too particular of whom they purchase; for 
there is a breed of birds, very long and coarse feathered, 
which is not the real Belgian, but they are a degenerate and 
a mongrel breed.” 
Allow me to say I have seen the real Belgian bird, with 
all its beauty, in the possession of your correspondent, Mr. 
Moore, of Par eh am, who justly claims the honour of first 
introducing them into England, and the ten points he states 
to be the standard he has nearly arrived at; in fact, for 
position, shoulders, back, thigh, and colour, his birds surpass 
anything I have ever seen. This is the kind of bird breeders 
should propagate, if in want of symmetry, Ac. 
He has happily arrived in colour to pure orange, and some¬ 
how, peculiar to himself, can always produce it. Your readers 
would do well to communicate with him; they will find him 
free to give his opinion and advice, and his extensive know¬ 
ledge of breeding that kind of bird enables him to state from 
experience, as his only object is to further the breeding of 
the “ real Belgian,” and that pai’ties seeking such may not 
be led away with a spurious kind, however flattering the 
advertisement may be. Your correspondent is at a loss to 
understand “strip themselves well up.” Now I will explain 
this point (7). It is a phraseology of bird fanciers here, 
and it means stateliness, majestic appearance; and this is 
characteristic of the real Belgian bird. It exerts itself, as 
though by instinct, to exhibit elegance, and nothing sur¬ 
passes it for beauty in appearance.—S. C., Porlsea. 
ON HENS LAYING AND SITTING. 
It is well known that pullets, or young hens, are better 
layers than old ones. A friend of mine, however, has a very 
productive hen ten years old; but this, like some other 
matters connected with natural history, is an exception from 
tlie common rule. Some fowl-keepers assert that when hens 
i come to maturity their ovaries contain the embryos of the 
whole nmnber of eggs they will lay during their life, and 
that it depends on the quantity of these whether hens will 
be good or bad layers, however long or short they may live. 
This seems very doubtful; but, however it may be, much 
must depend on the health of the fowls being secured by 
proper food and treatment. Perhaps it may be more safely 
held that the embryos of eggs are formed in the ovaries only 
between each time of laying after incubation, or ceasing to 
lay lor a time; and even that must be somewhat modified, 
for hens are apt to lay more eggs when only one is left in 
i the nest. Ibis fact shows that imperfect eggs remain in the 
ovaries, being prevented from coming to maturity when incu¬ 
bation is excited by hens sitting and laying in a nest full of 
eggs, and it is a question what becomes of them. Do they 
remain good until the next time ot laying, or pass off with 
the excrements ? or are they absorbed into the general system ? 
When the eggs are taken from the nests of many of our 
wild sorts of birds they seldom lay again the same season 
more than half their usual quantity. As most of those birds 
only rear a brood once a year, and soon lay a second time, it 
cannot be supposed that these eggs were from embryos 
which would have remained torpid until the next season, 
but rather a remnant unlaid which belonged to the first set 
of eggs ; and this is a wise provision of Nature against loss 
or accident to the first nestful. 
Most boys are aware that birds will lay more eggs when 
only one is left in their nests; they know this trick as well 
as the hen-wife does that with her “ nest egg.” And game- 
keepers take advantage of this, both by following the nest- 
egg plan, and by taking a whole nestful at once, and placing 
the eggs of pheasants and partridges under common hens, 
trusting the birds will lay again in a second nest, in which 
they are allowed to sit. More eggs are got by this means, 
and of course more birds hatched, but I question if more of 
them come to maturity than when the birds are allowed to 
rear their brood their own natural way; but that is beside 
my purpose. I have hinted that incubation comes on before 
hens have laid all their eggs, without stating the cause. 
This, of course, is rather a knotty point, but I do not think 
that thefit comes on hens by their knowledge of the number 
of eggs they lay, for they seem as pleased to sit upon one as 
upon a dozen, and, as I have stated before, their ovaries 
are empty; but in the latter case it is only when they lay 
in a nestful of eggs ; therefore, until better evidence be pro¬ 
duced, I am of opinion that incubation is induced by the 
friction of the breast on the eggs.—J. Wigfiton. 
OUR, LETTER BOX. 
Young Rabbits Dying.—Comb of Spanish Fowls (A Beginner). 
—As regards the young rabbits dying off at the age of three months it is 
difficult to say what may have been the cause. It may arise from the 
young being removed from their mother at too early a period ; it may be 
the dampness or coldness of the hutches which are on the ground ; too 
many rabbits may be in one hutch ; they may not be cleaned out often 
enough; it maybe want of food, “greens,” &c., both while with the 
doe and after being removed. It may be the rot they have got, which can 
only be stopped by a dry, warm hutch, with plenty of hay, and feeding with 
corn and herbs only. But we do not think it is this, as A Beginner 
seems to have fed his rabbits chiefly on oats, &c. It may be the wax in 
the ear they have got, which may be removed by taking a piece of stick, 
and removing the wax out of the ear, and then washing the ears well with 
soap and water. 2. If the Spanish bird be removed to a yard free from 
other cocks, and be well fed, watered, and housed, and some hens allowed 
him, the colour of his comb will soon re-appear. A grass walk is in¬ 
dispensable. 3. The pale comb in the hens may arise from many causes. 
It may arise either from the same cause as the Spanish cock, or from 
consumption, roup, or diarrhoea. If it arises from the former nothing 
will be of any service. If roup, Baiiy’s roup pill, together with a warm 
abode, good feeding, &c., will soon cure her. If diarrhoea, a pill of pre¬ 
pared chalk is the best thing. 
Preventing a Hen Eating her Eggs. —“I perceive in a former 
number an inquiry for a preventive to hens picking and eating their eggs. 
If the bill of the hen is scorched by rubbing it with hot iron it completely 
prevents the hen from pecking the eggs, and does no injury to the 
bird.’i— F. J. Persse. 
Food for Goslings {An Old Subscriber). —On the second day after 
hatching put a turf of green grass before them. Boiled oatmeal, boiled 
rice, bread crumbs, and pond water, are their best food for the first week. 
Prolific Pullet. —“A pullet in my possession, a twelvemonth old, 
has just laid her hundredth egg. Is this an unusual number?”—H. A. 
[It is a very unusual number to lay without intermission or becoming 
broody. Of what breed is she ?] 
LONDON MARKETS.— May 4th. 
COVENT GARDEN. 
Supply has been much influenced during the past week by the cold, 
ungenial weather, the Asparagus, Sea Kale, and tender succulents 
having suffered much from the frost. The continental produce now 
forms a considerable item here, and comprises Peas, French Beans, 
Carrots, Artichokes, Lettuces of both sorts, and Endive. Hothouse fruit 
quite sufficient for the demand. Strawberries in excess—price lower. 
POULTRY. 
There has been rather a better supply this week, and the trade is 
improving. Breeders are, however, crying out for warmer weather, as 
chickens do not grow. 
Large fowls.. 7s. Od. to 7s. 6d. each. 
Smaller do.5s. to 5s. 6d. ,, 
Chickens .. 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. ,, 
Goslings.6s. 6d. to 7s. ,, 
Ducklings.. 4s. Od. to 4s. 6d. ,, 
Plovers’ Eggs in bulk. 
Guinea Fowls 4s. Od. to 4s. 6d. each 
Pigeons .... 
_lOd. to lid. 
It 
Rabbits.... 
Is. 5d. to Is. 6d. 
Wild ditto.. 
Leverets.... 
3s. Od. to 4s. Od. 
London;. Printed by Hugh Barclay, Winchester High-street, in 
the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published for the Proprietors 
at The Cottage Gardener Office, No. 20 , Paternoster Row, in 
the Parish of Christ Church, City of London.—May 5, 1857. 
