142 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, June 2, 1857. 
celleuce of Rabbit manure, recommended by Parkinson and 
other farm writers, as a stimulant to field crops, and which 
I have tested successfully, being, from its great strength, 
well worthy to take a place amongst the substitutes for 
guano, the supply of which appears to be rapidly failing.— 
Silver Grey. 
NATIONAL COLUMBARIAN CLUB. 
In your answer to Henry Heinrichs in your paper of the 
20th instant I notice that you only mention two clubs. I 
therefore beg to inform you that there is another called the 
“National Columbarian Club,” which ranks very nearly, if 
not quite, with the Philoperisteron Society. I further beg 
to state that any gentleman desirous of joining the Club 
can obtain any information on application, per post or other¬ 
wise, to me.—W. Wrench Towse, Hon. Sec. to the National 
Columbarian Club. 
P.S.—Our meetings are held at Anderton’s Plotel, Eleet 
Street. I also beg to inclose a copy of our Rules, a notice 
of which in your next (should you have space) would much 
oblige.—W. W. T. 
NATIONAL COLUMBARIAN CLUB. 
President, E. R. Maddeford, Esq., Staines, Middlesex. 
Vice-Presidents , Harrison Weir, Esq., Lyndburst Villas, 
Peckham, and W. H. Fry, Esq., London Road, Brighton. 
Auditor, James Walton, Jun., Esq., Lavender Hill, Wands¬ 
worth. Honorary Secretary , W. Wrench Towse, Esq., Fish¬ 
mongers’ Hall, London. 
RULES AND REGULATIONS. 
1. That an Annual Subscription of ten shillings and 
sixpence be paid by each member on his election, and at 
every subsequent meeting in January. 
2. That a Grand Annual Show take place, to which ad¬ 
mission be by tickets only. 
3. That the Club be conducted by a President, Vice- 
Presidents, Auditor, and Secretary, who shall be elected by 
ballot annually at the first meeting of the Club, and be 
eligible for re-election. 
4. That a Show take place on the fourth Tuesday in the 
months of September, October, November, December, 
January, and February. 
5. That at the General Meeting for the election of 
Officers, &c., it shall be competent for members to propose 
any alteration or addition to the Rules. 
C. That all motions must be duly seconded before the 
Chairman submits them to the meeting. 
7. Th^t each member shall pay an entrance fee of ten 
shillings and sixpence. 
8. That any member retiring renounce his claim to the 
Show Pens, and all other privileges and advantages of the 
Club. 
9. That all monies must be paid to the Secretary. 
10. That the Secretary make no disbursements without 
the sanction of the members present at a meeting of the 
Club. 
11. That the Auditor report upon the accounts at the 
meeting in September. 
_ 12. That a member being desirous of purchasing any 
bird exhibited at a meeting may, upon payment of one 
shilling, request the Secretary to put the same up for sale, 
the owner having the right to make but one bidding. 
13. That a Show of Young Birds be held on a day to be 
fixed by the members at the meeting in February. 
14. 1 hat no Pigeon dealer be admitted either as member 
or visitor. 
15. That any gentleman wishing to join the Club shall 
be duly proposed and seconded at a meeting, notice having 
been given of the same at a previous meeting. One black 
ball in ten to exclude. 
Silver-pencilled Hamburghs as Layers. —Mr. Archer, 
of Malvern, has two pullets ol this breed, hatched January 
3rd, both of which commenced laying on Thursday, May 14th. 
—S. P. II. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Minasi’s Incubator (A Much-indebted Reader). —We cannot find 
out where this apparatus can now be obtained. 
Sfanisu Fowls losing their Neck Feathers (A. M. B .).— 
This is not unusual. You will find this and other poultry diseases 
treated of briefly but well in “The Poultry Book for the Many.” We 
extract the following applicable to your case : “ Baldness. —Losing 
the feathers of the head and neck. Cause, defect of wholesome and 
green food. Remedy, good feeding and plenty of green food, at the 
same time rubbing the bald place with mercurial ointment, and giving a 
five-grain Plummer’s pill every second day for a week.” 
Exhibiting Chickens ( Mary Me Duff). —None should be exhibited 
less than from four to five months old. Success, of course, depends 
upon their excellence, both as to the requisite points, perfect develop¬ 
ment, and high condition. 
Cochin-China Pullet (M. F. S.). —It is very early, but not very 
uncommon, for a pullet to have laid when only four months and a week 
old. 
Eggs not Hatching (H . T.).—Nothing can be better than your 
runs. We shall be disposed to attribute the failure of your eggs, first 
to the dry weather, and next to your style of sitting them. In long 
dry times, like those through which we have just passed, the eggs require 
moisture, and this should be done by sprinkling with the fingers. The 
inner membrane of the egg becomes dry and contracted, and the 
chicken dies in consequence. If it even reaches the time of hatching 
it cannot make its way out of the shell. The fact of all your eggs 
having chickens without hatching proves this. A covered basket is an 
abomination for a sitting hen—it breeds and harbours vermin. We 
never find it necessary to shut in our hens at all, but if we did we 
should put them in a box without a bottom, because for well doing it is 
essential that all nests should be on the ground. A sod of grass is the 
best bottom for a nest. The floor of a stall in a stable is a bad place, 
as it is of course pitched with stones, and nothing can be a worse 
bottom than that. Ten minutes is not nearly long enough for a hen to 
be off her nest. She should be off from half to three quarters of an 
hour. She wants to drink, feed, stretch herself, and have a good wallow' 
in the dust. No hen sits well unless she is comfortable and in good 
health. Let your hens have open nests on the ground. Let them leave 
at will, watching that they do not desert; moisten the eggs a little if the 
weather is dry, and you will have what Jacob Faithful always wished 
for—“ better luck next time.” 
Eggs Unprolific (T. W. Wrench). —We do not shut up our hens 
when they are sitting. We make them sit on the ground, and put up a 
board or a basket-lid to give them all the protection or privacy they 
require. We let them leave their nests when they like, taking care they 
are not off their eggs more than half an hour. The probable cause of 
failure is the dry weather. The eggs require to be moistened by 
sprinkling, especially in boxes. 
Number of Eggs laid by Toulouse Geese (Goose). —They 
vary from sixteen to twenty-two in a year. There is no fixed number, 
as it is affected by many circumstances, such as age, and whether 
allowed to sit on the first. Geese will often lay two clutches. 
Gapes (J. Choyce, jun .).— If the fumes of spirit of turpentine do 
not kill the worms in the windpipe there is little hope for wheat steeped 
in that spirit being of any use. The worms are in the windpipe, not 
in the passage to the gizzard. . 
Duck’s Eggs (Rouen). —Their fertility will depend upon circum¬ 
stances. They ought to be fertile in forty-eight hours. 
LONDON MARKETS.— June 1st. 
COVENT GARDEN. 
We have now a fair amount of business doing, and the supply good. 
Importations comprise Endive, Artichokes, Spring Carrots, and large 
consignments of Peas three times a week* Cornwall sends us Potatoes 
of both sorts, Green Peas and Asparagus, and in a few days we shall 
look for some out-door Strawberries from Devon and Somerset. 
POULTRY. 
The supply of young poultry gradually increases, and the demand 
improves. 
Large fowls.. 7s. Od. to 8s. Od. each. 
Smaller do.4s. fid. to 6s. ,, 
Chickens .. 3s. 9d. to 4s. Od. ,, 
Goslings.6s. to 6s. 6d. ,, 
Ducklings.. 4s. Od. to 4s. 6d. 
Guiuea Fowls 4s. Od. to 4s. 6d. each. 
Pigeons .9d. to lOd. ,, 
Babbits.... Is. 4d. to Is. 5d. ,, 
Wild ditto. lOd.tolld. ,, 
Leverets.... 3s. Od. to 5s. Od. ,, 
London: Printed by Hugh Barclay, Winchester High-street, in 
the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published for the Proprietors 
at Piie Cottage Gardener Office, No. 20, Paternoster Row, in 
the Parish of Christ Church, City of London.—June 2, 1857. 
