THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 16, 1859. 
the marshes; but want of capital and labour has prevented its 
cultivation to any considerable extent. It was never an article 
of export. The same remark applies to coffee, which is some¬ 
times grown in small quantities as a curiosity, or for private con¬ 
sumption. The Bermudian soil, or rather climate, is very fa¬ 
vourable to vegetable growth. Three crops may be seen growing 
at once in the same field; for instance, Potatoes, and between 
the rows Indian Corn, and here and there Pumpkins. Of vegetables, 
generally two crops can be raised in the same year; but of 
Potatoes even three crops can be obtained within the same 
period. Corn was once an article of export; but that was 
during the existence of slavery. Wheat grows well, and Barley 
admirably. The growth of a certain quantity of corn was once 
imperative, but the dearness of labour in Bermuda, and the 
cheapness of American corn, have checked its production in the 
islands. The four principle articles of export are Arrowroot, 
Potatoes, Onions, and Tomatoes. The Arrowroot has for some 
time been famous as the best in the world: 147,636lbs. of it 
were exported in 1855. But it .appears to have fallen off a little, 
for in 1852, 233,145 lbs. were exported Potatoes (Irish), of 
which 23,830 lbs. were exported in 1855, have increased wonder¬ 
fully in a very short time. A most respectable and intelligent 
gentleman assured the author that he could recollect the time 
when a few barrels of Potatoes and 500 lbs. of Arrowroot were 
talked of as a great crop for an estate ; 812,830 lbs. of Onions 
(also a great increase on 1852), and 7715 boxes of Tomatoes, 
were in the list of exports for 1855.— {Ibid.) 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Greenhouse ( A . F . Watkiri ). —Your inquiries were answered at p. 244 
of No. 565. 
' Datura ciilokantha fi.ore-pleno. —“ M . F . would be much obliged to 
be informed where the seed of a new Datura chlorantha Jtore - pleno , from 
Soutli Australia, producing sweet-scented flowers for seven or eight 
months, noticed in The Cottage Gardener of 19th ult., can be obtained ; 
and if the present time is suitable for sowing it to flower early next 
season.” 
Orange Thyme.— “ My employer tells me he some years ago, in Covent 
Garden Market, bought some plants of a Thyme called the Orange, re¬ 
sembling the Seville Orange in smell, the plant resembling the Lemon 
Thyme. Can you give me any information respecting it through The 
Cottage Gardener?” —It. E. 
[l)o any of our readers know this Thyme ? Is it not the variety known 
as “ Lemon Thyme,” and by botanists called Thymus serpyllumcitratvs ?] 
Scolytus destructor—Farrier’s Horse-droppings ( Sarah C . 31 .).— 
The Elm bark you have sent from Chislehurst is perforated by this pest 
and its grubs. ’The horse-droppings from a farrier’s, though mixed with 
iron scales thrown off during forging processes, is quite available for a 
Mushroom-bed. 
Lead Pencils (P. Houghton <£• Co .).— VVe have had some pencils sent 
us by this Company, and put them into the hands of practical gardeners. 
One reports thus:— 11 The pencil you gave me to try how I like, is 
decidedly a very good one, the lead does not break, as is the case with 
what we often buy at the shops ; therefore, it is excellent for writing on 
labels and for other garden purposes. But for the carpenter, and other 
mechanics, I should say it was extremely well adapted, and excellent for 
their eyes to see and their hands to handle.” Others all write in a similar 
strain ; and we give, as the result of our experience, that the pencil writes 
freely on deal labels painted or unpainted, and is very strong and black. 
Names of Plants ( II . A .). —These specimens came to hand very much 
injured, which would not be the case were they simply folded singly 
between bits of damped blotting-paper. No tying is required. 1. Appears 
to be the Justicia nasuta . 2. Not certain. 3. Qazania uniflora . (John 
Marchington ). —1. Asclepias tuberosa . 2. Sedicm Seiboldii . (Minie M - -, 
Surrey ).— The two small leaves are from a little aquatic plant, called 
Limo'sella aquatica :, common Mudwort. The flower, as near as we can 
make out from such a bit, without even a leaf with it, is the Lobelia 
erinus . 
POULTRY AND BEE-KEEPER'S CHRONICLE. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
August 19th and 20th. Bradford. Secs ., Mr. A. Hardy, Bowling Old 
Lane, Bradford, and Mr. E. Blackbrough, Black Bull Inn, Ive Gate, 
Bradford. Entries close August 12 th. 
August 23rd and 24th. Whitby. Sec ., S. Burn, Esq., 1, East Terrace, 
Whitby. Entries close August 13th. 
August 25th, 26th, and 27th. Macclesfield. Sec ., Mr. W. Eoe. Entries 
close August 10th. 
; August 27th. Halifax. Sec ., William Irvine, Holmfield, Ovenden, near 
Halifax. 
Acoust 29th, 30th, 31st, and September 1st. Crystal Palace. Poultry, 
Pigeons, and Rabbits. Sec ., William Houghton. Entries close Saturday, 
July 30th. 
! September 22nd, Bridgnorth. Sec ., Richard Taylor, Bridgnorth. 
October 11th, 12th, and 13th. Worcestershire. Sec ., Geo. Griffiths 
7, St. Swithin Street, Worcester. 
November 28th, 29th, and 30th, and December 1st. Birmingham. Sec ., 
Mr. J. Morgan, BingleyHall, Birmingham. 
N.B .—Secretaries will oblige us by sending early copies of their lists . 
MANAGING WITH LIMITED CONVENIENCES. 
As it is part of our duty to anticipate -wants and queries, and 
to justify our name of the Poultry Chkonicle, we go on from 
where we left off last week, and take it for granted that out- 
advice has been taken, and our plans carried out. We have 
l catered long enough for the poultry public to be aware that we 
should constantly guard against general terms, and should avoid 
that snare to all who write on one subject,—viz., taking for 
granted that our readers will catch our meaning conveyed in few 
words, as readily as we ourselves understand it. 
It may be, that some may ask what we mean by giving every 
advantage to the best chickens, or what we should consider a 
fitting pen for the reception of those that are to be confined for 
a time. “It is very easy,” says a fan-correspondent, “to give 
instructions; but too often they infer conveniences those who 
live in small houses do not possess. It is easy to give these in¬ 
structions to those who have farms and cottages, or who have 
lodge gates for different runs.” 
We will make it easy for our fair friend who writes with just 
a spice of dissatisfaction at our last paper. We will endeavour 
to make ourselves plain, and promise her success in return for a 
little painstaking. We will suppose you have hut one walk. 
Let all the chickens, cockerels and pullets, run together, pro¬ 
vided they are all good. Hens may run with them, but not 
cocks, if they interfere with the young ones. The latter have 
still growth to make, and confidence to acquire ; these are im¬ 
possible if they are beaten by the old birds ; and we do not 
know whether it is not well to confine all the old birds, to give 
the chickens as much range as possible, and also to allow them 
to be fed daintily. 
The place in which the old birds should, or may be confined, 
must depend on convenience, and on the breed. Cochins, 
Brahmas, and Spanish will do anywhere, provided they have 
a clean, roomy roosting place, large enough to allow them to sit 
on perches without touching each other, and lofty enough to 
admit of ventilation without draught on the birds. If for ten 
or twelve fowls, say seven feet square, and eight feet high. 
Nothing is better than an old wood-house, or a shed. If a run 
can be given to them in front, with grass, so much the better. 
! If it cannot, close the entrance with any old netting, and let the 
I door remain open. Have some large sods of grass cut every 
day, and throw them in; the fowls will do well if in a shed or 
wood-house, not in a small roosting place, such as we have de¬ 
scribed. We do not consider a poultry-yard perfect without some 
wooden frames on which wire netting can be stretched, and five 
of these form a temporary pen at any time. A cheap and very 
! useful thing is a wattled crib, made round, about four feet in 
diameter, and four feet high. It has two holes left in the work, 
through which a perch is put at night. It has no bottom, and, 
therefore, stands on grass, or wherever it is convenient to place 
it. It is covered with a hurdle thatched with sufficient straw 
to keep out rain. In such as these we have kept a cock and two 
hens for months in perfect condition and feather ; and as they 
can, and ought to be, moved every day, they do not disfigure 
any place. Such will do for old birds or any that require to be 
confined. 
PRIZES FOR BANTAMS. 
Peay allow me space in your influential paper to remonstrate 
with the Secretary and Committee of the Worcester Poultry Show, 
against making Bantams an exception to their general rule of 
“ all birds must have been hatched in 1859.” 
What chance of winning prizes have the exhibitors of Bantams 
of 1859 against Bantams of “ any age? ” 
Why should Bantams be excepted from a “ Chicken ” Show ? 
Surely it is as easy to rear Bantams in time for an autumn 
Show as any other variety of poultry. 
Is not the class of Game Bantams well filled at the Crystal 
Palace Show, though it is held at a much earlier season of the 
year than “the Worcester? ” 
But if the Committee insist upon excepting them, they should 
at least add a third prize in such a favourite and well-supported 
class as “ Game Bantams,” 
