THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, November 15, 1859. 
101 
put the plants into a close, moist atmosphere for a short time after the 
blossoms are gone, to encourage fresh growth. The young foliage made 
under such circumstances, and free from the mischances alluded to above, 
will come green and luxuriant, and free from spots. Where there is 
danger, or the least likelihood to be scorched in April or May, it would be 
advisable to shade the glass. 
Notes for A. B. C.—Caphcea strigilosa is one degree less hardy 
than common Fuchsias, and one of the easiest plants in the world to 
manage like a Fuchsia, for beds, and to winter half dry. All true 
Achimenes die down in the autumn, like yours, and like Tulips in May 
and June; but the “roots” or bulbs never die in the autumn, only in 
winter, from damp or too much cold, or from not being ripe. Any good- 
sized ripe tuber, or bulb, or “root,” of an Achimenes will live all the 
winter in the small ball of earth it grew in, if the place is quite dry, and 
no colder than 40°. All these failures come from half-ripe roots, and from 
half-starved and badly-managed plants grown in too low an atmosphere 
and too. late in the spring. To keep greenhouse plants at 60° in winter 
is sheer folly, even with all the air the winds can blow ; at 50“ it would be 
only madness ; and at 45° verging upon daft. No wonder your Achimenes 
go wrong. A healthy Daphne, and a well-managed Camellia, will take no 
harm from cutting off short sprig3, or pieces of the branches with the 
flowers; but if either of them are badly off at the roots, not one particle 
of the wood must be taken with the flowers. Then the flowers must be 
tied upon skewers, as they do them in Covent Garden. Your Daphnes 
and Camellias should not be over 40°, and seldom that, in winter, till they 
recover. You must shake most of the present soil from the roots in 
March, and put them into smaller pots, and in fresh loamy soil, with a 
little peat and sand. Some of your pots must be twice too big for the 
roots of your plants. The cheapest and best French and Fancy Gera¬ 
niums we give several lists of every season, as regular as the sun comes 
round, from the public exhibitions of them. The best variegated bed¬ 
ding Geraniums for you are — Flower of the Day, Brilliant, Alma, 
Countess of Warwick, and Mrs. Lenox. 
Baric-bed (A. <?.).—If for merely plunging pots, in eighteen inches are 
enough ; if for giving heat by fermentation, three feet are not too much. 
Trop.lolum Jarrattii and Tropjeolum tricolor grandiflorum {B. 11.). 
—Treat them exactly alike. Pot the bulbs every year in the last week of 
September, and let them go dry for the summer after flowering and seeding, 
and never force them or put them in a warmer place than would do for a 
Tom Thumb Geranium; not even now, although they are so far behind the 
right time of potting. Your best plan, to gain time, will be to put them in 
the flowering-pots at once, and only half fill the pots at first, and “ earth 
them up ” by degrees, as we say for Potatoes, as the stems grow, and you 
will be up with the earliest of them yet. 
Preserving Sea Water (IF. II., Fxeter). — It will continue sweet 
longest by being in an open jar, and poured backwards and forwards daily 
so as to expose it to the air thoroughly. We have known it thus pre¬ 
served in a wholesome state for the marine aquarium for full a month. 
Names of Ferns (J. F. A.). —1. Athyrium filix-foemina v. crispum. 
2. Dictyopteris attenuata. 3. Adiantum assimilc. 4. Fteris creticus. 
5. Notiioclmna distans. 6. Fteris hastata v. macrophylla. 7. Onychium 
lucidum. 8. Fleopeltis Bellardieri. 9. Campyloneurum Phyllitidis. 
Thanks for the promise of Cyclamen vernum. (,/. Westlake ).—1 and 2 
appear to be both Polystichum aculeatum v. lobatum. 3. Lastrcea Jilix- 
mas v. incisa. 4. Lastrcea filix-mas. But such fragments, especially the 
tops of fronds, can never be named satisfactorily. (IF. Gater ).—Yours 
are—No. 1. Platyloma cordifolia. No. 2 comes nearer to Lastcea cristata 
than anything else ; hut we are not quite certain from such small speci¬ 
mens. 
POULTRY AND BEE-KEEPER’S CHRONICLE. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
November 18th and 19lh. West of Scotland Ornithological Asso¬ 
ciation (Pigeons and Canary Birds). Sec., Mr. T. Buchanan, 74, Argyle 
Street, Glasgow. Entries close the 7th o‘f November. 
November 19th to 23rd. Crystal Palace. (Canaries and British and 
Foreign Cage Birds). Sec., Mr. W. Houghton. 
November 28th, 29th, and 30th, and December 1st. Birmingham. Sec., 
Mr. J. Morgan, BingleyHall, Birmingham. 
November 28th. Steel Bank, Sheffield (Single Cocks). Sec., Mr. 
F. Wragg, Steel Bank, Sheffield. Entries close the 26th of November. 
December 28th and 29th. Sheffield and Hallamshire (Fancy 
Pigeons). Sec., Mr. Inman New, Sheffield. Entries close December 12th. 
December 28th and 29th. Poulton-le-Fylde. Sec., Mr. J. S. Butler. 
January 7th, 1860. Bradford. (Single Cock Show.) Secs., Mr. Hardy, 
Prince of Wales Inn, Bowling Old Lane, and Mr. E. Blackbrough, 
Black Bull Inn, Ive Gate, Bradford. 
January 31st and February 1st and 2nd. Chesterfield and Scarsdale. 
Son. Sebs , Mr. J. Charlesworth, and Mr. T. P. Wood, jun. 
February 11th to loth, 1860. Crystal Palace (Poultry and Pigeons). 
Sec., Mr. W. Houghton. Entries close Jan. 14th. 
N.B. —Secretaries will oblige us by sending early copies of their lists. 
HOW TO ATTAIN DESIRED POINTS OF 
EXCELLENCE. 
Following our remarks of last week with regard to breeding 
for the attainment of particular shape or feather, we will give 
some details of the manner in which it may be done. It will be 
seen that the possesion of one bird of either sex among those that 
will breed in this country will enable the owner, if he is patient 
and will take the trouble, to perpetuate the race. This was done 
most successfully by the late Earl of Derby with the beautiful 
Versicolor Pheasant; and was begun, but not carried out, by the 
late Lord Ilardinge with some Pheasants he brought from the 
Himalayas Of all sorts of Pheasants, and of Jungle fowls brought 
to this country, the cocks only arrive alive, because they are 
packed with liens in small cages, and they always kill them. If 
those who are disposed to try to import them will have the birds 
cooped separately, they will get them over alive. 
The male bird of whatever sort he may be is put with a female 
of this country that most nearly resembles him; the next year 
he is put to a hen the produce of the first; the third year he is 
mated to the produce of the second, and the fourth to the third. 
By this time the appearance of the cross has almost or quite 
disappeared, and the produce may be freely mated together. 
There will at times be vindication of original rules, and birds will 
throw back. For this reason the oiiginal cock should be kept 
and used as long as possible. 
Now, as this is true of Pheasants, it is equally so of fowls. If 
Cochins are become faulty in one point—say they are coarse 
about the head and .comb—then choose a cock of undoubted 
merit in that particular, and mate him with the least faulty ben. 
The improvement will be at once perceptible; but if the cock be 
then mated with his daughter, it will be seen that his points are 
carried out in his progeny. Of course, the same process may be 
adopted for feather. It would be more frequently done but for 
the time and care that are required. Where perfection is sought 
in this, like everything else, it is the reward of those only who 
will strive for it. Success is not doubtful, as the process we have 
named has been often proved a certainty. 
SPANISH CHICKENS AND THEIR AILMENTS. 
I find that among my Spanish chickens, and also those of other 
breeders in tins neighbourhood, the stags’ tails all turn on one 
side, although first-class birds. Can you or any of your readers 
account for this ? 
Also, can you tell me the time when well-bred Spanish chickens 
ought to begin to show the white face, and to lay p Also, if 
those fowls that have not yet begun to moult are liable to suffer 
more than usual ? 
I have a Spanish pullet that has a kind of gathering in one 
eye. Is there any remedy ?—W. R. E. 
[Wry tails are caused by crooked backs or spines. When one 
fowl in a yard has it, it may be the result of accidental injury ; 
but where it is the rule, you must look to the breed and parents. 
This, in common with most defects, is hereditary. We tiled an 
experiment this year. A lien, used only as a mother, on account 
of her virtues in that character, was slightly deformed. She ran 
with a perfect cock, but five of her eggs were put under her with 
some more; these five all produced chickens with the same 
defect as herself. We are convinced there is no other cause for 
the wry tails than this,—it is a malformation. 
Spanish cocks show the white face much earlier than pullets. 
In many of the former it is white from the very first, and does 
not go through the period of bleaching that seems to be neces¬ 
sary in pullets. There is no rule for this latter process ; hut we 
have little hope of a pullet, if the face at four months does not 
give the appearance of whitening all over. We have none, if at 
six months below the eye is white, and over it a deep angry red. 
We are, however, often deceived. Spanish pullets should lay at 
seven months; earlier if they are hatched in March, as they 
grow fast in the five months. If the weather is only moderately 
cold, birds will moult now as well as at any time. All they re¬ 
quire is generous feeding. Wet is the worst weather for moulting, 
and easterly winds are bad for them at all times. 
You will probably find a formation of a cheesy nature under 
the lid of the eye. Remove it by pressure from behind, and then 
for a day or two wash it well with vinegar and cold i*iter.] 
Birmingham Poultry Show.— The entries of Poultry and 
Pigeons show but a trifling variation from last year, the total 
this year being 1565 against 1559 at the last exhibition. From 
1500 to 1600 pens appear to be about the point at which this 
part of the Show is settling down—a collection quite large enough 
for all useful purposes, but, as we have seen for the last three 'or 
four years, none too large to contain all the really good specimens 
that can be sent. It is confidently asserted that we shall find a 
still further improvement in all the principal classes, the interest 
in breeding poultry obviously increasing from year to year, and 
at no former period was it pursued with so much spirit and 
intelligence. _ The Dorkings particularly will, as usual, be a great 
feature in this part of the collection, the entries in the four first 
