373 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 13, 1860. 
taining the prize birds he wished to purchase; but, at the same 
time, I thought he would better have shown his desire to let 
“ bygones be bygones,” as he expressed himself, if he had avoided 
making the subject public ; and being of opinion that where 
much is professed something is often hidden, I have made in¬ 
quiries, and give you the following version :—The pen was sold, 
not by the Secretary, but by his clerk; and the said clerk, when 
he discovered the error, immediately wrote to Mr. Ilorry, ex¬ 
pressed his regret, and informed him the money would be re¬ 
turned. Notwithstanding this, Mr. Ilorry came on the Thursday, 
and demanded his birds. He was shown the receipt-book, and 
it was pointed out to him that the name of the actual purchaser 
preceded his by several eutries, and he was offered the cheque 
he had paid. He refused it, and put the claim into the hands 
of his solicitors; they, having better temper and more discretion 
than their client, accepted the return of the cheque, and there 
the matter should have ended; but Mr. Horry seems to think 
that, though neither law nor equity is on his side, he has a 
greivance, and he rushes into print—your readers will judge 
with what motives. I am assured that this is the first Show 
at which such a mistake has happened, and that it was the result 
of employing a new clerk.— Moderation. 
REARING THE YOUNG OF THE SHELL-DUCK. 
I have for several years past kept a pair of Shell-Ducks, the 
young of which I cannot succeed in rearing. Would you tell 
me how I may proceed as to whether it is desirable to place the 
eggs imder a foster mother ? the parents being so extremely shy, 
they would probably decoy them away if allowed to hatch them. 
If so, should you prefer the duck or hen ? 
I have also two Egyptian Geese, one of which I would gladly 
exchange for a gander. Should any of your correspondents or 
readers be able to do this I shall be glad to hear from them, and 
arrange the exchange.— O. Barton, Oxton, Notts. 
[We have reared the young of the Shell-Duck many times 
without difficulty by putting the eggs under a hen, and by feed¬ 
ing as we would other ducks, with the exception that we always 
kept a very shallow vessel filled with water and oatmeal, from 
which the young ate constantly. In a state of nature these birds 
make their nests, and sit in holes and burrows, and hence get the 
name of the Burrow Duck. If they are sickly, a little salt in 
the water is often beneficial. 
Should any of our readers wish to make the exchange you 
propose, they will, we hope, answer in our columns.] 
TREATMENT OF A DECLINING FOWL- 
OPENING THE CROP OF A CHICKEN. 
I hate a remarkably fine dark grey Dorking cock, weighing 
upwards of 10 lbs., and of splendid shape and colour. It has 
always been a healthy, vigorous bird; but lately its comb has 
become very pallid, together with his wattles and face. It is 
dull and mopes about. The upper part of the comb is quite grey, 
as if it had no circulation in it. When it eats it has to stop every 
now and then, and opens its beak as if it were gasping for 
breath ; and at the same time it often makes a kind of noise like 
a shrill sneeze—a snapping metallic noise it is. It eats well, and 
its feathers are glossy and bright. I have given it castor oil several 
times, but its comb and face do not improve in colour, and it 
seems to be getting less lively every day. What am I to do ? 
It may interest you to hear of an operation which I success¬ 
fully performed on a Dorking chicken a fortnight old about ten 
days ago. The little thing had got hold of a quantity of whole 
com by accident, and became crop-bound. I tried every remedy 
to relieve it, but ineffectually. At length, seeing that it was 
dying, I took a sharp penknife, cut the crop open, cleaned it of 
its contents, and having washed the wound with warm water, 
sewed it up again. The bird is quite well, and growing fast.—E. 0. 
[You must continue to purge the bird with castor oil. Wo 
should then advise you to use Baily’s pills. The medical 
treatment must be continued till its evacuations cease to be 
green and slimy, as they doubtless are now, and become grey 
and firm. It will not be restored to health till this has taken 
place. Of course, you must be somewhat guided by its strength, 
and what it is able to bear; but we advise that you give im¬ 
mediately a table-spoonful of castor oil. If the bird appear 
much weakened by it, give it some bread soaked in ale or port 
wine. Its food should be nourishing : ground oats mixed with 
milk, stale crusts wetted, and such things. 
The operation you mention is very interesting; w’e have per¬ 
formed it successfully on chickens ourselves. When necessary to 
operate on old birds, they suffer more from it. We think 
amateurs do well to interchange such communications.] 
APIARIAN NOTES.—No. Y. 
MARCH. 
Ligurian Bees. —I have been very frequently asked, “ What 
can there be in the scientific and practical pursuit of bees, which 
serves to keep up in the mind of an apiarian a continuous interest 
for so many years ? ” and although it is a question not always 
easy to answer satisfactorily, at least, to the inquirer, yet the 
fact remains undoubted, that very few of those who once become 
inoculated with any amount of enthusiasm, with regard to 
apiarian pursuits, ever altogether cease to be affected with what 
some may call the disease of apimania. But if there had pre¬ 
viously been any probability of a diminution of the active symp¬ 
toms of the malady, the splendid honey season of 1859, would go 
very far to rouse them, and demonstrate that they were only 
dormant for a time. 
Nor do we seem, in the coming season, likely to want for excit¬ 
ing causes for seriously affecting those who may be pre-disposed to 
the disorder, for (to drop this metaphorical prelude), we shall have 
a very great source of interest in the introduction of the 
Ligurian species into our apiaries ; and in the results of the ex¬ 
periments instituted by the “ Devonshire Bee-keeper,” and 
others, for the purpose of establishing the foreigners among us. 
Hence I quite look forward to a season of unusual interest with 
regard to them. 
I mentioned in two previous articles (Apiarian Notes, No. III., 
September, and Apiarian Notes, No. IV., October, in 1859), that 
I had established a Ligurian queen in one of my stocks. In con¬ 
junction with the “Devonshire Bee-keeper,” two queens were 
ordered from M. Hermann in August last. On arrival, after a 
very long delay on the road, one of them (a very fine queen), was 
found to be dead with all her companions ; and the other queen 
with a few bees were barely living, having suffered in both cases 
from starvation. This queen was taken by me, having been 
quickly revived by a little honey; but it proved to be so remarkably 
diminutive, and as M. Hermann in his letter of advice had stated, 
that it was born only a week or ten days before he sent it, I 
had very strong doubts as to its being impregnated and fertile. 
The little box containing the bees arrived on the 27th of August, 
and was at once placed over the central aperture in the top of a 
Stewarton hive, from which the old queen had been removed a 
few days previously. Here they remained, separated by per¬ 
forated zinc from the English bees for twenty-four hours, and on 
the communication being fully opened, they were received below 
with little or no fighting. 
On September 3rd, and again on the 12th, I removed and in¬ 
spected every comb of the hive, and in each instance had a good 
view of the queen, which was of undoubted Ligurian origin, 
though, as I before said, remarkably diminutive. 
There was not a trace of eggs or brood at either time to be 
seen, though a Ligurian queen belonging to my friend before 
named wa3 then laying eggs rapidly. Therefore, I had good 
cause for fearing that the result of this speculation, at least so 
far as this Ligurian queen and the colony were concerned, would 
be a failure. 
Up to the present time my doubts have not been removed, but 
to-day (February 29), even while writing this, a considerable 
quantity of pollen is being carried in, so I may hope that she is 
after all a fruitful mother. 
Longevity of Bees. —It will be both interesting and in¬ 
structive to observe how long the common English bees live in 
the hive after the substitution of a Ligurian queen. This has 
already been alluded to by the “ Devonshire Bee-keeper,” 
but I would again call attention to the subject, and would invite 
all who may adopt this foreign yellow race, to take accurate note 
of the date of transfer, and also of the time at which the last 
black bee is seen, and furnish us with the required information, 
either through the pages of this periodical, or by letter. Thus 
from the evidence of many witnesses shall we be able to arrive at a 
solution of a doubtful point. Some have asserted that six 
months are the period of their duration of life ; but, that this is 
too limited we are already convinced by the fact that more than 
