888 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, March 3, 1857. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Reading Early Ducklings. —“ Would you have the kindness to 
explain to me how the Aylesbury Duck breeders manage to rear their 
Ducklings, and to have Ducks’ eggs so early in the season ? I mean what 
system have they of feeding them so fat and so rapidly as I understand 
they do ? And at the same time I should be much obliged if you would 
inform me whether the first year’s eggs of Geese are worthless for sit¬ 
ting purposes ; and what kind of Geese you would recommend as 
being the most profitable.”—A Two-Ykars’ Subscriber. 
[We should be very happy to give you all the information you require, 
but it would fill our Poultry Chronicle. To get the early eggs you 
must have young birds hatched in May, and fed on stimulating food. 
The young are kept entirely in-doors, and very warm, with no more 
water than a pan will contain. They are fed on brewers’ grains, greaves, 
hemp seed, bread, or anything they will or can eat. The neglect of a 
few hours will undo the work of a week, and often throw them back 
entirely. 
The brown Geese are the best. The first year’s eggs are not worthless, 
but the second are better. We would recommend you, if looking for 
profit, to buy two birds in your neighbourhood, and to buy them one 
here and one there, the largest you can find. The best-informed people 
on Geese are the old women who breed them.] 
Egg Harvests.— Abel Nott asks, “Will your correspondent, ‘H. 
D.,’ page 298, state what are the dimensions of his ‘ inclosed yard,’ and 
also if the fowls were quite confined to it ? ” Heading down your 
Spruce and Cedar will be useless. 
Management of Geese. —“If you could give me advice for the 
management of Geese I should be obliged, viz., if the eggs should be 
i left in the nest as they are laid, and, in the event of young gulls (goslings), 
should they be kept from the water? what best to feed on, &c., and 
if the goose should be put under a coop or not ? ”—A Novice with 
them. 
[Your Goose’s eggs should be taken away as they are laid. The gulls 
should not go into the water till they are three weeks old. The Goose 
should be put in some small building with her brood. An old pig-sty 
is a good place. The young must be fed on oatmeal, onion tops, and 
grass. When let out they may have oats.] 
Characteristics of a good Creve Cceub. —“Will you be so 
kind as to state what are the chief points in a good Crfeve Cceur fowl for 
exhibition ; which are the best layers, Crtlve Cceurs or White-crested 
Polands ; and which are the easiest to rear ? Our space is rather confined. 
Eggs our chief aim.”—J. W. 
[The points of Crfeve Cceurs are not yet sufficiently settled to justify 
us in publishing them. We should give the preference to White-crested 
Polands for laying, but they will not bear confinement as old birds, nor 
can you rear their chickens in a small space. We are by no means sure 
that the Cr&ve Coeurs are what you will require. Cochins, Brahmas, 
Spangled Hamburghs, or coloured Polands would suit you better.] 
Best Ducks for Laying. —“ Will you please to state which are 
the best Ducks to keep for laying, the Rouen or the Buenos Ayres ? We 
have the White Aylesbury, but we want a change. Please to say which 
you would recommend. Eggs our chief aim.”—J. W. 
[Either Rouen or Buenos Ayrean will suit you. They are both hardy 
and good birds. We should say the last one is the most prolific, and they 
are most excellent for the table. The eggs of the Rouen are larger than 
the Buenos Ayres.] 
Flooring of Poultry Run. —“I keep seven hens and a cock, the 
greater part Cochins, but am obliged to confine them to a limited space 
at the side of the garden, thirty feet long by five feet broad. The floor I 
have had covered with gravel, with six inches of rough stone at bottom 
for drainage; but the fowls are continually scratching it in holes, and 
bringing the stones to the surface. Now, I want to prevent this unsight¬ 
liness, and contemplate covering the floor with concrete, or something 
of the sort that they cannot disturb. Do you think it would affect the 
health of the fowls, or be too cold, &c. ? If you think it would answer 
perhaps you would kindly advise me how to proceed.”—C. L. 
[Do not object to your fowls in their limited space having not only the 
luxury, but the absolute necessary for their health, a place to busk in, 
and pick up insects and pebbles. The rake every evening will put all 
smooth, and then no very great eyesore can be wrought by them ; but a 
dust bath is as necessary to fowls to keep them clear from vermin as 
water is to ourselves.] 
Spanish Cock’s Leg paralysed (W.). —This probably arises from 
the rupture of a small blood-vessel in the head. Keep the bird quiet, in 
a cool, but not cold, place. Give him nothing but soft food, and that 
chiefly of boiled potatoes and boiled rice, with very little barley- 
meal, but plenty of green food. The oozing of blood may stop, and 
that which has oozed be absorbed. He will then recover the use of 
his legs. 
Cochin Hen’s Leg paralysed (A. Wood). —The above reply is ap¬ 
plicable to your case. 
Lost Basket (An Exhibitor ).—This loss too often occurs at Ex¬ 
hibitions. Committees would do well to have a superintendent of 
packages. 
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.—March 3, 1857. 
A New First-class Farmer’s Newspaper. 
TO BE PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY, WITH REPORTS OF 
THAT DAY’S LONDON MARKETS. 
On Friday, March Oth, 1857, 
WILL APPEAR THE FIRST NUMBER OF 
THE FARMER’S RECORD 
OF PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE, FARM 
MECHANICS, AND RURAL AFFAIRS, LITERATURE AND 
GENERAL NEWS. 
The Agricultural part edited by 
JOHN LOCKHART MORTON, Esq. 
Price Threepence ; Stamped, Fourpence. 
The Farmer’s Record will contain leading Articles and Or ginal 
Papers on important Agricultural Subjects, Correspondence on Agri¬ 
culture and other Rural Matters, Reports of Agricultural Societir s and 
Farmers’ Clubs, Reviews of New Books, Reports of Markets, a V eekly 
Summary of Home and Foreign News, and Current Events, &c., t c. 
This paper will supply a deficiency long felt by the Farmer—a t eekly 
periodical devoted to the promotion of his interests, and one th t will 
give him, with the comments of a competent editor, the agricultu al in¬ 
formation and the general news most acceptable to himself and family. 
The various departments have been intrusted to gentlemen long most 
favourably known ; and the whole is under the superintendence of an 
editor every way deserving of the Farmer’s confidence. 
A Specimen Number sent free by Post for Four Stamps. 
“ FARMER’S RECORD” OFFICE, 20, PATERNOSTER ROW, 
LONDON. 
SEED CATALOGUE. 
TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL EDITION. 
T3ass and Brown’s New Descriptive 
SEED CATALOGUE contains the finest new Vegetables in cul¬ 
tivation, with the choicest novelties among the Flower Seeds. Also, 
a selection from their BULB CATALOGUE of choice sorts for spring 
planting. 
Copies free on application. 
Sudbury, Suffolk. 
MANUALS FOR THE MANY.—No. 6. 
On the 20th instant will be published, price Fourpence, 
T^lower-Gardening for the Many : 
being plain instructions for the formation of a Flower-garden, 
and the cultivation of hardy-flowering plants and shrubs. By some of 
the Contributors to The Cottage Gardener. 
No. I.—Gardening 1 for the Many: being Practical Monthly 
Directions for the Cultivation, step by step, of each crop in the Garden 
of the Amateur and Cottager. Price Threepence. 
No. II.—Allotment Farming for the Many: Iveing Prac¬ 
tical Monthly Directions for the Cultivation and Use of such Crops as 
are most serviceable to the Cottager and Allotment Holder. Price 
Threepence. 
No. III.—Bee-keeping for the Many: being Plain Instruc¬ 
tions for the economical and successful Management of the Honey¬ 
bee, with a Calendar of Operations required in each Month. Price 
Fourpence. 
No. IV.—Greenhouses for the Many: giving Practical Di¬ 
rections for the Construction and for the Heating and Management of 
Greenhouses of the smallest and largest dimensions, with a Monthly 
Calendar of Operations. Illustrated with Plans, Sections, and Eleva¬ 
tions. Price Sixpence. 
No. V.—Kitchen-gardening for the Many: being plain 
directions for constructing a Kitchen-garden, and when and how to 
select and cultivate the most useful culinary vegetables. By some of 
the Contributors to The Cottage Gardener. Price Fourpence. 
No. VII.—Fruit Culture for the Many j 
AND 
No. VIII.—Florists’ Flowers for the Many, are in the 
press. 
TO BE FOLLOWED BY OTHER PRACTICAL 
MANUALS ON KINDRED SUBJECTS. 
An allowance will be made to Gentlemen and Clergymen requiring 
a number of copies for distribution. 
London: Cottage Gardener Office, 20, Paternoster 
Row. 
