September 16, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
733 
* 
$- 6 - 
The Dwarfs of the Poultry World. 
The poultry world has its dwarfs, even as 
have other centres of creation, and very beau¬ 
tiful they are too. Much as one can admire 
the tall, reacliy Game fowl, it must be con¬ 
fessed that it does not possess the dainty 
beauty or raciness of its miniature counter¬ 
part, the Game Bantam. Then Old English 
Game, the fighting cocks of our forefathers, 
are exceedingly handsome birds, but, with 
all their handsomeness, there is a suggestion 
of cruelty, a look of death about the fierce, 
determined do or die expression of an Old Eng¬ 
lish Game cock. This is not so pronounced 
in the Old English Game Bantam, which, 
plucky little fellow though he be, is not so 
cruel in appearance as the fighting cocks 
proper. Again, are not the rich, glossy, silky 
feathers and dainty carriage of the black rose- 
comb quite as enthralling as that of the black 
Hamburgh, which is its larger brother? 
they have been bred down. The Malay Ban¬ 
tam should be a pocket edition of the large 
Malay fowl, but it is not. For some reason or 
the other the birds shown to-day as Malay 
Bantams are much too gamey in appearance ; 
•breeders have not been able to graft the beetle- 
browed head of the larger Malay on to the 
Bantams. The reason most probably is that 
in their efforts to get tall, stylish birds they 
have crossed with the Game Bantam, and thus 
sacrificed some of the most essential character¬ 
istics of the breed. The colours- hr which they 
are found are white, pile, red, pheasant, and 
spangle. The Indian Game Bantams are re¬ 
markably handsome little fellows with their 
short, sturdy bodies, rich, lustrous colour, and 
beautiful marking. Aseel Bantams cannot be 
called handsome any more than can the birds 
from which they are descended, and they are 
not a breed that I can recommend to the 
readers of The Gardening World. 
Adaptability of Bantams. 
Bantams, by their adaptability, are great 
favourites with many. Many there are who-, 
unable to find space for a pen of ordinary 
fowls, yet contrive an odd corner in their 
little yard or garden for a pen of Bantams. 
How many of us are there who, as children, 
commenced our keeping of poultry with a pen 
of Bantams. Bantams are essentially the 
pets of poultry-loving children. There are 
many reasons why this should be so. Their 
smallness in size is the primary cause, because 
it also extends to their housing and their 
Reding. A house 4ft. square, with a run of 
10 ft., will make a most admirable* dwelling- 
place for a breeding pen, which may consist 
of a cock and four hens. 
The Varieties, Game Lead. 
First and foremost comes the Game Bar 
tarn, and many are its sub-varieties. Black 
red, brown-red, birchen, pile, duckwing 
white, and black are colours which are genei 
all} seen, at our shows ; there are others, bu 
so seldom does one see them that they nee< 
not be mentioned. It is not needful for m 
o go into detail concerning the show points 
because for those who seek to know all thes 
techmcal matters there are journals speciall 
dealing with such. Style is the first con 
sideration in a Game Bantam. The head i 
long and fine, the neck slim and graceful, th 
body short, the thighs long and muscular, th 
cgs long, small, and fine in bone and close! 
fitting to the body. In weight the cockerel 
f,n m a i? Ut 2 0° z o s - to 22 °zs., and the pullet 
fiom, loozs. to 20ozs., the latter weights bein 
leached when they have arrived at maturit 
ana the second moult. 
Game Allies. 
fam?v r K b f ed L- ! vhldl belon S to the Gam, 
tamii}, but which are spoken of specif!calk 
EnIr P i ai V r0m ^ G f ne P ro P er > are the Oh 
En 0 lish Game, Aseel, Malay, and Indiai 
Game Bantams. The Old English Game Ban 
tarn is found m all the colours which I hav, 
mentioned in Game, and, in addition, then 
r ev s rf, es ’ r iue d ? ns ’ and creeis - in &ha P ( 
l a ? fc,lc diminutive counterpart of the bi; 
breed they are named after, and from wliici 
Answers to Correspondents. 
Canary Not Singing (R. B., Tooting).—• 
The reason your little pet has ceased to sing 
is because now is the time for it to moult, 
and whilst the moult is in progress very few 
birds indulge in -song. The quicker your bird 
gets through the moult the sooner will he 
gladden your ears with his song again ; there¬ 
fore you must take care that no draughts 
reach him, and you must put a rusty nail in 
his drinking water ; this will act as a tonic. 
• A piece of salt fat bacon may be given him 
once a week ; cut a piece about an inch square 
and put it between the wires of the cage. 
You might also let him have a piece of boiled 
carrot now and then or a small portion of 
sweet apple. 
Canaries with Insects (Herbert).—(1) Your 
letter is rather vague; one cannot tell if the 
birds are at liberty in the greenhouse or not. 
If you keep them in cages you must wash each 
cage well with hot water, using plenty of soda 
and -soap. When dry paint all the cracks and 
crevices well with carbolic acid ; let this diy 
well in, and then repaint them inside and out. 
The first two coats should be ordinary paint, 
the third should be enamel; light blue is best 
for the inside and black for the outside. Give 
the birds a bath every other day in which you 
have mixed a few drops of Sprartt’s essence of 
quassia. (2) The best way to colour Canaries 
is to- use what is known as tasteless pepper. 
Giving them just sufficient to make their egg- 
food a nice rich pink colour. This tasteless 
pepper can be obtained from most bird stores. 
Our 
. . HOVEL DEVICES . . 
Competition. 
(See page 722.) 
Bell Glasses and Seed-pans. 
I have frequently noticed articles in refer¬ 
ence to bell-glasses for covering seeds, etc. 
I have made a very good substitute in the 
following way:—Procure a pickle or jam 
jar (glass) of the size you require, and then 
tie a piece of string or thick wool, previously 
soaked m oil, round it, and when you have 
secured this in position, set light to the 
string, holding the jar on its side, and turn¬ 
ing it round while burning, so that the whole 
circle of glass gets hot. Have a pail of water 
ready, and suddenly plunge all in it. The 
glass will split round where the string was 
tied, and then you have your bell-glass, which 
will only cost you a copper or two. 
The seed-pan can be made in the follow¬ 
ing way:—Take an ordinary flower-pot, not 
too much broken ; mark a line round it at 
the depth you require with an old file (a large 
one for preference); go over this line rather 
heavily several times. This will facilitate 
breaking the top off level, although you may 
not always succeed to perfection, and will 
have converted your broken pot into a seed- 
pan. Trusting this will be of use to readers 
of The Gardening World, amateurs espe¬ 
cially. E. J. Smith. 
A—Glass jam-jar. 
B—String tied round (previously soaked in 
oil). 
C—Broken flower-pot. 
D—Line where pot should be filed to enable 
one to break pot to form seed-pan. 
To Protect Peas and Beans against Mice. 
An effective trap may be made in the fol¬ 
lowing way:—Get an earthenware jar, such 
as is used for pickling purposes, and bury up 
to the rim between two rows, as shown in the 
illustration. Rub some lard or butter on the 
inside of the neck of the bottle, about an 
inch from the rim, having first half-filled the 
jar with water. In their efforts to get at the 
bait the mice will over-balance themselves, 
and fall into the jar and be drowned. I have 
seen as many as seven or eight mice in one 
of these traps. ~ H. Page. 
