83S 
is devoutly to be-hoped that the love of the 
magnificently picturesque may not eventually 
be entirely subjected to utilitarian plans. 
Views of Chicago and of the St. Louis .exhi¬ 
bition followed, in the latter of which iinfor- 
tunately the Horticultural Department was 
so far away in the background as to give no 
idea of its extent. The general effect, how¬ 
ever, was most imposing. The views embraced 
a number of the most remarkable bridges m 
the States and in Canada, and a view of the bt. 
Louis Botanical Gardens, showing a very line 
specimen of the Victoria regia Lily growing 
in a tank in the open, which, with the pre- 
sence of humming birds in the vicinity, as 
seen by Mr. Read, points to a warmer climate 
than we should have anticipated in that 
latitude. 
-♦- 
[By Rosecomb.] 
Starting Bantams in Life. 
When the chicks are -all hatched and dry, 
they may be removed with the hen to a coop. 
They will not want feeding for the first 
twenty-four hours of their existence, but the 
hen will, and it. is wise to give her a good feed 
of hard wheat as soon as she is in the coop. 
My coops are 2 ft. square and 2 ft. high in 
front, sloping to 18 in. behind, and I keep 
the floor well covered with ashes. To each 
coop I have a run 6 ft. long, with wire- top and 
wooden sides and end, and in this I allow 
both hen and chickens to move about as they 
like. The wooden sides protect the chicks 
from cats and also from cold winds. I move 
coop and run to fresh ground every day, and 1 
lind my chicks do well. 
Feeding the Chicks. 
As I have said, the young babes will not 
require feeding for the first twenty-four hours 
of their existence. Therefore their first meal 
should be given them the morning after they 
have been hatched. For high-class exhibi¬ 
tion birds very careful and) choice feeding 
is required, but where bantams are only kept 
as a hobby, without any idea of breeding for 
exhibition, such is not needful. For the first 
week of the young bantams’ lives, their diet 
may consist of rice and oatmeal. The rice 
should be boiled until it is nicely soft, but 
not boiled to a pap ; to each half teacup of 
rice put a pint of water, and boil till tlie 
water is absorbed. When putting the rice in 
the water place a piece of mutton or beef suet 
in the saucepan with it. When cold a little 
medium oatmeal may he mixed with it, and 
this will make good feeding for the first week. 
At the end of the week this feeding may be 
varied with Spratt’s chicken meal, which must 
be prepared according to the directions sent 
out with it. At the age of six weeks the soft 
feeding should be alternated with Spratt’s 
Chico. 
When to Feed. 
For the first month the chicks should be fed 
every two hours, after that every three hours, 
and when they are three months old three 
times a day will suffice. The last feed at 
night should be given just before dusk, and 
when daylight has quite departed sufficient 
food may be placed in the coop for the birds 
to get a meal as soon as the dawn breaks, and 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
the first morning feed should be given about 
six o’clock, or as soon after as possible. 
Little and otten is the great secret in rearing 
chickens. Never overload their stomachs, and 
you will not have many die with diarrhoea ; 
neither will they get too fat, big, or baggy. 
Water or Not 
Amongst professional poultry breeders the 
great question of the last few years has been 
as to the wisdom or not of giving water to 
young chickens. The idea of not giving water % 
was laughed at as being most ridiculous when 
first mooted, but now the majority of our best 
breeders never let their chickens see water 
until they are nine or ten weeks old. lhe 
hen must have water, however, but the chicks 
will find sufficient moisture in their food and 
from the grass to satisfy the requirements of 
nature. 
Separating the Chicks. 
When they are eight weeks old the hen can 
be removed from her babes, and they may be 
left to take care of themselves, but up to that 
age they require the warmth of their mother’s 
body at night. At three months the sexes 
should be separated, as the cockerels will take 
to fighting if left with the pullets, whereas if 
they are separated they will live in peace and 
harmony for many weeks longer. When the 
hen is taken from them they should be given 
wider range than the coop and run afford. 
Answers to Correspondents. 
Pigeon with Lump on Wing (Dragoon, 
Rochester).—Paint the lump twice a week 
with tincture of iodine, using a small camel 
hair brush for the purpose. Before painting 
it remove the feathers round about it. It will 
also be wise to give the bird a pinch of Epsom 
salts each morning for a week, -about as much 
as would cover a sixpence. This will 
keep the blood cool and prevent scrofula 
developing. 
Canary Lame (Variegated Yellow).—-The 
best thing you -can do is to soak the legs in 
warm water each morning, and then paint 
them with tincture of iodine. Change the 
bird’s food. Give a little more seed -each day 
and a piece of sweet apple. A few days of 
this treatment should restore your little pet to 
his usual health. 
ON THE EDITOR'S TABLE. 
A Strange Cucumber. 
Two specimens of the fruits of a very curious 
Cucumber were sent us recently by Mr. John 
Crook (gardener to Mrs. Evans). Forde Abbey, 
Chard. The variety was Telegraph, which 
seems to- have sported in an unaccountable 
manner. There is a- possibility of various 
things when Cucumbers are raised from seeds 
eveiy year. The specimens were 6 in. to 
7 in. long, and very thick as they had ap- 
■proached the seeding stage. A greater pecu¬ 
liarity, however, was the fact that each pro¬ 
duced a circle of leaves and blooms- around the 
crown. The- central bloom would belong to 
the fruit itself, but the side ones may be 
regarded as representing very short stems or 
branches arising from the axils of the leaves. 
These secondary and side flowers had no stalks 
at all. 
From a botanical point of view the explana¬ 
tion is easy, though the cause of it- has always 
been, and possibly always will be, obscure. 
The edible portion of the Cucumber is really 
an upgrowth of the stalk, like that of the 
Apple and Pear. Being, therefore, of stem 
October 28, 1905. 
structure, there is nothing unnatural, and it 
should not be unexpected that branches might 
oil occasion arise, although they certainly are 
abnormal. The changes that produce this 
peculiar freak or sport, in all probability, oc¬ 
curred in the seeds while still carried by the 
mother plant, for all the fruits from this 
plant behave! in the same way. producing 
leaves, flowers and fruit out of the original 
fruit, hen-and-chicken fashion, like the Daisy 
of that name. The cause of the freak has not 
yet been explained by science. 
Begonias from West Norwood. 
A box of blooms of tuberous Begonias reaches 
us from Messrs. J. Peed and Son, Roupell Park 
Nurseries, Norwood Road, West Norwood, 
London. All had been cut from the open, as 
Messrs. Peed grow tuberous Begonias ex¬ 
tensively for bedding purposes. The blooms 
were assorted in seven colours, and there was 
little to choose between them in reference to 
the shape of the flowers, which were perfectly 
circular. In each colour there were usually 
slightly varying shades of colour, except in the 
crimson, scarlet, and yellow strains. Other 
colours represented were pink, rose, orange, 
and salmon-pink. The orange shades varied 
from a pale orange with a yellow centre to a 
rich shade bordering on orange-scarlet. These 
Begonias are very suitable for bedding pur¬ 
poses, and in the crossing ©f them to obtain 
seed for next year’s display every care is given 
to keep the colours perfectly pure and distinct. 
They also keep an eye to those varieties that 
hold the flowers well above the foliage, as such 
are more effective than those with drooping 
flowers. 
OBITUARY. 
MR. JAMES DOBBIE. 
We much regret to announce the death o: 
tins veteran of horticulture, which took plac-. 
at his residence, Clifton, Upper Craigmore 
Rothesay, on the 13th inst. He reached tb 
ripe old age of eighty-eight years, however 
which shows another example that “ it i 
better to wear out than to rust out.” for Mi 
Dobbie pursued an active career in horticul 
ture all his life. Although lie retired fron 
business in 1887, lie continued to act as hi 
own gardener, improving and selecting hi 
favourite flowers and vegetables to the last. 
He did not serve an apprenticeship to gar 
dening, nor was he trained in a nursery. Ai 
an early period of his life he took a- fancy foi 
flowers and vegetables—say, about the yea: 
1840—and in a short time lie became a com 
petitor to be reckoned with by the exhibitor 
in his district. It is interesting to recall tha 
the late Dr. Stuart, of Chirnside, was one witl 
whom he had to compete, and the doctor after 
wards became celebrated for the raising o 
Violas and) Polyanthus, but particularly tin 
miniature and rayless Violas. 
Pansies, Phloxes, and Marigolds were hi 
favourite flowers, while Leeks and Onions wei 
vegetables on which he devoted a considerate 
amount of attention, and with which he win 
success not merely at the local exhibitions 
but afterwards in establishing his business 
In 1855 he was appointed Chief Constable an 
Public Prosecutor at- Renfrew, where _ h 
attended his duties, and in his leisure tim 
cultivated his favourite flowers and vege 
tables. Here he commenced the plan of real 
ing Onions in heat, and afterwards transplant 
ing them to the open, he being amongst tb 
first to adopt this plan in Scotland for tli 
rearing of Onions for exhibition. 
