once, and syringe the canes two or three times a-day, damping the house at the same time. PEACH FORCING (G. A. T.).—Mr. Taylor refers to a note by Mr. Gilbert in our No. 673, published February 19th. In Keane's " In-door Gardening" are weekly directions for forcing. You can have it from our office free by post if you enclose twenty post-office stamps with your address. SELECT BRIGHT RED AND SCARLET ROSES (-)-Scarlet-Alfred Colomb, Madame Victor Verdier, Dr. Andry, Marie Baumann, Général Jacqueminot, and Senateur Vaisse. Crimson Scarlet-Charles Lefebvre, Fisher Holmes, Pierre Notting, Xavier Olibo, Prince Camille de Rohan, and M. Boncenne. Red-Maurice Bernardin, Louisa Wood, Camille Bernardin, Madame Boutin, Dupuy Jamain, and Marquise de Castellane. RAISING SCOLOPENDRIUMS FROM VIPIPAROUS PLANTS (I. M. C.).-The vipiparous little plants on the fronds should be taken along with the frond on which they are when it is at its maximum growth and the little plants fresh. The frond should be laid on a pot or pan filled with sandy poat with good drainage, and pegged to the surface by the midrib. The surface should be sprinkled with silver sand so as to bring it level with the base of the little plants; give a gentle watering, and keep moist constantly. The pot ought to be covered with a hand or bell-glass, and be shaded from sun. When the young plants have rooted and are growing freely the glass should be tilted a little on one side, so as to gradually withdraw it; and when hardened-off pot singly in small pots, and grow on in a cool moist house. PEAR-TREE BLOOM-BUDS (A. J.). The number of buds on your tree is excessive, especially as it was only planted last November. We should allow them to swell, and even expand the flowers, but when these are fully open reduce each cluster to two or three of the best flowers, cutting the others away, and after the fruit is set leave not more than thirty of the finest, cutting-off all the rest. HEPATICA SOWING (J. P.).-The seeds of Hepatica, also Christmas Rose, should be sown as soon as ripe in light sandy soil enriched with a third of thoroughly reduced leaf soil, choosing a sheltered border shaded from the sun at midday. A border to the east of a wall, or north of a low fence will answer. The seeds should be scattered rather thinly on a smooth surface, and be covered with fine soil about the eighth of an inch deep. The soil must be kept moist, watering occasionally in dry weather, and be kept free of weeds, placing a very light mulching of leaf soil over the surface where the seeds are in autumn. A year after sowing you will be rewarded with plants, which, after growing a year in the seed-bed, may in September be planted-out in lines 6 inches apart, and 3 inches from each other in the lines, and about the third year they will flower. ASPARAGUS AFTER FORCING (B., Bradford).-The roots are of no further use, and should be cleared-out after they cease to produce shoots. You will require fresh roots for another year. VINES (X. X.).-The Vines in 15-inch pots and from each of which you propose to take five bunches, keeping in pots this season, and planting-out in autumn, will not answer unless you give them a year's growth, cutting them off close, and taking a fresh cane from the bottom. We should not do this, but allow the Vines to make shoots an inch or two long and then plant out, disentangling and spreading-out the roots, giving a good watering with tepid water, and shading from sun until they are re-established and are growing freely. We should not take more than three or four bunches of fruit this season. We should rub-off the shoots from the top downwards to five from where you wish for side shoots, and all below that to the soil, originating the first at the bottom of the rafter, and having four side shoots, and one to train-up as a leader, which should not be stopped until it reaches the top of the house. FUMIGATING WITH NITRE, TOBACCO, AND CAYENNE (C. E. P.).-It would not be injurious to stove plants if carefully conducted. intense interest a battle royal between a Black Red Bantam and [A little knowledge of the mutual feelings of contributors and readers of "our Journal," a little glimpse now and then behind the curtain, or rather behind two curtains-the one where sits the writer, the other where sits the reader, promotes kindly feeling, creates a bond of union, without trespassing the least upon the privacy of names. Now, such a glimpse has "ST. EDMUND" given, and given in a pleasantly humourous manner. Let me on my side lift the curtain too. Scene-My study. Time-Three o'clock in the afternoon of a certain Thursday. ConditionHeadachey. "I wish one did not live just so far out of a town as not to get a second delivery of letters; here I shall not get my Journal until to-morrow morning (Friday). I'll write to the new Postmaster-General about it, he may listen to a parson's grievance. Had I the Journal my headache would grow better imperceptibly, and by tea-time (how I enjoy my cup of tea!) I might be in a comparatively comfortable state, but 'tis a bad world." Enter a laughing rosy-cheeked girl. "I've got something, papa, to do you good and cheer you up. There! I have been down to C- and got your Journal for you, there!" producing it from behind her back and disappearing with a merry laugh. I open, I fold lovingly, I cut carefully. I give the preparatory look through before the actual reading commences. Anything of yours in this week, papa ?" says a treble voice near. "Yes, my dear, and they can read my writing well now at 171, Fleet Street, for there is not a single mistake." I turn over and read, "Kindly advise a family who, if such a thing is possible, are completely demoralised by those naughty men, 'WILTSHIRE RECTOR,' and Mr. W. A. Blakston, and other writers to papa's first piece of reading on getting home off his journey, our Journal'-ST. EDMUND." Well, here is a pretty charge! I who have lived with a good character as yet, am called "a naughty man," and instead of strengthening the morals of a family, am said to help to demoralise them! What a charge against one of my cloth, or rather two charges! " But, like John Gilpin, "I love a timely joke," and enter fully into the pleasantry of ST. EDMUND's," both that of his first and second communications. I beg to assure him that I have enjoyed the tale he has unfolded, and so will our readers. Those little matrimonial peckings and pickings are always enjoyable to experience and to read of. Eve was made second, so she was Adam improved, and every good Adam has so considered herPERSIMMON (4. T.).—It is the fruit of Diospyros virginiana, known also.e., if his Eve is a good specimen. But there is that Johnny of the letter who fathers his love of cock-fighting on me! by the name of American Date Plum. It is a native of Virginia, Carolina, and Pennsylvania. It was first cultivated in this country more than two What shall I say to him-he and I would have a centuries ago, but although it produces abundance of fruit here we never royal" if we met, and perhaps I should get the worst. I conheard of its ripening, but it might on our southern coast. When ripe it is clude with best wishes to the whole family, and may they grow yellow. more and more "demoralised" in this good sense. May papa enjoy his pipe and "our Journal;" mamma enjoy picking at papa; and he retaliate always in such a good-humoured way, though I dare say, as usual, the lady had the better of it if we could know all-i.e., her side as well.-WILTSHIRE RECTOR.] NAMES OF PLANTS (T. Harwood).-Fritillaria meleagris. (R. S.).-We cannot name a Fern unless a fertile frond is sent to us. (J. D. D.).-Chimonanthus fragrans; it is hardy, and the seeds will probably succeed. (D. G.). -Euphorbia jacquiniæflora. (H. D. H.).—We are sorry we cannot name your Oncid from the single flower. In this and similar cases a rough drawing of leaves and habit is of great assistance. (H. H.).-Cornus mascula. (G. Diss). -1, Adiantum cuneatum; 2, Pteris cretica. (L. Holmes).-9, Adiantum hispidulum; 12, A. tenerum; 13, A. æthiopicum; 10, Davallia nova-zelandiæ; 11, Pellæa falcata? (no fruit). (A Correspondent from Hamwood, Co. Meath, name illegible).-A form of Anemone coronaria. POULTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. A PET-LOVING EPIDEMIC. I LITTLE thought my letter would be printed. Why, oh! why, dear sir, did you not at any rate omit the last paragraph? Through its unlucky publication I have discovered on whose shoulders the mantle of the late lamented Mrs. Caudle has fallen. Shall I "a tale unfold?" I will. I had comfortably settled down in my chair of chairs, intending in comfort to enjoy my pipe and the perusal of “our Journal," when I heard :-"I should be ashamed of myself if I were you! The idea of writing of us as though we were a tribe of heathens, &c., &c., &c. I call it shabby of you. You are the cause of it all, and now you become a traitor." Reading was out of the question, and when opportunity offered I endeavoured to exculpate myself. "I can assure you, my dear, I only used the word demoralised' in a Pickwickian sense; but do not your Fantails come in to breakfast regularly? Does not Fred strip nearly all the vegetables in the garden of their leaves, and on being spoken to coolly says he takes them for his Rabbits? Did I not the other morning catch Johnny (et. five) watching with the most BLACK BANTAMS. "battle MR. CAMBRIDGE states that the paragraph written by me contains nothing more than a fair description of the points of Black Bantams, and this is precisely what I endeavoured it should do as concisely as possible, and without entering into other particulars. Mr. Cambridge then alleges that it contains ideas, which, if followed by amateurs or anyone else, would lead to certain disappointment, and be much more likely to send them astray than assist them to breed and show this variety of miniature fowl to perfection. Mr. Cambridge says it is an erroneous idea that the tail of a Black Bantam cock should be carried upright, and his head well back; that the breast of a Black Bantam should be round and prominent, and be carried forward by the cock; and that the neck of the cock should be taper, and gracefully curved well back, so as to bring his head into close proximity to his tail. On referring to the latest edition, published this year (1874), of "The Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry,' authorised by the Poultry Club, and compiled by a committee, appointed by that Club, of many of the practical fanciers and successful exhibitors of the day, finally prepared in its present form by Messrs. Teebay and Dixon, two of the gentlemen whom Mr. Cambridge names as favouring the idea that Black Bantams' tails should be rather drooping than otherwise-I find that the description of Black Bantams, written in No. 675 of this Journal by me, is not materially different from that contained in the "Standard of Excellence;" indeed, both descriptions are very PIGEON NOMENCLATURE. similar. The "Standard" of a Black Bantam describes the | Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, and Middlesex. The cock's neck as being very taper, curving well back so as to bring Marquis of Salisbury has consented to preside at the dinner. the back of the head towards the tail, and his tail as being full and expanded, well adorned with long curving sickle feathers, and carried well up towards the back of the head; the tail of the hen being also full and expanded, and carried rather upright. The description in the "Standard" of a Black Bantam's breast is, that the cock's is round, and carried prominently forward; and that the hen's is round and prominent. In the "Standard" of a Hamburgh, the cock's neck is described as being taper, the higher part being carried well over the back, and his tail as being full and expanded, the sickle feathers being well curved; the tail of the Hamburgh hen is described as being full and expanded, and well carried. The "Standard" states that a Hamburgh cock's breast is round, full, and prominent, and carried well forward; the hen's breast being broad, plump, and carried forward. It will thus be observed that a Black Bantam is somewhat similar to what a miniature Black Hamburgh would be as regards neck, tail, and breast; and I quite agree with Mr. Cambridge that in other respects there does not exist any great dissimilarity betwixt a Black Bantam and what a dwarf Black Hamburgh would in all probability be; yet it must be admitted that the carriage of a Black Bantam is more upright and prouder than that of a Black Hamburgh. I should indeed be very sorry to see Black Bantams bred with drooping tails, as in that case they would, to my thinking, lose much of their characteristic smartness and compactness; neither do I think a neck carried forward, or indeed one not thrown well back, would add much to the beauty of this essentially beautiful bird. Those amateurs who possess Black Bantams answering to the description which I have given of this variety, and with which Mr. Cambridge thinks proper to find great fault, have reason to be proud of them, and they need not be disappointed with their birds, as, on first reading Mr. Cambridge's article, they very naturally would be; neither have I Mr. Cambridge's reasons for fearing that such fowls would be placed in the ignominious position to which he alludes.-WALTER B. Arundel. BROMLEY POULTRY SHOW. COL. HASSARD versus MR. W. H. GEDNEY. On Friday last a summons which had been issued against the Secretary of the Bromley Poultry Show was heard at the Court House, Bromley. Col. Hassard sued Mr. W. H. Gedney for the sum of £2 18s. 6d., being the difference, less commission, between the price of a pen of Partridge Cochins entered by the plaintiff at the last Bromley Show at £5 5s. and claimed, and a pen at £2. Col. Hassard conducted his own case, and explained that he had sent several pens of birds to the Bromley Show, that they had all been safely returned, with the exception of a pen of Partridge Cochins which he had entered at £5 58. He found this pen did not arrive home, and telegraphed the Secretary of the Show to that effect, and received a reply that it had been sold. Since then the Secretary had sent him £1 16s., which would be the remittance for a pen entered at £2, less commission. He produced several communications which he had with the Secretary, and also with Mr. Long, the Treasurer. In one letter it was stated that the birds had been sold for £2, and by "plaintiff's order." Plaintiff denied having given any authority for reducing the price. A subsequent letter stated that plaintiff had transposed the birds in two of his pens, and that a single cock in the Selling class was the pen sold. Mr. Dring, of Faversham, and Mr. Nichols, one of the Secretaries of the Crystal Palace Show, were called, and deposed to having seen the birds accurately in the pens as described by Col. Hassard; and the Judge's attention was called to the fact of the birds in question being "very highly commended," a distinction that would not have been bestowed upon a pen if only a cock had been shown in a class for cock and hen. The defendant, who was very ably represented by counsel, pleaded that the birds had been transposed, and also the rules of the Show, "that they were not responsible for any loss or damage from whatever cause arising." The Judge, after carefully reading the rules, remarked that he thought the rule with regard to non-responsibility in case of loss or damage would only apply in case of the loss or accident to a bird, such as breaking a leg, &c., but that they were bound by another rule, which stated that all sales must be made through the Secretary, and that a commission of 10 per cent. would be charged. He considered it proved that the birds had been correctly forwarded by Col. Hassard, and that he should have received the £5 5s., less commission. Verdict for plaintiff with costs. HERTS AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.-The annual Show of this Society is to be held on the 8th and 9th of July next, at Bishop's Stortford. The prizes offered amount to £1300, and are all open for competition in the counties of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, FROM your "REPORTER'S " and Mr. Lyell's letters I gather the fact that if an ordinary Dovehouse Pigeon had a dull dun substituted for its dull black, and a dirty silver for its dirty blue, it would be of the same colour as the Carrier in pen 77 at Glasgow. If such be the fact, is the bird not a "dark silver chequer ?" The so-called barbarism "dun silver" is similar to black-blue (sooty), red-mealy, and yellow-buff (called, or rather mis-called, "yellow-mealy "), and each indicates a bird whose shoulders are of a dark even tint throughout, barred with black, dun red, or yellow. Each of these colours may be chequered, and when the chequering is so dense as to completely cover the shoulders the climax is reached, and the bird is a self-colour. Mr. Lyell calls the bird a "dun chequer," which is making the same mistake as the Antwerp breeders do in calling a mealy chequer a "red chequer." Blue and black, silver and dun, mealy and red, buff and yellow, are the limits to the colours of the birds descended from the four original colours-viz., blue, blue chequer, mealy, and mealy chequer. As to the colours seen in the German breeds, the Archangels, &c., I would as soon believe that Blair Athol's sire was a Galloway as that these colours are descended from the ordinary wild Pigeons of Britain and Belgium. Your "REPORTER," at the commencement of his letter mentions that "he gathered that I supposed him by silver dun' to mean the silver barred with dun of the Antwerp breeders." Silver is not allowed to exist in Antwerps, and the colour called "silver dun" by their admirers is barred with red, and is totally different from silver. A silver Pigeon has the flights, tail, and under parts darker than the shoulders of the wings, two dun bars on the wings, and one on the tail. A mealy (silver dun) has the flights, tail, and under parts lighter than the shoulders of the wings, two red bars on the wings, but none on the tail. The colours of the ordinary Pigeons seen in Britain may be stated as follows: NATURAL COLOURS. 1. Blue, with flights, tail, and under parts darker than shoulders, two bright black bars on the wings and one on the tail. 2. Blue Chequer, with flights, tail, and under parts darker than the ground colour of the shoulders, which are densely chequered by dull black, two dull black bars on the wings, and one on the tail. These two colours may be called "the original Blues." 3. Mealy, with flights, tail, and under parts lighter than shoulders, two bright red bars on the wings, but none on the tail. 4. Mealy Chequered, with flights, tail, and under parts lighter than the ground colour of the shoulders, which are densely chequered by dull red, two dull red bars on the wings, but none on the tail. These two colours may be called "the original Mealies." Silver, with its sub-varieties, up to and including dun, is derived from the blues; and buff, with its sub-varieties up to and including yellow, is derived from the mealies. I submit the following table of nomenclature in the ordinary varieties of colour to your readers. BLUES. MEALIES. (Blue, Blue Chequered, Black Blue, Black-blue Silver, Silver Chequered, Dun Silver, Dun Silver Mealy, Mealy Chequered, Red Mealy, Red Mealy Buff, Buff Chequered, Yellow Buff, Yellow Buff I am obliged to "REPORTER" for the trouble he has taken to answer my inquiry, and hope that he will not hesitate to express his opinions under the general head of "Pigeon Nomenclature." I notice that Mr. Lyell calls a blue chequer by its right name, and therefore bog to ask him why, if a blue Pigeon chequered with black be a blue chequer, a silver Pigeon chequered with dun be not a silver chequer ?-TURKEY QUILL. SEATON BURN POULTRY SHOW. THIS was held in a large tent well suited for the purpose. The quality of the birds as a whole was very superior. The number of pens was 152. The Cochins were very good both in colour and symmetry. The Brahmas were all Dark, except one pen; the prize birds were short in the leg, well feathered, and good in pencilling. The Spanish were only a middling lot, not being good in comb, and too short in the face. The Game were the best classes in the Exhibition, and besides the three prizes in each class, several pens were highly commended. Great credit is due to the Game-breeders in the locality. The Hamburghs were an average lot. The Single cock class contained seventeen entries. The first was a really good Buff Cochin, the rest were Game. The Bantam classes were well filled, and some good birds were amongst them. The prize Rouen Ducks were large, and in good condition. We published the awards last week. ROUP REMEDY. My plan is to take four or five drops of solution chlorinated soda in a teaspoonful of cold water, and turn it down the throat of the fowl or chick, while another person holds its bill open. Also to wash the bill and nostrils thoroughly (if the whole head gets soaked so much the better) in warm water containing a few drops of the same solution. It is perfectly harmless, and I have never failed to cure, though I sometimes have to administer it two or three times a-day for a number of days. It is well to bathe the head in clear water after, to remove the solution from the eyes of the bird. So simple and still so invaluable a remedy as this has proved to me, may be of some use to others. (Pet Stock Bulletin.) LOSS OF BEES IN HIVES CONTAINING him off. HONEY. YOUR correspondent, "DUFFER," having lost one of eight stocks, wishes to know why the bees deserted the hive with plenty of honey in it? As many other bee-keepers are often in like misfortune, and puzzled to know the cause of such losses, a short article may be devoted to the consideration of the subject. There are so many causes of the deaths of stock-hives, that it is not to be expected that anyone who has not seen the hives can state with certainty why deaths or desertions have taken place. It is necessary for a doctor to have seen a patient before he can safely give a certificate as to the disease that carried 1. Queen bees live four years at most. Many die when three years old, and some few when younger. If a queen dies when eggs are in the cells, the bees of the hive have it in their power to raise a successor to the throne; but if she dies when there are no fresh-laid eggs in the hive, the bees are unable to raise a queen, and will therefore gradually dwindle away till all be 2. If a queen is hatched when there are no drones in a hive she is useless for breeding purposes. Her presence will keep the bees together till they die of hard work or old age. Again, queens are never mated inside their hives. They leave their hives with a view to meet with drones when they are a few days old, and if not mated the first fortnight of their lives, they are ever afterwards incapable of laying worker eggs. Drones do not leave their hives during inclement weather, and many queens are never mated at all. These are called drone-breeders, from the fact that they lay a few eggs which hatch into drones. With such queens all hives soon become tenantless. gone. 3. Take another case. Hives that swarm late in the season, say July, have hardly time enough to rear young bees in sufficient number to make their hives strong for the winter. The laying queens, of course, go with the swarms, and the young queens that succeed them do not commence laying till about three weeks after the swarms have left. Allowing ten days in their cells, and ten days out before they begin to lay, working bees are three weeks in being hatched, and die of old age at nine months. Late swarmers, if not helped by receiving young bees from other sources, are often very weak in bees in spring, and some altogether die out. 4. Sometimes hives that do not swarm at all become so filled with honey and farina that the bees have not comb enough for breeding purposes. Such hives should not be kept for stock. With one-half less honey and two-thirds more bees they would make excellent stocks. 5. Diseases of various kinds sometimes affect hives to a dangerous extent. Dysentery often thins the populations of bee hives. Watery honey, or improper food, damp hives, or something else may be the producing cause of dysentery. Foul brood always weakens hives, and sometimes afflicts and discourages the bees so much that they often leave as swarms never more to return. Other causes could be named that not infrequently thin the ranks of our favourites materially. The intelligent reader will, on perusing the above remarks, see how important it is to examine his hives often and thoroughly, to note the ages of all his queens, never to risk keeping a good hive with an old queen, and vigilantly to watch the state and extent of the brood in his hives at the end of summer. If a hive has eight or nine combs half-filled with brood in August, and is otherwise healthy and provided for, it will be a strong one in the following spring. As the buds of our fruit trees are ripened for the following spring by the suns of autumn, so hives of bees properly managed in autumn are prepared for suc cessful work during the coming year. To have large hives well filled with bees in autumn, is a move that would lift many beekeepers out of the region of bad luck. And the reader will please to bear in mind, that large hives well filled with bees consume far more honey or food than those containing few bees. The Swiss clergyman and all his followers could not have made a greater or more dangerous mistake than they made in asserting that forty thousand bees in a hive do not eat more food than twenty thousand, for bees consume food, like other creatures, according to numbers. In open winters more food is eaten by bees than in colder ones. Hence, it is wise to give hives a little more than is absolutely necessary in ordinary seasons.A. PETTIGREW, Sale, Cheshire. TRANSFERRING BEES. BEING a tyro myself in the art of bee-keeping, I desire for the benefit of other novices to relate my experience and mishaps in transferring a stock of bees from an old-fashioned bell-hive into a square hive paned with glass. do I find any information as to the best time or the proper I have sundry books on bee-management, but in none of them manner in which to transfer bees in the above-desired way. After considering driving, fumigating, and chloroforming as the best means to attain my purpose, I decided on the last-named; and also thinking that the operation had best be performed before the queen had laid eggs to any extent, as there were grubs in the combs which might get damaged in the transferrence from one hive to the other, I determined one day last month to set to work. And here let me advise those who attempt a like experiment to take care that the "one day" be a fine one, for to my impetuosity and stupidity in changing hives on a very wet day may be attributed the disasters I am about to relate. My old bell-hive contained a very strong swarm of the past year. This hive had been very snugly situated in the shadow of the house facing north during the winter, so very few bees had died, and very little food had been consumed. In one of my books, where chloroforming bees is recommended in a general way, I found that a quarter ounce was the proper quantity to use to stupify a large hive. So after putting this quantity into a saucer, and covering with perforated cardboard to prevent any drowning, I lifted the old bell-hive off its stand, placed it over the saucer, and awaited the result with trepidation notwithstanding my bee-dress, which failed in this my first experiment to inspire courage) and considerable anxiety. inside, but as I thought in my ignorance that the bees were After one great buzz had been heard a dead silence prevailed perhaps shamming and would make a great rush out, to my discomfiture, if I lifted the hive off at once, I left it alone for perhaps five minutes. When I did raise the hive an intolerable smell of chloroform assaulted my nose, so strong as to convince me my poor bees had been overdosed and perhaps completely killed. Here was a nice mess! Instead of being able quietly to put the new hive over them and allowing them leisurely to return to animation as I anticipated, while I removed the combs from the old hive into bars of the new one, I had the resuscitation of the bees as well on my hands. I made all the haste I could to cut-out the combs, and left off the top of glass hive, now over bees, meanwhile to let the fumes of chloroform escape. Then it was I found the evils caused by the rain, for the lower strata of bees (the mass which had fallen was quite 2 inches thick), were completely saturated with wet, and so all chance of their revival was at an end. After placing the combs, which I had much bruised in my hurried removal, on one side, I was about turning my attention to my wretched bees, when I heard a curious noise proceeding from under a comb. Í turned it over, and beheld to my extreme grief the queen apparently dead, with three or four workers which had escaped unhurt, running over her, feeling her with their antennæ, and generally showing signs of the most affectionate solicitude. This was the climax to all my troubles. I thought it was useless now to try any means to revive the other bees, for what pleasure or profit would life be to them without their beloved mother? A happy thought struck me. I took the queen and her faithful attendants up in my gloved hand, and, covering them with the other, I warmed them as much as possible. Soon I had the immense gratification of seeing the queen feebly moving her legs and antennæ, and after a while restored to complete animation. Finding warmth so effectual in the queen's case, I immediately took the hive into the dining-room and placed it before the fire. It was a long time, however, before the unfortunate inmates completely recovered-some three or four hours indeed; and the lower strata to the number of some three or four thousand, as far as I could judge, never came round at all, from the causes before stated. I trust what I have said will warn my fellow novices, when chloroforming, not to overdose, and to beware of a rainy day while operating.-F. R.L. NORTHAMPTON POULTRY SHOW.-This is not an ill-managed Show, and has hitherto deserved notice for the birds being well fed, returned quickly, and money paid to stated date. May it found to be to stamp it out wherever it occurred, and so it will and all other shows managed like it flourish. CRYSTAL PALACE BEE AND HONEY SHOW. Ir my letter on the above is calculated to injure honourable and profitable apiculture, I beg leave to apologise most sincerely both to Mr. Symington and all other apiculturists, for nothing can be further from my intention. I may be wrong, and if so, shall be glad to be put right; but I have an idea that all this to-do about "most improved" hives and breed in bees is mere moonshine, except to the vendors of those hives which are the acme of perfection, and those fine strains in breed which are to revolutionise the profession altogether. I understood the schedule was simply a proposed one, and that criticism was invited, and as such I took the liberty to review it and state my opinions. As Mr. Symington's views differ from mine, and as he has given reasons for some of those views, perhaps you will kindly allow me to answer some of them. As an amateur bee-keeper, I admit that I should consider the honour to win a prize at the Show far greater than the money appendage, but I think that out of such a handsome prize fund the Show might have been made more national by reducing the number of classes and increasing the money value of the prizes, thus inducing those who seek profit as well as honour to come from a distance. Then as to the definition of hives. Mr. Symington says that there is a class for every kind of hive in use, from a "straw skep to the most elaborately-constructed bar-and-frame hive," but I notice the skep is in connection with the box, and I contend that the skep comes nearer to what Mr. Symington desires than any box can do-viz., simplicity in construction, ease in manipulation, and likelihood to secure a good yield of honey; but a maker or vendor of fancy boxes, &c., may say differently," for love is blind, and self has a long arm." Of course, if amateurs have a desire for something in the fancy line, by all means let their desire be gratified; but it really is too much to recommend their "fancy goods" to the cottager as being the most profitable. What will the importers and vendors of Ligurian queens say to Mr. Symington's next answer? If there is no certainty that handsome queens produce handsome progeny, &c., why should their relative value be more? The fact must be that it is all a lottery and should be a caution to intending purchasers. Then there is this "largest breed." Mr. Symington accepts the idea of their being able to do more work, but wants proof that they will require more support, and then confines any nationality" to two and a hybrid. When I was at Manchester I heard one of the Judges talk about African and Egyptian bees, some kinds being brown with white stripes instead of the yellow as in the Ligurian; and I in my ignorance, when this "largest breed" was mooted, thought there might possibly be some kind as large as humble bees. Then it is thought likely that conti nental breeders may come hoping to make a trade of the progeny of "prize strains," whereas, according to Mr. Symington's own showing, it is all uncertainty of like producing like. I am glad Mr. Symington admits that Class Q in honey is introduced as a premium to purchasers of the extractor, because, if I mistake not, I have seen a letter of his elsewhere stating that honey so obtained is inferior to run honey. I am glad to hear that there are many cottagers that keep bees in the neighbourhood of London, and wish the same could be said of all our large towns. Mr. Symington concludes that I am against improvement because I believe in the straw hive. Nothing could be further off the mark. By all means let there be a trial to improve, but let the improvements have a satisfactory status before they are puffed off as the Al in apiculture; and I ask, Which is the most advanced bee-keeper-the man who obtains a given amount of honey from a hive costing, say, 7s., and taking little time to manage, or the man who spends several times that amount and gives more time to secure the same result? If Mr. Symington can show me how I can obtain more honey and wax than I now do at less cost I shall be much obliged to him. If it be true that fertilisation of queens always takes place when on the wing, how can you be certain of its being with a selected drone unless you see it? I can but imagine one way of securing it if it can be done at all; that is, get your queens and your selected drones and steam away into mid-ocean beyond the power of the bees reaching land where other bees are, and I think that would not be profitable: so that is how I make it out profitless and uncertain. There are unfortunate occasions when we see men attempting to do things which we can only pity or laugh at them for; and if we saw a man attempting to cure rotten eggs," that surely would be such an occasion. No doubt there are men bold enough, as the one quoted, to bring recipes out for the cure of all diseases. It was so in the cattle plague; but the best remedy was be found with foul brood, if infectious as reported. I must now conclude this long letter with stating that I have faith in my brown bees and Pettigrew straw hives, and shall not shrink from-nay, I invite-a public trial on fair and equal terms for honey and profit between my brown bees and those of any nationality, and my Pettigrew straw hives and those of any other kind however elaborately constructed.-THOS. BAGSHAW, Longnor, near Buxton. VARIOUS MODES OF FEEDING BEES. IT is well known that thousands of hives of bees have perished from want of food during the autumn and winter. If bees obtain food enough it does not matter much how they get it. I have never, so far as I can remember, lifted my voice or pen against any mode of administering food to bees, knowing well that almost all apiarians from the highest to the most humble follow their own convictions and practice in this matter. Having many hives of bees and but little time to spend amongst them, the easiest and speediest ways of feeding and managing them are here invariably adopted. If many of the readers of this Journal were to witness giving 30 lbs. of syrup to thirty hives in less than half an hour, they would probably marvel at the easy and speedy mode by which it is done. If they were to see half a dozen hives swarmed artificially, and all the swarms properly hived, placed, and covered within an hour, their notions as to the difficulties of bee-management would at once be materially modified. In this letter the aim is simply to describe some of the many modes of feeding bees. 1. Feeding from the Top of Hives.-This is a safe mode, and may be done in many ways. In all cases of feeding at the top the crown hole is opened, and through it the bees carry down into the hive the food given. What is sometimes called the Lancashire bee-feeder is a circular trough, about 9 inches wide and 3 or deep, with a tube through it, and a wooden float in the trough. The bees go up through the tube on to the float. In using a feeder of this kind for the first time, it is desirable to drop a little of the food amongst the combs and bees, and thus entice them to go up for more. Another mode of administering food at the top is by a widemouthed bottle, the mouth of which should be covered with a bit of net cloth or leno, and then inverted on the crown hole of the hive. The bees suck the syrup through the cloth, or catch it as it oozes out. A third method is to have a straw super or small hive filled with empty comb. By pouring the syrup over the combs, and then placing it over the crown hole, the bees speedily carry every drop of syrup below, leaving the super of combs quite. empty, and ready to receive a fresh supply. This is a very simple and natural way of feeding in spring and autumn. If used in summer the bees would not leave the combs of their own accord. Those who have neither bottles nor Lancashirefeeders may succeed without them, in feeding at the top of their hives, by dipping a few pieces of empty comb in syrup, and then laying them on the tops of the hives, and covering all up with straw supers or small hives. 2. Feeding Below.-The tin trough, about 1 foot long and less than half an inch deep, holding about half a pint of syrup, is an exceedingly handy appliance for feeding bees during the spring months. It is placed on the flight board, filled, and pushed into the hive by the door. Some people fancy that the tin trough will attract robbers. We have used it for fifty years without attracting robbers. It is used at night or in cold weather when bees are not flying about. The feeding-cistern with a trough attached to it holds about a quart, and is also used at nights. The cistern supplies the trough as the bees take the syrup, till all is gone. Both of these appliances can be used without uncovering or touching the hive to be fed. A feeding-board is used when large quantities are given to a hive. It is made by cutting a circular hole, 10 inches in diameter, out of the centre of a floorboard, and fitting-in a tin trough about 1 inch deep. There is a channel to the edge of the board connected with a funnel, by which the trough can be refilled without touching the hive. Our feeding-board holds three quarts, or 6 lbs. of syrup, and is frequently used in filling supers with honey artificially. When hives are not filled with combs I often use soup-plates, pie-dishes, and flower-pot saucers in feeding the bees. When used, a few chips of wood are placed as floats on the syrup to keep the bees from drowning, and they answer admirably. As most of our hives are at a distance from home during the swarming, we use tin dishes made to order for feeding swarms. When a swarm is hived, one of these dishes is filled with syrup and placed on the board, inside of course; and if the weather is unfavourable for honey, the dish is refilled, and thus the bees are furnished with materials for comb-building. These materials (sugar and water) are cheap, and when used prevent the waste of so much honey in comb-building. To feed young swarms, BRAHMA'S LEG-WEAKNESS (Dover).-We are seldom troubled with legweakness. We attribute much of it to the use of bad food, and to bad feeding in the earlier stages. Birds of large growth require much while they are young, and should have it frequently. We adhere entirely to plain food, and seek as much as possible to choose it as nearly like that which a bird finds when at liberty as possible-ground oats, barley meal, and some whole corn; plenty of green food. Some when young get lanky and knock-kneed, we eat them. Birds that show leg-weakness at this time of year are ill or underfed. What is the flooring of your house? If stone, wood, or brick, it may be rheumatism from which they suffer. SPANISH PULLETS LAYING IRREGULARLY (I. L. W.).—It is possible your pullet lays her eggs with difficulty; that would cause her to squat about, dropping her hinder parts to the ground till she is relieved. Examine her when squatting; if you can feel the egg, pull out one of her wing-feathers, dip it in oil and pass it in till it meets the egg. This will give immediate relief. If this is not the case, she is injured in the back. In any event the oil will do good. DISEASED LIVER IN FOWLS AND RABBITS (Agnes).-Liver disease in fowls is caused by over-fattening or by injudicious feeding, it is also caused by poor food. Potatoes cause liver disease, but they make fat liver. Rice, bad corn, constant stimulating food produce the liver you mention in fowls. Rabbits are very subject to it, and it may be traced to the same cause-improper feeding. They want variety, and when they have not a supply of root food, such as swedes, mangold, &c., they should have water. We believe many of the diseases to which they are subject would be avoided if they were supplied with water. PARTRIDGE COCHIN'S PLUMAGE (T. J.).—We should be sorry to doubt the purity of the bird you mention; but it is a defect for a Grouse cock to have white feathers in the wing. Unless, however, you are breeding for show, you may use him with confidence. The pullets you have bred will always be liable and likely to go back to the original buff, and will, while they are Partridge-feathered, have a yellow tinge on the marking of their feathers. ANDALUSIANS' FACE AND LEGS (S. F.).—The ear-lobes and face of the Andalusians should be red, but they are seldom so entirely. The white is generally in the upper part of the face. The legs should be dark lead colour. LICE ON CHICKENS (W. H. S.).-The chickens get the lice from the hen. Let them have when they are off plenty of dust and grit mixed with powdered sulphur. They will take their dust-bath, and the vermin will soon disappear. Of what material are your nests? Are they on the ground? Old baskets and hay rubbish at the bottom for nests always breed lice and fleas. Put your hens and chickens out of doors, and let them be on the ground. Give them the opportunity of running in the grass, and they will get rid of the pests • Neither hens nor chickens will do any good till they are free from them. ANDALUSIANS AND HOUDANS (J. H.).—Andalusians are not good sitters. Their chickens are to our taste neither so quaint nor so hardy as the Houdans. As a rule, the early pullets of every breed lay in the winter. The Andalusians lay a larger egg than the Houdans, the latter are the best table fowl. You will not get any fowls to lay largely in the winter unless they can have more than half an hour's liberty per day. It is hard work for them to lay in the winter, and they want all the help they can have. Books (Dot).-Mr. L. Wright's is by far the best. GOOSE BECOMING BROODY (W. C.).-She ceases to lay and takes to the nest. BRAHMA MISDESCRIBED (Nostaw).-The bird you describe, and that described in the vendor's letter, are two and very different birds. No one is justified in praising a Brahma cock if it is nearly white from the breast to the feet. We should have mistrusted such high-flown description. We see little that is "splendid " or " superb" about an ordinary fowl. Everyone has a right to his opinion, and men differ. Return the bird, and no doubt the gentleman will return the money. BRAHMA PULLET'S TUMOUR (A. H. M.).—It is not an uncommon thing for fowls to have tumours such as you describe, and similarly situated. They are difficult of cure, but she will not lay while it exists. If it is quite hard, we advise you to kill her; if it yields to the touch, make a small incision with a sharp knife and see what it contains. Discontinue all fattening food under any circumstances, at least all those you have named. The fowl is quite fit for culinary purposes. BRAHMA'S VENt Inflamed (W. S. L.).—Separate your hen from the others. It is more than probable they pick it. Does she lay? The formation of these water-bladders is common in hens, but very unusual in pullets. Continue the soft food, give scantily of water, and administer a table-spoonful of castor oil every alternate day for a week. An operation may be performed when the laying season is over. INFLUENCE OF MALE (K. J.).—It is a disputed point. All will say ten days; we say three weeks if the breed is valuable and you wish to be sure of it. FOWLS FOR NEAR LIVERPOOL (D. B.).—If you take up the bricks in the yard, and if you always have the use of the field, you may keep Dorkings. No county has done so more successfully than Lancashire. If, however, you cannot do away with your bricks, you may have Brahmas, Cochins, or Houdans; we advise the first. If you are ever confined to the yard, when that is the case you must cover a good part of it with earth some inches thick. NC 287C DORKING AND BRAHMA CROSS (4 Subscriber).—The most approved cross is between the Brahma cock and Dorking hens. FOWL'S FEET SWOLLEN (4. M. G.).-Either your fowls perch too high and bruise the balls of their feet when they fly down, or some small sharp substance has penetrated the skin and caused inflammation. If there be only "a watery bladder," open it; if there be inflammation poultice it, and in both cases shut them up where they will walk only on hay or straw till their feet are hardened. If they have been roosting high shift their perches, and bring them within 2 feet of the ground. SPANISH FOWLS OUT OF CONDITION (G. F.).-The fowls are manifestly out of condition to a serious extent. Rub the combs with sulphur ointment. Give each of the birds a table-spoonful of castor oil at once, and repeat the dose every alternate day for six days. Feed on soft food; give some bread and ale twice every day, and supply them with green food-lettuce, and large sods of growing grass cut with plenty of earth. You do not say if they are at liberty or in confinement. DISINFECTING HEN HOUSE (Lemon Buff).-Whitewash it with a creamy mixture of chloride of lime and water. RED JACOBINS BREEDING BLACKS, &C. (S. 4. B.).—This is not unusual, as Blacks and Reds are frequently bred together to get the red of a deeper colour, and one result is that a pair of Reds so bred will often throw Black young ones, and vice versa. The eyes should be pearl, but not unfrequently they come odd-eyed, or, indeed, neither of them pearl if not well bred; in the former case the young often come all right. Your birds would not have left their home to roost elsewhere at night unless they had been frightened, most probably by a cat. Shut the birds in by net or wire, and watch for and kill the cat. 18th.-Rain in the morning, but soon cleared off, and very fine after. 19th.-White frost early; cloudy about 1 P.M.; rain at intervals after 4 P.M. 20th.-Very fine in early morning; cloudy at noon, and cold afterwards, but no rain. 21st.-Hazy morning; fair all day, but not bright. 22nd. Rather dull, no sun; a few drops of rain in the evening. 23rd. A most beautiful day throughout, not merely spring-like, but almost summer-like; bright, warm, and without wind. 24th.-Morning rather hazy, but soon clearing, and getting brighter and brighter from noon to night, but not quite so bright as the preceding day. The warmth and brilliancy of the 23rd forms a striking contrast to the cold and snow of some of the days in the last week, the mean of the 23rd and 11th differing, even in London, by more than 20°. The mean temperature of this week is about 7° above that of last week.-G. J. SYMONS. d. s. d. s. d. B. d. Artichokes.......... doz. 8 to 6 0 Mushrooms. ..pottle 1 0to% 0 Asparagus.....100 4 0 10 0 Mustard & Cress..punnet 0 9 0 6 French......... 12 0 20 0 Onions bushel 4 0 Beans, Kidney.... 100 20 0 0 pickling........ quart 0 6 Beet, Red... doz 1 0 80 Parsley per doz. bunches 40 Broccoli.......... bundle 09 16 Parsnips............ doz. 09 Cabbage............ doz. 10 16 Peas .............. quart 10 0 Capsicums.......100 0 0 0 0 Potatoes.......... bushel 8 6 Carrots............ bunch 06 0 0 Kidney Cauliflower.......... doz. 80 Celery. .... bundle 16 Coleworts.. doz. bunches 2 6 Cucumbers ........ each 1 0 pickling doz. 0 0 Endive............. doz. 2 0 Fennel............ bunch 08 Garlic................ lb. 0 6 Herbs.......... .bunch 0 8 Horseradish...... bundle 3 0 Leeks..............bunch 08 Lettuce.............. doz. 1 0 70 00 6 0 1 0 0 0 4 6 60 20 40 .......... do. 0 0 Round............ do. 00 Radishes.. doz. bunches 1 0 Rhubarb.......... bundle 0 9 0 U 0 0 1 6 16 26 0 0 Savoys.............. doz. 1 0 0 0 Scorzonera...... bundle 1 0 00 Sea-kale.......... basket 1 0 0 0 Shallots.............. lb. 08 Salsafy.......... bundle 1 6 00 20 0 0 2 6 0 0 8 0 0 0 04 00 0 0 Spinach.......... bushel 9 0 40 Tomatoes.......... doz. 0 0 0 0 Turnips............bunch 0 8 40 Vegetable Marrows...... 0 0 |