Part 158

In cramming, the attendant has the buckwheat pellets at hand with a bowl of clear water; she takes the first fowl from its cage gently and carefully, not by the wings or the legs, but with both hands under the breast; she then seats herself with the fowl upon her knees, putting its tail under her left arm, by which she supports it; the left hand then opens its mouth (a little practice makes it very easy), and the right hand takes up a pellet, dips it in the water, shakes it on its way to the open mouth, puts it straight down and carefully crams it with the forefinger well into the gullet; when it is so far settled down that the fowl cannot eject it, she presses it down with the thumb and forefinger into the crop, taking care not to fracture the pellet. Other pellets follow the first, till the feeding is finished in less time than one would imagine. It sometimes happens in cramming that the windpipe is pressed together with the gullet; this causes the fowl to cough, but it is not of any serious consequence, and with a little care is easily avoided. The fowl when fed is again held with both hands under its breast, and replaced in its cage without fluttering; and so on with each fowl. The chickens have 2 meals in 24 hours, 12 hours apart, provided with the utmost punctuality. If they have to wait, they become uneasy; if fed too soon, they suffer from indigestion, and in either case lose weight. On the first day of cramming only a few pellets are given; the allowance being gradually increased till it reaches 12-15 pellets. The crop may be filled, but before the next meal the last must have passed out of the crop, which is easily ascertained by gentle handling. If there be any food in it, digestion has not gone on properly; the fowl must then miss a meal, have a little water or milk given it, and a smaller allowance next time; if too much food be forced upon the animal at first, it will get out of health and have to be set at liberty.

The fattening process ought to be complete in 2-3 weeks, but for extra fat poultry 25-26 days are required; with good management you may go on for 30 days; after this the creature may become choked with accumulated fat, waste away and die.

The fowls are killed instantaneously by piercing the brain with a sharp knife thrust through the back of the roof of the mouth.

After plucking and trussing, the chicken is bandaged, until cold, to mould its form; and if the weather is warm it is plunged for a short time into very cold water. A fowl takes usually rather more than a peck of buckwheat to fatten it. The fat of fowls so managed is of a dull white colour, and their flesh is covered with a transparent, delicate skin. Plucking should be done instantly the fowl is dead, as the feathers then come off with the greatest ease, and the skin is not liable to be torn. (W. B. Tegetmeier.)

_Packing Eggs._--Packing in newspaper is found to be the best for the inside protection, and a wooden box better than anything for holding the eggs. Baskets and hampers are of no use at all; they are sure to get pressed in travelling, and cardboard boxes would be crushed directly. A wooden box, not necessarily of thick wood, resists all pressure, and the eggs are not likely to suffer from anything short of an actual fall if properly packed. Newspaper is best, and the _Times_ best of all for packing them, the paper itself being so much stiffer than other newspapers. Tear the paper into pieces about 8-10 in. square; slightly crumple it in the hand in wrapping a piece round each egg, so as to show a rough surface; on no account rub it or make it soft, as it is the stiffness which gives support, and prevents the eggs getting too close together; they must neither be very near each other, nor to the sides or bottom of the box. Put a good layer of the crumpled paper at the bottom, then the eggs one at a time, each in its own crumpled wrapper; they must be so arranged as to fit closely and firmly together, the paper giving enough pressure to keep them firm; there must be no spaces; every corner must be filled with the crumpled paper, of which there must also be a good covering before closing the box.

=Ducks.=--With regard to the variety that should be kept, two circumstances have to be considered. If large size, early maturity, and white appearance for the market are required, the Aylesbury will be found pre-eminent. If, on the other hand, small size with a strongly pronounced suspicion of wild duck is required, then choose a smaller variety, as the small black, called with equal inaccuracy East Indian, Buenos Ayres, and Labrador, or, still better, the tame-bred wild, or a cross between the two; but for family use Aylesburies must be relied on.

The great error in the usual management of ducks is not bringing them to rapid maturity. A duck should be so fed as to be large enough to kill under 10 weeks old. If it is allowed to live longer, it begins to moult, and consequently is not so good in flavour, and the nourishment given to it goes to form feathers, and not to increase its weight. It is obvious that if one duck can be made ready for the market in 2 months, it must yield a larger profit than another that is not fit for use till it is 4 or 6.

Ducks should be always shut up during the night, as they generally lay at that time, and, if allowed to be at large, drop their eggs in the water, where they sink and are lost. As early as possible in the season they should be set under large hens. A good-sized Cochin, Brahma, or Dorking will cover 12 or 13. The hens should not be set in the crowded, vermin-infested nest places that are usually seen in fowl-houses, but on the ground or in a circular basket or American cheese box, nearly filled with moist earth, and covered with a very little bruised straw, not hay; this earth should be kept moist during the whole time of setting, so as to imitate the conditions of the nest in a state of nature.

The young should be hatched on the twenty-eighth day, that is, the same day of the week one month after they are placed under the hen.

When the young are hatched they should be left with the hen till well nestled, well dried, and strong enough to stand. Many scores of ducklings are lost by inexperienced persons through their impatience to remove them from the nest. The little duckling is at first clad with soft yellow down, which gradually disappears as the feathers grow. After a few days, 3 or 4 broods are put together with one hen, who is quite able to take care of them all. For market purposes the treatment of the ducklings is as follows: They are not allowed to go into any water, but are kept in hovels, or the rooms of cottages, each lot of 30 or 40 separated by low boards; it is no uncommon thing at Aylesbury to see 2000-3000 all in one establishment. They are kept very clean and dry on barley straw. Their food consists of hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, and mixed with boiled rice and bullock’s liver cut up small. This is given to them several times in the day for about a fortnight or more. When they are capable of consuming more, they are fed on barley meal and tallow greaves mixed, together with the water in which the greaves have previously been boiled; some also use horseflesh to mix with their other food. This constitutes all that is necessary to produce early ducklings for the table.

They are killed at 10-12 weeks old, just before the adult feathers come; as the energy up to that time has been spent in the growth of flesh, but is then directed to the feathers, and a duck at 5-6 months when plucked often does not weigh so much as one of 3 months. The hens should be set in December and not later than March, for then the demand for ducklings is greater than the supply.

As to the treatment of such as are intended for breeding and exhibition. To produce birds of great frame and weight, the same food is given during the earliest stage; but, after about 3 weeks, they are allowed to go to the water, and their food is varied as soon as possible, by giving them maize (or better, oats) and barley alternately, when they can eat the same. They should be fed 3 times a day, and always have a trough of water by them, or the grain be thrown into the water; and it is an advantage to have some gravel or sand at the bottom, so that when drinking they also get hold of some grit, which helps digestion, and tends to keep the bill in proper colour. Maize is apt to render the birds too fat, and increase the tendency to accumulate internal abnormal fat, and to go “down behind,” in which condition they are perfectly useless as stock birds.

=Geese.=--Geese can only be profitably kept where there is abundance of grazing ground, as they derive the greater part of their nourishment from grass. Under suitable conditions no birds can be more profitable, but under other circumstances they cannot be recommended.

Of the three varieties, namely, the pure white or Emden, the grey or Toulouse, and the common saddle-back, the first name is to be preferred, as the birds pluck much better and clearer than the grey, and are much larger than the common parti-coloured breed.

The management of these birds in suitable localities is attended with very little trouble. In the early part of the year the old geese should be well fed with oats thrown into water, so as to stimulate them to early laying in February, if possible. When she has laid from eight to thirteen eggs, the goose remains on the nest, and her eggs may then be given to her.

The nest should be on the ground, without any intervening boards; and, if in a dry situation, should be watered, so as to keep the mould moist. The hatching goose should be well fed with oats thrown into a pan of water when she leaves the nest, and she should be allowed to go on to the pond or river.

When hatched, the goslings require grass, meal slaked with water, or porridge made with oatmeal. After a few days, oats, in water, may be given, and with the food they find by grazing, the young will do well until fattening time, when they should be fed on oats, in water. In many parts the geese are partially plucked two or three times a year for the sake of the feathers. Nothing can be more injurious than the practice; the small sum obtained for the plumage is much less than the deterioration in the value of the bird.

In rearing geese for the market, every endeavour should be made to attain early maturity. Young birds should never cease growing from the time they are hatched until they are ready to kill. If they are so fed as to be kept without growing, not only is all the food they eat during the time wasted, but they are deteriorating in quality and in tenderness of flesh.

=Turkeys.=--Turkeys dislike all that is necessary for their well-doing. They like to roam far and wide like peafowl, and will roost, if allowed to, in the open air, whereas they should sleep under cover, have an elevated roost, and a well-ventilated sleeping room. A turkey hen sits on her eggs for 32 days; she is a very gentle constant sitter, but a very careless mother, for she will, unless carefully watched or cooped, lead her chicks out in the damp grass or into a bed of stinging nettles, both of which proceedings are fatal to the brood, for wet kills them, and so does nettles; but boiled nettles are good for their health, and should be given chopped small mixed with barley meal.

The young birds should be left to effect their exit, if possible, unassisted, and allowed to remain for 12 hours afterwards under the mother’s wings. After that time they must be continually attended to and fed on curds, hard-boiled eggs, and crumbs, having a good boarded coop. Meal and grits must be given after the lapse of about 10 days; and when they are 5 weeks old, boiled potatoes, turnips, nettles, and lettuces may be chopped and mixed with their food.

Norfolk turkeys are considered the best breed to keep. When turkeys are put up to fatten, barley meal, bran, and potatoes well mashed and mixed, are the best food for them. Half-a-crown’s worth of meal and potatoes, with other garden produce, is about the cost of feeding each bird for one month, when it is considered fat enough for the table; but the birds will generally be in pretty good case when put up, if they have been allowed the run of the fields and the woods, for turkey chicks are only delicate in their first stages of growth. Some poultry-keepers cram their birds, but such turkeys are never so delicately flavoured as those fed in the natural way. (Helen Watney.)

Turkey hens are such admirable mothers, that they are largely employed in France to hatch and rear ordinary chickens. When young turkeys are hatched, they should be left undisturbed until they come out from under the mother, about 20-30 hours, and fed at first with equal parts of egg and milk beaten up together and set by heat. Fresh-ground oatmeal and milk should be given, and lettuces running to seed, full of bitter milky juice; this old and young will eat in large quantity and thrive exceedingly on it. Turkeys are much larger green vegetable eaters than fowls. In dry situations and seasons they are not delicate if properly fed and cared for. (W. B. Tegetmeier.)

=Pigeons=.--First and foremost comes the selection of the birds. The old-fashioned English so-called carrier is perfectly useless as a messenger or homing pigeon. The only breeds of any real value are Belgians. Of these, several somewhat distinct types exist, which are known as Liege, Antwerp birds, &c. In these birds the homing faculty has been developed by training for many generations, until at last an acquired instinct of indomitable perseverance in seeking their distant home has been developed, and this has become hereditary. Hence the necessity of breeding from good birds, and those which have been accustomed to fly long distances. To breed from birds without pedigrees is useless. So high a value is placed on the performance of the parents, that amateurs will spare no pains or expense in getting good, well-trained birds. Good birds, however, can be bought for moderate sums, when amateurs in Belgium are selling off the superfluous birds after the racing season is over; 1_l._ 10_s._ to 2_l._ a pair will often procure birds that have done good work.

A flight of birds may be established in two modes. First, by obtaining pairs of old birds, shutting them up as prisoners, breeding from them, and turning out the young as soon as they can feed themselves and fly. The second is by buying young birds as they leave the nest, and letting them fly after they have been confined a few days in their new home.

As old birds would not remain in a new locality, they have necessarily to be confined as prisoners. For this purpose never select a close room or loft. A dry shed, not exposed to the north or east, if wired on the open side, is always filled with pure air. Shelves or open lockers, in which the birds will build their nests and rear their young, should be attached to the walls. A long, straight inclosure, covered at the top and sides with wire work, should communicate with the shed. In this the birds can take exercise, flying from the perch or landing-place at one end to that at the other. This open flight place should be, if possible, some 10 yd. long, and, being open-wired above, the birds enjoy the three great luxuries of fresh air, bright sunshine, and, above all, exposure to the rain.

For food, wheat, small round maize, sound beans, dark peas, and tares may all be given, and also millet, if it be accessible; some old mortar rubbish mixed with salt should be provided for the pigeons to pick at, this being most essential to their health; and, above all, a supply of clean water to drink, placed in vessels in which it cannot be defiled, is indispensable; also water for bathing, which may be put in a milk pan or shallow trough in the open flight place. Thus treated, the old birds do not suffer in health. (W. B. Tegetmeier.)

Homing pigeons are protected from birds of prey in China by means of a whistling machine made of about 10 small bamboo tubes, which is secured to the bird’s tail in such a manner that the rush of air across the tubes produces a shrill sound.

=Bees.=--The modern system of bee-keeping is entirely opposed to the older method, in which honey was obtained by the destruction of the bees, and almost equally to the more recent plan of removing the surplus honey in large supers. By the present system the hives and bees are under perfect control. The sizes of the former can be increased or diminished at the will of the owner to any required extent. The combs are in movable frames, which can be transferred at will from one hive to another without the slightest difficulty. The formation of new colonies can be accomplished as desired, or prevented altogether, and the whole energy of the bees devoted to honey gathering. The waste of honey in the secretion of wax can be in great part obviated--a most important matter, as each lb. of wax requires the consumption of 15-20 lb. of honey for its formation; and the pure honey, uncontaminated with brood or pollen, can be stored in small boxes, each containing 1-2 lb., capable of being conveyed by rail without injury, and possessing a marketable value at least 3 times as great as that of ordinary run honey. But in order to accomplish these desirable ends, bee-keeping must be followed with some amount of intelligence and interest, and a certain amount of capital must be invested in the pursuit. The knowledge of the modern system of bee-keeping has been very greatly extended by the labour of the British Bee-keepers’ Association, which has published an admirable series of tracts, with a sixpenny handbook for cottagers, has organised annual shows and expositions in many parts of the kingdom, and has raised bee-keeping in England to its present standard of excellence. Through its exertions a fixed size for frames has been determined, so that in a well-arranged apiary any frame of honey or brood comb can be transferred from one hive to any other with the greatest facility. The honey harvest is now gathered in great part in convenient sectional supers of a most marketable and attractive character, obtained without the destruction of a single bee; whereas it formerly consisted merely of run honey, acquired by the suffocation of the bees and the crushing of the comb, when honey, the fluid contents of the bodies of the larvæ, pollen, propolis, and wax, were all mixed indiscriminately together--the market value of this mess obtained by the destruction of the colony being less than one-third of the value of pure honey in virgin comb, as is obtained by the modern system.

Improved hives such as are now employed by all intelligent bee-keepers are made, as before stated, on one uniform standard, and, thanks to the energy of the association, may be procured of a number of makers in various parts of the country. In the modern system the old-fashioned bell-shaped straw skep is discarded, and bees are kept in wooden hives, the best of which have double sides, with an interval between, so as to equalise the temperature. The combs are in frames, each of which is movable, so that the hive can be enlarged or diminished at any time, movable partitions, termed dummy boards, being used to shut off the empty space.

As an example of a practically useful modern hive may be taken one made by Baldwin, of Bromley, Kent. A flat platform or floor supported on 4 stout legs, and having a large oblique alighting board projecting to the front, supports the body of the hive. This has double sides, with air spaces, which may be filled with any non-conducting material, as powdered cork. On the front is a grooved penthouse, to prevent rain entering into the hive. The interior contains 9 movable frames, each of which is fitted with a thin sheet of pure wax foundation, which the beep utilise, to the great saving of honey, labour, and time. There are 2 dummy boards, so as to adjust the size of the interior to the number of frames in use. One section frame is made broader than the rest, so as to contain 6 sectional boxes, each fitted with a triangular piece of wax comb foundation. These in the season are rapidly filled with honey in virgin comb, and can when filled be removed and utilised separately. This frame is filled with sections, each with a triangular piece of wax foundation.

In order to prevent the queen bees laying eggs in any of these sections, a piece of perforated zinc is placed when required between the section frame and the front of the hive. The perforations are sufficiently small to prevent the queen passing through, but the workers pass readily.

The section frame is of use when the quantity of honey collected is comparatively small. In general the surplus stores, those that are available by the bee-keeper, are stored above the frames in a sectional super. This holds 21 sections, each perfectly distinct from the others, and all are furnished with triangular slips of foundation comb. As fast as these supers are filled they can be removed and marketed. The costlessness of these supers is one of their most remarkable qualities. Each is made of a slip of wood partially divided and stamped, so as to form the four sides of the super when folded, the ends being tongued so as to interlock when pressed together. The demand for these sectional supers may be inferred from the fact that they are made in thousands by means of machinery, and are so cheaply produced that their cost varies from ⅓_d._ to less than ½_d._ each.

Such time as the supers are not in use the frames are covered over with warm quilting, which gives access to the frames and interior of the hive at any time, as it is easily removed. Apertures are cut through the quilts, so as to permit of feeding when requisite. The top of the hive is covered by a deep capacious roof, which protects the interior, sheltering the supers when being filled, or the feeding bottle when in use, and keeping the quilts dry and snug during winter.

The demand for improved hives of the construction recommended is so great that machinery is brought into play in their construction, and the consequence is extreme cheapness. The hive described can be sold at somewhat about 20_s._, and cheaper hives, of the same kind, not quite so elaborately fitted, are made from 10_s._ to 15_s._, and can be obtained of Baldwin, Bromley; Neighbour, London; Abbott, Southall; Walton, Newark, and many other makers. (W. B. Tegetmeier.)

SUPPLEMENTARY LITERATURE.

Sir F. Fitz-Wygram, Bart.: ‘Horses and Stables.’ London, 1886. 5_s._

M. Horace Hayes: ‘Riding on the Flat and across Country: a Guide to Practical Horsemanship.’ London. 10_s._ 6_d._

Mrs. Power O’Donoghue: ‘Ladies on Horseback: Learning, Park-riding, and Hunting, with Hints upon Costumes, and numerous anecdotes.’ London. 1882. 5_s._

James Long: ‘The Book of the Pig: its Selection, Breeding, Feeding, and Management.’ London, 1885. 15_s._

Modern Bee-keeping. London. 6_d._

T. W. Cowan: ‘British Bee-keeper’s Guide Book.’ London, 1885. 1_s._ 6_d._

F. R. Cheshire: ‘Bees and Bee-keeping.’ London, 1886. 7_s._ 6_d._

L. Wright: ‘The Practical Poultry-keeper: a Complete and Standard Guide to the Management of Poultry, whether for domestic use, the markets, or exhibition.’ London. Latest Edition. 3_s._ 6_d._

J. Coleman: ‘The Sheep and Pigs of Great Britain; being a series of articles on the various breeds of sheep and pigs of the United Kingdom, their history, management, &c.’ London. 18_s._

I. E. B. C.: ‘The Farm.’ London. 5_s._

I. E. B. C.: ‘The Stable.’ London, 5_s._

_THE GARDEN._

GARDENERS’ CALENDAR.