ornia al 7 Ex Libris \ C. K. OGDEN "7 SPANISH COCK & HZN OXFORD DAIRY PIG. Published t>y Sherwood, GflT>«rt Sc Piper Jan?T.18i2 A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON BREEDING, REARING, AND FATTENING ALL KINDS OF DOMESTIC POULTRY, PHEASANTS, PIGEONS, AND RABBITS ; ALSO, THE MANAGEMENT OF SWINE, MILCH COWS, AND BEES; WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PRIVATE BREWERY, ON CIDER, PERRY, AND BRITISH WINE MAKING. BY BONINGTON MOUBRAY, ESQ. EIGHTH EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS. LONDON: PRINTED FOR SHERWOOD, GILBERT, AND PIPER, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1842. LONDON : GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE. PREFACE TO THE FIRST AND SECOND EDITIONS. THE small work which I present to the reader, for his use and information, I may presume to style truly practical, since I have, throughout my life, been a breeder and keeper, and also an amateur of domestic poultry, pigeons, and rabbits ; at some periods, upon rather a considerable scale ; and have, for many years together, kept a register of the results. I have further done that which, I believe, no other man has taken the pains to do, — kept a regular stud book for those breeders, scarcely one of which was so poor as to be without a name ; and Regulus, Samson, Flea-catcher, Selima, Moreau, Isaac, and Tom Paine, shine with peculiar lustre on my poultry and pigeon list ; whilst Corney Butter-cup, Adam, Beelzebub, Lucifer, Carolina, Hecuba, make a figure equally splendid and equally useful, among the rabbits. I think Montaigne says somewhere, that if a man would sit and describe that which he has known practically, upon almost any subject, he could scarcely fail of being useful. Just so far my ambition extends. Nor is the world entirely without need of advice on this subject, notwithstanding its antiquity, and the mul- titude of counsellors. Of this fact I had a signal proof, in a visit a few years since to an honourable baronet in the west, Sir Lawrence Park, in whose extensive park, and most convenient, yards and offices, and upon a soil excellently, adapted, I found a sufficiency of poultry could not be raised for the family use ; in consequence of which, a very considerable annual expense was incurred at a neighbouring A 3 A r* f-^. — ;n -— 1_ « 56 CAGE OR COOP — ARTIFICIAL MOTHER. part of the lid. Such is their mode of nestling under the hen, and which is absolutely necessary to their comfort and even their existence. A curtain of flannel was suspended over the opening of the box. A WICKER CAGE OR COOP, surrounding the above box and artificial mother, which will entirely confine the chickens to its circumference, is a great conveni- ence in bad weather, or for the purpose of separation : indeed, a coop of that kind for a hen and brood is always useful. One discovery we made in the attempt at artificial hatching, namely, that young chicks are injured by being placed upon a BOARDED FLOOR ; it is too cold and chilling for them, the feet and legs appearing swollen, as if from chilblains. Dry earth is their proper floor. Mr. Young recommends the following plan of an artificial mother, and the experimenter may make his election between the two, or improve on them both at his discretion. " Five broods may at once be cherished under an artificial mother. This mother may be framed of a board ten inches broad, and fifteen inches long, resting on two legs in front, two inches in height, and on two props behind, two inches also in height. The board must be perforated with many small gimblet holes, for the escape of the heated air, and lined with lamb's skin dressed with the wool on, and the woolly side is to come in contact with the chickens. " Over three of these mothers a wicker-basket is to be placed, for the protection of the chickens, four feet long, two feet broad, and fourteen inches high, with a lid open, a wooden sliding bottom to draw ARTIFICIAL HATCHING USELESS. 57 out for cleaning, and a long narrow trough along the front, resting on two very low stools, for holding their food. PERCHES are to be fixed in the basket for the more advanced to roost on. A flannel curtain is to be placed in front, and at both ends of the mothers, for the chickens to run under, from which they soon learn to push outwards and inwards. These mothers, with the wicker basket over them, are to be placed against a hot wall, at the back of the kitchen fire, or in any other warm situation, where the heat shall not exceed 80 degrees of Fahrenheit. " When the chickens are a week old, they are to be carried with the mother to a grass plat for feeding, and kept warm by a tin tube filled with hot water, which will continue sufficiently warm for about three hours, when the hot water is to be renewed. Towards the evening the mothers are to be again placed against the hot wall. Their food, as before observed, is to consist of coarse barley-meal, steamed till quite soft ; steamed potatoes minced quite small, and occasionally pellets of course wheaten flour : these articles may be given to them alternately." This description is certainly superior to mine, in variety of particulars and precision, if not in real use. It will readily appear why, although we were per- fectly satisfied with our success in hatching a consi- derable number of eggs artificially, we did not yet wish to continue the practice. The fact is, there is no adequate motive in this country, where a quantity of poultry, fully equal, and even superior to the de- mand, may be raised by the natural means : were it otherwise, there is no doubt that the artificial process 58 ARTIFICIAL HATCHING USELESS. might be conducted here with sufficient success, and to the immense multiplication of domestic fowls of every description, an adequate expenditure in houses and attendants being pre-supposed. On a first con- sideration of the subject, indeed, a great apparent difficulty may present, of obtaining a sufficient quan- tity of eggs ; but the case is parallel, at any rate, to a certain degree, in Egypt, where, notwithstanding, such an obstacle has never impeded the practice. This view is, in all likelihood, appropriate to France equally with England. No person, then, will attempt artificial hatching, but from the motive of mere curi- osity, and that motive must indeed be powerful, to carry one through the endless labour and attendance required. A lady, some years since, obtained a pre- mium of ten guineas from one of the Societies, for the plan of multiplying chickens, by causing the hens to sit CONSTANTLY or a great many times in the season, which we had tried without success many years before. It is, in fact, to undertake the most difficult part of the artificial process, that of bringing up the chickens without hens. Nor would the disappointments be few in procuring hens which would sit beyond the usual periods, and those so disposed soon become consumptive and useless from such hard duty. The plan, indeed, as a general one, is totally useless. On this head, De Reaumur thus characte rizes the hens of his country : "So long as we shall depend entirely upon our hens, we must not expect to see the multiplication of the species carried so far as might be wished ; it is not nearly all the hens of a poultry-yard, that are willing HATCHING BY STEAM — EGGS, FEATHERS, &C. 59 every year to sit. In some years, when I have wanted sitting hens for some experiments, I have had the mortification not to find above four such, among fifty or sixty of them : complaints of hens that refuse to sit, are very common in this country (France), and I think in general, that it seldom happens that the third or even the fourth part of them are so disposed. Beside this, they are not always willing to sit at those times when we wish they would, which is in part the reason why the early chickens are dear a great while, and why we have not every year a supply of them as early as we wish for it." Hatching by steam succeeded ; and about the year 1823, various attempts were made at Bath and in Lon- don, to bring artificial hatching into use. I had a letter from the Bath experimenter, and with respect to the Londoner he exhibited his practice at one shilling each person, which in course I attended. Some trials have been since made and published, but the plan has not yet been perfected to the degree of public utility, either here or in France. It may be that an Egyptian climate is indispensable for its successful completion. EGGS, FEATHERS, &C. EGGS become desiccated, and, in consequence, lose great part of their substance and nutritive quality by keeping, and every body knows the value of a fresh- laid egg. They will retain their moisture and goodness, however, three or four months, or more, if the pores of the shell be closed, and rendered impervious to the air by some unctuous application. We generally anoint them with mutton suet melted, and set them on end, wedged close together, in bran, stratum super stratum, D6 60 EGGS, FEATHERS, &C. the containing box being closely covered. Laid upon the side, the yolk will adhere to the shell. They thus come into use, at the end of a considerable period of time, in a state almost equal to new-laid eggs for con- sumption, but ought not to be trusted for incubation, excepting in the case of the imported eggs of rare birds. Another method of preservation has lately been recommended in print. To dip eggs in oil, and pack them in salt. At any rate they ought not to be depo- sited on their sides. Our annual import of eggs from France has, of late years, been very considerable. A few years since, the following successful experiment for their preservation was made at Paris. A large number of eggs was placed in a vessel, in which was some water saturated with lime and a little salt. They were kept in that state several years, and, being opened in the month of January, were found in excellent pre- servation, without a single failure. This account was forwarded to me by an English lady, an experienced poultry breeder. The quantity of turkeys and other poultry imported at Dover from France in the month of December, has often exceeded the weight of twelve tons in a week. FEATHERS or DOWN intended for use, should be plucked as soon as possible after the bird is dead, and before it is cold, otherwise they are defective in that elasticity which is their most valuable property, and are liable to decay. The bird, should, besides, be in good health, and not moulting, for the feathers to be in perfection : and being plucked, and a sufficient num- ber collected, the sooner they are dried in the oven the better, since they are else apt to heat and stick together. PLUCKING FOWLS ALIVE — WHITE TURKEYS. 61 The practice of plucking the LIVING FOWL (see page 55), if interest must sanction such a custom, should he performed in the most tender and careful manner, and not at or near the time of moulting. The ripe down only should be taken from each wing of the swan, goose, or duck, and four or five feathers. Lean geese furnish the greatest quantity of down and feathers, and of the best quality : to which also the goodness of their food, and the care bestowed, contri- bute in a considerable degree. Geese are sometimes stripped three times in the season, but in the whole affair I speak with entire ignorance of the practice. Strict PRECAUTION is necessary to HOUSE the stripped fowls, for a time sufficient to enable them to endure the air, and by all means to keep them from the water. The down and feathers of ducks, pigeons, and par- tridges are used in France for mattresses and pillows. M. Parmentier proposed to multiply the breed of WHITE TURKEYS, and to employ for plumes the feathers found on the lateral part of the thighs of those fowls. A correspondent, who has made the requisite in- quiries, furnishes the following particulars : " The breeding and rearing of geese constitute the chief employment of the inhabitants of the fens in Lincolnshire. The feathers are highly valuable, as are also the quills. For the stuffing of beds, the feathers of geese are considered the best. Whether from in- creasing luxury, diminution in quantity, or both causes co-operating, the demand is obliged to be sup- plied by importation : and the article has consequently advanced in price. This county, however, still fur- nishes the markets with large quantities. During the GEESE. breeding season the geese become joint tenants with the inhabitants. Three rows of coarse wicker pens, placed one above another) are found in every apartment) even the bed-chamber. Each bird has its separate lodge, of which it keeps possession. A gozzard or gooseherd attends the flock. " The geese are usually plucked five times a year, though some pluck them only three times, and others four ; commencing at Lady-day, again at Midsummer, Lammas, Michaelmas, and Martinmas. Goslings are not spared ; early plucking, they say, tending to in- crease the succeeding feathers. The common mode of plucking live geese is considered barbarous ; but it has prevailed perhaps ever since feather-beds came into general use. In answer to the charge of cruelty preferred against the ' fen slodgers,' the writer deems it an act of justice to state, that the owners are care- ful not to pull until the feathers are ripe, that is, not until they are just ready to fall ; because, if forced from the skin before, which is known by the appear- ance of blood at the roots, they are of inferior value ; those plucked after the geese are dead, are affirmed to be of still less worth. The larger feathers and quills are pulled twice a year only. That the reader may form some idea of the extent to which goose breeding and feeding is carried in the fens, instances are not infrequent, in some establishments, where five coombs of corn are daily consumed by the brood geese only." FEEDING — MODES. 63 SECTION VIII. On feeding and fattening Chickens and Fowls. THE points for consideration on this branch of the subject are -7- the local CONVENIENCES, the modes, common or extraordinary, the variety and quality of the FOOD, and the length of TIME necessary for com- pletion of the object. The well-known common methods are, to give fowls the run of the farm -yard, where they thrive upon the offals of the stable, and other refuse, with perhaps some small regular daily feeds ; but at thresh- ing time they become fat, and are thence styled BARN-DOOR FOWLS, probably the most delicate and high-flavoured of all others, both from their full al- lowance of the finest corn, and the constant health in which they are kept, by living in the natural state, and having the full enjoyment of air and exercise; or they are confined during a certain number of weeks in coops, those fowls which are soonest ready being drawn as wanted. It is a common practice with some housewives, to coop their barn-door fowls for a week or two, under the notion of improving them for the table and increasing their fat ; a practice which, how- ever, seldom succeeds, since the fowls generally pine for their loss of liberty, and, slighting their food, lose instead of gam additional flesh. Such a period, in 64- FEEDING-HOUSES. fact, is too short for them to become accustomed to confinement. FEEDING-HOUSES, at once warm and airy, with earth floors, such as have been already described, well raised, and capacious enough to accommodate twenty or thirty fowls, have always succeeded best, according to my experience. The floor may be slightly littered down, the litter often changed, and the greatest cleanliness should be observed. Sandy gravel should be placed in several different layers, and often changed. A sufficient number of troughs, for both water and food, should be placed around, that the stock may feed with as little interruption as possible from each other, and perches in the same proportion should be furnished for those birds which are inclined to perch, which few of them will desire, after they have begun to fatten, but which helps to keep them easy and contented until that pe- riod. In this mode fowls may be fattened to the highest pitch, and yet preserved in a healthy state, their flesh being equal in quality to that of the barn- door fowl. I am aware, that to suffer fattening fowls to perch is contrary to the general practice, since it is supposed to bend and deform the breast-bone ; but as soon as they become heavy and indolent from feeding, they will rather incline to rest in the straw ; and the liberty of perching on the commencement of their cooping, has a tendency to accelerate the pe- riod when they are more inclined to rest on the floor. Fowls, moreover, of considerable growth, will have many of them become already crooked- breasted from perching whilst at large, although PRIVATION OF LIGHT — INSECTS. 65 much depends upon form in this case, since we find aged cocks and hens of the best shape, which have perched all their lives, with the breast-bone perfectly straight. It has always been a favourite maxim among feeders, that THE PRIVATION OF LIGHT, by inclining fowls to a constant state of repose, excepting when moved by the appetite for food, promotes and acce- lerates obesity. It may probably be so, although not promotive of health ; but as it is no question, that a state of obesity obtained in this way cannot be a state of health, a real question arises — whether the flesh of animals so fed, can equal in flavour, nutri- ment, and salubrity, that of the same species fed in a more natural way ? Pecuniary and market interest may perhaps be best answered by the plan of dark- ness and close confinement, but a feeder for his own table, of delicate taste, and ambitious of furnishing his board with the choicest and most salubrious viands, will declare for the natural mode of feeding ; and, in that view, A FEEDING-YARD, gravelled, and sown with the grasses already described, the room being open all day, for the fowls to retire at pleasure, will have a decided preference, as the nearest approach to the barn-door system. INSECTS and ANIMAL food, also, form a part of the natural diet of poultry, are medicinal to them in a weakly state, and the want of such food may some- times impede their thriving. SIZED fowls have been intended thus far ; but the above feeding-rooms are well calculated for fat- tening the younger chickens, which may be put up 66 AGE PREMIUM FOR REARING. as soon as the hen shall have quitted her charge, and, so to speak, before they have run off their sucking flesh. For, generally, when well kept and in health, they will be in fine condition and full of flesh, at that period, which flesh is afterwards expended in the exercise of foraging for food, and in the increase of stature, and it may be a work of some time afterwards to recover it, and more especially in young cocks, and all those which stand high upon the leg. In fact, all those that appear to have long legs, should be fattened from the hen, to make the best of them ; it being extremely difficult, and often impossible, to fatten long-legged fowls in coops, which, how- ever, are brought to a good weight at the barn- door. . In the year 1779, says one of those small publi- cations which are circulated through the country for the instruction of our housewives, a gentleman in London presented to a learned body a newly- invented method of rearing chickens for the spit, quicker than was ever before discovered, for which the learned society honoured him with a gold metal. The method is as follows : — the chickens are to be taken from the hen the night after they are hatched, and fed with eggs boiled hard, chopped, and mixed with crumbs of bread, as larks and other birds are fed, for the first fortnight ; after which, give them oatmeal and treacle^ mixed so as to crumble, of which the chickens are very fond, and thrive so fast that at two months' end, they will be as large as full grown fowls. On this sagacious project, I shall only remark, that however learned the public body CHOICE OF FOWLS — PLANS. 67 alluded to might be on other important subjects, they appear by this award, to have shown little information in chickenology. In the choice of FULL-SIZED fowls for feeding, the short-legged and early-hatched always deserve a preference. The green linnet is an excellent mo- del of form for the domestic fowl, and the true Dorking breed approaches the nearest to such mo- del. In course, the smaller breeds and the game are the most delicate and soonest ripe. The London chicken butchers, as they are termed, or poulterers, are said to be of all others the most dexterous and expeditious feeders, putting up a coop of fowls, and making them thoroughly fat within the space of a fortnight : using much grease, and that perhaps not of the most delicate kind, in the food. In this way, I have no boasts to make, having always found it necessary to allow a considerable number of weeks for the purpose of making fowls fat in coops. In the common way, this business is often badly ma- naged, fowls being huddled together in a small coop, tearing each other to pieces, instead of enjoying that repose which alone can ensure the wished for object ; irregularly fed and cleaned, until they are so stenched and poisoned in their own excrement, that their flesh actually smells and tastes of it when smoking upon the table. All practical and practicable plans have their pe- culiar advantages ; among others that of leaving poultry to FORAGE AND SHIFT FOR THEMSELVES ; but where a steady and regular profit is required from them, the best method, whether for domestic use or 68 SPRING PULLETS — BEST CORN. sale, is CONSTANT HIGH KEEP from the beginning, whence they will not only he always ready for the table with very little extra attention, but their flesh will be superior in juiciness and rich flavour, to those which are fattened from a low and emaciated state. Fed in this mode, the SPRING PULLETS are parti- cularly fine, at the same time most nourishing and re- storative food. The pullets which have been hatched in March, if high fed from the teat, will lay plenti- fully through the following autumn, and not being intended for breeding stock, the advantage of their eggs may be taken, and themselves disposed of thoroughly fat for the table in February, about which period their laying will be finished. In Fe- bruary, 1792, we had a fine show of white and coloured pullets, most wonderfully improved in size, although we had not for years changed our stock, and so excessively fat from the run of the barn-yard, that they opened more like Michaelmas geese than chickens. Instead of giving ordinary and TAIL-CORN to my fattening and breeding poultry, I have always found it most advantageous to allow the heaviest and best, putting the confined fowls upon a level with those fed at the barn-door, where they have their share of the weightiest and finest corn. This high feeding shows itself not only in the size and flesh of the fowls, but in the size, weight, and substantial good- ness of their eggs, which in those valuable parti- culars, will prove far superior to the eggs of fowls fed upon ordinary corn or washy potatoes ; two eggs of the former going farther in domestic use, than three FRESH WATER WEIGHT OF EGGS. 69 of the latter. The water also given to fattening fowls should be often renewed, fresh and clean ; indeed, those which have been well kept, will turn with disgust from ordinary food and foul water. The profit of my plan, of allowing the heaviest and best corn to poultry, has lately been disputed, both in France and England. The sum of my rejoinder is, that I have simply recorded matter of experiment, further confirmed by the following fact : — In the summer of 1827, a Spanish lady visitor persuaded one of my daughters that, in her country, wetted bran was the best food for hens, increasing their number of eggs. It was tried, and the consequence soon was, the hens taken with what appeared to be a sore throat, and obstruction in that part. One hen became so ill, that it was proposed to kill her. Soon after, another was affected in the same way. The bran diet was then discontinued, and solid corn re- sumed, when both shortly recovered. EGGS. December 7, half-bred Poland hen matched with the cock : began to lay on the 28th. On March 1, 1806, she had laid 56 eggs, and after- wards sat over 12 eggs. After incubation had com- menced she laid two eggs, making the total 58, which two were withdrawn. Her eggs unbroken weighed from one ounce three quarters to two ounces each, amounting, at one and three quarters each, to nearly seven pounds avoirdupois. I had, from motives of curiosity, deducted the weight of the shells, but the memorandum is lost. The eggs of another hen, in poor condition and ill fed, were small, light, and the yolk unsubstantial ; the same hen, after good 70 TO PROMOTE LAYING — COCKS. feeding, laid plenty of eggs of larger size, and nearly double the weight. The largest eggs will weigh two ounces and a half, those of the Chittagong hen, per- haps, three ounces. To promote FECUNDITY and great laying in the hen, nothing more is necessary than the best corn and fair water : but malted or sprouted barley, has occasionally a good effect, whilst the hens are kept on solid corn ; but, if continued too long, they are apt to scour. Cordial horse-ball is good to promote laying in the cold season, and toast and ale, as every housewife well knows. It must be noted, that no- thing is more necessary towards success in the parti- cular of obtaining plenty of eggs, than a good attend- ance of cocks, especially in the cold season ; and it is also especially to be observed, that a cock whilst moulting is generally useless. My practice is, to withdraw the cock under that circumstance to a separate walk, and substitute an- other, which is known and familiar with the hens, since a stranger will not always be received, and such a circumstance will sometimes totally interrupt the business of the poultry-yard : these particulars respecting the cock require the more especial atten- tion, since, according to the old poultry books, one cock was deemed sufficient for ten or even a dozen hens, whereas, in winter time, a cock to every four hens may be necessary. Buffon says, a hen well fed and attended will produce upwards of one hundred and fifty eggs in a year, besides two broods of chickens. I have observed that a hen generally CACKLES three or four days previously to laying. Some half-bred FRENCH PRACTICE- — FOOD. 71 game hens began to lay as soon as their chickens were three weeks old ; the consequence of high keep and good attendance of the cocks. A correspondent in France (1815) informed me, that my little book had reached that country, so ce- lebrated for poultry, and that the good housewives of France made themselves very merry with my practice of restricting the cock to so few as half-a- dozen hens, their allowance being twenty, or even twenty-five. The French Naturalists, also, in their new Dictionary, I find, have copied and recommended this liberal practice. What difference, in such respect, may subsist between the soil or animals of England and France, I am not qualified to determine ; I can only assure the reader that my rule is the result of long and actual experience. A certain English traveller, twenty years since, brought home and pub- lished an account almost equally extraordinary of French men. That point also I leave to abler judges. As to poultry keepers in any country, it will readily be believed that they make few experiments, and still fewer records ; and the keeper of two or three score hens, at any rate breeding a considerable stock from such a number, does not trouble himself to inves- tigate the merits of his practice, satisfied that it is according to the established mode. QUANTITIES OF FOOD. By an experiment made in July, 1806, a measured peck of good barley kept in a high style of condition the following stock, con- fined, and having no other provision : one cock, three hens, three March chickens, six April, and six May ditto, during eight clear days, and one feed 72 THE CAPON. left. According to another trial, in the winter sea- son, a cock and two hens kept by themselves seven clear days, consumed a quarter of a peck of the best barley, having no other food, having as much as they chose to eat. The same being tried at their liberty, and pecking about, with cabbage leaves oc- casionally thrown to them, did not eat so much bar- ley in the week, although allowed all they desired. They were in a perfect thriving state, but it must be remembered that light and ordinary corn would not have gone so far, or have kept the fowls in such condition. Poultry which have their fill of corn, will eat occa- sionally cabbage or marigold leaves greedily. Barley and wheat are the great dependence for chicken poultry. The heaviest oats will keep them, it is true, but neither go so far as other corn, nor agree so well with the chickens, being apt to scour them, and the chickens generally are tired of oats after a while. Brank or French wheat is also an unsub- stantial food. Oats, however, are recommended to forward and promote laying in hens ; and in Kent, Sussex, and Surrey are deemed superior for fatten- ing both poultry and pigs. SUN-FLOWER seed has been periodically recom- mended with high commendations, as food for poultry, game, sheep, and pigs, but never yet attended to by the generality of feeders. I have used it occasionally in small quantities, but without any attention to its merits. The experiment may easily be made. THE CAPON. I have already acknowledged my inferiority in the affair of quickly feeding poultry in TO MAKE CAPONS. 73 close coops, and have a similar acknowledgment to make respecting capons, never having had any suc- cess in cutting either fowls or rabbits for such pur- poses, nor, in truth, much affecting the practice, which, however, has long been successfully carried on by the breeders of Sussex, Surrey, and Berks, and seems to have been almost entirely confined to that part of the country. In fact, the mode of per- forming the operation seems to be utterly unknown elsewhere ; or granting that the common cutters and cow-leeches have some speculative knowledge there- on, they generally kill the patient, in their attempt at the practice. The Chinese are said to be particularly skilful in this OPERATION, the outline of which, according to their mode, I give as a matter of curiosity. The wings of the fowl are folded back till they meet, and the left foot of the operator is placed upon them, the great toe of his right foot pressing upon the legs to keep them fast. After pulling the feathers, an inci- sion is made, one inch long, and one inch from the spine, obliquely downward and forward. The reader may smile at that which may be deemed false de- licacy in me, but I have naturally a kind of dread and abhorrence of all practices of this kind, however profitable. I can take the life of an animal without the shadow of a scruple ; but every act that bears the semblance of torture, shocks me to the marrow. They who wish to have their fowls or rabbits safely cut, where the practice is not common, must procure an operator from the proper district. The following remarks on the capon, in which, £ 74 CRAMMING. we Englishmen may venture to say, there is some little flourish d, la Franqaise, are taken from Cuvier's work, before quoted. — " Instead of being melan- choly, abashed, and humiliated, the capon assumes a bold, lofty, and triumphant air ; and such is the influence of audacity over all animals, that this bor- rowed courage completely imposes on the cocks and hens, and prevents them from disturbing him in the fulfilment of his charge. At first, he is a little awkward in the exercise of his office. His ambition, in imitating in his gait the majesty and dignity of the cocks, makes him carry his head too stiff, and prevents him from seeing the chickens, which he sometimes thus inadvertently tramples under foot. But experience soon teaches him to avoid such mis- haps, and accidents of the same kind do not occur again. As his voice is not so expressive as that of the hen to engage the chickens to follow and assem- ble near him, this deficiency has been supplied by attaching a little bell to his neck. When he is once instructed to conduct chickens in this way, he al- ways remains capable of doing it ; or, at all events, it is very easy to bring him back to the habit of it when required. The capon has also been taught to hatch eggs — every thing indeed, except to lay them." (Part XXI. Order of the Gallince. Plates on a large scale and excellent.) The cock is indeed a favoured male, and so beyond all others, to retain his native courage after emasculation ! CRAMMING. Barley and wheat meal are generally the basis or chief ingredient, in all fattening mix- tures for chickens and fowls ; but in Sussex, ground SUSSEX FEEDING — PRICES. 75 oats are used, and in that country, I think, oats are in higher repute for fattening than elsewhere, many large hogs being there fattened with them. The Sussex men making the highest pretensions as poul- try-feeders, I shall give them the precedence in quo- tation. In the Report for that county, the Rev. Ar- thur Young says, " North Chappel, Kinsford, &c. are famous for their fowls. They are fattened there to a size and perfection unknown elsewhere. The food given them is ground oats made into gruel, mixed with hog's grease, sugar, pot-h'quor, and milk: or ground oats, treacle, and suet, sheep's plucks, &c. The fowls are kept very warm, and crammed morning and night. The pot-liquor is mixed with a few handfuls of oatmeal and boiled, with which the meal is kneaded into crams or rolls of a proper size. The fowls are put into the coop two or three days before they are crammed, which is continued for a fortnight, and they are then sold to the higglers. Those fowls full grown weigh seven pounds each, the average weight five pounds, but there are instances of individuals double the weight. They were sold at the time of the Survey, at four to five shillings each. Mr. Turner, of North Chappel, a tenant of Lord Egremont, crams two hundred fowls per annum. Many fat capons are fed in this manner ; good ones always look pale and waste away ; great art and attention is requisite to cut them, and numbers are destroyed in the operation. The Sussex breed are too long in the body to be cut with much success, which is done at three quarters old." Thus far Mr. Young — but what can possibly be 76 BERKS — FEEDING — NAMES. meant by — good ones always looking pale, and wast- ing away ? One would suppose that " wasting away," must be indicative of loose, flabby, and bad flesh, in- stead of good. WOKINGHAM, in Berks, is particularly famous for fatted fowls, by which many persons in that town and vicinity gain a livelihood. The fowls are sold to the London dealers, and the sum of £150 has been returned in one market day by this traffic. Twenty dozen of these fowls were purchased for one gala at Windsor, after the rate of half a guinea the couple. At some seasons, fifteen shillings have been paid for a couple, Fowls constitute the principal commerce of the town. Romford, in Essex, is also a great market for poultry, but generally of the store or barn-door kind, and not artificially fed. FOWL, as well as GOOSE FEEDING, is carried on to a far greater extent in the vicinity of London, than in any other part, namely, at Bow and Stratford, where the fowl-feeding system is said to be equally regular and the food equally good as with the goose. It is said, also, that the dispatch in feeding is superior to any thing known elsewhere. The following Noblemen and Gentlemen have been named to me as our chief amateur breeders of Poultry. His Grace the Duke of Leeds, Hornby Castle, Yorkshire — His Grace the Duke of Bedford, Woburn Abbey, Beds— The Most Noble the Mar- quis of Hastings, Donnington Park, Leicestershire — The Most Noble the Marquis of Donegal, Belfast, Ireland — The Right Honourable the Earl of Claren- don, the Grove, Watford, Herts — The Right Hon- NAMES OF GOOSE AND FOWL FEEDERS. 77 ourable Lord Ducie, Woolcester Park, Gloucester- shire— Sir Bellingham Graham, near Ripon, York- shire— Sir John Sebright, Beechwood, Herts — Burlow Peters, Esq., near Market Waitham, York- shire. In those districts distinguished for poultry breed- ing, great numbers are reared and fattened for the supply of the metropolis, a branch of business in which many farmers are concerned to a considerable and profitable extent. The following list comprises the names of the most considerable Goose and Fowl Feeders : — Arrington, Ballingdon, Suffolk; J. Boyce, Stratford, Essex ; Chatten, Suffolk ; Clarke, Cambridgeshire ; J. and Mark Cooper, Cambridge ; Fawcett, Buxted, Surrey ; Flatt and Walton, Tostock and Hepworth, Suffolk ; Foote, Chertsey ; Fordham, Salisbury ; Glover, Lingfield, Surrey; Gower, Roxwell, near Chelmsford, Essex ; Homewood, Horn, Surrey ; Hart, and Howsden, Gurton, Cambridgeshire ; Jupp, Hor- sham, Surrey ; H. J. and W. Knight, Stratford, Es- sex; Lewery, Staughton, Sussex; W. Lucock, Ep- som, Surrey ; Mansfield, near Epping ; G. Paget, Reigate, Surrey ; Porter, Roxwell, Essex ; Stevens, Aylesbury ; Stiff, Woolpit, Suffolk ; Turner, Epping ; Wells, Guilford, Surrey; White, Willingale-Spain, Essex ; Whiting, Great Walton. W. Simpson, Edinburgh, Goose and Fowl Feeder ; also all descriptions of game throughout the season. The Wokingham METHOD OF FEEDING is to con- fine the fowls in a dark place, and cram them with a paste made of barley-meal, mutton suet, treacle, or E 3 78 CRAMMING — PRICES. coarse sugar, and milk, and they are found com- pletely ripe in a fortnight. If kept longer, the fever that is induced by this continued state of repletion, renders them red and unsaleable, and frequently kills them. GEESE are likewise bred in the same neighbourhood, in great numbers, and sold about Midsummer to itinerant dealers; the price at the time the survey was made, two shillings to two and threepence each. I must presume to repeat, it ap- pears to me utterly contrary to reason, that fowls fed upon such greasy and impure mixtures can pos- sibly produce flesh or fat so firm, delicate, high flavoured, or nourishing, as those fattened upon more simple and substantial food, as for example, meal and milk ; and I think lightly of the addition of either treacle or sugar. With respect to grease of any kind, its chief effect must be to render the flesh loose and of indelicate flavour. Nor is any advan- tage gained, excluding the commercial one, as I con- fine myself entirely to the consideration of home use, by very quick feeding : for real excellence cannot be obtained but by waiting nature's time, and using the best food. Besides all this, I have been very un- successful in my few attempts to fatten fowls by cramming — they seem to loath the crams, to pine and to lose the flesh they were put up with, instead of acquiring fat ; and where crammed fowls do suc- ceed, they must necessarily, in the height of their fat, be in a state of disease. The price of poultry in London perhaps had never been so high, as in May 1827 ; to be attributed to an unfavourable season and the extreme fulness EARL SPENCER'S ANNUAL SHOW. 79 of the town. Young fowls were sold at eighteen shillings the couple, and ducks equally dear. The patriotic Earl Spencer, active and sedulous in the promotion of every object of rural economy, holds an annual Poultry Show at Chapel Brampton, Northamptonshire, of which the Countess Spencer was the original patroness. The prizes given for fatted poultry best answering the following descriptions : — The Turkeys should be of the black sort, they being in general whitest and finest in flesh, deepest in chest and highest in flavour. The Fowls should be plump, deep, long, and capa- cious in body, with short white legs, of small-sized bones, of very white, juicy, fine grained flesh, the fat and skin equally white, and of delicate flavour. The Geese long in body, and small in bone ; they must weigh 121bs. or upwards. The Ducks should be long in body, and small in bone, and must weigh five pounds or upwards. All bred in Northamptonshire, within the year, and shown alive. No person to have more than one prize ; and no one to have a prize who is judged guilty of excessive feeding to increase the weight of his poultry on the morning of the Show. Small-boned, well-proportioned poultry greatly excel the large-boned, long-legged kind, in colour, and fineness of flesh, and delicacy of flavour : for it is held good, that of all animals of the domestic kind, those which have the smallest, cleanest, finest bones, are in general the best proportioned, and are covered with E 4 80 LONDON SUPPLY — SALE. the best and finest grained meat — besides being, in the opinion of good judges, the most inclined to feed, and fatted with the smallest proportionable quantity of food, to the greatest comparative weight and size. The greatest supply, and of the best quality, of turkeys, are said to be derived from Cambridgeshire and Norfolk ; of geese from Suffolk. The same of Surrey and Essex, for fowls and chickens ; Essex also supplies most of Guinea and pea-fowls. The week preceding Michaelmas Day 1830, forty tons of poultry were sent from Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, to London, thirty of which were geese ; and sixteen tons of the latter were the property of Messrs. Flatt and Walton, poulterers of Tostock and Hep- worth in that county : the whole were conveyed by the waggons of Sykes and Co. Mr. Clarke, of Boston, transmitted to London in the Christmas of 1833, the following quantity of poultry : 2400 geese, and 800 turkeys ; Mr. Haines, poultry- man of Spalding, also killed and forwarded to Leaden- hall market 1150 geese, 500 turkeys, 200 ducks, and 30 dozen fowls. DISEASES — THE ROUP. 81 SECTION IX. On the Diseases of Poultry and Pigeons. THE diseases of our domestic animals kept for food, are generally the result of some error in diet or management, and should either have been prevented, or are to be cured most readily and advantageously by an immediate change, and adoption of the proper regimen. When that will not succeed, any farther risk is extremely questionable ; and particularly with respect to poultry, little hope can be derived from medical attempts. In fact, the far greater part of that grave and plausible account of diseases and re- medies, which is to be found in our common cattle and poultry books, is a farrago of sheer absurdity: the chief ground of which, it is to be apprehended, is random and ignorant guess-work. COMMON FOWLS. — Of these the most frequent diseases, real or presumed, are thus named : the PIP, a white skin or scale growing upon the tip of the tongue. The CURE, — tear off the skin with your nail, and rub the tongue with salt. Of this I know nothing, and could never hear any thing with cer- tainty. Imposthume upon the rump is called roup. This is directed to be opened, the core thrust out, and the part washed with salt and water. The roup also seems a general term for all diseases, but is chiefly applied to CATARRH, to which gallinaceous E5 82 FLUX — VERMIN — INFIRMARY — ABSCESS — CHIP. fowls are much subject. The FLUX, and its opposite, CONSTIPATION. Cure the first with good solid food ; the other with scalded bran or pollard, mixed with flet or skimmed milk, or pot-liquor, a small quantity of sulphur being added, if needful. VERMIN, gene- rally the consequent of low keep, and want of clean- liness. The remedy obvious ; not to forget sand and ashes for the fowls to roll in. But the chief disease to which chickens and fowls are liable, originates in changes of weather, and the variation of temperature ; and when the malady be- comes confirmed, with running at the nostrils, swollen eyes, and other well-known symptoms, they are termed ROUPY. The discharge becoming fetid, like the glanders in horses, the disease is supposed to have arrived at the stage of infection ; and whether so or not, it is certainly proper for cleanliness' sake, to SEPARATE the diseased from the healthy, whence the necessity of an INFIRMARY in a regular poultry establishment. Roupy hens seldom lay, and their eggs are scarcely wholesome. The eggs taken from a hen which died of the roup, were black, and in a state of putrefaction. In cases of ABSCESS, open with a pair of scissors, pressing out the matter with the fingers ; our elders were in the habit of giving lettuce chopped small, mixed with bran steeped with honey : but in a bad case much ought not to be ex- pected from the exhibition of lettuce, the superior efficacy of sulphur or calomel would be required. Chickens are frequently, and chiefly in bad weather, seized with the CHIP, in about three weeks from their hatching, when all their beauty of plumage GAPES. 83 vanishes, and they put on their long great coat, or rather shroud, and sit chipping, pining, and dying in corners; always apparently in torture, from a sense of cold, although to the touch they seem in a high state of fever. This disease seldom admits of remedy ; but I have tried mustard in water, crams, with a small quantity of black pepper, and afterwards nitre, given in the water. The sun, or warmth in the house by the fire-side, are the best remedies. The fire is a great restorative of all young, indeed of all animals. For grown fowls affected by the roup, warm lodg- ing is necessary, and even the indulgence of the fire, or the warmth of the bake-house. Wash the nostrils with warm soap and water, as often as ne- cessary, and the swollen eyes with warm milk and water. A pepper-corn in a pill of dough, three following days, is an old and favourite remedy, the patient being much chilled. Afterwards bathe the swollen parts with camphorated spirit, or brandy and warm water. As a finish to the cure, give sul- phur in the drink, or a small pinch of calomel in dough, three times in a week. The fowls being weak and not feeding well, the old remedy of rue chopped and made into pills with fresh butter, may be substituted for calomel ; though I must acknow- ledge I could never find any perceptible effects from the rue pill. The common symptom of GAPING, during this in- fluenzal disease, induced the learned, a few years past, to coin a new disease under the name of the GAPES, which they conveniently attributed to a spe- E 6 84 PIGEONS — ROUP. cies of fasciola, infecting the trachea, or windpipe, of poultry. For the roup and other diseases, and the exposition of customary cruelty, see an article in the Monthly Magazine of December, 1810. Pheasants and partridges, in their wild state, are also liable to the gapes, and from the same atmo- spheric cause. This symptom was observed very prevalent among them during the very variable sum- mer, 1821. The head being raw, and the eyes blinded from fighting, wash the eyes as before directed, and the head, which, after washing, may be alternately, ac- cording to need, dressed with fresh butter, and with brandy in which has been infused two or three drops of laudanum. A hen sate about in corners, and nei- ther ate, drank, nor evacuated, yet looked full and not diseased. Her CROP was totally obstructed. On an incision being made from the bottom upwards, a quantity of new beans was found, which had vege- tated. The wound being stitched properly, imme- diately healed, and the hen suffered little inconve- nience. A cock's SPURS being too long, impeding his walk, and wounding his legs, they should be cut care- fully with a sharp pen-knife, but not too near the quick, every three months. PIGEONS, also, are subject to the ROUP, under- standing by that term, a cold, or catarrh, the symp- toms of which are too visible in the miserable crea- tures exposed to sale hung up in baskets, in all weathers and currents of air. Garlic in pills, and rue given in water, are the general remedies. Shel- tered places, with room for exercise, and warm WOUNDS — REMEDIES — VERMIN — VERTIGO. 85 seeds, or cordial horse-ball in their food, form the best dependence. They are in course most liable at MOULTING TIME, a season at which all kinds of poultry should be carefully sheltered and attended. WOUNDS upon the head, or the WATTLES of Carriers and Barbs, to be treated as already directed for chickens ; but if the parts should CANKER, as it is styled, wash with stale urine, or alum and water, or any spirit and water : or make an unguent of burnt alum and honey ; or mix twenty grains of red precipitate with half an ounce of honey ; or dissolve five grains of white vitriol in half a table-spoonful of vinegar, and mix with the above, alum and honey. Pigeons are liable to several peculiar in- ternal complaints of weakness, for which it is pro- bable that prevention, or subsequent care, are the only remedies. A variety of remedies are offered for vermin in pigeons, such as stavesacre, tobacco, snuff, and similar articles, but the only effectual one is Strict CLEANLINESS. Croppers, particularly, are apt to GORGE them- selves, and all young pigeons are occasionally sub- ject to have the crop obstructed by receiving too great a quantity of food, and too speedily, for di- gestion. The first, or old pigeons in this state, may be treated as already directed for fowls. The crops of the squabs being gently stroked upwards with the fingers, will generally be cleared a bean at a time : should this method fail, which will seldom happen, the usual incision may be made. The VER- TIGO, MEGRIM, or GIDDINESS in pigeons, arises pro- bably from some error of diet, or keeping, and I 86 WENS — CORE — ROOM, AND AIR. know of no remedy, but confinement, with room for exercise, fine water being allowed, with chalk and saffron infused. For SCOURING, forge-water, or rust of iron in pellets of dough ; afterwards, sulphur in the water. In ERUPTIONS, sulphurated water. If any external application be necessary, the unguents already directed will be proper. For wounds in the FEET, Venice turpentine spread on brown paper. The FLESH WEN, may be either opened, or cut off, the part being washed with alum water, &c. or the dressings used as before directed. EXOSTOSIS or the BONE WEN upon the joints, somewhat similar to splents upon the shank of the horse, is deemed in- curable. The best cure, to fatten for the table. The CORE, a hard substance of a yellowish colour mixed with red, and resembling the core of an apple, is sometimes found in the anus or vent, and has been known in the oesophagus, or gullet of a pigeon. This will ripen and maturate, and may be then discharged, dissected, or drawn out. A purge of a very small quantity of tobacco is di- rected in this case, but on what grounds I am not informed. In keeping poultry of all kinds, it ought to be a first consideration that there be sufficient ROOM and AIR for the number kept ; otherwise, they will be, in the vulgar phrase, stanched, that is, infected by the impurity of their own atmosphere, and become, in consequence, subject to frequent mortality. THE TURKEY. SECTION X. The Turkey. 87 OF the TURKEY, or Meleagris, Buffon and others assert, there is but one species, and the only varie- ties I am aware of, in this country, are the COPPER and WHITE, the former long in great esteem ; the latter of a most delicate whiteness, contrasted with its red head, said to have been originally imported from Holland ; and the Norfolk BLACK already de- scribed, which has been of late years crossed with the large Virginian turkey, and is now esteemed our finest breed. On the etymology of the word turkey I am alto- gether at a loss, unless we may suppose such a name to have been ludicrously bestowed from the ostentatious strut of the bird, by way of comparison with the pompous gravity of the Turk, an idea per- haps countenanced by the notion that turkeys were indigenous to Asia or Africa, and had been origi- 88 THE WILD TURKEY. nally imported from thence to Europe. We might formerly, in all probability, be mistaken in the asser- tion that the turkey was entirely unknown to the old world, since it is described by several ancient Greek writers, and also bears its part in their fabu- lous narratives. The Meleagrides, sisters of Mele- ager, son of the king of Macedonia, bewailing the death of their brother, were metamorphosed into turkey-hens. This reading, however, has not produced a final decision, since the indigenous country of the turkey has remained a question with the learned ornitho- logists : those opposed to the pretension of the ancients asserting, that the Greek Meleagris, in reality, was not a turkey, but gallina dfricana, in modern English, a Guinea fowl. The error of sup- posing this bird of ancient Greece to have been a turkey, is said to have resulted from an observation made by Aristotle, that the bird laid spotted eggs, as our English turkeys do ; but it is also observable, that such is not the case with the turkeys of other countries. The disputants on this side the question assign the honour to America, as being the indige- nous country of the turkey ; and the fact that turkeys were unknown to Europe, until the discovery of Ame- rica, seems to afford considerable support to argu- ments on that side. Moreover, the gallina Africana, as we learn from Kennet's Parochial Antiquities, was known in England as early as the year 1277. The turkey was seen in America by the first dis- coverers, and intituled, by the Spanish doctor Fer- nandez, gallus Indicus, and gallus pavo, the peacock of the Indies. They were both in a wild and do- THE WILD TURKEY. 89 mesticated state in America on the arrival of the Spaniards, the wild being represented as of the largest size, reaching even the weight of sixty pounds, and of a superior flavour, but the flesh of a red colour. There is, however, some discrepancy in these accounts, certain of our voyagers repre- senting the wild turkeys of Virginia as carrion, utterly unfit to be eaten, and express their disap- pointment in the expectation of a good meal from some which they shot from a tree. The supposed existence, in America, of a breed of wild turkeys unfit for food, is as old as the time of the Buc- caneers ; it is certain, however, that there is also a very eatable and excellent breed in both North and South America, though it be but lately that we have any account of the introduction of an American variety into this country. This bird, of such worth and consequence for domestic use, was probably introduced into this coun- try from Spain, soon after the discovery of America; since Tusser, who lived in the reign of Henry VII., represents it as a common Christmas dish, together with pig, goose, and capon. The turkey did not reach France quite so early ; the first intelligence we have of it in that country, being at the nuptial feast of Charles IXth, in the year 1570. They have since been domesticated throughout the civilized world, in every climate, although said not to succeed equally on the barren sands of Africa. There is a sameness of colour in the wild turkey, and the original stock seems to have been black, do- mestication generally inducing a variety of colours. Yet one would suppose that white also must have 90 THE WILD TURKEY. been a primitive colour with them, else the transition from black to white would be rather unaccountable. In a state of nature, they are said to parade in flocks of five hundred, and even five thousand, feeding, in general, where abundance of nettles are to be found, the seed of which is their common food : they also feed upon a small red acorn, which, in the warm and fertile parts of America, is ripe in March, when the turkeys become so fat as to be unable to fly more than a few hundred yards, and are then soon run .down by dogs and horsemen. They roost upon the highest trees, and are very easily shot or other- wise destroyed, being a heedless and stupid bird. Since the planting and cultivation of such extensive tracts in America, the wild breed of turkeys has been driven into the uncultivated regions, and has long since become very rare. The Indians make elegant clothing and beautiful fans of wild turkey feathers, and the French of Louisiana manufacture them into umbrellas. The antipathy which the turkey cock entertains for any thing of a red colour is well known; and will indeed never be forgotten by myself, who, at about the age of eight years, having on a red waistcoat, was chased by two of them around a very extensive yard, to my most terrible affright and dis- comfiture. The county of Norfolk breeds the largest quantity of these fowls for market, which in the season, used formerly to travel, in their store state, upwards of one hundred miles, in a certain number of days, to the metropolis ; but from the date of our late improvements, their passage to London has been generally made by land carriage, some still WHITE TURKEY — BREEDING, &C. 91 travelling as formerly. They are also sent up dead, in hampers. A turkey cock, the property of J. Lee, Esq., of Redbrook, near Whitchurch, which was black in the year 1821, became afterwards perfectly white : this extraordinary change took place so gradually, that in the middle of the moulting the bird was beautifully mottled, the feathers being black and white alternately. Breeding and Management. One TURKEY-COCK is sufficient for six hens, and even more, under the management of some districts, where one breeder keeps a cock for his own, and for the use of his neighbours, who send their hens, and in that mode avoid the charge of keeping a cock ; but this practice is exposed to uncertainty, and is scarcely worth following, although, whilst the hen is sitting, the absence of a cock is no loss, as he will sometimes find the opportunity of tearing the hen from her nest, and in the struggle, of destroying the eggs. The hen will COVER, according to her size, from nine to fifteen EGGS, and unless attended to, will, perhaps, steal a nest abroad in some improper and insecure place. The turkey-hen lays a considerable number of eggs in the spring, to the amount of eighteen to twenty-five and upwards, and her term of incubation is thirty days. She is a most steady sitter, and will sometimes continue upon her eggs 92 INCUBATION — RANGE. until almost starved, rather than quit her nest : hence the necessity of constant attendance with both victuals and water. She is also a most affectionate mother; and that most curious and accurate ob- server, Buffon, remarks her soft and plaintive cry, with her different tones and inflections of voice, ex- pressive of her various feelings. The above remarks, however, of Buffon, are to be received with a due degree of circumspection, since I have known unsteady sitters among turkeys; and however affectionate, the turkey hen, from her natu- ral heedlessness and stupidity, is the most careless of mothers, and being a great traveller herself, will drag her brood over field, heath, or bog, never cast- ing a regard behind her to call in her straggling chicks, nor stopping while she has one left to follow her. She differs beside, in this particular, from the industrious common hen ; she never scratches for her chicks, leaving them entirely to their own in- stinct and their own industry. On these accounts, where turkeys are bred to any extent, and are per- mitted to range, it is necessary to allow them a KEEPER. The turkey-hen is nevertheless extremely vigilant and quick in the discovery of any birds of prey in the air, which may endanger her brood, and has the faculty, by a peculiar cry, of communicating her alarm, on which the chicks immediately seek shelter, or squat themselves upon the earth : but she will not, from her timid nature, fight for her brood as the common hen will. The domesticated as well as the wild turkey, runs with considerable speed. The CHICKS must be withdrawn from the nest as HATCHING MANAGEMENT — COOPING. 93 soon as hatched, and kept very warm. It is a very old and very general custom, to plunge them instantly into cold water, and then give them each a whole pep- per-corn, with a small tea-spoonful of milk. This bap- tism is used by way of a prophylactic against catching cold, to which young chicks are so peculiarly liable ; but it is a practice which I have never used, and from which, in severe weather, I should suspect danger ; however, their being instantly thereafter wrapped in wool or flannel may secure them. The turkey, from sitting so close and steadily, hatches more regularly and quickly than the common hen. The hen and brood must be HOUSED during a month or six weeks, dependent upon the state of the weather. First FOOD, curd or eggs boiled hard and chopped, and oat or barley-meal kneaded with milk, and frequently renewed with clear water, rather than milk, which often scours them. In case of the chicks appearing sickly and the feathers ruffled, in- dicating a chill from severity or change of weather, we generally allowed half ground malt with the barley-meal, and by way of a medicine, powdered caraway or coriander seeds. Also ARTIFICIAL WORMS, or boiled meat pulled into strings, in running after which the chicks have a salutary exercise. It is to be noted, that the above diet is beneficial for every other species of chicks, equally with the turkey. Superfluous moisture, whether external or inter- nal, is death to chickens, therefore all slop victuals should be rigorously avoided. The utmost CLEAN- LINESS is necessary, and a dry GRAVELLED layer is most proper. A fresh TURF of short sweet grass 94 THE TURKEY. daily, cleared from snails or slugs, which will scour young chicks, is very pleasing and comfortable to them, and promotes their health. The above sub- stantial food was always our chief dependence with this brood, nor did we ever find it necessary to waste time in collecting ants' eggs or nettle seed, or give clover, rue, or wormwood, according to the directions of the elder house-wives. Eggs boiled hard are equally proper with curd, and generally nearer at hand ; the egg being rotten, is said to be no objec- tion, although we never used such. Our first preference of water to milk for turkey chicks, so much recommended by the old writers, arose from the observation that chickens at large, among the troughs of milk-fed pigs, generally were sickly and scouring, and rough in their feathers : and more particularly so when they had access to potatoe-wash, which not only purged them, but glued their feathers together, keeping them in a comfort- less and unhealthy state. The weather being remarkably favourable, we have usually cooped the hen abroad, about two hours in the forenoon, in a moderately warm sun, whilst the chicks were only three or four weeks old, great care being taken that they did not stray far from the coop. Six weeks is their longest period of confine- ment within doors, after which it is more safe to coop the hen for another fortnight, that the chicks may acquire strength abroad sufficient to enable them to follow the dam, they being naturally inclined to stray too far, and to weaken themselves by fatigue. When full half-grown and well feathered, they be- MANAGEMENT. 95 come sufficiently hardy, and in a good range, will provide themselves throughout the day, requiring only to be fed at their out-letting in the morning, and on their return at evening : the same in spacious farm-yards ; if confined to the poultry-yard, their food and treatment is similar to that of the common cock and hen. Turkeys would prefer roosting abroad upon high trees, in the summer season, could that be permitted with a view to their safe keeping. In the Sporting Magazine, August, 1824, there is a letter signed Rusticus, giving an excellent and obviously practical account of their breeding and management, whence I have made the fol- lowing extracts. " At two periods of their lives turkeys are very apt to die ; viz. about the third day after they are hatched, or when they throw out what is called the red head, which they do at about six or eight weeks old. At the latter period, a few old beans split small, may be mixed with advantage in their food. " If any notion is entertained of a second hatch, the sooner one hen is turned away from her brood, and the brood mixed with that of another which has hatched about the same time, the better chance there .is of rearing it; as the hen which is so turned away will lay again in a fortnight or three weeks, and thus hatch a second time before the month of July is out. Even under these circumstances, the chance of rear- ing the young ones is very uncertain, as they are hardly strong enough to meet the cold nights in the Autumn, when they often become what is called club-footed, and die. I rather recommend letting 96 THE TURKEY. the hen lay as many eggs as she will, and turning her off when she becomes broody. Hens thus treated will lay again in the month of August, so that, under all circumstances, they may be called profitable birds." I have observed that " turkeys are both of a roving disposition and extremely heedless. Getting into a field of corn, they will do nearly as much mischief as pigs, by beating it down, though they are so stupid and backward at getting even ripe corn out of the ear, leaving the whole through which they have passed laid, yet the greater part of the corn untouched. As to pulse, they will pass over a field of ripe peas or beans, without having the wit to open a single pod. Turkeys in the neighbourhood of large woods, if not watched and prevented, will eagerly stroll thither without any desire to return, since they can there shelter and maintain themselves in both winter and summer: they very soon reassume the original wildness of their species. It is not generally known that Ireland produces very large flocks of turkeys, that they are there very cheap, and that the Irish climate seems to agree better with them than ours." To FATTEN. Sodden barley, oat, or barley and* wheat meal mixed, is the proper food "for turkeys confined to feeding ; generally their food and treat- ment are the same with other fowls. They may be fattened early, or may be CAPONIZED, a practice not very common ; but the bulk of the turkeys are fed for Christmas, or the months immediately preceding and subsequent, when the quantities fat sent from TO FATTEN — CRAMMING. 79 Norfolk alone, are immensely great ; as also are pre- viously the numbers of store turkeys. A mode of fattening turkeys, quite new to me, has been lately reported. It consists in cramming them with whole walnuts ? I really supposed the intention of the re- porters was to cram us, until a friend assured me, it is an old and successful practice. Turkeys share with the geese in gleaning the corn fields, or shacking, and the former forage over the woods and commons, in the autumnal season, after which they are put up to be completely fat- tened. I have heard of the Norfolk turkeys fat- tened to weigh twenty, and even thirty pounds each ; but I have never made any heavier than fifteen pounds ready for the spit. In December, 1822, two turkeys were bred and fed, and sent to Cork, one weighing thirty- three, the other thirty-four pounds, from Sawbridge worth, Herts, the residence of Sir John Malcolm. The turkey has ever been remarked for its ful- ness and weight of flesh in the breast — no doubt, beside, the prime part. The dead weight of a fat turkey being twenty-one pounds, according to the late Mr. Young, renders fourteen pounds when ready for the spit. In December, 1793, the number of turkeys sent to the metropolis, by the stage-coaches, from Nor- wich only, amounted to two thousand five hundred, and upwards, weighing nearly fourteen tons. On mentioning this fact to several poulterers, they as- sured me that, far enough from falling short of the above quantities during the late season, there can be F 98 DIFFICULTIES IN REARING. no doubt that they were greatly increased, even probably to half as many more. Whatever may be the distresses of the country, at any rate our luxuries do not fall off. Turkeys are the most tender and difficult to rear of any of our domestic fowls ; but with due care and attention — which, rightly considered in all things, give the least trouble — they may be produced and multiplied with little or no loss ; and the same may be averred with all truth of the rest of our domestic fowls, and animals in general, the losses and vexations annually deplored arising almost entirely from igno- rance and carelessness united hand in hand. Turkeys as well as geese, under a judicious system, may be rendered an object of a certain degree of consequence to the farmer. THE DUCK. 99 SECTION XL THE AQUATIC SPECIES. The Duck. THE GOOSE and DUCK genus is said by naturalists to comprehend upwards of one hundred species, varying considerably in size and plumage from each other : comparatively few of them have been domesti- cated, but the date of that domestication is far beyond all memorial or record. This genus of fowls was deservedly a great favour- ite with the ancients, from the mildness and simplicity of their character, from their great fecundity, and from the cheapness and ease with which they were pro- 100 CHARACTER OF THE DUCK. vided. Although the duck will eat flesh and gar- bage of any kind like the chicken, yet water insects, weeds, vegetables, corn, and pulse, are its gene- ral food : and, as has been already observed, the goose desires nothing but the latter. The inoffen- sive and harmless character is common to both species, rendering them most pleasant as well as profitable animals to keep, and the contrast between them and the chickens, in their nature and habits, is highly in favour of the goose and duck tribe. In fact, nothing can be more savage, cruel, and vora- cious than the very nature of the common fowl, on which domestication and society work no softening effect. Nor is this confined to the game breed, for chickens of all kinds will tear to pieces, on the slightest occasions, their nearest akin, devouring their living flesh and entrails. That which is said of the duck has full as much truth when applied to the chicken ; there is nothing too nasty, putrid, and abominable to human feelings for them, upon which eagerly to gratify their voracious appetites. The following ferocious trait in the character of the gallina, or common hen, is quoted from Reaumur, in the New French Dictionary of Natural History. He had shut up two hens with a cock ; these three individuals lived for some time in the strictest har- mony : on a sudden, the hens took a dislike to the cock, and they both together attacked him, and suc- ceeded, in the course of five or six days' ill treatment, in killing him. Surprised at such extraordinary conduct, Reaumur was curious to know the cause. He gave the two hens successively several cocks. THE DUCK. 101 Their fury kindled anew against each of them, and they would all have experienced the fate of the first, had he left them long enough to lose all their blood and strength. The extraordinary part of this case was, first, that the cocks destroyed were strong and bold, and would easily have governed thirty rebel hens at large, yet cooped up, did not attempt either to defend themselves or even to avoid the attacks of the furies, their wives. Secondly, the two hens, being released from confinement, became immedi-* ately as mild and submissive to the cock, as any on the dunghill. Of the kind and social nature of the duck, I had a few years since the following example. We had drawn off for the table the whole of a lot of ducks, one excepted. This duck immediately joined a cock and hens, and became so attached to them, that it never willingly quitted their company, notwithstanding some harsh usage, particularly from the cock. It would neither feed nor rest with- out them, and showed its uneasiness at their occa- sional absence by continual clamour. The manners and actions of the duck, whether upon land or water, are curious and pleasant to contemplate. Their re- gular afternoon parade and march in line, the elder drakes and ducks in front, from the pond homewards, is a beautiful country spectacle, to be enjoyed by those who have a relish for the charms of simple nature. It is as long since as the year 1767, that I recollect the following trait in the character and manner of the duck. A parcel of ducks, probably a score, which had been accustomed to their liberty, F 3 EIDER DUCK. were, for some particular reason, shut up during several hours. On the door of the coop being opened, they rushed out, threw themselves into a single rank and file, and marched with rather a quick step, three or four times around a certain space, constantly bowing their heads to the ground, then elevating them and fluttering their wings : the ceremony finished, they quickly adjourned to the water. I have laughed a thousand times at the conceit with which my boyish imagination was im- pressed, namely, that the act which I had witnessed, was nothing less than a duckish thanksgiving for deliverance. The social and conversing qualities of ducks, in- deed, receive a degree of countenance from the re- lations of ornithologists. The habitudes of the EIDER ducks, so valuable for their down, which frequent the lakes of northern countries, are thus described: the ducks, flying in the air, are lured down from the heights by the loud voice of the mallard below, which nature seems to have fur- nished with powerful organs for vociferation. To this call all stragglers resort, and in a short time, a lake, before naked, is completely black with water- fowl. There they huddle together, extremely busy and very loud. Upon what business they are thus incessantly employed all day, is not easy to guess by us, who understand not their language. There appears no food for them in the midst of the lake, where they thus sit and cabal, nor does any action of theirs indicate a search of food: nor can court- ship be the object, for which the season has not DUCK'S FLESH VARIETIES. 103 arrived ; yet not one of them seems a moment at rest. Now they pursue each other : now rise up screaming, in a body, then down again : the whole appearing one strange scene of bustle, conducted with the utmost regularity, and after all with nothing at all to do. It is a curious illustration of the de gustibus non est disputandum, that the ancients considered the swan as a high delicacy, and abstained from the flesh of the goose as impure and indigestible ; whilst the moderns reject the flesh of the swan, and eat that of the goose with an universal relish. But upon the excellence of the duck both parties seem to have agreed, as upon some self-evident, and thence incontrovertible proposition. The ancients went even beyond our greatest modern epicures, in their high esteem for the flesh of the duck, not only assign- ing thereto the most exquisite flavour and deli- cacy, but also attributing to it important medicinal properties ; for Plutarch asserts that Cato preserved his whole household in health, by dieting them with ducks' flesh as a prophylactic; surely a most plea- sant mode of taking physic ! Several of the Roman medical writers, moreover, strongly recommend the same regimen as the most powerful means of excit- ing the prolific virtue in the sexes. The opinion of a modern author respecting co- lour is, perhaps, most correct as it regards the goose ; it is, however, pretty generally to be de- pended on: he says — when one has seen a wild goose, a description of its plumage will, to a feather, exactly correspond with that of any other. But in F 4 104 VARIETIES. the tame kinds, no two of any species are exactly alike ; different in their size, their colours, and fre- quently in their general form, they seem the mere creatures of art ; and having been so long dependent upon man for support, they seem to assume forms entirely suited to his necessities. The only variety of the common duck among us, is the Rhone duck, imported from France, generally of a dark-coloured plumage, larger size, and sup- posed to improve our breed. They are of darker flesh, and more savoury than the English ducks, but somewhat coarse. Rhone ducks have been so con- stantly imported for a great number of years, that they are very generally mixed with our native breed. The English duck, particularly the white variety, and when they chance to have very light coloured flesh, are never of so high and savoury flavour as the darker colours. Muscovy and other foreign varieties of the duck, are kept rather out of curiosity than for the table. The white AYLESBURY ducks are a beautiful and ornamental stock, matching well in colour with the EMBDEN GEESE. They are said to be early breeders. Vast quantities are fattened for the London markets, where they are in great demand ; many families in Bucks derive a comfortable living from breed- ing and rearing ducks, the greater part of which, the early ones, at all events, are actually brought up by hand. The interior of the cottages of those who follow this occupation presents a very curious appearance to the stranger, being furnished with boxes, pens, &c. arranged round the walls for the AQUATICS — CAUTION — INCUBATION. 105 protection of the tender charge of the good wife, whose whole time and attention are taken up with this branch of domestic economy. The CANVASS-BACKED ducks of America, bred only on the Potomac and Susquehanah rivers, are sup- posed to be the best in the world. I believe they have never yet been imported into Europe. DUCK- LINGS are not safe in waters stocked with EELS. As to pike, every one initiated in country concerns well knows that pike will make free with both ducklings and goslings, but few duck -ponds have pike in them, though many have eels ; and few breeders, I conceive, would trust their young stock in waters where are pike. The ducklings provided for the Christmas market, a sufficiently insipid viand, have sometimes been sold as high as from six to twelve and fourteen shillings the couple. In China they hatch duck eggs by arti- ficial heat, the young broods, in their climate, shift- ing for themselves in a very short time. Under a regular system, it would be preferable to separate entirely the aquatic from the other poultry, the former to have their houses ranged along the banks of a piece of water, with a fence, and suffi- ciently capacious walks in front ; access to the water by doors to be closed at will. Should the water be of considerable extent, a small boat would be neces- sary, and might be also conducive to the pleasure of angling. It may be necessary to mention, by way of cau- tion, a case which occurred in our poultry-yard. The ducks having been kept a considerable time from the water, by a severe frost, on a certain fine F 5 106 THE DUCK — EGGS. day, the ice was broken for their convenience : be- ing full of play, several were lost by diving under the ice, and great uncertainty would have prevailed as to their fate, but a further breach of the ice chanced to be made, almost immediately beneath which they were found drowned. The DUCK will cover from eleven to fifteen eggs : her term of incubation THIRTY days. One DRAKE to five ducks. They begin to lay in February, and unless watched will lay abroad and conceal their eggs. The duck, on leaving her nest, will cover the eggs with leaves, or any thing within her reach, as will the goose, sometimes ; the hen never. Our old housewives had a notion that the variety of ducks which have the bill bending upwards, lay a greater number of eggs than common ; of which I can say nothing from my own observation, but can remark, that with ducks well fed, I never failed to have plenty of eggs. A duck has been known to lay, in the autumn, during forty-six nights successively, after which she continued to lay every other night. The duck generally lays by night, or early in the morning, seldom after ten o'clock, with the excep- tion of chilling and comfortless weather, when she will occasionally retain her egg until mid-day or af- ternoon. In order to keep her within until she has laid, some will EXAMINE HER ; but it is better avoided, as her appearance and weight behind, or otherwise, may be trusted to by constant observers. Accus- tomed to a nest, she will not forsake it. It has been formerly directed, to give each duck her own eggs, to which, however, much consequence HATCHING — CONFINEMENT. 107 need not be attached ; nevertheless, the eggs may be appropriated to each, with respect to colour ; since white and light-coloured ducks produce similar- coloured eggs, and the brown and dark-coloured ducks those of the greenish blue and largest size. At any rate, it is most safe that the eggs be all of one colour, since I hiive known some few instances of the duck turning out with her bill those eggs which were not of her natural colour. The duck swimming with her tail flat and level with the water, indicates her egg being ready for protrusion. In 1823, a duck, the property of Mr. John Morrel, of Belper Dally, laid an egg every day for eighty-five successive days, During INCUBATION, the duck requires a secret and safe place, rather than any attendance, and will, at nature's call, cover her eggs and seek her food, and the refreshment of the waters. On HATCHING, there is not often a necessity for taking away any of the brood, barring accidents ; and having hatched, let the duck retain her young upon the nest her own time. On her moving with her brood, prepare a coop, upon the short grass, if the weather be fine, or under shelter if otherwise : a wide and flat dish of water, often to be renewed, standing at hand ; barley, or any meal, the first food. In rainy wea- ther, particularly, it is useful to clip the tails of the ducklings, and the surrounding down beneath, since they are else apt to draggle and weaken themselves. The duck should be cooped at a distance from any other. The period of her CONFINEMENT to the coop de- F 6 108 HATCHED BY HENS — ANCIENT ERROR. pends on the weather and the strength of the duck- lings. A fortnight seems the longest time neces- sary ; and they may sometimes be permitted to en- joy the pond at the end of a week, but not for too great a length at once, least of all in cold wet wea- ther, which will affect and cause them to scour and appear rough and draggled. In such case, they must be kept within a while, and have an allowance of bean or pea-meal mixed with their ordinary food. The meal of buck-wheat and the former is then pro- per. The straw beneath the duck should be often renewed, that the brood may have a dry and com- fortable bed; and the mother herself be well fed with solid corn, without an ample allowance of which ducks are not to be reared or kept in perfection, although they gather so much abroad. DUCK EGGS are often hatched by HENS, when ducks are more in request than chickens ; also as ducks, in unfavourable situations, are the more easy to rear, as more hardy ; and the plan has no objec- tion in a confined place, and with a small stock, without the advantage of a pond; but the hen is much distressed, as is sufficiently visible, and, in fact, injured, by the anxiety she suffers in witnessing the supposed perils of her children, venturing upon the water. The old wife's plan of suffering a hen to hatch a chicken or two with the ducklings, is unwise. The hen, for the sake of even a single individual of her more natural progeny, will entirely neglect her foster children the ducklings, at the critical time when they most need her guidance and protection. Their TO FATTEN. 109 aquatic nature will be constantly urging them to the water, where they will remain until exhausted, re- turning to land like drowning rats, and probably finding no mother to brood them. Thus great numbers of ducklings are annually lost ; and half-a- dozen of them may be lost for the sake of a chick or two. I have heard of setting duck eggs under a goose, which would cover a considerable number. M. Tessiers memoir read to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, states the period of incubation of the hen upon ducks' eggs, to be from twenty- jive to thirty-four days. I have neither known nor before heard of such a protracted sitting as thirty- four days. Ducks are FATTENED, either in confinement, with plenty of food and water, or full as well, restricted to a pond, with access to as much solid food as they will eat : which last method I prefer. They fatten speedily, in this mode, mixing their hard meat with such variety abroad as is natural to them, more particularly if already in good case ; and there is no check or impediment to thrift from pining, but every mouthful tells and weighs its due weight. A dish of mixed food, if preferred to whole corn, may remain on the bank, or rather in a shed, for the ducks. I must here mention a fact, which I have either ac- tually verified, or supposed that I have verified. BARLEY, in any form, should never be used to fatten aquatics, ducks or geese, since it renders their flesh loose, woolly, and insipid, and depriving it of that high savoury flavour of brown meat, which is its va- luable distinction ; in a word, rendering it chickeny, 110 QUALITY OF FLESH. not unlike in flavour the flesh of ordinary and yel- low-legged fowls. OATS, whole or bruised, are the standard fattening material for DUCKS and GEESE, to which may be added pea-meal, as it may be required. The house-wash is profitable to mix up their food, under confinement ; but it is obvious, whilst they have the benefit of what the pond affords, they can be in no want of loose food. Acorns in season are much affected by ducks which have a range ; and in former days, residing on the borders of a forest, I had annually great num- bers fattened entirely on that provision, to such ex- cess, that the quantity of fat was inconvenient, both in cooking, and upon the table. Ducks so fed are certainly inferior in delicacy, but the flesh is of high flavour, and is far from disagreeable. I have also occasionally eaten of them fed on butchers' offal, when the flesh resembles wild fowl in flavour, with, how- ever, considerable inferiority. Offal-fed ducks' flesh does not yet emit the abominable stench which issues from offal-fed pork, and with which the dining tables of London are so frequently and satisfactorily per- fumed. THE GOOSE. Ill The Goose. The GOOSE is a considerable object of rural economy, and kept in large flocks in the Eastern and Fen counties of England. In some of those parts, their geese are exposed to the cruel operation of being annually stripped of their feathers, and it has been said that fowls plucked alive have been sold in the market at Edinburgh. Indeed, the in- terested feelings of man know no scruple, and the cruelties practised upon the poor sea-fowl, which have their down and feathers torn from them, and are then cast into the sea to perish, are enormous, and yet, it should seem, irremediable. Not so the disgusting barbarity, under the insane idea of sporty formerly, perhaps even now, practised in Scotland. These harmless fowls are hung up alive, by the legs, and savages, men and boys, ride at them full speed, 112 DISGRACEFUL CRUELTIES. catching them, as they can, by the neck ! And there can be no doubt that the horribly pleasing process of roasting a goose alive, as detailed by Dr, Kitchiner, in his Cook's Oracle, a book invaluable, equally to the gourmand and the economist, was ac- tually practised in former days. Indeed, we have proofs innumerable, and utterly disgraceful to this enlightened nation, of the absolute necessity of amending the enthusiastic and indefatigable Martin's Bill, and rendering it completely comprehensive. It would have the effect of teaching men to think and feel, and to be convinced of the horrible and unnatural error of deriving pleasure from the racked and tortured feelings of other animals, endowed with feelings similar to their own. The present writer, upwards of thirty years since, led the way to the late Lord Erskine's and Mr. Martin's Bills ; indeed was then, so far as he is informed, the first practical writer on the subject. A writer in the Monthly Magazine, December, 1823, remarks humanely on the cruelty of plucking the living goose, proposing a remedy, which I should rejoice excedingly to find practicable and effective. He remarks on the additional torture experienced by the poor fowl, from the too frequent unskilfulness and want of dexterity of the operator — generally a woman. The skin and flesh are sometimes so torn as to occasion the death of the victim ; and even when the fowls are plucked in the most careful manner, they lose their flesh and appetite ; their eyes become dull, and they languish in a most piti- able, state, during a longer or a shorter period. DISGRACEFUL CRUELTIES. 113 Mortality also has been periodically very extensive in the flocks of geese, from sudden and imprudent exposure of them to cold, after being stripped, and more especially during severe seasons and sudden atmospheric vicissitudes. There are many instances, in bleak and cold situations, of hundreds being lost in a single night, from neglect of the due precaution of comfortable shelter for as long a time as it may appear to be required. The remedy proposed, on the above authority, is as follows : — feathers are but of a year's growth, and in the moulting season they spontaneously fall off, and are supplied by a fresh fleece. When, therefore, the geese are in full feather, let the plumage be removed, close to the skin, by sharp scissors. The produce would not be much reduced in quantity, whilst the quality would be greatly improved, and an indemnification be expe- rienced, in the uninjured health of the fowl, and the benefit obtained to the succeeding crop. Labour also would be saved in dressing, since the quilly portion of the feathers, when forcibly detached from the skin, is generally in such a state, as, after all, to require the employment of scissors. After this operation shall have been performed, the down from the breast may be removed by the same means. The time has arrived, I trust, for successful exer- tions in the cause of compassion towards tortured and helpless animals ; and I presume to make a se- rious call on the clergy and leading aristocracy of the districts implicated, for the exercise of their in- fluence in this case, granting the reform to be practi- cable. 114 GOOSE DUNG — CHARACTER. Goose dung is a very powerful manure, and a large flock would have considerable effect in fining and improving the grass of coarse meadow-land. Geese, as well as turkeys, it is well known, travel to the London markets ; but it is not so generally known that goose-feeding, in the vicinity of the me- tropolis, is so large a concern, that one person feeds for market upwards of five thousand in the season. The best geese in England are, probably, to be found on the borders of Suffolk and Norfolk, and in Berkshire. Wild geese have not the supe- riority of the wild duck, tasting of fish, and being far inferior to the tame. The foreign fancy varieties of the goose are chiefly ornamental for lawns and waters, and as objects of curiosity. A GOOSE on a farm in Scotland, about ten years since, of the clearly ascertained age of eighty-one years, healthy and vigorous, was killed whilst sitting over her eggs, by a sow ; it was supposed she might have lived still many years, and her fecundity ap- peared to be permanent. Other geese have been proved to have reached the age of seventy years. It will not prove tedious, I trust, to dilate yet awhile, in the anecdotal way, on this subject, though a goose. There is something extremely anomalous in the disposition of this apparently pacific and harmless species, which, nevertheless, possesses high courage, and is even naturally of pugnacious habits. I have seen two geese fighting and tearing each other with the utmost rage and virulence, as if de- termined to fight it out, mordicus, to death, whilst the gander stood looking on with the utmost apathy AGE — THE GOOSE-PIT. 115 and stupidity of unconcern. At St. Petersburg, in Russia, says Dr. Granville, they have no cock-pits, but they have a goose-pit! — where, in the spring, they fight ganders, trained to the sport, and so peck at each other's shoulders till they draw blood. These ganders have been sold as high as five hun- dred roubles each ; and the sport prevails to a degree of enthusiasm among the hemp -merchants. Strange that the vicious and inhuman curiosity of man can delight to arouse and stimulate the principles of enmity and cruelty, in these apparently peaceful and sociable birds. There is, however, remarked to be a natural antipathy between the game-cock and gander. As another example of the native courage of this bird — several years past, some geese were feeding near Congleton, Cheshire, opposite the tithe- barn doors, having a sparrow for their companion. Suddenly, a hawk pounced upon the sparrow, when a gander flew to his relief, arid laid the hawk prostrate. It has been remarked by naturalists, that the goose and the eagle, to which should have been added the swan, are, as far as it is known, the longest lived of the feathered tribe ; and, in addition to the in- stances above given of the longevity of the former, it is a well authenticated fact, that, in 1824, there was a goose living in the possession of Mr. Hewson, of Glenham, near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, which was then upwards of a century old. It had been throughout that term in the constant possession of Mr. Hewson's forefathers and himself: and, on quitting his farm, he would not suffer it to be sold 116 ANECDOTE OF A GOOSE. with his other stock, but made a present of it to the in-coming tenant, that the venerable fowl might ter- minate its career on the spot where its useful life had been spent such a length of days. The following singular trait of a sincere attach- ment to man, was communicated to me by a respect- able correspondent of N. B. In March of the pre- sent year, 1829, Mr. Burnett, Craigellachie Inn, Elgin, had a goose nearly a year old, that formed so strong an attachment to him, as to follow him abroad through the crowd and bustle of the High- street. It would attend him to the hair-dresser's shop, and patiently wait till he was shaved, after which, accompanying him to the shop of another person, proceeding thence home with him, cheek by jowl. This affectionate bird never fails to recognize its master under whatever change of dress ; knowing also his voice, though not seeing him ; and no sooner does he speak, than it responds to him, in its own unintelligible dialect. Had Butler been aware of a faculty like the above in the goose, he probably would not have berhymed it to the following pur- port : — " Art has no enemies Next the ignorant, but owls and geese." It is asserted that, at the great goose-feeders near London, the stock is fed upon the purest and best food, kept in the highest state of cleanliness, and that they are among the finest and best with which the metropolis is supplied. I can neither contro- TREATMENT OF GEESE. 117 vert nor warrant this, but have no doubt but that the reader may depend on the following statement, with which I have been lately furnished by an eye- witness. On the TREATMENT of Geese, at the extensive Esta- blishments of the feeders, in the vicinity of the Metropolis. " There cleanliness, punctuality, and regularity pre- vail : the business is conducted as it were by machi- nery, rivalling the vibrations of the pendulum in uni- formity of movement. The grand object of prepar- ing, not geese only, but poultry in general, for the market in as short a time as possible, is effected solely by paying unremitting attention to their wants ; in keeping them thoroughly clean, in supplying them with proper food, (dry, soft, and green,) water, exer- cise-ground, &c. On arriving at the feeder's they are classed according to condition, &c. ; they soon become reconciled to their new abode, and to each other. They are fed three times a day ; and it is truly asto- nishing how soon they acquire the knowledge of the precise time ; marching from the exercise-ground to the pens, like soldiers in close column. " GOSLINGS, or young geese, come to hand gene- rally about the month of March, after which, a re- gular and constant supply arrives weekly throughout the season. At first they are fed on soft meat, con- sisting of prime barley, or oatmeal ; afterwards on 118 LONDON FEEDERS. dry corn. An idea prevails with many, that any sort of corn will do for poultry ; this is a grand mistake. Those who feed largely know better ; and invariably make it a rule to buy the best : the Messrs. Boyce of Stratford, whose pens are capable of holding the extraordinary number of four thousand geese, inde- pendent of ducks, turkeys, &c., consume twenty coombs of oats daily, exclusive of other food. On walking round the premises of these gentlemen, in the spring of the present year (1829), the writer was shown above twelve hundred of that handsome bird the pintada, or guinea-hen, which unites, in some respects, the character of the pheasant and turkey, possessing the delicate shape of the former, and the bare head of the latter. " From the improvement in our roads, and the consequent increased facility of communication, vast quantities of poultry are now fattened and killed in the country : the trade of the London feeder, there- fore, has fallen off in a ratio corresponding with the increase of that of the provincial dealer ; not that the public are benefited, or that the countryman derives more profit. The salesman steps in with a proffer of services ; but he must be paid, and the money, of course, comes from the pockets of the public at large." I shall only remark, on the conclusion of this valu- able communication, that " the labourer is worthy of his hire," and that middle-men, or salesmen, are in- dispensable. A GANDER and five geese comprise a single breed- EARLY LAYING. 119 ing stock. The goose sits upon her eggs from twenty-seven to thirty days, covering from eleven to fifteen eggs. A nest should be prepared for her in a secure place, as soon as carrying straw in her bill, and other tokens, declare her readiness to lay. The earliness and warmth of the spring are the general causes of the early laying of geese, which is of con- sequence, since there may be time for two broods within the season, not however a common occur- rence ; and which happening successively for two or three seasons, has occasioned some persons, formerly, to set a high price upon their stock, as if of a pecu- liar and more valuable breed than the common. The method, however, to attain this advantage is, to feed breeding geese high throughout the winter, with solid corn, and on the commencement of the breed- ing season, to allow them boiled barley, malt, fresh grains, and fine pollard mixed up with ale, or other stimulants. In 1829, Mr. W. Holmes, of Spalding- ton Lanes, near Howden, Yorkshire, had a goose in his possession, which within the twelve months, laid seventy eggs ; twenty-six at the usual time of in- cubation, from which she hatched and brought up seventeen fine goslings. She began to lay again at the end of harvest, and continued to lay every other day to the end of the year. She is still in high condition. Instances are said to have occurred of a goose laying upwards of one hundred eggs within the year. With a good GANDER present, no mischief can happen to the sitting geese, without extraordinary alarm, he sitting sentinel at the chamber-door of his 120 HATCHING — FOOD AND MANAGEMENT. wives. With respect to feeding the goose or duck upon the nest, it may be occasionally required, but is not a thing of much account, since they will gene- rally repair to the water sufficiently often, from their natural inclination. The goose will not quit until she has completed her hatch, nor will it be very practicable to take any of the goslings from her, were it necessary, as she is too strong and resolute, and might kill some in the struggle. It has been formerly recommended to keep the newly-hatched GULLS in house, during a week, lest they get cramp from the damp earth, to which they are indeed liable ; but we did not find this in-door confinement necessary, penning the goose and her brood between four hurdles, upon a piece of dry grass well sheltered, putting them out late in the morning, or not at all in severe weather, and ever taking them in early in the evening. Sometimes we have pitched double the number of hurdles, for the convenience of two broods, there being no quar- rels among this sociable and harmless part of the feathered race, so unlike those quarrelsome and mur- derous fiends, the common or gallinaceous fowls. We did not even find it necessary to interpose a parting hurdle, which on occasion may be always conveniently done. The FIRST FOOD similar to th.at of the duck, but with some cooling greens, clivers, or the like, intermixed — namely, barley-meal, bruised oats, or fine pollard. For the FIRST RANGE, a convenient field contain- ing water is to be preferred to an extensive common, over which the gulls or goslings are dragged by the HEMLOCK — YEW — STORE FEEDING. 121 GOOSE, until they become cramped or tired, some of them squatting down and remaining behind at even- ing, which the good housewife sees no more. It is also necessary to destroy all the HEMLOCK or deadly night-shade, within the range of young geese, many of which drop off annually, from eating that poison, when the cause is not suspected. I know not that the elder geese will eat hemlock, but I believe that both the young and old have been occasionally killed by swallowing slips of YEW. The young becoming pretty well feathered, will also be too large to be contained or brooded beneath the mother's wings, and will then sleep in groups by her side, and must be supplied with good and renewed straw beds, which they convert into excellent dung. Being now able to frequent the pond, and range the common at large, the young geese will obtain their living, and few people, favourably situated, allow them any thing more excepting the vegetable produce of the garden. It has, however, been my constant practice, al- ways to dispense a moderate quantity of any solid corn or pulse at hand, to the flocks of store geese, both morning and evening, on their going out and their return, in the evening more especially, toge- ther with such greens as chanced to be at command : cabbage, mangold leaves, lucern, tares, and occa- sionally sliced carrots, and turnips. By such full keeping our geese were ever in a fleshy state, and attained a large size ; the young ones were also for- ward and valuable breeding stock. It may be here necessary to state, that the German word mangoUt, G 122 FATTENING — IMPOSTHUME. which is commonly anglicised mangel, signifies beet and wurtzel root. The latter word is then super- fluous. We do not phrase it turnip root or carrot root. Thus much for the economy of words. Geese managed on the above mode will be speed- ily FATTENED green, that is, at a month or six weeks old, or after the run of the corn stubbles. Two or three weeks after, the latter must be sufficient to make them thoroughly fat ; indeed, I prefer a goose fattened entirely in the stubbles, granting it to have been previously in good case, and be full fed in the field ; since an over-fattened goose is too much in the oil-cake and grease-tub style, to admit even the idea of delicacy, tender firmness, or true flavour. But when needful to fatten them, the feed- ing-houses already recommended are most conve- nient. With clean and renewed beds of straw, plenty of clean water, and upon oats crushed or otherwise, pea or bean-meal, the latter, however, coarse and ordinary food ; or pollard ; the articles mixed up with skimmed milk when to be obtained, geese will fatten pleasantly and speedily. Very lit- tle greens of any kind should be given to fattening geese, as being too laxative, and occasioning them to throw off their corn too quickly ; whence their flesh will prove less substantial and of inferior fla- vour. Greens are the more proper food for store geese. I know nothing of the imposthume, said by our elders to grow upon the rump of the feeding goose, and through which she perpetually, like a bear, sucks her own fat, and which excrescence thence SPANISH, EMBDEN, AND EGYPTIAN GEESE. 123 must needs be exsected. Nor am I, however ar- dently attached to the writings of antiquity, suffi- ciently classical, or a gourmand of sufficient taste and calibre, to rival those of ancient Rome, in the size of their goose LIVERS. I have thence never fed my geese, during sixteen days, with a paste of Turkey figs, stamped and beaten up with cream, in order to bring their livers upon the table, each the weight of three or four pounds ! I modestly leave such prac- tices to princes, ministers, and men in high place. It may be added, that, equal quantities of the meal of OATS, RYE, and PEASE, mixed with skimmed milk, form an excellent feeding article for geese and ducks. The SPANISH geese used to be preferred, but I have had no experience in them. Our flocks, whilst we resided in Middlesex, in the year 1788, were esteemed the finest in the vicinity ; the breed of them had been procured for us, from the neighbourhood of Bungay, in Suffolk, by Goff, the dealer, already spoken of. Formerly, the Embden geese were in the highest esteem. They are all white, male and female, and of a superior, indeed, very uncommon size. Whether or not, as might be expected, there be a countervailing objection in a corresponding whiteness, and thence defect of savoury flavour in the flesh, I am unable to say, having yet had no experience in the Embden variety of geese. The Egyptian or African goose is described as a very beautiful bird, more known for- merly in this country than at present. Two of them were lately shot in Scotland. Whether their merit consists in mere ornament, or in their use for the table, does not seem to have been hitherto ascertained. G 2 124 THE SWAN. The Swan. The SWAN. Exclusive of ornament, the chief use of the swan is to clear pieces of water from weeds, a service which was effected some years since by swans, over a considerable breadth of water, at Clumber, the residence of the Duke of Newcastle, in the course of a year or two ; but they are generally reputed great destroyers of the young fry of fish. It is to the Marquis of Exeter, that the public are indebted for the singular discovery, that swans pre- serve ponds free from weeds. There is a sheet of water at Burghley, about a mile in length, which used to loe so overrun with weeds, that three men were constantly employed six months in every year to keep SUPERIOR LONGEVITY. 125 them under. In 1796 the Marquis put two pair of swans on the water. They completely cleared away the weeds the first year, and none have since appeared, as the swans eat them before they rise to the surface. In the Low Countries, swans are kept for the same purpose. The antiquity of this delicate and stately bird, the silent swan, is conspicuous in the pages of history and of poetry. The prototype of the domesticated breed has been probably lost in the lapse of time, since the wild swans of all countries differ essentially both in plumage and organic structure, from the tame. The longevity of the swan seems to equal, if not exceed, that of any other animal, as it is said to live three centuries, a fact, which it seems strange, and is to be regretted, has not been correctly ascertained in some of our great families of old, so extremely attached to this noble bird. Hence I beg leave to recommend to the keepers and amateurs of the swan, to open a stud-book, wherein a sufficient number of individuals may be named and marked ; and even that extracts may be introduced into the wills of present and suc- ceeding proprietors, that our posterity may be better informed on this branch of natural history than our- selves. They are chiefly to be found upon the Thames, and probably also, as in former days, on the inlet of the sea near Abbotsbury, Dorset, and in the river Trent. Upon the Avon, in Warwickshire, how- ever, as I am informed by a late sojourner in that vicinity, wild swans are frequently seen ; they are in colour white and grey, and in size smaller than the 126 AGE, HABITS. domesticated. They are occasionally to be met with in the London markets of Leadenhall and Newgate, the asking price at present five shillings each. Their skins only are used. Fifteen wild swans were shot, January, 1830, by one man, in Shoreham harbour, and sold to the furriers at five shillings each. Their flesh is no longer in request as food, with the excep- tion of cygnets, or young swans, which are still fat- tened, at Norwich particularly, for the Christmas feast, and command the price of one guinea each. The swan feeds like the goose, and has the same familiarity with its keepers, kindly arid eagerly receiv- ing bread which is offered, although it is a bird of courage equal to its apparent pride, and both the male and female are extremely dangerous to approach during incubation, or whilst their brood is young, as they have sufficient muscular force to break a man's arm with a stroke of their wing. They both labour hard in forming a nest of water plants, long grass and sticks, generally in some retired part or inlet of the bank of the stream or piece of water on which they are kept. The hen begins to lay in February, pro- ducing an egg every other day, until she has depo- sited seven or eight, on which she sits six weeks, although Buffon says it is nearly two months before the young are extruded. Swans' eggs are much larger than those of a goose, white, and with a hard, and some- time stuberous shell. The cygnets are ash-coloured when they first quit the shell, and for some months after; indeed, they do not change their colour, nor begin to moult their plumage, until twelve months APPELLATIVES — MUSCOVY GOOSE. 127 old, nor assume their perfect glossy whiteness until advanced in their second year. I have been taken to task by certain instructors, on the score of appellatives appropriate to the swan. In their opinions it seems, that the terms COCK and HEN, applied to the swan, are objectionable, more especially cock, as homely and impolite. They prefer male and female. Bien done, I have not the slightest objection to accommodate my worthy critics — male and female let it be. Having proceeded this length, in order to give satisfaction if possible, I have now to state the little I know further of this matter, which is, that, in the regular professional slang, they are styled COB and PEN, as designating the sexes of the swan. I now say to every adept, utrumve mavis. As to the homely and equivocal term, cock, I regret to be com- pelled to observe, that I really know not how we shall be able to rid ourselves of it, more especially in proper names. The CYGNOIDES from Guinea, commonly called the SWAN-GOOSE, or the MUSCOVY-GOOSE, a sort of middle species between the swan and the goose, is sufficiently plentiful in Britain, and unites so well with the com- mon goose, according to report, as to cause little or no perceptible difference in the progeny. They are distinguished by their erect gait, and the screaming which they continue during almost the whole day, without any obvious incitement. The BLACK SWANS of New Holland I have not hitherto had the opportunity of seeing. They were introduced into this country some years since, but I o 4 128 BLACK SWANS — SWAN HOPPING. believe the number bred or remaining is very small. They are said to degenerate here as to size, yet the imported individuals, it seems, were not larger than our indigenous breed. There is said by naturalists, to be some disparity between the wild and tame black swan, in respect to the bill and organization of the bones. Thence, probably, they form different species of the same genus. Swans wandering by night, in search of water- cresses chiefly, are always in danger from the different vermin which prey upon poultry and game — weasels, stoats, pole-cats, &c. And swans thus destroyed, exhibit no wounds or marks upon the body, but upon the head and neck, where, on a minute inspection, the wounds are discovered through which the vermin have sucked the life-blood, leaving the bulk so little affected that the feathers are unruffled. The wounds given by the sharp and long teeth of the vermin, appear scarcely the size of a pin's head, but are generally above half an inch deep. Geese and turkeys are also liable to be destroyed by these nocturnal marauders, which, like all beasts of prey, sleep throughout the day. Our readers, generally, have heard of the Royal Swan hopping or dancing annually, in August, up the Thames, as far as Oxford, the ancient bounds, by the Lord Mayor of London and his attendants, the ap- pointed conservators of the royal birds. Particular officers are appointed, and their deputies chosen, by whom the birds are marked on the bill, with a num- ber of cross bars, formed in a diamond shape. Ac- cording to the established regulation, when too many THE PEACOCK. To face page 129. PEA FOWLS PEACOCK. swans have flocked to a particular part of the river, they are caught and put into boats, and thence distri- buted to other parts. Pea and Guinea Fowls, and Pheasants. The PEA COCK and HEN, and GUINEA FOWLS, are always kept by the London dealers, whence any per- son in the country may be supplied with breeding stock. Exclusive of the consideration of ornament to a poultry yard, the peacock is very useful for the de- struction of all kinds of reptiles ; but at the same time some peacocks are said to be vicious, and apt to tear to pieces and devour young chicks and ducklings, suf- fered to be within their reach. They are also destruc- tive in a garden. This most beautiful of all the feathered race is sup- posed to have been originally a native of India, and pea- cocks are said to be at present found in a wild state upon the islands of Java and Ceylon. The history of king Solomon is a voucher for the antiquity of the peacock, and also the choice of the goddess Juno, who selected this for her favourite bird, from its gorgeous and bril- liant plumage, and majesty of demeanour. It is as- serted by the ancient writers that the first peacock was honoured with a public exhibition at Athens ; that many people travelled thither from Macedonia, to be spectators of that beautiful phenomenon, the paragon of the feathered race. It is probable the ancients, as well as the moderns, introduced the peacock upon the table, rather as an ornament than a viand. There are varieties of this bird, some white ; they perch on trees G5 130 PINTADO — ITS FORM AND HABITS. like the turkey. Their age extends to twenty years, and at three the tail of the cock is full and complete. The cock requires from two to four hens, and where the country agrees with them, they are very prolific. They are granivorous, like other domestic fowls, pre- ferring barley. The pea-hen, like the turkey, sits a month. The PINTADO, or Guinea Hen, has been said to unite the character and properties of the pheasant and the turkey. It is about the size of the common hen, but standing high upon its legs gives it the appear- ance of a larger size. The back is round, with the tail turned downwards, like the partridge. It is an active, restless, and courageous bird, and will even attack the turkey, although so much above its size. The Guinea fowls assimilate perfectly with the com- mon species in habits and in kinds of food ; but have this peculiarity, that the cocks and hens are so nearly alike, it is difficult to distinguish them. They have also a peculiar gait and cry, or chuckling. The head is covered with a kind of casque, with wattles under the bill, and the whole plumage is either black or dark grey, speckled with regular and uniform white spots. The pintado is generally supposed to be a native of Guinea, whence its additional name ; but it is in equal plenty in America. In those countries it perches on trees, and in the wild state, makes its nest in the holes of the palm-tree. It is gregarious, and often found in large flocks. Like the peacock, it may be said to be universally domesticated. There is sometimes, but not invariably, a distinc- tion of colour in certain parts, between the cock and GREAT LAYER TENDERNESS. 131 hen pintado ; the manner and gait of the cock, however, soon distinguish him. However long domesticated, these birds retain some part of their original wild habits, and will stray in search of a place in which to drop their eggs, without any apparent solicitude as to their security. They lay an abundance of eggs, smaller than those of the common hen, speckled, re- sembling wild, rather than common eggs. It some- times happens that they are everlasting layers, in which case, and indeed generally, it is most profitable to hatch pintados under a common hen, which will cover an additional number of those small eggs. The chicks are extremely tender, and should not be hatched too early in the spring ; a sudden change of the wind in March, to the N.E., has destroyed many a brood of them. G 6 PHEASANTS. SECTION XII. Pheasants. I ACKNOWLEDGED myself obliged to Mr. Castang, formerly of the Menagerie in the Hampstead Road, near Tottenham-Court Road, London, for several novel particulars in the additions to the first edition of this work, which particulars are now arranged under their proper heads. I have been since under a further obligation to the same intelligent and ex- perienced person, on the subject of pheasants, with which my own practical acquaintance has not hitherto been very extensive. AGE WILD. 133 The PHEASANT (phasianus) is a native of the old continent, and supposed by ancient authors to have been originally found on the banks of the PHASIS, whence the name was probably derived. The Ar- gonauts, in their celebrated expedition to Colchis, together with the golden fleece, brought back with them the Asiatic pheasant, the plumage of which was equally rich and resplendent with the fleece. Authors, however, differ on this point of ancient history; a discrepancy of no material consequence here. This bird, indeed, may well vie with the peacock, if not for gaudiness, yet for the richness, variety, and sober majesty of its colours, and for the beautiful symmetry of its form; and when Croesus, king of Lydia, was seated on his throne, adorned with royal magnificence, and all the blazing pomp of Eastern splendour, it is recorded that he asked Solon whether he had ever before beheld so much finery. The Greek philosopher replied, he had seen the beautiful plumage of the pheasant, and had found nothing superior. The pheasant is not a long-lived bird; but it is probable the PERIOD OF EXISTENCE assigned to it by some writers, namely, six or seven years, is too short. The wholesomeness of its flesh was prover- bial among the old physicians ; it is of a high flavour and alkalescent quality, and in perfection during autumn. A young pheasant very fat is reckoned an exquisite dainty. In a wild state, the hen LAYS from eighteen to twenty eggs in a season, but sel- dom more than ten in a state of confinement. Pheasants are not to be tamed by domestication, 134 HATCHING. like other fowls; nor is the flesh of those brought up in the house, in any degree comparable to that of the wild pheasant : thence they are bred at home, either merely for show, or for the purpose of re- plenishing the proprietor's grounds, both with regard to number or particular varieties, However good nursing mothers in a wild state, pheasant hens are far otherwise in the house, whence their eggs are almost always HATCHED at home by the common hen, generally, at present, by the smooth-legged BANTAM. Certainly the pheasant hen, barring the above ob- jection, would be far the more eligible, on all accounts; in particular, from her ability to cover a greater num- ber of eggs, and her being the natural mother of the young brood. For partridges' eggs, the bantam hen is the proper domestic sitter, or rather, the only one. When the eggs of these birds are found deserted in the mowing season, it is quite natural for the finders and proprietors to desire to get them hatched, which is far the easiest part of the business ; the diffi- culty lies in preserving the young broods during the first few weeks, as they cannot with safety be trusted at large, with the hen, like chickens. The above particulars on the laying and habits of the pheasant, were derived from the experience of a number of breeders and fanciers of the" bird, and to a certain degree of that of the author. It is probable they may yet be found generally correct. The author, however, records with pleasure a notable exception ; at the same time wishing it may cease to form an exception. During the season of 1822, Mr. Lightfoot of Harlow Hill, near Northum- DOMESTICATED WILD. 135 berland, kept a brace of pheasants, in a domesticated state. The hen laid the surprising number of seventy-four eggs. A gentleman at Birmingham, also, has a wild hen pheasant in his garden, the hen laying. They are familiar with their feeders, but cannot bear the sight of a stranger. In 1826, a soli- tary cock pheasant made his appearance as far north as a valley of the Grampians, being the first that had been seen in that northern region. Charles Waterton, Esq. of Walton Hall, has given an article on pheasants in the Magazine of Natural History. In his opinion this bird, from its apparent domestic habits, ought no longer to be deemed game, fera naturd, but to be liberated and classed with do- mestic poultry. This, however, is of small consequence to the public, since the demand for pheasants is so amply supplied, and materially on account of the supe- riority in quality of the wild pheasant. The pheasant crows at all seasons on retiring to roost, repeating the call often during the night, and at early dawn ; fre- quently also in the day time, on the appearance of an snemy, the report of a gun, or during a thunder-storm. Mr. "W. is of opinion that the pheasant does not pair. (This is probable, but not exactly ascertained.) The hen lays from seven to eighteen eggs; in general, the nest contains about twelve. This writer observes, that it would be impossible to retain a breed of phea- sants in the country, without the security of preserves to a moderate extent ; at the same time, without equal rationality and public spirit, declaring against the barbarity, folly, and extravagance of the battu, to which he observes, that the danger to be incurred 136 THE BATTU — WILD PHEASANT. and the odium to be borne, are mighty objections, concluding with the following patriotic sentiments : — " We read, that the ancients sacrificed a cock to JEsculapius : perhaps the day is at no great distance when it will be considered an indispensable act of prudence for the country gentleman to offer up his last hecatomb of pheasants at the shrine of public opinion." The pheasant once disturbed from his roost, never perches again during the remainder of the night, but takes refuge among the grass, or under- neath the hedges, where he falls an easy prey to the cat, the fox, or the stoat. The pheasant prefers the larch to any other tree, the larch suiting pheasants admirably for roosting, on account of its branches growing nearly at right angles from the stem, which renders the seat of these birds very easy. According to Mr. Ws. actual experience, smoking pheasants is an idle story. Smoke will not bring the birds down. It is supposed that many pheasants are poisoned in the wheat seed season, by picking up grains of wheat which have been dressed by the farmers with arsenic. This paper, to which, I can now do nothing beyond a reference, contains much useful and really practical information on its subject, on poachers, and various other matters of rural and sporting concern. It ap- pears to me, that the cock pheasant never pairs but from necessity, having only one hen. But I found it impossible to tempt the pheasant to pair with a common hen, perhaps had two or three been allowed, it might have succeeded. The natural NEST of the pheasant is composed of dry grass and leaves, which being provided for her NEST-MULES — FOOD — BREEDING. 137 in confinement she will sometimes properly dispose. The cock is bold, voracious, and cruel; and one which I had many years ago, caught a canary bird which had accidentally escaped, and was observed with it beneath his talons, in the proper attitude of the hawk, tearing it to pieces and devouring it. Pheasants have been seen preying upon a dead car- case, in company with carrion crows, and it has been said that they will fall upon a diseased and weak companion of their own species, and devour it. They feed upon all kinds of insects and vermin, like the peacock, and are said to be particularly greedy of toads, provided they be not too large to swallow; whereas, according to report, they will not touch the frog, of which ducks are so fond. A pheasant was shot by T. Day, Esq. of Herts, the crop of which contained more than half a pint of that destructive insect the wire-worm, and the number of 1606 grains of barley were taken from the crop of a pheasant at Bury in Suf- folk, in 1727. The progeny between the pheasant and the com- mon fowl, are necessarily MULES, as proceeding from different species, although of the same genus. They may be obtained, with some little difficulty, which they scarcely repay, as being neither an im- provement in form nor goodness of the flesh. It is recommended, as the best method, to confine a cock-pheasant half grown with two pullets of the same age, either game, bantam, or common, as may be desired : or make a house for common hens in a pheasant preserve near home, where they will 138 VARIETIES — BREEDING INSTRUCTIONS. soon associate with the pheasants, and be trodden by the cocks. Hybrids, or mules, between the pheasant and black grouse, have been occasionally found on the moors. Hybrids, an exception to Nature's ordinary rule, will occasionally procreate. The best known VARIETIES of the pheasant, are the GOLDEN, the SILVER, the PEACOCK or SPOTTED, and the COMMON EUROPEAN or ENGLISH, generally brown, with a less brilliancy of colouring. Mr. Cas- tang, however, enumerates six distinct varieties, ex- clusive of the common, as follow: the GOLD and SILVER, natives of China, and very hardy in this country, and good breeders. The RING-NECKS, na- tives of Tartary, bred in China, very scarce; their plumage very beautiful. The WHITE and PIED ; both sorts will intermix readily with our common breed, as will the BOHEMIAN, one of the most beau- tiful of its kind, and equally scarce. The GOLDEN variety is generally of the highest price, the com- mon most hardy, and of the largest size. Instructions for breeding Pheasants. By P. CAS- TANG, Son-in-law and Manager to the late JOSHUA BROOKS. EGGS being provided, put them under a hen that has kept the nest three or four days ; and if you set two or three nests on the same day, you will have the advantage of shifting the good eggs. At the end of ten or twelve days, throw away those that PHEASANTS — BREEDING HOUSE. 139 are bad, and set the same hen or hens again, if sitting hens should not be plenty. The hens having sat their full time, such of the young pheasants as are already hatched put into a basket, with a piece of flannel, till the hen has done hatching. The brood, now come, put under a frame with a net over it, and a place for the hen, that she cannot get to the young pheasants, but that they may go to her : and feed them with boiled egg cut small, boiled milk and bread, alum curd, ants' eggs, a little of each sort, and often. After two or three days, they will be acquainted with the call of the hen that hatched them, may have their liberty to run on the grass-plot, or else- where, observing to shift them with the sun, and out of the cold winds ; they should not have their liberty in the morning till the sun is up ; and they must be shut in with the hen in good time in the evening. Every thing now going on properly, you must be very careful (in order to guard against the distem- per to which they are liable) in your choice of a situation for breeding the birds up ; and be less afraid of foxes, dogs, pole-cats, and all sorts of ver- min, than the distemper. I had rather encounter all the former than the latter : for those with care may be prevented, but the distemper once got in is like the plague, and destroys all your hopes. What I mean by a good situation, is nothing more than a place where no poultry, pheasants, or turkeys, &c. have ever been kept ; such as the warm side of a 140 BASKET — PERCHING. field, orchard, pleasure-ground, or garden, or even on a common, or a good green lane, under circum- stances of this kind ; or by a wood side ; but then it is proper for a man to keep with them under a temporary hovel, and to have two or three dogs chained at a proper distance, with a lamp or two at night. I have known a great number of pheasants bred up in this manner in the most exposed situa- tions. It is proper for the man always to have a gun, that he may keep off the hawks, owls, jays, magpies, &c. The dogs and lamps intimidate the foxes beyond any other means ; and the dogs will give tongue for the man to be on his guard, if smaller vermin are near, or when strollers make their ap- pearance. The' birds going on as before mentioned, should so continue till September or even December, or (if very early bred) the middle of August. Before they be- gin to shift the long feathers in the tail, they are to be shut up in the basket with the hen regularly every night; and when they begin to shift their tail the birds are large and begin to lie out, that is, they are not willing to come to be shut up in the basket : those that are intended to be turned out wild, should be taught to perch (a situation they have never been used to) ; this is done by tying a string to the hen's leg, and obliging her to sit in a tree all night : be sure you put her in the tree before sun-set ; and if she falls down you must persevere in putting her up again till she is contented with her situation; then the young birds will follow the hen and perch with her. This being done, and the country now covered NETTED PENS ALUM CURD — ROUP. 141 with corn, fruits, and shrubs, &c. &c. they will shift for themselves. For such young pheasants as you make choice of for your breeding stock at home, and likewise to turn out in spring following, provide a new piece of ground, large and roomy, for two pens, where no pheasants, &c. have been kept, and there put your young birds in as they begin to shift their tails. Such of them as you intend to turn out at a future time, or in another place, put into one pen netted over, and leave their wings as they are-; and those you wish to keep for breeding put into the other pen, cutting one wing of each bird. The gold and silver pheasants you must pen earlier, or they will be off. Cut the wing often; and when first penned, feed all your young birds with barley-meal, dough, corn, and plenty of green turnips. A Receipt to make Alum Curd. TAKE new milk, as much as your young birds re- quire, and boil it with a lump of alum, so as not to make the curd hard and tough, but custard like. N. B. A little of this curd twice a day, and ants' eggs after every time they have had a sufficient quantity of the other food. If they do not eat heart- ily, give them some ants' eggs to create an appetite, but by no means in such abundance as to be con- sidered their food. The DISTEMPER, alluded to above, is not impro- bably of the same nature as the roup in chickens, contagious, and dependent on the state of the 142 DIRECTIONS — FOOD. weather ; and for prevention requiring similar pre- caution. GENERAL DIRECTIONS. Not more than four HENS to be allowed in the pens to one cock. And in the OUT COVERS, three hens to one cock may be sufficient, with the view of allowing for accidents, such as the loss of a cock or hen. Never put more EGGS under a hen than she can well and closely cover, the eggs fresh and carefully preserved. SHORT BROODS to be joined and shifted to one hen : com- mon hen pheasants in close pens, and with plenty of cover, will sometimes make their NESTS and hatch their own eggs ; but they seldom succeed in rearing their brood, being so naturally shy ; whence, should this method be desired, they must be left entirely to themselves, as they feel alarm even in being looked at. Eggs for sitting are generally ready in April. Period of INCUBATION the same in the pheasant as in the common hen. Pheasants, like the pea-fowl, will clear grounds of insects and reptiles, but will spoil all WALL-TREES within their reach, by pecking off every bud and leaf. Feeding. Strict CLEANLINESS to be observed, the meat not to be tainted with dung, and the water to be pure and often renewed. Ants' eggs being scarce, hog-lice, ear-wigs, or any insect may be given ; or artificial ants' eggs substituted, composed of flour beaten up with an egg and shell together, the pellets rubbed between the fingers to the proper size. After the first three weeks, in a scarcity of ants' eggs, CASTANG gives a few GENTLES, procured from a good liver tied up, the gentles, when ready, dropping into a MENAGERIES — GREAT BREEDERS. 143 pan or box of bran : to be given sparingly, and not considered as common food. FOOD for grown pheasants, barley or wheat ; gene- rally the same as for other poultry. In a cold spring, HEMP SEEP, or other warming seeds, are comfortable, and will forward the breeding stock. Of the Noblemen and Gentlemen who have PRI- VATE MENAGERIES for pheasants, and who are large breeders, Lord BRAYBROOK, at Audley End, Essex, and the Earl of JERSEY, at Osterley Park, Middle- sex, are among the most eminent. At a park in Middlesex, seven or eight miles beyond Bushy Park, I saw, many years ago, a greater collection of pheasants and partridges than I had ever before, or have since witnessed. There are also pheasant breeders who make a trade of it, rearing two or three hundred in a season. It was formerly held imprac- ticable to breed any considerable number of these birds, on the supposition that they could not be reared on any other food than ants' eggs, of which a sufficient plenty could never be depended on ; but in all probability, those already recommended are very sufficient substitutes. The following information was lately communi- cated to the author, by a landed Gentleman of Scot- land, his respected friend. " About fifty years ago the Pheasant was introduced into the south-east county of Scotland, which, for climate, shelter, and food, is perhaps the best: within the last twenty years, several gentlemen have attempted to natural- ize it in the counties Fife and Forfar, north of the great estuary of the Forth. The experiment has 144- PHEASANTS — SCOTLAND. succeeded completely, for few estates are better stocked with pheasants than those of Raith, We- myss Castle, and Dunnikin, in Fifeshire; or Rosse Priory, and Brechiri Castle, north of the river Tay. The Earl of Fife has stocked his estates in Banff- shire, and even so far north the pheasant thrives well. In the west of Scotland I am not informed that the pheasant has yet been tried beyond Ayrshire, where, however, it abounds on the estates of the Earls of Eglinton and Cassilis. It is almost needless to mention, that pheasants will abound no where with- out winter feeding; in Scotland this perhaps more particularly than in England: because, although the former country may be well wooded by plantations, there is very little natural wood, and of course under- wood is scarce. The berries and insects that under- wood affords are great sources of support to the pheasant. The pheasant, the turkey, and even our common cocks and hens, thrive best on a mixture of corn, wild seeds and insects. The winter feeding of pheasants in Scotland, is confined to throwing into their resorts sheaves of oats. The above highly esteemed and valued friend of the author, Gilbert Laing Meason, Esq. of Lindertis by Kirriemuir and of Edinburgh, died this year (1833,) at Venice, where he was temporarily residing with his family, leaving an amiable and highly accomplished widow, allied to several families of distinction in Scot- land, and their eldest daughter, universally respected and beloved by their friends and acquaintance, with also a somewhat large juvenile family. This gentle- man was brother of the late Malcolm Laing, Esq., MALCOLM LAING — W. B. DANIEL. 145 M. P. ; the historian and the political and literary associate of Mr. Charles Fox. Malcolm Laing, whose memory will ever be dear to the author, was a man of the most benevolent, placid, and considerate character, who ruined his health and shortened his existence by a continued intense application to those laborious and time-consuming researches which so few have the ardour, resolution, and perseverance to engage in. Nearly at the same period (1833), died the Rev. "William Barker Daniel, author of " Rural Sports," a work of great merit and equal celebrity, and which, both as a useful and ornamental book, will reach pos- terity, more especially in the libraries of those inter- ested in the subject. Daniel was an Essex man, a countryman and townsman of the present writer, who, from early youth, well knew him and his family. He was a nephew of Lady Barker, the reputed chere amie of the Culloden Duke of Cumberland. The de- ceased had originally a sufficient estate, and resided in his native county, until either imprudence or misfor- tune located and fixed him in banco Regis for the re- mainder of his life, a term extending, as I recollect, to about forty years. His age was probably given some- what incorrectly in the newspapers : I think it must have extended several years beyond fourscore. My acknowledgments for a variety of information are due to Mr. Herring, of the Menagerie, New Road. His establishment is of the first character and extent for poultry of all kinds, land or aquatic, whether do- mestic or foreign ; pigeons, parrots, singing-birds, deer, dogs ; in short, for every species of useful or curious and ornamental stock, necessarily the objects H 146 THE CHOLERA IN POULTRY. of our nobility and gentry at their country-seats. Also to Mr. Burgess, jun., a respectable poulterer of Marchmont Street, Burton-Crescent, for much infor- mation in his line. According to intelligence received in the latter end of November 1833, the cholera among the poultry had lately broken out in the Grand Duchy of Posen, in Germany ; geese, ducks, and poultry of all descrip- tions, seized by the disease, fell down suddenly, and expired, evacuating a milky fluid. The colour of the body immediately turns to a deep blue, and the liver is always found diseased. On the frontiers of Poland a murrain prevails among the cattle. PIGEONS. 147 SECTION XIV. Pigeons. THE PIGEON is recorded as one of the most ancient inhabitants of all climates, those excepted in the vicinity of the poles ; it prospers abundantly in tem- perate regions, but in a still higher degree under the burning sun of the tropics, no heat being too ardent for its natural constitution. The wild pigeons of cold countries are said to emigrate towards the south on the approach of the winter. Pigeons exhibit a satis- factory proof of the superiority of the civilized over the savage or mere natural state, in their multitudi- nous increase and endless varieties in a state of do- mestication, under the fostering care and all- subduing H 2 148 NATURAL STATE — NATIONAL PROFIT. art of man. From their peculiar beauty and inno- cence, they have always ranked among the chief feathered favourites of mankind ; and in the eastern countries, the original sources of religious superstition, the dove has ever been a great object of veneration, as an emblem of something divine. But to proceed to a far more material point — the NATIONAL PROFIT of encouraging the breed of pigeons to any great extent, has long been the sub- ject of much dispute. M. Duhamel, the apologist of these beautiful favourites, I apprehend, has not been a successful advocate. He avers, that pigeons do not feed upon green corn — that their bills have not suffi- cient power to dig for seeds in the earth, and that they only pick up scattered grain which would else be wasted, or become the prey of other birds. From the season of the corn appearing, he says, pigeons subsist upon the seeds of weeds, the multiplication of which they must, in consequence, greatly prevent. Another writer has of late introduced a story of the farmers of a certain district in England, who, finding their corn and pulse crops greatly reduced, attributed it to the vast quantity of pigeons kept among them, which, on such account, by a general resolution they agreed to destroy. A few seasons afterwards, it seems they found their land so ex- hausted, and their crops so eaten up with weeds, that they came to a general wish for their pigeons back again. Now this is either a lame story, or the farm- ers implicated were very lame farmers, as being ignorant how to weed their land, without the assist- ance of instruments, the use of which must cost them OPINIONS DAMAGE TO CORN. 149 so considerable a part of their crops. Last year, a farmer in Kent shot a wood-pigeon, from the crop of which he extracted nine hundred and twenty-six clavels of wheat, which he sowed, and obtained from them a harvest of one gallon three quarts of fine wheat. No man, in the least acquainted with country affairs, but is fully aware of the immense damage done to the crops of corn, beans, pease, and tares, that is to say, the grand articles of human subsistence, by pigeons. Our best practical agricultural writers may be consulted on this head, but a sufficient proof of the fact is the reduction of dove-cots throughout all coun- tries where agriculture is best known, valued, and practised. Indeed, the feudal laws in favour of these birds were a most cruel and fertile source of oppres- sion. Every one will judge for himself of the degree of credit to be given to the following statement, ex- tracted from Mr. Vancouver's valuable survey of the county of Devon. Pigeons often fly to a great distance for their food, and when they can find corn to eat, seldom prey upon any thing else. They begin to eat corn about the middle of July, and rarely want the same food at the stacks in the straw-yards, or in the fields, until the end of barley sowing, which is about old May-day, and which includes a period of two hun- dred and eighty days, or better than three quarters of the year ; the rest of the time they live upon the seeds of the weeds and bentings. It is somewhere stated, that in England and in Wales there are twenty thousand DOVE-HOUSES, averaging each at H 3 150 QUANTITIES DEVOURED CALCULATED. about one hundred pair of old pigeons. We will take this estimation at three-fourths, which will equal one million one hundred and twenty-five thousand pairs of dove-house pigeons in England and Wales. These, to speak moderately, will consume, with what they carry home to their young, one pint of corn per pair daily, and which, for one hundred and forty days, being half the period they are supposed to subsist upon corn, amounts to one hundred and fifty- seven millions five hundred thousand pints of corn consumed annually, throughout England and Wales, by these voracious and insatiate vermin, for in no other light can they be considered by the agricul- turist. The amount and value of this consumption, when brought into the present price of wheat, rye, barley, oats, beans, and pease, and assuming that an equal quantity of each corn is thus consumed, but which is far from being the case, as wheat is not only the most inviting but by far the most exposed to the ravages of these birds, both at the seed time and preceding harvest, will stand thus — 157,500,000 pints — 4,921,875 Winchester bushels, which at 6s. per bushel, the present average price of the grain before enumerated, amounts to £1,476,562. 10s. value of the agricultural produce of the country consumed in this manner. To which is to be added, the irreparable injury committed by pigeons in seed time, by picking up every grain of seed, wherever they alight, and the corn trod under and beaten out by their wings before harvest, not to forget the real damage they do to buildings, by pecking the mortar VARIETIES — STOCK DOVE. 151 from between the bricks, a mischief which may, how- ever, always be obviated by the constant allowance of a SALT-CAT, which will also take their attention from the garden, to which they may be otherwise de- structive. On a general view of the subject, it appears that the dove-house system has ever been one of ex- treme injustice, as well as impolicy, in point of na- tional advantage ; for in the first respect, it must unavoidably happen, that great flocks must be main- tained at the expense of persons having no property in them. But as, certainly, neither the public nor individuals will consent to be deprived of the enjoy- ment of this ancient luxury, the fairest mode appears to be, the regular feeding of pigeons by their proprie- tors, which, according to my experience, so attaches them to home, that there is often a necessity of driv- ing them out for exercise. This plan should, of course, be more punctually observed in seed time, and towards the approach of the corn crops to maturity. With respect to the risk of damage from pigeons, which must unavoidably be incurred by the farmer, his in- surance must consist in that vigilance, in which gene- rally he is too defective. Buffon enumerates upwards of thirty VARIETIES of the pigeon, which, according to his usual syste- matic plan, its convenience perhaps being rather more obvious than its accuracy, he derives from one root, namely, the STOCK-DOVE, or common wild pigeon. All the varieties of colour and form which we witness, he attributes to human contrivance and fancy. There exist, nevertheless, essential specific H 4 152 VARIETIES — WARWICK CASTLE. differences in these birds, which seem rather attri- butable to the nature of the region, soil, or climate, to which they are indigenous, than to the art of man. The STOCK-DOVE, or original of the pigeon genus, in its natural or wild state, is thus described ; of a deep blue and ash colour, the breast darkened with a fine changeable green and purple ; the sides of the neck of a reddish gold colour; its wings marked with two black bars, one on the quill feathers, and the other on the covert ; the back white, and the tail barred near the end with black. The RING-DOVE is yet held by naturalists to be distinct from the stock- dove, and it would seem that the TURTLE-DOVE is equally so from both. In this country the BLUE DOVE-HOUSE PIGEON is the most common, and the only WILD SPECIES are the ring-doves, or wood-pigeons, and the turtle-doves, which are to be found in all parts of South Britain, breeding during the spring and summer, and retiring to the deepest recesses of the woods in the winter season, whence, probably, the turtle has been sup- posed to emigrate. I am assured by a Spanish gen- tleman, that in Barbary they have pigeons equal in size to fowls, but incapable of flight. On the domain of Warwick castle, there is, per- haps, a greater number of turtle-doves, than in any other part of Britain. They abound in multitudes throughout the woods and plantations (1829), flying in pairs, and lighting on the turrets of the castle. Their loud and mournful cooing is heard on the road at a considerable distance. Much pains have WOOD PIGEONS — ANCIENT NEST. 153 been taken, hitherto ineffectually, to reduce their numbers. Among the splendid antique curiosities of this mansion of high aristocracy, visitors do not forget that living antique the house-keeper, who is said to have advanced upon the date of one hundred years. WOOD-PIGEONS. The autumnal markets in the metropolis and in most large towns, generally ex- hibit a considerable supply of these birds. They assemble in large flocks for the night in thick coverts, perching on the middle branches and the tops of the oaks. Windy and boisterous evenings in No- vember are most appropriate to the sport of shoot- ing wood-pigeons, which always roost with their faces to windward, and the gunners guardedly ap- proaching behind them, hidden by the remaining foliage, and aided by the murmuring of the wind, obtain a fair chance of success, though the ring-dove is particularly shy and watchful. This is a sport for a company of gunners, each choosing a different stand in the twilight, by which plan, taking the birds sit- ting or flying, the bags may be well filled. As the game is large, short guns and heavy shot are the best adapted. The flesh of the wood-pigeon is in perfection in the latter summer and the autumnal months, from their ability in those seasons to obtain the best food. During winter, feeding on coleworts or any green food they can find, their flesh is loose and bitter. From their large size, which would be increased by domestication, the experiment might be successful. At Pamber House, Hants, there had been, immemorially, an annual nest of wood-pigeons in a H 5 154 ANCIENT AND MODERN VARIETIES. large yew-tree, said to be three centuries old, which grew in the garden within a few yards of the house. We seldom saw the old birds, which used the utmost vigilance. We were well supplied with them from the neighbouring forest. In 1827, immense flocks of wood-pigeons, to the computed number of two thousand in one field, were seen upon the lands near Chi chester. Sir H. Fisher's keeper killed sixty couple in one day. But both in the ancient and modern world, this beautiful and variegated genus of birds has been cherished by man as a source of amusement, and of gratification to the eye, as well as of profit, in the article of provision for the table. Among certain of the nations of antiquity, moreover, pigeons were held sacred, and their lives no one dared assail. The useful qualification of MESSENGER, appertaining to the Asiatic and African species of the pigeon, is of high antiquity : and we read in the time of the Crusades, of an Arabian prince, who had a sort of telegraphic communication kept up in his dominions, through the instrumentality of pigeons, which carried letters, and were regularly relieved at the appointed posts. From those, doubtless, the breed celebrated in Europe, under the name of THE CARRIER, has pro- ceeded. In modern times, those varieties which are kept for the purposes of amusement and show, are styled FANCY BREEDS, and they form a distinct article of commerce in cities and great towns, the varieties, as they chance to be in fashion, bringing a considerable price. In London, the pigeon fanciers immemorially, VARIETIES — THE FANCY. 155 I believe, have had a club, in which premiums are awarded, and the notable science of the fancy, through the medium of crossing colours and forms, is promoted and perpetuated. The chief objects of the fancy have hitherto been those varieties styled ALMOND (probably ermine) TUMBLERS, CARRIERS, and the birds with great crops, the most fashionable variety of which is the POUTING HORSEMAN. The specific merits of these breeds are indicated by their names. The tumbler exercises that faculty in the air, but is chiefly valued for his peculiar form and variegated plumage. The carrier, as a messenger, cuts the air with almost inconceivable swiftness. This is the Columba tabettaria, the famous carrier, or messenger, between Aleppo and Alexandria in Egypt. The pouter distends his crop to a size at- tractive to curiosity, and by his grotesque attitudes and familiarity with man, engages his attention. Upwards of half a century past, the pigeon FANCY was in higher estimation and prosperity in this country than at present ; and the almond tumbler was then in the greatest vogue ; sums, probably to the amount of twenty or thirty guineas each, being the price of superior cocks of that breed, such as, at the present time, would not produce more than five. The pigeon shops generally seem the abode of poverty and misery, of which the poor unfortu- nate birds, crammed into baskets and narrow coops, obviously partake in the fullest measure. This fancy is a great favourite with certain of the lower classes in the metropolis, and perhaps too generally injurious to their better interests. Their common H 6 156 SHOOTING — MISERIES — FORMER WRITERS. method of entrapping stray pigeons, the property of other people, does not well consist with an honest principle, takes up too much of the time of those who practise it, and leads to loose and irregular habits. PIGEON SHOOTING is another purpose to which these birds are applied, and of which periodical details are to be found in the newspapers. Battersea- fields are the chief theatre of the sport. "Few people, even those accustomed to reflect on animal sufferings, are aware of those of the wretched town pigeon, harassed about from its first quitting the nest, through the rough hands of scores of unfeeling blackguards; its feathers pulled, its wings braced, starved, and forced to fly against its inclina- tion, matched, then unmatched, and its dearest ties broken ; sold, resold, exposed in cages, immured in cellars, coal-holes, and loaded with every misery which can be inflicted by the wanton caprice, neglect, and beastly ignorance, of the two-legged race, its tyrants." — British Field Sports. It is necessary to apprise the reader, that I have never had the honour to be initiated in the pigeon fancy, but have been simply a keeper of pigeons, for the use of the table, with some additional plea- sure in their flight, and a degree of attention to those breeds which are of the largest size. On the subject of the fancy, the best authority with which I am acquainted is a Treatise on Domestic Pigeons, published by Barry, of Fenchurch-street, in 1765, with very good plates, descriptive of the chief fancy varieties. That treatise has been succeeded by Moor's Columbarium. The only breeds which I USEFUL BREEDS — SQUEAKERS — SQUABS. 157 have kept, exclusive of the common, were TUMBLERS, HORSEMEN, CARRIERS, TURTLES, DRAGOONS, (com- monly called DRAGONS,) and RUNTS ; the latter both Spanish and Leghorn, for their great size. As breed- ers, no fancy pigeons will, in general, equal the com- mon dove-house kind, unless, perhaps, with great care and attention. The PIGEON is monogamous, that is, the male attaches and confines himself to one female, and the attachment is reciprocal ; the fidelity of the dove to its mate being proverbial. Young pigeons are termed SQUEAKERS, and begin to breed at about the age of six months, when properly managed: their courtship, and the well known tone of voice in the cock, just then acquired and commencing, are indi- cations of their approaching union. Nestlings, whilst fed by the cock and hen, are termed SQUABS, and are at that age sold and used for the table. The dove- house pigeon is said to breed monthly, being well supplied with food, more particularly when the ground is bound by frost, or covered with snow. At any rate, it may be depended on, that pigeons of almost any healthy and well established variety, will breed eight or ten times in the year ; whence it may be conceived, how immense are the quantities which may be raised. It is, nevertheless, with difficulty that one can give entire credit to the calculations, in such re- spect, on pigeons and rabbits; bringing to our re- membrance, to compare small things with great, the earths of gold of the celebrated Doctor Price, which have been so greatly reduced in number and 158 SPLENDID CALCULATIONS — PURCHASE. weight by subsequent doctors. But I suppose we must not question the positive testimony of Stillingneet, who asserts that fourteen thousand seven hundred and sixty pigeons were produced from one single pair, in the course of four years. To class things of a similar bearing together, it has been calculated, but I know not by whom, or on what practical ground, that a single pair of RABBITS may, in the same portion of time, namely, four years, produce one million two hundred and seventy four thousand eight hundred and forty of their kind ! The first step towards PIGEON KEEPING, is, un- doubtedly, to provide a commodious place for their reception, of which I shall afterwards speak; the next, to provide the pigeons themselves. These will be had in pairs, but if not actually MATCHED, pains must be afterwards taken to that end, that no time be lost ; indeed, they may be matched accord- ing to the fancy of the keepers, for the purpose of varying the colours, or with any other view. But it is necessary to give a caution on the subject of OLD PIGEONS, of which a bargain may offer, since the difficulty of retaining them is so great, indeed insuperable, without the strictest vigilance. Nothing short of cutting their wings, and confining them closely until they have young to attach them to the place, will be a security ; and even afterwards, they have been known to take flight with the first use of their wings, and leave their nests. I have had seve- ral examples of this. Thence it is always preferable to purchase SQUEAKERS, or such as have not yet flown : these, being confined, in a short time, well fed, THE DOVE-COTE. 159 and accustomed gradually to the surrounding scenery, before they have acquired sufficient strength of wing wherewith to lose themselves, will become perfectly domesticated. The DOVE-COTE, or pigeon-loft, as to its situation or extent, will necessarily depend on convenience; one GENERAL RULE, however, must be invariably observed, — that every pair of pigeons have two holes, or rooms, to nest in. Without this indispen- sable convenience there will be no security, but the prospect of constant confusion, breaking of eggs, and destruction of the young. Pigeons do well near dwellings, stables, bake-houses, brew- houses, or such offices : or their proper place is in the poultry-court. A dove-cote is a good object, situate upon an island, in the centre of a piece of water : indeed, such is a proper situation for aquatic poultry, and rabbits also ; and may be rendered extremely beautiful and picturesque by planting, and a little simple orna- mental and useful building. Where pigeons are kept in a room, some persons prefer making their nests upon the floor, to escape the danger of the young falling out; but in all probability this is to guard against one risk, and incur a great number, par- ticularly that of rats and other vermin. The FRONT of the pigeon-room, or cote, should have a south-west aspect ; and if a room be selected for the purpose, it is usual to break a hole in the roof of the building for the passage of the pigeons, which can be closed at convenience. A platform is laid by the carpenter at the entrance, for the pigeons to alight and perch upon, with some kind of defence 160 CATS — CLEANLINESS. against strange cats, which will often depopulate a whole dove-house; CATS are yet necessary for the defence of the pigeons against rats and mice, as they will both destroy the birds and suck the eggs ; thence cats of a known good breed should be trained up familiarly with the pigeons. The platform should be painted white, and renewed as the paint wears off, white being a favourite colour with pigeons, and also most conspicuous as a mark to enable them to find their home. The boxes also should be so coloured and renewed as necessary, for which purpose lime and water will be sufficient. CLEANLINESS is one of the first and most import- ant considerations; the want of it in a dove-cote will soon render the place a nuisance not to be approached, and the birds, both young and old, will be so covered with vermin, and besmeared with their own excrement, that they can enjoy no health or comfort, and mortality is often so induced. Ours were cleaned daily ; thoroughly once a week, a tub standing at hand for the reception of the dung, the floor covered with sifted gravel, often renewed. Pigeons are exceedingly fond of water, and, having a prescience of rain, will wait its coming until late in the evening, upon the house-top, spreading their wing to receive the refreshing shower. When they are confined in a room, they should be allowed a wide pan of water, to be often renewed as a bath, which cools, refreshes, and assists them to keep their bodies clear of vermin. In the attendance upon pigeons, caution is necessary with respect to their fighting, to which they are more prone than might be BARREL DOVE-COTE — BREEDING-HOLES. 161 expected, often to the destruction of eggs or young, or driving the weakest away. The common BARREL DOVE-COTE needs no de- scription, at the same time is adapted to every situa- tion, in which it is desirable to keep pigeons for ordinary use. To return to the ROOM or LOFT ; the shelves should be placed sufficiently high, for security against vermin, a small ladder being a ne- cessary appendage. The usual breadth of the shelves is about twenty inches, with the allowance of eighteen between shelf and shelf, which will be sufficient not to incommode the tallest pigeons. Partitions between the shelves may be fixed at the distance of about three feet, making a blind, by a board nailed against the front of each partition, whence there will be two nests in the compass of every three feet, so that the pigeons will sit in privacy, and not be liable to be disturbed. Or a partition may be fixed between each nest ; — a good plan, which prevents the young from running to the hen sitting over fresh eggs, and perhaps occasioning her to cool and addle them ; for when the young are about a fortnight or three weeks old, a good hen will leave them to the care of the cock, and lay again. Some prefer BREEDING HOLES entirely open in front, for the greater convenience in cleaning the nests ; but it is from those that the SQUABS are likely to fall; thence a step of sufficient height is preferable. The tame pigeon seldom taking the trouble to make a nest, it is better to give her one of hay, which prevents her eggs from rolling. Or a straw basket, or unglazed earthen pan, may be 162 PIGEON-TRAPS — BASKETS. placed in every nest, apportioned to the size of the pigeons you breed. A PAN of three inches high, eight inches over the top, and sloping to the bottom like a basin, will be of sufficient size for a TUMBLER, or a small pigeon, whilst one of double those dimen- sions will be required for a large RUNT. A brick should always be placed in contiguity to the pan, to enable the cock and hen to alight with greater safety upon the eggs. The PIGEON-TRAP, on the house-top, is the well- known contrivance of those London rascals, who lie in wait, as has been said, to entrap the property of others. A trap of another description, and for a very different purpose, is sometimes used; it is an area, on the outside of a building, for the purpose of confining in the air valuable breeds of pigeons which cannot be trusted to flight. Some are erected to the extent of twenty yards long and ten yards in width, with shelves on every side for the perching of the pigeons ; thus they are constantly exercised in the air, retiring at their pleasure to the room or loft within. Very convenient BASKETS are now made of the cradle form, with partitions, or separate apartments. They serve for the carriage of pigeons for match- ing, or putting them up to fatten, or for any of the usual purposes. I have seen them lately, in the basket shops on the Greenwich road, two or three miles from London. FOOD and WATER should be given in such way, as to be as little as possible contaminated with the ex- crement, or any other impurity. Our pigeons hav- MEAT-BOX — WATER-BOTTLE MATCHING. 163 ing been constantly attended, we have never found the need of any other convenience than earthen pans ; but there have been ingenious inventions for this purpose, of which the MEAT-BOX and WATER- BOTTLE following are specimens. The meat-box is formed in the shape of a hopper, covered at the top to keep clean the grain, which descends into a square shallow box. Some fence this with rails or holes on each side, to keep the grains from being scattered over ; others leave it quite open, that the young pigeons may the more easily find their food. The WATER-BOTTLE is a large glass bottle, with a long neck, holding from one to five gallons, its belly shaped like an egg, that the pigeons may not light and dung upon it. It is placed upon a stand, or three-footed stool, made hollow above, to receive the belly of the bottle, and let the mouth into a small pan beneath : the water will, in such wise, gradually descend out of the mouth of the bottle as the pigeons drink, and be sweet and clean, and always stop when the surface reaches the mouth of the bottle. To MATCH or PAIR a cock and hen, it is necessary to shut them together, or near and within reach of each other; and the connexion is generally formed in a day or two. Various rules have been laid down, by which to distinguish the cock from the hen pigeon ; but the masculine forwardness and action of the cock is, for the most part, distinguishable. INCUBATION. The great increase of domestic pigeons does not proceed from the number of eggs laid by them, but from the frequency of their hatch- ing. The hen lays but two eggs, and immediately 164 INCUBATION. proceeds to incubation. Having laid her first egg, she rests one day, and, on the next, lays her second egg. They usually stand over the first egg, not sitting close until they have two, whence, both the young are hatched nearly at the same time : there are some exceptions, however, to this rule of nature, and the hen, having sat close at first, one young bird may be hatched a day or two before the other. They often spoil their first eggs from inexperience. The PERIOD of INCUBATION is NINETEEN Or TWENTY days from laying the first egg, and SEVEN- TEEN or EIGHTEEN from the last. The labour of sitting is equally divided between the cock and hen, excepting that the hen always sits by night. She is relieved in the morning by the cock, which sits during the greater part of the day. The business of feeding the young is also divided between the parents ; and the cock has often brought up the young, on the accidental loss of his mate. Should not the eggs be hatched in due time from weakness, some small assistance may be necessary to extricate the bird from the shell ; or, should they be addled, it is generally held necessary to provide the cock and hen with a borrowed pair of young, or at least one, to feed off their soft meat, which else may stag- nate in their crops, and make them sick ; but, as young ones for this purpose may not always be at hand, the exercise of flying, fresh gravel, and those saline compositions generally given to pigeons, are the proper remedy. Addled, or rotten eggs, should be immediately removed. Pigeons are extremely liable to be lost by acci- STRAYING SOFT MEAT. 165 dent; and that which is unaccountable is, although they will find their home from such great distances, they nevertheless often lose themselves in their own neighbourhood. Should a cock or hen be lost during incubation, the eggs will be spoiled in twenty or thirty hours, and may then be taken from the nest ; but, if the accident happen after hatching, the single parent left will feed the young. Should both parents be lost, the young are very easily accustomed to be fed by hand with small peas or tares, much prefer- able to barley. We did not find any necessity for recourse to the old housewife's instrument, the hollow reed. SOFT MEAT is a sort of milky fluid or pap secreted in the craw of pigeons, by the wise providence of nature, against the time when it will be wanted for the nourishment of their young. In all probability, from instinct, the pigeons eat a greater quantity at this time, and the grain goes through a certain pro- cess in their crops, which produces the soft meat or pap in question. This they have the power of throw- ing up at will; and, in feeding, they eject it from their own bills into those of the young ones, the bills of which are taken into their own. This kind of feeding continues six or seven days, when the old ones begin to mix some harder food with it, until, at length, they feed with whole grain. When the time approaches for the hen to lay, the cock is often seen driving her from place to place, not suffering her to rest any where but in her nest, apparently from an instinctive apprehension that she may drop her egg in an improper place. 166 KINDS OF FOOD MISTAKE IN BEANS. FOOD. Pigeons are entirely granivorous, and very delicate and cleanly in their diet ; they will some- times eat green vegetables, in particular warm salads, and are extremely fond of seeds. TARES and the SMALLEST kind of HORSE BEANS, commonly called pigeon beans, are both the best and cheapest food for pigeons, but the pulse should always be old, that is to say, of the previous year, as the new will scour pigeons, as well as any other kind of live stock. SEEDS are occasionally given to pigeons, as a warming and stimulant diet ; but, according to my experience, they greatly prefer rape and canary to hemp-seed. It has been remarked, that beans, sod- den in salt-water, scour pigeons equally with new beans, and, in a voyage, suffering them to drink sea-water will soon kill them : although so generally benefited by salt, an excess of it is fatal, as it is also to vegetation, promoted as that is by a moderate quantity. In most publi cations on the subject of pigeons, a dangerous mistake has been made in a term applied to beans. Small tick beans are recommended, in- stead of small horse-beans. Now the tick, or kid- well (in the western phrase), are the larger of the two common field varieties, and, beside being inferior in quality, are too large for pigeons, which have been sometimes choked even with the common-sized horse-beans ; on which account, the smallest possi- ble should be procured, whence such are termed in the market accounts, " pigeon-beans. " Pease, wheat, and buck-wheat, or brank, are eaten by pigeons ; but should be given only in alternation, FUMIGATION — SALT CAT. 167 not as a constant diet. The same of seeds. They yet prefer wheat. The strong scent of cummin, and flavour of coriander seeds, are said to have an allur- ing effect upon the olfactory nerves and palate of these birds ; as also the scent of assafcetida, and other powerfully odoriferous drugs ; and that the use of fumigations of such in the dove-cote, will not only attract the pigeons to their home, but allure strangers, which may be wandering in search of a habitation. The last dietetic, or rather, perhaps, medicinal article necessary to be described, is the SALT-CAT, so called from some old fancy of baking a real cat with spices, for the use of pigeons, which, however, I never observed to eat animal food. In compliance with this custom, I caused to be placed in the middle of .the pigeon-loft, a dish of the following compo- sition : loam, sand, old mortar, fresh lime, bay-salt, cummin, coriander, caraway-seed, and allspice, moist- ened into a consistence with urine. The pigeons were constantly pecking at this, and were in a con- stant state of good health — how much of which may be attributed to the use of the cat, I cannot deter- mine ; but, certainly, they are extremely fond of it, and, if it had no other merit, it prevents them from pecking the mortar from the roof of the house, to which otherwise they are much inclined. The cat was mixed and heaped up in the dish, a piece of board being placed upon the summit, to prevent the birds from dunging upon it ; when become too hard it was occasionally broken for them. The regular OLD FORMULA for this cat is as fol- 168 OLD RECEIPTS — VARIETIES. lows: gravel or drift-sand, unctuous loam, the rub- bish of an old wall, or lime, a gallon of each — should lime be substituted for rubbish, a less quantity of the former will suffice — one pound of cummin-seed, one handful of bay-salt ; mix with stale urine. In- close this in jars, corked or stopped, holes being punched in the sides, to admit the beaks of the pigeons. These may be placed abroad. Many fanciful and groundless tales may be found in old books relative to the MEDICINAL and REME- DIAL properties of almost every part of the pigeon ; thus much, however, may be relied on : their flesh, when young and in good condition, is a nourishing and stimulant diet; that of the full-aged pigeon more substantial, but harder of digestion, and, in a considerable degree, heating. The general rule of colour affecting quality in the flesh, holds good in tame pigeons. The black and dark feathered are proportionally dark or brown fleshed, of high flavour, inclining to the game bitter of the wild pigeon. The light colour in the feathers, denotes light and delicate flesh. Their DUNG is of an ex- tremely heating and drying quality, whether as a manure, or for medicinal purposes. It was, in for- mer days, a principal ingredient in nitre-beds, when that article was almost entirely manufactured at home. CARRIERS, HORSEMEN, and DRAGOONS, are travel- lers or messengers, and I have occasionally seen TUMBLERS turned off, at the distance of forty miles from home. The carrier, it is said, has performed a journey of forty miles in an hour and a half, and CALCULATIONS ON FLIGHT — PIGEON FLYING. 169 of even ninety miles in three hours. A dragoon has flown seventy-six miles in two hours and a half: this ancient fancy of flying pigeons had declined, but has, it seems, revived within a few years. The admired qualities in the TUMBLER are excessive high flight, so as to be almost imperceptible to the keen- est eye, in fine and clear weather; perseverance in their flight for many hours together, and tumbling over and over repeatedly during their ascent and descent. Whatever benefit or utility may have been derived, in ancient days, from these winged messengers, it is probable the moderns reap no other benefit from them than that of amusement and the gratification of curiosity, by flying them for prizes and betting. Scarcely, however, is there a great race or great fistic contest at a distance from the metropolis, but a profit- able use is said to be made by pigeon-flyers, in sending instant intelligence of the result to their confederates in town. But after all, this appears, with perhaps a few exceptions, to have been from the beginning a regularly repeated hoax ; and such is the opinion of a late writer in the Sporting Magazine. The prac- tice, nevertheless, of flying pigeons between this country and the continent, has revived within the three or four last years, and has been frequently repeated. It is pretended, that speedy intelligence is thus kept up between London and Rotterdam, on the course of exchanges. In 1825, the Society of Amateurs at Antwerp sent ninety carriers to Paris, to fly for a prize. They were started from the French capital at seven i 170 PIGEON FLYING. in the morning, and by noon of the same day, thir- teen of them had reached home. The first arrived at half past eleven o'clock. One of the Flemish breed, turned off after the fight for the champion- ship, at Warwick, by Harry England, of the Green Man Inn, Kent Road, performed the ninety-two miles in three hours and thirty minutes. Mr. At- wood made a bet of one hundred sovereigns, that he would fly six pigeons from the high ground near Crostwick, in Norfolk, one hundred and fourteen miles, and that one should arrive at his loft, in 'the Sanctuary, St. George's Fields, within four hours and a half. The other part of the match was, fifty pounds, that the second bird would not be at home in five hours and a half, and a like sum that the third would not in seven hours. The event proved as follows ; — the first bird was at the end of his flight in twelve minutes within the given time, and the second bird arrived within five hours; but the others were not heard of during the day. In July 1828, fifty-six carriers, brought to London from Liege, were flown in the neighbourhood of Aldersgate-street, at thirty-four minutes past four o'clock, A. M. One of them called Napoleon, reached its destination, a distance of three hundred miles, at about twenty-four minutes past ten o'clock the same morning, having thus accomplished its journey in five hours and fifty minutes, which is somewhat beyond the speed of the eagle, (a heavy bird,) and is stated to be about forty-five miles per hour. The other pigeons followed in succession, and most of them reached Liege at noon. This is a large city in Westphalia, DOVE-COTE PRODUCE. 171 long famous for the pigeon fancy. In July, 1829, another prize flight took place, with forty-two pigeons, between Maestricht and London. The first bird lost by a few minutes, though it travelled at the rate of forty-five miles per hour. By what kind of natural qualification birds are able to explore their way across such immense dis- tances of land and sea, seems to mock all human powers of inquiry: and granting the accuracy of ancient relations in respect to the regular and suc- cessful use of pigeons as messengers, it appears to be one of those ancient arts said to be buried in the grave of time, which has not hitherto encountered resur- rection. The price of a pair of carriers was about six guineas. The Carrier Pigeon fancy has never since been so attractive and prevalent in this country, as it was fifty or sixty years ago. It revived, but in a com- paratively inconsiderable degree, a few years since, but at present seems to have suffered a total eclipse. Men's minds have assumed a direction entirely oppo- site to that of sportive amusement ; political reform, and redress of ancient grievances, are now the popu- lar substitute for pigeon-flying : in course, both the breed and price of carriers are proportionally reduced. It is true, pigeon-shooting up the Thames, at Batter- sea, has yet its annual term, but pigeon-shooters, and pigeon-flyers, have generally been distinct classes. The following imperfect account of pigeons used and sold from a Berkshire dove-cote, in 1807, is extracted from the Survey : — 147 used in the house, at 5s. per dozen, 31. Is. 3d. — Sold 550 for i 2 172 VARIETIES — TRAPPING ILLEGAL. KM. 15s. Wld. = l3l. 175. 1|. The DUNG estimated at one-fourth of their return per annum. NEW GUINEA pigeons are said, in some Lady's Voyage to India, nearly to equal the turkey in size ; of a slate colour, with a crest of gauze feathers some inches high, in the form of a fan ; the iris of the eye bright vermilion. By my memoranda, in 1801, I observe that sixty- five pairs of old pigeons, and one hundred and forty squeakers of all sizes, regularly fed, consumed in one week, five pecks of the smallest beans, and ten quarts of seeds. The above old stock, without any young, consumed about half the quantity. From the same. FAN-TAILS or SHAKERS, the head always in motion, are a beautiful stock, and good breeders, but so stupid and silly, as scarcely to be capable of taking care of themselves, or finding their home. RUNTS, although so much larger, breed as fast and equally forward as Tumblers. The duration of life in the pigeon is said to extend to about twenty years, and it is deemed full aged when the wings are full of the quill feathers. According to 7 and 8 Geo. 4. c. 29. sect 33. persons unlawfully killing, wounding, or taking any house dove or pigeon, under such circumstances as do not amount to larceny at common law, shall forfeit over and above the value of the bird, any sum not exceeding forty shillings. Occupiers of lands may lawfully kill pigeons destroying corn. At the Westminster Court of Requests, in Fe- bruary 1829, a decision was made against TRAPPING pigeons, the defendant being amerced in the price SINGULAR DETECTION — VERMIN. 173 of the pigeons and costs. There is, however, a bye-law among the fancy, that a groat shall redeem a trapped pigeon. But suppose the stray should be a valuable bird, worth many pounds ? The following singular detection of a thief oc- curred on a late examination at Queen's Square, Westminster : — Mr. Bepy, in the Wandsworth Road, had his pigeon-house robbed. A known thief was stopped on the road with six fancy pigeons in his possession, by Sergeant Reardon of the police, and taken before the magistrates, but no evidence appearing against him, he was discharged, and suf- fered to take away the birds, which he claimed as having purchased them. Cooper, an officer of the court, being somewhat up to the pigeon fancy, and seeing them above the common sort, purchased them, and very commendably determined to find out the real owner, which he effected in the following in- genious mode. Selecting a fine bald-head, he at- tached a note to its foot, with his address, and then threw up the pigeon, which instantly flew to its own home, and was recovered by its owner, who returned it to Cooper, making him a present of the half- dozen as a reward for his sagacity. On conclusion of the subjects of the feathered race, I have a few notes to make relative to the VERMIN which infest the country, and are unavoidably so de- structive to the eggs and young of game, and occasion- ally to those of domestic poultry. These are too well known to need much attention here, as to their names or description — viz. the stoat — polecat — wea- sel— marten — cat : together with most birds of prey, i 3 174 VERMIN CURS TRAPPING. and reptiles, the snake, adder, and viper ; for in vari- ous examinations in former days, it appeared to me that there is a specific difference between the two latter, particularly in size and length, and the colours of the belly. ' Such animals, however, it would seem, there necessarily must be, for though wolves, in old time, were finally and completely exterminated in this country, a similar end appears not to be attain- able with respect to the minor breeds of depre- dators. Our only resource then, and it ought to be established as a general rule, is to reduce their numbers by constant unceasing periodical attacks; for if these, however immediately effective (to refer particularly to the rat), should be, as is too usually the case, subsequently neglected, a temporary ad- vantage only is obtained, and a too numerous breed- ing stock left. Such was the sound advice given in a Pamphlet published many years since, inti- tuled, " Multum in Parvo, or every man his own Vermin Killer."' The best means to the above ends, are keeping vermin curs and ferrets, and when poison is used, arsenic is to be preferred, as certain without deception. A few grains of this are mixed with any article known to be attractive to the vermin intended to be destroyed. From its known danger, poison ought to be the ultimate remedy employed. Trapping is a sort of retail method, to be managed by the initiated in that practice. The best vermin dogs, those also watch- dogs, the .tongues of which when alarmed, nothing could still, were those I had during my former residence on Sudbury Green, Harrow on the Hill, THE RAT — CAT-KEEPING IN THE DOCKS. 175 and at that period, a very distant one indeed, there was an extensive breed of them in the vicinity. The RAT must certainly be looked upon to be the heaviest and most expensive depredator, as subsist- ing on corn, particularly on wheat. Should a farmer catch two or three rats, and board them during a week or two upon wheat, taking account of the quantity consumed, with the probability that it would be much more were the rats at large, he might gain intelligence worth knowing, granting he made good use of it, and would thence take the advice given in the New Farmers' Calendar, to have a perpetual periodical rat hunt, the periods never being too distant. The following example of the Proprietors of the St. Katherine's Docks, London, is indeed a shining and a radical one. I learnt from a well informed per- son, who is often in the vicinity, that some hun- dreds of cats are kept in the Docks, to destroy the rats, which previously to this mode of insurance, made havoc amongst the sugars there deposited, to a vast annual amount. The annual expense of this plan is £104. The cats' meat is bought by contract, and two men are allowed to attend and feed them. They are fed in the morning at six, and in the evening at nine o'clock. A Proprietor, it seems, some time since, took a fancy to one of the cats, a great beauty and famous vermin-killer, and would have it, much against the inclination of the atten- dants. It was accordingly trapped; and the gen- tleman himself undertaking the perilous attempt to lay hold and release it, the cat flew at him i 4 176 DISTINCTION IN CATS. most ferociously, inflicting very severe wounds on his face, and then escaped. Being a great lover of cats, and a constant keeper of them, I long since made the discovery, that rat- catching is a peculiar qualification which nature has bestowed on only one part of the species ; and though the other part may be good mousers, they will not attack a rat, at any rate a second time. My little black cat, ' Sweet Sish,' between which and my trotting mare ' Betty Bios,' there subsisted so great aifection, must have saved me a consider- able sum, during the nine years she lived with me in Surrey. Her constant and excessive atten- tion to the pursuit of her game, at length de- stroyed her health, and ended her life; not that it is probable she fed on the rats she killed, a diet generally so injurious to cats, since she always dieted with us, as a thrice worthy member of the family. She readily took the water and swam well. Her stock were all rat cats, some of them, in particular, of high qualification. Finally, certain of the sagacious methods of taking and destroy- ing rats, recommended in books, remind me of an appropriate passage in Hudibras — " He made a planetary gin, Which rats would run their own heads in, And come on purpose to be taken, Without the expense of cheese or bacon." The same for taking partridges and other game ; good parallels to the ancient nursery plan, of catch- ATROCIOUS CRUELTY. 177 ing sparrows by laying salt on their tails. As to the effects of the late Game Bill, many, or per- haps most people, profess the opinion that it has increased poaching. On what ground such an opinion stands, I am uninformed ; on the contrary, it ap- pears to me that its effects have proved mate- rially the reverse, judging from general newspaper reports : among those, a Shrewsbury Chronicle of last year observes — " The proportion of persons com- mitted for poaching this year, is vastly less than in any former season." Indeed this seems a neces- sary result of an act which legalized and so widely extended the market. I did not formerly forget the Parson- of Penslow, and I must not now neg- lect to renew my just reproaches and cautions against the horrible tortures inflicted by cold-hearted and unreflecting people on animals, which, no doubt, it is our natural right, as well as our interest to destroy by the quickest and the easiest mode of death, for these animals were endowed by nature with the same chartered right to hunt for their support, which we ourselves claim from the same authority. My own eyes, in early youth, beheld the heart-rending sight of a rat roasted alive, and the piercing shrieks of the tortured animal, though at the distance of seventy years, agonize and make me shudder ! The hellish act was perpetrated by an old beldame of the name of Stubblefield, house- keeper to a clergyman who taught a few scholars. I once saw also the shopman of a grocer in a country town, running in the street, after a rat tied by the leg with a long string, its back all i 5 178 PRICES OF GAME AND POULTRY. in a blaze, which had probably been rubbed with some combustible. What acts of absurd, ill-con- ceived revenge ! As to fish baits, I do not envy the feelings of those, who can impale them living with hooks, and recommend it, writing with the utmost sang-froid, that the baits will probably live in that state three or four days ! Prices of Game at Leadenhall Market, Nov. 25, 1833. A few of that splendid bird THE COCK OF THE WOOD, now extinct in this country, arrived yesterday from Norway in the very finest condi- tion, and were immediately bought up at one guinea each. Grouse, short, at 7s. and 8s. the brace. A few black game, no price named. No Ptarmigan. Pheasants very good at 8*. a brace, and birds plen- tiful at 4s. Hares abundant at 3s. and 3s. 6d. each. Fresh wild ducks 5s. English 6s. to 7s. a couple. Wigeon 3s. Teal 2s. 6d. Golden Plover 3s. ; common 2s. 6d. a couple. French Woodcocks 6s. English 8s. a couple. Foreign Snipes 2s. March birds 3s. a couple and plentiful. Wild Rabbits from 9s. to 1 Is. a dozen. A full supply of Poultry at moderate prices. Following Christmas prices — Pheasants 8s. Birds 4s. 6d. a brace. Scotch hares 2s. 6d. English from 4s. to 4s. 6d. each. Foreign wild ducks 5s. English 6s. and 7s. a couple. Wigeon 4s. 6d. Teal 4s. Wood- cocks, very scarce, 10s. Snipes 3s. a couple. Wild Rabbits 14s. to 16s. a dozen. Turkeys very plenti- ful and fine, with a ready sale. Three weighing 911bs. obtained three guineas each. One eighteen months old, weighing thirty-four pounds, was sold SPRING PRICES. 179 at the same price. The general market, however, for turkeys, was reasonable, and the commodity generally good. Prices of the following at Leadenhall Market, February and March 1834. Feb. 8. concluded the game season, except as to Hares, which have the pro- tection of a severe penalty to any one " tracking them in snow." As the dealers, however, are allowed ten days to dispose of their stock, we continue our quotation. Pheasants are short at 8s. and partridges at 4s. a brace. Hares are rather falling off in supply, but good ones may be had at 3s. 6d. each. "Wood- cocks are very scarce, and realize from 9s. to 12s. a couple. Snipes also short, and readily make 4s. a cou- ple. Wild Rabbits from 12s. to 16s. a dozen. A large supply of the Golden Plover has arrived from France, and they are selling from 3s. to 4s. a couple. The poultry market looks well, and the trade is brisk at some advance on the Christmas prices. Little vari- ation has occurred to the middle of March. iG 180 RABBITS. SECTION XV. Rabbits. RABBITS are animals proper to be allowed in a wild state, in those countries only, where are extensive wastes, and where corn and other farming produc- tions are not at a high price : in populous and highly cultivated regions, they are a great and wasteful nuisance, and proofs are before the public, only a few years old, of nearly the whole produce of a farm being devoured by them, to the ruin of the tenant. This farm was situated in the vicinity of extensive GREAT FEEDERS. 181 preserves ; but it is equally unfortunate for a farmer to be fixed near to, or within some miles of a rabbit- warren, since they will travel to a great distance, to feed either upon corn or vegetables, and if the soil and corn be to their liking, will always remain in sufficient numbers to stock a new district. At the same time, they are a good and profitable stock, domesticated ; infinitely more prolific, under good management, than in their wild and exposed state, and their dung is extremely valuable upon a farm. The old writers, perhaps, rather overvalued the profits of this stock. Rabbit-keeping is practised by a few individuals in almost every town, and by a few in almost every part of the country ; but thirty or forty years ago, there were one or two very con- siderable feeders near the metropolis, keeping each, according to report, from fifteen hundred to two thou- sand breeding does. These large concerns have ceased, it seems, long since, and London receives the supply of tame, as well as wild rabbits, chiefly from the country. The only considerable rabbit-feeders of whom I heard, some years since, were two gentlemen, the one resident in Oxfordshire, the other in Berks. The former fed some hundreds, and then, it was said, intended to double his stock. The HUTS were placed in a small building set apart for that purpose. The then stock produced one load of dung per week, two loads of which were sufficient to manure an acre of land. Three dozen of rabbits per week were sent to the London market, but keep and attendance 182 RABBIT-HOUSE ARRANGEMENT OF HUTCHES. reckoned, no other profit accrued, excepting the dung, the price of which used to be eight-pence per bushel, and I believe thirty-six bushels are reckoned a load. The Berks gentleman, according to the survey of that county, fed white rabbits on account of the superior value of their SKINS, from their application of late years to the purpose of trimmings. Twenty does and two bucks were my largest stock. The RABBIT-HOUSE should stand upon a dry foun- dation, and be well ventilated. Exposure to too much humidity, whether externally or internally, is fatal to rabbits, which are liable to the rot like sheep, and from the same causes. The rains of 1 799, which continued nearly four months, destroyed my stock of rabbits, which were hutted in a boarded shed not well defended from the cold and moist air. Ventila- tion and fresh air are also necessary, where consider- able numbers of these animals are kept, which will not else remain healthy, or prosper for any length of time : and even sudden mortality may ensue from impure and stagnant air. A thorough draught or passage for the air is thence indispensable, and should be con- trived in the building, with the convenience of shut- ing such opposite windows or doors in cold and wet weather. The HUTS or HUTCHES are generally placed one above another to the height required by the number of rabbits, and the extent of the room. Where a large stock is kept, to make the most of room, the hutches may be placed in rows, with a sufficient in- terval between, for feeding and cleaning, instead of being joined to the wall in the usual way. It is pre- GREEN MEAT — TROUGHS — FLOOR. 183 ferable to rest the hutches upon stands, about a foot above the ground, for the convenience of cleaning under them. Each of those hutches intended for breeding should have two rooms, a feeding and a bed- room. Those single are for the use of WEANED RABBITS, or for the BUCKS, which are always kept separate. When much green meat is given, rabbits make a considerable quantity of urine, and I have sometimes seen occasion to set the hutches sloping backwards a few degrees, a very small aperture being made the whole length of the floor to carry off the urine. A sliding door in the partition between the two rooms, is convenient for confining the rabbits during the operation of cleaning ; which, indeed, is a good argu- ment for having all the hutches double, it being more troublesome to clean out a room with a number of rabbits in it, than with only one. It must not be forgotten that the teeth of rabbits are very effectual implements of destruction to any thing not hard enough to resist them, and their troughs should be bound with something less penetrable than wood, as they are apt to scratch out their food and dung in it. I have often thought it might be useful to adopt the feeding troughs with moveable boards, as well for rabbits as hogs. The FLOOR of the hutches should be planed smooth, that wet may run off, and a common hoe with a short handle, and a short broom, are most convenient implements for cleaning these houses. The object being to obtain the dung pure for sale, no litter should be allowed ; but on a farm where 184* MODES OF KEEPING VARIETIES. the dung is expended at home, the hutches should be littered with refuse hay or straw, perfectly dry. The rabbit-house to contain a tub for the dung, and a bin for a day's supply of hay, corn, roots, or other food, which should be given in as fresh a state as possible. There are other modes of confining rabbits for breeding, in which they are left to their liberty, within certain bounds ; for example, an artificial mound walled in, in which they burrow and live as in the natural state, and an island as described in Mr. Young's Annals: methods which are certainly ornamental and pleasurable, as well, perhaps, as more for the comfort of the animals ; but surely not so profitable to the owner as hutching, in which mode also, they may be preserved, with due care, in the highest state of health. On this head I find the following remark in my memoranda for the year 1805 : Rabbits at large must always suffer more in point of profit, by loss of number, than they gain by cheaper feeding, exclusive of the mischief they do : and this principle operates proportionally in limited enlargement, as in the unlimited upon the warren. They are quarrelsome and mischievous animals ; and the bucks, when at liberty, destroy a considerable part of the young. A run abroad, indeed, for young rabbits, until a certain age, might be beneficial if growth were the object ; but all rabbits must be se- parated at the age of puberty, or as soon as they become fit for breeding ; they will else tear each other to pieces. As to the VARIETIES of FORM and COLOUR, in the LARGE VARIETY THE TURKISH. 185 rabbit, the short-legged, with width and substance of loin, generally few in number, and to be obtained only by selection, are the most hardy, and fatten most expeditiously, taking on fat both internally and in the muscular flesh. They have besides the sound- est livers, rabbits being generally subject to defects of the liver; they are the smallest variety. There was formerly a very LARGE VARIETY of the hare colour, having much bone, length and depth of car- case, large and long ears, with large eyes resembling those of the hare. They might well be taken for hybrid or mules, but from the objection of their breeding, and the breeding of a mule is a rare and often questionable occurrence. Their flesh is high coloured, substantial, and more savoury than that of the common rabbit : and they make a good dish, cooked like the hare, which, at six or eight months old, they nearly equal in size. I have not of late years met with any of this large variety. The large white, and yellow and white species, have whiter and more delicate flesh, and cooked in the same way will rival the turkey. With respect to COLOUR, I have always preferred the wild colour and black, finding the skins of full as much worth as the white. The TURKISH, or FRENCH RABBIT, with long white fur, differs little from the common varieties ; nor did I find their skins of more value, either for sale or home use. I have been in the habit of drying the skins, for linings of night-gowns, and other domestic purposes ; but have always found reason to prefer the short, close 186 SMUTS — VARIETIES. fur. The large above mentioned — indeed any pe- culiar varieties — must be sought among the London dealers. Of late years, in London, the term smut, has been applied as a mark of distinction in the rabbit. Thus, there are single and double smuts. The smut con- sists of a black spot on the side of the rabbit's nose : when there are two black spots, one on each side of the nose, it constitutes a double smut. Generally, the rabbits are prized for the number of these black spots upon the head and body, and for the fineness and length and size of the ears, which occasions their falling about the head, in a manner different from the common rabbit. Black and tortoiseshell are the fa- vourite colours. A connoisseur has lately favoured the author with the following practical observations on HARES and RABBITS. " According to the furriers, the Siberian hares are the finest in the world, for size, strength, and quality of the fur. Next to those in point of size are the maukins, found on the Isle of Man. The weight of one of them exceeds belief, and has been given as high as twelve to fourteen pounds. The hare skins of North Wales are also favourites with the trade, and in proportion to their size bring a higher price than any other, not excepting the maukins of our own high lands. " RABBITS are divided into four kinds — warreners, parkers, hedgehogs, and sweethearts. Burrowing under ground is favourable, it appears, to the growth of fur ; and the warrener, though a member of a sub- SILVER-TIPPED — BREEDING. 187 terraneous city, is less effeminate than his kindred, who roam more at large. His fur is most esteemed, and after him comes the parker, whose favourite haunt is a gentleman's pleasure grounds, where he usually breeds in great numbers, and not unfre- quently drives the hares away. The hedgehog is a sort of vagabond rabbit, who travels tinker-like throughout the country, and who would be better clad if he remained more at home. Sweethearts are tame rabbits, and their fur, though sleek, is too silky and soft to be of much use in the important branch of hat-making." I believe I have had Essex and Lincolnshire marsh hares equal to, if not above, the weight which seems to have so surprised our connoisseur. I have heard, or read somewhere, of a peculiar breed of Lincolnshire rabbits, styled the silver-tipped, having the fur of a dark or lighter grey, mixed with longer hairs tipped with white. Numbers of this description may be seen in the vicinity of the metro- polis, where they were bred without any knowledge in the breeders of their Lincolnshire origin. Their skins, of no extra value here, are said to be in de- mand for exportation to Russia and China, and thence brought up in large quantities by the fur merchants for exportation. BREEDING. The DOE will breed at the age of six months, and her period of GESTATION is thirty or thirty-one days. It should be premised, that the buck and doe are by no means to BE LEFT TOGE- THER ; but their union having been successful, the buck must be immediately withdrawn, and the doe 188 NUMBER PRODUCED — ANCIENT ERROR. tried again in three days : in fact, with rabbits, this business is conducted on the same principle as in the stud. Like chickens, the best breeding rabbits are those kindled in March. Some days before PARTU- RITION, or kindling, hay is to be given to the doe, to assist in making her bed, with the flue which nature has instructed her to tear from her body for that pur- pose. She will be at this period seen sitting upon her haunches, and tearing off the flue, and the hay being presented to her, she will, with her teeth, reduce and shorten it to her purpose. Biting down of the litter, or bed, is the first sign of approaching pregnancy. The number produced generally between FIVE and TEN ; and it is most advantageous always to destroy the weak or sickly ones, as soon as their defects can be perceived, because five healthy and well-grown rabbits are worth more than double the number of an opposite description, and the doe will be far less exhausted. She will admit the BUCK again with profit at the end of six weeks, when the young may be separated from her, and WEANED. Or the young may be suckled two months, the doe taking the buck at the end of five weeks, so that the former litter will leave her about a week before her next parturition. A notion was formerly prevalent, of the necessity for giving the buck immediately after the doe had brought forth, lest she should pine, and that no time might be lost ; and if it were intended that no time might be lost in destroying the doe, such, indeed, would be the most successful method. Great care should be taken that the doe, during her gestation, CAUTIONS — WEAKNESS MR. BROWN. 189 be not approached by the buck, or, indeed, by any other rabbit ; as, from being harassed about, she will almost certainly cast her young. One doe in a thousand may DEVOUR her young ; the sign that she ought to be otherwise disposed of. Some does admit the buck with difficulty, although often apparently in season ; such should be immediately fattened off, since it can never be worth while to keep an objec- tionable individual for breeding, of a stock to be produced in such multitudes. Should the doe be WEAK on her bringing forth, from cold caught, or other cause, she will drink beer-caudle, as well as any other lady; or warm fresh grains will comfort her ; a malt mash ; scalded fine pollard, or barley- meal, in which may be mixed a small quantity of cordial horse-ball. Mr. Brown, of Banbury, who has published some observations on the subject, believes, that what ap- pears to be a propensity in the doe devouring her young, is nothing more than a necessitous, though truly unnatural act. That it is done to satiate the thirst induced by the febrile state of parturition, which thirst they, in consequence of their confine- ment, have not the natural power to allay. Hence the horrid alternative of sacrificing their young, an extremity to which they are never driven in a state of nature. Mr. B. observes, " I have had rabbits which have been sold me cheap, in consequence of this seeming proneness to eat their young, which I have entirely avoided by allowing the animal some short time ante- rior, at the time, and for a week or so after parturi- 190 OBSERVATIONS ON RABBITS EATING THEIR YOUNG. tion, to drink freely of cold water ; and, when I have taken this precaution, no such propensity ever evinced itself in the least ; and that cold water is in no way injurious, and the animal appears wonderfully grati- fied by it. " The preceding remarks go to prove, that the propensity is, in fact, one which has necessity for its origin ; and that of the most imperious nature. Hence, it is recommended to all who may have suffered from this cause, to supply the parturient animals with as much cold liquid as they require or can drink." However plausible this theory of Mr. Brown may be, and however occasionally useful, it must not be received as generally correct. We must look deeper for the real exciting cause of this apparently unna- tural, perhaps inscrutable act, in females of various genera of animals, than thirst, and the mere want of drink, since it is well known to take place when there is no such want, particularly in the rabbit, the least liable to thirst, the sow, the cat, the ferret, and others. The cow also devours her after-burden, in a field of grass, and in reach of the pond at which she is daily accustomed to drink. There are, more- over, formidable objections to this hypothesis of Mr. Brown ; no light one is the solidity of the sub- stance chosen to allay thirst, better calculated, one would suppose, to appease hunger ; and another weighty one in the fact, that some, Or most females, never devour their young, under whatever circum- stances of privation. The doe will, as I have expe- rienced, sometimes commit the act from resentment WINTER RABBITS — PRODUCE — THE BUCK. 191 at having her bed and young disturbed and pryed into ; and will then wantonly tear her bed in pieces, and scatter the fragments about her hut. The above remarks may also serve as a reply to the truly theoretical supposition of Professor Cole- man, who attributes this unnatural act in the doe to the consciousness of a deficiency in milk. With due attention to keeping them warm and comfortable, and guarding against any sudden im- pression from cold, and more particularly moist air, and with the aid of the best and most nourishing food, I have bred rabbits throughout the WINTER, with nearly equal success as in the summer season. But, in truth, their produce is so multitudinous, that one might be well satisfied with four or five litters, during the best part of the year, giving the doe a winter fallow. — Even four litters would, upon the lowest calculation, produce TWENTY YOUNG ONES ANNUALLY to each doe ; equal to an annual TWO THOUSAND from a stock of ONE HUNDRED DOES. I have no experience of does, as breeders, beyond the FIFTH year : the BUCK will come into use at six, or even four months old, and be in perfection from the age of two to three years. FEEDING. Upon a regular plan, and with suffi- cient attendance, it is better to FEED three times than twice a day. The art of feeding rabbits with safety and advantage is, always to give the prefer- ence to dry and substantial food. Their nature is congenial with that of the sheep, and the same kind of food, with little variation, agrees with both. ALL WEEDS, and the refuse of vegetation, should be banished 192 FEEDING — FATTENING. from rabbit feeding. Such articles are too washy and diuretic, and can never be worth attention, whilst the more solid and nutritious productions of the field may be obtained in such plenty, and will return so much greater profit. Rabbits may, indeed, be kept, and even fattened upon roots, good green meat, and hay : but they will pay for corn ; and this may be taken as a general rule: — Rabbits which have as much corn as they will eat, can never take any harm from being indulged with almost an equal portion of good substantial vegetables. How- ever, the test of health is, that their dung be not too moist. Many, or most, of the town feeders never allow any greens at all ; the reason, I sup- pose, because they feed almost entirely on grains. The CORN proper for rabbits : oat, peas, wheat ; pollard, and some give buck wheat. The GREENS and ROOTS, the same as our cattle crops, namely, carrots, Jerusalem artichokes, and, if potatoes, baked or steamed. Lucerne, cabbage-leaves, clover, tares, furze. I have had them HOVEN from eating rape ; and, not improbably, mangoldt might have a similar effect. Clover and meadow hay, pea and bean straw. Among other field trash, hog-weed (the vegetation of the wild parsnip) has been seriously recommended as food for rabbits, and even for labouring horses, which, so fed during several weeks, must have had very light work, or very light bellies. On moving out of Middlesex in 1790, to Pamber-House, near Basingstoke, Hants, I took with me a favourite stock of rabbits, in the highest condition. Being particu- FATTENING SALE. 193 larly engaged for the first fortnight, I scarcely be- stowed a look on my rabbits. When I saw them, instead of the well-fed, merry, gamesome animals, as they formerly were, I beheld a parcel of moping, pot-bellied and scouring creatures, which had lost all the fine solid flesh put upon- them by former high keeping. On demanding the cause of this unfavour- able change, I discovered it to be in the quantity of hog-weed with which they had been daily supplied. This being discontinued, they soon recovered their pristine condition. Rabbits are generally sold from the TEAT, but there is also a demand for those of larger size, which may be fattened upon corn and hay, with an allow- ance of the best vegetables. The better the food the greater weight, better quality, and more profit, which I apprehend to be generally the case in the breeding of all animals. Some fatten with fresh grains and pollard. I have tried all wheat, and all potato oats, comparatively; but could find no dif- ference in the goodness of the flesh. The rabbit's flesh being dry, the allowance of succulent greens may tend to render it more juicy; and I suppose the old complaint of the dryness of the flesh in Devon beef entirely fed with hay, might be reme- died in the same way. Rabbits are in perfection for feeding at the FOURTH or SIXTH month ; beyond which period, their flesh becomes more dry and somewhat hard. It requires THREE months, or nearly so, to make a rabbit thoroughly fat and ripe : half the time may make them eatable, but by no means equal in the quality of the flesh. They may K 194 FLESH — SIZE CATTLE-SHOW. yet be over fattened, as appears by specimens exhi- bited a few years since, at Lord Somerville's show, which were loaded with fat without and within, like the best feeding sheep ; and at the late London cattle-show, two were exhibited, one of them ex- ceeding the weight of 151bs. The FLESH of the rabbit is esteemed equally di- gestible as that of fowls, and equally proper for the table of the invalid. This seems to be the general sentiment, especially with regard to the sucking rabbit boiled. There is, nevertheless, some discre- pancy of judgment between our sages of the table, as to the preference due to the wild or tame rabbit. In our opinion, the flesh of the wild rabbit is most savoury and substantial, that of the tame and home- fed, most delicate and chicken-like. We frequently observe a deep yellow suffusion, tinging the whole flesh and fat of the rabbit, and the same also in the turkey and in beef. I could never conjecture or ob- tain any satisfactory cause for this phenomenon. Is the cause biliary ? Of the two rabbits at the late show, one was white as silver, the other a deep yel- low, yet apparently both equally healthy. A laughable incident occurred on the exhibition of Rabbits, at the late Lord Somerville's show. Calling on my noble friend the following day, in order to talk over relative topics, his Lordship said to me with an appearance of apprehension and dis- trust— Why, do not you think that rabbits were sent merely for the purpose of throwing a ridicule on the show, and ought they to have been received ? I assured him I thought very differently, and that CASTRATED RABBITS — KILLING. 195 they were no doubt admissible, being a species of live stock of great consequence as national food, and in universal demand, thence entitled to exhi- bition, like other stock, in their utmost perfection of proof. My lord was satisfied. CASTRATED rabbits might be fattened, no doubt, to the weight of upwards of ten or even fifteen pounds, at six or seven months old. The operation should be performed at the age of six or seven weeks. I have not succeeded at castrating the rab- bit, but am informed it is successfully practised in the land of capons, namely, Sussex, near Chichester, where, on the average, not one in three hundred is lost by the operation, which is performed at five or six weeks old. With respect to QUANTITIES of corn consumed in fattening ; — August, 1813, killed a young buck, which weighed three pounds, fit for the spit ; it was put up in good case, and was only one month in feeding, consuming not quite four quarts of oats, with hay, cabbage, lucerne, bunias orientalis, and chicory; the skin, silver, and black, worth four-pence. In SLAUGHTERING full-grown rabbits, after the usual stroke upon the neck, the throat should be perforated upwards towards the jaws with a small pointed knife, in order that the blood may be eva- cuated, which would otherwise settle in the head and neck. It is an abomination to kill poultry by the slow and torturing method of bleeding to death, hung up by the heels, the veins of the mouth being cut; but still more so the rabbit, which in that situation utters horrible screams. The ENTRAILS K 2 196 CORNEY BUTTERCUP — DISEASE. of the rabbit, whilst fresh, are said to be good food for fish, being thrown into ponds. The rabbit is a CARESSING animal, and equally fond, with the cat, of the head being stroked; at the same time, it is not destitute of courage. A whimsical lady admitted a buck rabbit named as above (Corney Buttercup) into the house, where he became her companion for upwards of a twelve- month. He soon intimidated the largest cats so much, by chasing them round the room, and dart- ing upon them, and tearing off their hair by mouth- fuls, that they very seldom dared to approach. He slept in the lap by choice, or upon a chair, or the hearth-rug, and was as full of mischief and tricks as a monkey. He destroyed all rush-bottomed chairs within his reach, and would refuse nothing to eat or drink, which was eaten or drank by any other member of the family. No live stock is less liable to DISEASE than the rabbit, with regular and careful attention, such as has been pointed out, so that any sudden and acci- dental disorder is best and most cheaply remedied by a stroke behind the ears. But want of care must be remedied, if at all, by an opposite conduct, and improper food exchanged for its contrary. Thus if rabbits become POT-BELLIED in the common phrase, from being fed on loose vegetable trash, they must be cured by good hard hay and corn, ground malt or pease, toasted bread or captain's biscuits, or any substantial and absorbent food. Their common liver complaints are incurable, and when such are put up to fatten, there is a certain STATUTES RABBIT BAZAAR. 197 criterion to be observed. They will not bear to be pushed beyond a moderate degree of fatness, and should be taken in time, as they are liable to drop off suddenly. The dropsy and rot must be pre- vented, as they are generally incurable: nor is a rabbit worth the time and pains of a probable cure. Of the ' madness in tame conies,' on which our old writers hold forth, I know nothing. By 7 and 8 Geo. IV. if any person unlawfully and wilfully in the night time take any hare or coney in any warren or ground lawfully used for the keep- ing thereof, whether enclosed or not, every such per- son shall be guilty of a misdemeanor ; and persons guilty of the same offence in the day time, or using any snare or engine, are subject to a penalty of five pounds. But this does not extend to the taking in the day time any conies on any sea bank or river bank in Lincolnshire so far as the tide shall extend, or within a furlong of such bank. AMPTHILL RABBIT BAZAAR. I have stated at the commencement of this article, that the large concerns had generally ceased. Of late, one has arisen at Ampthill, Beds, upon a more extensive scale than ever before attempted, established by J. H. Fisher, Esq. an agent of his Grace the Duke of Bedford. Upon so extensive a plan, indeed, is this new undertaking, that it may well be styled our grand NATIONAL RABBIT BAZAAR. The building, situated upon an eminence, is square, somewhat re- sembling barracks, with a court withinside the walls, and with thirty acres of fine light land adjoin- ing, under culture of those crops known to be best K 3 198 AMPTHILL RABBIT BAZAAR. adapted to the nourishment and support of rabbit- stock. It was proposed to keep between four and five thousand breeding does, which number is pro- bably now complete. The young rabbits, from seven to nine weeks old, are sent to Newgate and Leadenhall markets, fifty to sixty dozen, weekly. The quantity of dung produced, which is reserved with the utmost care, and free from any extraneous substances, must be very considerable and valuable. A number of men and boys are employed in the con- cern, under the direction of an experienced foreman, and the utmost regularity of attention observed with respect to management, feeding, and cleanliness. This Bazaar has been honoured by the visits of per- sons of the highest rank ; of his Majesty William IV. when Duke of Clarence, his Grace the Duke of Bed- ford, Lord Holland, Lord Vernon, and a number of ladies and gentlemen. I repeat the above particulars as memorable, although this great undertaking came to an end last year (1833), like so many former ones of a similar nature, but on a far inferior scale. Mr. Fisher probably found, though somewhat too late, that his other great concerns were fully sufficient to engage the whole of his attention. I have also been informed by experienced persons, that the expences necessarily attendant on such a concern were too heavy to admit of an adequate return of profit, one material item of which consisted in the too great distance of Ampthill from the metropolis. Nevertheless, it appears that three gentlemen were about to continue this undertaking on a smaller scale, at or near Shepherd's Bush. SWINE. SECTION XVI. Swine. THE above figure was taken of a sow bred from a cross with a Chinese black breed, the property of Arthur Mowbray, Esq. of Sherborn, Durham. She was at the time suckling nineteen pigs, being the third litter within ten months, the whole amounting to fifty pigs. There must, however, have been a mistake in the MS. with respect to the number of months, since the period of gestation in the swine is four months. In the accounts of extraordinary number of litters in a year, it must be understood that the pigs must have been taken early from the teat, chiefly as roasters, since the sow will not desire the boar again, until the turn of the milk. K 4 200 SWINE — FLESH AND SIZE — EAR. Sus. PORCUS — the SWINE, PIG, or HOG, is too well known in all countries, to need a repetition of its generic description. It is one of the most useful, and perhaps the most profitable of all the domestic animals, its flesh being greatly conducive to the pur- poses of luxury, but still more universally to the support of human life, in the laborious state. This animal is the general collector of offal and waste, whether in town or country, thereby foraging for a considerable part of its subsistence, the extra cost of which it moreover amply repays. Its flesh, second probably to beef, is the most substantial of human aliment, and may be eaten most frequently without disgust. The solidity of swine's flesh, says the author of the General Treatise on Cattle, is ap- parent on a comparison of the external superficies of a fat hog, with that of a fat sheep or bullock, the dimensions of which latter animal must be so much more extensive to equal the weight of the first; which is also aptly illustrated by the well-attested examples of individual hogs, fed to the enormous weight each of one hundred, and even one hundred and eighty-two stone, of eight pounds to the stone. This is also said to differ from all other land animals, in the circumstance that the adipose substance, or fat, entirely covers his muscular flesh, in one con- tinued layer or stratum. The upright and pendant ear form specific distinctions in the swine, the latter being the general indication of larger size. The SINGLE-HOOFED HOG has undivided hoofs on all the feet, and resembles the common kind in every thing else; they inhabit Upsal and other places in USES — BACON. 201 Sweden, and they are mentioned by the ancients. Mr. Coke of Holkham had a breed of them about 25 years since, and they were also occasionally to be found in the neighbourhood of Windsor: the Publisher has lately (March 1834) had a specimen of this variety in his possession ; it was consigned, by Mr. Revett of Chelmsford, to Mr. John Cross of Leadenhall Market. USES. The well-known culinary uses of swine's flesh are — as ROASTING PIG and PORK — FRESH and PICKLED PORK— BACON — HAMS BRAWN — SAUSAGES of various kinds — PUDDINGS of the blood ; whilst the LARD is valuable both for kitchen and medicinal use, and the SKIN, BRISTLES, and HAIRS, for the purposes of manufacture. Bacon, in consequence of the vast quantities im- ported from Ireland, has been retailed in the me- tropolis, during the last and in the present year, at the reasonable prices of from 4J. to 8d. per Ib. In dressing our bacon hogs (Hants) we always singed them : the practice also of Berks ; whilst most or all of the other bacon districts scald. It is re- markable, that little or no bacon has ever been made but in the West, and in London, the East- ern districts generally preferring pickled pork, and being purchasers of the inferior quantity of bacon consigned. I never could discover any difference in the flavour or quality of bacon, whether singed or scalded. K5 202 SPECIES AND VARIETIES. The SPECIES are Asiatic, African, and European, with which, perhaps, may be included the Ameri- can PECCARY. The orifice on the loins of the American Peccary, is an outlet for the secretion of a gland which smells powerfully, not the navel of the animal (as erroneously stated by some writers) ; its probable use is to enable the sexes to find each other in the large woods of the country which the Peccaries inhabit. The navel will be found in the usual situation. The ./Ethiopian swine is large in a wild state, and has wattles under the eyes. The VARIETIES produced in this country have generally originated in crosses with our indigenous breed, from the three grand specific divisions above cited ; chiefly from the CHINESE, the black AFRICAN, the SPANISH and PORTUGUESE, of nearly the same colour, all more or less bare of hair; the red, or more properly yellow ITALIAN, and the WILD SWINE of the neighbouring continent. The motive for these foreign crosses has been to abate and reduce the redundant size and bone of our native stock, and to substitute superior delicacy of flesh and aptitude to fatten ; both which views have succeeded, the latter, in the judgment of the author above quoted, in an ordinate degree. Another motive has been the extreme prolific quality of the southern and wild breeds. IRELAND BREEDING. 203 BRITISH VARIETIES. For our VARIETIES of pigs at large, I repeat my reference to Lawrence's General Treatise on Cat- tle, the only book, probably, in which they have ever been enumerated and described, the author himself having been a considerable breeder and feeder. It will be sufficient to advert to the most material, and most noted, which are — the BERKS, HANTS, HEREFORD, SHROPSHIRE, YORKSHIRE, and MIDLAND county, for large size as bacon hogs ; and the Oxford, Bucks, Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, as smaller breeds for pork- feeding. All the above breeds are more or less imbued with foreign blood, the larger breed chiefly through the medium of the Berkshire cross, that county originally taking the lead in the foreign improvement. Berkshire and Hereford boars and sows have been used, within the last twenty or thirty years, in the improvement of the Irish breed of hogs, a coarse, hairy, and leggy variety, at length successfully improved into a form so nearly resembling that of our English stock, as to be with difficulty distinguished. Of those, both dead and alive, Ireland has exported immense quan- tities to this country. In the spring, 1830, according to the public papers, an Irish drove, amounting to upwards of fourteen thousand, passed a turnpike in the west. During majiy years past, indeed, PIG-BREEDING had greatly declined among us, and we had been supplied in proportion, not only with bacon and pork, K 6 204- PRICE — BACON — LONDON FEEDERS. but with stores for feeding, from Ireland. Demand, however, has had its necessary effect on a species of animal so speedily reproduced, and pigs are found in great abundance throughout England. The price nevertheless gradually advanced, and in September 1826, Chappell, the crack porkman of Skinner- street, London, sold the prime joints of his best milk-fed pork, at one shilling per Ib. ; the price, how- ever, of pigs, declined during the year 1829, with that of other live stock, the markets at length having been abundantly supplied : yet Mr. Chappell (spring 1830) sold his prime joints 'at IQd. to 10|o!. per Ib. with a brisk sale. The Irish BACON has been greatly improved, and is not so easily distinguishable, as formerly, from English; nor is there such a difference in price, both Irish butter and bacon often exceeding the English, in that respect. Scarcely any bacon is now made in or near London, the distillers, who formerly fed such great numbers of hogs, having long since exchanged that species of stock for bul- locks ; and subsequently, many of the houses have given up all live stock, disposing of their wash and grains to the cow-keepers. The starch-houses of the metropolis keep about four or five hundred hogs each, of which they make somewhat more than two annual returns, fat ; or perhaps more, since a smaller and quicker feeding breed of pigs has come into use. These houses, in the year 1829, will have turned out nearly three thousand fat hogs. More than double that number were fattened in and near the metropolis, by six houses, upwards of half a century since, and DAIRY PORK. 205 before the revolutionary war with America. O these, the great house at Lambeth, Stonard and Curtis, had room for nearly one thousand, and that of the late Mr. Suter, of the same place, the reputed quickest, cleanest, and best feeder in England, equally reputed for the quality of his stock, nearly five hundred. Cooper of Bow, one thousand. At the same period the distillers all fed hogs, Sir Joseph Mawbey, at Lambeth, having sties to con- tain two thousand. The great and constant suc- ceeding import of Irish bacon, necessarily reduced the number of hogs fed in England ; as on the other hand, the general disuse of hair powder, which su- pervened about the commencement of the French revolution, the change of fashion, in all probability, being introduced by Francis duke of Bedford, pro- portionately diminished the want of starch. The markets for dairy pork, near London, of which Barnet is the chief, have not of late years exhibited those considerable numbers formerly ex- posed to sale there, the demand being supplied irregularly, and from various quarters. Indeed, this market has, within these few years, been re- moved from Barnet to Finchley. A similar change has also taken place in the sale of dairy pork, in former days almost entirely in the hands of London Jew butchers, of whom now only one remains, and he no longer purchases his pigs alive, but has his pork ready killed, sent to him from the country ; a practice become nearly gene- ral. Dairy pigs are also bought at the dead mar- kets of Newgate and Leadenhall. From such causes 206 FOREIGN. it will naturally be inferred, that pig-breeding has been neglected in this country ; and in truth, the stock of those districts which I have just quoted is not equal in size and form to that which they once possessed. The Herefordshire, half a century since, were the crack stores for the London feeders, and the Turners were the chief men for collecting them ; but now it seems both the Turners (at least as pig-dealers), and the large breed of Hereford and Shropshire swine, are nearly extinct. Is Here- fordshire, then, one day destined to lose her large and noble breed of oxen in the same way? The vicinity of Peterborough, Northamptonshire, is said to produce some of the best large-sized swine of the present day. We thus exemplify the motto of the old Almanack makers, omnium rerum vicissitude — all things change. The West India Islands and the Azores ought not to be forgotten, as producing a fine and deli- cate breed of PIGS, originally it may be presumed, Spaniards, which have at various periods found their way hither; such have been used for the purpose of refining our native breeds. South Ame- rica has also a fine breed of pigs. At Lord Somer- ville's show, in 1809, Mr. Gibbs, seedsman to the Board of Agriculture, exhibited a black wild pig from Monte Video. The sow and litter were im- ported together, and were very savage. They were deep in form, with, very fine bone. One of them fattened very young to twenty-four stone, and al- though ripe and carrying a sufficient quantity of flair, it had more flesh in proportion, in the opinion CONVENIENCES FOR SWINE — STIES. 207 of the butcher, than he had ever before witnessed. There was the least possible oflal, the inside seeming to be filled with flesh. It was remarked that the great gut was smaller than the smallest gut of a small pig. This pork was excellent, inclining to the savoury. It has never occurred, that I am aware, to our breeders, to preserve any of the fine foreign varie- ties pure, whence possibly a still more delicate pork might be raised than any we at present pos- sess, granting the attempt were made with those which furnish muscular flesh or lean, as well as fat. Some of the wild swine of the opposite con- tinent are well adapted to such purpose, and are besides very prolific. Most countries abounding with forests have herds of wild swine ; these animals, under such circumstances, being always ready to quit domestication. I remember, very many years ago, two young boars retiring, on French leave, to an extensive wood, then the property of Mrs. El- dred, between Colchester and Mersea Island, which became subsequently, during several years, the terror of the neighbourhood. Hunting the wild boar in India is a sport attended with considerable danger, of which there is an amusing account in a late number of the Sporting Magazine. CONVENIENCES FOR SWINE. ROOM and VENTILATION are objects of the great- est import where numbers are kept, and dry lodging, without which essentials success must not be ex- 208 STIES — OPINION. pected. Nor are swine, in whatever state, proof against excessive cold, for I have known instances of their being frozen to death in their sty, and have always remarked that severe weather materi- ally checks their thriving, unless they be sufficiently defended from the chilling effects of the air. The STY, situated upon a dry foundation, as well as sheltered above, should be paved at bottom, to the end that it may be kept clean and dry, the ope- ration necessary for which should be daily per- formed, for although pigs will wallow in the mire, they are yet more thrifty in clean lodgings. As swine confined usually employ their leisure time in demolishing, with their teeth, the wood-work within their reach, the modern cast-iron TROUGHS are pro- fitable ; at any rate, wooden troughs ought to be iron bound. A RANGE of sties is convenient where num- bers are fed, on account of the greater facility of attendance, and of the distribution of wash re- served in the cistern. According to an ancient and general opinion, not, however, entirely supported by either ancient or modern experience, swine do not long succeed, if kept upon the same ground in considerable numbers, infecting each other with a malignant atmosphere. In opposition to such an idea, history informs us, that the Roman feeders possessed herds of swine, to the amount of two or three thousand each ; and I have often seen upwards of two thousand large hogs fat- tened under the same roof, where in a long course of years, no mortality had been experienced or appre- hended. The opinion in question has, most probably, PURPOSES IN FEEDING — PROFIT — SEASONS. 209 arisen from the circumstance of too great number of pigs bred within confined limits, and a defective ven- tilation, assisted, perhaps, by a wet or boggy soil, and a want of cleanliness. PURPOSES IN FEEDING. These are either for mere domestic use, or for profit by sale ; and the choice of plan lies between BREEDING, and purchase of STORES ; the former at- tended with most trouble, but proportionate emolu- ment. Swine are not generally kept to advantage, unless where some waste remains to be gathered, or cheap articles of food can be grown for them ; but the rule admits of exception in favour of those who are well skilled in the animals themselves, and in the turns of the market. The wash and offals of a mo- derate kitchen will go a considerable way towards the support of a breeding sow, and, in return, the produce of the sow will operate in a comfortable proportion towards the support of the kitchen. To embrace in our view the profits of the farm and of the public, it has been said, and, according to my experience, upon sufficient grounds, that a hundred pounds, laid out in swine, will return a greater profit than the same sum invested in any other kind of live stock ; and that no other article of flesh provision can be raised and prepared for market so soon as pork : in consequence, it must be materially instru- mental in the production of plenty, and in restrain- ing exorbitance of price in the first necessaries. The 210 CHOICE — BACON — GROWTH. seasons most usually advantageous for the purchase of pig stock, are, at Old Michaelmas, after clearing the harvest fields, and in the months of March and April. CHOICE OF VARIETIES. The reader is referred to our brief but sufficient list of these, from which, according to his convenience or opportunity, he may make his election : or without farther trouble, he may very safely have recourse to the HOME-BREDS of his own district or vicinity, since we are so far generally improved, that in whatever part of England a man may reside, he need not fail to purchase pigs for his money, which a sufficiency of good meat will fatten to profit. For BACON-HOGS, in a commercial view, the regu- lar large varieties are, doubtless, best calculated, as endowed with the important qualification of growth, to make use of the technical term, as well as of breeding fat. I readily acknowledge, however, this is an old-fashioned opinion, the large varieties having been not only long out of vogue, but the best of them even out of existence. I remain yet uncon- vinced. This property of growth, or accretion in stature, in animals to be fattened, has been of late years slighted, since the fashion has prevailed of confining our atten- tion solely to the consideration of fattening ; but, on actual experiment, I believe it will be found, that a well-shaped animal, of whatever species, endowed PORK — ALL FAT. with both properties, will make the heaviest return, and in an article of superior quality, for the quantity of meat consumed. The best PORK, in course, must be expected from the smallest, most delicate, and fine-fleshed varieties ; for example, as has been before observed, those which have resulted from crosses with the southern stock, or with" the wild boar of the continent. All our reputed porking breeds have this mixture in various degrees. But I must here put in my plea of objec- tion more strongly, and in the name of good old English ROAST PORK, against the modern principle of sacrificing every thing to fat, and consequently against those breeds, too frequently and deeply crossed with the foreign forms, which produce no lean. In bacon, or salted pork, all fat may be tole- rable, and even may be preferred by some palates ; but in roasted pork it is not possible but that a cer- tain portion of lean flesh must be desirable, scarcely a taste of which is to be found in the hinder loins, at any rate of the species under consideration. The little flesh, too, yielded by such pork is of an inferior greasy quality, and insipid flavour, perhaps neces- sarily, from being so thoroughly saturated with the fatty material; and should pigs of this description be slaughtered before they have become ripe or fat, their pork will be ordinary, and their weight very short of the profitable standard. On such considera- tions, the western pigs, chiefly those of Berks, Ox- ford, Beds, and Bucks, possess a decided superiority over the eastern, of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk ; not to forget another qualification in the former, at which CRACKLIN — BREEDING. some readers may smile, namely, a thickness of the skin, whence the cracklin of the roasted pork is a fine gelatinous substance, which may easily be masti- cated ; whilst the cracklin of the thin-skinned breeds is roasted into good block tin, the reduction of which would almost require teeth of iron. The western porking breeds make handsome sides of delicate bacon and superior hams for family use. The eastern pork is, however, smaller, and perhaps apparently more delicate, than that here described as in reality far superior. The eastern are also the quickest feeders. Devon pork has of late years come much into favour in the metropolis, of which a constant weekly supply may be found at a shop in the Strand, near the New Church, where also a peculiar kind of delicate light- coloured forest mutton is sold. BREEDING. The DURATION of LIFE in the swine is said by naturalists to extend to twenty or thirty years, who report that the BOAR continues to grow to the end of the term. Swine are ready for procreation at the age of seven months, but the male is unprofitable for that purpose until twelve months old, and is in his prime at two years. In other respects, the age of swine is matter of small concern, since they are never kept until they are old ; and it is the custom with many breeders to slaughter even their most prolific sows in the second year. The young sows to be preserved for breeding, should be chosen with deep and capa- cious bellies, the full number of teats, and of the PROLIFIC — BREEDING MONTHS. 213 most extensive or widest general form. The term of GESTATION in swine is four months, or one hundred and fifteen days, with a very few days' variation, pro- ducing three litters of from five to twelve pigs each, in about eighteen months, supposing the pigs to be weaned ; but in two or three months less time, the pigs being suckled for roasters. Greater numbers to a litter are often produced, more particularly by the China breeds and their crosses, the most prolific of swine : and we had a late instance in Essex of a sow of that breed, the property of Mr. Tilney, of Writtle, which farrowed 301 pigs in 13 litters, out of which she actually brought up 177, or more than 13 to a litter. I have, however, found, and more especially in the large breeds, that a litter of a moderate number is most profitable, since in the numerous litters there are generally several undersized and weak individuals which never attain much value. Thus a litter of nine or ten good pigs may bring more profit than a litter of thirteen or fourteen. After receiving the BOAR, for which the middle of SEPTEMBER and the middle of MARCH are the most advantageous seasons, the sow should be confined until her irritability has ceased, which will return within a few days of her parturition, a sign which de- mands attention. After she has become heavy, she should be securely lodged by herself, lest others injure her by lying upon her ; and, at any rate, during the time of bringing forth, as other swine would devour her offspring as they fell. According to the above breeding periods, the pigs will come in the middle of January and of July; in the first PARTURITION — PRECAUTION. month with the spring before them, and their nursing mother, in the interim, to defend them from the win- ter's cold ; in the other, they are nurtured in a warm season, weaned in the harvest field, and then ena- bled to endure the rigours of the approaching win- ter. It has proved generally unsuccessful to rear pigs in the winter season, although they may be bred for roasters. SIGNS of approaching PARTURITION, in addition to the one above noted — swellings of the bags of milk, decreased size of the belly, sleepiness. A vigi- lant swineherd, solicitous to preserve all the pigs, will watch and attend the farrowing sow, day and night, because some sows are so unwieldy, or so care- less, as, perhaps, at every farrowing, to lie upon, and crush to death a part of their young ; others, from an irregular and vicious disposition, will devour a part, or even all of them. As one precaution, the breed- ing-sow ought not to be kept fat and heavy, yet in good heart and full strength. Few keepers will, or ever do, go the length of attending the sow, satisfying themselves with the persuasion that she will be safest left to her own care. To those who are willing to undertake such an office, a hamper, or basket of straw, will be found convenient, in which to withdraw the pigs from danger when it may be needful, in order to replace them properly, as occasion may suit ; which practice it may be necessary to re- peat during two or three days, until the pigs shall have acquired strength and caution sufficient to secure themselves. It may, indeed, be profitable to lose part of a too numerous litter, but accident will not respect PIGGING-HOUSE — CLEANLINESS FIRST FOOD. 215 the quality of the pigs, and the most puny and worth- less may escape. None must be saved beyond the number of teats, and, upon an average, NINE is a sufficient number. Would the sow submit quietly, STRAPPING her jaws during the first day and night, with the trouble of releasing her at her meals, would be an effectual security, in case of unnatural vora- ciousness. As to very numerous litters, our newspa- per columns are periodically stocked with triumphant accounts. The PIGGING-HOUSE should be warm and dry, eight feet square, and secure from the inroads of foxes and other vermin, which have been known to steal suck- ing pigs from the sleeping or absent sow. Short straw is preferable for a bed, but in not too great quantity, lest the pigs be smothered beneath it ; this should be renewed with due regard to cleanliness, and as the unwieldy sow is apt to crush her young against the wall, it is proposed, in the New Farmer's Calendar, to append an inclining or projecting rail around, be- neath which the pigs may escape, on the down-lying of the sow. Sows which are given to devour their pigs, or have teats too large and coarse, or yield too thick and unwholesome milk, should be discarded as breeders, but a small number of pigs at the first litter is no valid objection. The FIRST FOOD should consist of warm and nou- rishing wash, whether from the kitchen or dairy, thickened with fine pollard or barley-meal. A por- tion of strong beer may be added as a cordial, should circumstances render it necessary. The common wash, pollard or meal mixed with water, if scalded, #16 CUTTING AND SPAYING — RINGING — KILLING. the better. The same diet is proper for the pigs to partake of whilst sucking. The sow can scarcely be too well kept during this period, and, in addition to two meals as above, should be allowed a middle one of dry meat ; for example, a pint of peas, or beans, with half a peck of carrots, boiled potatoes, or the like. Potatoes alone are a poor and watery depend- ence, nor should pigs be fed with them or any loose vegetable trash, until three months old. The sow may be let out to air herself at pleasure, and, after a while, with the pigs to accompany her, but never in bad weather. CUTTING and SPAYING the young pigs is performed at six or seven weeks old, according to their strength : in a week after which they may be WEANED. After weaning, shut up the sow closely, feed her well, and on the reflux of the milk, she will express very loudly her desire for the company of the BOAR. It is necessary to repeat, that sows are voracious, and occasionally fierce and savage animals, and have actually devoured young children. The sow is SPAYED whilst she gives suck, and the boar safely CASTRATED at any age. RINGING the snouts of pigs should be performed at weaning time, and after they shall have recovered from castration. In Cheshire they cut away the cartilage, or gristle of the snout, in place of in- serting a ring, a practice which I have not hitherto essayed. KILLING. The following extraordinary expedi- tion, particularly for the country, was lately used by Frederic Green, Governor of the Poor-house ENCOURAGEMENT — FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT. 217 at Brewood, in Staffordshire. Having betted ten pounds that he would kill, scald, well and completely dress, open, &c. eight pigs in four hours, without any other assistance whatever, than having the scalding water conveyed to him as he wanted it; this task he performed in three hours, fifty-six minutes. One of the pigs (surely hogs) weighed 3801bs. and none less than 2401bs., or thirty stone, London weight. Green, however, had the advantage of a windlass to draw the pigs out of the scalding tub. ENCOURAGEMENT TO PIG-BREEDERS. "Lancashire, April 1813. Pigs of six weeks old, which sold two months ago at four shillings each, are now worth twenty shillings each." STORE-FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT. WEANLINGS should have at least one month of delicate feeding, warm lodging and care. The same kind of food should be continued to them three times a day, to which they were at first accustomed with the sow. Corn and pollard are indispensable in pig-feeding; they may, indeed, be reared more cheaply, but not then so profitably ; and the breeder who sagaciously plumes himself on the hardiness of his stock, of whatever species, will not always have to boast of form, size, arid good plight, into the bargain. On the other hand, it is readily acknow- ledged, that the round and barrel form of a pig L 218 STORE-FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT — FATTENING. making all fat, is most cheaply maintained, and the soonest ripe. GROWING STORES and sows are fed through the winter with the run of the barn-yard, upon roots of all kinds, including rutabaga and mangold, cabbage, &c. a ration of corn of some kind being allowed, with wash. Meal of any kind — bean, pea, oat, bar- ley, rye, buck-wheat, or tare, and linseed, boiled with potatoes, make good wash. Pea-wash alone scours young pigs. Pulse, or corn of any kind, are advantageously given in the straw to pigs, which are good threshers. In autumn, and a plentiful season, swine will subsist themselves abroad upon acorns : in summer, upon clover, lucern or tares ; but very young pigs particularly ought not to be left abroad in continual rains, and will always pay for a daily moderate feed of old beans with the clover. Swine turned to shift upon forests or commons are apt to stray and hide themselves for a considerable time; the ancient and ready method to collect them is by the sound of a horn, with which they have been accustomed to be fed. Where a consider- able herd is kept, and they are shifted upon the waste, they should be attended by a boy to prevent tres- passes. FATTENING FOR PORK AND BACON. Pigs will FATTEN either in confinement or at large in the yard. When in sties, care should be taken that the pigs be all ringed, or they will not lie quiet ; also that, when a number are fed together, any one at FATTENING — WEANLINGS. 219 which the rest may have taken a distaste, be immedi- ately withdrawn, or in probability they will tear him to pieces. For the same reason, a stranger should never be introduced. The fewer together, the more quietly and speedily they fatten, and by consequence, they succeed best singly. The troughs with SLIDING BOARDS before the meat, giving way to the snout of the pig, and shutting on his withdrawing his head, generally used in Hants and Berks, greatly prevent waste. They used, I recollect, to be provincially denominated witches. WEANLINGS are fattened for delicate pork, chiefly in the dairies, where they are made ripe in a few weeks. Generally a pig of five or six months old will be fattened in seven, or eight, or twelve weeks, dependent on his condition. Small bacon hogs will be fattened in twelve weeks, the larger in sixteen to twenty. They should be kept perfectly clean, dry, and com- fortable, for which daily attendance is necessary ; and it is preferable, where time can be spared, to feed thrice in the day. The most correct feeders, and those largely concerned, endeavour so to apportion the meal, that the trough may be entirely cleared, and yet the appetite of the animal thoroughly satisfied ; a plan which has been proved in a thousand examples to fatten the most speedily, and make the fattest hogs ; so totally opposite, nevertheless, to the ancient and still too common country method of filling the troughs at every feeding hour, whether empty or not. I have witnessed an old farmer repeatedly urging his servant to the performance of this duty, whilst the hog- trough remained constantly replenished with a L 2 220 FEEDING METHODS. mingled mess of meal and dung, of equal use to the hogs to lie and wallow in, as to feed upon. To speak guardedly, I have no doubt that, in former days at least, one bushel of corn in three has been in this mode converted to dung, without ever having entered the bodies of the animals. Two or three years since, a farmer published the following experiment, as an improvement of the established mode of pig-feeding. He took two pigs of the same litter, and of equal weight, and fed them apart, one in the usual way on barley-meal mixed with swill, the other ate his meal dry, and had his drink given him an hour afterwards. At the end of six weeks, both hogs were weighed, when the one fed on dry food was a stone heavier than the other! The reader will judge whether this difference arose from the constitutional superiority of the heaviest pig, or the superiority of the new mode of feeding. Experiments on the point may be easily made. The following is also newspaper information. On December 29th, 1828, two pigs of the same litter were killed by Mr. Williamson, at Scarby, near Brigg, one weighing 43 stone lOlbs., and the other 47 stone 61bs. They were little more than three months old. This being correct, is a more profitable instance of pig-breeding than ever came within my knowledge. I wish Mr. W. had stated the breed of these pigs. Various articles for FATTENING swine. — Skimmed milk, and pea, oat, or barley meal, rank first in point of excellence with respect to the quality of flesh, milk-fed pork being superior to any other description, not only in delicacy of flavour, but in substance and weight, none weighing so heavy in proportion as the FATTENING ARTICLES — DAIRY PORK. milk-fed animal. Hence the bacon of the dairy coun- ties is superior. Milk will fatten pigs entirely, with- out the aid of any other food, a practice sometimes in the dairies ; which, however, as I have been lately informed by Mr. Chappell, has been long discontinued in Beds, and the best dairy counties, where a quantity of corn is always allowed with the milk, rendering the pork more substantial, and of superior flavour. CORN-FED pork is next in value, PEAS, OATS, and BARLEY being the best adapted grain. BEAN-FED pork is hard, ill-flavoured, and indigestible; being potato-fed, it is loose, insipid, weighs light, and wastes much in cookery. A similar character is given of pork fed on maize or Indian corn, by an ex- perimental feeder in Warwickshire. To mix pota- toes in the food of fattening pigs, is deceptious, dete- riorating the pork in exact proportion. Hence the ordinary Irish pork and bacon are generally inferior to the English, and the market price so in proportion. This inferiority has lately been stated to me, by the estimation of Mr. Charles Cotterill, an eminent dealer in Irish provisions, at three ounces per Ib. upwards. CLOVER-FED pork is yellow, unsubstantial and ill- tasted: fattened on ACORNS, it is hard, light, and unwholesome ; on OIL-CAKE-SEEDS or CHANDLERS' GRAVES, it becomes loose, greasy, and little better than carrion; on BUTCHERS' OFFAL, luscious, rank, and full of gravy, but of a strong and disgusting scent. Compared with the general consumption of pork, the real DAIRY-FED meat bears a very small proportion , and the sale of it in the metropolis is comparatively in few hands, always commanding a superior price. In L 3 LARGE HOGS. some parts of France, they SKIN tlieir pigs intended for fresh meat. A pig will eat two or three PECKS of corn or meal per week, in fattening ; a hog upwards of a bushel, in proportion to his size. The following is an ex- ample of successful feeding. " In the spring, 1805, Mr. Ivory, of Whitchurch, Salop, killed a hog of two years old, one side of which weighed 4101bs., the other 4141bs., total 46 score 14|lbs. or about 111 stone, dressed country fashion. He was purchased very lean at two years old, price four guineas, was fattened in between seven and eight months, and then valued at eighteen guineas ; subsequently twenty-five guineas for him were offered and refused." This hog probably made upwards of thirty pounds at the then price, and might have consumed full forty bushels of corn. The Shropshire was formerly one of the largest, if not the largest, breed of hogs in Britain ; I have fed many of them. I have at length, through Mr. Squire, obtained the weight of Mr. Crockford's hog, bred and fed at his fine farm near Newmarket, scarcely, I under- stand, to be paralleled in England, for its excellence of arrangement, convenience and style of buildings. The hog, when killed, was two years old, and weighed seventy-eight stone, horseman's weight, fourteen pounds to the stone, or one hundred and thirty-six stone and a half, London weight. The hams weighed six stone each, and head fifty pounds. This hog having been got by a boar bred at Mr. Crockford's farm, out of a sow bred in the neighbourhood, is warranted of the true Suffolk breed. That it was PEDIGREES — CROSSING. 223 bred in Suffolk, or near to that county, there is no question ; but having known the Suffolk breed, through a long course of years, as one of the small- est in England, and not being aware that it has been yet changed, I must beg leave to question its being, uncrossed, able to produce a hog of such a size. Such a chance is not upon the breeding cards. The fact is, pig-breeders, though in the vicinity of New- market, are not quite so correct in regard to pedi- gree, as the breeders of running horses. In truth, not only pigs, but stock of other kinds, never fail to be periodically introduced from districts where large stock is bred, into those where the small are established, and such individual introductions are no longer recollected or noticed after a while, produc- ing only limited and occasional enlargement qf size. In Essex, for example, the up-eared breed, which was originally, by comparison, small, became par- tially enlarged, and the ear changed to the pendant, by the introduction, many years since, of Berks, Hereford, and Shropshire boars. The original prick- eared breed yet remains, and it would be surely impossible to select a pure individual of that kind, capable of being fattened to equal the high weights of which we occasionally hear. THE DISEASES OF SWINE. Little success has hitherto attended the doctoring of swine, which are the most stubborn and intract- able of patients. Thence PREVENTION is the only remedy deserving of any considerable share of the keeper's attention. This should chiefly extend to L 4 DISEASES — CASE OF GORGING. the avoidance of infection by foul air, of damps and cold, and of the extremes of either starving or gor- ging the animals. Sulphur and madder are the best alterants, in foulnesses of the skin or habit. In the SWINE POX, the same medicines in small quantities, with treacle in the wash, fresh brewers' grains, or sweet pollard, the sties being well ventilated, or the animals aired abroad. Inflammation of the lungs, or HEAVINGS, seem to admit of no remedy, and are sometimes found to be constitutional or hereditary in swine. When the ears of swine crack, and become scabby in the field during the summer heats, they should be frequently anointed with tar and lard. Four or five and twenty years ago, the late Mr. Tattersall requested of me to choose him a store pig to put up for fattening. I applied to Mr. Wynt, the then salesman, and we chose one at Finchley, out of a fine drove of Herefords, not then out of fashion. After the hog had been at Mr. Tattersall's two or three days, I received a letter from him to tell me it was taken very bad, in fact, dying. On inspec- tion, I found the animal sleepy and torpid, refusing food, but occasionally throwing up the contents of its stomach, which consisted of half-digested meal. I immediately perceived the cause of the patient's malady. The feeder, determined to lose no time, had been assiduously filling the trough with food: the hog, being empty after a long journey, vora- ciously devoured it until its stomach was filled, and its digestive faculty totally overpowered. My pre- scription was abstinence from corn, a moderate quan- tity of sweet grains, thin wash, sulphur with it, and IMPORTATION OF PIGS FROM IRELAND. 225 in a few hours the hog was perfectly recovered. In the sequel, the feeder held up his hands with asto- nishment at the possibility of a hog being gorged with food! Imported into Liverpool from Ireland, in 1829, (the number deficient by five weeks omitted) 153,000 pigs. — Liverpool Mercury. I have been favoured by a very old friend with the following successful and instructive case, which I give from the MS. received : " In the autumn, 1828, one of my sows, four years old, a good mother, remarkably good-tempered, a cross between the Ox- ford and China breeds, with eleven fine pigs by her side, which had been farrowed three weeks, was suddenly seized with fever and inflammation. In twelve hours she became unable to stand, was very restless and apparently in great agony, no evacuation having taken place during two days. In consequence, I called in the aid of a noted cow-leech of the vici- nity, who with much gravity promised me he would do what he could for her, but that all would be of no use. The operations of bleeding, anointing, and medicine were carried on for three days, at a charge of thirty-five shillings, when the sage doctor dis- missed the case with the consolation to me, that he could do no more for the patient, and that it was impossible she could live. " I then took her in hand myself, bled her, and gave her a strong dose of salts and jalap, which I succeeded in delivering, her jaws being held open by a rope attached to each. In about an hour thereafter, she had three pints of warm gruel. L5 SUCCESSFUL CASE. and in less than three hours, I had the satisfaction of observing symptoms of great tranquillity and im- provement in my patient. After leaving her at night on a clean and comfortable bed, I was gratified by finding her upon her legs the next morning, in a fair progress to recovery. I then repeated the above dose, somewhat reduced in strength, and still keeping her on warm gruel, when in two days my satisfaction was complete, on finding her quite restored to her former health, saving a little inconvenience from the obstruction of her milk. Of the pigs previously removed nine did well, and the sow became freed from, all relics of her disease in ten or twelve days. I did not, however, choose to risk another farrow with her, therefore put her to the boar in October, and fed her for the knife. She was killed at Christ- mas, and made excellent bacon. Thus I saved a fine hog by calling in Doctor Common Sense, to atone for the insufficiency of the most skilful leech then and there going ; and if my brethren, pig-breeders and feeders, would follow my example, in most cases, in my humble opinion, it would be to the benefit both of their pockets and their pigs." THE MILCH COW. 227 SECTION XVII. The Milch Cow. THE genus bos, commonly called neat, and some- times black cattle, stands at the head of our domes- tic animals destined for the use and food of man ; and more especially for that most precious alimen- tary production, MILK, of such importance in rear- ing our children, and adapted to such a variety of other family purposes. For a constant supply of this invaluable resource, we depend on the female of this race, the harmless and docile cow, which is compelled to produce and part with that secretion, intended by nature for the support of her own progeny. L6 228 VARIOUS BREEDS SIGNS OF MILK. For a more extensive view of this subject, as well as that of SWINE, the reader is referred to " Law- rences General Treatise on Cattle:" the present object is to impart such a degree of practical know- ledge as shall be sufficient for the private family dairy, to minister to the convenience of proprietors, and to shield them from disappointment and impo- sition. Our neat cattle are divided into various breeds or races, each distinguished by peculiar qualities, the most important of which are the natural pro- pensity to breeding milk, or making beef ; with the former of which lies our most material business. The English milky breeds chiefly are — the Lan- cashire and Midland County LONG-HORNS — the Yorkshire or Holderness SHORT-HORNS — the Suf- folk DUNS — the Nat, or hornless Red Devons. In Scotland, the AYRSHIRE and the famous DUNLOP Cows — the Fifeshire and Orkney — Homebreds or mongrels, to be found in all parts, many of which prove useful dairy cows, — the Alderney. The long- horned breeds generally excel in the quality, the short-horned in the quantity of milk, individuals of the Holderness cows having been known to produce the enormous quantity of nine, and even ten gallons in a day. Such great milkers must necessarily afford but a thin fluid, not so well adapted to the butter-dairy as to the sale of the milk, excepting with respect to that material branch of the dairy business, pig-feeding. The signs of productiveness of milk in the cow are generally — " a thin head and neck, clean chaps, free from leather, deep and SELECTION — COW-JOBBERS DEEP MILKERS. 229 rather flat carcase, wide hips, the bones perhaps inclined to be pointed, capacious udder, and large plain milk-vein ; the last two signs worth all the rest." — New Farmers Calendar. The next considerations for a private buyer, are, SELECTION, and the means within his power to make it. These will depend materially on his situation, and whether his aim be to obtain something capital in this way, or to be content with the choice offered him by the markets or fairs of his vicinity. In the former case, his only method is recourse to some salesman or jobber, on whom he can depend, to supply him with a milch beast of the highest reputed established breed, for which he must expect to allow a proportionate price. Should he prefer to take pot-luck nearer home, let him beware of relying on his own judgment solely, unless that be very mature, for cow-jobbers and horse-jockeys have ever been cater-cousins ; and I, who have considerable expe- rience of them both, have never seen the least symptoms of their probable degeneration. He ought to be reminded, also, of another fact, lest his expectations should be too sanguine ; it is that great and deep milking are sufficiently rare, even in our most milky breeds, and that among cows, great milkers are about as scarce as good horses. In- deed, this produce is so extremely valuable, that a constant great milker is worth almost any price, will amply repay the highest expense of keep, and should be kept to the latest period of her age, should her milking continue. On the other hand, no cow should be kept beyond the period of good 230 NUMBER — SIZE — AGE. milking, but should be immediately replaced by a young and fresh milker. It will immediately occur, that a single cow can- not possibly yield a sufficient annual supply of milk and butter for a family, however small, both on ac- count of the necessary decrease of produce, as she advances in her pregnancy, and of the period in which it will be proper for her to go dry. Two cows will therefore be necessary for even a moderate family, and any surplus produce of this kind always finds a ready disposal. The second cow may be pur- chased at convenience, with respect to time and need of her in the dairy. SIZE is a matter of importance, which must be regulated by the quantity and nature of the keep, which a proprietor may have at command. If he have a sufficient range of good grass-land, in course, he can afford to keep the largest breed of cows ; but if he possess but little, and ordinary grass, or intend to shift his cows upon a common, he must make choice of small stock, which will shift with a moderate bite, and are not too heavy to labour through the day in order to fill themselves. How- ever, on such provision only, excepting perhaps at the height of the season, the smallest heath-crop- pers, even if good milkers in proportion to their size, will make but a poor figure in the dairy, with- out a good allowance of extra provision. Inexperienced persons often suffer loss and dis- appointment, by purchasing a stale milker, perhaps an old and worn-out cow, from some neighbouring dairy, by the disposal of which the seller is much CALF — QUALITY— STOCKING — BREEDS. 231 accommodated. It is generally most advantageous to have a fresh five-year-old beast in full milk, that is to say, with her calf a few days old by her side, or she nearly ready to calve. The calf may be either immediately sold as a suckler, suckled at home for the butcher, or reared, according to cir- cumstances; but the first method is doubtless the most profitable, milk, butter, and pork, being arti- cles of the greater worth and convenience. If a small, common-bred, low-priced cow be the object, no other consideration is necessary than her health, age, and milky indications, particularly that she have large tackle, in plain English a capacious udder, and that she be a quiet milker. This last is a matter of some consequence, since it is not quite sufficient that a cow produce a large quantity of milk, unless she will also render it quietly, and suffer you to take it away. The sooner a cow is milked dry after purchase, the better, since they are inva- riably stocked for sale ; that is, their milk is suffered to remain perhaps two days, in order to distend the udder to the utmost, by way of recommendation : a cruel and absurd trick, by which these animals are tortured, and many of them annually ruined, from inflammation of the milk-vein, and coring of the distended parts. As to a CHOICE of BREEDS for a private family, none in England, probably, combine so many ad- vantages as the Suffolk dun cows. They excel both in quantity and quality of milk ; they feed well after they become barren; they are small sized, and polled or hornless ; the last a great convenience. 232 CHOICE OF BREEDS — COLOUR NO OBJECT. The horns of cows which butt and gore others, should be immediately broad-tipped. There is a breed of polled Yorkshire or Holderness cows, some of them of middling size, great milkers, and well adapted to the use of families, where a great quan- tity of milk is required, and where price is no object, and food in plenty. If richer milk and a compari- son of the two famous breeds be desired, one of each may be selected ; namely, the last mentioned, and the other of the Midland county, or long -horned species. Colour is so far 'no object, that neither a good cow nor a good horse can be of a bad colour : nevertheless, in an ornamental view, the sheeted and pied stock of the Yorkshire short-horns make a picturesque figure in the grounds. The Alderney cows yield rich milk upon less food than larger stock, but are seldom large milkers, and I believe, are particularly scanty of produce, and tender in the winter season. They are, besides, worth little or nothing as barreners, not only on account of their small size, but their inaptitude to take on fat, and the ordinary quality of their beef. I regretted much to be informed several years since, in Norfolk, that from the difficulties of the times, the old and valuable breed of Suffolk dun cows had been suffered to degenerate, and that there was a danger that it might be even lost. These cows, together with the Alderney and Guernsey, or heifers and yearlings of those breeds, are procured and sent to customers by Mr. Fowler, Little Bushey Farm, near Stanmore, Middlesex, or others in that vicinity ; or by dealers who attend Smithfield market. COW-HOUSE — QUIET COW — FOOD — KEEP. 233 It is pre-supposed that a dry and comfortable COW-HOUSE has been provided, containing a stall or two, and a calf-pen, and it is recommended in the General Treatise on Cattle, to confine the hinder legs of a cow whilst milking, as well as the head, the former of which is most securely effected by two stumps of wood fixed in the ground, to which the hinder legs may be strapped. They who aim at perfect security, as nearly as that may be ob- tained, will perhaps be induced to make it a rule, never to milk a cow with her head and legs at liberty ; but most, as has always been the practice, will incline to put confidence in the quiet cow ; many such, however, have I seen accidentally kick down a swimming pail of milk, and that may very probably happen when the article, being scarce, is of the most consequence — the unfortunate attendant, male or female, then marches into the house, with a grave step, a long face, an apology, and an empty pail. The provision of FOOD for the cow must be looked upon as the prime concern in the dairy business, for such a constant daily draught upon the animal juices cannot be answered, but by aid of the most ample supply, even to satiety, of nutritious and succulent victuals ; not that, according to the absurd notions of many persons, keep regulates and equalizes milking, be the breed whatever it may, since in some breeds the keep turns to milk, in others to beef; but be- cause the truest and largest milker will very soon lose that precious faculty without proportionate, that is to say, high feeding. Keep short and meanly, and 234 MILK — DIFFICULTIES — AMATEURS. your milk and butter produce will be in exact pro- portion, and the cow, when dry, emaciated and of little worth. A farmer, some years since, in my neighbourhood, kept eighteen cows upon a common, and was often obliged to buy butter for his family. The common was inclosed, and the same person supplied his family amply with milk and butter from the produce of four cows well kept. Great milkers seldom carry any flesh upon their bones, and are perhaps as seldom made fat, but they pay as they go, and never retire in our debt. The difficulties in cow-keeping are these — the expense of their food is considerable, more especially with respect to any which must be purchased, and, if the produce be inconsiderable, it may be a losing concern. You may be feeding a sparing milker into flesh, and if you stint her, or allow only ordinary food, you get neither flesh nor milk. Amateurs in this line should procure the largest milkers, and, I had almost said, give them gold, could they eat it. In this case, it may be depended on, milk is always of more value than the best cow-food, which is the jit ; and a cow, the natural tendency of which is to breed milk, will convert all nourishment, however dry and substantial, into that fluid ; in fact, will require such solid kind of nourishment to sup- port her strength, and stimulate her to procreation, in which otherwise, great milkers are very apt to be deficient, and frequently to miss their bulling at the proper season. But should corn be allowed, oats are the most proper ; they should be ground or VALUE OF MILK — CORN WINTER MILK. 235 bruised, and moistened with water, as the cow would otherwise swallow the oats whole, which would not only fail in giving nourishment, hut might be pro- ductive of obstruction and disease. Fine pollard also, moistened or mashed, is a nourishing food * the milch cow, however, should always have exercise, and it is more especially necessary, when extraor- dinary and substantial food is allowed. Certain advice on cow-keeping, I observe, has been quoted in several publications. The author recommends cabbages throughout the winter, without any men- tion of hay, a diet at that season which must weaken the cow, reduce her quantity of milk, and not impro- bably bring on the scouring. Another great object for our crack cow-master and lady of the snug rural mansion, is to have milk, cream and butter, in a generous abundance and high quality, throughout the winter, as well as the summer season ; and of these, if they will take care enough to walk in our old and well-trodden paths, they shall not fail. The method is by contriving to have a fresh milker in the winter, with an ample store of the best provisions for the season. I will here just touch upon a point which ought to be of great interest to humanity. Should a family of the description here indicated, have milk either new or skimmed, to spare, the poor labourers in the vicinity will be glad and ready purchasers. It is a trouble my family most willingly incurred. To the great disgrace of the land, flowing with milk and honey, and eaten up with religious zeal, the wretched poor, to whose toil and exhaustion we owe all our luxuries 236 SUMMER FOOD CALCULATIONS. and comforts, have never been able to obtain milk for the sustenance of their offspring and their own most innocent enjoyment, even in the dairy counties. SUMMER FEEDING : and, let it always be recol- lected, that economy is the leading feature in our plan. Natural grass is the first and best of all food for our domestic animals. Of the artificial grasses lucern stands first, and green tares, a very succulent and nutritious food for Milch Cows. The saving method of managing grass — arid it will be found excellent economy where the proprietor may have only a small close or two — is to keep it constantly shut, and free from the tread of the cows, and to cut the grass as soon as of sufficient length and sub- stance, and carry it to them : no more being cut at once than can be consumed in a day, the cutting being made in the morning. This to continue throughout the season, and as late in autumn as any growth can be obtained. According to Mr. Curwen's experience, some years since, three acres of grass cut and carried, supplied thirty milch cows with two stone each, or twenty-eight pounds during two hundred days. He observes, that to have supplied them with two stone of hay each, during the same period, would have required seventy-five acres of land for its production ; and to have grazed such a number of cows at liberty, that length of time, it is obvious, must have taken a very considerable number of acres. To enable the meadow to support this exhaustion from the scythe, it should be cleared at the end of every autumn, from all kinds of weeds and rubbish, and ECONOMY WINTER FEEDING. 237 fresh grass seeds, of the best kinds, cast upon the bare places. A coat of good manure should be then allowed, consisting of all that can be collected from the household, or procured elsewhere, mixed up and augmented with virgin earth. The garden will assist with its superfluity in feeding the cow, and lettuces, as a change of diet, will help to force the secretion of milk. Should the green food scour the cow, a small quantity of good hay must be allowed daily. The few advocates for the ECONOMICAL mode of feeding cows, always direct them to be kept entirely in the house, both summer and winter, a practice to which I have strong objections, not only on the score of the animals' health and comfort, but that I have always experienced exercise abroad to increase the quantity of milk. Thus the cows may be turned upon the common waste, to remain or come home at their liberty, being fed to the full with cut grass, morning and evening, with the constant caution of allowing them shelter in the fly season. They may lie abroad during summer nights, in a well-littered yard, or secure waste, a sufficiency of cut grass being at their command. Pure water is of great conse- quence to the health and productiveness of the cow. If one beast drive the other, always at feeding times tie up the mistress. WINTER-FEEDING. The chief dependence for cows is rowen, or after-math hay. This must be either grown at home or purchased. It is a piece of ex- travagance to allow a good milch cow dry straw, be- cause milk is worth more than hay ; but, should the 238 FOOD. necessity exist of using straw, none other is fit than oat straw. ROWEN, or after-math, is generally sup- posed to force milk, but in poor pastures perhaps the first crop may be preferable ; and I have lately been informed by a London cow-keeper, a good feeder, that he has discontinued giving rowen to his cows, finding the best hay most profitable. CARROTS are an excellent winter food, indeed the best of the root kind ; MANGOLD or BEET also affords a plentiful supply ; which last, however, must be dispensed with caution, cows having been hoven by it. If POTATOES be given to cows, they should be steamed or baked ; those who venture to give them raw and mashed, should allow hay with them, as in the raw state and freely dispensed, they seldom fail to bring the scouring rot on cows. Bruised FURSE-TOPS are very- good, and help to make capital winter butter. CAB- BAGES may be given moderately, but TURNIPS make thin milk and bad butter, in spite of all the nos- trums which have been recommended as preventives. The miserable practice of giving OIL-CAKE to cows, insures greasy, unsubstantial, ill-scented butter, and has a similar effect on veal. When substantial food appears necessary, a daily moderate feed of oats broken, or fine pollard, moistened with water, is most proper. In a late conversation with the above-mentioned cow-keeper, on the topics of hay and rowen, his opinion was, that, if rowen be very good, it will answer, as requiring a less quantity of greens than hay. Hay, indeed, is most substantial, but requires MILK-FED PORK — EXPOSURE. 239 a considerable quantity of green meat, to every other species of which he prefers the mangel-wurzel, assuring me that the milk of cows fed on that article will keep longer in the dog-days than that from any other food, namely, twenty-four hours, with due care and cleanliness. He ridiculed the Parisian nostrums for keeping milk sweet, demanding what could be the benefit of milk so preserved, at an expense of the loss of its flavour and good quality ? With the two cows in full milk, may be kept well, a BREEDING sow, or two or three young PIGS ; and should the proprietor desire a specimen of the finest milk-fed pork, he may feed a pig upon skimmed milk, with the addition of a very small quantity of barley or pea-meal, making it thoroughly fat in two months. MILCH BEASTS should never be exposed by NIGHT to the inclemency of the winter season, which chills them, and dries up part of their milk, keeping them backward in all beneficial respects. At any rate, they should have a well-littered shed, in which they may repose in comfort, and with their loins dry— a matter of great consequence to their health. The ANNUAL CONSUMPTION of food per cow, of grass and hay, if turned to grass, is from one acre to an acre and a half of hay in the summer, and from a ton to a ton and a half of hay in the winter. A cow may be allowed two pecks of carrots per day. The grass being cut and carried, will economize it full one third. The ANNUAL PRODUCT of a good fair dairy cow: — during several months after calving, and either sum- 240 PRODUCE — CREAM. mer or winter, if duly fed and kept in the latter sea- son, she will render an average of seven pounds of butter per week, from five to three gallons of milk per day. Afterwards, a weekly average of three or four pounds of butter from barely half the quantity of milk. It depends on the constitution of the cow, how nearly she may be milked to the time of her calving, some giving good milk until within a week or two of that period, others requiring to be dried eight or nine weeks previously. I have heard of truly wonderful quantities of but- ter, made from the milk of a single cow in seven days ; but I have never been fortunate enough to obtain one that would produce more than twelve pounds per week, although I have had a Yorkshire cow which milked seven gallons per day, yet never made five pounds of butter in one week. In 1790, residing at Sudbury Green, near Harrow, a servant whom I had from a farmer in the neighbourhood, in- formed me of a long-horned cow on that farm, from the milk of which, given in seven days, was weighed twenty-two pounds of butter: and in the year 1829, Mr. Joshua Salt, of Lounsley Green, near Chester- field, 'had a short-horned cow that milked upwards of twenty-one quarts daily, from which three pounds of butter was churned, making twenty-one pounds weekly, of sixteen ounces to the pound: she calved in Chesterfield race week. On the average, three gallons of good milk will make one pound of butter. The following improved method of obtaining clotted cream, has been discovered by George Carter, Esq. of Mottingham Lodge, near Eltham, Kent, who pre- CLOTTED CREAM. 241 sented a memoir on the subject to the Society of Arts, in the spring of 1833. A peculiar process of extracting cream from milk, by which a superior richness is produced in the cream, has long been known and practised in Devonshire : this produce of the dairies of that county being well known to every one by the name of " clotted" or " clouted cream." As there is no peculiarity in the milk from which this fluid is extracted, it has been frequently a matter of surprise that the process has not been adopted in other parts of the kingdom. A four-sided vessel is formed of zinc plates 12 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 6 inches deep, with a false bottom at one half the depth. The only communi- cation with the lower compartment is by the lip, through which it may be filled or emptied. Having first placed at the bottom of the upper compartment a plate of perforated zinc, the area of which is equal to that of the false bottom, a gallon, (or any given quantity) of milk is poured (immediately when drawn from the cow) into it, and must remain there at rest for twelve hours ; an equal quantity of boiling water must then be poured into the lower compartment through the lip ; it is then permitted to stand twelve hours more, (i. e. twenty-four hours altogether), when the cream will be found perfect, and of such consistence that the whole may be lifted off by the finger and thumb. It is, however, more effectually removed by gently raising the plate of perforated zinc from the bottom by the ringed handles, by which means the whole of the cream is lifted off in a sheet, without re- mixing any part of it with the milk below. With this M 242 CREAM — DAIRY. apparatus I have instituted a series of experiments : and as a mean of twelve successive ones, I obtained the following results : — 4 gallons of milk, treated as above, produced, in twenty-four hours, 4| pints of clotted cream, which after churning only fifteen mi- nutes, gave 40 ounces of butter — 4 gallons of milk treated in the common mode in earthenware pans, and standing forty-eight hours, produced, 4 pints of cream, which, after churning ninety minutes, gave 36 ounces of butter. The increase in the quantity of cream, therefore, is 12% per cent., and of butter upwards of 1 1 per cent. The experimental farmer will instantly perceive the advantages accruing from its adoption, and probably his attention to the subject may produce greater results. The DAIRY must be the seat of the most exquisite and punctilious cleanliness in every part of its ma- nagement. Hence all sluts, snuff-takers, and dandles — away to the dust-hole and cinder-heap ! — a proper inscription to be placed in an advantageous light. The room must be airy, and both glazed and lat- ticed, and floored with flag stones or broad brick. Well-glazed earthen pans are the best and most convenient receptacles for milk ; lead is dangerous : the pans must be scalded perfectly clean, outside and in, besides being frequently boiled in a copper, well scrubbed with a brush, and rinced in plenty of clean water. Milk should be set immediately : if the weather be cold, put warm water at the bottom of the milk pan ; if warm, cool the dishes previously with cold water. Skim off the cream, in summer every twelve, in winter every twenty-four hours. CLEANLINESS — CHURN. 243 Shift the cream into clean pans daily, in winter; twice a day, in summer ; generally stirring it several times a day, with a clean wooden spatula. To make fine butter, cream should be churned within three days, in hot weather. In severe frosts, it is best to churn the whole of the milk daily, according to the practice in Scotland, a frozen cream always making rank butter. German stoves, burning charcoal, are useful in a dairy. The milker should never be suf- fered to enter the dairy in a DIRTY APRON, COVERED WITH HAIRS FROM THE COW-HOUSE : on this head, three reprimands, the last accompanied with a discharge. An upright HAND- CHURN, or BARREL- CHURN, will equally answer the purpose. The quantity of milk being large, the latter will be most conve- nient. Baker of Lon- don has invented a box- churn with a spindle, which turns in the manner of a hand-organ, and being calculated for a small dairy of two or three cows, seems likely to supersede the old upright hand- churn. It may be placed on a dresser or table. Price, for one to make fourteen pounds of butter, 2/. 16s. It may be had of any size. It is said that " the Shakers, of Endfield, New Hants, U. S. America, have a still higher claim to ingenuity in the case, since they churn their butter by wind, attaching small sails to the churn, to be moved by a light breeze ;" now whether this report be merely a M 2 244 BUTTER BACKWARD — SALTING. shake, vox et prceterea nihil, a windy hoax, I leave to curious inquirers. Much has been said and written on the difficulty of making butter come ; it is, however, no less true that butter which comes too quickly is not likely to be too good, nor ought any to come indeed under nearly an hour's labour. The difficulty exists only in cold weather, when the churn may be placed near to the fire. In summer, cool the churn with cold water; in winter make it warm. Strain the cream through a fine sieve or linen cloth. It should be remembered, however, that the use of warm water, or taking the churn near the fire, always prejudices the butter, and, in course, should not be practised but in case of absolute necessity. First of all, when the butter is backward, at the time it ought to come, not before, put in half a gill of good vinegar mixed in a small quantity of warm milk. In summer heats, the cooler you churn the better, even to setting your churn in cold water. The process being complete, and the butter MADE, strain off the butter-milk and put the butter into cold water, dividing it afterwards into small lumps upon a sloping board. Beat it well with wooden pats, not sweaty hands, until entirely free from the milk, and quite firm, cold water being at hand to throw over the board occasionally, and to wash the pats. Salt with fine beaten-salt as much as sufficient. The butter being made up according to the custom of the place, let the lumps be spread separately on a cloth, that they may not adhere. A highly es- teemed Norfolk friend writes me, " butter is better LANCASHIRE AND VARIOUS MODES POTTING. 245 without washing." The affair is then left to the discretion of the practical reader. In Lancashire, the milk is not skimmed for mak- ing butter; on the contrary, the whole produce of the cow is placed in mugs till it becomes sour, when it is churned ; and thus is produced butter, according to the provincial opinion, at least equal, if not supe- rior, to that of any other part of Great Britain. The butter milk thus produced is perhaps superior to skimmed milk, and forms a wholesome and nutritious beverage for the poorer classes of that populous county. Though this practice is ancient in Lancashire, and partially in the. vicinity, the farmers of our chief dairy counties which supply the metropolis do not seem to approve, by their neglect of it. At any rate, it must occasion much additional labour. The following Recipe for making butter without churning, I have never tried. It seems calculated for small quantities. Put the milk into a flat earthen dish, let it stand twelve hours, put it over a slow fire until scalded, not boiled : then let it stand twelve hours, take off the cream, and put it into a round earthen dish, stirring it round with a clean wooden spoon, and it will come to butter in about five or ten minutes. The cream cannot be kept too cool during the time you are stirring it, whence it is best to place the dish in cold water. As soon as the butter shall be so forward that you can take off a little butter milk, continue putting in cold water and washing out the milk. The cream may be kept, after scalding, three or four days, before making the butter, without injury. " To put BUTTER down for KEEPING, lee the salt be M 3 216 COWS AND DAIRY. perfectly fine ; a layer of salt at the bottom of the firkin or jar ; beat the butter down with a hard wooden rammer, not hot fists, and cover the top with salt." The best colouring for butter is good keep for the cows. — New Farmer s Calendar. Description of the Dairy at Alnwick Castle, from the Edinburgh Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, March 1833, No. 20. " Having a short time ago visited Alnwick Castle, the princely mansion of the duke of Northumberland, I was particularly struck with the beauty of the dairy. " The cow-houses and dairy are beautifully situ- ated, at some distance below the Castle, near the bank of the river Alne, which flows in a canal-like stream, ornamented with swans, through the extensive do- main, amid fine shrubberies and delightful pleasure grounds. The cows are mostly of the Ayrshire breed, though there are some shorthorns and cross-bred cows. The object of the dairy being only to produce the best milk and butter, the cows are not selected for the purpose of improving the breed of the country, which, it is pleasing to observe, has perhaps already attained the highest degree of perfection of which it is capable. The cow-houses are commodious and airy. Each cow has a separate stall and manger, and every thing in regard to food and management is conducted with the greatest cleanliness and comfort to the animals. But the great object of attraction is the milk-house. It consists of an oblong building standing apart, sur- rounded with a deep veranda, through which no sun- shine can penetrate. The floor of the veranda is laid with different coloured round pebbles brought from DAIRY AT ALNWICK CASTLE. 247 the sea-shore. The light columns of wood which sup- port its roof are festooned with clematis, honey -suckle, jasmine, passion flower, and other climbing plants. The single apartment in which the milk is kept, is about 30 feet in length, 20 feet in breadth, and 14 in height. It has two doors and four windows, the sills of the latter being about four feet above the floor. The floor is laid in an elegant tessellated form with bricks. The walls are covered with white glazed square Dutch tiles. The roof is of plaster with a handsome cornice. A thin white marble slab, as a broad shelving, runs round the whole chamber, as high as the sill of the windows ; but the middle of the floor is occupied by a very large and thick white marble table, raised about two feet above the floor, independently of its own thickness, and leaving a commodious passage between it and the marble shelv- ing. The dishes of new milk are set upon the centre slab of marble. The dishes themselves consist of the best Wedgwood ware. They are large, of a semi- ellipsoidal shape, having one extremity of the edge in the line of the conjugate axis, turned over in the shape of a lip, over which the milk is easily poured out of them. Large vases and elongated jars of coloured china, are placed as ornaments on the marble shelving round the walls. " The shining pearly lustre of the tiles on the wall, the icy cold look of the white marble, the glossy splendour of the Wedgwood ware, and the brightness in the panes of the windows, all unite to impress the spectator with the conviction, that no other union of earthly materials could so well express the idea of M 4 248 COWS AND DAIRY. continued cold with unsellable cleanliness and perfect dryness — the essential properties of a milk-house. The very air in the chamber in its coolness and trans- parency associated charmingly with the purity of the milk. The hand of taste was conspicuous in the ar- rangement of the materials. There was much that was of a white colour, and pure as it always was in ivory hue, as reflected from the wall, the marble, the dishes and the milk, these snowy hues were harmo- nized by the light of the sun passing through the greenness and freshness of the plants around the veranda; while the warm colours of the floor and of the rich patterns on the china jars, relieved the whole scene from monotony. In short, this apartment was the most delightful thing of the kind I ever saw. Its sweetness and beauty, derived from its fitness of pur- pose, are indescribable. It is not necessary here to enter into the dairy economy. Suffice it to say, that both the milk and butter from this dairy have acquired a high character, of which the public have at times opportunities of judging ; for when the noble family are absent from Alnwick, the produce of the dairy is permitted to be sold in the public market, where it is bought up with avidity. " There is a simple instrument used here for measuring the relative quantities of cream which, the milk of different cows, at the different seasons of the year, affords. It consists of a stand of mahogany, supporting a number of glass tubes of equal length and diameter, graduated into degrees. New milk from different cows is poured in equal quantity into each tube, and the graduated scale marks the number QUALITIES AND CONSUMPTION OF BUTTER. 249 of degrees the thickness of the cream occupies in each tube. " Signed J. N." " With respect to the qualities and consumption of BUTTER generally, England and Holland are said to produce the best, and are certainly the largest makers and consumers. The preference is assigned in the Metropolis to the butters of Epping (in Essex), Cambridgeshire and Somersetshire. Gloucester, Ox- fordshire, and the midland dairy counties produce good butter, as do those parts of every English county where good feed for cows is to be found. The Scotch and Welsh mountains produce the finest fla- voured butter, though necessarily small in quantity. The dairy districts of Suffolk make large quantities of excellent butter, forming a considerable surplus for the supply of London, in half cwt. firkins. It is pro- bably the best salt butter to be procured in the Me- tropolis. In the opinion of the present writer, who has tasted Dutch butter, both here and in Holland, it is a mistake to suppose f it superior to that of any other country.' It has neither the flavour nor the substantial quality of English butter, and is often found in a very slovenly condition, abounding with hairs and other impurities. It however forms, perhaps, three- fourths of all the foreign butter imported into this country. The consumption of London is speculatively averaged at about one half pound per week for each individual, or after the rate of 261bs. per year ; thus again supposing the population to amount to 1,450,000 the total annual consumption would be 37,700, OOOlbs., or 16,830 tons. To this may be added 4000 tons of M 5 250 DAIRY — CHEESE MAKING. butter required for victualling ships and other pecu- liar purposes, making the total consumption in round numbers 21 ,000 tons, or 47,040,0001bs. which at Wd. per Ib. would be worth £1,960,000. The average produce per cow of the butter dairies was estimated by Mr. Marshal at 1681bs. per year; thus, supposing we are nearly right in the above estimates, about £80,000 cows will be required to produce an adequate supply of butter for the London market. But the annual consumption of butter in London has some- times been estimated at 50,000 tons, which would require for its supply upwards of 666,000 cows. There is indeed an enormous discrepancy between the two accounts ; but, considering the multitudinous increase of population, not only in the Metropolis, but throughout the whole country, of the two specu- lations, one seems rather inclined to lean towards the latter." Extracted from the Saturday Magazine, No. 9. Previously to a few general remarks on the process of cheese-making, of which neither my wife, my prime minister, nor myself knew any thing practically, I will give you an anecdote or two, which occurred within our knowledge, whilst resident in Middlesex. A curious gentlewoman in the vicinity, native of Gloucestershire, who kept half a dozen cows, took it for granted, that the inferiority of Middlesex cheese subsisted merely in the defect of Gloucester intelli- gence and skill. In conformity, she procured a skilful cheese dairy woman from her own county, and under her own superintendence the experiment was made ; the result, however, unfortunately was Middlesex cheese, even to the third season, which produced con- THE CHEESE DAIRY. 251 viction and abandonment. I, however, not to be dis- couraged or distanced in the career of improvement, became inoculated, and communicated the affection to a near relative in Essex, who had meadows producing the most fragrant butter to be conceived. I sent her the Cheshire process, from which, personally super- intending it, she manufactured indeed some of the richest of cheese, but about as equal to Cheshire, whether new or old, as home-made British is to foreign wine. It was fat, milky, insipid, and void of all strength or flavour. My inquiry as to the cause of this failure has been answered by the assertion, that superior cheese-making depends on the peculiar and local nature of the her- bage. I wait for further light. All things change ; who then can say that, anon, the best Gloucestershire and Cheshire cheese may not be made in Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk ? The process of CHEESE-MAKING is generally well understood in the regular cheese-making districts, which supply the rest of the country with such an admirable commodity, whether of the fancy or useful kinds ; but it is not worth repetition elsewhere, being, as the case stands, merely an inducement to people to waste good milk. The bang of Suffolk and Norfolk is misapplied; it ought to be cut into latches for gates, a use to which I have formerly seen it applied in those counties. THE CHEESE DAIRY. I have just now observed, that to make ordinary cheese is merely to waste good milk, which, however, must be understood as refer- ing only to private families, since farmers who have M 6 THE CHEESE DAIRY. a number of servants to feed, can scarcely be ex- pected to go to the price of Cheshire or Gloucester thin cheese, when they have a home-made substitute which does not cost them above one-third of the money ; and the practice of making this ordinary commodity is universally known in the country. Cheese-making, however, is a more operose process than that of butter, requiring more attention and labour, and a greater number of utensils and con- veniences ; more particularly so in the regular cheese dairies, where the best cheese of commerce is manu- factured. It is then kept distinct from the butter dairy, requiring several separate rooms, namely a PRESSING-ROOM, for making and pressing the cheese, which ought to join the milk-room, and be provided with a fire-place. A SETTING-ROOM, paved with stones, or smooth plaster, and laid on a descent, in order to carry off water, should also be furnished with a table or shelves, on which the cheeses may be deposited, and turned over occasionally, until ready to be removed. A CHEESE-ROOM, or loft, in which the cheeses are stored until ready for sale. The floor of this room is carpeted with coarse grass or rushes, which are supposed to have a beneficial effect on the new cheese. This loft, in some of the great dairies, is found over the cow-houses, not only for convenience sake, but on the opinion that the ascend- ing warmth of temperature from the cattle has the effect of accelerating the ripening of the cheese. These lofts are more convenient when the walls are lined with shelves, and stages placed in the middle of the room. But the arrangement followed in North CHEESE-TUB — KNIVES — CHEESE-BOARD. Wilts, as Marshall describes it, seems superior in point of convenience. The cheese-room, with its shelves, is there placed immediately over the dairy, and the loft over the cheese-room, each floor having trap-doors through which the cheeses may be handed down. The UTENSILS for cheese-making are, first a CHEESE-TUB, in which the curd is broken and pre- pared. These tubs, in course, vary in size propor- tional to the quantities of milk used, and are in form either round or oval. A CHEESE-KNIFE, of the spatula form, of [wood, wrought to the thinnest pos- sible edge, or with a wooden handle, four or five inches in length, and two or three iron blades twelve inches long, one inch broad near the handle, tapering down to the breadth of three quarters of an inch at the point, and shaped like an ivory paper-knife, the blades about one inch asunder, very thin, and ranged with their flat sides towards each other. These are used in Gloucestershire, and are to be preferred to the wooden knives. In some of the continental dairies, these knives are furnished with six or seven blades. The CHEESE-BOARD is circular, of wood that will not warp, and planed smooth on both sides, about an inch or an inch and a half in thickness. Upon these boards, placed upon the shelves of the cheese- room, the fresh made cheeses are placed. The boards are of various sizes, and of a form to pass within the hoop-part of the vat, and to receive the weight or power of the press. The VAT, hoop- formed, must be strong, and its sides and bottom CHEESE-PRESS — CHEESE-TONGS. perforated with holes, through which the whey may run off as the cheese is pressed. In every consider- able cheese dairy there ought to be vats of various sizes in readiness, in order to adapt those used to the quantity of curd which the cheese-tub may con- tain, and to avoid the addition of overplus, which, kept from meal to meal, frequently spoils a whole cheese. The CHEESE-PRESS, which forces the whey from the curd, should be skilfully constructed, and with sufficient power. This power may be either derived from a SCREW (at present most in use), a LEVER, or DEAD-WEIGHT ; but, under whatever form, the power must be in proportion to the thickness of the cheese to be made. Should it not press level or have too much play, so as to incline, or become tottering, leaning to the one side or the other, and not fall per- pendicularly upon the cheese-board, one side of the cheese will not only be thicker than the other, but one side may be thoroughly pressed, while the other is left soft and spongy. In the common dairies, where both butter and cheese are made in the same place, an exception should be observed with regard to the cheese-press, which should never be fixed where the milk and butter are kept, as they are liable to be affected by acid evaporations from the whey and curd. The CHEESE-TONGS, a kind of wooden frame, are occasionally placed on the tub, when the vat is upon it, and the whey draining from the curd. Making fine cheeses, even from the best herbage and the richest milk, is a critical business, dependent MILKING. 255 on a variety of incidental circumstances. The cows should ever be milked, during the summer season, very early in the morning, and at the latest con- venience in the afternoon, in order to avoid the ill effects of the solar heat. Again, the cows should not be driven any considerable distance to be milked, by which the milk becomes heated in the udder ; nor should the milk be carried any distance, as the motion and agitation occasioned by carriage has nearly the effect of churning it into butter, and rendering it unfit to be made into cheese. Milk, in this buttery state, will often be four or five hours before it will curdle, and here we have the cause of that defect on cheese, called hoven, or split. It is one of the greatest advantages in a cheese dairy, to have the cow pastures as near to home as possible ; and, should the herbage be insufficient, the cows might still re- main on the home pastures, their food from other parts of the farm being cut and carried to them. Dr. Anderson recommends milking the cows three times in the day, and, probably, more milk might be so obtained, but the additional labour is considerable, and the cows are too much disturbed by it. The milk ought to be conveyed as quickly as possible to the dairy, and poured into different vessels for the purpose of cooling it with the least delay, more espe- cially in summer, to avoid fermentation ; and to this end it is the custom repeatedly to draw off the milk and pour it back again into the coolers. Leaden utensils, indeed, cool the milk more expeditiously than any other, but their danger, from the poisonous pro- 256 SETTING THE CURD AND PRESSING. perties of the lead, combined with the lactic acid, are sufficiently known. SETTING THE CURD AND PRESSING. The best cheese, of course, is made in season, from the be- ginning of May to Michaelmas, or in a favourable autumn to mid-October. In the regular dairies, particularly when the trade is encouraging, cheese is made throughout the year ; but winter-made cheese is inferior, and besides requires a longer time to ripen for use. The cows, however, must be full fed during the winter, and upon the most nourishing and succu- lent food, at the head of which stand hay and carrots. Indeed, under all circumstances, milch cows should be equally full fed during winter as summer, if the view be to obtain the greatest possible profit from them. Where twenty-five cows are kept, a cheese of sixty pounds weight may be made daily, from May to the end of July. The milk placed for setting the curd should be of the temperature of 85 to 90 degrees of heat ; if from cows fed upon poor clays, it will require the highest temperature. Some dairymen heat the milk, which, being too often burnt at the bottom of the pot, it is generally held preferable to acquire the requisite warmth by the addition of boiling water, the quantity of which is regulated by the use of the thermometer. The admixture of water is said to accelerate the effect of the rennet in the coagulation of the milk. RENNET. The article in common use, as rennet, or for the purpose of coagulating the onilk, is the RENNET — AROMATICS — SUBSTITUTES. 257 maw or stomach of a calf which has been fed on milk only, and killed before digestion has been per- fected. This should be perfectly sound and un- tainted. The maw of a house, or milk, not grass- fed lamb, may possibly answer the purpose. Take out the curd and wash the bag, after which, replace the curd with a considerable quantity of salt : put down the bag or bags in a jar, with a very strong brine of salt and tepid water, in the proportion of two quarts to each bag. After some days, the maws may be taken out, and with an additional quantity of salt, each stretched upon a bow, and hung up to dry for use. The usual application is as follows ; — the night before cheese making, one or two inches of a maw is cut off and steeped in a few table-spoonfuls of warm water ; on the following morning the liquor is strained off, and poured into the milk. One inch is generally held sufficient to curdle the milk of five cows. Some persons put rose-leaves, sweet-briar, cloves, and various aromatics into the rennet, for the purpose of imparting a fine flavour to the cheese. The rennet bag, again salted and dried, during a week or two, near the fire, may be of further use. Any acid will coagulate milk; and in the Dutch dairies, the muriatic acid, or spirit of salt, is used, but it imparts to the cheese a sharp and disagreeable saline flavour, which, however, is said to have the advantage of being destructive to mites. Various substitutes are in print for the rennet of the calf s maw, such as a de- coction of the flowers of yellow-ladies'-bed-straw, or of spear -grass, the lesser spear wort; but I much doubt the efficacy of such simples: and in case of 258 ARTIFICIAL COLOURING. necessity, and to prevent disappointment, it is best to have recourse at once to the muriatic acid, using it with great caution, and in the smallest efficient quantity. ARTIFICIAL COLOURING. The native colour of cheese, skilfully made from rich new milk, will incline to a bright yellow, which, being the favourite colour, inclines the makers to heighten it artificially, a practice which also serves to impart to lean and ordinary cheese an appearance of richness. For this purpose, turmeric and marigold leaves were formerly used, but the Spanish annotto has long been the universal cheese-colouring. There are various ways of using it, but the most expeditious and equally effective mode is to dissolve a lump of annotto, of the size of a hazel-nut, in a pint of warm milk, the night before the cheese is made, and in- fuse it in the milk immediately on the rennet being put in. COAGULATION, or curdling, will take place in from one to two hours, the milk having been set in its proper state; otherwise, as has been said, the curd may not come under more than double the time. Should the milk be in a heated and unfavourable state, the immediate addition of cold fresh spring water is the usual remedy. The quantity of water added must be regulated by experience, and the use of a thermometer. The milk must remain covered. So soon as the curd shall have been fully formed, the first operation is to cut it in all directions with the many-bladed knives, that the whey may rise through the incisions and the curd sink. This COAGULATION AND BREAKING THE CURD. 259 cutting must be repeated, until the curd shall be reduced to the smallest and most even particles. The cheese tub is then again covered, and must remain until the curd has sunk to the bottom when the whey is laded off. In a short time the curd will settle and become solid, and may then be broken into the vat, where it again goes through the opera- tion of cutting, and pressure is applied until it be perfectly drained of the whey. The utmost atten- tion is required in this stage of the business, to lade off all particles of slip-curd, namely, such unsub- stantial parts as have been loosened from the solid mass, and will be seen floating on the surface of the whey; such, if not removed, will dissolve in the cheese, and occasion whey-springs, which greatly reduce its worth, producing early unsoundness. The whey being of a green colour is the indication of a perfect make; but if white, it is a sign of imperfect coagulation, and that the cheese will be sweet and of inferior quality. The curd being fully consolidated is put into several separate vessels, and again broken with the hand, as small as possible ; salt is then added and intimately mixed with it ; and it is often the practice to over-salt poor and inferior cheese, in order to impart to it some semblance of strength and relish. PRESSING. Breaking and salting finished, a cloth is spread over the vat, which is pierced with holes, in bottom and sides, to facilitate the escape of every remaining drop of whey, and when the cheeses are large they may be pierced with iron skewers for the same purpose. A smooth round board is then laid 260 FINAL PRESSING. over the covered vat, which is usually filled to the height of one inch above the brim, lest the curd should shrink below its sides. The whole is then put into the press for two hours, when the cheese being withdrawn is put into a tub of scalding whey for an hour or two, to harden its coat, which is sup- posed to render it more fit to stand a sea voyage, but is apt to render cheese tough and horny coated, thence scalding is better omitted with such as is intended for home consumption. In small dairies having no press, the substitute is a broad hoop, open at top and bottom, perforated with holes, and placed upon a board also perforated. The hoop being filled with curd and another board placed upon it, a moderate but adequate weight may be laid thereon to press the cheese, which should be turned twice a day, until sufficiently firm. On re- moving the cheese from the vat, it should be wiped dry, and when cool wrapped in a clean dry linen cloth of a fine texture, and afterwards pressed during six or eight hours. The cheeses being turned, are taken to the SALT- ING-ROOM, and rubbed on both sides with salt, and wrapped in a fresh dry cloth, finer than either of the preceding, which change in the degrees of fine- ness in the cloths is used to the end that the least possible impression may be made on the coats of the cheese. Pressing again, and for the last time, takes place for twelve or fourteen hours. Should any pro- jecting edges remain, they are to be paired off smooth, and the cheeses being laid upon a dry board are turned daily. Cheese after being pressed and per- THE CHEESE-ROOM — MANAGEMENT — HOVEN. 261 fected, should be kept warm, until it have gone through its sweat, and become as dry and stiff as can be expected ; since that state of firmness is not only forwarded by warmth, but also the ripeness and rich- ness of the cheese. The CHEESE-ROOM or LOFT, should be dry and well ventilated, but hard and soft cheeses should not be deposited together in the same room, since the moisture of the latter will be imparted to the hard cheeses, occasion them to soften, and their coats to become thick and ill coloured. On the con- trary, when cheeses become too hard, whether from scalding or other cause, the practice is to heap five or six cheeses, one upon another in a warm room, which can be ventilated, and to turn them daily. Moist cheeses set on edge, are apt to warp, and get out of form. Cheese left to acquire age for market, require constant attention and turning for their due preservation. Our best British cheese is not in per- fection until at least twelve months old, when its coat will have acquired the favourable blue tinge. Large cheeses, in some dairies, are smeared with fresh but- ter, twice or thrice a week, during several weeks, and kept moderately warm, no partial currents of air being admitted into the room, which may cause the cheese to crack. When cheese from imperfect making, becomes hoven, a remedy is attempted by pricking with skewers, or by rubbing a composition, known by the name of cheese powder, upon the cheese, at the second and third pressing. This powder is composed of armenian bole and nitre, and from the disagreeable flavour imparted by it, the remedy 262 FANCY CHEESE — CONTINENTAL. is at least, full as bad as the disease. The best re- medy is attention to turning and drying the cheese, the inferior flavour of which, from the original error, may perhaps not be so disagreeable as that certain to result from the pretended cure. In some dairies, the edges of the cheeses are rubbed hard with a cloth, and the floor cleaned and rubbed with fresh herbs. Our chief British fancy cheeses the CHEDDER (Somersetshire, perhaps the richest and finest of cheese), STILTON, (Hunts), the PARMESAN, of Eng- land, being made of the richest materials. The GOTTEN HAM is a thicker kind of Stilton cream cheese, the superior flavour and richness of which are attributed to the fragrant and nourishing herbage of the vicinity. The BRICK-BAT cheese of Wilts, made of that form, where also fancy cheese is made in the forms of various animals, hares, rabbits, dol- phins and others. DUNLOP (Ayrshire, N. B.) These last indeed are not to be ranked as fancy cheeses, but are of excellent quality, in size from twenty to sixty pounds weight. Among the various CONTINENTAL cheeses, the Parmesan has ever borne the bell in this country. It is extremely dry, delicate and simple flavoured, and well merits the name of the ladies' cheese. It is made entirely of skimmed milk, and the curd is slightly coloured with saffron. Three or four years are required to bring it to perfection, though it is exported to all parts of Europe at six months old. It is said to derive its peculiar excellence from the cow pastures of the Duchy of Parma being watered SAGE CHEESE — CHEESE DAIRY. 263 by the Po river; fed on which the cows not only give a superior quantity of milk, but of such quality, that the skimmed equals the pure milk of other countries. SAGE CHEESE. In a sufficient quantity of milk, steep two parts sage, one part of marigold leaves and parsley. Two handfuls of the former and one of the two latter, are deemed enough to green a cheese of ten or a dozen pounds. After the infusion shall have been stirred up, on the following morning the coloured milk is strained off, and mixed with about a third of the quantity intended to be run or curded. The green and white parcels of milk are run separately, as the two curds must be kept apart until ready to be put into the vat, where they may be mixed either generally and evenly, or in an irregular and fanciful manner, as they are often seen. The above rules for cheese making, which I have extended considerably beyond my first purpose, are chiefly extracted from the Board Surveys, and from Mr. Marshall's works, from which I apprehend the most authentic practical documents are to be obtained. As to common country cheese making in company with butter, under which the quality of the cheese is little considered, so that cheese it be, and the pro- cess is not over complex, or any extra conveniences in requisition, every ordinary dairy maid is fully au fait. The intelligent reader will, however, perceive that there is much labour, attention, and perseverance required in the manufacture of good cheese for pub- lic use, and that even on peculiar cheese soils, an equal degree of cleanliness and nicety is indispensable 264 MANAGEMENT OF THE COW — TEETH — HORNS. in the cheese, as well as the butter dairy. The five principal cheese dairy districts of England are those of CHESHIRE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, WILTS, DERBY, and WARWICKSHIRE. Management of the Cow. The AGE of neat cattle is determinable by the teeth and horns. They as well as sheep, are destitute of teeth in the upper jaw ; but the mark of age, as in the horse, is to be found in the corner incisory teeth of the lower jaw. The first front teeth, or calves' teeth, remarkable for their whiteness, are shed at two years old, and replaced by others not so white. Every succeeding year, two other calves' teeth, next to the front, are also replaced; and at five years old, the incisory or cutting teeth being all renewed, are of good length, whitish and even, and the beast is full mouthed. From that period, as in the horse, the teeth are gradually filling up, until six years, when the mark is complete. The teeth afterwards become discoloured by age, some- times long and irregular. " The HORNS, at three years of age, are shed and replaced by others, which continue." This unaccount- able absurdity ought to have been expunged and its cause explained, long since. I believe also that I have unreflectingly repeated it elsewhere, having im- plicitly adopted it on ancient authority. I did not reflect, at the moment, on the immense quantity of horns I must have annually witnessed in our pas- tures, had cattle and sheep periodically cast them. In HORNS OF THE DEER — GESTATION. 265 the deer indeed, the horns are deciduous, for which singularity the following reason was formerly assigned, " an impediment in the circulation — the horns being thence deprived of the juices by which they were nourished, ' fall off like the leaves of trees in the au- tumn. In about ten days or a fortnight after the first horns are shed the new ones appear, at first soft and hairy; they gradually grow hard, and the hair wears or is rubbed off by the deer." The indi- cation of age from the horns are as follows — in the third year of the heifer, and in the fourth or fifth of the bull or ox's age, a ring appears encircling the base of the horn ; but, if a heifer calve at three years old, the horn had acquired its mark at two years. Thence the period of gestation is rather indicated by the mark than the age. In the course of the year this ring moves, being pushed forward by another which succeeds, and the process continues to the end of the animal's life, its years being determinable by the number of these rings upon the horns, three years being reckoned for the first ring. It is com- mon with cow-dealers to dress up the beast for sale, •fey shaving the horns, and thereby concealing the age. Indeed the mouth remains as an index, but who but an adept can adroitly lay hold of the ani- mal's horns, and put its head in a posture proper for inspecting the teeth ? Thence our advice to unpro- fessionals, never to purchase without the presence and assistance of a practical man. The period of GESTATION in the cow is, according to an average, two hundred and eighty-seven days, or forty-one weeks, with a bull-calf; a cow-calf comes N 266 COW AND CALF — CLEANING — MILKING. a week sooner. (Dec. 29 — Betty Cow to the Wyford bull to calve Oct. 5.— a bull calf Oct. 13—288 days or 41 weeks 1 day. Cattle Book 1790.) The cow's desire for the bull, every three weeks of the season, should be particularly attended to, so that her milk may be renewed. These animals are extremely liable to abortion, and should be kept from alarm, as much as possible, and out of the way of carrion and ill scents. They are ladies as subject to hysteric pas- sion as their betters. They should not, particularly, be driven and harassed about by rude and heedless boys or girls. The cow's time having been regularly noted down, it is better to watch and let her bring forth under shelter, in a roomy place, but absolutely necessary in the winter. She should never be tied up, when near calving, as it might occasion her to lose the calf, by being smothered, or otherwise. Give the cow WARM water, and a warm mash or two, with some sweet hay. The CLEANING or after-burden should almost imme- diately follow the calf, and should be forthwith re- moved. It may be retained from cold caught, in which case the cow must be kept warm, and fed as above, since she will be entirely ruined should it not come away. The calf should be permitted to suck the first milk or beastings, until the flow be abated, and no danger remain of inflammation. If the calf be weak, it should be held up to the teat. Some young cows have the udder greatly distended and inflamed two or three days previous to calving, and may be relieved by part of the milk being daily drawn away. MILKING THE IMPROVED MODE. 267 The HOURS of milking should be regular, and it is of the utmost consequence that the cow's udder be perfectly drained of milk to the very last drip- ping, the habit of leaving milk in the udder being in the end greatly injurious. The last milk, more- over, is always the richest, according to the re- mark of an experienced Cheshire dairyman, " each succeeding drop which a cow gives at a meal, excel- ling the preceding one in richness." A cow in full milk cannot be well drained under twenty minutes by the best hand. The udder should be kept well trimmed, and with it the teats should be perfectly clean before milking. The tail also should be free from dirt, and every risk avoided of fouling the milk. Upon the continent cows are curried, dressed, and clothed like horses : without going to that extreme, they may be rubbed with wisps and kept clean, that their appearance may be creditable to the family mansion. A careless or unskilful mode of milking never fails to produce irritation and unsteadiness in the cow, with a thickening of the skin of the teats, whence proceed chaps and cracks exceedingly difficult to heal, from the necessity of constant handling. The follow- ing mode of performing the operation, which I have extracted from the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, appears so rational and practical, that I earnestly recommend it to my readers concerned in the Dairy : " These effects may be, and are, almost entirely avoided by the more scientific plan of milking, adopted in other parts of the country, where, instead of drawing down, or stripping the teats between the N 2 268 ANECDOTE. thumb and fingers, the dairy maid follows more closely the principles which instinct has taught the calf. She firsts takes a slight hold of the teat with her hand, by which she merely encircles it ; then lifts her hand up, so as to press the body of the udder upwards, by which the milk escapes into the teat, or if (as is generally the case when some hours have elapsed between the milking times) the teat is full, she grasps the teat close to its origin, with her thumb and forefinger, so as to prevent the milk which is in the teat from escaping upwards ; then, making the rest of the fingers to close from above downwards in succession, forces out what milk may be contained in the teat through the opening of it. The hand is again pressed up, and closed as before ; and thus, by repeating the action, the udder is com- pletely emptied without that coarse tugging and tear- ing of the teat, which is so apt to produce disease." The following anecdote, which dates seven or eight years since, may serve to exemplify the nature of these animals, and to show the necessity of both their kind and careful treatment. Mrs. Bell, a widow in Annan, N. B., went to milk her cow, when another cow, which was grazing in the same meadow, ran at her, threw her down, and was in the act of goring her, when her own cow came running up, attacked the other with great fury, and succeeded not only in relieving, but in all probability saved the life of her mistress. This act in the cow may indeed be re- ferred to mere instinctive impulse urging her to attack the other cow, but with equal reason to the motive of defending her mistress, since the instances ANECDOTE OF A CAT. 269 of attachment in animals to particular persons, and the demonstrations of it in acts of kindness and de- fence, are innumerable. The denial of a limited por- tion of the faculty styled reason to brutes, can only result from superficial thinking, from silly, over- weening human prejudice, and defective observation. In fact, what is reason itself but discriminative instinct, common to both human and brute animals, with the latter certainly in a regulated, subordinate, and immensely inferior degree ? Still they do discri- minate and reason as certainly as man himself does. In years past I had a fine torn cat, which we named Buonaparte, and which we suffered to retain that splendid name until his godfather became an apostate and a tyrant. A poor aged stray cat, deserted by some unfeeling wretches, appeared on the tilings of an outhouse, and a more starved, distressed, and miserable creature I never beheld ; yet, having been probably so much frightened and harassed about, it would suffer no one to approach with relief. It attracted the attention of Buonaparte, who (he was surely intituled to the personal) approached it with compassion and kindness, not always shown to dis- tress by the monopolists of reason. At his meal- time he carried to his unfortunate fellow-creature a share of his meat, in which he regularly persisted until it was observed, and the curious tidings were then brought to me. On the next occasion, I watched this pleasing trait of humanity in a brute from my window, and several times afterwards, I saw Buonaparte sitting upon his haunches, appa- rently with a consciousness of feeling and gratifica- N 3 270 COW AND CALF — FATTENING THE CALF. tion, whilst his poor protege was feasting on his bounty ! And this I saw with mine own eyes, and it stands dated in my common-place book. The old animal at length, judging of our benevolence by that of our cat, lost his fearful apprehension of us, and we took him in. But he was too far gone ; and, after keeping him in comfort a day or two, as the next and greatest benefit I could confer upon him, I expedited him to his best home, the feline Elysium, in such way that he had no previous dread of the stroke which instantaneously destroyed all sensibility of pain. I had then before me the por- trait of his benefactor Buonaparte, a most correct likeness, by the celebrated James Ward, and lately was sitting by my side one of his great-great-grand- daughters, named Button, in her twentieth year, and nearly totally blind. She was ultimately lost by quit- ting the house on a sudden by night, and our long and painful search could obtain no tidings of her. The CALF may be sold as soon as it has drawn off the beastings, or first milk, unless any coring or defect in the cow's udder or teats may render it de- sirable for the calf to suck a few days, in order that the action may clear off any obstructions, for which the butting of the calf's head is generally the best remedy. If intended to be FATTENED for the butcher, it must be kept in a pen, particularly dry and clean, suckled twice a day at regular hours, always have the first, which is the thinnest of the milk, and not be permitted to overcharge its stomach. Lumps of soft chalk are usually placed for the calf to lick, as an ab- sorbent to neutralize those acidities engendered in WEANING AND BEARING MR. CRAMP'S PRACTICE. 271 the stomach from feeding on milk. It seldom pays to fatten a calf beyond ten or twelve weeks. WEANING AND REARING CALVES. A calf may be weaned by being gradually accustomed to suck milk in a pail through the fingers. Many are reared upon very little milk mixed with hay-tea, linseed, or other slops ; fed on straw in the winter, and in summer upon the common. Such cannot be expected to turn to much account. The best cattle are reared from the teat, well wintered in good shelter, and full fed, until they attain their proper growth. Warmth and dry lodging are of the utmost consequence to the improvement of all young animals. Calves may, however, be reared to good proof, by being suffered to suck a very moderate quantity daily, the bulk of their food consisting of skimmed milk, thickened with oat or wheat meal ; their winter food being carrots or Swedish turnips sliced, and oat-straw, with a small quantity of hay daily. To such of my readers as desire to make the most of a single cow, I cannot do better than recommend the perusal of a small pamphlet, published formerly by the board of Agriculture, entitled "Hints to Dairy Farmers ,-" being an account of the manage- ment, food, and produce, of a single milch cow, kept by Mr. Cramp, keeper of the House of Correction at Lewes, in Sussex ; an account which will prove to demonstration, and to the regret of every well-wisher to his country, that our dairy business, the product of which is so precious, and never equal to our con- sumption, is by no means managed in general upon a profitable or the most productive plan. Cutting and N 4 272 FOOD AND MANAGEMENT. carrying the green food for cows was recommended many years ago ; and I experienced its full warranted utility, with the exception that my cows, when en- tirely kept in the house, fell off with their milk, whilst they increased in flesh : hut recovered their milk again, when allowed a range. Mr. Cramp, who so well merited the honorary silver medal of the Board, allowed his cow the small range in his power, and cultivated her green food within the verge of the prison. He also seems to have added, hy his expe- rience, a new milky breed to our old stock. His cow was a Sussex bred one, and in all probability, and in his opinion, that famous breed has not hitherto had a high dairy character from mere disuse, and application solely, almost, to the purpose of rearing for beef. Mr. Cramp's cow was seven years old, had produced five calves, and had been two years in his possession. She was fed in summer on clover, rye-grass, lucern, and carrots, three or four times a day. In winter with hay, bran, and grains, properly mixed, and often fed, particularly when milking. The manger kept clean, and no sour grains, rotten or mouldy vegetables given on any account, and the cow never suffered to overcharge her stomach, but to be well filled, and kept with a good healthy appetite. She was never tied up, and always had her choice to lie abroad, or in the house. Always when milked, dripped clean to the last drop. Being so well kept, she went dry only seventeen days before calving. The country is under great obligations to Mr. Cramp for such an example, by which it is hoped our dairymen and housewives will not fail to profit. It is a useful practice of Mr. QUANTITIES OF PRODUCE. 273 Cramp to give his cow a double-handful of malt-dust, mixed with a feed of grains and pollard, without ex- ceeding that quantity of the malt-dust. Potatoes given to cows may be ground in a common apple-mill, or pounded in a trough: my experience, however, will not warrant me in allowing much commendation to that root, as food for any kind of live stock. Quantities of Milk and Butter produced by Mr. Cramp's Cow, between April 1807, and April 1808. From 6th to 20th April — milk 8 quarts per day, butter 61bs. per week. From April 21st to June 1st — milk 22 quarts per day, butter 181bs. per week. From June 2d to October 5th — milk 20 quarts per day, butter 161bs. per week. From October 6th, to November 30th — milk 15 quarts per day, butter 131bs. per week. From December 1st to February 8th, 1808— milk 13 quarts per day, butter lllbs. per week. From February 9th to March 14th — milk 10 quarts per day, butter 81bs. per week. From March 15th to April 4th — milk 7 quarts per day, butter olbs. per week, — dry for calving. Sale of the Year's Produce and Expenses. £. s. d. Sale of calf 14 days old — butter at 1*. 4td. — skim-milk at 1^. per quart — dung, valued at 31., in all 76 7 3 Total expenses, including II. 5s. for 10 Sacks Malt Combs, and a Farrier's Bill, 12*. 6d . 24 14 2 A year's net profit on a single cow . . £51 13 1 N.5 £74 HARLEIAN SYSTEM — CONFINEMENT — ANECDOTE. I introduce the Harleian Dairy System, so styled by Mr. Harley in his publication, as a sequel to the practice of Mr. Cramp, and as a wholesale proof of the ill effects upon the cow of constant confinement within doors, an unfair practice, which nothing but necessity can warrant. Mr. Harley fully establishes the fact of these ruinous effects, by the acknowledg- ment that no cow can endure them beyond a twelve- month ; after which it is necessary to change the stock, their legs being swoln, their feet sore or foundered, and their flesh and milk greatly reduced. A pamphlet was published upwards of twenty years since, on this subject ; but the practice has never been in repute, nor probably ever will be. I have already noted my experience of the falling off in the cow of her quan- tity of milk, in consequence of confinement. In the case of a deficient quantity of herbage for the number of cows, it is most profitable to cut it green for them, at the same time allowing them to remain abroad their due time, either upon the mown lands, or a common. A person resident at Scawby, near Brigg, pur- chased a cow, for which he paid twelve guineas : he kept her twelve years, in which time she bore twelve calves ; all of them were carefully reared, and sold at the times' prices, and as a remarkable circumstance, he sold her at last for the same price she at first cost him. THE DISEASES OF COWS. The chief of these are — scouring, the hoose, or chronic cough, foul in the foot, loss of cud, yellows, DISEASES — PREVENTION — REMEDIES. 275 black and red water, clue-bound, milk fever, wither- ing. With respect to the above, and other diseases to which cows and calves maybe subject, the best advice in my power to give to the reader, is the PREVENTION of them, — which is, nine times out of ten, possible, and even easy, to those who possess the proper means for cattle-keeping ; and in every view, the cheapest and only profitable plan. Further, as to medical remedies, I must again refer those who have occasion to employ them, to the " General Treatise on Cattle, the Ox, the Sheep, and the Swine," — and more espe- cially with regard to those fanciful and pretended remedies, with which the common cattle-books are stuffed ; as cautionary against which, the late Mr. White, in his Farriery, says, the Treatise above re- ferred to ought to be in every one's hands, who is interested in the subject. Bad keep, and exposure to cold, wet, and dirt, will bring scouring upon the cow, but should such a one chance to be purchased, the reverse of all those, with dry substantial food, will cure her, if sound. CLUE- BOUND generally arises from the beast feeding, or rather starving upon dry straw, and it will be cured by nourishing and opening food. The FOUL in the FOOT may be occasioned by the animal being con- stantly kept in wet poachy grounds, or long dewy grass, during the autumnal or winter seasons ; or from having been driven long journeys. It should be taken in time, when washing, cleanliness, paring, caustics, if necessary, and keeping the cow upon a dry and clean layer, are the chief and most effective remedies. N 6 276 CURIOUS EXPERIMENT. Neglected, the cow never recovers the perfect use of her feet, and both her milking and feeding are thereby reduced. In withering, or retention of the cleaning, for any length of time, I have never known any re- medy ; which shows the necessity of due care at the time of calving. Malt-mashes, or half malt and half fine pollard, warm, are excellent cordial medicines for cows. In general, these useful animals will rarely be troubled with disease, if constantly fed with a suf- ficiency of proper and nourishing food, and well shel- tered during the winter season from wet and cold, and from the effects of those atmospheric vicissitudes, to which our climate is so peculiarly liable. Some exceptions, however, may be made with re- spect to preternatural cases in CALVING, arising either from constitutional defects or accidents. But I do not profess, in this small treatise, to engage, except cursorily, with the extensive subject of veterinary medicine and surgery ; with respect to the latter particularly, I refer the reader to Mr. Skellet's really practical work. In all difficult cases, more especially of parturition, immediate recourse should be had to an experienced practitioner, instead of trusting to the rude and unskilful efforts of servants, by which many a cow and calf have been lost. The following curious experiment proved successful, some years ago. One of the fore-legs of a cow, the property of Mr. Little, of Herseford, Cornwall, being accidentally broken, and he being unwilling to kill the animal, caused the leg to be amputated immedi- ately below the knee joint. The wound being per- fectly healed, a pad and wooden leg were braced upon CURIOUS AND SUCCESSFUL CASE. 277 the part, by which the cow was enabled to walk about, lie down and rise with facility. In No. 17 of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, and in the Transactions of the Highland Society of Scotland, p. 87, there is a very curious and successful case of the amputation of the diseased udder of a cow, given by Mr. Dick, the eminent veterinary surgeon of Edinburgh. The operation, however, was performed by Mr. Andrew Bowie, veterinary surgeon of How- ick — it succeeded, the wound healed rapidly, and she is now fit for the butcher. As human nature itself is occasionally found in the sad predicament of being obliged to undergo the most cruel and torturing ope- rations, it may be demanded why should brutes claim an exemption ? I shall only say, that notwithstanding the distinguished success of the above case, such good fortune must not always be relied upon, although the anxiety of a feeling mind, the unavoidable trouble, and ultimately the bill of costs indubitably may. Even granting success, the expense will in all probability exceed the future profit of the animal. With a cow then in such a perilous case I should prefer the first loss, have her killed, and her carcase turned into the little money it might bring. This, however, is not said with any view of derogating from the well-earned reputation of the eminent and able veterinary sur- geons above cited, particularly of Mr. Dick, whom I have known by his writings and his practice during many years. The disease, it seems, had arisen three weeks after the cow had been turned to grass, and, in the northern phrase, allowed to go yeld, that is to say, dismissed 278 STOCKING COWS — IMPORT — PARIS CONSUMPTION. from the dairy, and turned off to graze. Her udder had assumed a very hard state, and she was unable to rise. There is little doubt but that this induration of the udder had gradually arisen from imperfect milk- ing ; the milk not being perfectly drained off, thence obstructions gradually increasing in the ducts, until, at length, the disease was formed. This is a common cause of injury to the udders of cows, as is also that villanous and cruel cow-jobbing trick of stocking cows on sale — in the northern phrase, hefting them : the animals are left several days unmilked, in order to dis- tend the udder to its utmost capacity, by way of at- tracting the attention of the buyer. I had formerly several cases of violent inflammation in the udder, of young cows particularly, from this cause. I would seriously and earnestly recommend to large and influ- ential purchasers of cows, to join and put an end to this torturing and injurious practice, absolutely useless and ridiculous, in any point of view whatever. It is an actual imputation on the common sense of pur- chasers. Could I possibly spare room, I should with pleasure transcribe the whole of Mr. Dick's excel- lent letter: circumstanced as I am, I can only re- commend it seriously to the attention of all who are concerned in cows and dairying. Imported into Liverpool from Ireland, during the year 1829, (the number short by five weeks being omitted,) Cows, 45,541 ; Calves, 10,358. — Liverpool Mercury. According to the best information to be obtained, there are annually consumed in Paris 75,000 oxen, 8000 cows, 76,000 calves, 80,000 pigs, and 370,000 AMERICAN FERTILITY OF INVENTION. 279 sheep. The annual sale of poultry and game amounts to 8,000,000 francs ; of fish, to 4,000,000 ; oysters, 1,000,000; and of fresh-water fish, to 600,000 francs. INVENTIONS. (British Farmer's Magazine, Feb. 1832.) By an official document laid before the Con- gress of the U. S. America, it appears that no less than six thousand inventions have been secured by patent since the establishment of the patent office in 1793. The plough has been made to undergo one hundred and twenty-four improvements. One hundred and nineteen threshing machines have been invented. That great problem, the extraction of butter from cream, without fatigue to the operator, has been solved in eighty ways, by the inventors of eighty different churns. Four new machines have also been invented for paring apples. 280 HONEY COUNTIES — PRICE. SECTION XVIII. Bees. > PREVIOUSLY to the year 1787, although we had ac- cidentally caught a swarm of bees, we had paid little attention to the culture of honey, our domestic occa- sions for that article being very limited : and in that year, whether or not the quantity collected or imported was so considerable or the demand so reduced, the first and pure honey was sold in Hants, Essex, and various parts of the country, at and even under the price of two-pence per pound. The middle district of the county of Essex, in the vicinity of Bocking and Braintree, produces probably some of the best of English honey. It is usually collected from the cottagers, by higglers in their carts, the price in 1824 about sixpence per pound, that of wax about eighteen or twenty pence. Persons of property in a parish, desirous of promoting the culture of the bee among the labourers, might very safely purchase the produce of their hives at a somewhat higher price, and render the bee husbandry more encouraging. Such a PRICE as the first above quoted, affording the prospect of loss, in every view, instead of that of due remuneration, could not fail to damp the spirit of apiarian culture on the ground of profit ; and perhaps we are to look to this fact generally, as OBJECTS OF THE APIARIAN CULTURE. 281 the radical cause of the neglect of bees in Britain and Ireland, of which our enthusiastic apiarians have been in the constant habit of complaining. The importation of the foreign article cannot properly be adduced as an impediment or rival to the growth of honey in this country, on the consideration of its constant superior price, since our native produce, if not generally preferred, is fully equal in quality to all purposes, domestic or medicinal, and since it is obvious that the home culture, if adequately pursued, would soon not only prove sufficient for the national use, but would require the aid of an export trade. So far as I have considered the subject, in the course of a great number of years, such must be the inva- riable result ; thence there can be no temptation to push the bee culture in England to any great extent beyond its accustomed limits. An export trade in honey seems altogether out of question, even absurd. The southern nations would always excel us in the fine, if not the solid quality of the commodity: and all nations in cheapness of production. In truth, the culture of this article to any commercial extent, is the object rather of coun- tries abounding in forests and waste lands, the labour- ing classes of which are glad of any occupation to engage their spare time, and to make an addition to their scanty earnings; which is as much as to say, such a concern can never interest, in any material or ex- tensive degree, the attention of a great agricultural and manufacturing nation. On this side of the QUESTION also, it has been urged that — " if the country were stocked with bees, to the utmost possible extent, it might be question- 282 MISCHIEVOUS HABITS OF THE BEE. able, whether the diminution in produce of beef, mutton, and wool, hides and tallow, from the im- poverishment of the pasture, would not more than compensate the return in value, from the increased production of honey and wax." These insects were formerly held, by their depredations on the pollen and farina, to detract from the fragrance and beauty of flowers, and to hasten their decay ; and by their operations on the blossoms of fruit-trees, depriving them of their nectarine juices, to occasion the wither- ing and premature decay of much of the fruit. This ancient opinion receives some countenance from the fact asserted by our modern gardeners, that if the flowers of any of the radish or brassica tribe, have been much laid upon by bees, the purity of the seed cannot be warranted. In addition, the mischievous and revengeful disposition of these insects is urged as extremely dangerous both to human and brute creatures, insomuch that some farmers have declared, they might as well be surrounded by nests of hornets, as by multiplied stocks of bees. Accidents of animals stung to death by these furious and vindictive insects have ever been of periodical occurrence. Lately a female child had a fortunate escape. Its face, head, and breast were covered with the insects, swelled and inflamed to an enormous size. The case was perilous, but by the child being immediately found, the bees brushed off her and proper remedies applied, she soon recovered. The juice of onions first, and vine- gar afterwards, are said to be specific : also the appli- cation of the extract of lead, formerly called Goulard's extract, with a piece of linen. On the other side of the question it has been urged, BOTH SIDES OF THE QUESTION. 283 that the bee never deranges the flowers which it visits, or obstructs generation by injuring the little embryos ; and that it is even somewhat questionable, whether those visits are not of great use in promoting the fructification of flowers and blossoms, by conveying the dust or seed of the male flowers into the recepta- cle of the female ; and whether or not the sole use of the honey of plants may be merely to tempt insects. Much of the above, on one side or the other, seems, at present, to consist of questionable specula- tion. One point, however, may be looked upon as established; bees have never yet been kept in this country to such an extent as to produce any palpable injury either to our fields or our gardens : and as it is not very probable that they ever will be, the ascertain- ment of the fact in question is of the less consequence. Our object is to caution the reader on the enthusiasm, however well intended, of the professed and too san- guine apiarian, and to point out the true and rational grounds on which the business of the hive may be pursued in this country, together with the best in- structions in our power to furnish, for the attainment of success. To come at once to the point : having the leading argument above in view, it does not appear that to keep bees with the expectation of commercial profit, can possibly answer the ends of any but our labouring cottagers. Were the counties of Essex, Hants, or Surrey, to enter into this branch of rural economy, to the extent recommended by those writers who, astride upon their hobby-horses, urge them forward with such eagerness and impetuosity, but for one 284 RATIONALE OF BEE-CULTURE. successful season only, the price of honey and wax, during the succeeding, would be reduced almost to nothing, and the production, however intrinsically valuable, worth little else, might be bestowed as manure upon the land. It must yet be allowed, that a considerable sum is annually expended in the im- port of foreign honey ; to the extent, it was averred, a few years since, of 240,000£. The rational MOTIVES for keeping these interest- ing insects in England are, the gratification of natu- ral and scientific curiosity, the national supply of their productions, and, in particular, to form a neces- sary and ornamental article in the rounding or com- pleting the plan of a country-house, as sketched in our preface. The culture of the bee has been known and practised from almost the earliest ages of which we have any record ; and its wonderful instinct, sub- tilty of contrivance, and proverbial industry, have never failed to attract the notice, and engage the investigation, of some of the most learned and en- lightened men of every age. Indeed, the total neglect of the bee must appear, to the eye of reason and of science, as a barbarism and shame to any age or nation. The estimation in which this insect was held in ancient times, will be evident from the splendid character bestowed upon it by men most celebrated for their genius and learning ; — Virgil styles the bee a ray of the divinity, — Plutarch calls it the magazine of virtues, — and Quintilian avers that the bee is the greatest of geometricians. The effects of instinct in the bee form one of nature's most marvellous exhibitions: and its governing attribute is, in this NATURE AND CHARACTER. 285 respect, superior even to the boasted reason of man, enabling it to construct its habitations and needful offices, in the full exactitude of pure mathematics, independently of the aid of either rule, line, or com- pass. Our Shakspeare, the prince of poets, and the industrious bee for collecting all the sweets of poesy, has beautifully, and with true practical correctness, described the bee of nature. It is to be observed that the principal bee, of which every community of these insects has only one, was formerly styled the king; which modern discoveries proving to be a female, have metamorphosed into a QUEEN. The bee is one of those creatures destined by nature to congregate, like the human race, and live in communities under the guidance of an inferior kind of reason, denominated instinct. Thus qualified, the bee wears out its extremely limited term of ex- istence in unremitting labour, not for its own indivi- dual, but for the common benefit. According to the continued observations of studious and curious apia- rians, these insects are actuated by those leading passions which sway the human breast, and endowed with that degree of apprehension and discrimination, which enables them to know the persons of their attendants. The simple consideration of a close fellow- feeling, in all respects, of suffering and enjoyment, between brute animals and man, should teach him the great and bounden duty of compassion and of mercy towards them. The BEE, or honey-fly, according to naturalists, is of the fourth order of Insects, and has four wings ; 286 STRUCTURE — FORM. and the community, or hive, contains three kinds, namely, the queen, or mother-bee, the drone, and the working-bee. In examining the STRUCTURE of the common work- ing-bee, says Bufibn, the first remarkable part that offers is the trunk (proboscis) which serves to extract the honey from flowers. It is not formed like that of other flies, in the manner of a tube, through which the fluid is to be sucked up ; but like a besom to sweep, or tongue to lick it up. The insect is also furnished with teeth, enabling it to work upon the materials collected, the pollen and. farina of flowers, from an elaboration of which in the stomach of the bee, are to be derived both the honey and wax. In the thighs of the hinder legs are found two cavities, fringed with hair, and into these, as into a basket, the bee deposits the pellets it has collected. Thus employed, it flies from flower to flower, increasing its stores, until the pellet or ball upon each thigh ac- quires the size of a grain of pepper; when having obtained a sufficient load, it returns homewards, making the best way to the hive. The BELLY of the bee is divided into six rings, which, by slipping one over the other, shorten the dimensions of the body. Pliny held that the body of the bee is furnished with pores, through which the animal breathes, and to this opinion, Lisle, the agri- cultural writer, has assented. The contents of the insect's belly, besides the common intestines, are the honey-bag, the venom-bag, and the sting. The honey-bag is transparent as crystal, containing the THE STING. 287 honey which has been collected : the greater part of which is deposited in the hive, being passed into the cells of the honey- combs, whilst the remainder serves for the insect's nourishment, as, during the summer or labouring season, it never touches the store laid by for winter. The STING, which serves to defend this little animal from its enemies, is composed of three parts ; the sheath and two darts, which are extremely small and penetrating. These darts have several small points, or barbs, like those of a fish-hook, which ren- der the sting more painful, the darts rankling in the wound. Still, however, the infliction from such an instrument would be very slight, had not the bee power to poison the wound. The sheath, which has a sharp point, makes the first impression, the darts act next, after which the venomous fluid is infused. The sheath sometimes urged, perhaps by the degree of excitement in the insect, sticks so fast in the wound, that it is left behind, and causes more permanent inflammation. The bee, in consequence, soon after dies, from an eruption of the intestines. It might, on first consideration, appear well for mankind, if the bee had not the power of inflicting such wounds, but on farther reflection it will be found, that the little animal would have too many rivals in sharing the profits of its labours. Numerous other animals, fond of honey, and of obtaining it at free cost, would intrude upon the sweets of the hive, with- out armed guardians for its protection. The venom of the insects appears to be an original material in their composition, imparted to them by nature, for 3 INSTINCT — INDUSTRY — PARTIALITIES. the purposes of defence, or revenge, and not formed like honey, the ingredients of which are collected from without. It has been observed, that bees are endowed with the faculty of knowing the persons familiar to them, which, indeed, seems sufficiently obvious from their power of distinguishing, individually, their own kind, and their friends from their enemies. Nature has placed the bees not only under one of the most regular of commonwealths, with a queen at their head, but in- structed them so thoroughly in the division of labour, and each of them in every separate branch of it, that each one indiscriminately engages in that part which may, at the moment, require his industry. Bees are weather-wise, and generally remain close at home, on their sense of the approach of unfavourable weather. Like all armed insects, they are passionate, revengeful, and active, but will scarcely ever attack keepers who have been acknowledged by them, and who take care constantly to approach them quietly, and without roughness or cause of agitation. It appears, however, to be an ascertained fact, that there are persons who, probably from the peculiar scent of their perspiration, are either pleasing and attractive, or disgusting to the olfactory nerves of bees. Thence it has occasionally happened, that a swarm of bees shall have alighted upon the human head and face, and the patient being of the favoured class, not the slightest injury has been sustained ; on the contrary, it has often occurred, that persons have been stung dangerously, and as it would seem revengefully, by these insects. It is perhaps the same with respect to strangers visiting an apiary. CURIOUS HIVE ANECDOTES. 289 The following almost miraculous story appeared in a late provincial newspaper. " That bees may be tamed, so as not to hurt persons to whom they are accustomed, I have by many instances heard exem- plified, but most remarkably by the following account. A gentleman residing at Bury St. Edmonds (whose name surely ought to have been given) could do with impunity any thing he liked with his bees ; he knew every one of them, and could distinguish each from its fellow, as a shepherd is said to individualize his sheep by the physiognomy of each ; and if he wanted to show a particular bee to a friend, he would have the hive to which it belonged turned out into a cloth, roll the insects about with his hands, like so many peas, and, unharmed, select from them the one required ! This fact he has often been seen to perform." I must own, I should decline being a spectator of such a fact. The unaccountable fact, however, as above stated, known from antiquity, is indisputable, that bees will sting, even to death, some persons — the majority — whilst they select their favourites, whom they leave unhurt. My late wife belonged to this favoured class, having had, in approaching the hives, her head and face covered with bees, without receiving the slightest injury or inconvenience, beyond the tickling of the insects ; but she offered no opposition, standing perfectly still until her dangerous visitors took their leave, which, occurred in less than five minutes. I am not aware whether these furious infernals have the same election in the case of brute animals, but in all probability not, since these have not power to reflect on the ne- cessity of remaining still under the perilous visitation. o 290 VARIETIES — THE QUEEN DESCRIBED. There are VARIETIES of the bee, more, I think, in other countries than in this, where we pay little at- tention to that matter. To the queen, or mother of the whole community, however, it is necessary for the bee-master to give the strictest attention, as, without a queen, it is useless to possess a hive, since neither can the generation of fresh swarms proceed, nor will those which may be present labour, but either emigrate, or languish and die. It being then so ne- cessary to have the distinguishing form and features of a queen familiarly in the eye, I shall give a de-> cription of her, and, for correctness' sake, from Mr. Huish, a most able, practical, and comprehensive writer on the subject. The form of the QUEEN is wholly different from that of other bees. Like the drones, she neither has nor needs the triangular store cavities in her hinder thighs: her teeth are smaller than those of the working bee, but larger than those of the drone, and she has no bunches of hair or bristle near her feet ; she is longer in her body, and more tapering than the drone. Her belly is of a golden colour, and the upper part of her is of a brighter hue than that of the common bee. But the most unerring rule to judge of the queen bee is from the shortness of her wings, which extend only to the third ring of her body, whilst those of the working bees, and more particularly those of the drones, cover almost their whole length. Thus she flies with greater difficulty than the working bees ; however, it is mere accident, if in the course of her life she should have any occasion for her wings. She is GENERATION — QUEEN. 291 armed with a crooked sting, which she seldom or never uses, which may be a provident care of nature, perhaps, for the protection of a personage of so great importance, from the fatality consequent upon that act. The GENERATION of the bee and larger insects, contrary to that of the common fly, appears to be after the rule of fishes. According to the prevailing opinion, there is no sexual congress among bees, nor is the possibility conceivable, for obvious reasons. The QUEEN lays the eggs, which are afterwards fecun- dated by the drones. Her body contains an ovarium or egg-bag, of which certain insecto-anatomists have actually or fancifully discovered two, terminating in a common channel, which two are filled during the breeding season. Her fruitfulness is almost beyond conception, and she continues to deposit eggs, as long as a cell remains vacant for them. The title of queen is a mere fiction ; she would be with far more pro- priety styled mother of the bees, as she really is ; for, although her indispensable existence obtain for her a kind of royal state, she possesses not the small- est power above any other individual of the hive, or any kind of direction in its concerns. As a proof of the veneration of these communities for royalty, should more than one queen remain after the swarms have gone off, the supernumeraries are infallibly and loyally massacred. The young queens never lay eggs in the parent hive, but depart with the swarms, in order to find their place in a new establishment. The queen is hatched in a cell of a totally dif- ferent construction to that of any other bee. Her £92 CELLS — DESERTION — EXPERIMENTS. cell is perpendicular. Those both of the drones and working bees are horizontal. The cell of the drone is of an irregular form, that of the working or common bee a perfect hexagon. On the side of the middle combs the cell is constructed, which is destined to receive the egg, of which a young queen is to be born. It has been discovered by the curious, that nature imparts the wonderful faculty to tne queen, of foreknowing the "kind of egg she is about to lay, and of choosing the particular cell in which it ought to be placed. A queen is known to lay four or five hundred eggs in a day. Such are the discoveries or opinions of practical apiarians. Should the number of labouring bees be insuffi- cient for the purpose of constructing the necessary cells, the queen will most probably forsake the hive, however well supplied with provision, and will be most ready to take this step in fine weather. All, or part of the stock will follow, assisting her, it is averred, when wearied, from being unaccustomed to flight, by bearing her up with their legs and wings. The old remedy to prevent this desertion was, to place empty combs in the hive, which does not always succeed, from the disgust taken by the queen. The preferable method is supposed to be, when there is a hive at hand, the colony of which has died during the season, to place over it the hive about to be de- serted. The eggs left in the borrowed hive will thus be hatched, and a colony raised in sufficient numbers. The accidental death of the queen, or departure, will occasion the bees to forsake their hives. Some years since, according to report, the Rev. Dr. Dunbar, by THE DRONE — FATE OF DRONES. 293 a series of experiments in Scotland, ascertained, that when a queen bee is wanting in a hive, she may be produced from the egg of a working bee. In one experiment, the queen being removed, the bees set about constructing royal cells, and placing common larvae in them : in seven days two queens were formed. One of these killed the other, and though, while in a virgin state, the surviving queen was treated by the bees with no distinction whatever, she no sooner began to lay, than she became the object of constant solicitude and respect by her admiring subjects, who watched, fed, and waited upon her. The DRONE, or male bee, is the largest ; full at the extremity or tail, which the wings cover, except- ing a small angle which has a blackish appearance. Beneath are two small protuberances, which are the supposed indications of the masculine gender. The drone, as every one knows, is left by nature unarmed, the organs of generation in him being found in the place of the sting in the working bee. The antennae and probosces of the drones are shorter than those of the labouring bees, and their teeth smaller ; nor have they those cavities on the thighs, which distinguish the latter, their sole destined employment being the propagation of their kind, for which they are fur- nished with food from the common stock, towards the collection of which they never give, nor are ex- pected to give, any assistance. The fate of the drones is a singular proof of the instinctive predomi- nance of the interested motive in animal nature, which may be traced equally to human nature in the savage state, and before the asperities of that state o3 294 THE LABOURING BEE — NUMBER TO A HIVE. are mollified and worn away by the expansion and culture of the reasoning faculty. The drones are hatched at the beginning of the season, and having completed the duty of fecundating the eggs, they are all to a unit, towards the end of the same season, destroyed by their brethren, the working bees, and their carcases dragged from the hive. The MODE in which this execution is perpetrated by the bees, is said to be by driving the victims from their combs and weakening them by starvation, after which they are finished by being bitten beneath the roots of the wings. This carnage continues during three or four days, and is seen in front of the hives. Several bees at once seize upon a drone ; he makes no resistance, and they do not quit him until they have fulfilled nature's mission. The assassins should be assisted in their work, and a wooden spatula will serve the purpose. The life of the drone thus ex- tends, upon the average, but from April to August, or September. The drone is particularly distin- guished by the humming noise which he makes in his flight. The number of them in a hive, proportional to its size and to the number of working bees, is from four to five hundred to upwards of a thousand. Key says, in his Bee Master's Farewell, that a good swarm of bees ought to consist of a peck and a half, or about thirty thousand in number. Many jokes have passed on the idea of measuring bees by the peck ; nor does the correct tale of them by the thousand appear a much more feasible undertaking. The common mule, or LABOURING BEE, is smaller than the drone, and its most obvious distinction is its RULES AND CAUTIONS. 295 complete snug covering, to nearly the extremity of the tail, by its wings. Having no concern in genera- tion, this bee is of no sex, neither male nor female. Its province is solely that of labour, of which it per- forms every species which is needful for the com- munity. Gathering in the harvest from the flowers, constructing and filling the combs, feeding the young, murdering the useless, and preserving the hive in that state of cleanliness and neatness, in which these industrious and astute insects take so great delight. This bee is furnished with natural implements, extensive and strong, in proportion to the labour which it has to perform. It has two hard teeth or jaws, which enable it to collect the wax, knead it, and construct the cells : also to remove any sub- stance of which it is desirable to be ridded. The proboscis, of a shining chesnut hue, exclusive of its sweeping property, by which the farina of the blossom is attracted, is likewise furnished with a channel, through which, by a muscular power in the organ, honey and liquids are drawn into the gullet. It is supposed, that the collection of honey and farina by the bee is a distinct operation, and that it never enters the hive laden with both. For the following rules and cautions, furnished by a judicious practical apiarian, and friend to the work, the author holds himself much obliged. " It is not to be expected that any one can possess an intuitive knowledge of the management of an apiary, and especially of some points of the utmost consequence to the prosperity of the hives. A per- son is generally, in a certain degree, a judge of the o 4 296 METHOD OF ESTABLISHING AN APIARY. goodness or badness of the article which he wishes to purchase ; but how few are there, who when they establish an apiary, are able from their own expe- rience, to decide on the badness or excellence of a hive ; and thus, perhaps, at the very outset of their undertaking, a failure ensues, and the pursuit is relin- quished, arising from a groundless idea of the difficul- ties which attend its prosecution. " The usual methods of establishing an apiary are, either by the purchase of stocks or of swarms — or, in some instances, by the settling of a vagabondizing swarm in your garden, which, by the country house- wives, is always considered as a real God-send; — remembering to forget, that they have as much legal right to the swarm, as they have to the cow or pig which may have strayed into their premises. In the purchase of stocks, the following essential points should be attended to, without a knowledge of which, the young apiarian will find himself deceived, at the very moment when his expectations of ultimate suc- cess are raised to the highest pitch. It is with a bee- hive as with a wife, never take one on the recommen- dation of another person, but be your own judge of its merits and defects. If it be your intention to purchase a stock, repair to the garden in which it stands, about the middle of the day, and, placing yourself before it, pay particular attention to the actions of the bees. If you observe them crowding in and out of the hive, and a considerable number of them having little yellow pellets or balls on their hinder legs, a very favourable opinion may be formed of the health and condition of the interior, and ADVICE TO THE YOUNG APIARIAN. 297 especially of the prolific state of the queen. If the examination take place previously to the swarming season, pay particular attention to the number of drones ; this is an infallible criterion of the popu- lousness of the hive, and the purchaser may then confidently look forward to the possession of the usual swarms. " If, on the other hand, the examination take place in the autumn, the previous massacre of the drones must be ascertained ; the omission of this act, on the part of the bees, is a certain sign of some radical defect, most probably on the part of the queen, and the prospect of the bees surviving the winter becomes thereby highly problematical. If the bees appear irascible and bold in their attacks on their enemies, particularly the wasp, it is a good sign of their condition ; if on their return from the fields their bodies appear cylindrical, it is certain proof that the bees are busy in the collection of honey, and, consequently, a good estimate may be formed of the interior richness of the hive. In regard to the exterior of the hive, on no account select one which is old and decayed, as such hives are always infested with vermin. No prudent apia- rian will ever put a swarm into an old hive, and in this respect it must be admitted, that in a great degree the most culpable carelessness exists on the part of the cottagers, who, perhaps from a principle of false economy, put their swarms into old and rotten hives, rather than be at the expense of pur- chasing new ones. A new hive to every swarm ought to be the leading principle of every keeper o5 298 CAUTION IN PURCHASING A SWARM — A FRAUD. of bees, and it is to the want of due attention to this point, that so many failures occur in the manage- ment of an apiary. " The examination of the interior of the hive is attended with greater difficulty to the young apia- rian, and yet this examination is indispensable to the knowledge of the goodness or badness of a hive. The original colour of the combs is white, and it follows, therefore, that in proportion to the differ- ence of shade which the combs present, so is the age of the hive. In old hives the colour of the combs approaches to an absolute black, and there- fore all idea of its purchase should be rejected. A golden colour may be considered as the medium, and if the side-combs appear filled with honey, which may be known by the cells being sealed, little risk can be run in the purchase of the hive. A number of queen cells is an infallible criterion of an old hive, and although a swarm may be obtained from it the succeeding year, yet it would not be advisable to purchase it. " In regard to the purchase of swarms, it is to be regretted, that a system of deception is often prac- tised by the cunning cottager, which, as it is very difficult of detection, except by the experienced apiarian, is generally 'attended with success. It is the general practice in the purchase of swarms, when they are bespoke, to send the hives into which the swarms are to be put, as the intended purchaser may entertain a fancy to a hive of a par- ticular shape, and the removal of the bees from one hive to another is an operation too difficult to be NUMBERS IN A SWARM. 299 undertaken by the young apiarian. At the regular time, the cottager informs his dupe that the swarm is safely housed, and it is taken away under the supposition that it is a first swarm ; for which, per- haps, the price of a guinea has been paid. The truth, however, will soon disclose itself, that the cottager has retained the first swarm to himself, send- ing the second swarm to the ignorant purchaser ; and the question now presents itself, how is this fraud to be discovered ? — the solution is immediately at hand. In the formation of the combs, there is one invariable principle peculiar to first and second swarms, which is, that a first swarm always com- mences the erection of their combs in the middle of the hive ; a second swarm always begins their combs at the side. Let, therefore, the purchaser, previously to the removal of the swarm, gently lift up the hive, and so arrive at the position of the combs ; if the foundation commences at the side, pay the price of a second swarm, and no more ; the better plan would be to reject it altogether, and leave the cottager to congratulate himself on the successful issue of his intended fraud. The weight and size of a swarm are good criteria by which to judge whether it be a first or second, but they cannot always be de- pended on, and it is only the professed apiarian who is able to arrive at a just and definite conclusion." A good swarm should consist of from twelve to fifteen thousand bees, and such a swarm, hived in May, will have bred many thousands, considering the number of eggs laid by the queen, before the end of June ; and during the whole season, which extends 06 300 DESTROYING OR DEPRIVING. nearly to Michaelmas, the number of bees hatched will, with common success, amount to upwards of five thousand. These, added to the original number of the swarm, will swell it to the amount, as some reckon, of upwards of fifteen thousand at the con- clusion of the season (Michaelmas), when the stock is either destroyed, or, technically speaking, deprived. Under the latter dispensation, the mortality of these insects is sufficiently great, since the numerous stock above stated, would not, in all probability, by Christ- mas, consist of many beyond five thousand. Even at Michaelmas there are seldom found, in a good stock, more than eight thousand. Thus the life of a work- ing bee, upon the average, is not above six months ; incessant labour, and the accidents to which insectile life is necessarily subject, contributes to a constant mortality. The bees bred at Michaelmas, and which nurse the young swarms in the succeeding spring, are supposed to be the longest lived, as not having been exhausted by labour during the first four months of their existence. It has been said, upon the authority of Mr. Huish, that the life of a queen bee has extended to four years. This may be as proper a place as any, for a few words of discussion on the old question of the expe- dience of destroying the bees, in order to take the honey, or depriving, that is to say, driving them from the old to a fresh hive. Mortimer, who wrote about a century since, adverts to this disputed point, and decides, from practice, in favour of the common method, destroying the bees. A late French and practical apiarian writer held the same opinion, for PSEUDO-PHILANTHROPISM. which he advanced apparently cogent reasons. All our late English apiarians, Mr. Huish at their head, oppose themselves redoubtedly to the practice of de- struction. As to the grand point, that of interest, little has been hitherto advanced on either side of a very preponderating nature. Under the system, almost universal, of destroying the bees, no deficiency of those insects, of which I have ever been apprised, has occurred. On the other hand, perhaps some small deterioration of the quality of the honey may accrue from the fumigation by which they are destroyed. With respect to the argument of HUMANITY, it is by far too fine-spun, to endure the wear and tear of ratiocination. Boasting, as we bipeds do, of our reason, and all that, I shall not insist on the argu- ment of the lex talionis, furnished by the cruel con- duct of these half-reasoning insects to their fellows. Yet since drones are murdered, why not murder their murderers ? Did we not suffocate them, their fragile lives would naturally cease in two or three little months, or many of them would perish miserably, by the thousand accidents to which they are liable. The grand argument of Mr. Secretary Isaac — fthe Creator has not authorized me to destroy one without cause,' is thoroughly seasoned with the flummery and blarney of modish pseudo-philanthropism. We find special good cause for the slaughter of lambs and calves, and of every living thing which it appears to be our interest to kill; and therein we follow a primary law of universal nature. The cowardly and irrational dread of putting a period to animal life, is the constant source of protracted and horrible animal 302 TECHNICAL TERMS — HONEY IMPORTED. misery. The most exquisite inflictions of savage barbarity have never equalled, in effect, the slow and lingering tortures conferred upon unfortunate animals, by the graces of a left-handed philanthropy. In fine, let the bee-master make fair experiment of both the methods, and then his election. I shall anon give the common rules of both. Mr. Isaac, in his useful little tract, gives the fol- lowing definition of a few APIARIAN TECHNICALITIES. I copy them as being rather more precise than those to which I have been generally accustomed. By Colonies, are to be understood bees in double or treble hives. Stocks designate bees generally, at the end of the season. All bees, from the season of hiving, till its conclusion at Michaelmas, are called swarms ; subsequently, stocks, if in single hives ; colonies, if in double. A swarm having thrown out a swarm, becomes then a stock, although it may have been hived but a few weeks. Such superabundant swarming in this climate is disadvantageous. Swarm- ing, generally, continues between two and three weeks. Mr. Brown, of Renfrew, N.B. had a hive which cast three swarms in 1807,—- -Jive swarms in 1808, — three swarms in 1809, — and four swarms in 1810, the parent hive still in good strength. In 1826, Mr. E. Day, of Coldblow farm, Hucking, took from four- teen stocks of bees 576 Ibs. of honey. In the year 1814, imported in the Aurora, from Papenberg, honey 41 casks, 68 cwts. 1 qr. 23 Ibs. In another ship, 8424 Ibs. From Amsterdam, 4 hhds. and 12 casks, 50 cwt. 2 qrs. 14 Ibs. BRITISH AND FOREIGN HONEY — WAX. 303 The VIRTUES of honey, and the various uses of wax, the staple articles of our subject, are too uni- versally known to need recapitulation. It is probable, however, that honey is better adapted to occasional and medicinal, than general dietetic use ; and also that in some constitutions it has the effect ascribed to it by the ancient naturalists, of exciting melan- choly. During the early attempts to abolish the slave trade, it was proposed to substitute the use of honey for that of sugar, which was but too truly stigmatised as the blood and sweat of human beings : the abolition of sugar, and of slavery, however, had then equal success. Since that period of national shame and disgrace, and highly to the honour of the present inhabitants of our country, the infamous and detestable system of human slavery in our colonies is abolished. British honey is more solid, more apt to granulate and crystallize, and generally more pure and free from adulteration, than the fine Southern and Me- diterranean species. The superiority of the latter, which is liquid, consists in its fine fragrant flavour, often scented with wild thyme and odoriferous herbs. The present retail price of the Minorca, or best foreign honey, in London, is two shillings and six- pence per Ib. — of the English, equally good perhaps in essentials, two shillings. The late Dr. Reece assured me, that in his experiment of distilling honey, comparatively with sugar, a pound of honey yielded considerably more alcohol, or spirit, than a pound of sugar. Of WAX, the consumption is, necessarily, far 804 PROPOLIS — SITUATION — AIR — SOIL, more extensive than of honey; and of the former this country has always stood in need of a consider- able import, a circumstance not to be regretted, since there must be some commercial reciprocity, or how is commerce itself to subsist ? In Mortimer's time, we find wax was an article of never-failing ready sale, and the price was then from five to six pounds per cwt. ; at the present, (1834) from six to eighteen guineas. The method to obtain pure wax, is to pre- serve the hives constantly free from water and damps, and indeed all foulness ; to insure which, they must not be retained in use after becoming worn with decay. Propolis is that viscous matter or cement, of the nature of wax, with which, notwithstanding its vis- cosity, bees, as they are commencing labour, glue up all the crevices of the hive. This somewhat duc- tile substance is of a dark brown, and sometimes auburn hue, and in countries abounding with odori- ferous flowers and shrubs, it emits a grateful per- fume. It is of a resinous quality, and has medicinal uses ; is also a varnish of a superior kind. It is effi- cacious in hoarseness, appeasing the cough. Undoubtedly, the best and most promising situa- tion for establishing an apiary, is the vicinity of woods and commons, and of brooks, rather than of large lakes or rivers, in which the bees, when drink- ing, are often driven away and perish. A dry air and a light soil, productive of odoriferous shrubs, are also essential to the production of the best honey and the finest wax; but as bees are little injured by cold, they may be kept upon any soil which will feed them, on the condition of their being BEE FOOD — PLANTATIONS. 305 preserved free from moisture and damps. The bee will travel to the distance of six or seven miles in search of food, guided hy an instinctive power of smelling at a distance, that which is most agreeable to its nature. It has the labour of returning home laden, and of repeating that labour through the day. All keepers of bees, therefore, who desire to profit by them, should plant, to a certain degree, for their provision, perhaps in any situation ; but in those which are unfavourable, ample successions of the shrubs, flowers, or plants, most agreeable to their taste, should be cultivated. It is obvious, the shorter journeys the bees have to make, the quicker and more ample will be their returns, and that chosen food of the best species must also contribute to ex- cellence in the quality, as well as the utmost increase in quantity, of the honey and wax produced. Here- after follows a list of the chief articles of BEE FOOD, which may easily be enlarged, if necessary, by inqui- ries in the country. Lisle and the old bee-masters recommend turnips to be kept, the blossoms of which are the earliest spring food ; the meadow and hedge-row flowers soon succeed. The blossoms in May, of all fruit-trees ; all of the turpentine or pine class, and the linden tree. Vetches, beans, white clover, lucern, and sanfoin ; but it is said the humming or humble-bee only is able to feed on broad clover, from the length of its proboscis. Buck wheat is an article of great consequence where food is raised expressly for the use of bees. Heath, furze, and broom stand in the first rank, as most 306 VARIETIES OF FOOD — THE APIARY. sought, and most salubrious to the insects. — In the gardens the crocus ought to be extensively cultivated. It may be considered as the earliest food of the bees from an artificial source, as the willow and the furze are from a natural one. With the view of imparting a fragrancy of flavour to the honey, the odoriferous shrubs, thyme, laven- der, sweet marjoram, and their like, with strawber- ries and raspberries, should be planted. The sun- flower, holly-hock, and poppy. Burrage-flowers, from their long blooming, are of the greatest use. Marsh- mallows abound in farina. Melilot, a biennial plant, found in hedges and underwood, which flowers in July, is much sought by bees, and greatly productive of honey. It was formerly said to equal lucern, as food for horses, thence worthy of a modern trial, which I gave it in 1828 and 1829, on various soils, finding it immensely productive. It is, however, not a favourite food with horses or cattle, until they be- come accustomed to it ; the case with nearly all arti- ficial grasses ; yet it is in constant use on the conti- nent, and was formerly cultivated in this country. Mignonette is supposed to be the richest in honey of all flowers ; bees are also particularly fond of those of the verbinia and stertian, of the blind nettle, the bean, of cabbages and cauliflowers : in Au- tumn, oak-leaves, and those of all trees on which the honey-dew is found. The fragrant flowers of the Tilla Europcea, or lime, a handsome and ornamental tree, are highly relished by bees, and are said to make most excellent honey. The beautiful white ASPECT — SHELTER — HIVES. 307 and smooth wood also of this tree, is in constant and general use with the carver, the turner, and musical instrument maker. The APIARY should be fixed in a dry and sheltered situation, and so far detached that it may be well de- fended from every kind of vermin, the bee having many enemies. A south-west aspect is recommended by the elder apiarians, on the ground that, from the south-east, the bees are disturbed too early, and thence do not work so late in the evening, by which they are losers. Whether the use or curiosity of this idea predominate, I have not sufficient experience to decide ; but certainly in some situations a S. W. as- pect may be improper, and shelter from high winds is at any rate indispensable. The apiary should not stand contiguous to shrubs or plants of a height equal to the entrance of the hives, which may impede the flight of the bees heavily laden, on their return home : nevertheless, low trees, shrubs, bushes, and espaliers, close at hand, are necessary on which the swarms may alight. The BEE-HOUSE or hives should be so posited, that access may be had around them for the purpose of detecting or removing any nuisance ; and the ground should be kept free from weeds, or any harbour of vermin, and in a state of perfect neatness, in which the bees delight. Gravel walks and flower borders, are the useful and ornamental features of the apiary. HIVES either stand in a bee-house, box, or shed, or under a thatched or other kind of roof. The STAND on which the hive is placed, should always be kept SOS HIVES — FORM — POSITION. clean, particularly so in the spring, at the commence- ment of the working season. If it be at times sprinkled with a little salt, it will be very conducive to the health of the bees. In short, all impurities should be removed from within and without the hive, in order to save the cleanly insects the unprofitable labour of the removal of nuisances. BEE-HIVES have ever varied much, both in their form, and the materials of which they have been constructed. In the natural state, these insects, of course, take possession of any hollow vacant spot convenient for their domicile and laboratory — a hollow tree, chasm in the rock or bank — or the wall or roof of a deserted building. In such places they enclose themselves, always dwelling and labouring in the dark. Taken under the protection of man, they will remain in any kind of dwelling appropriated to their purpose, and hives have been made of wood, for example, of a cask ; of wicker work plastered, and of straw : the latter material, in England particularly, has long had the preference. There are glass hives, for the purpose of inspection. Common straw hives, are to be had in any part of the country : in London the price of them is half a crown, and three shillings per Ib. extra for any glass in them which may be required. Apiarians have not yet agreed on the most advan- tageous form of the hive, a great number of them tasking their invention, and each recommending his own form. Mr. Huish, as the last, ought to be, on that account, and from his great practice is, most to FORM — POSITION — FUMIGATING BELLOWS. 309 be depended on in this particular. Indeed, he is the author to be studied by those who are ambitious of obtaining a complete theoretical and practical know- ledge of bees ; his Cottager's Manual, and that of Isaacs, being equally convenient for those to whose use they are addressed. The Huish hive is conical, and approaches to a square as nearly as the materials will admit of, having a convex top or cover, with the great convenience of being moveable, and which is sufficiently plastered to prevent the admission of light into the hive. This hive is materially calculated for the plan of deprivation and preserving the bees. On either plan it appears also to be superior. The hive is furnished within with seven bars, on which the bees are made to attach the combs, as between each bar a piece of netting is placed, which prevents the bees from fixing the foundation of their combs between the intervals. Thus at any time, if a comb be wanted, the bees are driven from it, by means of the fumigating bel- lows, and being de- tached from the bar, the bees proceed to fill up the vacuum. In this manner the whole of the combs may be extracted for the purpose of examination, and replaced without ommitting the slightest injury to the bees. Mr. Huish, as Mortimer formerly, decries the common method of placing hives upon benches, from the dangerous and fatal quarrels to which it exposes the bees, and other objections, preferring to place them upon separate stools or pedestals of wood ; in addition to which, Mr. Huish has in- 310 SECURITY — TIN ENTRANCE. vented a chain, which encompasses the hive, and is locked to the pedestal as a security against rob- bers. The back part of the hive may be fixed within half an inch, or an inch, of the edge of the pe- destal ; but in front, a space of three or four inches is necessary as a landing-place, on which the bees may alight. The tin entrance invented by Mr. Huish, of which we adjoin a sketch, should be attached to every hive. It consists of three tin sliders, all of them perforated with small holes, and one of them has an entrance only sufficiently large to admit of the ingress of one bee at a time. These slides are raised or let down as the occasion may require, and in case of an attack from wasps or marauding bees — or when snow is on the ground, at which time the bees should be closely confined : the utility of this machine will be at once discovered. Mr. Huish mentions an instance of a most extraordinary battle which he once wit- nessed, by the bees of 28 hives furiously attacking each other, and he attributes the salvation of the hives entirely to the use of this little instrument, for he was able immediately to contract the entrances, so that only one bee could enter at a time, and the besieged were, therefore, able to beat off the besiegers with the loss of a very few lives. The hives should be ranged in a right line, front- ARRANGEMENT — SITE — ENEMIES. 311 ing, as has been said, the S. E. or S. W. They may be placed two feet apart, and about the same distance from the ground. Should the apiary be extensive and the hives stand in double rows, Mr. Huish advises the chequered form — 000000 00000 in which mode, "the flight of bees in the hinder row will not be obstructed by the front hives. A bee taking flight from the hive, generally forms a con- siderable angle with the horizon in his ascent; and should the hive stand at too great a degree of eleva- tion, the advantage would enable the swarm to take so extensive a flight, that they might be totally lost. But if the" site be not sufficiently extensive to admit of the hives being placed in a right line, it is pre- ferable to set them one over another in double rows. The pedestal or stool should have but a single leg or support, and its top, on which the hive is to stand, should be made of seasoned and substantial wood which will not warp, and which should be firmly nailed to the post, in a slanting direction, in order that the rain may run off, all stagnant moisture being highly inimical to bees. Every possible method should be taken to pre- vent the access on the lodgment, in or near the hive, of the various ENEMIES of the bee — ants, moths, spiders, wasps ; of these the MOTH and the ANT are the most destructive. Many birds, also, beside the torn-tit and sparrow, are bee-killers. The chief difficulty lies with the moth, the ant, and the wasp, in autumn. When the moth has obtained a con- 312 WASPS, TO EXTIRPATE. siderable footing, the bees will quit their hive. The prey of the moth is supposed to be the pollen, or bee-bread, in store, and the heterogeneous refuse attached to the wax. A timely renewal of hives appears to be the only real remedy — to join the bees to another hive, and save the little left by the depredators. The too fatal sign, according to Huish, of a hive taken possession of by the moth, is an inaction of the bees during ten days or a fortnight, whilst the bees of other hives are in activity. The ascent of ants may be prevented by TARRING the lower part of the hive pedestals, and constantly repeating it when too dry. In a thickly cultivated country, like England, it is an enormous scandal to breed and feed WASPS, when the fact is known, that to destroy a queen wasp in March or April, is to prevent the hatching of a whole nest. Thus if all the queen wasps in a country were destroyed, the whole race would be exterminated ; and had effective measures been taken, as with wolves formerly, our country might at this day have been as free from wasps as wolves. The mother wasp is known by her superior size and greater brilliancy of colour beyond the common wasp. In a season between 1788 and 1793, wasps being in immense multitudes, I very soon killed fif- teen hundred with my own hands, but could per- suade no neighbour to follow my example. Merely stopping up the outlets of a wasp's nest is not at all to be depended on; sulphur and gunpowder are the only specifics. It has been ludicrously said, that were the bee-culture, in a country like this, carried BEE CULTURE — PROFITS — SUCCESSFUL YEAR. 313 to the extent recommended by our sanguine apia- rians, the honey-bee would, in no great length of time, become as great and dangerous a nuisance as the wasp. To keep bees in the common mode of our own country, and I suppose of all others, is an occupa- tion of little trouble, but attended with considerable gain. To manage the apiarian husbandry with effect, is a work not of expensive outlay, nor which requires much attention and vigilance, except at the season of swarming. Our country labourers, who have wives and children to assist in this business, are the part of our population most probable to be benefited by it. It should be encouraged among them by their em- ployers, and a market always found in the parish for their honey and wax. This, however, was, until of late, in few parts defective. Dr. Mavor, in his ac- count of Berkshire some years since, relates that a poor cottager cleared, in one season, TWENTY-SEVEN POUNDS by his bees : such a prize, I apprehend, has been seldom drawn in that lottery ; but a poor family, with care, might almost depend on saving the amount of their rent, perhaps of their shoe-leather into the bargain. Rare instances have happened, in our western counties, of a hive producing forty pounds of honey in the season : twenty, down to twelve or fourteen pounds, are far more in course. But superior culture and attention will produce greater quantity of honey and wax. Of the latter, one pound and a half per hive is the usual product. In the year 1822, remarkable for early honey ga- thering, several Oxfordshire apiarians had stocks, the gross weight of which was sixty to sixty-seven p 314 PURCHASE — REMOVAL — SWARMS. pounds. In Lincolnshire, seven swarms were ob- tained from two old hives : that is to say, two top swarms, two second swarms, and from the two top swarms two virgin swarms, and from the latter a second virgin swarm. The first swarm was hived May 2, the last June 27. Another hive threw out four swarms within sixteen days. The object, next to purchase, is the REMOVAL of the bargain homewards, which is always effected most conveniently and safely by water-carriage. In those cases wherein recourse must be had to land-carriage, it is managed by two men, having a pole between them, upon which the hive, wrapped in a sheet, is slung. But the most convenient method of re- moval is by a common hand-barrow, by means of which several hives may be removed at the same time ; previously to which, however, the utmost cau- tion should be used in stopping up every crevice or aperture by which a single bee can make its escape. Mr. Huish mentions an instance in which this precaution being not sufficiently attended to, the active little insects discovered an aperture whence they effected their escape ; and the consequence was a furious attack on the porters, who very unceremo- niously threw down their burthen, and the total destruction of the hives was the result. Previously to removal, the entrance of the hive should be closed with a tin-plate, pierced with small holes, to prevent the suffocation of the bees. In our climate, although the bees may SWARM several times in a season, it is found, with few excep- tions, that the first swarm only is worth preserving ; DRESSING HIVES — MILD AND SEVERE WINTERS. 315 and as the first labour of these wonderful insects is to sweep and garnish their dwellings, and remove all obstacles to their industry, as much as possible of this labour must be done for them, by rubbing the interior of the hive with a hard brush, in order to remove all loose and projecting straws. The spring and summer duty of the apiarian is to watch the motions of his bees, to protect them from enemies, to secure the swarms, and move them tem- porarily, on a deficiency of food at home, to a more plentiful pasture, which is customarily done with safety and success. In the winter months, the chief care is to feed the stocks when needful, and to protect them from every annoyance, particularly that of damps and moisture, and the melting of snow. Mr. Roberts, of Battle, Sussex, had a hive of bees which swarmed in the last week of February, 1822, one of the mildest winters on record, all over Europe ; but mild winters, from the moist state of the atmosphere, are inimical to bees ; a cold and severe winter is favourable, particularly to weak hives, on account of the torpid state into which the bees are thrown, and consequently the small quan- tity of honey which they consume in that state must, on the principle of economy, be highly advan- tageous to them. No cold of this climate was ever known to destroy a hive, although ignorance may have given it as the cause ; and indeed the practice in some counties of wrapping up the hives in blan- kets and other warm coverings to protect them from the cold, is founded on antiquated prejudice and error. p 2 316 SEASONS SWARMS. The months of MAY and JUNE are the periods of swarming, but the precise departure of the swarm depends in a great measure on the state of the weather. The swarming season is the most import- ant and anxious period of the labours of the apiarian, for on its successful issue depends the chief part of his profit. It should be the aim of every keeper of bees to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the chief symptoms of the departure of a swarm, for his ignorance on this point will expose him to a certain loss. Circumstances may possibly so com- bine, as that the most experienced apiarian may be mistaken in his calculations ; but in the majority of cases, the prognostics of a swarm are so decisive, that the precise period of its departure can be defi- nitely fixed. The vacating of a hive may be con- sidered as the preliminary symptom, as it bespeaks an active and increasing population ; and the bust- ling disposition of the drones about mid-day, is con- firmatory of the approaching swarm. The surest criterion, however, is, the clustering of the bees on the front of the hive : and whenever this circum- stance takes place, it becomes the proprietor to be on the alert, and to keep a strict watch on the hive, from nine A. M. to about two p. M. Previously to the swarm leaving the hive, the bees are observed in a great bustle about the entrance — running in and out of the hive, and on any one approaching it, the bees evince an uncommon degree of irascibility, attacking indiscriminately any object that presents itself. A small hive generally swarms earlier than a large one. The rise and departure of a swarm is MUSIC USELESS NEW SWARMS NEW HIVES. 317 a most curious and gratifying, and, to a degree, anxious spectacle to the proprietor : but to any un- fortunate animal upon which the swarm may alight, almost certain destruction, against which, the nu- merous examples ought to excite every possible caution. The accustomed music of warming-pans and tongs on this occasion, is an ancient fallacy of no kind of use ; or was perhaps originally practised to announce the proprietor's title to the swarm, which he had a right to follow into other persons' grounds. In re- gard to the clustering of bees, a great mistake is sometimes made by the inexperienced apiarian, when he sees his bees after the swarming season clustering about the entrance, for he immediately concludes that he is going to be enriched by another swarm, whereas it is merely an indication of a want of room in the hive, and the remedy is very simple ; by placing an eke under the hive, the bees will cease from clustering, and proceed immediately to fill up the vacant space. Early drones, early swarms — new swarm, new hive. — The latter ought to be an indispensable apia- rian rule, though so often infringed by cottagers, who do not scruple to put their young bees in old shattered hives, already swarming with vermin. The swarm being overtaken, should be hived with all possible expedition, lest they take a second flight. This duty can better be performed by experienced workmen or women than here described. The hive should always, if possible, be put under the swarm, and the bees shaken or brushed into it with a goose p 3 318 MANAGEMENT — FIRST AND SECOND SWARMS. wing or bough. The hive is then to be covered with a sheet or table-cloth. In which situation it is to be left till night, when it may be removed to the station allotted for it. The swarm .should never be placed in the immediate vicinity of the parent hive, in order to prevent any confusion in the choice of the hives which the bees have to enter. On this and all similar cases of danger from the sting of the insects, the too common practice of acting without cover for the exposed parts of the body, is most rash and indiscreet. The injury received may be consider- able, and besides, a person without defence cannot act with the necessary coolness and effect. The neck, hands, and legs should be covered, the face defended by a mask of thin iron wire, and a linen hood or cloth thrown over the cap upon the head, the hood to fall and be fastened below the shoulders. The SWARM may divide itself into several clusters, in which case there are several queens ; on being hived together the bees will kill the supernumerary queens. But when an individual swarm is hived and the bees are restless and discontented, it may be judged that they have no queen, in course that they will not remain. A queen must be immediately provided for them from the parent stock. Queens are discovered by their being surrounded by small groups of bees. FIRST swarms from different hives uniting, must be separated. The management of second swarms forms a very interesting branch of the apiarian science, as 'its success depends so much on the skill and experi- ence of the proprietor. In saying that first swarms only are worth preserving, we speak of general cases, QUEENS OF SECOND SWARMS — JUNCTION. 319 for it is demonstrated by Mr. Huish, that a very good stock may be formed by the union of second swarms. It however seldom happens, except in very extensive apiaries, that two second swarms come off at the same time, so as to enable the apiarian to take advantage of the junction, and it is on such points that the whole skill of the proprietor must be put forth. The following particulars must principally occupy his attention : the size of the swarm — the earliness or lateness of the season — the richness or poverty of the country in food — -all of which must be more or less consulted in second swarms. In the management of the majority of cases, it would con- tribute to the interest of the proprietor, and also to the prosperity of the parent hive, to destroy the queens of the second swarms, and return her emi- grant subjects to their original domicile — nor is this operation attended with any difficulty. Second swarms are seldom large, and whilst the bees are in a cluster, on the place of their swarming, it will be a very easy task to take the queen bee a prisoner, but by no means should the captor immediately become a regicide. Confine her for a day under a tumbler, or other similar vessel, and in the meantime, return the bees to the parent hive. A few hours will determine if their former companions will receive them hospit- ably, and if such be the case (and the contrary very seldom happens) the murder of the imprisoned queen must be the consequence. Instances are by no means rare, in which second swarms have individually pros- pered well, and have collected a sufficiency of food to support them during the winter, p 4 320 HIVING THE LARGER SWARMS — DEPRIVING. The junction of second swarms is a very nice ope- ration, and requires great judgment in the manage- ment. Supposing that two second swarms come off together, the queen must be taken from the smaller one, as in the preceding case, and kept a close pri- soner. Proceed then to hive the larger swarm, and immediately after shake the bees of the smaller into the same hive. It would be advisable in this stage to have some sweet liquid at hand, wherewith to sprinkle the bees copiously, for the purpose of con- founding their respective scent, and then deposit the hive at the place where the smaller swarm settled. A very short time will determine the terms of intimacy which subsists beween the two swarms ; if they agree, their combined numbers will insure the prospect of the hive, and on the contrary, if they disagree, it is most probable, that the bees of the smaller swarm, having lost their queen, will return to their parent hive, and this is by no means to be regretted by the proprietor. DEPRIVING, or gathering the harvest of honey from the hive, should be performed in August, im- mediately after the swarming season, for which Huish gives the satisfactory reason, that the bees, from that period to October, may replenish the vacuum left in the hive. The improved hive is far the most, per- haps the only convenient form for this practice, which is sufficiently simple and easy. Ascertain the weight of the hive, and the quantity of honeycomb proper to be extracted, and commence the operation as early in the evening as the bees shall be at rest. Revert the full. hive, and place an empty one of precisely the THE MODE BY SUFFOCATION. same diameter over it; being fitted, that the bees cannot escape, tie a large sheet or cloth round them where they join. Beat the sides of the full hive with the hand or a stick, in those parts to which the combs are attache^, parallel with the entrance. The bees, alarmed, will all ascend into the new hive in a few minutes, which will be known by a general humming, and the hive may be then placed upon the pedestal. The old hive must be then taken in-doors and the honey-comb cut out secundum artem, and to the proper extent, leaving the bees a winter store, that is, the weight of the hive should not be under eighteen or twenty pounds. Attention should be paid, not to cut into two or three combs at once, but having commenced cutting one, to pursue it to the top of the hive. This business finished, the hive should be inspected and made perfectly clean. It may how be returned to its pedestal, and the other hive containing the bees being reversed, the old one placed over it, and being so left till morning, the bees will be then found in their native domicile. In the performance of this operation, particular attention should be paid to the part of the hive which is to be beaten, for if it be done indiscrimi- nately, the ruin of the hive will be the consequence, owing to the fraction of the combs. The operator cannot err if he places the entrance on his right hand, and then beat the hive on that and the opposite side. The common mode of destroying bees by SUFFO- CATION, in order to take the whole produce of the hive, is as follows. The easiest method of perform- ing this operation, is to dig a hole, in which put a p 5 322 DRAWING OFF THE HONEY — UTENSILS, &C. bundle of matches, or pieces of linen impregnated with sulphur, which having ignited, place the hive, covered by a thick cloth, over it late in the evening, when all the bees have returned from the fields, and the sulphureous exhalations will prove their instant death. Mr. Huish, however, recommends in those cases where recourse is had to suffocation to obtain the produce of the hive, not to make use of sulphur, but of dried leaves, or any other substance which emits a good volume of smoke, and by this means merely to stupify the bees, and then to join them to any of the weak hives of the apiary. The fume of the sulphur is said to injure the quality of the honey, but that opinion certainly is not corroborated by the experience or complaint of the body of consumers, although perhaps nine parts in ten of the honey con- sumed is obtained by suffocating bees. Drawing off the virgin or first honey, squeezing the second sort, management of the wax, and storing the whole, must necessarily be confined to practical and experienced hands ; and with respect to those apiarians who are desirous of entering extensively into the culture, their own personal attention will be necessary, and they will find their account in pro- ceeding with Mr. Huish's comprehensive Treatise in their hands. A considerable stock will require a storehouse or room, expressly for the purpose, having a south aspect; and the bees, should they have been suf- fered to live, should be completely shut out, as they will instantly smell the sweet spoil, and soon cover it, if admitted. EARTHEN VESSELS, HORSE-HAIR QUANTITIES — WAX FOOD. 323 CLOTHS, LINEN CLOTHS for pressing, BUCKETS, or GLAZED EARTHEN two-handled vessels, are the im- plements for use, and CLEAN WASHED HANDS, with general cleanliness, are highly necessary. The combs are cut into small pieces, always best in a horizontal direction, that is, not across the middle, but twice at the top and the bottom. Warm sunny weather suits this operation best. All the utensils, cloths, &c. should be taken to the apiary, after having been used, when the bees will clear them of every sweet particle left ; but this should be per- formed in the morning of a fine day, and no old or candied honey should be given them, because it daubs, and adheres to their feet and bodies, and may destroy them. In this country, one hundred pounds of honey-comb will yield from three to five or six pounds of wax; in some of the southern countries nearly double that quantity. Transparent white honey is to be preferred to the higher co- loured; new to old, and that of the spring to the summer or autumnal honey. The WAX being crumbled or pressed, must be boiled in water, and then strained from bags into a tub of water. The water being strained when the wax is cold, it may be collected, boiled, and when cool, will be found in a cake on the surface. It is refined by repeated boilings in pure water. The feeding of bees, though slighted by some writers, is attended with the greatest advantage, not only to weak hives, but even to the most populous ones : and the practice is generally re- commended by our most experienced apiarians, to p 6 324> FOOD DISEASES. give every hive, whether weak or strong, a certain quantity of food in the spring. It cheers and en- courages the bees at the outset of their labours, and it is a fact well ascertained, that a hive which has been fed in the spring will swarm sooner than one which has not been fed. This alone is no trifling consideration, and the expense is so small, and the trouble so little, that to neglect it is highly censurable. The cottagers, however, adopt in general a most erroneous method of feeding their bees, which consists in putting a small quantity of coarse brown sugar into a narrow wooden trough, which is put into the hive at the entrance, and this is what they ignorantly call feeding their bees. A hive may be fed either exteriorly or interiorly ; the latter method is to be preferred, as no risk is thereby run of an attack from other hives, which is too often the case when the former is adopted. Honey is naturally the best food for bees, but as a substitute, boil a pound of coarse sugar in three pints of ale — let it stand till cold, then pour a portion of it into a plate, and placing some straws over, deposit it on a fine day in the immediate vicinity of the apiary, and the bees will soon convey the whole of it into their respective hives. This may be called general feeding, as the whole apiary par- takes of the food ; but in private feeding, the plate should be put into the hive at night, carefully closing the entrance, either with the tin sliders, or with any substance which may be conveniently at hand. On the following morning the whole of the liquid will have been conveyed into the cells, and the plate must be taken away. If a little salt be mixed with the ale REMEDIES — STORING CLARIFYING HONEY. 325 and sugar, it will contribute greatly to the health of the bees. It is a gross error to believe that feeding makes bees lazy; on the contrary, it raises their spirits, and induces the queen to commence the lay- ing of her eggs much sooner than she otherwise would do. The chief DISEASES of bees, generally arising from damps, cold, or poverty, and occasionally from the excessive heat of the sun, when shelter is necessary for the hive — are dysentery, or looseness, torpor, falling in flight from vertigo or giddiness, lice. Care and good feeding seem to be the only remedies, on which much dependence can be placed. Good old port wine mixed with honey, and toast soaked in old beer sweetened with honey or coarse sugar, are the chief specifics in repute. Keepers of bees should always have at hand pure olive oil as a remedy for the STING of those insects, to be dropped instantly on the wound: or Venice treacle, which some mix with oil. The juice of onions and salt mixed, is also used for the same purpose. To STORE, or preserve honey, the vessels or jars in which it is kept, should be well and tightly co- vered or corked, and the store-room be quite dry, as honey imbibes damp, by which it is deteriorated in quality, and in the end turns sour. Honey is often adulterated with flour and similar substances, to in- crease its weight. To clarify honey, place the vessel containing the honey in hot water, and take off the scum as long as any arises, afterwards stop close. METHEGLIN, or MEAD. The once common drink of this name, was a mere unfermented mixture of 326 MEAD. honey and water. Economists rinse the linens which have been used for filtering the honey in this mixture. The FERMENTED mead is made in the proportion of one pound of honey to three pints of water ; or by boiling over a moderate fire, to two thirds of the quantity, three parts water and one part honey. The liquor is then skimmed and casked, care being taken to keep the cask full while fermenting. During the FERMENTING PROCESS, the cask is left unstopped and exposed to the sun, or in a warm room, until the working ceases. The cask is then bunged, and a few months in the cellar renders it fit for use. Mead is rendered more vinous and pleasant, by the addition of cut raisins, or other fruits, boiled after the rate of half a pound of raisins to six pounds of honey, with a toasted crust of bread, an ounce of salt of tartar in a glass of brandy, being added to the liquor when casked ; to which some add five or six drops of the essence of cinnamon ; others, pieces of lemon peel and various syrups, and amateurs accord- ing to their particular tastes. This ancient beverage has, however, been many years neglected, and the small quantity made is confined to private families, the duty upon it for public use having banished it as an article of commerce. Metheglin is but another name for mead, and the process of making it very similar, depending much or entirely on taste and fancy. The duty on this article being utterly unpro- ductive, it is submitted whether its repeal might not be eligible, by so giving the article its fair commercial chance. From late and somewhat extensive inquiries, even in those districts apparently best calculated for the OBSTRUCTION TO THE BEE CULTURE IN SURREY. 327 apiarian husbandry, I find it very little attended to, either by farmers or labourers. The whole attention of the former is unfortunately absorbed by far heavier concerns ; and the pauperism and demoralization of the latter allow them neither ability nor inclination for the pursuit. I am informed by a labouring man in Surrey, who has a property in two or three closes of grass, that in 1827, he (the only one in his parish or vicinity who kept bees) had a few hives, but finding a difficulty in disposing of the honey, he converted it into mead, which he sold more readily, at eighteen- pence the bottle. He experienced much inconvenience and loss from the attacks and depredations of wasps ; but much greater from those of distressed, but bar- barous and vindictive wretches, unemployed and let loose upon the country. They beat down and took away his hives, out of mere wantonness and malice, leaving them, with their inmates, spread about the highways. He has since kept no bees. He found a difficulty in supplying the bees with winter food; and no hucksters, or dealers in honey, ever attended that part of the country, as is usual in some, but at present, few other parts. The following information I have derived from Mr. Hagger, a considerable oilman in Lamb's Con- duit-street, London. The previous neglect of the bee culture, and the bad season of 1829, had so reduced our stock of native honey, that a still greater reduction was to be expected. Foreign import has been gradually increasing during past years. Of all the honey imported from the Continent, the French is the most pure, far more so than our own ; which, however, in quality, and for medicinal use, is found FRENCH HONEY — PRICES. equal to any foreign. Present price per Ib. of the best foreign, eighteen-pence to two shillings — of English, nearly the same. Our honey is chiefly collected by the London and country dealers, from the labourers in husbandry, by whom the culture of it has long since been so much neglected, that not half the quantity formerly gathered can now be obtained, and even that quantity has been annually decreasing. Very few farmers trouble themselves with it. In Mr. Hagger's opinion, it might be of great use and bene- fit to the labourers, were they in a state to attend to it, as in former times, when five guineas per annum has been so acquired by a cottager. Surrey, Bucks, Herts, and Essex, perhaps, furnish the metropolis with the most considerable quantities of honey. In past years, Mr. Hagger has collected as much as half a ton in a season from Herts, where lately it has not been pos- sible to obtain half that quantity. The chief customers for honey are the druggists and considerable families ; the labouring classes seem entirely to neglect it. Scarcely any demand remains for the purpose of mead, that liquor being nearly out of vogue. Bees-wax is imported chiefly from Africa and from Russia. The English wax is esteemed the best, price from eighteen-pence to half-a-crown per Ib. The opinion seems to prevail generally, that the old custom of destroying the bees is the most advan- tageous. Preserving them may succeed in a plentiful year of honey, otherwise the winter stock of bee food must be defective, and the hives most distressed will attack and rob their neighbours ; or it may happen, that bees with a short supply will abandon their hives, carrying the stock of honey away with them. FIRST EXPORT OF A STOCK OF BEES TO N. S.WALES. 329 The following interesting account of the export of a stock of BEES to New South Wales, has been commu- nicated by Dr. Wilson, a friend of the publisher. " A very strong hive was presented to me by Mr. Gunter, of Earls' Court ; they were embarked at Dept- ford in the ship John, September, 1830. Sailed from Spithead, 14th October, 1830; I arrived at Hobart- Town, Van Dieman's Land, on the 27th January, 1831. During the voyage, the hive was placed on the front of the poop, and protected by a large wire frame, the bees were thus at liberty to take the air without being enabled to escape. Notwithstanding the greatest care, vast numbers of the bees died ; .many of them from injuries received by flying against the wire-work, especially during the hot weather. Shortly after we passed the torrid zone, I thought it advisable to con- fine the bees to their hive ; I therefore placed a piece of perforated sheet-lead against the aperture ; I had it removed once a week, that the dead bees might be separated from the living — this was easily done. On arrival at Hobart-Town, although the mortality had been very great, I rejoiced to find that there was still sufficient left to propagate their race. " His Excellency Lieutenant-Governor Arthur was pleased to accept them, on the part of Government ; and promised, should they succeed, to distribute the swarm to any of the colonists who might apply for them. The hive was placed in the public garden, under the special care of Mr. Davidson the superin- tendant, and, as his Excellency had commanded that the greatest attention should be bestowed on them, they soon began to thrive and increase. In the space of one year there were seventeen swarms. 330 IMPROVED BEE HOUSE. " On my revisiting Van Dieman's Land, in August, 1832, I carried the original hive I had brought from England to Sydney, and presented it to Alexander Maclean, Esq. colonial secretary ; but, from some cause which I cannot explain, they did not promise to be so prodigiously prolific. " From the great success that the bee has met with, it is probable that it will shortly become an export of some value from the colony ; it is a singular fact, that though most of the native flowers and shrubs abound with saccharine juices, the bee scarcely sips or lights upon them at all, preferring on all occasions the flowers of plants raised from English seeds around them." The following cut represents an [improved bee-house"] constructed by Mr. Saul, of Lancaster, which we readily give insertion to, as a subject of interest to bee- fanciers, and as ornamental to a Jlower-border. Mr. Saul's description of it is as follows: — " Having very fre- quently remarked, that, when the entrance of a bee -house is on the windy side, the bees, on bringing home their load, are blown down, (on which it is curious to observe how- the other bees will assist them to rise,) I have had mine so con- structed that the en- trance must always be on the side opposite to that IMPROVED BEE HOUSE. 331 from which the wind blows. Another desideratum 1 have accomplished is, that of being able to weigh the hive at any time with the greatest nicety, and to know the weight of each day's produce, without dis- turbing the bees in the least. The contrivances by which these things have been effected will, I presume, be readily understood by an inspection of the accom- panying drawing. A represents a vane that turns the house on the stage B, so that the entrance for the bees at C is always from the wind ; D the centre, which the house revolves on : E the place where the wire is fixed, that is attached to the hive within the house, which hive is made of straw in a conical form, with a deal bottom ; F, a pin that passes through a loop, so that the wind will not disturb the bees in the hive. When I wish to know the weight of the bees, I take out the pin F, and then place weights on G H H, the beam. I is the beam pointer ; J the end which takes out when I wish to change the hives. On one edge are two pins, and on the other a lock. The pins fit into the stile, so that my bees are quite safe from intruders." Mr. Bagster, of Shepherd's Bush, a friend of the publisher, has communicated a system of management in the bee husbandry, said to be both a novelty and an improvement. The following particulars are sub- mitted to the consideration of the reader, with the advice of an experimental test. The chief objects of this plan are — the prevention of swarming when undesirable, and the excitement to swarm when desired or needful, with a greater facility in taking the honey. The mode by which these desirable MR. BAGSTER S SYSTEM OF BEE HUSBANDRY. results are to be obtained, is the use of ventilation — it being averred, that the excessive heat and want of room in a full hive, drives out the queen, who having left the hive with her labourers, frequently sets the example to others, and more especially, should many eggs have been left in the cells, which are soon hatched by the extreme heat of the hive. Mr. Bagster has two of these hives at work, but, as they cost five guineas each, it may be presumed they are on too expensive a scale for the generality of country bee- keepers, for whose convenience he has adapted the principle to the old mode of culture, and has had his stock in operation during two years, without swarm- ing, although very strong. The same gentleman has also introduced an entirely new hive, on the principle of ventilation, which for ease of management, adaptation to the old modes, and purity of the honey, he flatters himself to be the ne plus ultra of bee husbandry. He designates it the LADIES' SAFETY HIVE. It does not require a bee- house, or any covering, but merely a post fixed in the ground, having a level summit for the hive to stand upon. The reader is farther referred to Mr. Bagster's work on Bees, and to Messrs. Chubb and Co., seed warehouse, Newgate Street, where he may have the opportunity of seeing and examining the improved hive. BREWING INTRODUCTION. 333 SECTION XIX. The Brewery. MALT LIQUOR, or BEER, is styled the natural bever- age of Englishmen : which being rendered into plain English, will stand thus — our country produces the materials, and custom almost immemorial has esta- blished the manufacture, and sanctioned its universal use. There is, moreover, another sanction of superior rationality to mere custom. The quality of genuine malt liquor, when of sufficient age, but not old, is peculiarly nutritious, adapted to the moist and varia- ble climate, and to the constitutions of the people of this country. To speak first of the PUBLIC BREWERY. It is to be lamented, that commercial and fiscal interests have interfered, most mischievously, in this great article of human sub- sistence. The BREWERY represents one of our most considerable and profitable manufacturing concerns ; from its universality, the most convenient and ready instrument of taxation. The consequence has been, that the health and interest of the people have, on this, as on every other occasion, been sacrificed to fiscal and trading profit. The exigencies of the state have demanded an enormous impost on malt. This the brewers cannot afford to pay, preserving at the 334 THE PUBLIC BREWERY — TAXATION — RESULT. same time their commodity at the fair standard of quality, without a rise of price too considerable for the ability of the great body of consumers. Other measures must then be resorted to. Recourse has, in consequence, been had to scien- tific and chemical aid, in order to enable the brewer to find substitutes for the prime material, and so draw a greater length from the usual quantity of malt : in plain terms, to produce a factitious or com- position beer, from the least possible quantity of the most precious article. Of late, the process of adulteration seems to have been in the hands of the publicans of the metropolis ; great numbers of whom have been detected by the excise officers within the present year, and fined one or more hundreds of pounds each, without any hope of mitigation. Bay- salt, sugar, treacle, colouring, copperas, and water, were the chief articles detected. Thus taxed, malt has given place to less salubrious and substantial articles, and to un taxed and potent drugs ; and, unfortunately for the health and habits of the people, the beer of commerce has been, too generally, an intoxicating and stupifying, instead of an exhilarant and nutritious drink ; and to crown the evil, the public taste has been vitiated, and ADULTERATED beer has long since obtained a decided preference over the genuine and simple product of malt and hops. The nature of this composition has generally depended on the skill or ability of the brewer. With some, it has proved a liquor of luscious flavour, im- pregnated with a fiery, inebriating spirit ; with others, a vile, mawkish, ill-flavoured balderdash, to use a QUALITY — EFFECTS ON THE LABOURERS. 335 vulgar phrase, which experience has rendered but too appropriate of the true rot-gut quality. In justice to the common brewers, it must be acknowledged, that, on the occasion of a fall in the price of malt, they have customarily improved the quality of their beer. The origin of the grievance may doubtless be traced to excessive taxation, which, so materially enhancing the first cost of malt, must also operate considerably in prevention of that part of the labouring classes, disposed to brew their own beer, from so doing ; since the wages of the labourer, the agricultural more especially, are seldom permitted to have their spontaneous and independent rise, in proportion with the advance of the first necessaries. The natural, indeed unavoidable, consequence is, a resort to the public house, where habits of society are acquired, seldom to be afterwards eradicated ; and enjoyments experienced of a very different nature and consequence to those which a man finds in a sober and economical home. In the introductory part of the subject of private brewing, I feel it necessary to remark on the usual mode of treating it ; and on the, in my estimation, rather too sanguine expectations of its advocates, who appear to entertain hopes of inducing, by their arguments, almost every family, without distinction or exception, to brew their own beer. My aim is, to separate the declamatory and impracticable from the rational and useful ; to address the soundest and best of those instructions, with which long ex- perience and observation have furnished me, to those 336 EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE TAXATION. persons and quarters only, where I know them to be really applicable. That noble national manufacture, the PUBLIC BREWERY of civilized and commercial England, has long subsisted and flourished, and must continue so to do, in full and increasing prosperity, so long as beer is the staple beverage of the country, and so considerable an article of export trade. Houses of public entertainment, or ale-houses, also, there always must be in a great, commercial, and luxurious nation ; and it is against the abuse of these solely, that the objections and complaints of the economical writer can have any force. To digress for a moment : it is not because we have brew-houses and ale-houses, or on account of the number of the latter, that the manners of our commonalty are corrupt and disso- lute ; the fundamental cause subsists in the excess of taxation, and the general inadequacy of the wages of labour. Hence is generated a desperation natu- rally leading to indolence, the neglect of social duties, and ultimately, or rather by consequence, to crime. The favourite plan of removing taxation, shifting it from one article or class to another, can have only a palliative, temporary, and deceptive effect ; nothing short of economizing the expenses of the state, and rendering the means of living more easily attainable, can lay the axe to the root of that quantum which remains of national difficulty and distress. Throughout the country, and among the classes of property, from the highest to the lowest degree, CONSEQUENCE OF LOW WAGES. 337 the custom of private brewing has been immemorial and nearly universal. It is a favourite topic of the present day, to warrant something similar of the country labourers of former and better times. So far as my recollection extends, I have never known such a custom to be general, but prevailing only, in any considerable degree, in the rich counties, and even in those, confined to the best paid and most provident labourers. In the poor counties, and where wages are low, very little ability subsisted among the labourers to supply themselves with home-brewed beer, upwards of threescore years ago. Within my knowledge, it was a thing con- stantly attempted, and periodically relinquished, from want of funds. Casks could not always be ob- tained, and the drink was therefore to be used from the tubs, which, in due time, from defect of the means to procure malt, stood rotting without doors. Granting, indeed, a bold push to be made by virtue of some saving or God-send, how could a wretched family contrive to brew, upon such wages as five or six shillings per week, the then standard in the Western counties? Certainly, the practice has greatly diminished since, and its opposite, of pur- chasing beer, greatly increased, to a lamentable de- terioration of the morals of the country labourers, whose advance in the scale of society is devoutly to be wished, and to whom the custom of brewing their own beer is peculiarly appropriate ; and with respect to their health and well-doing, indispensable. The present topic of the comforts of the labour- ing classes naturally introduces the modern, but Q 338 TEA — ARTHUR YOUNG AND OTHERS. now universal, habit of drinking TEA. The late Mr. Arthur Young, with perhaps a less profound attention than he usually bestowed on his subjects, took every opportunity of expressing his unwilling- ness to allow to the sons and daughters of labour their share in this common privilege ; and Mr. Young, I observe, has successors in this opinion. Tea-making, it is objected, is a great consumer of time, and the beverage itself, a debilitant, rendering those who use it, delicate and unfit for labour. It may be replied, that the most expeditious meals, necessarily, consume time; that, in order to make the too often bitter draught of labour go down, (more especially when so much of the sic vos non vobis is intermingled with it,) and so insure a degree of cheerfulness and good-will, some portion of re- spite and relaxation is necessary. Tea is certainly a mere diluent and detergent, altogether devoid o the nutritive properties of beer ; it is, at the same time, a cooling, sedative, and refreshing drink, ex- tremely agreeable and cleansing to the stomachs of those who are fed with the most ordinary, the hard- est, and coarsest provisions. As a relaxant, it often proves equally beneficial as agreeable to the robust, and to those of the rigid fibre. Nor have I ever known an able labourer, or any well-fed labourer, injured in his strength by the custom of drinking tea. A partiality for this Asiatic herb has long since taken possession of the whole people of this country; and, I must confess, I see no reason for attempting to divest the great majority of their share of a common right, which really ought, in this com- PRIVATE BREWING IN TOWNS. 339 mercial country, to be within the compass of their means. Why tea should be three times dearer in this than in other trading countries, I see no legiti- mate reason; unless it be such to favour a mono- poly, contemporaneously with which, but not through which, British commerce has flourished. This is a subject, however, on which writers may spare their labour. The people will not leave off tea-drinking. Another bootless topic is the declamation against the potatoe-root, beyond question the most valuable of all edible roots, and the only efficient substitute for bread. Men will declaim — Preserve me from a potatoe-fed population ! Amen — and from a bread and water-fed population likewise. But either bread or potatoes, indifferently, substantiated with a quan- tum sufficit of flesh meat, will amply and sufficiently feed any population. In the mean time, the quali- ties of the potatoe have been greatly overrated by our modern chemical theorists. In towns, it cannot be rationally expected that the PRIVATE BREWERY should prevail in an equal degree with the country ; least of all in the metro- polis, including people of every rank. There i^ neither sufficient room, nor leisure, nor necessity, for the practice. There are, furthermore, greater incitements in towns for the purchase of beer, in the density of society, the proximity of numbers of public-houses, and the superior quality of the beer to be obtained. These reasons must always operate against private brewing in the metropolis, and the populous manufacturing districts of the country. The periods of war and scarcity, when the price Q 2 340 OBSTACLES — PORTER — VARIOUS BEERS. of beer has advanced, and its quality proportionally receded, always offer some, but a temporary coun- teraction to the custom of purchasing. Citizens then, including those labourers who can possibly eke out the room and the money, begin brewing. The system continues, so long as the funds can be found, or the home-brewed maggot survives or continues to bite. Anon comes the change. The poor in towns, as well as in the country, find solid reasons, already stated, for giving up brewing. Nor are the people of property behind-hand ; they have no leisure gene- rally to pay a personal attention, but must trust to a labouring brewer, who now and then spoils them a stock of beer. The enthusiasm for brewing their own beer now cools, wearisomeness and disgust suc- ceed ; and they find that beer may be purchased, at a much dearer rate indeed, comparatively no object to .them, more agreeable to their palate, without the trouble and fuss of brewing at home. Away then, go inash-tun and coolers, casks and all, and the poor copper is left in pristine solitude ! Among the OBSTACLES to private brewing, the most redoubtable of all, certainly, must not be over-looked. It is the universal predilection, both of the natives and foreigners who visit this country, for London PORTER, which no private family, so far as I have heard, have succeeded in brewing to perfection. It is within my memory, I believe, that drinking porter became uni- versal; but the old "butt beer" has assumed the name of porter, perhaps a century past. TWO-PENNY and ROMAN PURL have had their day. KEEPING small beer was formerly in phrase and in use at London, QUALITY — OLD RECIPE. 341 where fine ales have immemorially been brewed, and where may be also found the ales of every brewing district of the country. Act of Parliament, or TABLE ALE, with intermedi- ate beer, have lately come into vogue, but they all give place, in public estimation and consumption, to porter. This favourite beverage, however, is con- demned by the physicians, as productive of bilious and liver complaints, and injurious to the female com- plexion. Porter is a compound drink, in which, indeed, brown or high-dried malt was formerly the principal ingredient, but in aid of which, certain other ingredients far less costly, but not absolutely noxious, seem, in these days, to be deemed allowable, or rather essential, in the manufacture of this cerevisia sui gene- ris, or peculiar beer. It is said to have been, for some years, brewed chiefly from pale malt, the colour being imparted by a certain quantity of "patent malt," roasted like coffee, until black. Brewing beer from barley, or other raw unmalted grain, ground to meal, and infused for two or three hours in the liquor at a heat of about 150 degrees, is said to be in prac- tice. I should apprehend that good keeping beer cannot be so produced. Other ingredients, which have been too often used, are proscribed by law, under very heavy penalties. It is curious to read in the treatise by Ellis of Gaddesden, the recipe for brewing porter. He tells us, the brewers in his time commonly drew a barrel and a firkin, or a hogshead of porter from a quarter of brown malt; which porter they sold for twenty- three shillings per barrel. From my own personal Q 3 342 QUALITIES AND SPECIES OF MALT. knowledge, a London brewer, half a century since, drew from a quarter of the best Herts white malt, only two barrels of fine ale, which he sold to publicans at forty shillings, and to private houses at two guineas per barrel. It was perhaps a singular instance, he used no adulteration whatever. The immense lengths which have been drawn since, both in the porter and pale beer brewery, are an abundant proof of the virtue of taxation, in improving the art, by exciting the chemical skill of the brewer. A late observation of Mr. Wodehouse, in parliament, is the best commen- tary on this : the honourable gentleman observed that, notwithstanding the vast increase of population, the consumption of malt has not increased, during upwards of the last thirty years : and the patriotic Lord Teynham, at a late meeting in London on the malt and beer duties, those disgraces to our national finance, repeated the following extraordinary fact; at the present moment there is a less consumption of malt, by two- thirds, than there was in 1773 ! Mr. Maberly's motion for changing the duties merits the most serious attention from every Englishman who values his own, or the interests of his country. On the above topic, the decrease in the consump- tion of malt, notwithstanding the immensely increased consumption of beer, the following astounding and discouraging facts are given on the authority of Mr. R. Montgomery Martin. — "The tax on Malt was first imposed in England by the 7th money act, William III. first Parliament, section 2, at the rate of 6d. per bushel, or 4s. per quarter. The duty stole on from time to time, until, in 1787, it reached to 10s. 6d. per CONSUMPTION OF MALT. 343 quarter; in 1791 to 12s. 6d. ; in 1802 to 18s. Sd., and 1804 to 38*. 8d., at which monstrous rate it con- tinued until 1817. The consequences are thus seen at intervals of a century. Malt consumed in England and Wales at two periods. quarters. Annual consumption, average of 10 years, ending 1723 .... 3,542,000 Ditto, ditto, ending 1823.... 3,182,776 Decreased consumption. . . . 359,224 galls. Population, first period, 5,500,000. Malt per head 41 Ditto, second do. 12,000,000. Ditto 16 Decrease per head .... 25 " The decrease thus exhibited is very remarkable, and the consequences to the agriculture of the coun- try most disastrous : but let us look to another and more recent period. The following is the official return of the quantity of malt consumed in England, at two periods of eighteen years each : — Bushels. Tax, per bushel. From 1784 to 1801 .... 459,640,568 Is. Od. to Is. 2d. From 1814 to 1831 .... 392,980,839 , 2s. Id. to 4*. 4d. 66,659,729 Increase Is. 7