Weekly Mail

RURAL NOTES. I Mr. J. Muir. Margam Abbey, Glamorganshire. ANSWERS TO CORRKSrONDENFS. PUG Doe WITH CBOOKUD LEGS.—" H. D."— There is absolutely no cure for this. Many dog.°, good in all points but thie, are disqualified from this cause alone at, exhibitions, allll any means that would make their legs straight would be a most valuable invention. To strengthen the kgf>, give a tenspoonful of Parrish's chemical food three times a week. A little raw. lean meat is also bene- ficial, and all dogs ought to litve some vegetables as food. Give plenty of exercise, and do not tie It up. LAMBS FAILING.— (Isle of Mm.) I have submitted your question to a noted s;ieep farmer, and, a the matter is very important to you, lie thinks the Dest tiling you can do is to get. a local vet. to examine ihe lambs and talk the matter over with pou as to wile, lier you think it is the result of the pasi ure or the stock. I alll inclined to ihink the fault IJlUt ret with the latter. LIQUID MANUBE FOlt GKHANIUMS, &C.—F. Ehr- wood.— It is always somewhat dangerous to iea artificial manure?, such as ammonia, ty themselves, ns it is so easy to give in overdose, and almost all kinds of plants require more than one kind of manure to develop their properties. Hence the advantnge of using tpecialiy prepared manure-, which contain more than ono ingredient. Guano and Clay's fertiliser are two of the best manures to convert into liquid. The iafcter is sold by all seedsmen. A tea- wpootitul of either to each quart of water would form a s'lfo stimulant. They should both be well dissolved, and applied once or not more than twice a week. Be sure your plants have p'etity of roots before you begin lofted them. BBELDING CANAltli-S. (%Vootwiel).) A most experienced breeder replies :—The proper time to pair families is the last wetk in March or first week in April. The cock should remain in the rage the whole of the breeding season, as lie carries all the food to the hen while she is sitting on the eggs, and does the larger part of the work in feeding the young ones, so that he makes the strain on the hell very much lighter. The food should consist of good, sound canary-seed, mixed with about one-fifth part of white millet seed and one- eighth part inga seed, and occasionally a Vtiiy iiiiall pinch of hemp seed, and a little hard- boiled eg mixed with biscuit dust every day until the young cornef,, and ifter that twice a day, but be careful to remove any stale egg food from the cage every Dight and give fresh in the morning, and give a Unall sprig of lettuce every day. PUTTING GERANIUMS IN COOL GREENHOUSE — (London, S-E.)—You may put your geraniums into the greenhouse at ones. The only dauger is in Iheir being injured by frost, but that is not likely to be severe now, and if you close the house eirly in the afternoon to shut in the sun heat the tem- perature will be kept well tip during the night. Now that the plants are growing anew give them more water at the root aud moisten them over- head on fine days. PBOFIT FROM GKKKNHOUSE MANURE FOR POTA- -zoEs.r. M. Ed ward"r. is difficult to say how much you can make out of your small glass-house a great deal depends on your knowledge of cultivation and the facilities you have for the disposal of the crop. By 2rowing cucumbers or tomatoes you might make L15, as either of these can readily be sent to a distant market and will always command a price, especially early in the Beason. Horse or stable manure would suit your early potatoes as well as any. Twelve tons of it to the acre would not be a great dressing but this, with 2cwt. of guano sown in the drills as the tubers are planted, would give a good return. All mauure dealers offer special potato manures that are well adapted for the crop, but I am partial to the stable manure and guano. MANURE FOR TUBNIPS.—Z. Yewdall.-As you evidently farm well, I think you should put the bulk of your farmyard manure on the grass land, and use artificial manure for the turnips, i have no experience of the special turnip taanure of the Chester firm, but I know that that offered by Messrs. Webb is excellent. It is applied at the rate of from 4cwt. to 5cwt' per acre. It may be sown broadcast before dril- ling, or some of it may be drilled in with the seed. Any manure containing a large percentage of phosphates is good for turnips;; giving, lime at the same time would be a mistake. Soot is a fine dressing for turnips as they are forming their first lough leaves, and lewt. of nitrate of soda applied at that stage will also facilitate their growth ar.d prevent the fly from doing much harm. COCKKBEI. ILL. Wickite."—Your bird is evidently suffering from a weak constitution and disease, and I fear you have kept him too long, as very few of the eggs will be fertile. He shows symptoms of roup, a disease all poultry owners should guard against, and my advice is to destroy the bird, and get another young one at once. You should lime wash your roosting-house and give the place a thorough cleaning. PIGEONS DISEASED. Doves.You have been keeping your pigeons in too damp a place. Rectify this. The constant supply of hemp seed is also injurious, and you should give them more wheat and small tick being. Paint the affected parts with tincture of iodine, and keep them very clean under foot. CANAHY MOULTING BADLY. Subscriber.See reply to It WLJolwich" in present issue. FLOWERS FOR BACK LONDON GARDFN.-IL F. A." •—As you wish to grow the plants from feedp, you should sow annuals, and you should grow sweet peas, mignonette, and a variety of poppies. The latter are quick growing, very accommodating and make a fine display. Mimulas delight in shade ana would grow well with you. You should also try some pansies and phlox Drummondi The antirhmum or snapdragon and the dwarf sun- flower would also succeed. In beginning to grow] them you must first manure and dig over the soil, nnd on a dry day sow the seeds. They may be put in rows or patches of any form. They all re- quire to ba covered over with soil to the depth of half an inch, and the sweet peas may be put Sin. under the soil. As they grow keep them free •roin weods, FIND SOZUO of ttiozn may SUD* poTts. PARROT WITH ASTHMA. — Douglas,"—Your bird is evidently suffering from asthma. It must have caught cold, and your feeding may also have promoted the ailment. Do not give any hemp IISiL0* pastry, but feed on bread and milk and arrowroot biscuit betted with sherry. Watercress is also very beneficial, and as much cayenne pepper as would rest on a sixpenny bit mixed with a soft piece of bread to form it into a ball and inserted down the throat every other day has been found to restore the voic". B' TREATMENT OF BULB. John (Chester).-I do flat know the bulb you write of. Have you not given a wrong name ? Would it not be orthro- podium cirrhatum ? F- MANNER OF OWlKG OATS AND BARLEY.- Greenhorn." Both oats and barley may be sown on the furrows after ploughing without any other preparation of the ground. I have known them to be sown in this way frequently with good re- suits, but you must sow them with the tip-nd, nnd not with a dull. The artificial manure can be applied immediately afterwards, and harrow all over afterwards. Some might not consider this the highest class cul- tivation, but for those like yourself, with tew facilitiss for accomplishing the work, it will answer very well. P- SWEDISH TURNIPS POR USE IN KiTCaEN —" House- ife.They ara very acceptable at this season' and will give a supply up till the time the new turnips are ready. They may be put in a heap in the open air and protected from frost and wet, or you can put them into a cool shed or out-house. The top-growths are very delicious if grown in the dark, and may be compared to senkale. ORPINGTON AND WYANDOTTE FOWLS.-$' In. quirer (Oasett).—I am greatly amused at your being 80 angry at my .aying I had no experience Df the Orpington fowls and not likely to have, as I did not fallcy them. Surely there is nothing wrong in this. If you read this paper regularlv you must know by now that any reader who writes practically on any subject will always find their remarks published, whether they agree with my own idea? or not, but, so far as I can make out of your letter, you have not a word of commendation of these fowls, and this is a great omission. We must have something to go by to regard new fowls as standard varieties. A good indication of this is when classes for the breed are offered at all shows, but this is far from being the case with either Orpingtons or Wyan- dottes. You cannot have read the favourable remarks I made on the latter as seen nt the lute Birmingham Show. I do not agree with you about recommendllg new things until they are generally f/I H KT \?° doubt> 8U>T those who offered them, but not those who bought them. Of late the leading poultry papers have been thinking there were too many new, or so-called new fowls appearing, especially from America, where the Wy tpdottes came from, and I am much of that opinion. Occasionally, what was termed new varie- ties of fowls have been shown at the Crystal Palace Show, but little more was heard of them, as, I pre- lOme, the fir-it crose had reverted to its originators, and, considering this and other circumstances, I I have no intention of recommending new varieties, unless I or some trustworthy reader can give a disinterested recommendation of their superior and distinct merits. I know the fowl notes in this pliper are read with much interest by many, and they will never be misleading or overdrawn if I can help it. All are open to recommend breeds if they will distinctly stal e their qualities. PRUNING ROSES. Now that the fruit trees have all been pruned there only remain the roses to be done. 'Ihe evil of omitting to prune fruit trees is well understood, small flavourless fruit being the inevitable result, and the same result follows the non-pruning of roses. There is no fruit in their case, but there are the flowers, which many would be as much pleased to see perfect as any fruit, and no flower will be of a superior stamp that is grown on an unpruned plant. If rose bushes are allowed to go unpruned for several years the flowers will become so small and thin that it will be next to impos- sible to say what variety it is, and, although there may be pleasure derived from seeing a host of small roses, there is still more from observing massive blooms fully developed in form, colour, and fragrance. The recent mild weather has caused the wood on rose bushes to start very much into growth. The buds at the top of the long shoots are nearly in leaf, and if they are allowed to go on as in the case of unpruned bushes the cold, cutting winds we will be sure to expe- rience before May will injure the young foliage. It is this that frequently makes rose bushes scraggy for the whole season, and wood in thiscondit ion will never produce fine flowers. It will be noticed, however, that the buds down near the bottom of the shoots are still dor- mant or nearly so, and by pruning the shoots back to these the leaves and shoots will not appear until April, and then they stand a very good chance of being allowed to grow on without being checked or injured in any way. In pruning it will be found that certain shoots have a clean stem some distance up from the bottom, when it branches off into a great many little shoots. Not one of these is any good, and the whole should be cut off by removing them on the main stem. The long, clean shoots formed last summer are the most capable of producing the best flowers, and it is these that should be given room by cut- ting all the small twigs away but if each twig is only shortened hosts more will be thrown out by them, which will make the plant more crowded than ever, and it is the wholesale' removal of these that is most desirable. Even after pruning some rose bushes will have a dozen or more ehoots, but before growth is far advanced the whole will be quite crowded, and the plants and blooms would be much better if only confined to half a dozen good shoots. These should be cut back to about six inches from the main stem or ground, and if the plant is very healthy they may be shor- tened to three inches. FOWLS EATING FEATHERS. I have two letters to hand on this subject, one from 0. R." and the other from "Amateur" (Stone). Both ask if feather eating is injurious; I do not think it is very much so, but it certainly disfigures the fowls very much and is undesirable. Fowls in con- finement are much worse for feather eating than those in an open or large grass run. Some of them seem to take to it from having no scratching or anything else to do. It is very rarely that the whole are disposed to do it at the same time, but when one persists in the habit some of the others are sure to follow. If, on the first indication of it, a sharp outlook was kept for the offender and this was killed there would often be an end of it in the yard. Some fowls will resent another eating its feathers, but if there are any vermin on them -the picking of the feathers gives them pleasure, and thoroughly clean houses and yards would prevent feather eating on this score at least. Chaff or loose material should be given them to soratch in. Bones ought to be given them to pick over, and green food should be available daily. This should be tied up that the fowls can just reach. This saves the green food, keeps it clean, and gives the fowls exercise in con- fined yards. Do not feed on Indian corn; mix a little flowers of sulphur in their food twice or three times weekly, and destroy the ringleader. A dry dust bath is also extremely health-giving, and should always be provided, as it affords amusement and allows the fowls to keep themselves free of vermin. Those now bare should be dressed with mercurial ointment. EARLY CELERY. Celery is not in great demand until the autumn, but for exhibition and a few other purposes early plants are required by some. April is soon enough to sow the main orop of celery, and any seed put in now should only be to produce a few dozens or scores of plants. It may be sown in one or two 6in. pots. These should have a quantity of drainage placed at the bottom, and then be filled up to ljin. from the top of the pot with rich soil. Make this very firm. Sow the seed thinly, and oover over with a little less than lin. of soil, and sprinkle a thin layer of sand overall. Water and place a piece of glass over the mouth of the pot and put it in a heat of 60deg. or 65deg. The seed does not germinate very quickly, but the glass will help to bring the plants up, and as soon as they can be handled they should be transplanted to shallow boxes of rich soil. Here they should be planted about 2in. apart, and again put into heat and kept there until April, or until they are about 4in. high, when they should be gradually hardened before being planted out. A SITTING OF EGGS. A sitting is generally considered to be twelve or thirteen, but some, who think the more eggs they can get under a hen the larger the brood will be, overdo it, as, unless the hen that is sitting on them is a very large one, some of the eggs will be sure to be exposed during incubation, become cold, and then there will be no chick from such eggs. Very small hens should not have more than nine or ten eggs, and the largest are better with twelve or thirteen than a dozen and a half or thereabouts. The greatest percentage of chickens will be secured from the lesser numbers, and this is also better for the chickens, as if eighteen ohiokens should be hatched under one hen they would soon become too large to be pro- perly protected by her, and they would all suffer from exposure, 14rom ten to thirteen chickens is a very good brood for any hen, and no one should desire more, as if these are well reared they will prove quite as profitable as many more that could not receive justice. The eggs in the hatohing nest are also much more apt to be broken when very numerous than if only an ordinary number are used. SOWING PARSLEY, Parsley should be sown at least twice in the season, the first time at present and again in June. There has of late been agreatscarcity of this useful vegetable, and a supply of it is generally desired as soon as possible. There should be plenty of manure dug into the soil before sowing the seed, and soot should also be used freely. The plants do not grow very fast, and it will be the end of May or into. June before any can be gathered from the present sowing. If a little fine rioh soil is put over the top of the seed it will facilitate germination and encourage the plants to grow. OPEN Ant CLIMBING PLANTS, It is always desirable that open air climbers grow luxuriantly, and that they should have a free and graceful habit, but they should not be allowed to fall into a state of neglect. To insure this, climbers may be I seen daily that have not been pruned or trained for years. They are so bulky that they stand a long way out from their sup- ports, and in not a few instances they have been clipped in to prevent them obstructing the pathway, but plants of this description are never graceful, and many of them are not healthy, as they have a lot of dead wood be- hind the green surface that harbours inseots and keeps a unhealthy atmosphere around the plants. These should be all untied and taken from their supports, the whole of the dead and useless back growth cut away, and only the young healthy shoots put baok. Plants that are treated in this way may appear odd for a little while, but they will soon produce much healthier shoots than they have done for years past, and they will also flower much better. Younger plants that are disposed to get into a tangled state should be treated in the same way, and no plant that is still thin should ever be allowed to assume that thickness of growth that is sure to deprive it of much of its health and beauty in the end. Where there are many small shoots, remove the bulk of them, and only allow the strongest to grow. All climbers should have their supports examined before they begin to grow again, as, if they fall away from the walls or pillars when in bloom, much of their beauty is destroyed. Ivy is apt to become a tangle and grow far outwards, but it is never so pretty as when seen clinging close to the wall, and it should be cut in as olose as possible at present with a pair of shears. It will then send out a level surface of green or variegated foliage that will be very pleasing throughout the summer. Scraggy climbers are never attractive, and the whole of them should be assisted to make luxuriant growth by placing a layer of short, half-decayed manure over their roots at once.