The Brecon County Times Neath Gazette and General Advertiser for the Counties of Brecon Carmarthen Radnor Monmouth Glamorgan Cardigan Montgomery Hereford

NEW BATTLE OF YPRES. VIOLENT ATTACKS ON BRITISH. DESPERATE GEKMAN EFFORTS. The great new battle of Ypres. a* the **tremely heavy fighting in this region may r" ailed, continued apparently through ilie -k-eltd with unabated violence. Sunday afternoon's Paris bulletin stales Utat. following the sudden German attack "IJieb forced back the Allies' lines, the Allies' ^"•fcer-attaeks were being continued with SUCCESS. 1 be British troops, though again violent >y I ^ta-eked, had maintained all their povuo. the French right, and the Belgian- ai.(, renoli had recaptured a village on vh* Hiee side of the Ypres canal.

CANADIANS' GALLANTRY. The War Office communique of Sa < '• elaiJled that the loss of part 01 tin- i: I" tWeell Steenstraate and Langemarck i the left of the Canadian division. -as forced to fall back. Four Canadian Splits were lost. Later, however. most brilliant advance. eaPtured not only all the guns, but a een •Arable number of prisoners. "The Canadians." adds the Briti-h pfT' .^Pnrt, "had many casualties, but their e lalilq- and determination undoubtedly s:i e tilf, situation. Their conduct TiRb ikificl,ltlt throughout."

GERMAN SUCCESS CLAIMED. Tht- Germans officially claim to have "ined the ground Lliev gained and to 4*d further successes, including the capture of St. Julien. three mile-" north-east of pres. "nd of 1,000 British troops. The enemy also stat<f' that they have repulsed a British °°unter-attack against. St. Julien with" most eevere" British losses. Again on Saturday the Germans made ^ftvv use of asphyxiating gas. Meanwhile very heavy fighting has been &king place in Champagne, the Argonne. and further east. In the Argonne the French have formed a trench. On the Meu.se heights they av« forced the Germans back after the L'Ile Inv liaal 1),etit their line. ,t The Germans claim to have inflicted a .,eY<'fe d('f{'r.t" on the French on th-e Meuse *^ight« by breaking through several lines and

ENEMY ACR05S THE CANAL. THE USE OF POISON FUMES. There is no doubt that the enemy forced a iJlg of the waterway near S'toenstraate, for it is admitted that they subsequently GAINED a temporary foothold in the viUage of lizerIle on the west side of the canal; but. 'fom this position they were driven 011 Saturday afternoon by a brilliant attack by Zouaves raid Belgian Carbineers. Appa- ^fJtly, however, the}- still retained hold on kft or western bank of the canal at this il1t. The enemy continue to make considerable of poison bombs and other methods of toiiirlg a "cloud of death" towards the Allies.

AIMINO TO REACH THE COAST. DESPERATE GERMAN EFFORT. What we are now anxiously witnessing is Undoubtedly a very serious German effort to break the Allied line at the junction of its three sect i-ons-Belgi,,tn, French, and British —and so lwick a, way tlu-ougli to the Channel const But the desperate venture finds Kniish troops once more securely holding the great bastion of Ypres, reinforced, and lighting, if possible, "with even greater gal- lantry and endurance.

BRITISH MAINTAIN POSITIONS. The French official report issued on Sun- day said: The British troops, in spite of the violent German counter-attack, have main- '*i»ed all their positions on our right. In the Argonne we stormed one of the trenches, capturing two machine fctins "and making some prisoners. The action, 4ILlioitgli quite local, was- keenly contested.

GERMANS USE CHLORINE FUMES. EYE, ACCOUNT. According to a despatch from tlife" North of France, says a Paris message, eye witnesses ()f the German attack on Booking he express tJle opinion that the Germans did not use special asphyxiating shells. They think that kind of va]X)ur was projected from the Ger- man trenches towards the French lines by as yet unknown. Our men had noticed something unusual going on behind the para- j^t of the enemy's trench, in wliiich openings **ad been made. The Germans awaited a favourable wind to expel under pressure fumes which have been identified as emanat- ing from chloric gas. Our men were amazed "'hell they saw thick clouds of blackinh fog 14ovirig in their direction. Taking advantage f the momentary confusion, the Germans "ten came out of their trenches, supported by Ortillcry fire. The first. Germans were stated be wearing masks, which permitted them tQ cross the infected zone without danger.

THE CARPATHIAN FIGHTING. RUSSIANS TAKE IMPORTANT HEIGHTS. The Carpathian fighting continues without Material change in the position of the com- batants. The reported success for the Rus- tians at Telepovce means that the Austrian lrort south-east of the Rostoki Pass is weak- elling. Sianka is two miles from the head of the Uzsok Pass. Here the Russians have d a series of important heights.

DEFENCE OF HUNGARY. The Pctrograd in- us that there is reason to believe that ^maant troops are being transferred to the r*rpathians for the defence of Hungary in greasing numbers. The troops sent are EITHER being taken from the German armies in or r.r new Landsturm formations re- Oelitly trained in Germany.

RUSSIANS RE° SE GERMANS. THE FIGHT FOR THE UZSOK PASS. A Russian official DESPATCH from the Ilead- 4"artorg of the Commander-in-Chief received R<RLN ■^>E^ROSRA^ ON Monday says; DURING the niglii of April 24t.h-25th Ger- ^AN forces consisting of from two companies ta ,RNE battalion made several attempts to at- our advanced positions between CaJ- ^R'A AND LinJvinoff, but all the attacks were *E F REPU^SED B}' our fire. After one such Pulse the enemy fled in ditMH-der. tli o a ^uret'z aircraft on, tlie morning of stat" niade a successful attack on the 0a'10n of Neidenburg, where the.ir bombs «f a nuir|ber of fires, and destroyed part the railway li.n,e. he In the Carpathiams the enemy has recently Q n inereas-ing the volume of his artillery fire n the wliolo front. He has apparently ^ght up fresh units of heavy artillery. «NI™NNG DIE 11 '8^ of April 2ith to 25th the delivered a series of persistent attacks reg'on of the Uzsok Pass, which we re- flieir R^6 FIRE and Itand grenades, in- S very great losses on the enemy. TW!* other sectors of our front there has *IFU <\ I0 °^AINSE. importance. Artillery and T^OIRNT -°^ VAI7*N £ intensity ai tern ate« at some WITH minor outpost ENFLIFL^EOAERYTS.

"EYE-WITNESS" ON HILL 00. "AMONG THE FINEST EXPLOITS OF THE WAR." MAGNIFICENT STAND. Eye-WiUieos describes in detaiJ t'h British eapture of Hill 00, near Ypres, and the stout a nd resistance offered to the enemy's many counter attacks. The hill was taken quickly and with Little loss. Once in possession, however, tb, British troops found themselves exposed to many dangers. EXPOSED FROM THREE SIDES. From our line the hill is a salient exposed to fire from three sides, and it was only a few moments before the German s'jmnera took ad- vantage of this fact and opened fire. Soon the whole position became obscured in the smoke of bursting sheik. Meanwhile our batteric- had beguu to support the attack, and terrific artillery Are was maintained far intc the sight A- warkness fell the eoene W.:l' grand in the extreme. From, many point along our line to the north and south, or Hil. 60 ooul-d be JI the- flashes of the shell, whih those of the guns were so nearly contiauou as to resemble the effect of musketry. Und-cli this fire our men had to work, throwing vi parapets towards the enei: blockiffljj thei. communictHioii-s. and generally rendering the position defensible. Nor we;v- the enemjr s in- fantry idie. Advancing up the oommuDlcatlOJ: trenches, thev throw hand-grenades over the barricados and aJ.,{") into the ir.ine crater, on the crumbling sul-e- of which our men -were clinging in the endeavour to obtain a foothold. MASSED ATTACKS BEATEN OFF. Throughout the night the- fighting con- tinued, culminating early in the morning of the 18th in two massed attacks by the enemy. These wvre beaten off principally by the fire of mach-ine guns, some of which had been rushed up (m .side-ears. Nevertheless, in spite of his heavy losses, which left the hill- side piled with dead, the enemy continued his pressure during the- whole of Sunday, until we were gracJually driven from the southern edge of the hill. At 6 p.m. help reached oir. front line in the form of rein- forcements. who swept the Germans from the foothold they had gained-. Before this the proximitv of both sides to one another had led to a slackening of the bombardment, but it then broke out afresh, with almost as great intensity as on the preceding evening. On Monday', the 19th, a. severe cannonade was maintained by both sides, but no further infantry attack was attempted, thotigh at 5.30 p.m. a severe hnrst of gun and rifle fire seemed to herald a fresh assault. In tlie course- of the. day we captured thirty-five more prisoners. The enemy did not confine his attention to Hill 60. for the whole are-a round Ypres w;h heavily whetled as vwll as the town itself. FIFTEEN CHILDREN KILLED. On the 20th rlie itili was broken. The Ger- maM. had by now unmasked h formidable con- centration of .artillery, and liour by hour the fire grew heavier. Ypres itself was bombarded by pieces of 42cm. and 35on:. calibre, in spite of which not many casualties were sus- tained, except by Ehe civilian element, among whom w ere fifteen children, who were killed while playing il; the street. As evening approached the fire against Hill 60 grew hotter, and at 6.30 p.m. the hos- tile infantry once more wivanced to the assault. If they thought, nowever, that the spirit of our men had been broken by high- explosives they were soon to discover their mistake. Again did our inaichiue-guns do tre- mendous execution, and the attack was beat-en off. another at 8 p.m. suffering ".he same fate. Still the Germans would not admit defeat, and all nigitt long parties of them armed with hand-grenades made repeated efforts to drive its off the hill, their attacks alternating with bombardments, from artillery of all kinds and trench mortars. ASPHYXIATING GASES. The bombardment of the hill 4ontintied throughout the morning and afternoon, ami from three directions high-explosives, shells and projectiles filled with asphyxiating rained down upon the defe.nders. By now the Germans had brought up fiH.d-giir.-s to witlmi close rang" of our position. As evening wort on the cannonade diminished, and our infantry entrenched themselves firmly on the captured position. INFANTRY STAND FIRM. The attack and defence fri Hill 60, a mere episode in the British operations, and a verj minor occurrence in the whole of the fronl held by the Allies, will nevertheless go down in history amou-g the finest exploits performed by British troops during the war. What oui troops withstood can to some degree b< uealised if it be remembered that the spact fought over on the four and a-half days be- tween April 17th and 21st was only about 25( yards in length by about 200 it,, depth. On tc that small area the enemy for hours on end hurled tons of met a! and, high-explosive, and at times the liill-top was wreathed in clouds oi poisonous fumes. And yet our gallant in. fanitry did not- give way. They stood firm under a fire which swept away whole section! at a time, filled the trenches with dead bodies, and so cumbered the approaches to the froni line that. reinforcements could not reach i< without having to climb orer the prostrate forms of their fallen comrades. In these circumstances the losses have naturally been lveavy. Nevertheless they have not depressed the men, who are all, in- cluding the wounded, extremely cheerful, foi they know that the fight for H.ill 60 has cosf the Germans far more than it has us. SIR J. FRENCH'S MESSAGE. The following telegram was sent by th Commander-in-Chief to the Army Commander after the action "I heartily congratulate you and all concerned on your successful action at Hill 60 yesterday. I consider a very valuable object has been obtained. The operation has been skilfully planned and con- ducted, and the troops behaved with their customary courage, eudurajice, and tenacity.

IMPRISONED OFFICERS. VICTIMS OF GERMAN REPRISAL. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has received the following list of names of the thirty-nine l-higlis-h officers in Germany who have btx-n placed under arrest as a reprisal for the treatment of German Mibiuarin^ crews in England CAPTATNS. I Robin Grev. Royal Flying Corps. Geoice Elliott, Royal Irish Regiment. Coke, Scot* Guards. Jump. 1st Dragoons Montgomery. 7th Dragoon Guards. Hp:iiiv, Middlesex Regiment. Anhton. 211d Life Guards. LIEUTENANTS. ITouJcNworth, Gordon Highlanders. Master of Sakoun. Gordon Highlanders. I! Ge-chcn, Grenadier Guards. Campbell. Royal Hor.se Guards. ivaii Hay. 5th Lancers. Hunter JJlair. Gordon Highlanders. Keppel, Coldstream Guards. Lord Garlies, Scots Guards. Trafford, Scots Guards. Colin Campbell, Argyll & Sutherland H. Fitzroy, Scots Guards. iLtjnition,, Gordon Highlanders. Bingham, Royal Welsh Fusiliers., Cart-wriphi. Middlesex Regiment. MacLeod, Royal Field Artillery. O'Malkfv, IJoyaJ Mun^tcr Fusiliers. Robertson. Gordon* Highlanders. Stewart. Gordon Highlanders, Wavel Paxton, Coldstream Guards. H. G. McNeile, Coldstream Guards. Hickman. 4th Royal Irish Dragoons. G Rova] Scots. Graham Wat->on, Royal Setts. French, Royal Irish Regiment. Palmer. 2nd- Life Guards. Alii stone. Middlesex Regiment Roger-ion, 18th Hussars. Sandej-son, 4th Dragoons. Stewart Menzies. Scots Guards Gase Brown. 1st Life Guards. Schoon, Kiu-g 's Royal Rifles. i Joliffe, Scots Guards,

ANOTHER YSER BATTLE. PRENCH DRIVEN BACK BY POISON BOMBS. GERMAN SUCCESS CLAIMED. It was evident from the official commu- niques issued on Friday that a new German offensive had been commenced on the Yser with a view to forcing the way to Dunkirk and Calais. On Thursday evening a fierce attack was made by the Kaiser's forces on a point to the north of Ypres, where the French line joins the British. The French were driven back, but a vigor- ous counter-attack enabled them to recover ground. The German communique claims a big success. It states that the passage of the Yser Caiiai was forced near Steenstraa-te, that they gained a footing on the western bank, and carried the villages of Lange- marck, Steenatraate, Hetsas, and Pilkern, im addition to w-hich they took 1,600 French and English prisoners and thirty guns. Sir John French's despatch points out that the use of asphyxiating gas by the Germans is contrary t-o The Hague Convention. and was preceded a week before by A PCR!ITI statement that we were using suoh gases, a falsehood ob- viously intended to diminish neutral criticism in advance. SIR JOHN FRENCH'S REPORT. Sir John French says: During Thursday night the Frtnoh had to retire from the gas zone. Overwhelmed by the fumes, they have fallen back to the canal in the neighbourhood of Boesinghe. Our front remains intact ex- cept ou the extreme left, where the troops have had to readjust bheir line in order to conform with the new French line. Two attacks were delivered, during the night on our trenches east of Ypres, and were repulsed. ALLIED TROOPS GAIN GROUND. The French official reports say: In Belgium the surprise caused by the asphyxiating bombs used by the Germans to the north of Ypres has had no grave conse- quences. Our counter-attack, vigorously sup- ported by the British troops on our right and also by the Belgian troops on our left, was de- veloped with success. The Anglo French, troops gain.e.d ground towards the north between Steenst-raate anú the Ypres — Poelcapelle road. Our Allies took prisoners beloiigin. to three different regiments. In Champagne, at Beausejour, we demo- lished an enemy gun protected by a casemate, which was enfilading our trenches. MEUSE ATTACKS STOPPED. On the heights of the Meuse the enemy essayed three attacks at the Calonne trench, at Les Fparges, and near Combre. These were immediately stopped. In the Forest of Apremont, at "The Cow'F Head." our progress was continued. Wf found in the captured trenches about 2(10 Ger- man dead. Our artillery blew uo two ammu nition depots, and a company of German in- fantrv IN THE vicinity was almost annihilated. We cuptured a trench mortar, a machine gun, an(i THE POISON BOMBS. To the north of Ypres the Germans, by employing 13: large quantity of asiphyxiating bombs, the effect, of which was felt for a dis- tance of one and a-quarter mile behind oui lines, succeeded j,J1 forcing us to retire. In the direction of the Yc,r Canal towards the west and in the direction of Ypres towards the south the enemy's nttack was held' up. A vigorous counter-attaek enabled1 us to regain ground, making many prisoners. In the Bois d'Ailly, near St. Mibiel. by an attack to east and wpst of the position previ- ously captured, we took 700 yard's of trenches, and made about. 100 prisoners, including tharee officers.

BOMBS DROPPED ON AMIENS. A Paris message states that a Taube flew over Amie-ns on Thursday, and threw several bombs, injuring two persons. The raider fled when fired upon.

STILL HOLDING ON TO HILL 60. ATTEMPTS AT RECAPTURE CHECKED. The Field-Marshal Commanding the British Forces in France reported tJI; follows: Headquarters, April 22nd. German at.tacTts OIL Hill 60, just west of Zwartelen, which had stopped at the time of my communique on Monday last. have wince been renewed several times. These attacks have all failed, xnd for the time being they have ceased. We hold the entire crest of the hill, and so deny its use to the enemy, who attached great importance to it. There is not and never has been any truth in the state- ment published in tho German official com- munique that the enemy had recaptured the position. GERMANS USE 17-INCH SHELLS. During the course of the operations the enemy fired shells of 117in. diameter into Ypres. On the 21st, in the neighbourhood of La Bassee, the enemy exploded two mines oppo- site our right. They failed to damage our trenches. Having discovered German mining opera- tions in the neighbourhood of Le Touquet, near Armentieres, we forestalled their effort? this morning by exploding a mine which we had prepared there. AIRMAN'S BOLD ATTACK. On April 19th one of our airmen carried out a very bold and successful single-handed attack on an airship shed near Ghent. HT had to run the gauntlet of the fire directed from a captive balloon as well as from the ground in order to attack his objective. In spite of this he descended to within 200ft., and effected his object, causing a large ex- plosion in the shed.

ON THE RUSSIAN FRONT. FAILURE OF AUSTRIAN ATTACKS. A despatch from the Headquarters Staff of the Russian- Commandor in Chief, dated Friday, says In the direction of Lutovisk we made suc. eessful progress, capturing a portion of the enemy's trenches on Hill 1,001, to the north- east of Lubnia. We took prisoners seven officesre and over 2,000 rank and file, and cap- tured two machine guns. During the night oi April 21srt-22nd the enemy took the offensive oji the front Lubnia-Bukowetz-Sianki, but the movement failed everywhere, the enemy being repulsed with enormous losses. On the rest of the front there was intexmittentartillery fire. In certain sectors our positions were bombarded with heavy guns.

A DARDANELLES BOMBARDMENT. Information from Greek sources states, says an Athens correspondent, that there has been a resumption of operations in the Dardanelles. A section of the Allies' Fleet is lying off Enos, and a number of transports are in the Gulf of Saros. A bombardment of the Dardanelles forts by Allied warships took place both on Wecinesday and Thursday.

BOMB-DROPPING BY RUSSIAN AIRSHIPS. A Petrograd message reports that an lIya Mourometz airship fliow over Plock on Thtirs- day, and threw fifteen bombs of considerable weight, some of which struck German boats on the Vistula. Other bombs burst in a square of the city and among the enemy'F transport. Two other Russiam dirigibles, an Ilya Mourometz, from Kieff, and a No. 3, bom- barded the railway station) at Mlawa, and the German aerodrome at Sanniky. Each diri- gible th I»-w bombs, the total weight of which exceeded 500cwt. Three bombs struck the station buildings. Two o feTl on the aeroplane hangars, and two more hit aero- planes which were not under shelter. Several fell in the enemy's trenchee.

-0 ANOTHER DISCOVERY. I think I never laughed so much In all my life before In fact, to tell the truth I laughed Until my sides were sore, And, mind ye, both on land and sea, I've seen a lot o' fun, But this one beat the band, and, lor* i It was so simply done Ye should ha' seen that old bloke's fsoo- He looked, why, bless yer heart, Aa if he'd seen a bloonrin' ghost. But there, I'd better start The yarn at the beginning, and When finished, you will see The laugh I had was clearly at Th' expense of Germany. Off to Deadman's Creek. It was a lovely afternoon (The thing occurred this week), I thought I'd take a little turn As far as Deadman'S Creek. Yet, if you asked, I couldn't tell Just why I went that way; A Providence just shapes our ends, Rough hew them as we may. I strolled along, and as I neared The creek I nearly fell O'er what I thought. a lump o' rook. And then a curious smell Assailed my nose. I* sniffed again, That 's petrol without doubt. I ought to know, I use it on My motor-boat the Scout." I I hurt my foot. I looked: the thing I thought a rock 'Peared to be coloured red, While all the other rocks were black. That's pretty odd," I said. And so I straightway sets to work, -a) c And scraped away the sand; A petrol can 'twas, sure enough. And of a well-known brand. Now, what's the bloomin' game? I øaYE, And sets to with my hands To deeper go, and came across About a, dozen cans All full 0' petrol. "Well I'm blowed! Of all I've heard, or seen This beats the lot—'tis all meant for Some German submarine." "Well I'm hlowedl" I Well, looking first to see if there Was anyone about, I took each can up to the creek And poured the petrol out, And then with water filled each caakj Carefully placed them back. Some one '11 get a sell," I says, As sure's my name is Jack." I waited, hidden there, till dark, Gazing away to sea, Until at length I sees a boat Approaching cautiously. r, With that, a. figure hurried down I The beach and met the orew. Aye, you're the man I want, Aays I; t I'll keep my eye on you." 8C Vas it a Ghost ? I They quickly got the cans on board, And off they set once more. The spy, unconscious I was near, Hurried along the shore. Just as he passed I grabbed him tight. Laugh why, I nearly died To see his blooniiii' dial! Mein GofcfcI Vas it a ghost? he cried. Tha.t stormy petrel's petrol days Are over nà. what's more, That watered submarine will ne'er •\ Again see German shore. We sent r. fn«t DESTROYER out. Which her in next day- I wonder, when he hears of it, What Timid Turps will say.

HOW TO OBTAIN PATTERNS. 08r paper patterns are specially cut for as frow designs prepared for this column, and the cost of 'cne]r' te pattern Is Oid. port tree. Addrers all hiter?. ■ nr:o-=ing stamps for patterns, to "Sylvia," Wintefriars House, Carmellte- street, London, E-C- Be sure and mention the number of the pattern required when ordering. Patterns will be despatched within thrM day* 4d the appit .,ullon bein^ received.

POULTRY KEEPING. A PROFITABLE HOBBY. BY U UTILITY." THR WONDERFUL WHITE LEGHORN. The White Leghorn it oartainiy among balf doze« beat breeds of poultry in exrart.- arice--aa an egg-layer, that is. It has only been surpassed by the White Wyandotte in its success in egg-laying contests, and it ieenna to be BETTER suited than almost any other breed to the various intensive systems which are having so much attention. It is, of course, a non-sitter, and whenever a puHet with broody tendencies makes her appear- ance 9h should be carefully excluded from a breedting^pen, however good in all! other re- spects she may be.. But, generally speaking, Leghorn chickens breed remarkably true to type and character. They have the great merit of being unusuaMy hardy, and of grow- iug fast. Indeed, the pul'lets often start lay- ing when sixteen weeks old, though this is trwo months earlier than is really desirable. They lay large-sized eggs with white she'Jls, and if properly looked after, and not allowed to GOT U,C FIVT, and yet sv.iu-.HV fed. MJEY ,"YI! Lay the whole year round, even in the coldest weather And district. As regards the oockerels, they must be sorted out a-s early aa possible, and if well fed and finished by the time they are ten or TWELVE, weeks old they will make very nicely- flavoured and meaty birds for the table, though on the SffiaJij aide. It is useless and wasteful to keep them longer than this, un- less they are to be used for stock purposes. I am asked to describe the points of the White Leghorn. Briefly, they are as follows: General characteristics of the cock: Beak— stout, the point standing well clear of the froot of the comb. Comb-fine in texture, large, but not over-grown, single, perfectly straight, and erect, deeply and evenly ser- rated, the spikes broadening at the base, ex- tending well beyond THE back of the head. I WHITK LBOHORJf HZN. Pam-fine in texture, and free from wrinkles or folds. Watulee—long, thin, and fine in texture. Lnbe5-wø:: developed and rather peude-NT, equally matched ki size alld sliape, smooth, open, and free from folds. Neck- wfLI arched and full in hackle. Body— wedge-ehaped, wide at the shoulders, and narrowing to the root of the tail. Breast— roirad and prominent, the breast-bone straight. Back lightly rounded and sloping to the tail. Wings-large. carried well clipped up. Tail--cioderatelv full. Legs— long, the sluinks free from feathers. Feet— ■WEB spread, the toes long amd straight. Ca.rri.a-ge-uopright. Size—medium. Heo: Beak, wattles, face, lobes, neck, legs, and rt-as M the cock. Comb-ine in tex- ture, large, but not overgrown, single, deeply and- evemly serrated, free from side sprigs, rising from a firm base and falling gracefully over to either side of face. Body —wide at the shoulders, and, narrowing Slightly to the tail, longer, and not carried so upright as in the k. Breast—round, very full, and nicely curved from the neck. Back—lon»g, fairly broad, and but slightly rounded. Tail—fairfv long and moderately full, but carried closely and at a slightly lower angle than the cock. Colour in both sexes: Beak-veRow. Eye —red. Conib and wattles—bright red. Face -brigm red, without any trace of white. Lobes—white or cream. Toe -na,* Ik-yell,)w. LEGS- -yellow or orange. Plumage—pure white. ANSWERS TO CORRESPON IDENTS. "G. G. W."—NOT ENOUGH EGGS.—I ex- pect your birds are over-fat. which is often the case with poultry in confined runs, especi- ally with birde of the heavy breeds. Start at once to feed more sparingly, giving them not more than erne ounce of grain to each meal, night and morning, and also add a small quaretatv of Epsom salts to their drinking waiter. The reason for birds attaining an over-fat condition- is because they have either had too much to eat or have not had sufficient exercise to keep them IN a normal condition. Maize and barley are fattening foods that SHOULD be stopped at once when there are signs of over-fatness, and wheat, oats. or bUekwheat substituted. If buried in 6in. of litter the constant scratching for it will afford axercise. z, F. R. H."—COLOOK OF EGOS.—The colour of the shells cannot be controlled by feeding or other similar means. All the non- witting breeds such as Leghorns lay white- shelled, and the sitting, or t.hose which display broody propensities, brown or tinted eggs. The fowls whi011 lay eggs with the deepest coloured shetts will be found amongst Langshans, Plymouth Rock. Orpington, Wyandotte, Sussex, and Rhode Island Red. It i claimed that the Langshan produces the darkest, .shells. The eggs of the Plymouth Roek are decidedly attractive in colour. M. E."—BAD FRESH EGG.—This wundsun- likely, but. as you have found, does undoubtedly occur. It may be due to various causes, and often indicates internal disease in the hens. If, you do not. think it is this, the cause may be impure drinking water, or tainted, stale food, which has upset the whole system. See that. a supply of pure, frNih water is always available; never throw down soft food for the upon the ground, and feed grain only in clean litter or npon a patch of short grass where the fowln are not in the habit of stand- ing about much of their time. Dissolve four ounces of sodium sulphate in a pint of warm water, an-d give a, table-spoonful of this daily in a pint of drinking water. Intending Beginner."—Poultry in A P.A('KYA,Itl). you have on<ly the ACCOITIHU-IHAU'TIU'IIA of A 1¥..tCk-ya.ri, that I.■ NO reason why you should not keep a few fow-LS A-O-d do we>M with them. A back yarder" with H'<S six or eig.lut liena in a fair-sized run and BOURSE of not less than nine yards by four YARDS (ii larger, so much the better) ca-n often PRODUCE A MUCH greater propOTtion of c,,r!T,,4 than tho farme-r with his sixty head or more on the practicably unlimited run of the fa-rm. But do not. MAKE the fatal and com- TnM1 'NISN!.KC of STARTING poultry-keeping rt too 1,.)rpc, number of b'rds in proportion- to T-he "0 of *3'E aoeonunodation. All grain JIHOUM be buried in a thick layer of to force the bird:0 to take exercise. Grirt for the GIZZARD and oyster-shell for making silxvuld always be available, aind preon food and A little meat must be given re<N'r=R. while the very strictest cleanliness n!).t h observed. W. S. V." IsECTS ON CHICKENS' RI>AT>S.—Tlie large iii,"t which half buries head in the chicken's skin on the bead, throat, and neck is a tick, and this objection- able parasite is only fniii4i in yards where poultry have been krvt. a IOJMJ time or where has been introduced from such a place. Frequently touch tlx1 iefeeted paris with cam- phorated oil or vegetable oil of tar, or a g-ood OINTMENT for the purpose may be made from pit-1 ounce of mercurial ointment, two ounces of lanoline. and half an ounce of paraffin oil; but. it is desirable to apply this very lightly 0:1 very young chickens. For older broods SMEAR a little vaseline on the bare places, and to the soft food add a. little steeped or boiled linseed.

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AGRICULTURAL NOTES. BY A PRACTICAL FARMER. CHEAP COMPOUND MANURES. There are plenty of really good compound manures on the market, but there are also some very poor one. and it is important to find out their actual value before buying them. I have oftclI given a warning in these notes regarding worthies* mixtures, but do not recall a recent demonstration in proof of my argument that much money is wasted on their purchase. I find" however, in a report on experiments in manuring potatoes, that Mr. R. N. Dow- ling, Agricultural Organiser for the Lindsey County Council, has been laying considerable emphasis upon the fact that there are a good many so-called cheap compound manures being offered on the market at a much higher rate than they were worth to the farmer or smallholder. On the lines that. seeing is believing," it was arranged to carry out some field trials to demonstrate and prove the value and economy of using a well-balanced manure, costing the same per acre as several cheap bought compound manures to be fised alongside. AS a RESUII 01' the trials, the outstanding difference in CROP yield and money retura between the plots that were dressed with manures of a known character and those dressed with so-called cheap compound manures is most, marked, and shows qyit-e clearly the value of making up a properly balanced and sound manure. Mr. Dowling adds that it is generally possible to make np a mixture suitable for the particular soil or crop for which it is required at a cheaper cost per acre than when using compound manures bought as a ready-made mixture. # » IMPURE SEEDS. For the past three years careful inquiries have been made to the character of agri- cultural seeds sold to farmers and market gardeners. Last year the area dealt with comprised the three Ridings of Yorkshire, ttnd the number of samples submitted to the School of Agriculture, Cambridgf:1 Uni- versity, by Government IN-rpe-etors was 190. It is stated thn-t 30 of the samples consisted of seeds sold as English red clover, 43 of SE"DS sold as white Dutch clover. 2 as WIW white clover, 25 alsike, 24 English cow-grass. Italian rye-grass, 1 perennial rye-grass. 1 rough->1 :ilked mendow-grass, 1 wood meadow- _'ras-, 20 cocksfoot, 13 meadow foxtail, 1 .•rested dogstail, I Canadian timothy. 1 sheep's feC-eue. 1 meadow fescue, hard fescue, 1 rail FESCUE, aud 22 mangel. As a pi-of of th need for caution in buying seeds, it may be pointed out that dodder itfound to be prevalent in the -•lover SAIIIJ.'US, ABOUT hZaf the rvd clovers and about, one-third of the alsikes and while clovers containing appreciable quantities. This result is very unsatisfactory. It was also found -that 7 SAMPLES of red clover and 2 of alsike were of seeds that. had been oiled. TII" average real value of the clover seeds WA>: For red clover FTY-9 per c. nt., white clover 5G9 per c-en! and alsike 62*48 per I Out of a total of 95 samples of clover tesb, (I only one gave a real value of over 00 per cent. The real value figures for the samples of cow-grass (9 of which also con- TAI' J dodder) AVERAGED 72'O7 per cent. Tlie average reel value for the samples of cocks- foot was 03 13 per cent., and for live samples of meadow foxtail 51 *37 per cent. The sample of mangel SEEDS gave an average ger- mination of 116-08 per cent.. the highest. being 165 per cent, and the lowest 49 per cent. IRELAND AND MILITARY MARES. Some little time ago, when the repeated out- breaks of foot-and-mouth disease caused alarm, the English authorities forbade the jm- portation of Irish store cattle. This prohibi- tion caused much dissatisfaction, and in a very short time SOME of the County Councils took the respon-.ibility of overruling the higher authority, and sanctioned the admis- sion of Irisli 'E to their particular area. Now it is the Irish authorities that seem to have acted contrary to the general wishes of the rural community. The Department of Agriculture have intimated that owing to the risk of introducing equinia disease into Ire- land and to the grave injury to the Irish horse-breeding industry which would follow, they cannot. agree to the importation into this country of mares returned from the at of war. A majority of the Irish county commit- tees of agriculture have. however, adopted a resolution in favour of the importation of mares from the seat of war. British mares, it appears, were being sold to French peasants until the matter was brought before the head of the British Veter- inary Department at the seat of war, who in turn brought it before Sir John French. The latter approved of mare9 being sent to Eng- land, and this was carried out, but their ad- mission into Ireland has been refused as stated, .notwithstanding the various demands throughout. Ireland to have them brought in. Considering -the thorough examination which the Department give to animals leaviBg Ireland, it is argued that there would be very little risk of diseased animals escaping their very efficient veterinary staff if any attempt was made to bring diseased animals into Ire- land. particularly as such animals would have already pas-X-d through the searching investi- gations of the English Department. Pressor* is being brought to bear on the Department to reconsider their decision. • UNPROGRESSIVE CHEESE MAKING. It is a well-known fact that a considerable mimber of Cheshire farmers do very well with cheese making as one of the principal branches of their business. Similarly, makers of fine Cheddar cheese, not only ill Somerset but also in Ayrshire and Wigtownshire, enjoy enviable prosperity. Nevertheless, there i8 a good deal in what Professor Jinie,, Long says when lie contends, aa he does in the new JOUJ n-al of the Bath and West Society, that the English cheese making industry is making no progress as a whole. Twenty-five years AGO one of the most famous varieties, LEICESTER, was superb— excelled by none, equalled by few others. To- day, says Mr. Long, it does not exist, modent Leicester being of an entirely inferior charao ter, m&r haa there been a single apecunest at the old type at Islington Dairy Show for long series of yeans. The character of- Gloucester and Derby cheese, neither of of J.i^not enable either to take the place upon the Londoa markeft to .which they are presumably cav- il tied, nor to obtain regular quotations in the weekly returns. Farmers, nevertheless, pro- duce them, although at many shiUinga per cwt. less than Cheshire, Cheddar, and Stilton, and lose money in consequence. A large proportion of Stilton cheese FT* Professor describes olIoS very inferior, and although best quality RO^LZSES Is. TO Is. Id. per pound1 wholesale, iarge quantities c.Il at fid. to 7d. Wensleydale. although, MiM Stilton, it is infinitely euperior to Gorgoqr zola. is entirely superseded by the latter, which hl- so ready a sale in tlm country, and is "requentlv found at the Dairy Show TTDC 'other AGRICII^UTAL exhibitions. The production of inferior cheese IS ohiefy ovrirag to a lack of initiative, dme to ignorance of the principles governing manufacture aud of the best practice. Many mf-Kers oontiivo* their work from year to year, without taking the trouble to ascertain where they are wrong by undergoing a course of instruction, or by paying visits to more successful makers thani themselves. The most apparent remedy would be the temporary appointment of experts whose duty would be to visit cheese fanDs, in order to point out where the makers are a f ault. Cheese should be more frequently exJll- with the obje-ct. of encouraging makers 3D a much more general way. To increase thE 8ale of British cheese-, the public should be imduced to taste it, and th-ag to learn the gt superiority of a fine sample over any other m the market. If it pays to a.dve-rtiee a good article, a plan which has built up great BUSINESS concertfe in the county, it w quite time that the principle was ADOPTED IM resooc to the sale of British cheese.