480 AGRICULTUEAL REPORT. 



empty space iu which to cluster comfortably. This year cold weather came before they 

 had consumed houcy in auy quantity, and found small clusters resting on sealed houoy 

 instead of empty comb. In this condition they would freeze, precisely as if they had 

 been on cakes of ice. Some report their bees as dying of dysentery. I have exj^miued 

 many such cases. The appearance of dysentery is simply the natural discharge of 

 fecal matter which bees retain all winter, if comfortable, but when cold they have no 

 power to do this, but void it over the combs, adding greatly to their discomfort. 



The question now arises as to the remedy which, iu the prevailing state of things, 

 might have saved the bees last fall. If the hives, full of honey and weak iu numbers 

 though they were, had been jnit where it did ]»t freeze, iu a cellar or house, they 

 would all have wintered safely and been stronger iu numbers in the spring than when 

 put away in the fall ; or, if several combs had been emptied by the use of the honey 

 slinger before extreme cold weather, and the hives left out of doors well packed iu 

 straw or chaff, all not very -weak iu numbers would have done well. In every case 

 we have examined or heard from, a few minutes' attention at the right time would 

 have saved the bees, and iu view of this fact the loss is indeed deplorable. It is quite 

 time that bee-keepers realized the fact that though their colonies do not require much 

 care, still a little atiteution at the right time is indispensable. In movable-comb hives 

 an examination of their state can be made at any time and the remedy applied. 

 » * * * Let all bear in mind that all colonies are safer housed overj' 

 Avinter, and that those which are weak in numbers, if left in combs full of honey, must 

 die if exposed to hard frost. 



MicmaAN. 



The merit of the annual report for 1871 is considerable, not alone on 

 account of its local statistics, but with regard also to its excellent 

 articles on subjects of current importance. Several are chosen 

 from other than local sources, but are freighted with information 

 valuable to the farming community. A. very elaborate statement is 

 made concerning the condition of the State Agricultural College, show- 

 ing great i)rosperity. The whole number of students in actual attend- 

 ance during the year was 141. It is stated that the students, for several 

 years past, have^ been mostly sons of farmers, and, for the most part, 

 largely dependent on their own earnings for the means of securing an 

 education. The whole amount paid students for their labor on the col- 

 lege farm was $5,402.32. The success of the institution is of the most 

 flattering character, indicating most certainly the greater interest being 

 taken in the matter of agricultural education iu the State. 



There is an excellent article on " Grasses for the dairy," by Professor 

 Deal, treating at length upon the subject. The professor is of the 

 opinion that foreign plants are often more thrifty than native, and 

 that we may expect desirable specimens from other countries. No 

 grass is best for all purposes, any more than one kind of api)le is best, 

 or one breed of cattle or sheep or poultry. He adds : " You ought to 

 like the business you have chosen, and have a taste for it. While others 

 go from raising sheep, and then back again to cows, or from the dairy 

 to fruit-growing, and back again, keep the even tenor of your way, and 

 stick to your trade." He refers to the fact, illustrative of the value of 

 grass cultivation, that iu 1870 the hay-crop of Illinois was valued at 

 over $20,000,000; wheat, over $25,000,000; Indian corn, over $70,000,000; 

 rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, potatoes, tobacco, over $21,000,000 ; the 

 hay produced by the grasses proper, probably $15,000,000; grasses for 

 pasture, perhaps $15,000,000 more. The valuation of the hay-crop of 

 Illinois was far exceeded by that of New York, which is given at over 

 $77,000,000. In the United States, during the year 1870, the hay-crop 

 was valued at about $330,000,000, and the hay and pasture in the entire 

 Union could have not been less than $500,000,000. 



Mr. Hathaway, in his article on ^- Orchards and their management," 

 thinks that it is^ getting to be pretty well understood in the Northwest 

 that a great many of the failures by winter-killing of fruit-trees is due 



