102 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



The profits cleriyecT from sixteen of them was 525 lbs. of box 

 honey ; 60 lbs. taken from the hives, nearly as nice as box honey, 

 and twelve new swarms. Cash receipts, $160 for honey, $112 for 

 stocks — total, $272. I began with twenty, and at the end of the 

 year had thirty-six swarms, besides those sold." 



Mr. Dodge, of N. J., thonght that althongh such extraordinary 

 profits might, under favorable circumstances, be secured in a sec- 

 tion where few bees are kept, yet, if bee-keeping should become 

 anything like universal, it would not pay expenses, from the fact 

 that there is not enough honey to be obtained from the clover and 

 other blossoms in a single neighborhood to sustain more than a 

 few swarms. 



Plaster Paris. 

 Mr. A. Streebe, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, wishes to call 

 the attention of the club to the fact that much of the plaster of 

 Paris ofiered in the market at the present time is not the genuine 

 article, but an adulteration of ground refuse marble, clam and oys- 

 ter shells, &c. This mixture is, of course, nearly' worthless, and 

 farmers should see to it well that when they purchase they are not 

 deceived by some such adulterated compound. 



Rotary Cutting Plow or Earth Plxverizer. 



A model of Fithian & Young's celebrated " rotary cutting plow 

 or earth pulverizer," was then exhibited before the club. 



By the use of this machine the soil is pulverized by a series of 

 curved knives attached to revolving necks, which are driven by a 

 horse-foot ground motor. The gearing is so arranged that by the 

 horses walking two and one-half miles per hour, over 3,000 of 

 these knives pass through the ground every minute. In fact, the 

 soil is left as though passed through mill stones, and then sifted 

 out over the ground. The motion gives a pure cut and lift, not 

 bearing one ounce on the subsoil. The mixture of manure on any 

 o-rowth that may be on the ground is more complete than could 

 possibly be done by hand. The knives are placed on three mova- 

 ble cylinders, of sixteen inches each, thus enabling the farmer to 

 cut sixteen, thirty-two, or forty-eight inches wide at each passage, 

 according to character of the soil and power of team. The depth 

 to which it stirs the soil is eight inches. 



It will thus be seen that the machine does the work of from 

 four to six ploAvs, and obviates the necessity of harrowing. The 



