California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



done, the queen does not lay au egg in it,they 

 take one from a worker cell uud put into it,o"r 

 they build a queen cell around a worker egg 

 in a worker cell, and by feeding the insect in 

 its embryo state with royal food, a sort of 

 creamy-like substaucs, and perhaps by some 

 other process known only to tbemselves, the 

 egg that would have become a worker, if it 

 had remained in a worker eel!, becomes a 

 queeu. The office of the queen in the hive 

 seems to be only to lay eggs. She has no 

 care for thera after they are deposited in the 

 cells, but all such as the workers convert into 

 queens -she is sure to destroy, unless in some 

 way prevented, if she does not go out with a 

 swarm before the young queeu is sufficiently 

 advanced iii its cell to be regarded as a rival. 

 She has power over her ovaries so that she 

 she can lay eggs or not, as circumstances in 

 the hive make it necessary or not. A queeu 

 in a large colony, when honey is being 

 brought in abundantly, will lay five time.s the 

 eggs that the s<ime queen would in a small 

 colony under reverse circumstances. 



One other mysterious fact I would name 

 here, is that the egg from which a queen is 

 reared is hatched into a perfect bee in sixteen 

 or seventeen days from the time it was laid, 

 wherea-s if a worker had been reared from 

 that egg, it would have taken twenty-one or 

 twenty-two days. The difi'erent food and 

 treatment the queen grub receives not only 

 alters the gender of the bee, its shape and 

 .size, but also makes a difference of four or 

 five days in hatching. The drone is the male 

 bee and has no sting, no means of gathering 

 honey, nor of secreting wax, nor of doing any 

 kind of work for the common good of the 

 colony. Like some in human society, they 

 are non-producers, living by others' toil and 

 industry, regular gentlemen loafers. Their 

 only use is to fecundate the queen, and keep 

 up by their pi-eseuoe in the hive the necessary 

 animal heat to rear the brood. They live one 

 Summer and are killed off in the Fall. 



The workers are imperfectly developed fe- 

 males, and they do aU the work that is done 

 in the hive. They secrete the wax from their 

 own bodies, and build it into comb; they 

 gather the pollen for the young and thahouey 

 for all; they feed and rear the brood; they 

 fight all the battles necessary to defend the 

 colony against harm. They live but a few 

 months when the weather is such that they 

 cannot go out. They have eyes by which 

 they can see in daylight, but all their mys- 

 terious work in the hive, which has surpassed 

 the skill of all meehauics, and excited the 

 wonder of all naturalists, is done in perfect 

 darkness, where eyes of common structure 

 can be of no use. 



A swAUM of bees have established them- 

 selves on the top of a Cincinnati church stee- 

 ple. What a chance for a sermon on the be- 

 atitudes, and what a hint to the congregation 

 that they should humble be! 



A Gardener's Lesson. 



Two gardeners had their crops of peas 

 killed by the frost. One of them was very 

 impatient under the loss, and fretted about it 

 very much. The other went patiently to work 

 at once to plant a new crop. After a while 

 the impatient, fretting man went to his neigh- 

 bor. To liis surprise he found another crop 

 of peas growing finely. Ho wondered how 

 this could be. 



" These are what I sowed while you were 

 fretting, " said his neighbor. 



" But don't you ever fret?" he a,skedi. ' ' 



"Yes, I do; but I put it off untiU I hare 

 repaired the mischief that may have been 

 done." 



" Why, then jou have no need to fret at 

 all." 



"True," said the friend, "and that is the 

 reason I put it off." 



Some men, like flowers, ai-e fitter for a cor- 

 ner than a fuU light.— Semca. 



/* * ^ 



g\mmUm,\l 



Ferns as Window Plants. 



CTpEW plants require less attention and yet 

 'jlT gi'fe more satisfaction to dwellers in 

 ff'rij towns than do the hardier descriptions 

 <^^ of ferns. From the fact that many of 

 ate them are greenest and best in Winter, 

 ■when other plants are out of bloom, their 

 culture ought to be patronized by the poorer 

 classes who cannot afford more expensive 

 plants. Among the limestone formations of 

 North Lancashire the fern commonly known 

 as Stag's-head is very numerous and luxuri- 

 ant. The Ijeautiful green fronds grow to a 

 length of twelve to eighteen inches, and many 

 of them, when cultivated in pots, fork so as 

 to be rare and beautiful ferns, the tips of the 

 fronds forming into a bunch. I would Cidl 

 the attention of city horticulturist.s to the fact 

 that these ferns might be gathered at a very 

 trifling expense and sent to town by wagon 

 loads, seeing that the hedges are full of them 

 in the district named. Arrived in the efties, 

 they may be potted, and a good profit realized 

 from the sale at from 9d. to Is. per pot. They 

 will live for many years, and would form a 

 "thing of joy" in many humble homes, to 

 the dwellers in which the sight of a green 

 leaf is apleasnre. The beautiful little Maiden- 

 hair, Royal, Parsley and other ferns are 

 cqu.illy common in the district. — London 

 Fkld. 



There are several varieties of fine ferns in 

 California that can be easily transferred from 

 the wild glens to the sitting-rooms of our 

 people. They will grow with moss in hang- 

 ing baskets or in pots. The best thing is a 

 stand, such as is described in the following 

 article, only a plant stand for ferns should be 

 covei-ed with a glass case to grow ferns in 

 full perfection. A simple frame can be made 

 to hold the glass frames. 



A Pi,ANT Stand.— The lack of a desirable 

 place to keep plants often prevents the pleas- 

 ure of raising them. They must have light, 

 and air, and sunshine, and it is not always 

 convenient to devote the brightest windows 

 to their occupancy. If kept on the ledges, 

 they are in danger of being chilled on a frosty 

 night; and it is a tax to be compelled to move 

 the heavy pots every time the thermometer 

 drops. A flower stand of some sort that can 

 be readily moved from window to window is, 

 therefore, a necessity. The old-fashioned 

 wooden ones are clumsy, heavy, and take up 

 too much room. The modern wire frames 

 are pretty and light; but one of moderate size 

 costs ten or twelve dollars, which is a great 

 deal to put in the stand when we wish to put 

 it in the flowers. 



We saw something, the other day, that 

 seemed to serve both economy and conveni- 

 ence. A box three feet long, a foot and a 

 half wide across the bottom, and eighteen 

 inches deep,- is made of common pine. The 

 sides flare outward, so that, at the top, they 

 measure six or eight inches more, from edge 

 to edge, than at the bottom. The box stands 

 on four legs with casters, and under the bot- 

 tom of the box, a piece of wood fancifully cut 

 on the edge (a sort of pine valance), holds 

 the legs firmly and firmly and symmetrically 

 together. The top of the box is nearly even 

 with the window-siU, and when the \\hole is 

 constructed, it ma.y either be painted m colors 

 or stained dark-brown, to match the furniture 

 wood. The inside of the box is better pre- 

 served from decay, if lined with zinc or tin; 

 but it will last one, possibly two seasons, with- 

 out any lining at all. Over the bottom is 

 spread a three-inch layer of bits of broken 

 flower pots, and on this is set a double row 

 of pots, or as many as will stand evenly on 

 the surface. Then a thick layer of sand is 

 poured over the broken pieoas, and the ^est 



of the space filled up with earth till it is even 

 with the top of the flower pots. In the bed 

 thus formed, bulbs or slips ai-e planted be- 

 tween the pots, and vines are started at the 

 corners. When the latter are well under way, 

 wires, on which the vines twist, are fastened 

 diagonally from corner to corner, forming a 

 beautiful green arch over what seems to be a 

 bed taken thus bodily from the garden, 

 hometimes a tiny hanging basket, or an ivy 

 growing in water, is hung from where the 

 wires cross in the arch, but, even without it, 

 there is no appearance of barrenness. A car- 

 penter will make the box for two dollars and a 

 half, and the rest, painting and all, can be 

 readily done at home. — Mx. 



Soil foe Flceicultoke.— Most flowers, if 

 not all, succeed best in sandy loam, made 

 nch by the addition of well-rotted manure, 

 which should be thoroughly mixed with the 

 soil. .Such a soil, thus prepared, will not be- 

 come hard or bak'd, but will become loose 

 and porous. It will not only aflord the small 

 and tender plants a chance for existence, but 

 it will also enable them to perfect themselves 

 with vigor and beauty. If your garden is 

 composed of a stiff, heavy soil, a good dress- 

 ing of sacd and manure will assist it wonder- 

 fully in the way of plant development; and 

 some of the most delicate plants, that would 

 not succeed at all in such soil, in its unim- 

 proved condition, will, after such preparation, 

 flourish in the most satisfactory manner. 



Sand and Waiek foe Cuttings.— The Bevu 

 ITorticok recommends the following mode of 

 striking the cuttings of soft-wooded plants: 

 Take a flower pot saucer, fill it with river 

 sand, and place the cutting in the same, hav- 

 ing first satui-ated the whole with water. The 

 saucers are put in a sunny place, and always 

 kept full to the brim with water. Almost any 

 kind of cutting will grow then. 



This method of striking delicate cuttings is 

 the best we know of, and is practiced by gar- 

 deners in California. Any Mnd of a saucer 

 or deep plate wiU do to use. 



Salt as Manure. 



Various experiments have been made by M. 

 Peligot and others in Europe to test the value 

 of salt as a manure. The following summing 

 up seems to have been anived at: 



Salt should never be applied other than in 

 a pulverized state, and never be employed on 

 imperrious, cold and humid soils. The best 

 manner to use it is to combine it with other 

 manures, a dose of 200 weight to the acre be- 

 ing sufficient. When to destroy insects it 

 should be applied before sunrise. In the case 

 of cereals, salt strengthens the stems and 

 causes the ears to fill better, and favors the 

 dissolution and assimilation of the phosphates 

 and silicates. It acts ngorously on ijotatoes; 

 it can be detected in their ashes to the extent 

 of one-half of one per cent. Asparagus is a 

 veritable glutton in the presence of salt. A 

 dose of 300 pounds per acre acts without fail 

 on beets, injuring its value for sugar pui-poses 

 but enhancing it for the feeding of cattle. 

 Colza has as marked a predilection for salt as 

 asparagus, and in Holland, where the culture 

 of peas is so extensive, salt is something like 

 a necessity. Mixed with hay in the propor- 

 tion of a quarter of a pound to a hundred 

 weight, the fodder is rendered more .appetiz- 

 ing; but the best way to feed it to animals is 

 to allow them to enjoy it in the shape of rock 

 salt. It is calculated that a horse appropri- 

 ates daily one-tenth of an ounce of salt, an 

 ox one-half that quantity, and a sheep and a 

 pig one-half that requiied by an ox. 



A MAN in Stark county, Ind., pays his boy 

 ten cents a quart for potato bugs, aiid the boy 

 says if next year is as good as this he can buv 

 the old man out. 



