California Agriculturist akd Live Stock Journal. 



their work of destruction, while tlie latter 

 starved to death. 



Therefore, bees do not eat grapes. So it 

 is with sound conviction that I say to those 

 who wish, if not to prohibit, at least to render 

 impossible the establishment of hives in the 

 neighborhood of large cities, under the fal- 

 lacious pretext that they destroy grapes : Re- 

 spect the bee, since she respects our fruits ; 

 let her live in peace near us ; she never will 

 bo ungrateful. Is she not the mysterious in- 

 strument that helps and facilitates the phe- 

 nomenon of fertilization of flowers, and per- 

 haps produces those innumerable and beauti- 

 ful varieties by carrying pollen from the 

 calycle of one into that of another ? Is she 

 not the living image of work, that gives us 

 the perfumed honey and the wax that we use 

 BO diversely ? — Mo. Farmer. 



Preservation of Wood. 



M. Lostal, railway contractor, has commu- 

 nicated to the Society of Mineral Industry at 

 St. Etienne the results of his observations on 

 the efleet of lime in preserving wood, and his 

 method of applying it. He piles the planks 

 in a tank, and puts over all a hiyer of ijuick- 

 lime, which is gradually slacked with water. 

 Timber for mines requires about a week to be- 

 come thoroughly impregnateU, and other 

 'woodmtire or less time, according to its thick- 

 ness. The wood acquires remarkable con- 

 sistency and hardness, and, it is said, will 

 never rot. Wood has been prepared in this 

 manner for several mines, so that the plan 

 will shortly be tested on a considerable scale. 

 Beech-wood has been prepared in this way 

 for hammers and other tools for several iron- 

 works, and it is said to become as hard as oak 

 without losing its elasticity or toughness, and 

 to last much longer than when uuprepareil. 

 It has long been known that wood set in lime 

 or mortar is preserved from decay, but no 

 systematic plan for its preservation has until 

 now been attempted. 



The Oer. Ttltyraph says : We note that the 

 old controversy about tarring or painting 

 shingles and fences, is being revived again, on 

 the principle we suppose that as an old gener- 

 ation passes away the new one wants to learn 

 wholly for itself wljat it wants to know. It 

 ought, however, to be generally known by 

 this time that not moisture only, but heat and 

 moisture, either or both, are the agents in the 

 decay of woody matter. Most writers seem 

 to think it is moisture alone, and hence all 

 that is required is to coat the wood with some 

 substance that will keep the water out. To 

 be sure they know that heat, when it is up to 

 what we know as the burning point, will de- 

 stroy wood, but they seem to forget that even 

 when not burning heat is destructive only in 

 a less degree. Any black substance there- 

 fore, which attracts heat, though it may keep 

 out the other destructive element, water, adds 

 to the destructive agencies at work on the 

 wood, and should be avoided wherever dura- 

 tion is an object. 



It needs no understanding of these laws, 

 however, to know that tar or any black sub- 

 stance tends to rot wood away much faster 

 than wood that has had nothing at all done 

 to it. A fence tarred and exposed to the full 

 Bun, as any observer knows, soon crumbles 

 away. In a few years the wood is like an 

 overdone pie crust. And then all know how 

 long a mere whitewashed fence lasts. Yet 

 there is no preservative character of much 

 account in lime. Every rain goes through it 

 into the wood, but it is the white color, which 

 rather turns away the heat than attracts it, 

 which is in that case the great agent which 

 preserves it so long. 



In all discussions as to the preservation of 

 wood by paints or coatings, therefore, we see 

 that the color of the washes or paints is an 

 important point in the argument. As for tar, 

 it is the very worst thing that could be used 

 where there is exposure to the sun. Under 

 ground, or where there is no heat for it to at- 

 tract of consequence, it is another matter, 

 and dois possess more or less preservative 

 power. 



Fattening Chickens. 



M?T is hopeless to attempt to fatten chickens 

 nl! while they are at liberty. They must be 

 dl. put up in a proper coop, and this, like 

 al, most other appurtenances, need not bo 

 Kg expensive. To fatten twelve fowls, a 

 coop may be three feet long, eighteen inches 

 high and eighteen inches deep, made entirely 

 of bars. No part solid neither top, sides 

 nor bottom. Discretion must be used, accord- 

 ing to the size of the chickens put up. They 

 do not want any room, indeed, the closer 

 they are the better, provided they can all 

 stand up at the same time. Care must be 

 taken to put up such as have been accustomed 

 to be together, or they will fight. If one is 

 quarrelsome, it is better to remove it at once, 

 as, like other bad examples, it soon finds im- 

 itators. Diseased chickens should never bo 

 put up. 



The food should be ground oats, and may 

 either be put up in a trough or on a flat 

 board running along the front of the coop. 

 It may be mixed with water and milk, the 

 latter is the better. It should be well soaked, 

 forming a pulp as loose as can be, providr'd it 

 does not run ofl' tlie board. They must be 

 well fed three or four times a day, the first 

 time as soon after daybreak as may be possi- 

 ble or convenient, and then at intervals of 

 four hours. Each meal should be as much as 

 they can eat up clean, and no more ; when 

 they have done feeding, the board should be 

 wiped up and some gravel spread. It causes 

 them to feed and thrive. 



After a fortnight of this treatment you will 

 have good, fat fowls. If, however, there are 

 but five or six fowls to be fatted, they must 

 not have as much room as though there were 

 a dozen. Nothing is easier than to allow 

 them the proper space, as it is only necessary 

 to have two or three pieces of wood to pass 

 between the bars and form a partition. This 

 may also serve when fowls are up at differer- 

 ent degrees of fatness. This requires at- 

 tention, or fowls will not keep fat and healthy. 

 As soon as the fowl is sufticiently fatted, it 

 must be killed ; otherwise it will not get fat- 

 ter but will lose flesh. If fowls are intended 

 for the market, of course they are, or may be 

 fatted at once ; but if lor home consumption, 

 it is better to put them up at such intervals 

 as will suit the time when they will be re- 

 quired for the table. 



When the time arrives for kiUiug, whether 

 they are meant for market or otherwise, they 

 should be fasted without food or water for 

 twelve or fifteen hours. This enables them 

 to keep for some time after being killed, even 

 in hot weather. — Journal of Chemixtri/. 

 .«-•-» 



Hens Eatino Eggs — A CnKE. — A corres- 

 pondent of the Poultry Bulldin says : " Having 

 seen the question asked how to cure hens 

 from eating eggs, and having been put to my 

 wits end to devise some means to stop them, 

 I finally by accident hit upon a plan that I 

 have never known to fail. One gi-eat trouble 

 with many breeders is, they make their hens' 

 nests too large, and with Brahmas and 

 Cochins the nests are near the ground, and in 

 many cases the eggs are in view of the hen. 

 This was the case with my nests. Having 

 tried every available stuff, such as pepper, 

 mustard, turpentine, and every thing I could 

 hear of, but no cure. I then took a common 

 nail-keg, cut it in two or a piece about eight 

 inches high, and placed it in the box where 

 the hens laid. I then put in an egg ; the old 

 hen mounted the nest or keg and tried to 

 reach the egg, standing on the edge of the 

 keg, but it was no go ; she then got down in 

 the keg, but that was a failure, for she did 

 not have room to got at the egg ; after trying 

 for some time she gave it up as a bad job. I 

 have never had an egg eaten by the hens since 

 then ; all of the nests in my coops have a 

 piece of a keg in the box, and have parts of 

 kegs for nests. Do not make them too deep. 



but deep enough so that the hen cannot reach 

 the bottom when standing on the edge of the 

 keg. You that are troubled with hens eating 

 their eggs, try the plan ; it costs but little, 

 and I think you will never regret the trouble 

 it will be to outwit the old hen." 



Veemin on Fowls, — There are at least three 

 different kinds of lice which infest poultry 

 and their quarters. (We do not now include 

 the acar\(s, that produces what is known as 

 " poultry itch " and " scabby or scurvy legs," 

 etc. ) There is the largo louse found for tho 

 most part in the heads of young chicks. This 

 is quite destructive to the broods, and by 

 some is supposed to be the parent of the gapo 

 worm. Whether this supposition is true or 

 not this louse will certainly destroy young 

 chicks unless it is removed and the broods 

 protected from its attacks. Then there is the 

 common body louse, found mostly under the 

 wings and the more inaccessible parts of tho 

 skin. These are, perhaps, the least noxious 

 of any of the different kinds ; but they evi- 

 dently annoy the fowls and should not bo al- 

 lowed to remain on them 



The third class of lice is the small red 

 " mite," found only in the house or roosting 

 places and nests. These are, perhajjE, the 

 most annoying and troublf'some to the fowls 

 of all, and are more numerous than either of 

 the other kinds. They may be found in near- 

 ly all roosts and houses that have been used 

 by fowls one or more years where especial 

 care has not been exercised to exterminate 

 them. They stay in crevices on the roosts or 

 walls and nests-boxes during the day and 

 creep upon the fowls and feed at night. They 

 are seldom found on tho fowls during the 

 day, except on sitting hens. These are the 

 ones that are so annoying to the brooding 

 hens, forcing them to abandon their nests. 

 They are sometimes found in great numbers 

 in neglected quarters. — A'. 1'. llerald. 

 • m * 



How TO Feed Fowls. — Fowls are not fed 

 merely for the sake of keeping them .alive and 

 healthy on the least possible amount of food. 

 We wish to convert the food into flesh or in- 

 to eggs. In feeding for quick fattening, it is 

 understood that the poultry should be made 

 to eat as much as possible. Jly rule for feed- 

 ing is to throw out the feed once a day, and 

 let them eat as much as they want, and no 

 more. I want the fowls to eat all they will ; 

 the more they eat, within reasonable bounds, 

 the more eggs they will lay, and the better 

 condition they will be in. Laying fowls 

 should take exercise, but if they can go to a 

 trough and eat any time they wish, they will 

 take next to none. If fed but once a day, 

 they will wander and hunt insects much 

 more. If fed soft feed, such as wheat bran 

 alone or mixed with milk, they will be hungry 

 again in two or three hours, and be off alter 

 insects, &c. 



Shrinkage of Fruit in Drying. — In the 

 letter from Charles Alden (owner of tho 

 fruit-drying machinery) which was read be- 

 fore the late horticultural meeting at Roches- 

 ter, New Y'ork, he states that a bushel of ap- 

 ples weighs fifty pounds; that the cost of cut- 

 ting and preparing a bushel for drying is 

 about fifty cents; and that a bushel will yield 

 nine dried pounds, two pounds of which are 

 cores and skins, which, when dried, find a 

 ready market at six cents per pound for mak- 

 ing jelly without sugar or boiling^a new pro- 

 duct. One bushel gives seven pounds of 

 good dried apples, which will sell regularly at 

 twenty cents per pound; making after drying, 

 $1.25 per bushel of apples, with cores and 

 parings. It will be understood that these 

 dried apples are greatly superior to common 

 dried apples, made by exposure to weather, 

 flies, etc. Tomatoes, being very watery, j-ield 

 only three pounds dried per bushel, but two 

 dried ounces are found to be equal in sub- 

 stance to a one quart can, and will make as 

 much by adding one quart of cold water and 

 stewing properly. The evaporated tomatoes 

 ■sell for seventy-five cents per pound. Peaches 

 yield seven pounds from a bushel, one of 

 which is skins. 



