XMl^ MimmMK^Wn MMM JQ'I^JRNRJL. 



615 



at the same time endangers the health 

 of your fowls. 



I never saw a case of chicken chol- 

 era until I moved to Salado. I lost 

 nearly all I had for three years in suc- 

 cession. I inquired what the cholera 

 was, and invariablj' received the same 

 answer — "bowel-troubles." I deter- 

 mined to find out for myself, so I be- 

 gan post mortem examinations. I 

 found in every instance that it vvas the 

 g,all that was most affected. When the 

 chickens fell dead suddenlj', I found 

 that the gall had bui'st. When they 

 dropped around for several d.ays and 

 then died, the bladder containing the 

 gall was full of little perforations, and 

 the fluid would gradually ooze out. 

 About this time I heard of the parched 

 or burnt corn remedy, and also of put- 

 ting lime in their drinking water. 

 These, with cleanliness, are my sole 

 remedies for the much-dreaded disease. 



Always in dressing a chicken I ex- 

 amine the gall, and if it is enlarging, 

 and the covering beginning to get too 

 thin, I put about a tea-spoonful of lime 

 into say one-half gallon of drinking 

 water for them, and feed them chai'red 

 corn. In fact I parch nearlj' all the 

 corn I feed my chickens, by putting it 

 in the stove in the ear while the stove 

 is hot immediately after cooking. This 

 consumes but little time, does the work 

 nicely, and is highly appreciated by 

 the fowls. In this way I keep them 

 healthy, and lose no more with the 

 cholera. 



You should study well before mak- 

 ing }-our selection of the variety you 

 like best. After you have made it, 

 stick to it, and do not be always chang- 

 ing or mixing up mongrels, if you pro- 

 pose keeping pure stock. In making 

 your selection, you should study your 

 circumstances, surroundings, and mar- 

 ket, and be governed accordingly. 



The sting of the bee is so peculiarly 

 constructed that if you pull it out, in- 

 stead of relieving the pain, it adds 

 greatly to it, for instead of pulling out 

 the poison, you push it into the flesh. 

 This is not generally known, hence the 

 severer pain from the sting. Scrape 

 the sting out immediately with a knife, 

 and you scrape the poison out also, and 

 soon forget that you have been stung. 



Do not go into the business on too 

 large a scale at first, but let your 

 knowledge increase as your apiary 

 grows. Get some standard work on 

 the subject of bee-keeping, and take 

 at least one good bee-periodical. Study 

 them closely, and try to put every 

 good thing you see mentioned into 

 practical use. Do not, like a lady of 

 my acquaintance, wait until the bees 

 commence swarming, and then have to 

 hunt up the bee-book to see what to do 

 with them. Do not go into the busi- 

 ness unless you are determined to 



make a success of it. Better never be- 

 gin than to make a failure. 



You must have energy, pluck, pa- 

 tience and perseverance, if you would 

 make a success in bee-keeping and 

 poultry-raising. Get the pure Italian 

 bee to begin with, as I consider them 

 as far superior to the common little 

 blacks, as a Berkshire hog is to a 

 "razor-back." Have an observatory 

 hive conveuientl}' placed, so that you 

 can look at it at any time, and see just 

 what is going on inside, for this is, or 

 should be, the index to the apiarj'. 



You cannot keep bees intelligently 

 without becoming enthusiastic. It 

 awakens a nevv field of thought never 

 before dreamed of. It changes the 

 despised weed that was once a nui- 

 sance and an eye-sore, into the won- 

 derful honey-producing plant. Take 

 for instance the hoar-hound, that is in 

 many places considered a great nui- 

 sance ; put the tiny flower under the 

 magnifj'ing glass, and look at its won- 

 derful structure and marvelous beauty! 

 From this source alone last j'ear my 

 bees gave me a ton of honey ! 



Just for a moment think how much 

 honey goes to waste each year in our 

 great State, for want of bees, intelli- 

 gently managed, to gather it ; and how 

 many poor little children there are 

 who never so much as get a taste of 

 the delicious, God-given sweet ! In 

 the name of humanity, come out-doors 

 and help me work with the bees. 



I, too, used to be a dyspeptic, and 

 did not know for years what it was to 

 feel well. I have lived for months at 

 a time on two scant meals a day, con- 

 sisting of two glasses of sweet milk 

 and a small hoe-cake or corn-bread 

 with the bran in it, and that, too, when 

 I had plenty. Now I really believe 

 that I am considered the most robust 

 and healthy woman of our town. 

 Thanks to active out-door exercise, and 

 the constant use of honey, for my good 

 health, which I prize more highly than 

 any other earthly blessing. Again I 

 say, " Go thou and do likewise." 



Salado, Texas. 



FALL FLOWERS. 



An Excursion to the ]TIissi«$si|>i>i 

 River Bottoms. 



Written for the American BeeJowmal 



BY W. J. CULLINAN. 



For some time neighbor Hajck and 

 myself had been planning an excur- 

 sion to the valley which bounds the 

 course of the great "Father of Waters," 

 to see what the prospect was for fall 

 honey, and also take a hand at fishing 

 — or, in other words, we were going to 

 " take a day ofl"," and just simply en- 

 joy ourselves. 



So on the morning of Aug. 12, after 

 a night tilled with visions of big fisli 

 and boundless acres of golden bloom, 

 we sallied forth to carry out in fact 

 what we had been enjoying in imagi- 

 nation. 



We started in at the foot of " Swal- 

 low Hill," and following the course of 

 the great river we waded waist-deep 

 to shoulder-deep through a perfect sea 

 of fall-blooming plants, consisting of 

 Spanish-needle, golden-rod (which is 

 certainly entitled to the proud distinc- 

 tion which will soon be accorded it), 

 wild honey-suckle, heart's-ease, bone- 

 set, and myriads of other plants of 

 lesser note. The wild honey-suckle 

 was in full bloom, heart's-ease, golden- 

 rod and boneset were just coming into 

 flower ; while Spanish-needle or core- 

 opsis (which stands firmly arrayed 

 against the whole list for honey, at 

 least in this section) would be bloom- 

 ing in about a week ; and in my hum- 

 ble opinion, no grander sight ever 

 greeted the eye of the bee-keeper, than 

 this great plant when in full bloom ; 

 thousands of acres of it, thickly 

 phalanxed, bares its golden bosom be- 

 neath an autumn sky, ladening the 

 air with its rich aroma, and later ful- 

 filling in such bountiful measure the 

 earlier promise of its golden bloom. 



Well, after enjoying (as only bee- 

 keepers can) all this wealth of flower- 

 ing plants, and in the meantime hav- 

 ing meandered (almost unconsciously) 

 some two miles down, the valley, we 

 began to cast around for a certain 

 lake, which we were told existed 

 thereabouts, and, what was of more 

 importance to us, abounded with fish ; 

 soon we came upon a lake that must 

 be the one of which we had been told, 

 but so diminutive in size that we dis- 

 deigned to waste our precious time 

 angling for fish in such a stream, and 

 so moved on ; soon we came upon a 

 slough, fed from the river, and in 

 which my friend said that there were 

 some large-sized fish. Here we cast 

 our hooks, richly baited with worms 

 and frogs, but soon discovered that 

 nibbling was the order of the day, and 

 after spending about two hours at this 

 delightful sport, and getting many 

 bites (but no fish) we came to the con- 

 clusion that it was too cool and windy, 

 or else the finny inhabitants of this 

 stream had "caught on," and knew 

 how to take the bait without swallow- 

 ing the hook ; and wiser, but no richer, 

 we turned our steps towai'd home. 



Mr. Hayek has concluded to move 

 his bees to the bottoms, and place 

 them right in the midst of all that 

 wealth of bloom ; and if his hives are 

 not heavily laden with the precious 

 nectar this fall, it will not be his fault. 



His bees are mostly in Heddon hives; 

 and right here I wish to sooi'e another 



