THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



27 



year, so that in the second it may have attained 

 its full growth before it is mown ; and this is 

 a pood practice. 



Sainfoin, when it is made into hay, should, 

 like other leguminous forage plants, be cut just 

 •when it comes into fall flower. It is not very 

 apt to be injured by heating, and therefore 

 may be put by more quickly than other hay 

 plants. The produce in hay is generally reck- 

 oned from one to two tons to the acre, in dis- 

 tricts "where it is cultivated; and, considering 

 that it is grown on inferior soils, and that it 

 yields good aftermath, it will be seen to be a 

 productive plant. 



If ground is to be mown for successive years 

 for forage, then, on such soils as are suited to it, 

 scarce a better crop can be cultivated than sain- 

 foin, which is easily grown, hardy, and pro- 

 ductive. But, with regard to this particular 

 mode of cultivation, it cannct be at all com- 

 mended. It is not the most beneficial mode of 

 raising crops of forage ; for, independently of 

 the smaller produce, the keeping of land under 

 any one kind of crop, and manuring it upon 

 the surface, is to deprive the cultivated land of 

 manure for an object which may be better at- 

 tained by other means. 



Sainfoin, when sown merely to produce one 

 crop of hay, and then to be depastured for such 

 a period as may be thought suited to the nature 

 of the soil, answers well ; but in this case, ir, is 

 recommended that it be sown with a proportion 

 of white clover and rye-grass. It is then merety 

 a substitute for the red clover, and it is a good 

 substitute, for it is a perennial, and will grow 

 on soils on which the red clover cannot be 

 profitably cultivated. It is in this way only, it 

 is conceived, that the cultivation of sainfoin 

 should be much extended. It maybe used as a 

 substitute for red clover in many of the sandy, 

 dry, and rocky soils, which are intended to re- 

 main for several years in herbage. 



[For t he American Bee Journal ] 



How I became an Apieulturist, No. 4. 



The people of Wenham would not find, even 

 in the old city of Langres, (France), a legal 

 precedent for bee-banishment ; for the police- 

 men had transcended their powers, and when 

 one of them, who was a near relative of my 

 neighbor, came again to expel my bees, I being 

 now better informed as to my rights, refused 

 to obey, and on presenting my complaint to the 

 Mayor, the officious official received a sharp 

 reprimand. 



On hearing of my annoyances, my grand- 

 father proposed to wall in his orchard. He 

 was for some years out of business, and was 

 pleased with the thought of occupying himself 

 with improving that ground, where he had ai- 

 re dy planted many trees. My delight was not 

 less than his, for in my boyhood that locality 

 had always been the scene of my rambles. 

 The next and subsequent days we were both at 

 work, and with the aid of the toiling laborers 

 of my grandfather, the object was speedily ac- 

 complished. The required stones were close at 



hand, and as the northern and western sides 

 were bounded with high rocks and thorny 

 bushes, and the southern side by an old hedge, 

 there was really only one side of the orchard 

 to be secured by a wall. 



But, while we were thus engaged, carrying 

 the stones in a wheelbarrow, and piling them 

 one upon another to make a good dry wall, the 

 keeper of the ramparts came and ordered us to 

 desist, declaring that we were within fortification 

 limits, and no stone could be removed without 

 leave from the officer in command. We feigned 

 compliance, but resumed our work more vigor- 

 ously when he left, for my grandfather said we 

 might wait for months for permission to pro- 

 ceed, and not be sure of obtaining it in the end; 

 but if once done they would not order the work to 

 be demolished. My grandfather's scheme, 

 however, included the erection of a small cot- 

 tage, and when that was undertaken, the keeper 

 of the ramparts made his appearance once more, 

 ordering us to desist. As the commandant 

 could not but see our new building, we had now 

 no alternative but to apply for permission to 

 proceed with our work. After many delays, 

 and executing divers obligations, we'were al- 

 lowed to build a plank cottage eight feet square, 

 placed on two wooden axletrees and four 

 wheels, so that the structure might quickly be 

 removed out of harm's way, in case of the in- 

 vasion of the country by an enemy. Yet the 

 city of Langres is hundreds of miles within the 

 frontiers of France ! 



Let us now return to my bees, wintering on 

 the roof of the house. After a stormy night in 

 February, while the water of the melted snow 

 was overflowing the streets, I found one of the 

 straw coverings of my hives thrown down into 

 the yard. On ascending to the root, I found 

 that the two outer boxes had been removed, 

 and two streams of yellow water were running 

 from the exposed frames. My spiteful neighbor 

 had risked his neck, in order to glut his ven- 

 geance. 



I confess I was at first quite disheartened. 

 Yet, hoping that my bees were still alive, I re- 

 solved to carry them to my gandfather's. I 

 there set them in front of a large chimney, 

 where my grandmother lighted a fire, and I 

 watched for hours to observe their first hum- 

 ming. At last I fancied I heard a slight buz- 

 zing ; but the rapid beating of my heart did not 

 permit me to hear more. Finally, a single bee 

 came, with vibrating wings, to the edge of one 

 of the frames, and I concluded that that swarm 

 was alive and might yet be saved. I hastened 

 to nail same light millinet on two bottom-and 

 top-less boxes, in which to put my hives to pre- 

 vent the bees from flying away, and then 

 watched their demeanor. Soon many bees 

 made their appearance outside of the frames, all 

 vibrating their wings, till nearly the whole 

 swarm was thus occupied. In the course of the 

 following two days, by means of the vibrations 

 and the warmth of the fire, the bees w r ere as 

 dry as ever. Very few r bees, compared with 

 what I had an icipated, were dead, and no 

 queens were found among these. Often, in 

 spring, the bees vibrate their wings in order to 

 dry their wet and mouldy combs ; and you 



