NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMEl!. 



FINE STOCK. 



Mr Fessenden— Having seen in your " N. E 

 Farmer," within a short time, several notices of 

 extraordinary calves, induces me also to add to the 



A very fine cow, now eight years old, ot my 

 own raising, half Holderncss am] haK Mderney, has 

 produced me, by dilVerent bulls, seven calves ; 

 tliey have all been very fine ones, and all are at 

 this time alive ; four of them are in my own 1)0*- 

 sessiqn. Her last calf was born 4tli of last De- 

 cember, (a bull) and at 4 days old weighed 110 

 lbs., being early, and a winter calf, I had not m- 

 tended to raise it— but it was so uncommonly 

 promising, I was induced to do it. On the 4th 

 of March at 90 days old, it weighed 339 lbs.— 

 After that date one half of the cow's milk was 

 taken from it— lie having learned to eat carrots, 

 oil meal, and hay — and on the 16tli of April I| 

 sold him to an" enterprising young farmer, at 

 Rindge, in New Hamiishire, for fifty-five dollars. 

 He was then 4 months and 12 days old, and 

 weighed 435 lbs., giving an increase of 2 lbs. 93 

 ounces per day. On that day he also measured 

 from the root "of the horns to the end of the rump 

 5 ft 8 in. ; girth 4 ft 4 in., and height 3 ft 8 in. 

 His sire was three-fourths Durham Short Horn, 

 and one-fourth BakewcU. This young bull is 

 therefore three-eighths Short Horn, two-eighths 

 Alderney, two-eighths Holderncss, and one-eighth 

 Bakeweil, and comprises the best blood of Eng- 

 lish stock. I think, when 2 years old, (if, as I 

 have no doubt he will, have as good care taken of 

 liim,) he will be the most iiromising bull in New 

 Hampshire, or Massachusetts — and a very great 

 acquisition to that State — combining, as he does, 

 the 6c«/and dairy qualities. 



Much has been said and written on the subject 

 of allowing cows to come in too young. I have 

 raised a great many calves, and have always al- 

 lowed them to calve at two years, and often earli- 

 er. This cow had her first calf at nineteen months 



and was but seven years and seven months old 



when she had her sei'eji/Zi calf ; and she is the 

 largest cow I ever raised. To be sure she has al- 

 ways been well kept, (but not highly fed) as all 

 animals ought to be. I should not wish, howev- 

 er, to have a heifer with her first calf, come in be- 

 fore a good hite of grass. 



Vours very trnlv, 



JOHN PRINCE. 

 Jamaica Plain, June 29, 1829. 



FOR THE KEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



CRUEL CUSTOM OF BEES. 



MrFessenden — I wish that you or some of your 

 correspondents would inform me through the me- 

 dium of your paper, what is the reason of bees 

 killing their drones at this season of the year ; and 

 how they may be united, to jirevent, if necessary, 

 their killing tliem ; and if it will hinder or retard 

 their swarming ? I have a number of full stocked 

 hives, which appear to have such aversion for 

 their drones, that not one, I believe, is suflfered to 

 live in the hive. If some of your experienced 

 apiarian writers will give me some light on the 

 subject, 1 will be much obliged to them. 

 Yours, &c., 



A FARMER. 



Remarks by the Editor. — This annual massacre 



is a habit which apjiertains to all the species of 

 honey bee. We shall not undertake to state the 

 cause of this proceeding. Whether bees justify 

 themselves by arguments similar to those made 

 use of by certain advocates for killing oft" the hu- 

 man species in martial combat, is more than we 

 can say, having never been admitted to their 

 counsels. Probably they conceive it to be the 

 shortest way of getting rid of their useless popula- 

 tion. The fact, however, is certain, and the 

 slaughter always takes plaee. 



Dr Thachcr says " It has been ascertained, that 

 after a particular period of the year, when the 

 queen has been impregnated, and ihe drones are 

 no longer of use, they are cruelly destroyed by 

 those very workers which formerly watched over 

 them so carefully in their cradles. It is not to be 

 supposed that the neuters know they would per- 

 ish with hunger were the drones preserved, but 

 there probably is a time when the males make 

 such an impression on the senses of the neuters 

 as tends to irritate them, and prompt to their des- 

 truction. It is usually in the months of July and 

 Aucust, that this singular massacre is eftected.— 

 A curious observer, Huber, desirous of witness-iug 

 the scene of carnage, jdaccd six hives on a glass 

 table, and jilaced himself and an assistant be- 

 neath it. On the 4th of July, the workers actu- 

 ally massacred the males in the whole six hives, 

 at the same hour and with the same peculiarities. 

 The glass table was covered with bees, full of an- 

 imation, which flew on the drones, seized them 

 by the antennse, the wings, and limbs, and after 

 having di-agged them about, they killed the unfor- 

 tunate victims, by repeated stings, directed be- 

 tween the rings of the belly. The moment that 

 the formidable weapon touched them was the last 

 of their existence ; they stretched their wings 

 and expired. It is evident that bees act in con- 

 cert, that their operations tend to one general ob- 

 ject, and that they are aware of its being fulfilled ;_ 

 and this cannot he done without some mode of 

 communication with each oUicr ; but as all their 

 performances are in the dark, it is extremely diffi- 

 cult to conceive, how they can know each others 

 proceedings." — Thacher's Treatise on Bees, p. 30. 



July 3, 18 29. 



AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS 



The expectations of abundant crops, founded on 

 the fine weather of sjiring, have been much dimin- 

 ished by the long continued drought. The hay 

 harvest of the present year will be less than 

 that of the last by nearly a third. The extraordi- 

 nary production of two successive favorable sea- 

 sons seem to have exhausted the soil, which re- 

 quires renovation by an interval of comparative 

 rest. 



Oats, barley, and rye, are well filled, and the 

 crops of those grains will be good. 



Corn in our vicinity has suflered much from 

 the operations of the cut worm,;is it is called, who 

 gnaws off the stalk at the surface of the ground. 

 Some fields have been destroyed by the enemy, and 

 the owners been compelled to plant potatoes. The 

 only preventive seems to be to search the hills 

 with the hoe or hand and crush the vermin- a 

 process troublesome and slow, but better than 

 siiftering the loss of our staple ivroducts. 



The apple, peach, and pear, will yield very few 

 fruits. The apricot does not bear at all. The 

 cherry which has been less injured than the other 

 tenants of the orchard, although well loaded in the 

 early spring, has suti'ered from a blight, which has 

 made the fruit fall unripened to the ground.— 

 Xai. JEgis. 



From the Soullicin AgricuUurisl. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PREVENTIVE SOCIETIES. 



Mr Editor— At the last meeting of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Horticultural Society, I was much grat- 

 ified to hear the remarks of Mr Derby, of Salem, 

 on the utility of the Society in that town to jne- 

 serve gardens and orchards from trespassers, and 

 midnight marauders. He stated that but one in- 

 stance had occurred since the establishment of 

 the Society, of a garden or orchard (belonging to 

 a member) being robbed ; and that the evil had 

 almost entirely ceased. I understand that Dor- 

 chester, Roxbury, and Quincy have followed the 

 example of Salem ; and every town where fruit is 

 extensively cultivated, would find it for their in- 

 terest to establish similar societies ; and all roam- 

 ing intruders would soon find that trampling on 

 plants, breaking down frees, and shrubbery, &c., 

 cannot be tolerated with less impunity than shop- 

 lifting, or store breaking. 



JVashua Cotton Manufactory,— Ax the factories 

 at Nashua within the last twelve months, 2,240,- 

 000 yards of cloth have been manufactured, con- 

 sisting of sheetings and shirtings, a part of which 

 were for printing. 



ON THE WINTER BEAN. 



We call the attention of agriculturists in the 

 northern, as well as in our own States, to the Win- 

 ter Btan. It is thus mentioned by Chateauvieux, 

 in his letters from Italy, and we presume is the 

 same as that described in English works, under 

 the name of the " Swiss Bean." 



" The winter beans seem the only crop merit- 

 ing particular notice. Within a few years they 

 have been successfiilly introduced into the neigh- 

 borhood of Geneva ; that is to say, into a climate 

 where the winters arc more severe. The beans 

 endufe them without injury, and may be introduc- 

 ed into the northern countries, where they may 

 become a valuable article in agriculture ; being 

 well adapted to fill up vacant spots in various 

 crops. 



" The winter bean resembles the spring bean, 

 in plant, flower, and seed. It is sown in the be- 

 ginning of September, arid it must acquire strength 

 in the autumn to support the severity of the win- 

 ter. The stem withers and dies under the snow, 

 and during frost ; but early in the spring, several 

 new stems shoot from the bottom, which flower in 

 May, and the seeds ripen in July. 



•' The culture is very simple ; after a manured 

 crop of wheat, the earth is turned in by a single 

 ploughing, and moulders by exposure to the 

 weather. The beans are put into the ground early 

 in September, either sown broadcast, and harrow- 

 ed, ploughed in, or drilled in lines, which admits 

 of their being horse-hoed in the spring, otherwise 

 they must be hand-hoed in April. 



" The crop being harvested in July, there is 

 time to prepare tlie land for wheat, which follows 

 it, and usually succeeds well. 



» This culture, adapted to open and clayey soils 

 unfavorable to the growth of roots, accords well 

 with the difierent periods of jdoughing and sow- 

 ing, and keeps up the fertility of the soil. It in- 

 cludes every desirable circumstance, and I have 

 no doubt will extend rapidly."— CAafeaui'ieux, 

 p. 49. 



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