116 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



As needs the axle lubrication, 

 That wheel, unfrictioned, have rotation ; — 

 "As money makes the mare to go," 

 And every quid should have its quo ; — 

 As he that grinds should take his toll, — 

 The ox that treads, ungrudged hia dole,^ 

 And debts of gratitude be paid 

 At least in sound "materiEfl aid," — 

 Please find enclosed in current bills 

 That which your requisition fills, 

 And, as without, were incomplete 

 Our joy, still send your welcome sheet ; — 

 "Long may it wave," — the tiller bless, 

 And still its shadow ne'er be less ; 

 And unborn farmers, through the ages 

 Like us, be gladdened by its pages. 

 — Let "Uncle Sam" be prompt to carry 'em, — 



Yours to command, G. & C. Merriam. 



Springfield, January, 1858. 



For tJie Neio England Farmer. 

 SUBSTITUTE FOR DEAR SUGAR. 



The unprecedented prices of saccharine pro- 

 ducts have recently turned the attention of "Jon- 

 athan" to the subject, to see if there is no sub- 

 stitute to gratify his "sweet tooth," because he 

 has been so long accustomed to this daily luxury, 

 that it is out of the question to expect him to do 

 without entirely, should the article again go up 

 to even higher figures. 



The maple of our norhern forests was put in 

 requisition the past spring, and millions of pounds 

 of sugar from the trees, have taken the place of 

 the southern article. Even If a full supply could 

 be obtained from this source, It could never com- 

 pete successfully with the cane. Land kept in 

 trees expressly for sugar, Is worth many dollars 

 an acre, and the annual taxes and Interest are 

 not always a trifle. The fuel used In evaporation, 

 together with the labor attending it, will always 

 prevent competition with cane, except when sugar 

 is held at high prices. Another substitute for the 

 southern cane Is now offered In the sorgho, which, 

 from recent experiments, promises a supply much 

 below present prices. But even if it Is produced 

 at the lowest possible rates, it will yet be a tax 

 somewhat formidable ; we must furnish land to 

 raise the cane ; this must be plowed, planted, 

 hoed, stalks gathered, crushed and pressed, and 

 fuel used to evaporate the water in the juice. 

 What all this labor, etc., will make it worth by 

 the gallon or pound, now, or what it will cost 

 when every arrangement for reducing the juice is 

 fully established, it Is Impossible to tell. 



These things are mentioned not to condemn 

 or discourage the production of sugar by these 

 means, when nothing else off'ers better ; but as I 

 am about to offer another substitute, I wish to 

 make It appear as favorable in contrast as possi- 

 ble. We are not Indebted to China for Its origin, 

 nor is the labor of the husbandman specially re- 

 quired in its culture. It is produced by forest 

 and lawn, field and garden ; even our very road- 

 sides teem with abundance. I allude to the arti- 

 cle of honey. Not one person in ten thousand 

 has the least conception of the enormous quanti- 

 ty of this delicious nectar annually wasted at our 

 very doors, all for the want of a due considera- 

 tion of its importance. We make an estimate 

 from the following facts In support of our asser- 

 tion. 



In the summer of 1856, there was collected 

 from an estimated area of ten miles square, over 

 42,000 lbs. of honey. The number of stocks In 

 spring was about 800, the Increase by swarms, 

 400, after supplying deficiencies In the original 

 number. 22,000 lbs. of this product (including 

 glass boxes) was surplus or box honey; 12,000 

 was stored by the new swarms, (30 lbs. each,) 

 8000 was taken from the old and deficient hives, 

 that had to be taken up. The amount in the old 

 stocks for wintering the bees Is not estimated. 

 Ten miles square being an area of one hundred 

 square miles, would give one square mile for 

 every eight stocks, thus producing 420 lbs. of 

 honey to the square mile. Taking these results 

 as a basis for an estimate of what is wasted, we 

 will see what was produced by this (New York) 

 State alone, which contains 47,000 square miles. 

 Supposing each square mile to produce 420 lbs., 

 we have an aggregate of 19,740,000 lbs. Should 

 we go further, and take the millions of square 

 miles In the United States and Territories at the 

 same rate, or a tenth part of it, it would go a 

 great way towards furnishing us with sweet, at 

 least in productive seasons. The probability is, 

 that not a tithe of the honey produced on this 

 area of ten miles square was collected, if we 

 should judge by the number of stocks maintained 

 on a square mile in some parts of Europe. Quo- 

 tations by Mr. Langstroth state : "In the prov- 

 ince of Attica, In Greece, containing forty-five 

 square miles, there are kept 20,000 hives." "East 

 Friesland, a province In Holland, containing 

 1,200 square miles, maintains an average of 2000 

 colonies per square mile." 



The summer of 1857 produced only about one- 

 quarter of the fore mentioned results. The one 

 season being the best, ,and the other the j)oorest 

 we have ever known, the two together would 

 make an average of about 26,000 lbs. that might 

 be expected annually from that number of stocks. 

 Taking this average as a data, what would be the 

 cost per pound ? One man can take charge of 

 one hundred stocks, or one-eighth of the whole, 

 but it would require only about two months of 

 his time in the year ; yet nearly another month 

 would be required by a mechanic, or a man suf- 

 ficiently skilled to use a handsaw and hammer to 

 make hives, boxes, &Ci; say the labor would be 

 $75, cost of materials, $50. Now if no Interest 

 is reckoned for money invested, this honey costs 

 less than four cents per pound. But if we take 

 the price that honey often commands in market, 

 about 20 cts., the 3250 lbs. (the average amount 

 that 100 stocks would collect,) will amount to 

 $650. Deduct the expenses, $125, and there will 

 be left $525 for the annual profits of bee culture, 

 which ought to be enough in one season to pay 

 all necessary costs in purchasing stocks to start 

 an apiary of that extent. Several instances are 

 known, where the products sold, aside from the 

 increase of stocks, was more than sufficient to pay 

 all charges in care, as well as the original cost of 

 the apiary. This is paying very well for labor 

 and money invested. What pays better ? We 

 have shown, conclusively, it would seem, that 

 there Is sufficient material in the country for ex- 

 tensive operations. We have shown also, that its 

 collection is a practical, and at the same time, a 

 profitable business. All that now seems wanting 

 to render this product available, is the energy to 



