94 



THE FARNERS' CABINET. 



VOL. 1. 



his hojrs into his orchard to eat the fallinjj 

 fruit ; thut the orchard being larj^e, the hogs 

 were able to consume only u part of the ap- 

 ples ; that he had several times went into 

 the orchard to aiscertain wliich lliey preferred, 

 the sweet or tiie sour ; that he uniformly 

 found that they selected from both, and that 

 they rejected as many of the sweet as of the 

 sour. Hence sour apples are nutritious, and 

 as palatatile to man and beast, as sweet ap- 

 ples, and .ought to be as extensively culti- 

 vated. 



Circoloiirical I[>cfsiBitEons. 



The Primitive Marlhs, are four ; clay, 

 sand, lime and magnesia. 



Clay, is called by Geologists, alumia, alu- 

 mine or argellaceous earth. 



Sand, is called silex, silica, silicious earth, 

 or eartli of flints. 



Lime, as it exists in the soil, is commonly 

 called calcareous earth. The term calcareous 

 is not properly applied to any soil, unless it 

 will effervesce vv:th acids. 



Eacli of these earths answer a determinate 

 and specific purpose in the economy and 

 growth of plants ; and the perfection of soil 

 lies in a mixture of the v^hole. 



Basis of the whole. The primitive earths 

 which enter into its composition. 



Vegetable matter. All vegetable substances 

 in a decaying or rotton state. 



Animal mailer. All animal substances in 

 a putrifying state. 



Organic mailer. A term applicable to both 

 animal and vegetable substances in a putri- 

 fying state. 



Vegetable mould. The earthly remains of 

 vegetable substances which Jiave either 

 grown and decayed on the soil, or have been 

 conveyed thither in the progress of cultiva- 

 tion. 



Loam, is a combination of vegetable mould 

 with the primitive earths. 



Lime, is a substance consisting of lime 

 with a small portion of clay, and sometimes 

 of peat, with a marine sand and animal re- 

 mains. It is useful as manure, and is dis- 

 tinguished by shell clay and stone marl. 



MMuugcnicut of ISec§. 



Most people are fond of honey, and many 

 are also fond of bestowing upon Bees those 

 cares which seem necessary to render them 

 the most profitable. One of the most trouble- 

 some parts of the management of these re- 

 publicans, is the time wlien, from an over- 

 population, like the New-England States, 

 they sec lit to emigrate or swarm, as the time 

 which they select for this, is not always the 

 iriost convenient for the farmer to attend to 

 them. Now it is with this, as with other 



business of agriculture; it should be done 

 in proper season, and when it will best suit 

 the convenience of the superintendent. As 

 to the prosperity of the bees, it is altogether 

 indifierent whether they fix upon the time 

 of emigration or whether the husbandman 

 does, so that he uses judgment in the matter. 

 If he finds in the month of May or June that 

 any of his hives are overstocked with bees, 

 he should remove them into another, which, 

 if repeated as often as the old hive becomes 

 over-stocked, will prevent their swarming at 

 all. Swarms separated from tlie parent hive 

 in this way, do equally as well as when left 

 to fly out and separate themselves, besides 

 much time and loss of honey is saved ; for 

 when a hive becomes over-stocked, the major 

 part of the bees which constitute afterwards 

 the new swarm, do not work at all, but live 

 upon the honey produced by the old and more 

 industrious part of the community, and the 

 quicker they are taken off after their number 

 is sufficient to form a well regulated republic, 

 the better. 



For doing this, let the old hive be turned 

 bottom upwards, and the new hive set upon 

 it ; strike lightly upon the lower hive, and 

 many of the bees will ascend into the upper 

 hive; when a sufficient number has collected 

 in the new hive for a swarm, take it off' and 

 set it upon the bench, and return the old one 

 to its former position. In doing this, to in- 

 sure success, it is necessary that one of the 

 queens should accompany the new swarm, 

 which may be known in the course of a day 

 or two ; for if they iiave no queen, they will 

 not stay in the new hive, but will return to 

 the old one ; but if they have a queen, some 

 of the bees may be seen in the course of 

 twenty-four hours, standing near the entrance 

 into the hive, amusing themselves by raising 

 their bodies to the full length of their legs, 

 and giving their wings a rapid motion, making 

 a steady buzzing noise. This may be con- 

 sidered as an indication of their satisfaction 

 and the success of the operation. Somtr 

 consider mid-day the most favorable time for 

 doing this ; others, again, prefer the evening 

 but either will answer, and the trouble at- 

 tending is not greater than that of hiving 

 them when the swarms are allowed to come 

 out in the common manner, and the danger 

 of havmg them go oft' is avoided. Anotiier 

 very great advantage of this method is, the 

 young swarms commence working early, by 

 which they are more certain of laying up 

 sufficient food for winter. Where the com- 

 mon shaped liivcs are to be continued, we 

 would recommend to those who are keeping 

 bees, to fry one or two swarms as above, 

 which will give them more satisfactory evi- 

 dence, either for or against the practice, than 

 all that can be written on the subtecl. The 



