184 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



VOL. I. 



on an acre the first year; and we fain would 

 ask, — what can be put in an acre that will 

 yield so handsome a profit? 



The estimated expense of attending an 

 acre in the mulberry and silk culture, as as- 

 sumed by us, we have always considered 

 large, and think so still ; but we purposely 

 made it so, in order that we might, in its ex- 

 cess, cover all possible contingencies. From 

 some little experience of the last year, we 

 sincerely believe that the expense of gather- 

 ing leaves and feeding the worms might be 

 lessened 33 1-3 per cent, by judicious man- 

 agement, and we are certain that in pro- 

 portion to the extent of an establishment 

 would the expense be reduced. 



Brief Hints for Coinincucing 

 Winter. 



Cattle and domestic animals should com- 

 mence the winter in good condition. 



Do not undertake to winter more cattle 

 than you have abundant means of providing 

 for. 



Let every farmer aim to have next spring, 

 instead of thin, bony, slab-sided, shaggy 

 cattle, fine, smooth, round and healthy ones, 

 and to this end let him spare no pains ; and, 



First, let the cattle be well fed. 



Secondly, let them be fed regularly. 



Thirdly, let them be properly sheltered 

 from the pelting storm. 



Proper food and regularity of feeding will 

 save the flesh on the animal's back, and 

 shelter will save the fodder. 



All domestic animals in considerable 

 numbers should be divided into parcels and 

 separated from the other in order that the 

 weaker may not suffer from the domination 

 of the stronger, nor the diseased from the 

 vigorous. 



Farmers who have raised root crops, (and 

 all good farmers have doubtless done so,) 

 should cut them up and mix them with drier 

 food, as meal, chopped hay, straw or corn- 

 stalks, and fi ed them to cattle and sheep. 



Cow-houses and cattle stables should be 

 kept very clean and well littered. To al- 

 low animals to lie down in the filth which 

 is sometimes suffered to collect in stables, is 

 perfectly insufferable. By using plenty of 

 straw or litter, the consequentincrease in the 

 quantity of manure, will much more than 

 repay the supposed waste in straw. 



All stables should be properly ventilated. 



Mixing food is generally better than feed- 

 ing cattle on one substance alone. 



Cattle will generally eat straw with as 

 much readiness as hay if it is sailed co|)ious- 

 ly, which may be done by sprinkling brine 

 over it. 



A great saving is made by cutting not only 

 straw and cornstalks, but hay also. 



Sheep, as well as all other domestic ani- 

 mals, should have a constant supply of good 

 water during winter. They should also be 

 properly sheltered from the storm, for a great 

 point in the secret of keeping them in good 

 condition, is to keep them cowfortuhle. — 

 Genesee Farmer. 



Wew Bee Hive. 



The New York Evening Post, states 



that an inhabitant of Connecticut, Mr. Juda, 



has invented a contrivance, by means of 



which bees are made to build their cells and 



deposit their honey in the chamber of a 



dwelling house appropriated to the purpose, 



in neat little drawers from which it may be 



taken fresh by the owner, without killing 



them. A Connecticut paper describes it as 



follows. 



" The hive has the appearance of, and is in 

 part, a mahogany bureau or sideboard, with 

 drawers above and a closet below, with glass 

 doors. This case or bereau is designed to 

 be placed in a chamber of the house, or any 

 other suitable building, and connected with 

 the open air or outside of the house by a 

 tube passing through the wall. The bees 

 work and deposit their honey in drawers. 

 When these or any of them are full, or if it 

 is desired to obtain honey, one or more of 

 them may be taken out, tiie bees allowed to 

 escape into the other part of the hive, and 

 the honey taken away." 



The glass doors allow the working of the 



bees to be observed — and it is added that 



the spaciousness, cleanliness, and the even 



temperature of the habitations provided for 



them in this manner, render them the more 



industrious. 



Agriculture. 



The pursuit of agriculture, in all its 

 branches, offers to a liberal mind, opportuni- 

 ties for research and experiments, which is 

 denied in almost every other department of 

 science. The perfection to which all other 

 professions and sciences have arrived, leave 

 nothing to the follower of them at the present 

 day, but study and toil, in acquiring a know- 

 ledge of the discoveries and inventions of 

 others. By some accidental circumstance, 

 like that which revealed to Newton's mind 

 the eternal law of gravitations, some new 

 discovery in astronomy may yet be made; 

 but the devotee of science who starts with 

 the determination of laboring until he dis- 

 covers some new principle by which ilie 



