iia 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



INlARcn 



exclamation of pain would stop the further 

 progress of the visitor. 



The care of bees is always attended with 

 some danger, so that every person engaged in 

 it should protect himself by an old hat with a 

 calico sack tied above the rim, and a piece of 

 wire gauze sewed into the sack in front of the 

 face ; then with gloves having long wrists tied 

 over the sleeves of the sack, he is proof 

 against any number of bees. The women will 

 take an old dress and fit the whole thing up in 

 an hour. 



In an article in the Scottish Farmer, Mr. 

 James Bruce says the agricultural population 

 of that country cannot be too strongly im- 

 pressed with the importance of keeping bees. 

 In many parts of Russia, some peasants have 

 hundreds of bee hives, and really make more 

 profit of their bees than of corn. In one lo- 

 cality the number of hives was incredible ; a 

 single parish forest, he was informed, pos- 

 sessed Jive hundred sivarms ! 



Honey is said to possess so great restorative 

 powers, that in some instances, at the point 

 of death, when all stimulants and tonics had 

 failed, a table spoonful, given every half hour 

 has rallied and saved the patient. 



As honey is highly esteemed by most per- 

 sons as an article of food, and as it commands 

 a high price — the supply being scarcely equal 

 to the demand — the culture of bees is worthy 

 of attention in an economical point of view. It 

 is not probable that anything like the amount 

 of saccharine material, produced in flowers, 

 sap of trees, dews or depositions on the leaves 

 of plants, juices of fruits, &c., &c., is col- 

 lected in any year. All that seems necessary, 

 then, to make honey abundant, is the culture 

 of more bees. In doing this, we would cau- 

 tion the beginner to observe the habits of bees 

 in their natural condition, and learn from them, 

 as far as possible, the best mode of manage- 

 ment when brought under the care of man. 

 We are inclined to think that in many cases 

 they are managed ton much, and that if kept 

 nearer their natural condition they would prove 

 more profitable. The devices for hives are 

 exceedingly numerous ; some of them excel- 

 lent, but many of them expensive, complicated 

 and worthless. 



The two great enemies of bees are worms 

 and moisture ; keep them free from these, and 

 with a little attention in feeding young or weak 



swarms, one may find their culture pleasant 

 and profitable. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 FARM HELP— No. II. 



Boy Lahok. — Formerly, broad shoulders, 

 deep chests and brawny arms were considered 

 prime requisites for farm labort^rs. Boys of 

 slender constitutions or of promising intellect 

 could not possibly be kept at home with the 

 expectation of Ijecoming profitable help ; and 

 to those of a mechanical turn of mind, the 

 vast amount of muscular labor to be performed 

 was irksome and monotonous in the extreme. 

 But now, with the introduction of machinery, 

 with more commodious and convenient build- 

 ings, and new and improved methods of hus- 

 bandry, comes the demand for something higher 

 than mere strength of muscle. Activity and 

 skill are fully as desirable qualities. There no 

 longer exists the necessity of sending boys to 

 the counting room, factory or work shop to 

 find employments adapted to their strength ; 

 for in agricultural, as in all the industrial arts, 

 knowledge is showing its power over material 

 forces ; and the terrors of the most w^'aring 

 and laborious parts of farm work vanish be 

 fore this ability to trani-fer what before could 

 only be performed by human muscles, to wood, 

 iron, hordes and oxen. And the multi[)lication 

 of mechanical appliances tend to bring the 

 work more and more within the capacity of 

 the young, the feeble, or the old. A slender 

 youth, a lame, or an old man can now do all 

 the mowing and raking on a large farm. Care- 

 ful and well trained lads, as a part of the farm 

 force, can render more efficient service than 

 heavy and clumsy men. The profits of some 

 kinds of crops depend upon the amount of this 

 light and cheap help at command. Where 

 only able bodied men are employed, the labor 

 bills rise to a high figure, and here in New 

 England we must resort to every means in our 

 power to reduce the cost of production, that 

 we may be better able to withsitand the sharp 

 competition from the more productive portions 

 of llie country. Not only can the farmer's 

 own children find abundant work at remunera- 

 tive wages, but all the availaMe help of the 

 neighboriiood can be profitably employed. 



But with the emplo}ment of cliilflren, the 

 (juestion naturally arises, how can their servi- 

 ces be made really ])rolitable, while their edu- 

 cation is not neglected. No one who values 

 the future of the child, can for a moment ad- 

 vocate that work should take the precedence 

 of study. Youth is the j)recious seed-time of 

 life, and the golden opportunities of this pe- 

 riod once lost, are seldom recovered. The 

 word education is very comprehensive in its 

 meaning; and that of farmers' sons should be 

 emphatically of a practical nature. It cannot 

 be measured by the number of hours they pass 

 in the school room; it means something be- 

 sides mere scholastic learning, and is largely 



