8S2 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



* fascinate the senses. It is in these moods that 

 she wreathes the trees with flowers for a short 

 time in the spring, and, just before the dusky 

 shades of autumn have settled upon the earth, 

 iUuminates the forests with colors as beautiful 

 as they are evanescent. 



Another group of flowering trees — found 

 rarely in northern climes — is represented by 

 the magnolia and the tulip tree. These trees 

 have obtained a great deal of celebrity on ac- 

 count of their blossoms, which are chiefly re- 

 markable for their extraordinary size and their 

 powerful fragrance. The magnolia, with its 

 dark evergreen foliage, is a valuable gift of 

 nature to the inhabitants of the arid plains and 

 valleys of the South ; and its flowers make a 

 magnificent appearance at certain seasons. 

 The tulip tree has many of the same charac- 

 teristics ; it attains in favorable situations an 

 extraordinary size, and is an admirable orna- 

 ment for dressed grounds, where its lofty stat- 

 ure, its symmetrical form, its smooth branches, 

 and its polished foliage, are in "excellent 

 keeping" with the graded lawn, the fanciful 

 flower beds, the serpentine walks, and other 

 pseudo-natural affectations. — Atlantic Month- 

 ly for June. 



HIVING BEES. 



When bee% are allowed to swarm naturally, 

 everything should be in readiness before the 

 swarming season arrives, so that when swarms 

 come off there may be no confusion or difficulty 

 in hiving. Hives should be kept cool, and if 

 old, they should be well cleaned. If a swarm 

 is seen issuing from a hive, do not get in a 

 "flurry," but keep cool, and nineteen times 

 out of twenty they will cluster all right. As 

 soon as they have settled, prepare to hive 

 them. 



First. — Bring a dish of cold water, and with 

 the hand or a whisk of grass, sprinkle the 

 cluster well. This will make them perfectly 

 quiet and easy to handle. Bring out a table, 

 or if that is not convenient, spread a cloth or 

 boards upon the ground, and if they are to be 

 hived into a common box or straw hive, set it 

 upon the table or place prepared for it, raise 

 up one side an incb or more, and put under a 

 stone or chip to hold it. Then shake your 

 bees into a pan, Ijasket, pail, or any dish that 

 will hold them, and turn them down near the 

 hive, and they will at once commence to enter. 

 If it is desirable to have them enter faster than 

 they are naturally inclined to do, take a wing 

 and gently wing them in. As soon as all or 

 nearly all are in. the hive should be carried to 

 its stand, and well shaded if the sun is shining. 

 New hives or newly painted hives should be 

 shaded for several days, as bees cannot stay in 

 an over-heated hive. If the bees cluster upon 

 a limb, from which it would be diflicult to shake 

 them, the limb may be cut off with a saw and 

 laid near the hive ; the bees will soon leave 

 and enter. Sometimes bees will cluster upon 



the body of a tree, when it is more difficult to 

 get them off without irritating them. They 

 should be well sprinkled, and very carefully 

 brushed off with a wing or quill feather into a 

 dish, and carried to the hive as before stated. 

 4^n inexperienced person, or novice, should in 

 this case wear a bee-protector. It will give 

 them courage, and they will move more care- 

 fully. 



Swarms should never be allowed to stand 

 where they are hived until evening, as is the 

 practice with some, but should be moved at 

 once to their stand, as some of the bees will 

 go into the field to work in ten minutes after 

 they are hived ; and if left until evening large 

 numbers will have commenced to work, and 

 having marked the spot will return there the 

 next day, and not finding the hive, will wan- 

 der about, and many will be lost. Second 

 swarms are generally far more irritable than 

 first or top swarms ; hence, these are far more 

 likely to sting ; but cold water will soon quiet 

 them, and they may then be hived with safety. 

 — Canada Farmer. 



THE SWEET POTATO. 

 The land for this potato should be deeply 

 ploughed, well harrowed, and thoroughly pul- 

 verized. It should then be made Into ridges 

 about thirty inches wide, and twelve inches 

 high, and a'bout four feet apart in the rows. 

 The tops of the ridges should be levelled. A 

 hole should be made with a trowel large and 

 deep enouph to receive the plant, which mubt 

 be started In a hot bed or otherwise ; fine, 

 mellow earth should be rattled in about the 

 roots till the hole is filled within about an inch 

 of the surface. Should the weather be dry, a 

 small portion of water is poured in among the 

 roots of each plant, and then allowed to soak, 

 then more earth put in to fill up the hole. As 

 soon as the plants begin io grow, they may be 

 hoed and cleaned until the vines begin to 

 grow. The ridges should be kept clear of 

 weeds, and the surface loosened by the hoe. 

 Should the vines be inclined to strike or root 

 at the joints, they should be carefully lifted 

 and laid on the top of the ridges. This leaves 

 the soil well exposed to the sun. Sweet po- 

 tatoes should be dug before the frost. The 

 Brazilians and Nansemonds are thought to be 

 the most jiroductive. — Rural West. 



— Wool Ijuyers say that farmers might as rea- 

 sonably expect to sell cobs tor the same price as 

 corn, as grease and dirt for the »ame price as wool. 

 And they probaljly think that saying hits some- 

 body pretty hard. At the West we believe com is 

 sold with and without the cob on which it grows, 

 and when wool buyers understand their hu.'-iness 

 as well as corn buyers do theirs, we think none 

 but those incompetent to buy wool on its merits, 

 will think there is anything verj- smart in such 

 flings at wool growers. 



