340 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



July 



■WHITTEMOKE'S SELF-LOCKINQ BAKE. 



In the invention and construction of this 

 rake, which was patented February 4, 1868, 

 the proprietors have endeavored to remedy the 

 imperfections and to avoid the objections 

 which the operation of other horse rakes have 

 suggested. By the simple but effective device 

 of a "Lock Lever," the teeth can be held to 

 the ground in heavy work, ojr raised just above 

 the surface, so as to avoid scratching up ma- 

 nure or dirt while operating as an efficient 

 gleaner. Among its other advantages are 

 "clearers," which facilitate the emptying the 

 rake and keep the windrow compact ; its sim- 

 plicity of construction and consequent ease of 

 repair, — each looth, being independent, can 

 be replaced by another, if broken, in five min- 

 utes ; its ease of operation, — being the easiest 

 working rake in the market ; its easy spring 

 seat, which is secured to the axle so as to re- 

 lieve the horse of the weight of the driver. 

 It is furnished either with iron or steel teeth, 

 and is manufactured by Whitteraore, Belcher 

 & Co., at Chicopee Falls, Mass., and is for 

 sale by them at 34 Merchants' Row, Boston. 



PliOUQHINQ UP OLD ORCHAKDS. 



A question frequently arises as to the best 

 course to be pursued with an old neglected or- 

 chard, which has become covered with a dense 

 sod of grass, and this often of an inferior char- 

 acter, and full of disagreeable weeds. Orchards 

 that have been widely planted, and which 

 have gaps from the decay of trees, especially 

 when these have been trimmed up with high 



stems, and long naked branches, do not cast 

 sufficient shade upon the ground to prevent 

 the growth of grass and weeds. These intrud- 

 ers occupy the surface soil to the disadvan- 

 tage of the roots of the fruit trees, and we may 

 wonderfully improve the health of such or- 

 chards by ploughing the ground, and at the 

 same time severely pruning the branches and 

 cleaning the bark of these old trees. These 

 good results may be continued by shallow cul- 

 ture of the soil, with suitable applications of 

 manure where needed. By giving a dose of 

 lime, or marl and ashes, new life, growth and 

 productiveness will astonish and delight the 

 orchardist, and reward him for his labor and 

 his outlay. It may be urged as an objection to 

 breaking up the sod, that the most careful 

 ploughman will unavoidably damage some of 

 the roots that approach the surface ; but this 

 is an injury that must be submitted to ; and 

 after all, it is not such a serious alfair, and is 

 overbalanced by the advantages of renewing 

 the productiveness of the exhausted orchard. 

 Dr. Warder''s American Pomology. 



Transferring Bees. — H. B. K. Kinmundy, 

 111., wants to know the best or readiest way to 

 transfer bees from old box hives to new and 

 improved ones. We know of no better way 

 than that recommended by Langstroth in his 

 treatii^e on the honey bee. When a colony is 

 to be transferred, a box sufficiently large to 

 hold the swarm is provided and placed on the 

 top of the hive to be vacated, with an aper- 

 ture for the admission of the bees into it. 

 This (lone, the entrance holes of the old hive 

 are closed and the sides rapped upon smartly 

 with a stick. This continued for a while will 

 cause the bees to escape up through an open- 

 ing in the hive to the extra box, where they 



