1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



.535 



greater importance, it is entirely abandoned, and a 



useless repetition runs through the whole. At the 

 opening page of the index, in a neat half-title, in 

 capitals so plain that who runs may read, we are 

 told that this is the ''-Index to the Different Fruits," 

 and this is enough for the whole. Now in looking 

 for different fruits mentioned in the index, the 

 reader is obliged to turn to the head of the class, 

 because no catch-word on the top of the page states 

 what fruit is mentioned below. It will not do to 

 say that the names themselves ought to suggest 

 what the fruits are, for not more than one reader 

 in fifty is sufficiently familiar with such names as to 

 make this of any use to him. To one using the 

 book considerably this is a great defect, and one 

 which we hope to see corrected in a future edition. 

 Every person cultivating a dozen trees, should own 

 this work. 



The varieties of apples and pears given are very 

 numerous, and will be likely to lead the beginner 

 astray, as the number of really good varieties of 

 either is comparatively small. We should recom- 

 mend to the common cultivator scarcely more than 

 a dozen varieties of pears, and perhaps double that 

 number of apples. A few varieties, well tended, 

 and producing the best fruit, are worth more than 

 an extended list, producing but an indifferent crop. 

 In former numbers of the Farmer, the reader may 

 find these few varieties given in tabular form. 



EREOSS ABOUT TEE HOHEY-BEE. 



The following remarks from the Albany Cultiva- 

 tor may correct some erroneous notions about the 

 modus operandi of the industrious bee : 



"Many su])pose that the bee culls honey from 

 the nectar of flowers, and carries it to his cell in 

 the hive. This is not correct. The nectar it col- 

 lects from the flower is a portion of his food or 

 drink ; the honey it deposits in its cell is a secre- 

 tion from its mellific, or honey-secreting glands, 

 analogous to the milk-secreting glands of the cow 

 and other animals. If they were the mere collec- 

 tors and transporters of honey from the flowers to 

 the honey-comb, then we should have the comb fre- 

 quently filled with molasses, whenever the bees 

 have fed at a molasses hogshead. The hoViey-bag 

 in the bee performs the same functions as the cow's 

 l)ag or udder — merely receives the honey from the 

 secreting glands, and retains it till a proper oppor- 

 tunity presents for its being deposited in appropri- 

 ate store-houses, the honey comb. 



"Another error is that the bee collects pollen 

 from the flowers accidentally while it is in search 

 of honey. Uuite the contrary is the fact. The bee, 

 when in search of nectar, or honey, as it is improp- 

 erly called, does not collect pollen. It goes in 

 search of pollen especially, and also for nectar. 

 When the pollen of the flower is ripe and fit for 

 the use of the bee there is no nectar in the flower. 

 It is genf.rally supposed, also, that the bee con- 

 structs its comb from such vegetable substances. 

 This, also, is an error. The wax is a secretion 

 from its body, as the honey is; and it makes its 



appearance in small scales or flakes on the belly, 

 and is taken thence by other bees, rendered plas- 

 tic by mixture of the saliva of the bee's mouln, 

 and laid on the walls of the cell with the tongue 

 very much in the way a plasterer uses his trowel." 



For the New England Farmer. 



CULTIVATION OF WHEAT. 



Gov. Brown : — I am happy to have one direcc 

 response from a wheat-growing farmer, through the 

 medium of your paper. Your correspondent, J. D. 

 Canning, Esq., has made a very successful experi- 

 ment with spring wheat the past season, which he 

 publishes "for encouraging my brother farmers." 

 Coming to this sensible conclusion , he says : "I have 

 paid their prices for flour long enough." Every 

 farmer among you should say amen to this truth- 

 ful declaration. From one bushel and three pecks 

 seed, his wheat is equal in value, (to his family,) to 

 five barrels of flour. We can only hope he has 

 the same quantity of winter wheat in the ground, 

 sowed a month ago; if so, he will be almost sure 

 of his wheaten loaves for a twelve month, and tha 

 from three and a half bushels of seed. He will 

 find winter as much better than spring wheat for 

 bread, as winter rye is better than spring for that 

 purpose. Winter will make white, pulpy brea " 

 and pastry, while spring wheat will make dark, 

 heavy flour. 



Your correspondent from Vermont, in your issue 

 of 26lh September, (I think it was on the farm of 

 a Mr. Lovering,) reports forty bushels of winter 

 wheat to the acre. This splendid yield should en- 

 courage every farmer to action. It is to be regret- 

 ted that this report could not have been published 

 in the month of August, that the farmers couk' 

 have had the benefit of earlier information. Whea* 

 should not be sown after the 10th of September, 

 unless upon dry, warm land. Middle of August to 

 1st September is the proper time. 



The writer has raised 40 bushels winter wheat to 

 the acre, and 25 bushels per acre for six consecu 

 tive years, in the county of Essex, Mass. Samue 

 Frothingham, Jr., Esq., at Milton Hill, Mass., rais 

 ed 50 bushels of wheat to the acre. It was good 

 pasture land, highly dressed with pig manure, and 

 plowed in. These facts have been published be- 

 fore, but they will bear repeating, and would not 

 be lost upon the farmer, if he well considered his 

 true interest. 



The subject at this time of money pressure, and 

 at all times without pressure, is of serious import. 

 It is the great bread question, as it concerns New 

 England, whose means and soil are adequate to the 

 wants of her people, for the procuring of every 

 grain that grows. I boldly make the assertion, 

 and shall hold to it till confronted by practical far- 

 mers, who have made fair and proper tests. 



Can any earthly reason be given why the flirmer 

 at the north shall not raise his bread ? The old 

 maxim, "nothing venture nothing have," has been in- 

 dulged in for scores of years. Timidity is often 

 worse than sharp practice. Ten millions of dollars 

 paid the West annually for imported breadstuffs by 

 Massachusetts alone, and her sturdy, honest yeo- 

 manry among its best customers! What a com- 

 mentary ! Surely there must be "something rotten 

 in Denmark." Read and ponder the excellent 

 Vermont letter, (two weeks since.) From about 



