No. 8. 



Editorial Notices. 



261 



Ihat next day, about eleven o'clock, similar move- 

 ments precisely wore observed, and after being on the 

 wing for ten or fifteen minutes, they settled on the 

 front of a tight board fence, say thirty feet from the 

 hive they had left. A kind neighbour, who had less 

 the fear of them before his eyes, than ourself, having 

 the head and breast protected by a vail, and the hands 

 with gloves, quietly scraped them into the two com- 

 partments of a glass hive, similar to that from which 

 they had emigrated. It was placed on a table 

 near by, and those which had been left on the fence, 

 or which had been thrown on the ground, gradually 

 gathered to it, and all soon became quiet. In the 

 evening it was moved to the place designed for it in 

 the yard, directly under the parlor window, where 

 it still remains. They went immediately to work, 

 and made through the season, 3.5 or 40 lbs. of honey, 

 nil of which was left for their subsistence during the 

 winter: they are now in fine condition, and will not 

 consume more than two-thirds of their provender. 

 Small boxes were subsequently, at different times, 

 placed on the top of the old hive in the bath room, 

 and after those below, in which the bees live, were 

 weil tilled, they went to work and filled the smaller 

 ones. On the 30th of the Eighth month, two were 

 taken off weighing 19 lbs., and another put in their 

 place. This was removed on the 26th of the month 

 following, and weighed 5 lbs. So that the original 

 Bwarm which cost $5, threw off another fine colony, 

 and yielded beside, 24 lbs. of delicious honey. 



Several of our friends are successful with their bees 

 in Philadelphia ; and our own plantation at least, 

 shows that even in the heart of a populous city, the 

 industrious habits of the honey bee do not forsake her. 



The box brought by J. Comfort, and to which we are 

 exceedingly partial, is as simple as such a thing can 

 well be: to this recommendation of simplicity, is added 

 the entire facility with which the operations of the 

 interior may be at all times, and safely observed. 



At the time of swarming, we believed that consider- 

 ably more than half the bees left the box in the bath 

 room, and went with the new colony. Who gave the 

 watchword when to move? and in what way was it 

 decided who should go, and who remain? 



We have received a letter from William Henry So 

 tham, in relation to the questions put to him by a 

 writer in our last number, under the signature of 

 " Fair Play." He complains that a name is not 

 given; — we are acquainted with "Fair Play," and 

 know well the responsibility of his character. The 

 questions were asked in all fairness, and solely with a 

 view to have the position of W. H. Sotham more ac- 

 curately defined. The writer of the questions, does 

 not apprehend that his anonymous character ought to 

 shut Iiini out from the privilege of being explicitly an- 

 swered. 



We have not lately met with an agricultural letter 

 that has atlbrded so much interest as that sent us by 

 Dr. Mease, on " Scotch Farming in the Lothiaits." The 

 DootiOr will please accept our thanks for his kindness, 

 as well as the thanks of our readers, who, we are sat- 

 isfied, will gather from the letter, valuable hints and 

 subjects for sober reflection. We feel decidedly partial 



to many of the plans of our own country, and have so 

 much confidence in the shrewdness of our farmers, as 

 to believe they understand their business pretty well, 

 and have so studied their position as to have judicious- 

 ly accommodated their plans to it— yet, there is un- 

 questionably much still to be learned, even by the 

 wisest and thriftiest cultivator among us. We appre- 

 hend '• the great deficiency with our best fanning," is 

 not only "economy of management," but also " weight 

 of produce." The writer of the letter says, that on 

 some farms in England, "it might be dilHcult to in- 

 crease the produce." Where are the farms in this 

 country, of which a similar remark might be justly 

 made ? 



One hundred thousand tons of potatoes— probably 

 4,000,000 of bushels— were sent last year to the London 

 market from the county of Perth, which lies above 

 Edinburgh, between the oUth and 57th degrees of north 

 latitude. According to the published returns, the 

 whole State of Pennsylvania, raised in 1842, less than 

 13,000,000 bushels. The concluding part of W. R. 

 Greg's letter will be given in our next number. 



The growing of Wool is becoming every day of in- 

 creased importance, and in almost every district of our 

 widely extended country, the attention of the people 

 is directed to it. From Vermont to Carolina, and from 

 the seaboard to Mississippi, and the Western Prairie, 

 particular facilities are claimed, and particular induce- 

 ments offered for further investments of capital in 

 heep husbandry. A late number of the Southwest- 

 ern Farmer, published at Raymond, Miss., says, "We 

 conceive that in a few years, wool growing will be 

 only second to that of cotton in our State." The at- 

 tention of our Eastern farmers has been of late, con- 

 siderably turned to the West, in reference to this 

 branch of their business; and should the experiment— 

 which is yet to be still further tested— of wintering 

 sheep on the wild and natural grasses of the prairies, 

 succeed even tolerably well, their multiplication may 

 be almost without limit, and certainly to an extent 

 equal to all the demands of the country. 



We hope the articles on Sheep Husbandry — Wool 

 Growing and Sheep- vi-alks, from the Delaware Journal 

 and the National Intelligencer, which appear in this 

 number, and both of which were forwarded for publi- 

 cation in the Cabinet, will not be found to occupy 

 more room than is appropriate to these subjects. 



The promised work now in course of preparation on 

 the Diseases of Cattle and Sheep, by our friend J. S. 

 Skinner, and to be shortly published by Lea & Blan- 

 chard, of this city, will, we have no doubt, add to the 

 already well acquired reputation of its editor. 



We have received the first number of the Western 

 Cultivator, edited by W. Thompson Hatch, and pub- 

 lished at Indianapolis, Indiana. It appears in neat 

 pamphlet form, and is filled with matter useful to the 

 farmer. 



"Observations on Vegetabl'e and Animal Physiolo- 

 gy," by Dr. William L. Wight, of Virginia, has been 

 kindly forwarded. The earnestness and tact with 

 which the Doctor pursues his subject, are two efficicn 

 means in making it interesting to his readers. 



