80 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



a peculiar uar-song, and, seeing the coast clear, darts in 

 and secures a load of honey, and returns to its home. In 

 a few minutes several bees will flit along, stopping in 

 front of the robbed hive, near the passage-way, still 

 poised on the wing and singiDg that peculiar robber-song 

 with which all experienced bee keepers are familiar. One 

 bv one they enter, and the result is, that frequently in fif- 

 teen minutes I have known a previously robbed hive, 

 after a period of being closed, to be assailed by thousands 

 of bees, through information imparted by a single pioneer 

 robber. 



The remedy against robbery, is to contract the passage- 

 ways of the hives, not after the damage has been com- 

 menced, but before it is effected. Examine your families 

 as you set them out in the spring, and immediately close 

 up the passage-ways of all weak ones, so that but one or 

 two bees can go in and out at the same time. Some fam- 

 ilies that are moderately strong in numbers should have 

 a half an inch of space, more or less, according to. the 

 number of bees in the hive. Keep the passage-ways thus 

 closed till the apple trees blossom, after which fhey may be 

 fully opened. 



When a hive is discovered fully in possession of rob- 

 bers, it should be closed at once, and the robbers let out 

 at evening, when the hive should be closed again. In 

 some cases, by removing such hives, if the bees are not 

 wholly overpowered, or by a careful opening of the pass- 

 age-ways after a day or two, the bees may be saved ; but 

 twenty years experience has convinced me that when rob- 

 bers get control of a hive of bees, it is useless to attempt 

 to save anything but the honey remaining in it. 



Clinton, N. Y. T. B. MINER. 



THE CARKOT-ITS VALUE, PRODUCTIVENESS, &c. 



Ens. Genesee Farmer : — Much has been written 

 ■within the last few years upon the subject of car- 

 Tot cultivation; and the result is now being made 

 manifest in the greater practical interest awakened, 

 and the more extensive cultivation of that excel- 

 lent root. In Illinois it is particularly true that 

 during the past season more carrots were raised 

 than had been before for many years. Experience 

 »will demonstrate, what thousands are now ignorant 

 .of, that this root is one of the most profitable of 

 ,farm products, and consequently should be pro- 

 'duced iu greater abundance than it now is. Pars- 

 me|»s, beets, and the different kinds of turnips, are 

 .also valuable products; but I reckon the carrot 

 ►superior to them all. I am prompted to make 

 (these remarks from a personal experience of more 

 .tlum twenty-five years. I can not, therefore, re- 

 train from earnestly recommending its cultivation 

 ito the readers of your widely circulated paper. 



OF ITS VALUE. 



Its value, so far as its nutritive properties are 

 concerned, can only be ascertained proximately by 

 a comparison with the coarser grains, as corn, peas, 

 barley, etc. As food for swine, sheep, cows and 

 horses, one bushel and a half of carrots, it is be- 

 lieved, is equal to half a bushel of shelled corn. 

 •Others estimate that one bushel of carrots is equal 

 to a like quantity of Illinois corn in the ear — this 

 corn yielding about twenty quarts from one bushel 

 of ears. This maybe thought too high an estimate 



of its value. But supposing it is worth only one- 

 quarter as much as corn, still it is a valuable pro- 

 duct. I have exchanged bushel for bushel, and be- 

 lieve this is the general rule of exchange here, 

 though, of course, such an exchange could not be 

 expected in sections of the country where the mar- 

 ket price for corn is much higher. 



ITS PRODUCTIVENESS. 



When it has been proved again and again that 

 from one thousand to fifteen hundred bushels can 

 be raised on an acre, can any man for a moment 

 doubt the value of such a crop ? Can a quarter of 

 that number of bushels of corn be raised on an 

 acre? Can you get an equivalent in oats, or rye, 

 or barley ? No ; I venture to say you could not, 

 with the same amount of labor, on any number of 

 acres. 



ITS ADAPTATION FOR FOOD. 



I find from experience, that when fed to swine, 

 young cattle, sheep, cows and horses, all seem fond 

 of the roots and thrive on them. Pigs can be win- 

 tered on them profitably with but little other food, 

 as has been repeatedly demonstrated. Sheep do 

 well on them. Cut fine with a root cutter or other 

 instrument. They should be fed to them in long 

 troughs or shallow boxes ; and it is a pleasure to 

 see with what greediness they will devour them. 

 They seem peculiarly adapted to ewes, especially in 

 the spring, before and while they are nursing their 

 young. Milch cows in the fall, winter and spring, 

 also thrive on them, giving a greater quantity and 

 a better quality of milk. I can make in mid-win- 

 ter more butter and of better quality from a half a 

 bushel of carrots per day, than I could in mid- 

 summer without carrots. They seem to possess 

 some hidden property which gives a healthy tone 

 to the lacteal organs, proving beyond peradventure 

 their adaptedness and value as food for cows. 

 That they are also excellent for horses, has been 

 repeatedly proven. Horses feed freely on them, 

 and, with a suitable quantity of good hay, will or- 

 dinarily need but few oats to enable them to per- 

 form a great amount of labor; and at the same 

 time will be less liable to diseases of the bowels 

 and chest than when fed exclusively on hay and 

 grain. 



What is not least among their recommendatory 

 qualities, is their adaptedness to table use. Most 

 people are fond of them when prepared for the 

 table in the same way as beets. They make excel- 

 lent pickles. When dried and ground the same as 

 the coffee-bean, they make a very agreeable and 

 healthy beverage. They also make excellent pies, 

 and are pronounced by many as decidedly superior 

 to the best pumpkin pies, prepared as they are 

 very much like them, by the addition of milk, eggs, 

 sugar and spices, after being carefully stewed and 

 mashed. 



THEIK CLEANLINESS. 



Everyone who has raised them knows how little 

 dirt adheres to them, especially if grown in a sandy 

 soil and dug while the ground is not very. moist. 

 This fact is no small recommendation, since the 

 labor of washing before using them is dispensed 

 with. 



THE^ COMPARATIVE CERTAINTY OF A FULL CROP. 



No crop that the fanner raises or can raise is 

 more certain than the carrot. The tender plants, 



