134 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Hampshire, who drew large quantities of water | 

 from a deep well, with a pole, was repeatedly 

 observed, at her evening devotions, bclorf 

 the bible, unconsciously moving her arm all 

 the while, as in drawing the bucket from the 

 well. 



Mr. C. who committed suicide two years 

 since, was constantly pinching his lelt cheek 

 if his lelt hand was not otherwise employed. 

 The consequence was, a hard callus, ot the 

 eize of a dollar, formed over the buccinator mus- 

 cle, that materially injured his speech ; he could 

 not blow out a candle, nor bring his tips to the 

 blowing hole of a flute, on which he was for- 

 merly a good player. 



NoTitmher. — Now begin your preparations 

 for winter. See that your windows are repair- 

 ed, loose boards and shingles fastened ; your 

 carts, ploughs, hoes, &:c. safely sheltered. — 

 School now demands particular attention. Be 

 cautious whom you obtain for a teacher. No 

 man should be employed without a strict exam- 

 ination. Beside sustaining a fair moral charac- 

 ter, it would be desirable if every teacher ol 

 children were a christian : almost every thing, 

 in future life, depends upon early impressions 

 and habits. Some teachers are certainly worse 

 than none — they are gross!}- ignorant of what 

 they attempt to teach, having no regard for the 

 mental or moral improvement of their pupils. 

 Be not so anxious for a cheap master, as for a 

 good one. — Christian Almanack. 



Fifty millions of dollars, (says a writer) it is 

 calculated, will be spent this year in the Unit- 

 ed States for ardent spirits — that will be about 

 J5 for each individual on the average; while 

 our national tax is about §2 ! " But," »ays u 

 writer, "Fifty millions of dollars lost is a tri- 

 fle, a point of vanity compared with the moral 

 influence of intemperance. This immense sum 

 has poured down the throats of about 4,000,000 

 of men 75,000,000 gallons of liquid fire. A 

 quantity sufficient to supply a constant stream 

 " of 8000 gallons an hour — a quantity which, it 

 collected, and put into a reservoir, would form 

 a small ocean, on whose bosom might be an- 

 chored a line of war ship half a mile in length, 

 or, if gathered into a canal, would till one four 

 feet deep, fourteen feet wide, and thirty miles 

 long. — Connecticut Herald. 



From the American Farmer. 

 " Ardent spirits are not only eminently de- 

 structive to the body, but are the most powerful 

 incentives to vice of every kind ; drunkenness 

 engenders all other crimes. Does the robber 

 pause in his trade ? Does the murderer hesi- 

 tate ? They are presently wound up at th^ gin 

 shop. Has the seducer tried his arts in vain? 

 The brothel is more indebted to this source, 

 than to all the other lures to seduction. '^ — Frotn 

 Hints for the Preservation of Heallh. — Callow, 

 1813, 12 mo. p. 2. 



Good Liquid Blacking for Boots i,- Shoes. — Mix 

 a quarter of a pound of ivory black with a table 

 spoonful of sweet oil, dissolve a penny-worth of 

 copperas, and Stable spoonfuls of molasses, in a 

 quart of vinegar, afterwards adding two penny- 

 worth of vitr.ol, then mixing the whole well to- 

 geliier, it forms a good liquid blacking for 

 f^o.es, kc. 



XEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1823. 



BEES. 

 Mr. Hui»h a celebrated writer on bees, Fellow of the 

 University of Arts and Sciences of Gottiugen, &c. &c. 

 s.iys tliat " in southern countries the aspect of the bee- 

 house should always be to the east, to give the bees the 

 first light of dawn. In the northern countries, the as- 

 pect should be between south and east, to enjoy the 

 morning dawn, under a shelter from the north winds. 

 The hives should always stand upon a right line, in a 

 single row ; that rows one above the other do well, but 

 seldom when double on the same shelf— as they are 

 more exposed to robbery from each other. The bee in 

 his flight from the hive, generally takes an elevation of 

 45 degrees from the horizon, therefore, the hives should 

 stand low, say two feet from the ground. This eleva- 

 tion will guard the bees against the moisture of the 

 ground, the toads, mice, ants, &c. and prevent their 

 gaining such an ascent in their flight, when they swarm, 

 as to prevent their lighting, and thus occasion their 

 loss to the proprietor. The board on which they stand, 

 should be carefully secured against warping, as the 

 wasps, &c. will rob the hives at such openings, under 

 the bottoms of the hives, and every shrub, plant or 

 weed should be cleared away from the apiary, that can 

 obstruct the flight of the bees, or give the mouse, the 

 ant, Sic. access to the hive ; and great cleanliness should 

 be observed in and about the apiary generally. The 

 neighbourhood of large towns, and large rivers are un- 

 favourable situations for bees ; the first on account of 

 the smoke,the swallows, particularly the chimney swal 

 lows, and the last from being exposed in their flight 

 to high winds." 



Mr. Deane says, " A bee house should be situated at 

 a good uisiance from places where cattle are kept, es- 

 pecially from hog sties, hen and dove houses, and re- 

 mote from the filth of dung hills. It should be defend- 

 ed from high winds on all sides, so far as may be con- 

 sistently with admitting the heat of the sun . The house 

 should be open to the South, or South West, and the 

 back side should be very tight ; with a tight roof pro- 

 jecting, that driving rains may not injure the bees. — 

 If snow lodges on or about the house it should be brush- 

 ed off without delay. The bench on which the hive 

 stands should be a little canting outwards, that if wet 

 should fall on it, it may run off without enteringthe 

 hives. .411 seams are to be stopped, which would admit 

 insects, from which the house is often to be brushed. 



" If the house should be in danger of beiug too hot, 

 when thus inclosed, it may be occasionally shaded with 

 boughs of trees. As winter approaches all the seams 

 of the house are plastered with clay. In very cold 

 climates the house should be filled with straw, to keep 

 the bees warm, watching against mice, and removing 

 the straw in the spring." 



A writer in Rees' Cyclopedia obsei-ves that " it may 

 be necessary to feed bees towards the close of autumn, in 

 the winter, or in the spring, when they have consumed 

 their winter stock. This should be done, especially in 

 cloudy, misty weather, when they go abroad but little, 

 and when several days of bad weather immediately 

 follow their swarming. Mr. Thorley directs that no 

 hive be kept that does not weigh twenty pounds ; and 

 that the supply be given in quantities of honey, which 

 is their proper food, not less than a pound and a half 

 or two pounds at a time. The honey should be first 

 diluted with water, or small beer and then poured into 

 an empty comb. In the evening when the bees are 

 quiet, th<- hive sliould be gently raised on oae side, and 



the comb put under it ; the contents of which willd Uf f'" 

 conveyed away the next day into their several mag '"' , 

 zines." 



Mr. Huish<lirects not to feed bees profusely, but 

 give them about two pounds a month, and to admin: 

 ter their food either in the morning early before ti 

 bees leave the hive, or in the evening after sunse 

 when the entrance of the hive need not be closed 

 ter given the honey, but the vessel containing it shoui 

 be removed before the next morning to prevent robber 

 The feeding should not be delayed till the old store 

 exhausted, lest the bees become feeble, and if the 

 survive will be less able to labour the next season.- 

 He says that neither sugar nor clear honey should Ij 

 given. Sugar is improper food, and often exposes bei 

 to the dysentery, and recommends that honey be mij 

 ed with good old white wine, in the proportion of si 

 pounds of honey to one of wine ; it should then \ 

 placed on a slow fire, and stirred till the honey is i> 

 dissolved ; then let it be poured out into a jar or otb» ^ 

 vessel for use. It has been advised to add a little si 

 to their food, especially when they are threatened ( 

 afllicted with dysentery. j Us 





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4) 



FINE ROOTS. 



John Prince, Esq. of Roxbury, has sent us some spMg«o[ 

 cimens of his root crops of the present season, whidl "' 

 cannot fail to impress a favorable idea of the improve^ 

 system of husbandry pursued by that gentleman, ai 

 some other cultivators in the neighbourhood of Bosti 

 who have " turned over a new leaf" in American farnt) 

 ing. We have received from Mr. Prince a root o! Sm 

 gar Beet, raised by him, in field cultivation, of the tr^ 

 kind, the seed imported by Mr. Princefrom Paris. T^ 

 sort is sometimes distinguished by the name of the £^ » 

 naparte Beet, being the same kind, which Buonaparfll '' 

 employed in the manufacture of sugnr. It is oneloftU| 

 varieties of the Seta irulgaris, or common garden bei 

 The skin is of a reddish colour, and Ihe flesh white. 

 contains more sugar, according to experiments of EuwifJ 

 pean chemists than any other plant cultivated in Em 

 rope, and exceeds what is called the red beet, or bloiM 

 beet, in that respect. It undoubtedly contains nourialli 

 ment in proportion to its saccharine matter. '^ 



We have likewise received from Mr. Prince a root o| 

 the true Mangel Wurtzel, the seed imported from Etf 

 rope. He has raised seed of both kinds (the Mangel 

 Wortzel and Sugar Beet) this year ; has disposed of att 

 the seed of the Sugar Beet, but has 20 or 30 lbs. of th^ 

 Mangel Wurtzel seed to spare. That gentleman ob- 

 serves that he intends to raise largely of the seed 

 next season, having selected a quantity of fine roots for 

 the purpose, and adds, "• I think most highly of both 

 sorts of these roots for all kinds of stock. — They are 

 raised at very much less expense than carrots, and I 

 kept them till June the past season in fine order." Mr. 

 Prince is not a mere speculative farmer, who farms ia 

 his closet, but practices himself what he recommends to 

 others, and gives the public the results of his own cxp6» 

 rience. The seeds which he raises are not liable to b» 

 adulterated by tbe mixture of sorts which should t)ft 

 .listinct, as he sets his seed plants which might be dele- 

 liorattd in that way, at such distance from each other^. 

 as to preclude any injury from that cause.* 



Mr. Prince haslikewise sent us a common English tur- 

 nip, which after being closely trimmed, and quite dry, 

 weighs 8 1-2 lbs. This together with the specimens of 

 the Sugar Beet, and the iMangel Wurtzel may be seen 

 at the ofiice of theXew England Farmer. 



* See remarltt on raising and coUectivg seeds, .V. F- 

 Farmer, vcl i. page 405. 



