1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



21 



of rain and snow, which in this country seldom 

 falls at intervals of weeks. As good authority as 

 the CuUivator affirms that even freezing and 

 thawing wastes the valuable properties of manure. 

 It is also well known that Prof. Mapes, a practi- 

 cal farmer as well as chemist, mixes large quan- 

 tities of prepared muck with his manure, to ab- 

 sorb the volatile portions. In answer toyour cor- 

 respondent A., of Tarrytown, N. Y., let us see 

 what Dr. Dana and Prof Johnston have told us 

 about manure and the loss it sustains by exposure. 

 Muck Manual, 3d. edition, Sec. 191. "Estimat- 

 ing the nitrogen as ammonia, the yearly produce of 

 one cow is 156 lbs. of nitrogen, equal to 189 lbs. 

 of pure ammonia, or equal to 677 lbs. of bi-car- 

 bonatc of ammonia of the shops. A single cow 

 will, therefore, give annually, fed on hay and 

 potatoes, 31,025 lbs. of dun^, containing 4800 lbs. 

 geine, G77 lbs. carbonate of ammonia, 71 lbs. of 

 bonedust, 37 lbs. of plaster, 37 lbs. of chalk, 24 

 lbs. of common salt, 15 lbs. of sulphate of potash. 

 Lectures on the applications of Chemistry and 

 Geology to Agriculture : XVIII, ^ 11. "The 

 recent urine voided in a year by a cow 13,000 lbs., 

 ' solid matter 900 lbs., containing of urea 400 lbs., 

 and yielding of ammonia 230 lbs. When left to 

 ferment for 5 or 6 weeks alone, and with the ad- 

 dition of an equal bulk of water, the urine of the 

 cow loses a considerable proportion of volatile 

 matter, and in these several states will yield in a 

 year. 



Solid Yielding of 



Matter. Ammonta 



Recent urine 9[.0 lbs 226 lbs. 



Mi\ed with water, after 6 weeks.. 8"0 lbs 200 lbs. 



Unmixed, after six weeks 550 lbs 30 lbs. 



^ 17. Of farm-yard manures, &c. 10 cwt. of dry 

 food and straw yield in recent dung 23 to 25 cwt., 

 at the end of six weeks 21 cwt. , after eight weeks 

 20 cwt., when half rotten 15 to 17 cwt., when 

 fully rotten 10 to 13 cwt." Muck Manual, Sec. 

 204. " Barn-yard manure is too often exposed to 

 rain. Its salts are thus washed out and the 

 natural liquids mixed vrith it drain away, and are 

 thus lost. It is a positive money loss, for the com- 

 position of an imperial gallon of this muck- water, 

 as determined by Johnston, in two samples, is as 

 follows : 



s-S 



S C 



■a i« 

 S *> 



■«s.S 



S a S 



1. Ammonia 9.60 grs. 23.30 grs. 



Solid orgunlc matter 200,80 77.60 



Solid inorganic, crashes 268.83 518.40 



479.20 grs. 617.30 grs. 

 2. The ashes of a gallon consis- 

 ted olalkal. salts 207.80gra. 420.40 grs. 



Phosphate of lime and magne- 

 sia, with a little phosphate 



of iron 25.10 44.50 



Carbonate of lime 18.20 31.10 



Carbonate magn. and loss 4.30 3.40 



Silica and a little alumina 13.40 19.00 



268.80 



518.40 



These results speak for themselves. They show 

 rills of wealth gushing from the former's manure. 

 Bridgewater, Vi., Nov. lOlh, 1853. j. 



a bone, throw it in. It is wonderful how they 

 accumulate. If you want to dissolve them, make 

 a pile of bones and fresh ashes ; wet moderately, 

 and leave it for a month or so. In every two 

 hundred lbs. of bones there is enough animal 

 matter, phosphate of lime, and salts to grow an 

 acre of wheat ; and, we know not how many 

 barrels of apples. When you plant a fruit tree, 

 give it bones at the root. 



Bones. — Have these carefully saved. Keep an old 

 barrel beside your ash house, and whenever you find 



For the New England Farmer. 

 DEATH OF BEES IN WINTER. 



Mr. Editor : — Believing that the several com- 

 munications relating to the death of honey bees 

 during the winter months, which have appeared 

 in your paper, may have convinced many of your 

 readers that they die for want of proper protection 

 from the cold, and not being satisfied that such is 

 the fact, I feel bound to submit, for the considera- 

 tion of ycAir readers, such facts and opinions as 

 have been gathered from many years of experience 

 and careful observation. 



The fact that most bees die during our coldest 

 winters has naturally led ©lany to suppose that 

 intense cold is the agent which causes their death; 

 but a careful observation will, I am confident, lead 

 to a different conclusion. If cold is the only cause 

 of their death, tight hives and warm houses will 

 be the remedy. But he who tries this remedy, 

 will often find it a fatal one for the bees. 



Every case which has come to my knowledge, 

 where bees have died, have been in tight hives, 

 while those in the same house, that lived, were in 

 open hives. To more fully satisfy myself on the 

 subject, in December last, I took three swarms for 

 an experiment. No. 1 was a young swarm in a 

 hive with ironle^s 3-4 of an inch in length, to al- 

 low a free pass of air between the hive and the bot- 

 tom board; this was placed in an open pen exposed to 

 the coldest winds. No. 2 was nine years old, in a 

 hive of similar construction, but protected at the 

 bottom by a cellar, and placed in a warm house, 

 though in an exposed situation. No. 3 was seven 

 years old, in a hive with legs h an inch long, pro- 

 tected by a cellar, and covered with thick rugs, 

 and also placed in a warm house. 



The result was as follows: — In No. 1, about one- 

 half pint of bees died during the winter ; in the 

 spring they were in good condition, and the first of 

 June sent out the largest swarm I ever had. No. 

 2 lost but very few bees during the vrinter, had a 

 middling sized swarm. No. 3 lost more than a pint 

 of bees during the winter, and did not swarm. At 

 the present time they are all doing well. 



If the cold, and that alone, will cause their 

 death, why did No. 1 survive the intense cold of 

 last winter? or why did a swarm of my neighbor's 

 which were in an open hive, escape, while in the 

 same house, three swarms in tight hives died? 



The following is my opinion. The vapor arising 

 from the animaljheat, or breath of the bees, often 

 collects in such quantities as to run down the sides 

 of the hive to the bottom, where, in very cold 

 weather, it congeals, and thus seals up the hive 

 and makes it nearly air tight, with the exception 

 of the entrance, which is easily closed by the first 

 driving snow storm. To suppose bees can live a 

 single day with a hive thus closed, would be un- 

 reasonaljle. That all bees which die in cold weath- 

 er are killed in this way, I will not attempt to as- 



