1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



34f 



ABOUT BEES. 



Mk. Editor : — Some two or three years ago, an 

 acquuintaiico of aiiiu; gave mo a receipt whk-h 

 he claiuiud lis infallible against the" bee moth or 

 miller. 11' it is of any utic, your readers "and 

 the rest of mankind'' are welcome to ihe knowl- 

 edj^e of it. I have not tei^ted it myself, partly be- 

 cause 1 could not get the sweet dag rout in my vi- 

 cinit}'. and partly because I do not suS'er ;i8 yet, 

 from t-jc uioth. I have but a email stock of been, 

 and 1 i ndea\or to keep my hives populous ; tlicn, 

 ;is eoun as the weather will admit, I raise thehivt; 

 aboat lijali'inch or more from the bottom board, 

 by pins in the corners. The miller then hae a 

 poor cb.ance to d.pot;it her eggs where the hive is 

 full of bees. Besides this, I keep a good look- 

 out to catch and kill all the marauders 1 can. 



A friL'nd residing in Kingston, Tenn., who keeps 

 largo •lumbers of i)ei'S, and lias excellent success, 

 pursu 'S a similar course. A pair or two of wrens 

 have for several years much assisted him, in build- 

 ing th.Mr nests close by. Especially when pro- 

 viding tor their young would they visit the hives 

 at all hjiirs of the day, i\h' any chance worm, or 

 axat out larviG of the bees. 



But to tiie rceipt, which follows; Take dried 

 sweet flag, pulverize it very tine, make is into a 

 dough, well working it with strong spirits of tur- 

 pentine, then dry it in the sun or by a gentle 

 lieat. When well dried pulverize it again anci 

 again, make it into dough with spirits of turpen- 

 tine, this time adding a portion of common salt 

 Dry it and it is ready for use, :'.nd may be kept 

 onhanl. ' [Strew it on the bottom board and 

 around the hive. The miller, my informant says, 

 will select it for depositing her eggs, where the} 

 will stay deposited as the mixture very soon de- 

 stro^'S t'leir vitality. Jt is inoilensive t^) the bees, 

 but its p jwer over life in tie embryo is bo great 

 that even hens and other eggs are made worthless 

 for hatching by wrapping a coating of it around 

 them for a s.;ort time. T. E. Wktmore. 



Nurth Cannon, Michigan, June 26, 1854. 



Maine Fanner. 



THE MILKMAN'S GOHVENTIOK, 



AT MxV.NCUEcTKR, N. il. 



Pursuant to the notice, a meeting of the per^one 

 cng iged in raising and selling milk was held at 

 the Cicy Hot 1, July od, at 10 o'clock. A. M. 



The C:iaini!an stated the object of the meeting 

 to b ■, to take into c nsideration the expediency of 

 raising on the piricc of milk. 



Mr. J. Plumer, of (-uffstown, said, 



That he usually kepi 20 cows and sold his milk 

 iu Manchester, at 4 cents per qt., but at the price 

 ol'cows, keeping, &c., lie had come to the couclu- 

 aion to abandon tho business if the price was not 

 increased, 



Mr. ytevens, of Goff'town, *aid, 



That he kept 20 cows ami sold his milk iu Man- 

 chester. He said when cows could be bought for 

 $25, a piece, hay 10 or 12 dollars a ton, and corn 

 four sliillings a bushel, farmers could make money 

 in raising and carry it to market for 4 cents a qu.; 

 but now cows iiad advanced to HO and 45 dollars, 

 bay gone up to 20 and 25 a ton, corn a dollar and 

 a quarter a bushel, he could not make it a paying 

 business, and s'.oiihl atop if tie price did not rise. 



Mr. iSwallovv, of Nashua, said, 



That he carried the milk of 30 cows to the city, 

 of Nashua, and had sold it for 4 centsper qu., but 

 he said he pieferred to raise pork than sell Lb 

 milk lor that p'licc. 



Mr. H. R. French, of Bedford, said, 



That he had tried an experiment in taking the 

 relative value of selling his milk and making it 

 into butter, the result of which was that the - 

 Cer gave the most profit. 



Mr. Hall, of Bedford, said, 



Tiiat he thought ti;at it would bo bettor for 

 him to 8(11 a portion of his hay and grain, than to 

 raise milk at tho {ireeent price. 



Mr. I). 11. Burr, oi Bedford, said, 



That his cows (and he had tried to get tliel')e8t,) 

 would not average more then five qts., during tho 

 year, and that no man could allord to sell milk at 

 i.is door short of .'5 eta. for 12 months, or 4 centa 6 

 uiontlis. 



Mr. French, of Bedford, said. 



That last fall he bought cows, also l>ought 

 his grain and hay, and kept an account of pro- 

 duct, which cost him 4 cents per cjt., allov.ing for 

 shrinkage in his cows. 



Mr. tSiuittuck said that the people in the city 

 of Concord had piid 5 cents per quart for milk 

 since last October, and tliat he had been inibrmod 

 that it was contemplated to advance to cents 

 per quart, this fall ; ho was certain that for him- 

 self it would be better to turn his attention to 

 iuakiug butter and raising pork, than to sell his 

 milk at the diK>r lor 2^ and 6^, months, as he had 

 done. 



Further remarks were made by Messrs. Jones, 

 iluse. Cross, and others. After which it was vo- 

 ted without one dissenting voice, that the j.Tico 

 >f milk be raised to 3 ct-s. per qt. for G montha. 

 and 4 for months, to commence Monday, July 

 10, 1854. 



Great harmony of action prevailed through th<? 

 deliberations. B. Suattuck, Chairman. 



F. K. Fi!FNCH, Secretary. 



Nashua Gazclte. 



fnr.lhe /few En/^land f'arnit-r. 



PACKING BUTTER. 



Mk. Editck ; — The communication ®f N., of 

 Randolpjh, Vt.. raninds me of my nigloct to an- 

 swer a pjrivate note. I will tell liim what i think, 

 and jou can publish it, if you think it wtrth the 

 while : 



Lump l)u{ter packed in strong brine, will kcop- 

 as well as when packed in tubs, in the usual way. 

 But "butter pn.-lc;! in tubs, sa^iV, as is usttaliy 

 done," d tea not keep well : 



If kept long in i)rine, it will suffer mott.rially in 

 oj!or upo.i tiie surface, and if put in packag sof 

 more the.i one or two tiers of lumps, they w^iuld 

 get badly jamed before reaching market, and ia 

 either cas! would have to b(! rc-worhd lieforc of 

 fered for sale, or sufj'er materially in price. N. 

 would not like to trust commission merchants to 

 "work over" his butter ; nor would lie send his 

 dairy maid; for though the visit might please her, 

 she would prefer to do the work at homo iu her 

 owti nicr, ckan sanctum. 



In very cool weather, lump butter may bo sent 

 to Boston, when new and sweet; but I do not 

 think would Itring more than if nolid packed in 

 tubs, d^;ducti!ig the cxp«n«ij of extra /'reight and 



