338 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



May 11, 1831. 



little trouble or ex- 



Mv object is to obtain honey in the ' porticos or porches boring small holes in the planil 



ravages that but very lew of our apricots and pi 

 ever ripen without pretnature decay from the worm 

 generated by the beetles which snrronnd our 

 trees in the twilight of the evening in great numbers 

 when the fruit is quite young. And wlien the 

 produce of our apple, pear or peach trees is small, 

 but few of these escape the same fate. 



I attribute the rapid and alarming incrense of 

 these worms and insects whMy to the diminution 

 of those birds which fall a prey to our sportsmen, 

 which are known to fped upon them and for whose 

 subsistence these insects were apparently created. 

 In addition to the important usefulness of 

 these birds, their musical notes in the twilight of 

 the morning are peculiarly delightful ; awaking 

 the cultivator to the sublime contemidation and 

 enjoyment of all tlie infinite beauties of creation 



ti 



long been expecli 



publication. Yours, &c, 



Roxbunj, April 12, 1831. J- Prince. 



VEBSiiLLEs, WoodfuKl Co. Kj'. April 20, 1831. 

 John Prince, Esq. ^^ , 



My Dear Sir — Your friendly letter of October 

 last was forwarded to me at this place, but did not 

 reach this until my departure for the southern 

 counties ; consequently this is the first opportuni- 

 ty 1 have had, and must plead my excuse for not 

 attending to your request s(joner : and now, I have 

 to regret that my friend Duct. Parker has not fur- 

 nished me with all the infiirmatiou I require, con- 

 cerninff the management of Hees ; but be has 

 kindly^ afforded ine an opportunity of examining 

 his Bee-house, and if I possessed the power of 

 description you should certainly have it, intelligibly. 



for them to go through. In truth, there can be no j"'' 

 difficulty in having plenty of honey, if we devote 

 any time to making a house for tlie bees. 



1 am,«ic, &c, P. N. O'Barnum. I"*' 



PROSPECTS OF AMERICAN FARMERS. 

 riie piobability of a gent ral war in Emope^ap 

 preaches very near to certainly. That it will bl 

 one of terrible carnage, may be inferred from tht 

 nature of the two great parties in it, despotism an! "" 

 lil 



ierty,and from the fact, that it is to decide thi *' 

 fate of the former ; but its probable duration is no 

 so clearly indicated — it may be a war of twelvS "' 

 months or twelve years. As members of th< 

 human family, as philanthropists, the jieople o ''■ 

 this country will regret this state of things ; af"" 



in It 



is. 



r<'|)ublicans, they will feel intense interest 

 but as a nation, we have little to fear, and nothin/i "' 

 to lose by it. Its effects-will be felt in this countr- "J 

 to an important degree, and by no class of peopl '[' 

 more than the farmers. It will create a deinaD<| 

 for bread sluft's, and thus enhance the value 

 a"ri'mltural ])roducts immensely. If the war doe|-' 



In vain will be all or.r toil and labor, in vain rp,|j^ „,^gi, is certain, that he has in the garret, a L^^^^^^^^^^^.^, 1^^ l^j.^^li^^jlUy-jg ^l,.jj the eusuin 



the united efforts of Horticultural Societies for 

 creasing and perfecting the cultivation of the 

 tiiost delicious varieties of fruits, unless we can 

 incrense, or at least cease to diminish these useful 

 and melodious birds. 



If we have a Statute in this Conniionwcalth ))ro- 

 viding for the protection of these birds, let us unite 

 our efforts to arrest this wanton destruction of 

 them by enforcing thepenalties of the law in every 

 instance of its violation. Our Horticultural Soci- 

 ety can scarcely do a greater service in promoting 

 the objects of its organization, than by making a 

 spontaneous and vigorous effort to this effect. 



If there be no Statute for the protection of these 

 invaluable creatures, I would earnestly, yet re- 

 spectfiilly suggest to the Horticultural Society the 

 ])iopriety and even necessity of their petitioning our 

 Legislature at their next session lor such an act. 



It is a common practice with these sportsmen 

 through the summer to range the groves and 

 orchards, in this vicinity, almost every pleasant day 

 and more numerously on holidays, and to shoot 

 every bird that comes within their reach. 



It is not however a small nor an easy task for 

 one individual, to get thei names, residence, and 

 the evidence necessary for their conviction ; but it 

 requires the united efforts of all who are imme- 

 diately interested. Already have these sportsmen 

 commenced their wanton destrnclion of these use- 

 ful creatures, even before they had time to build 

 a nest for rearing of their young. — Birds that 

 have survived the dreary winter in a more genial, 

 clime, having now returned to bless our efibrts 

 by their industry and to cheer our d.nys with their 

 nielo ly, are scarcely permitted to connuence their 



■n-eat number of bees. He thinks about 40 swarms , 

 at this time, all proceeding from one hive, put there 

 about 10 years ago. He placed the hive near the 

 brick wall or end of his garret leaving an aperture, 

 or small hole in the wall, through which the bees 

 passed out and in. A tight roo;n was then made 

 for them, such as may be made in the end of any 

 house leaving a door, which may be locked or bol- 

 ted. The room must be tight, admitting neither 

 air or light, or very little of either. A large box 

 was then init into this room, say 8 by 4 feet, one 

 half sawed in two, with small hinges on it, and 

 fastened at the bottom by a bolt or lock, for the 

 convenience of raising up and getting the honey 

 whenever you may want it. The hive being 

 placed on the top of the box, and the latter having 

 5 or 6 holes bored in it by a small auger — as soon 

 as the bees have filled the hive, they go-down into 

 the box, and never swarm until they have com- 

 pletely filled it. But you must have room enough 

 in your house to keep them always at work. And 

 this you may do by adding box to box ; and they 

 will even then proceed to deposit their comh on the 

 rafters of the house. 



Doct. Parker told me the other day, that he 

 could now take from 50 to 100 wt. of honey comb 

 without disturbing, or even seeing a bee. — We 

 have also a Bee-house in the yard ; 3 sides plank 

 ed up, as other framed houses are, we have framed 

 a box the whole length, say 14 feet ; this box is 18 

 inches wide and about 12 deep, with holes bored 

 all along the top, over which the hives are set or 



placed the front part of this box is full of holes 



for the egress and ingress of the bees — they di- 

 ectly go up through the box into the hives, fill 



vernal song, ere they must fall victims to a wanto?j (.ijen,^ and then go to work in the large box 

 IDLENESS that is as destitute of moral feeling, as of j;ja)_ you may take the liive off as soon as filled 



useful employment. 

 Brooklinc, April 31. 



A Cultivator. 



BEES. 



Mr FESSEr^DEN — In a communication made 

 for your paper a few days past on this iitexhaust- 

 ible subject, I regretted not having received an 

 answer from a gentleman in the western country 

 to whom I had written last autumn on the meth- 

 od of keeping Bees in the upper part of a bouse, 

 or any other building. I do not enter into any contro- 

 versy concerning these valuable insects, or the best 



and place another there, so that there is no ne 

 cessity of ever killing a bee. — You can fasten the 

 hives on the box, by running a bar of iron or wood 

 through each end of the house and putting a lock 

 on it, so as to prevent robbery. — The lock is 

 placed in the end of the bar, outside of the house. 

 We have several other plans, or methods of 

 raising bees in this neighborhood — such as small 

 brick buildings, and putting the hives in them, 

 leaving holi'S in the wall for them to go out and in 

 at, having a door in the back or front, as you please. 

 We also have the hives placed in the top of the 



harvest will be the most valuable one to farmer 

 that has been reaped for many years. We mus 

 not lie considered as wishing for a war ofbloot 

 shed and devastation in foreign countries, that ou 

 own may be benefited by it— far from it ; but 

 sucl is to be the unfortunate lot of our ncighbt 

 nati)ns, without any act of ours, no good reason cr 

 be seen for our not preiiaring to furnish them wi: 

 suci supplies as their necessities may require, ai 

 which they must obtain somewhere. As W( 

 might it be argued, that it is improper to prepai 

 vwecking vessels to assist shipping unfortunate 

 cast away by the fury of the elements, with a vie 'J 

 to salvage, as that we ought not to look for 

 even prepare for the sutlership of this general wi ' 

 As well might it be said that we should not ta ' 

 advantage of our neighbor's necessity by sellii 

 him bread, because he stands in need of it. 

 thing we hope our farmers will not neglect ; at 

 that is the husbamling not only of their harvc; 

 from which they have reason to expect so mm 

 but of their gains also from this source. Wli 

 our planters and farmers, not many ye.-as fine 

 were reaping such rich harvests, from a siiiiil 

 cause, they seemed to'forgct that there could he 

 change in their circumstances, and con-ripuiil 

 as fast as their money 'came in at the door it w « 

 shovelled out at the window.' The probabili ' 

 is, that there will be a slate of agricidtural jirospe ' 

 ity fully equal to that of -any period since we b 

 came a nation ; and it is to be hoped that its ben 

 fits will not be squandered. imerican Farmer. 



Americax Silk. — A correspondent of the Ni 

 York Journal of Commerce writes from Lend 

 as fcdlows : — 'I forgot to mention to you some ti 

 since, that the American silk offered here for f.i 

 was bid in at public aucti'iii. The price " 

 limited at 14s. but only IS-'. Od. was offered. TI 

 manufacturers however speak well of it.' 



Here we have 'the best commentary that can 1 

 made on the as.sertion, that it is ruinous for us I 

 make sewing silk, mits, gloves, ^-c, out ofourgoi > 

 silk ; and that we ought to export our raw sil t 

 At 14 shillings a pound in London the Americi 

 producer would scarcely realize more than $2.t 

 for raw silk. Whereas he can make it into sevvii 

 sJlk, and thread fi)r mits, stockings, &c (those 'go 

 frying pans' of Jlessrs.Du Ponceau and D'Horae 



