FARMERS' REGISTER— AGRICULTURAL PREMIUMS. 



147 



the comb, he proceeds to search among the wild 

 flowers for a bee. If one can be found, he is caught 

 in the box by shutting tlie lid over him. As soon 

 as he becomes still, the lid is carefully removed, 

 when he will be found busily filling himself with 

 honey. When he rises he must be watched, in 

 order to ascertain liis course. After making one 

 or two circuits about the box, he will fly off" in a 

 straight course to his home. After an absence of a 

 few minutes, say five or ten, he will return, bring- 

 ing with him two or three of his companions. These 

 will soon fill themselves, go home, and return again 

 with a number more. Thus they will continue to 

 increase in number, till in the course of half an 

 hour there will be one hundred or more in the box. 

 By that time the line will be ascertained with pre- 

 cison. The lid is now shut over as many as pos- 

 sible, and the box is removed on the line to the 

 edge of the woods, where it is again opened. The 

 line will soon be found at the new station as before, 

 and thus the box is removed, from station to station, 

 until the tree is either discovered or passed. If the 

 tree be passed, the line of course will be retrograde. 

 A small pocket spy glass is a convenient thing for 

 searching the tops of trees, as it requires a good 

 eye to see a bee at that distance. If a bee cannot 

 be found to commence operations with, a little ho- 

 ney is burnt on a stone, and if a wandering bee hap- 

 pens to be near, he will be attracted by the smell. 



The proper time for hunting bees, is on a fair 

 warm day in the month of September or October. 

 During tlie summer months, when food for bees is 

 to be found every where they will not traverse. 

 If a bee tree is hi tlie neighborhood of a sugar 

 camp, bees will be found about the tree in the time 

 of making sugar. Tliey will traverse well in the 

 spring. — IGen. Far. 



EXTRACT FROM THE RECORDS OF THE UNIT- 

 ED AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES OF VIRGINIA. 



[The following report has already been published, 

 with other papers proceeding from the same association, 

 in some of the early numbers of the American Farmer: 

 but as they probably have not been seen by much the 

 greater number of our readers, we now place this report 

 before them, and recommend the subject to their consi- 

 deration. The United Agricultural Societies have long 

 since come to an end — (according to the custom of Vir- 

 ginia with every public spirited scheme which requires 

 the persevering zeal and exertions of many individuals 

 to sustain) — and we believe that no other such society 

 now has an active existence, within the limits of the 

 state, unless that of Fredericksburg forms an exception. 

 But even if no new societies should rise, the reasoning 

 and recommendations in this report may be serviceable 

 to the readers of the Farmers' Register, to all of whoin 

 the observations on making and reporting experiments 

 are as applicable, as if all were united in one great agri- 

 cultural society,] 



REPORT ON AGRICULTURAL PREMIUMS, 

 Submitted to and approved by the Delegation of the United Agri- 

 cultural Societies of Virginia, Dec. 6th, lS-22. 



The committee instructed by the delegation " to 

 " inquire into the subject of premiums for the im- 

 " provement of agriculture, the advantages and 

 " disadvantages which have been found to attend 

 "them, and the course which may be deemed ex- 

 " pedient for the delegation to pursue, for the pur- 



" pose of fulfilling that part of their duties as en- 

 "joined by the constitution" — Report as follows: 

 ■ It has been almost universally tlie plan of agri- 

 cultural societies, to devote a large proportion of 

 their funds to premiums for such practices as they 

 considered improvements in agriculture. From 

 the general concurrence in this course, it m.ust be 

 inferred, that such societies consider the premiums 

 which tliey offer, as their best, if not their only 

 means for promoting the improvement and exten- 

 sion of agricultural science. We venture to dis- 

 sent from this received opinion, and though fully 

 impressed with the benefits which might be de- 

 rived from premiums judiciously bestowed, we feel 

 satisfied that the usual practice is productive of but 

 little good, and perhaps of more evil than good, to 

 the objects which they were intended to promote. 



Premiums can only be offered for practices of 

 three kinds, viz : — 1st. Those which are known 

 to be profitable — 2d. Those which are known to 

 be unprofitable — and 3d. Practices of which the 

 profits are doubtflil or uncertain. It is so evident 

 as to require no proof, that premiums of the first 

 kind must always be useless. As general propo- 

 sitions, every farmer knows that it is most profi- 

 table to enrich his fields, to till them well, to use 

 good utensils, and to keep Ids live stock in good 

 condition. Yet want of capital, care, or industry 

 causes many of them to continue in the opposite 

 courses — to use insufficient or exhausting tillage, 

 bad utensils and half starved teams. But as much 

 as improvement in this respect is wanting, none 

 could be produced by premiums. Profit is the 

 farmer's great object, and if that itself does not 

 improve his practice, nothing else can. If the rea- 

 sonable expectation of doubling his crops, has no 

 effect in inducing him to adopt a better system, it 

 is idle to expect any such exertion from the offer 

 of a twenty dollar premium. 



The greater number of premiums offered are of 

 the second class, and are as clearly hurtful as the 

 precediiig are useless. A reference to the list oi 

 premiums offered by societies, will shew that much 

 the greater number are for practices, which, so far 

 from being profitable, would insure a loss to every 

 one who gained or contended for them. Such are 

 the premiums for the most productive acre of corn, 

 wheat, rye, potatoes, &c. the finest (i. e. the fat- 

 test) ox, cow, sheep, hog, &c. To obtain these 

 premiums, enormous crops have been raised on 

 many single acres, and beasts have been brought 

 to a degree of fatness, which no consideration of 

 market price, or nett profit would ever have in-^ 

 duced, or will ever cause others to imitate. It is 

 doubtful whether in China or Flanders, the best 

 cultivated and most populous parts of the world, it 

 can ever be profitable to bestow so much labor 

 and manure, as to raise every acre to the maximum 

 of production. In the United States, where land 

 is so cheap and labor so high, the least reflection 

 will shew such a course to be folly in the extreme. 

 The certain effects of these wonderful improve- 

 ments in agriculture, prevent the example being 

 followed, and fortunately, the loss is confined to 

 the few v/ho make a single effort merely to obtain 

 a premium. He who succeeds best in a losing bu- 

 siness, has not thereby benefitted himself or his 

 neighbors; and universal ruin would ensue, could 

 the societies extend the practices which tliey thus 

 recommend, to every acre, and all the fatleiiecj 

 stock in the country. 



