CONDUCTED BY ISAAC HILL. 



tke chosenjKople of God, whose breasts he has made hisfifsuliar deposUe for substaniial and Semdne virtue."— I y.' 



VOLUME IV. 



CONCORD, N. H. AUGUST 31, 1842. 



NUMBER 



TjJIE FARMEIl'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



HiWs Brick Block, Concord, JV. H. 

 GENERAfAGE.MTS, 



B. C'OOKi:. K,n,r, .V. II 

 TH. R. HAMI' ru\. ir,..,/,,,,,-/')-sr,7j>. D. c. 

 JOHN MAKSII. \S;nhuril,Hi SI.- llu.ton. 

 CHVKI.IvS W \liP,r..\. Uriah :i Uoii}. Worcester, Afais. 

 A. H. STILL WELL, .\o. \. Market Square, Prov. R J. 

 L. W. HALL & Co. Sprin^ificld, Mtsss. 



be there en 



cleiii-iii^ "t 



Vom til' 



)„■ i-arneil i 

 .vitli Oiiier I 

 ws, &c., or 



lie 



iiIJil t:ikon 



From the I'hila. Farmsrs' Cabinet. 



The Compost-Yard. 



Ill a reeeiitly piiblislieil Srmcli work on agri- 



ciilniie, (lenoiiii.inteil '-The Buck of tlie Furin," 



tlioi'o uppcni's !i (IiMwiiijf :iiiil deseriiitioii of the 



yard, and in which is situ ited u tank or ."iniken 

 cistern, for the iece|ition of the urine from the 

 horse-stahlhs, cow and o.\ sialls!, and the range o 

 hog-stjes, into wlilcli it is conveyed Ijy under 

 drains, so that the rain wliicli falls in th< 

 does not flow into the tank. In weaken the li(|iiid, 

 or to overfill it with an n-tl.ss article. Into tlT 

 conipost-y.'ird is hruii^lit, at leisure tinie.s, large 

 qnanlitie.s of ikih'Ii, vir^'iii-earth or hank-soil, up- 

 on which is poui-eil from lime to time, as it is 

 collected, the urine from the cistern. Several of 

 tlie.se heaps are in prepai-.itiuii at the same time, 

 and so soon as one of them hecnnies sniiii'iontly 

 saturated with the mine, it is liirned over .uul 

 carefully mixed, the clod- li^'iiig minutely liroken 

 and pidverized. .-Vnd il', at lliis stage, lime is 

 added and intimately mixed hy turning, tiie iik.ss 



far more lasting in its elfects, adding stupk as 

 well .is vi<ror to the soil, and nimufaeiured at an 

 exjiense much less than hy any other mode that 

 can he devised; the tirine of such an estahlish- 

 ineiit being equal in v.ilue, anfl preferable for 

 iTiany piir|)oses, to the more .solid parts of the 

 dungof till! stables. Hy these very simple means, 

 the resonrces of a firm can he doubled, while 

 the labor attending the minutiicture might be 

 carried on at a time of leisure, alfoiding profita- 

 ble employment at all seasons of the year. And 

 this mode of expending the urine of an estiih- 

 lishinent is far better tlitin that which in some 

 places is in use, namely, lo carry it abroad in 

 water-casks and sprinkle it on grass-lands while 

 the crop is growing ; for on some occ.isions it has 

 been linmd, to say Hie least, almost useless, while 

 in its concenirated state, it would prove in other 

 cases injurious. One could easily iniauine a lank, 

 with a pump for lifting the liquid into an upper 

 cistern, from whence it might be conveyed by 

 means of a hose-pipe to any given distance, and 

 to any part of the beap.s whore required; and 

 thus, by the labor of a cou|de of hands for an 

 hour or so, the contents of the cistern could be 

 equally dislributed over large quantities of earth, 

 upon wbicli more muck might then be spread, 

 and the urine bs again ;qi|i!led, so as al length to 

 form heaps of compost of great ma^mitude, in a 

 fit state to carry abroad as lop-dressiu'r to mea- 

 dows or cltivers, 'or suilaLilo for any oilier pur- 

 jiose. 



parts from wbcnce tliey have lieei 

 render the land uniform in its prodi 

 bliiig it to ilouhle the qiianlily of i 

 the .same time, great labor might s 

 saved in the .irlicle of cnrlina;, if cat 

 to m.die the ariau'jfement to carry 

 rfoii'ii hill iiisteail of up th: ascenf, an 

 often be done, by taking the earlli I'n 

 side of the Held above that on wliici 

 ed to carry it abroad, removing a s -t 

 and there, to render ready access 

 below. This I have often been ciia 

 a saving of more than one h;ill' 

 cartage; and il beliooves the farme 

 well before commencing bis comp 

 an examination of the locality ol 

 whether such an arrangement be 

 ble; reniemheiiiig, however, that tl 

 be firmed on a dry soil, for if otiiei 

 menlation going on in the mass wil 



1 stable 

 ds,aud 



richest parts 



wlii.-h°ouly 

 )ack to those 

 1 brought, to 

 ice, and ena- 

 is yield. At 

 inietiines be 

 e were taken 

 the compost 

 d this mi-ht 

 im tlie low.M- 



fectly 

 deposi 



e draws up her long body 



In this way she slowly proceeds 



dropped ten or twelve eggs, when. 



■om the lower eartl 

 ditiicult, laborious 



III ili.sa 

 ill be 



by llr 



illing influf'iice ■ 



real t 



re. 



til the 

 eahle; 

 iiiiied. 



become cold, heavy, and adhesive; powerless 

 its ctfecis, and rather a dead and putrid ini 

 than a warm and invigorating substance. This 

 consideration is thereiin-e of paramount impor- 

 tance to the successor the nnderlaking ; and yet 

 how often have I seen a com|iost-lieap jilaceil ir 

 a cold, wet, low, and shady corner ol' a lielil. lia 

 ble to be overflown by freshets from a neighbor- 

 iie,' stream, or even'bv the elf-c[s of .i lie;iv_\ 

 rain. Rnl no praclical Iiian will Im' ... d ... .er o: 



rhaps ieelliig exhanste. 

 ; attendiiit bei 

 lole time ; am. 

 3 honey iiom 

 the queen ; wlic 

 away and 



ly so, 

 Jul. 



I -i?, 



placetl in sucli an mi eumlil • silii- 

 t and heavy fonndalion of which 

 ht him a lesson he will not be like- 

 et. ViR. 



From the F^rm^rs' CaMnet. 

 The Houey-Bee. 

 In that very interesting and entertaining book, 

 "Jessie's Gle.mings in Natural History," there is 

 an extr-^melv (Mirious ;.ccount of the operations 

 of the Queen-Beo, which is as novel as it is en- 

 tertaining; .-mil as the attention of the public has 

 been drawn to the Imsiuess of bee-breeding, by 

 llie inanv works and ess.ivs ih.at have lately been 

 publislied both in the Cabinet and elsewiiere, I 

 think it probable that your readers would be 

 pleased with an extract or tA'o li-om one of the 

 most nleasinic works that has ever appeared on 

 that universal toiiic, '-The natural hi=<ory of 

 beast.s, birils, and lishes." Speaking of the hon- 

 ey-bee, the writer says, " I have some experi- 

 mental hives, which enable me very accurately 

 to inspect tlie operations of my Ijees; from the 

 construction of these hives, the combs are neces- 

 sarily built between two panes of gla.ss, so that 

 on drawing the sliders, the two surfaces of a 

 comb are exposed to view. In this way I am 

 able to see .-dmost every thing that is going for- 

 ward. And I have observed, that when the 

 qiieen-bee h.as an inclination to deposit lieregL's, 

 she goes forth, accompanied by six or eight work- 

 in:; bees as a guard, whose stomachs are filled 

 with honey. She is very deliberate in her mo- 

 tions, and seems to pro.-eed witli great caution ; 

 she first looks into a cell, and if sha fiiidd it per- 



she is fed by one ot 

 c surrounded her the 

 lis is done by the liee ejecting 

 i stomach, into the mouth of 

 this has been done, the beo 

 lotlier takes its ])lace. The 

 operation of laying lier eggs again goes on, and 

 is again succeeded by the same mode of feeding, 

 the "attendant bees frequently touching the an- 

 tetma; of the queen with their own. When the 

 operation of laying the eggs is completed, and it 

 generally occupies some time, the queen retires 

 to that part of the hive which is most filled with 

 bees. During her progress, the surface oftlie 

 comb is very little iiuriuled upon, and the space 

 seems purjiosoly to be lelt unoccupied; some 

 few of live cells,' however, in a brood comb, are 

 p.issed over by the queen, and afterwards filled, 

 either with honey or farina; these serving as de- 

 posits of food, from which the neighboring brood 

 may be fed more readily, as such cells are never 

 covered with wax. I have for many years watch- 

 ed my hives with the greatest care and assiduity, 

 but have never yet seen the queen-bee leave the 

 hive, except at the time of swarming. Her per- 

 son is so easilv distinguished from the other bees 

 by any one at'all conversant with them, that if 

 the queen-bee absented herself from the hive in 

 the way that Huber describes her as doing, it 

 seems next to impossible that she should not have 

 been perceived, either on her departure from, or 

 her return lo Ihe hive. 



The vision of bees seems very imperfect; I 

 have frequently turned a hive, so as to make tliG 

 entrance about two or three inches from its for- 

 mer position, and have then always found the 

 bees at a loss to gain admittance ; indeed, they 

 seem rather to feel their way than to ste it, after 

 they have oiK-e landed themselves on the platform 

 of tiKMr hives. Their progress through the air is 

 always mail.! in a direct line !o the hive, and the 

 instinct which enables them to (iiid it amongst 

 1 forty or filiy others placed in a row, and so near- 

 ly .similar to each other, is very striking. Mr. 

 iloijeis, in his " Pleasures of Memory," has u 

 preity idea on this subject — 



' The varied scents that charmed her as she flew,' 

 he thinks might point out the way of her return 

 to the hive. 



The summer of 1818 was unusually dry and 

 hot, and in Jnly, flowers of almost every descrip- 

 tion had entirely disappeared ; I observed that 

 the bees, in consequence of this, seldom le'.t their 

 hives ill search of honey, although the weather, 

 one would h.-.ve ihoniiht, would have tempted 

 them out; they seemed, indeed, to be perfectly 

 aware that their labors would be useless. I re- 

 collect meeting with an account of a hive of bees 

 beiii:: transported from a distant place to a spot 

 by the side of a mountain in Italy, where they 

 could procure honey all the year round; and 

 finding this lo be tlie case, they soon gave up 

 stocking their hive, and only went out to collect 

 honey as they wanted it; and the same observa- 

 tion has been made on bees taken from Europe 

 to the West Indies, who the first year stored 

 their hives as usual, but never afterwards; mere- 

 ly suiiplying themselves with food from day to 

 (lav. 



The lower orders of people in some places 

 have curious superstitions respecting bees ; a poor 

 widow told me she had lost all her hives, and on 

 eiiquiriiig the cause, she Informed me, that on 

 the death of her husband, she had neglected to 

 inforn) the bees of it by tapfiing three times at 

 each of the hives with the key of the house door ! 

 this being thought necessary to their preserva- 

 tion. It is also deemed necessary to put the bees 

 in mou.niii:.' on such occasions, by attaching a 



piece 



:k cloth to eacii hive ; and the j 



who made the 



rk, mentioned a cose id poiutj 



