8U 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



the roof of shingles. There are two glazed win- 

 dows — one facing the west, the other facing the 

 north. These windows, when opened, and the 

 holes under the roof, give a complete circulation of 

 air, so necessary for tlie comfort of the bees in the 

 heat of summer. The hives arc placed against the 

 eide, with a tube three inches wide and half an inch 

 <leep projecting through, for the egress and ingress 

 ■of the bees. By tliis arrangement, the bee-keeper 

 can examine the hives without molestation from 

 tlie bees. 



As this building is situated, one wing faces the 

 east, the other the south. This gives the bees the 

 influence of the sun in the morning, or fore part of 

 tlie day, when it is beneficial to them; and during 

 the middle of the day it will not be so oppressive as 

 when the hives are unprotected by the front wall. 



This is the second season since this building has 

 been occupied by bees, and so far has met our most 

 sanguine expectations. Our stock of bees has more 

 than doubled, and we have had a good supply of 

 honey. 



Many suppose a miserable box, placed on an old 

 board, and stuck in some dark, out-of-the-way 

 corner, is all sufficient; and even when so placed, 

 they are discovered to be very profitable tenants. 

 But these industrious little insects are worthy of a 

 better situation ; and we think it will be found that 

 the profit arising from them will increase in propor- 

 tion to the care and attention bestowed. 



Springtide: K. F., Au^., 1659. C. N. BEMENT. 



PADttING HOUSES. 



TnE Rural Register^ a new and valuable agricul- 

 tural paper lately started at Baltimore, says : 



" "Wherever a white house is set conspicuously, 

 either on a hill or in a valley, it is a blotch upon 

 the landscape, because it never harmonizes with 

 the scenery around it. A white house with green 

 Dlinds offends the very first principles of good taste." 



This is too much the case ; and it is much to be 

 wished that our rural friends would show a better 

 appreciation of the effects of color, by subduing the 

 too glaring white of their houses, which is easily 

 done by mixing a few pounds of some color with 

 the white, when painting or whitewashing the out- 

 sides of their residences, that will render it of a 

 more neutral tint, such as stone gray, salmon color, 

 or light brown. Uvedai.k Price, a good authority 

 on this subject, is Ihus quoted by Downing : 



" "Wlien the sun breaks out in gleams, there is 

 something that delights and surprises, in seeing an 

 object, before only visible, lighted up in splendor, 

 and then gradually sinking into shade. But a 

 whitened object is already brightened up; it re- 

 mains so when everything else has returned into 

 obscurity; it still forces itself into notice — still 

 impudently stares you in the face. An object of a 

 sober tint, unexpectedly gilded by the sun, is like a 

 serious countenance suddenly lighted up by a smile; 

 a whitened object, like the eternal grin of a fool." 



There are some cases where this sweeping con- 

 demnation is not so applicable, such as where a house 

 ^ is so embowered in fohage that bnt little of it is seen. 



SHOULD YOUKG DUCES BE ALLOWED TO 

 GO TO WATER'. 



Editors Genesee Farmer : — Did you ever know 

 an animal to be misled by its instincts? If not, 

 how happens it that the mother duck takes her 

 young (and, to her, precious) charge direct from 

 the nest to the nearest pond ? If it is " decidedl j 

 injurious" to allow a young duckling to get into the 

 water for a week or two after it is hatched, I think 

 the expectant mother would have selected some 

 spot remote from the water to have deposited her 

 eggs and spent her anxious weeks of incubation. 



Limerick, K. Y., Aug., 1S59. E. MAYNARD. 



Remarks, — Our correspondent is evidently in- 

 clined to be facetious. "We merely stated a fact 

 which we had learned from experience. "We find, 

 however, that we are not alone in advocating that 

 young ducks should be kept from the water for 

 some time after hatching. C. N. Bemknt says: 

 "Ducks, when first hatched, are always inclined to 

 fever, from their pinion wings coming out so soon. 

 This acts upon them as teething does on children. 

 They should therefore be kept from everything 

 that has a tendency to give them a sudden chill. 

 To prevent this, we always give our young ducks 

 as little water as possible. In fact, they should 

 only have enough to allay their thirst, and should 

 on no account be permitted to play in the water.** 

 Browne says: "The ducklings are no sooner 

 hatched than the mother takea them to the water, 

 where they dabble and eat at the very first, and 

 many of them perish.'''' This author strongly 

 recommends that ducks' eggs should be placed 

 under hens, as he says the young ducks have then 

 a chance to get hardy on dry land, before they take 

 to the water. Loudon, than whom there is no 

 better authority, recommends confining them in a 

 coop for a week or two before they are allowed to 

 go to the pond. 



Instinct no doubt leads the old duck to the water, 

 as being most congenial to herself; but it does not 

 give her the power of reasoning from cause to effect; 

 and where animals are brought under man's con- 

 trol, for his benefit, their instincts must submit to 

 be controlled by his superior reason. bds. 



Saving Oi-over Seed. — Many farmers are de- 

 terred from saving clover seed for their own use, 

 from the great trouble and expense of hulling and 

 cleaning it. But in this section it is a common 

 practice to sow the seed and chaff together, which 

 is done by making a large, deep box of boards, on 

 the top of an ordinary wagon box. The chaff i» 

 then shovelled in and hauled out to the field, and 

 scattered over the surface from the waggon, as 

 evenly as possible, with a straw or dung fork, just 

 thick enough to give the ground a dark appearance. 

 It is then harrowed in with a light harrow. — J. M., 

 Woodhoute, C. W. 



