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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



small bundles, which are set up in a 

 loose conical form, to admit air through 

 them. 



When the grain is dry, it is threshed 

 at once ; if by machine, the spiked con- 

 cave is removed, and a smooth one is 

 used in place of it, to prevent breaking 

 the grain. For the same reason, the 

 feeder should crovv^d the grain to the full 

 capacity of the machine. The pedicels 

 of the grain are very thin and weak, and 

 are easily broken in threshing, and 

 especially in hauliug to the thresher. 

 Hence, blankets or sheets should be 

 spread on the rack to catch the loosened 

 grains. * 



When threshed, the grain must be 

 cleaned at once, and placed on an airy 

 floor to dry, in a thin layer. Shoveling 

 over to prevent heating is necessary. 

 The grain should be quite dry before it is 

 put in bins, and large bins are not 

 desirable. 



The grinding is best done on a dry, 

 windy day, when the very absorbent 

 grain will not gather moisture ; and 

 when the grain is to be sold, it should be 

 floured as early in the season as possible. 



KINDS OF GRAIN. 



There are four kinds of this grain in 

 use — the Merino buckwheat or Indian 

 wheat, of northern New England, which 

 is a prolific, early maturing, but poor 

 flouring kind; the black and grey, or 

 silver-hull, and the now popular and 

 valuable Japanese variety, which has a 

 large grain, and makes excellent flour, 

 and is the most productive of all. The 

 silver-grey, I think, makes the lightest 

 flour, and the best for cakes, and it is a 

 good yielder. 



In Hiig'laild, the weather for a 

 part of May was very unseasonable and 

 severe. In North America we had the 

 same experience — the northern hemis- 

 phere of the world seemed to have 

 struck a bad spot in the universe. The 

 Britifih Bee Journal for May 21 contains 

 the following description of the weather 

 for the middle of the month of May : 



Yet another "experience," such as 

 surely none but dwellers In Britain ever 

 go through. After calculating on a 

 week or two, at least, of settled weather 

 — in fact, after enjoying several succes- 

 sive days of real Summer warmth — a 

 change for the worse occurred on the 

 15th, simply marvellous in its complete- 

 ness. Reports from various parts of the 



country show that the astonishing and 

 unlooked-for disturbance in the weather 

 conditions on that day extended over the 

 whole of the kingdom, some parts, of 

 course, feeling it in increased severity, 

 but everywhere strong winds and squalls 

 of hail and snow have been more or less 

 severely felt. 



In London the temperature did not 

 exceed 47° all day, which, with the 

 exception of one day in May, 1869, and 

 May 18, 1872, is the lowest day's 

 temperature during the latter half of 

 May for over forty years. Few counties 

 escaped damage to fruit-bloom through 

 the fierce hail storms which poured down 

 on the tender leaves and bloom with such 

 tremendous force. 



Incredible though it seems, ice an inch 

 thick is reported on ponds in northeast 

 Lancashire on the morning of the 17th. 

 It is fortunate that many varieties of 

 fruit are so late in blooming this year as 

 to escape serious damage, but a consid- 

 erable amount of mischief has no doubt 

 been done in some parts. 



Here in Kent, however, the storm was 

 less furious than elsewhere, while the 

 copious rains must have done an incal- 

 culable amount of good everywhere, and 

 it would appear as if the worst had come 

 and gone, for to-day (May 19) the 

 weather is bright and warm, so we may 

 now hope for that most delightful of all 

 Spring conditions when vegetation seems 

 to make such progress in the moist, 

 warm soil, that we can almost see it 

 grow. 



Sour Honey.— C. T. Bo wen, of 

 Lonella, Mo., enquires: "Is soured 

 comb-honey injurious to bees ?" We 

 suppose he means if fed to them. We 

 answer. No, if given to them in the 

 Spring or Summer, when they can fly 

 and void their feces. If they do not 

 need it for food, they will work it over 

 and sweeten it, if it is scratched, and 

 allowed to drip, at a time when they are 

 not too busy in gathering honey from 

 the fields. 



Xlie Honey-Bee: Its Natural 

 History, Anatomy, and Physiology. By 

 T. W. Cowan, editor of the British Bee 

 Journal, illustrated with 72 figures and 

 136 illustrations. $1.00. For sale at 

 this office. 



