NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



207 



DISSOLVING BONES BY STEAM. 



A statement has lately been marie to the Highland 

 Agricultural Society, in relation to jnilvorizing bones 

 by steam. It was stated that bones of any size could 

 be reduced to a soft mass by this agency alone. A 

 small boiler, with a steaming vessel connected with it, 

 capable of standing a pressure of twenty-five or 

 thirty pounds to the square inch, was all that was 

 required. If the vessel was filled with bones, and 

 subjected to the action of steam above the level of 

 the boiler (as they will not dissolve if covered with 

 Avater,) at twentj'-five pounds pressure for a few 

 hours, they will become quite dissolved — thus sav- 

 ing all the expense of grinding, and the sulphuric 

 acid commonly used, which amounted to double the 

 price of the rough bones. All the bones were so 

 much softened, that the largest pieces found could 

 be easily crushed fine by pressure in the hand. Dr. 

 Anderson, the chemist of the society, thought the 

 steaming would be cheaper than grinding. Pro- 

 fessor Traill thought the steamed bones would be 

 preferable to those dissolved with sulphuric acid, be- 

 cause, when the acid was added to bones, there was 

 a destruction, in part at least, of the animal matter. 

 The gelatine, which was of itself a valuable manure, 

 woiild be saved by the steaming process. — The 

 Cultivator, 



THE GLANDERS. 



Messrs. Editors : \Vhile writing, I will mention 

 a fact for your veterinary department. More than 

 thirty years since, the glanders, of the most vir- 

 ulent kind, was amongst the horses of the neighbor- 

 hood in which my father lived. Great numbers died 

 off. His horse was taken, and under the belief that 

 he also would die, my father commenced an experi- 

 ment on him with a strong decoction of tobacco juice, 

 given internally. In a short time, the horse broke 

 out all over his body in sores. These cured up in a 

 month or so, and the horse was sound, soon fatted, 

 and was, as long as I knew him afterwards, a sound 

 and health}' animal. This was the only horse in all 

 the neighborhood that recovered. Some farmers in 

 this vicinity, noted for fine, sleek horses, give occa- 

 sionallv Scotch snufF to their horses. 



J. B. COOK. 

 — Albany Cultivator. 



BEES AND MOTHS. 



In a late number of the " Newspaper," when treat- 

 ing on the "Enemies of the Bee," I promised that I 

 would relate the modus operandi by which bees are 

 removed from the hive when attacked by that great 

 death's-head monster, the moth. I also requested 

 information on this point. Not having received any, 

 I have deemed it proper that I should continue the 

 explanation. 



As soon as it is ascertained with certainty that the 

 moth has commenced its foul Avork, the apiarian 

 should procure a barrel or tub of sufficient size to 

 completely cover the hive ; fill the tub Avith water, 

 then remove the hive from its place, bore a few holes 

 in the top of the hive, place another empty hive on 

 the top of the one from which the bees are to be 

 taken, then gently lift the hives, and place the mouth 

 of the lower one in the tub of water, press them 

 down gradually, and tha bees, to escape being 

 drowned, will crawl up to the top of the hive, and 

 from that into the other. In this manner may both 

 bees and honey be preserved without doing the least 

 injury to cither. Another method is, to remove the 

 hive to a dark room, a window of wliich should be 

 left open ; lay it gently on its side, the mouth facing 



the window : when the sun rises, and heats the air 

 sufhciently, they will soon leave the hive, and betake 

 themselves to the apiary. They should be removed 

 quite early in the morning, when the bees are yet 

 stiff with cold, in order to j)revent the ecstatic pleasure 

 of being pierced by their little darts. 



Many other, probably much better, methods of 

 transferring bees from hive to hive, might be prac- 

 tised with equal safety to the bees. Some remove 

 them by placing a narcotic or stupefying fume at the 

 mouth of the hive : this will so sicken the bees, that 

 they will soon drop down out of the hives. But I 

 cannot persuade myself but that this would be in- 

 jurious to the health of the bees. Who, after taking 

 suflicicnt alcoholic fume to make him drop down, 

 does not feel the effects of it ? 



The ways above stated maj- prove beneficial in 

 taking out honey, &c. Certainly, in this enlightened 

 age, this age of improvement, no one will resort to 

 that cruel and barbarous mode of destroying the 

 whole swarm in order to get a few pounds of honey. 

 No, never inflict such a cruelty on such a useful 

 insect — one that even teaches man a lesson ! The 

 days of fire and brimstone have long since passed 

 away, and other things of more utility are invented 

 to supply their place. Then why" not use them ? 

 Then why, in cold blood, put to death myriads of 

 these useful insects annually ? It is enough that 

 they should suffer from the attacks of their numer- 

 ous enemies, save man. S. W. K. 



D.vRLixGTON, Beaver Co., Pa., 1849. 

 — Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper. 



Remarks by Ed. N. E. Farmer. — We have smoked 

 bees a few minutes with the fumes from the slow 

 combustion of old leather, and they have become dor- 

 mant, so that we could transfer them from one hive 

 to another, or dispose of them as we pleased ; and in 

 a short time they revived, and were apparently a.s 

 well as ever; and their future labors were an evi- 

 dence that they not only received no essential in- 

 jury from their short sleep, but that they had renewed 

 energy from changing their old hive for a new one. 



The smoke should be conducted into the hive 

 laterally, so as to have no fire under the hive, as bees 

 might fall down into it, as they become stupid. 



WHAT OUR FINE FRUITS HAVE SPRUNG 

 FROM. 



The peach originally was a poisonous almond. Its 

 flesh i^arts were then used to poison arrows, and 

 was for this purpose introduced into Persia. The 

 translating and cultivation, however, not only re- 

 moved its poisonous qualities, but produced the de- 

 licious liuit we now enjoy. 



The nectarine and apricot are but natural hybri- 

 dation between the peach and plum. 



The cherry was originally a berry-like fruit, and 

 cultivation has given each berry a separate stem, and 

 improves its quality. The common mazard is the 

 original of most of the present kind of cherries. 



The common wild pear is even inferior to the 

 choke pear ; but still, by cultivation, it has come to 

 rank aniong our finest fruits. 



The cabbage originally came from Germany, and 

 is nothing more than the common sea-kale. Its cul- 

 tivation has produced the present cabbage, and its 

 different acclimatings the different kinds ; while its 

 hybridation with other similar plants has produced 

 the cauliflower. 



Tkis shows the benefit cultivation has effected: 

 in the mind of man it is infinitely greater. — Ameri- 

 can Agricitllurist. 



