NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



319 



but according to the area of its horizontal base ; be- 

 cause, he added, ' it is a well-known fact in agricul- 

 ture, that no more can be grown on a hill or slope 

 than on a horizontal piece of land equal to its base.' 

 Now, as this ' weU-known fact ' is not only not well 

 known, but even strongly, though in my opinion 

 absurdly disputed amongst many of onr Yorkshire 

 fanners, perhaps you will be kind enough to give it 

 publicity in your next number. Perhaps of moss 

 and other low or creeping plants, a greater crop may 

 bo grown on a slope than on a horizontal piece of 

 land equal to its base; but with regard to vertically 

 growing plants, such as hay-grass, corn, or trees, it 

 appears to me that the French professor was per- 

 fectly correct." 



HOW TO FEED SALT TO BEES. 



After you make cheese, take the whey, and mix 

 it with bran thick enough to allow the bees to stand 

 OJi it without clotting their wings ; place it in a trough 

 OT board six or eight rods from the hive ; or take an 

 empty salt barrel, and put into it a bushel of bran or 

 two, pour in sour milk or water, make it firm enough 

 80 as the bees will not drown. From this they will 

 extract the salt which will ooze from the barrel. As 

 thej' empty the barrel of its liquid, renew it again. 

 This will be of great service in dry weather to the 

 bees. — Michigan Farmer. 



OBSERVATION ON THE MILLER WHICH 

 ANNOYS BEES. 



Last season, I allowed about six sunflowers to 

 grow near my beehives ; when in flower, they 

 attracted the miller, which fed on them late in the 

 evening, appeared quite stupid, so much so, that I 

 could pick them oH" with my hand and deal with 

 tliem as I would wish. I am now trying several ex- 

 perimentr; with ray bees, the result of which I will 

 make known through the Farmer. 

 — Michigan Farmer. SINENSIS. 



MONSTER APPLE-TREES. 



There is an apple-tree on the estate of Joseph 

 Briggs, on Federal Hill, in the town of Dedham, sup- 

 posed to be a hundred years old, which measures 

 thirteen feet and a half in circumference, one foot 

 from the ground. Its branches cover an area of 

 about sixty feet in diameter. This tree is second 

 only to that in Duxbury, which is sixteen feet in 

 circumference a foot or two above the surface of the 

 ground, is over one hundred years old, and bore in 

 one year fruit which made ten barrels of cider, in 

 addition to thirty barrels of apples put in the cellar. 

 — Boston Traveller. 



BLACK SHEEP. 



A neighbor selected a very likely young ram which 

 he designed "turning out," and at shearing' time 

 made known such intention to his " headman," Peter. 

 The shearing being over, Peter came to his master 

 aiid said the lamb he had selected would not do to 

 "turn out," unless he wished to have black sheep in 

 his flock. " How do you make that out, Pete r " said 

 his master ; " the lamb is the whitest in the flock." 

 " That may be," replied Pete ; " but I tell you half his 

 lambs will be black, _/or he has a black streak imder his 

 tongue." The master and myself, in talking upon the 

 subject, came to the conclusion that a grenter man 

 than Pete had advanced the same opinion, and ac- 



cordingly we picked up an old Virgil and commenced 

 the search. After no little trouble, we found the 

 following : — (Geo. 3, 387.) 



" Ilium autem, quamvis aries sit candidiis ipse, 

 Nigra subest udo tantum cui lingua palate, 

 Rejice, ne maculis iufuscet vcUera pullis 

 Nascentum." 



The English of which, I presume is. But, though 

 the ram himself may be white, reject him under 

 whose moist palate there is a black tongue, that he 

 may not darken the fleeces of the lambs with black- 

 ish spots. 



Whether Pete borrowed the idea from the " Man- 

 tuan Bard " or not, is a matter of no consequence. 

 The question for you, Mr. Botts, or some of your 

 correspondents, is, Is the idea correct? We have, 

 you see, the opinion of a "book farmer" and a prac- 

 tical one — of an ancient and a modern one — a great 

 man and a little one. — Southern Planter. 



MUSCULAR STRENGTH. 



The muscular power of the human body is indeed 

 wonderful. A Turkish porter will trot a rapid pace, 

 and carry a weight of six hundred pounds. Milo, a 

 celebrated athlete of Crotona, in Italy, accustomed 

 himself to carry the greatest burdens, and by degrees 

 became a monster in strength. It is said that he 

 carried on his shoulder an ox four years old, weigh- 

 ing upwards of one thousand pounds, for about forty 

 rods, and afterwards killed him with one blow of his 

 fist. Ho was seven times crowned at the Pythian 

 games, and six at the Olympian. He presented him- 

 self the seventh time, but no one had the courage to 

 enter the list against him. He was one of the dis- 

 ciples of Pythagoras, and to his uncommon strength 

 the learned preceptor and his pupils owed their lives. 

 The pillar which supported the roof of the house 

 suddenly gave way, but Milo supported the whole 

 weight of the building, and gave the philosopher 

 time to escape. In old age he attempted to pull up 

 a tree by its roots, and break it. He partially eff'octed 

 it ; but his strength being gradually exhausted, the 

 tree, where cleft, reunited, and left his hand pinched 

 in the body of it. He was then alone, and, unable 

 to disengage himself, died in that position. 



Haller mentioned that he saw a man, whose finger 

 caught in a chain at the bottom of a mine, by keep- 

 ing it forcibly bent, supported by that means the 

 whole weight of his body, one hundred and fifty 

 pounds, until he was drawn up to the surface, a dis- 

 tance of six hundred feet. 



Augustus II., king of Poland, could roll up a sil- 

 ver plate like a sheet of paper, and twist the strongest 

 horse-shoe asunder. 



A lion is said to have left the impression of his 

 teeth upon a piece of solid iron. 



The most prodigious power of muscle is exhibited 

 by the fish. The whale moves with a velocity 

 through the dense medium of water that would carry 

 him, if continued at the same rate, around the world 

 in less than a fortnight ; and a sword-fish has been 

 known to strike his weapon through the oak plank 

 of a ship. — Sel-ected. 



ON CUTTING OUT HOOKS OR HAWS. 



Before I was acquainted Mith this subject, two 

 years ago, I had tv/o young horses sacrificed to this 

 mistaken and ruinous operation. Ignorant quacks 

 do not know that the horse has a membrane peculiar 

 to the animal, which is at pleasure drawn over the 

 eye. The enlargement of this, by a fever, produces 

 the appearance, which, in jockey slang, is called the 

 hook,s. Reduce the fever by depletion, such as 

 bleeding plentifully, purging, &c., and have the 



