VOL. XV II. JfO. Ir,. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



149 



3 bees will continue to work as well, provided 

 r carcass be present ; and that no young bees 

 n be raised without a queen ; the old bees never 

 t bread, &c. These experiments Mr Weeks in- 

 ids to publish, and their results ; therefore 1 can 

 ly say, that it is an interesting system, which 

 brds an agreeable amusement, a comfort and 

 )fit. He advances his opinion, that bees are sus- 

 •)tiblc of a high state of cultivation ; that they 

 11 never flee to the woods and mountains, unless 

 glected by their owner, or througli a deticiency 

 knowing how they must be managed; and that 



had not lost a swarm by flight to the woods in 

 ^enteon years. One reason of the bees desert- 

 T for better quarters is, when the rays of the sun 

 3 direct it exhausts the air in the hive of its vi- 

 ;ity. Mr W. sells tlie common coarse wood 

 awers of honey, in Boston, at from thirtyfour to 

 •tytwo cents per pound, by the quantity ; and for 

 i best glass and mahogany boxes, he receives a 

 iher price. 



Mr Aaron Barns, of Rutland, states, that ten of 

 3 swarms in the Vermont hive, produced, lastsea- 

 n, $75 worth of extra honey. 

 Mr Week's last edition of books on the manage- 

 3nt of bees, have all been ordered, but another 

 ition will probably be published the ensuing win- 

 IIc is ever ready to congratulate all those 

 10 may call on hjin — such as parties of pleasure, 

 lusemont, and profit, and none can leave without 

 taste of his bread and choice lioney ; in addition 



a pleasing course of lectures on tlie natures and 

 bits of the honey bee, and otiier insects, which 

 e very entertaining, instructive and useful. 

 Respectfully yours, 



SOLOMON W. JEWETT. 



Wcrjhriilge, Vt. August, 1838. 



made to convey the water of the Nile to the dry 

 and arid tracts not usually irrigated in the an- 

 nual overflow of that river. Of such utility were 

 these improvements, combined with the fertilizing 

 properties of the water brought from the Nile, that 

 the country of Egypt, consisting of only 0,000 

 square miles, comprised, as we are told by Pliny, a 

 population of 20,000,000 souls. This amazing fer- 

 tility, although caused principally by the Nile, 

 could not have benefited the Egyptians in a very 



From the Cultivator. 



PATRONAGE TO AGRICULTURE. 



Goshvn, August 27, 1838. 

 sssE BuEL, Esq. — 



Dear Sir — If you think the following will 

 ibserve the cause of agriculture, you can give it 

 place in your valuable journal. It iias always 

 emed surprising to me, that this country, which 

 80 productive in the fruits of the earth, should 

 Lve received in its agricultural department so 

 ttle aid 'from its rulers. While patronage is ex- 

 nded with a liberal hand to the various mechani- 

 il art^, and improvements in machinery anxiously 

 lught after, the parent art, upon which all others. 

 ;pend for their support, is neglected. T know that 

 le fault, in some measure, rests upon the people 

 lemselves ; but something should be done to ele- 

 ite the standard of agriculture. The ancient-; 

 lok much more interest in the cultivation of the 

 )il, tlian is manifested at the present time. The 

 •ts and manufactures had not attained their present 

 ate of perfection, and it was only by the tilling of 

 le soil that the greater portion of the inhabitants 

 ere enabled to procure a subsistence. But their 

 ngs and princes, orators and great men, united in 

 trrying the science to such a pitch of perfection 

 s has not been seen since. A great many excel- 

 mt treatises were composed upon the subject of 

 hich we ought much to regret the loss. The 

 ings of Egypt were famous for their skill in hus- 

 indry, and for the improvement they caused to be 

 ade in that country. They caused drains to be 



I great degree, without the kindly aid and instruction 

 I of their rulers. Cicero, also, one of the first ora- 

 ] tors of Rome, devoted much of his time to agri- 

 cultural pursuits. He composed many valuable 

 works. Virgil also has immortalized himself in 

 his Bucolics. But perhaps of all the kings re- 

 corded in history, Hiero, king of Syracuse, in Sic- 

 ily, stands first as a patron of husbandry. He 

 came in possession of the throne at the age of 

 thirty, and found the country convulsed with sedi- 

 tions and corrupted by luxury. He soon succeeded 

 in placing agriculture in honor among his subjects, 

 who, whether high or low, rich or poor, applied 

 themselves diligently to cultivating the soil. The 

 con-sequence was, that in a few years the inhabitants 

 of Sicily, a small speck in the Mediterranean; who 

 were in the habit of importing nearly all their grain 

 from the continent, had now a large surplus for e.x- 

 portation. This brought the wealth of the sur- 

 rounding country into their own, and then into the 

 pockets of the farmers. By means of these wise 

 regulations, he also kept an infinite number of 

 hands busy, which might otherwise have been em- 

 ployed to the detriment of the state. This is a 

 policy which should (and it cannot be too often 

 repeated) be the peculiar care of a wise and pru- 

 dent government, but it is often sadly neglected. 

 Hiero's laws were so excellent in this respect, as 

 well as others, that sometime afterwards, whan -.he 

 island became a Roman province, the inhabitants 

 were allowed to be governed by their own laws, the 

 Romans not being able to substitute anything bet- 

 ter in their room. 



And why, permit me to ask, may not the exam- 

 ple of Hiero be imitated in this country ? It is 

 from the Legislatures of the several states that we 

 must look for encouragement, in a government con- 

 stituted as ours is. They have begun to awake, 

 and have done something, as is the case in regard 

 to Maine, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Pennsyl- 

 vania. But much still remains to be done. 



The condition of agriculture at present, is some- 

 what analagous to that of our common schools. 

 Something should be done to give the usefid science 

 of agriculture its proper respect in the minds of 

 men. Education and agriculture should go hand 

 in hand. All improvements in the one should be 

 met by improvements in the other. The power 

 and influence of the general assembly, are acknow- 

 ledged by many to be necessary in advancing the 

 character and promoting the usefulness of common 

 schools. Wliy should not that power and influence 

 be exerted in forwarding the usefulness of agricul- 

 ture, upon which so much depends, and in which 

 so many are concerned ? That august assembly, 

 the senate of Rome, did not think it beneath them 

 to bring this art to perfection, and wliy should the 

 legislature of this country neglect so important a 

 source of revenue ? -In the hope, dear sir, that this 

 may not be altogether out of place, I remain your 

 obedient servant. 



CHARLES STRONG. 



From the Ualtimore Patriot. 



CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. 



" A righteous man," says Solomon, " regardeth 

 the life of his be^ist," and it may be added that he 

 regards his comfort also. I have often been sur- 

 prised and pained, at what appears to be an unmer- 

 ciful regardlessness of the comfort and health of 

 their animals ; particularly their colts and horned 

 cattle ; in not providing them with shelter, in the 

 winter season. These animals are around a stack, 

 at a distance from any shelter ; or around a barn, 

 where there is none, except protection by the sides 

 of the barn, from the direct force of the wind ; 

 these too, night and day, through storms of rain 

 and snow, and whether the thermometer is above 

 freezing or below zero, and in severe cold weather, 

 standing shivering, and curling up with evident 

 signs of discomfort and suffering. Now I would 

 not ask a farmer to build a house, with parlors in 

 it, and stoves to warm his animals, and with floors 

 carpeted, and windows curtained, and feather-beds 

 for them to sleep upon. No such thing ; with all 

 my sympathy for their neglect and suflfering. But 

 this I would say — give them at least cow-houses, 

 and so far as practicable, stables, or what shall 

 shut them up from storms and wind. 



Another thing. I often see barns and cow. 

 houses, which are the mere ghosts of such things ; 

 shingles off, boards off, or so far apart that they , 

 are very little shelter from the cold ; a door lying 

 on the side, edgewise before the place where it 

 ought to be hung, bona fide, upon hinges, and ca- 

 pable of being shut. Now here are slovenliness 

 and cruelty, both together ; very fit company for 

 each other too. 



I heard a man, telling how much his cattle suf- 

 fered through one of our late winters because the 

 winter came on suddenly, and before he had cov- 

 ered his barn. "Thinks I to, myself," (and I am 

 sorry now I did not say it, as well as think it,)— 

 " Why, man alive ! why did'nt you snatch every 

 day that came — after the first onset of winter. Go 

 to bed and sleep quietly night after night, with 

 your cattle and colts shivering under the fences, 

 and exposed to rain, snow, and hail, for the want of 

 a little enterprise and bravery of the cold ! Shame 

 upon you ! Has a beast no sensation of cold, 

 think you ?" 



Cruelty of this sort, is bad economy. Animals 

 that shiver with cold, and tremble from weather 

 during winter, will be lean and feeble in the 

 spring. 



For two reasons, ay ! three — should a man who 

 would be considered a good farmer, afford a good 

 shelter to his animajjj, in the winter ; to wit : for 

 economifs sake ; for mercy's sake ; and for conscience 

 sake. 



A Friend to Horses and Cattle. 



The damage to the crops, &c. on the Tar river 

 and its tributary streams in North Carolina by the 

 storm of the 28th of Sept, has been estimated at 

 three millions of dollars. 



An idle fellow, complaining of his hard lot, said 

 he was born the last day of the year, the last day 

 of the month, the last day of the week ; and he 

 had always been behind hand. He believed it 

 would have been fifty dollars in his pocket if he had 

 not been born at all. 



