788 



TMm mmtm^iQmM m'em jouRKMir. 



GLEMSOFEEWS. 



Paris Exposilioii.— It will be seeu 

 from the foUowini! circular letter of the 

 Represenlative of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture that the work of pre- 

 paring the collection for the exhibit of this 

 Department alone is no small undertaking. 

 An idea of the collection in the aggregate 

 can be imagined when we remember that 

 agriculture is only one of the nine groups, 

 into whifh the exhibit of the United States 

 is divided : 



By joint rtsolution approved May 10, 

 1888, Congress lormally accepted the invita- 

 tion of the French Republic to take part in 

 the Paris Universal Exposition ot 1889, and 

 made anapproprialicm to defray the expen- 

 ses incident to the collection and installation 

 of the American exhibit. It was provided 

 that a commissioner general, and an assist- 

 ant commissioner general should be ap- 

 pointed to frame rules and regulations tor 

 the undertaking, and, under the direction 

 of the Secretary of State, to control the ex- 

 penditures to which it might give rise ; and 

 that as assistants to the Commissioner Gen- 

 eral, nine scientific experts, to be assigned 

 to the nine groups into which fhe French 

 authorities have divided the Exposition, 

 should be appointed by the President. It 

 was furthermore made the duty ot the Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture to collect and pre- 

 pare suitable specimens of the agricultural 

 ■proriuctious of the several States and ter- 

 ritories. 



In accordance with the provisions of this 

 resolution of Congress, arrangements have 

 been duly made between Gen. William B. 

 Franklin, Commissioner General, and Nor- 

 man J. Culman, Commissioner ot Agricul- 

 ture, for preparing that part of the exhibit 

 for which the latter is respousible. 



The undersigned, having been appointed 

 by the President as one ot the assistants to 

 the Commissioner General, and assigned to 

 Group ViU (agricultural products), has 

 also been designated by the Commissioner 

 of Agriculture as his representative to pre- 

 pare the agricultural exhibit, and a board has 

 been formed in the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, consisting of the undersigned, Mr. 

 William Saunders, Mr. O. D. La Dow, Mr. 

 M Trimble, and Dr. D. E. Salmon, to con- 

 sider and decide upon all questions relating 

 to the agriculture exhibit. 



A sub-division of the work into various 

 branches has been made, to facilitate the 

 collecting and preparing of material for the 

 exhibit, and special agents have been as- 

 signed as follows : 



1. Grains— Mr. George William Hill, ot 

 St. Paul, Minn. 



2 Citrous and other Fruits— Mr. H. E. 

 Van Deman, of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Washington. 



3 Cotton and Fibres— Col. Jas. R. Bin- 

 ford of Duck Hill, Miss., and Mr. Charles 

 Ricli'ards Dodge, ot Boston, Mass. 



4 Viticulture-Mr. B. F. Clayton, of New 

 York, and Mr. George Husmaun, ot Napa 

 City, Calif. 



h Tobacco and Peanuts— Mr. Alexander 

 McDonald, of Lynchburg, Va. 



6 A"ricultural Education and Experi- 

 ment s"tations-Prof. W. O. Atwater, ot this 

 Departai' nt. 



7 Vegetables, including Hops and Cran- 

 berries- Mr. M. G. Kern, ot St. Louis, Mo. 



8. Entomology, including Apiculture and 

 Silk-Culture— The undersigned, Mr. N. W. 

 McLain, of Hinsdale, Ills., and Mr. Philip 

 Walker, ot this Department. 



9. Forestry— Prof. B. E. Fernow, of this 

 Department, and Mr. M. G. Kern, of St. 

 Louis, Mo. 



10. Sorghum and other Sugar Plants- 

 Plot H. W. Wiley, ot this Department. 



11. Grasses and Forage Plants— Dr. Geo. 

 Vasey, of this Department. 



12. Meat Products.— Dr. D. E. Salmon, of 

 this Department. 



In addition to the foregoing divisions of 

 the exhibit the heads of Divisions of the 

 Department of Agriculture have been called 

 upon to make contributions and their sev- 

 eral specialties as follows : 



Methods of collecting and of sending out 

 seeds— Mr. W. M. King. 



Mammals and birds injurious or beneficia! 

 to agriculture— Dr. C. HartMerriam. 



Illustrations of the principal fungus dis- 

 eases of agricultural products— Prot. B. T. 

 Galloway. 



Illustrations o( the methods of discrimi- 

 nating between adulterated and pure food 

 products by microscopic methods — Dr. 

 Thomas Taylor. 



General Agricultural Statistics— Dr. J. R. 

 Dodge. 



The attention of all who intend or wish 

 to become contributors to the agricultural 

 exhibit, is called to the necessity of putting 

 themselves into communication with this 

 ofBce, either directly by mail, or throuah 

 the special agents who are already in the 

 field. The time remaining, though ample, 

 if exhibitors are prompt in making their 

 purposes known, is yet so short as to leave 

 little margin for delay. 



It is intended, as far as practicable, to 

 show not only the varied products of the 

 country by samples, but also by means of 

 photographs and models, the methods and 

 processes of cultivating, harvesting and pre- 

 paring for the market. 



While it is the purpose ot the Commis- 

 sioner to malie the display one that will be 

 creditable to the country at large, yet the 

 advantages to follow from the spread of in- 

 formation, among foreign peoples, as to the 

 great variety and unrivaled qualities of 

 American agricultural productions, are de- 

 signed to accrue directly to individuals and 

 associations who may contribute of their 

 products to the enterprise. The name and 

 locality of the exhibitor will be plainly 

 affixed to every exhibit, and will appear, as 

 well, in the official catalogues of the Expo- 

 sition. 



Materials contributed in bulk will be 

 placed in suitable receptacles for display, 

 at this office, and all exhibits will be trans- 

 ported to Paris, cared for, and returned free 

 of cost to the exhibitor. 



Organizations desiring to prepare, at their 

 own expense, more elaborate exhibits of the 

 products ot a given locality, should com- 

 municate at once the extent ot floor or wall 

 space they desire. 



All materials designed for the Agricul- 

 tural exhibit must be in Washington not 

 later than tlie middle of January, 1889, and 

 must be carefully addressed to the under- 

 signed and marked, as must all letters, 

 Paris ExposiHon. C. V. Riley, 



Representative. 



Ancient Foolislincss-- The follow- 

 ing very quaint extract was taken out of a 

 book entitled, "Speculum Mundi ; or A 

 Glasse Representing the Face of the World," 

 written by John Swan, M. A., 183.% by T. 

 Bonner Chambers, F. L. S., and sent to the 

 British Bee Journal for publication. It ex- 

 hibits the ignorance about bees 250 years 

 ago: 



Bees.— These be those winged workmen, 

 which whether their proHt or admiration 

 be greater, I am scarce able to say. For 

 they do not onely busily bestirre themselves 

 to gather hony, which is very useful in the 

 life of man ; but they do work it up in most 

 strange manner, and keep it in their waxen 

 cells so rarely built that all the men which 

 the world affords are not able to do the like. 

 Neither is this all : for they live so, as they 

 may be true patterns of needful government, 

 keeping themselves under the subjection of 

 a king, and order of laws. They may well 

 be likewise said to have the soveraignty 

 and pre-eminence above all others ot this 

 kinde, because the rest come farre short of 

 their perfections. 



It is a creature having foure wiugs, and 

 bloudlesse. the onely crafts-master of 

 honey. Their eyes are somewhat ot a 

 horny substance, hid deep in their bodies, 

 as is also their stings ; which when they 

 lose they die : 



Vitam in vulnere pronunt : 

 because their sting and entrails come away 

 together. They want neither tongue nor 

 teeth, and out of their short feet or stumps, 

 there grow forth as it were two fingers, 

 wherein they carry a little stone, for the 

 poysing their bodies in stormy, windie, 

 tempestuous weather ; it being a great 

 means to keep them fiom blowing away and 

 losing their homes. 



Neither can it be denied but that by na- 

 ture they are much different : tor some are 

 more domesticall and tame, and others 

 again are altogether wilde, uplandish, and 

 agre^tiall. Those former are much de- 

 lighted with the familiar friendship, cus- 

 tome, and company of men ; but the other 

 can in no wise brook or endure them, and 

 therefore they keep their trade of honey- 

 making in old trees, caves, and such like 

 other holes. 



As for their breathing, I do not believe it; 

 hnwbeit they may pant, move, or stirre (as 

 the heart or brain doth), and by transpira- 

 tion be comforted and made lively: for 

 they be much refreshed by the aire which 

 passeth through their divided places, inso- 

 much that they alwayes use great diligence 

 and care to preserve tliem from being 

 stopped : for as soon as they be stopped in 

 those passages, they die ; as we see if at 

 any time they chance to tall into oyl, or the 

 likeliquour, which may stop their pores. 



Some make three kings amongst them, 

 differing in colour, as black, red, and divers 

 coloured ; but perhaps there is rather one 

 king in a companie, the other like kings 

 may be esteemed as viceroyes. In their 

 hreeding, thev actually couple together, 

 after which they lay eggs, setting upon 

 them for the space of live and fourtie 

 dayes ; then do they hatch their young 

 ones, which at the first come forth much 

 like to white worms, except the king, who 

 only is said to be hatched with wings. And 

 sometimes there is a kinde ot bee bred out 

 of putrefation, as authors write. A rotten 

 horse breedeth wasps ; a dead calf bees, if 

 the west winde b'ow ; from an asse pro- 

 ceed humble-bees ; ot a mule, hornets, etc. 

 And whether the bees iu Samson's dead 

 lion were bred anywhere else, no man 

 knoweth. 



C2^ Tberewill be a meeting of the Susquehanna 

 County He«-Keepera' Associationat theCourtHouse 

 in Montrose, Pa., on Saturday, May 4, iHrtii.at n> a.m. 

 H. M. SEBLEr, s«. 



I 



