56 



XEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



have yet to learn if bees can be wintered in any 

 place without consuming some honey ; it is true, 

 if bees are kept in a damp place, and should they 

 survive the dampness, the amount of honey they 

 would consume will be small, the weight of which 

 would be balanced by the dampness and mould 

 which the comb will take up, so that the hive 

 would be nearly as heavy in the Spring as in the 

 Fall previous. K. P. KiDDER, 



Practical Apiculturist. 



Burlington, Vt., 1862. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 LITTLE THINGS: 

 Or a Walk in My Garden, 

 agricultural education. 



Mr. Editor : — Your correspondent, "More 

 Anon," in his article on agriculture in common 

 schools, in your issue of Dec. 6, pleases me much, 

 because it exhibits so much good common sense. 



His idea is, that if any parents or boys should 

 express a desire that the latter should have the 

 privilege of studying the science of agriculture in 

 the common schools, it could readily be obtained. 

 Now this harmonizes with my last article on this 

 subject. While I believe it not possible nor desi- 

 rable, at present, to introduce the study into all of 

 our schools as we would arithmetic, yet his plan 

 would be an entering wedge for something better 

 hereafter, and there are numerous cases where his 

 plan might succeed with advantage. Let two 

 boys of sixteen or seventeen years take some 

 simple manual, and, though the teacher may not 

 be thoroughly versed in agricultural science, they 

 may still acquire much useful information. Al- 

 most all great efforts are the result of small means 

 at the outset. This will prove true in agriculture. 

 Many of us in our youth had no better advantages, 

 in other studies, than these boys would have in 

 their wished-for study. I have an excellent rule 

 for making a box. I am not much of a house-car- 

 penter, but I find my rule always works well. If 

 I cannot make a perfect joint, I make it as well as 

 I can. So must we do in all our efforts. Do as 

 well as we can. 



Any one who has had much experience in teach- 

 ing, well knows that there are many schools where 

 there may not be a single boy in a condition to 

 study agriculture with advantage ; yet in these 

 very schools, a winter will come round when they 

 will be full of boys of the right age. It is by tak- 

 ing advantage of these circumstances that we are 

 to succeed, if we succeed at all, in introducing the 

 subject into the common school. The knowledge 

 acquired in this way may be imperfect, but a few 

 important ideas will expand to almost any extent 

 as they grow older. 



It is not to be expected that the present race of 

 farmers can, as a class, be investigators of science 

 to any great extent. Nor is it necessary to their 

 success. They must take the results of the inves- 

 tigations of scientific men, and put them in prac- 

 tice. In other words, they must begin where the 

 scientific man leaves off. This should be kept in 

 view by all who have an interest in agricultural 

 education. There is, at the present day, sufficient 

 material of a practical nature, to occupy all the 

 energies of the most capacious minded farmer. I 

 make this special remark here, because I have 



often seen intelligent fanners, who seemed to be 

 dissatisfied with themselves, that they are not an- 

 alytical chemists, or something else beyond their 

 reach. It is enough for me to be able to read an 

 almanac without knowing how it was made, 

 though it might be very pleasant to do so. It is 

 enough for me to be able to read a book, though 

 I may not have the ability to write one. I am 

 very well satisfied if I can make a good garden, 

 fat a hog, or cultivate an orchard, though I may 

 not know a single element in chemistry. It is 

 safe, however, and right, that every farmer and 

 mechanic, as well as the professional man, should 

 learn all he can, in everything pertaining to his 

 calling, without being restrained by any definite 

 rules on the subject. The case with boys is dif- 

 ferent. They can, if profitably taught, learn many 

 of the principles of things while young, and if 

 they enjov the advantages for their study, they 

 will readily put the principles in practice as they 

 grow older. It is on this point of principles and 

 practice that so much diversity of opinion seems 

 to arise in discussing the whole question of agri- 

 cultural education. 



It is unfortunate for our young men, that our 

 agricultural colleges and professorships are all on 

 ])aper. I should not know where to go, if I had a 

 desire to do so, where I could find myself in a 

 school, and in an atmosphere breathing of agricul- 

 tural science. Public opinion needs to be raised 

 to the same standard in establishing agricultural 

 schools, that it has been in founding our charita- 

 ble institutions. When I read of rich bequests 

 given to these institutions in Massachusetts, I bless 

 the donors, but I have often thought what a boon 

 to humanity would a few hundred thousand dollars 

 be to the founding of an agricultural school. 



There is no concealing the fact that intelligent 

 farmers are yearning for greater facilities for ac- 

 quiring scientific knowledge than they now enjoy ; 

 and there is no doubt that in the progress of 

 events, this opportunity will be enjoyed. With- 

 out these schools, agriculture has made astonish- 

 ing strides dui'ing the last twenty years. It is a 

 cheerful view of what we may anticipate from the 

 future, in elevating the condition of the farmer. 



Bethel, Me., Dec. 9, 1862. n. t. t. 



Remarks. — The views taken above of this im- 

 portant subject are clear and just, and we com- 

 mend them to the consideration of every reader. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 INQUIRIES AND NOTES FROM MAINE. 



Mr. Editor : — Can you, through the Farmer, 

 inform me where Mr. George B. Emerson's "i?e- 

 port on the Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts'' 

 can be obtained ; at what price ; how long ago it 

 was published, and its size, style and value, or if 

 not, his address ? 



What is the magnifying power of the Craig 

 Microscope, advertised in the Farmer, and lately 

 so felicitously noticed upon the fourth page of the 

 weekly edition, accompanied with an illustration 

 of the Microscope and a group of joyful young 

 faces ? 



Mr. J. R. True, of Freeman, raised 185 bushels 

 of the sti'ap-leaf turnips on one-eighth of an acre. 

 He plowed the land twice in the spring, once just 



