186;, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



127 



be of the thickness of molasses. If too much wa- 

 tei'cd it will cause dysentery. Fill empty comb 

 with this material, and place it in the chamber of 

 a chamber hive ; or if in an old-fashioned hive, 

 bore thruufrh the centre of the top with an inch and 

 a quarter bit or aug'er; remove the chips, trim off 

 the sjilintcrs with a knife. If, while doinif this, the 

 l)ccs manifest a disposition to come up, pour a little 

 of the bee feed in among them, which will keep 

 them down for the time being ; then place the comb 

 tilled with the bee feed upon the top of the hive 

 and cover with an open inverted box or peck meas- 

 ure. Wrap up the hives with rugs or quilts. The 

 best time to feed them is as soon as possiljle. The 

 best place is up cham))cr, directly over the kitchen 

 or living room of the house. 



Feed them in this manner right straight along 

 up into the spring, till the bees arc so numerous 

 and the weather so warm as to render feediTig im- 

 practicable. When unusually fine, warm days oc- 

 cur during the winter, set them out on their suuinicr 

 stands and allow them to fiy. This must l)c rigidly 

 adhered to, for to confine bees from fall till spring 

 without an oppoi'tunity to Hy, is almost sure death 

 to them. By this method I have fed first and sec- 

 ond SAvarms, which did as well and swanned as 

 early as the best, although extremely deficient of 

 both honey and comb. They need feeding as often 

 as twice a week, or at least seeing to. I am at 

 pi-esent feeding four swarms and have never failed. 

 The expense is less than the value of the swarms 

 after they are wintered. It is well kno^vn that bees 

 almost always have honey enough to last them till 

 the first or the middle of the winter. But very few 

 swanns accumulated sufficient winter stores the 

 past season. A. Leavitt. 



Chichester, N. H., Jan. 15, 1867. 



CLOTH PEDDLERS. 



A correspondent in Ashbumham, Mass., thinks 

 that the tricks of irresponsible cloth peddlers in 

 that section ought to be shown up. In the first 

 place, should not the folly of those who buy of 

 such men articles which they do not know the value 

 of, be shown up, till people learn to patronize deal- 

 ers of known responsibility and character ? Our 

 correspondent says : 



The one that was here last, said that a great fail- 

 ure had recently occurred in New York, which had 

 sent out a great many teams with directions to sell 

 for what the goods would fetch, even if less than 

 one quarter of the cost of the articles was realized, 

 so as to save something for the company. He saicl 

 there would be retail teams along in tlie course of 

 a week, which would sell six to nine quarter cotton 

 cloth for '25e per yard, American calico for 6c, 

 French at 10c, and woolen cloths at prices to cor- 

 respond. He had samples of the cotton cloths, and 

 a few pieces of woolens with him, which he offered 

 at wholesale, — nothing less than ^'io. He had a 

 great coat pattern that he saitl was worth i$oQ in 

 New York when first put into the store, liut he 

 would sell the two-and-a-half yards for $25. I 

 finally l)ought it for $10. It proves to be cotton 

 warp with fair shoddy filling — a good cloth of the 

 kind, but not what I Itargained for. So much for 

 my shave. Would it not be well to put such fel- 

 lows on paper, that honest people may be put on 

 their guard, if nothing more can be done. 



A. W. 



FILM ON AN ox's EYE. 



I noticed in the Farmer of Jan. 5, 1866, an in- 

 (jniiy by "E.E. A.," of Sunderland, Mass., if there 

 is "any simple way to take a film from an ox's 



eye ?" I would say that I have never known the 

 following to fiiil ; talce cheekerbcrry leaves, sim- 

 mer them in lard until they arc brittle, and when 

 cooled so that it is barely wann to the touch, ap- 

 ply it to the ox's eye ball, either with a feather or 

 by taking the ox by the horn and turning his head 

 up, so as to turn itinto the eye. I prefer the latter. 

 No. Sutton, N. H., Jan. 9, 1867. J. Puessey. 



Remarks.— "H. P.," of Wilton, N. H., writes 

 that he has found turkey's oil, applied a few times 

 to the eye with a feather, to effect a cure in both 

 oxen and horses. 



use of touacco. 



Our long winter evenings have come, and now 

 shall we not have a discussion through your paper 

 on the use of tobacco. Inquirer. 



Brandon, Vt., Dec. 21, 1866. 



Remarks. — Were this subject appropriate to our 

 columns, who that has the use of his eyes and nose 

 would seriously argue in favor of a practice which 

 injures health and unfits one for association with 

 the clean and tidy. 



A FINE PIG. 



W. H. H. Peabody, of Wilmot, killed a pig, 8 

 months 20 days old, that weighed when dressed, 

 after hanging up one day, -505 llis ; width across the 

 hips and shoulders 22 inches ; length 6 feet. Fed 

 on milk and potatoes to the first of September; 

 since then has had 4bushds barley, and 13 of com. 



Wilmot, N. H., Dec. 24, 1866. A. w. m. 



FOUR GOOD PIGS. 



1 slaughtered a few days since four Chester Co., 

 pigs, Q\s\\t months old, which weighed as follows : 

 276 lbs.; 279 lbs.; 297 lbs.; and 332 lbs.; whole 

 weight of the four pigs, 1184 lbs. D. D wight. 



Dudley, Mass., Jan. 11, 1867. 



PROFITABLE HENS. 



Mr. John Buckman, of Stoneham, Mass., a sub- 

 scriber to the Farjier, commenced an account, 

 March 1st, with 22 hens. Up to November, the 

 sales from his henery amounted to $126. He had 

 also, 16 nice pullets, worth $1.50 each, or $24. Mak . 

 ing the total income $150 \\\} to that time. Grain 

 fed $35. Further particulars promised at the close 

 of the year, March 1st. 



BOOK ON DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



Will you do me the favor to name some practical 

 work or works on the horse and other domestic 

 animals, — not Youatt's or Mason's, — that would 

 suit a small fanner. I do not notice any advertise- 

 ments of such as I want in your pa;.K'r. 



S. H. Melcher. 



La Grange, Tenn., Dec, 1866. 



Remarks. — There is a work on Domestic Ani- 

 mals, their breeds, management, diseases, &c., by 

 R. L. Allen, published in New York ; The Ameri- 

 can Cattle Doctor, by G. H. Dadd ; and Cole's, quite 

 a small but good book. As good a work as you can 

 find, probably, is the Farmer's Encyclopedia, — that 

 treats of all stock and all crops on the farm, soils, 

 &c., &c. 



