218 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



mers bcins unable to keep them on account of hav- 

 ing a sniail crop of hay. Hay brings thirty dollars 

 a ton, and still has an upward tendency. 



The snow has not entirely taken its departure ; in 

 some places there are yet drifts from fifteen to 

 twenty feet deep. Chiel. 



Hhelburne, Vt., March 4, 1867. 



BEES LOST IN SPRING. 



In reply to a correspondent Avho inquires for 

 some means to prevent the loss of bees in the 

 spring, which sometimes almost blacken the snow 

 in front of the hives, we copy the following direc- 

 tions from Mr. Quinby's Work on Bees : 



"To prevent their leaving the hive at such times, 

 a wide board should be set up before it, at least as 

 higli as the entrance in the side, to protect it from 

 the sun. But if it grows so warm that the bees 

 leave the hi >e when thus shaded, it is fair evidence 

 that it will do to let them sally out freely, except 

 in case of a new snow, when they should be con- 

 fined to the hive. 



The hive may be let down on the floor-board, the 

 passage in the side covered with wire cloth, and 

 made dark ; raising at night again, a little for 

 ventilation. 



It has been recommended to enclose the whole 

 hive by a large l^ox set over it, and made perfectly 

 dark ; with means for ventilation, &c. For large 

 families this would ao well enough, as would also 

 some other methods. But I would rather take the 

 chances of letting them all stand in the sun, and 

 issue at pleasure, than to ha^'C the warmth of the 

 sun entirely excluded from the medium sized fam- 

 ilies." 



INCOME FROM A HEIFER. 



I have a four-year-old heifer that calved the first 

 of last May, and comes in again the first of April 

 next. In ten months she has given sixteen barrels 

 (2048 quarts) of uulk. The calf was sold for 

 eleven dollars. Now, suppose I had sold her milk 

 for six cents per quart, it would amount to one 

 hundred and twenty-two dollars and eighty-eight 

 cents, making, with the calf, the sum of one hun- 

 dred and thirty-three dollars and eighty-eight 

 cents, for the use of one cow for ten months. I do 

 not nuikc the above statement Ijccause I think my 

 heifer is better than many owned by my neigh- 

 bors, but because I think we are not aware what a 

 noble lot of milk, butter and cheese we get from 

 one good cow in a season, besides all the sour 

 milk for the hogs. j. l. r. 



Epplng, N. H., March, 1867. 



GOOD ADVICE. 



I was much interested in an article, page 22 of 

 the January nuinlier of the Monthly Faumek, en- 

 titled, "Shall I sell my little Farnrr" A reply to 

 it contained much that liad both wit and wisdom 

 in it. 



The choice of occnpation for the young has al- 

 ways hill a kindly consideration in your journal, 

 and it was never so much nccilcd as now. I trust 

 you \x'ill yet urge that we do not ail join in the 

 rush fir South or West. Indeed, those of us who 

 are not under the influence of some numia, are for- 

 tunate. I would use all my influence with our 

 present "wcll-ofi's," to adhere to the farm. 



J. II. c. 



A GIRL S niDDIES. 



A kind noighlmr lends me the New England 

 Fahmi'.u to read, in which I take a great interest, 

 especially in the I,:ulios'l)('i)artnient. Some of the 

 receipts I have tried, and like them very much. 



As I have been much interested in what one and 

 another have said about their hens, others may be 

 interested in a brief notice of my five biddies dur- 

 ing the past season, one of which brought up a 

 brood of chickens. They were kept shut up most 

 of the time. I gave them all the crumbs and sci'aps 

 of meat from the table,, and kept bones and shells 

 pounded, by them. They commenced to lay in 

 February, and laid sixty dozen eggs. Two pullets 

 have been added to the nnml)cr this year, and they 

 commenced to lay in January, and laid 8 dozen 

 eggs up to March 12. p. a. p. 



East Brookjield, Mass., March 12, 1867. 



KEROSENE OIL. 



We bought a pair of oxen a short time since, on 

 which we found lice. Were advised to apply ker- 

 osene oil, which killed all the vermin as far as it 

 went, for it has taken the hair all otf and enough 

 of the skin, we should think, to take the roots, too, 

 leaving the flesh sore. s. 



Guilford, Ct., March, 1867. 



For the Kew England Farmer, 



BOMMER MANURE. 



Messrs. Editors : — Will you give us Bommer's 

 method of pi'eparing manures as it is now open to 

 the public, and also tell us which is the best book 

 that treats on the cultivation of small fruits. 



A New Farmer. 



Remarks. — About thirty years ago a gen- 

 tleman in France by the name of JaufTret in- 

 vented and patented a process for composting, 

 or making manure of old straw, hay, weeds, 

 or any coarse vegetable matter, by inducing a 

 rapid decomposition, &c. The following sy- 

 nopsis of the French patent was prepared and 

 published by us several years ago. 



Jauffrefs plan was to form a tank or reser- 

 voir for water, saturated with decomposing 

 animal or vegetable substances, which may be 

 Ibund on almost every farm. This may be 

 composed in part of drainlngs from the barn- 

 yard, soap-suds, sink water, urine, &c. 



A ley is then prepared in a vessel, or small 

 tank or pit. In prcparin'g this ley, it is better 

 to take the dralnings from a (bnncr heap, or 

 for the first time take li(juor from the reservoir, 

 or soap-suds, sink water, and other litjuids 

 rich with vegetable or animal matter. 



To decompose one thousand poimds of dry, 

 vegetable substances, or twice that weight of 

 green materials, add to the licjuor in the vessel, 

 or small tank, 



200 pounds of night soil, or twice that quantity of 

 hoiire, cattle, shc-cp or swiuu mauure, 



f)0 " " wood Koot, 



00 " " uiilcached asbcs, 



200 " " plaster, 



30 " " quick lime, 



1 " " coniinoti salt, 



1 " " Baltpclre. 



Tliese ingredients may be varied ; and it 

 woiihl be an improvenu'nt to increase the 

 (|iiantity of (juick lime and asln^s, ami reduce 

 that of piaster. If these materials cannot be 

 conveniently obtained, others may be substi- 



