1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



471 



tide, they cease to carry off the meal. The aver- 

 age consumption of eacii colony is about two 

 pounds." 



I have used rye meal for two years with good 



success. SELltAilC. 



IVorcester Co., Mass., Aug., 1867. 



TO CURE MILDEW ON GRAPE VINES. 



One pound whale oil soap, dissolved in one quart 

 hot waicr. Add to this one j)ound pulverized sul- 

 phur and eight gallons soft water. Let it stand 

 from six to eight hours, stirring from the bottom 

 of barrel or tub, three or four times, ■when it will 

 be ready for use. Stir well before using, and ap- 

 ply with garden syringe. Do not fear, for it will 

 not injure tlic vine or fruit. Let every leaf have 

 a dose, and the enemy is defeated. It is a cheap 

 and relialile remedy. I have used it with success 

 this season on one hundred and eighty vines, after 

 all other "cures," as they are termed, had failed. 

 East Walpole, Mass., Aug. 10, 1867. J. M. 



THE RANGE OF BEES' FLIGHT. 



This is a subject of great importance to bee- 

 keepers, as it has been supposed that bees fly only 

 about three miles when collecting honey, conse- 

 quently there was a fear of overstocking an apiaiy. 

 Having ascertained that there were no bees on 

 Kelly's Island (Lake Erie), in the spring of 1866 

 we established an ajjiary of the Italians there, for 

 the purpose of rearing pure queens and ascertain- 

 ing the flight of the Italians for feed. In less than 

 a week after they commenced to fly, they were bu- 

 sily at woi'k on the other end of the island, more than 

 /ive miles from the apiary. This season we intend to 

 carry some of the bees in a boat off on the water, 

 and put them to work on feed, and ascertain just 

 how far they will work from the hives. We are of 

 the opinion, however, that they will not fly as far 

 across the water as on the land, where there is a 

 continuous supply of flowers to call them from the 

 hives. We will report further on the matter at the 

 close of the season. W. A. Flanders & Co. 



Shelby, Ohio, 1867. 



Remarks. — We shall be happy to publish the 

 result of your experiments. Such statements of 

 facts are worth far more than mere theorizing. 



SALT THATCH TO COVER STRAWBEhRY PLANTS. 



Will you inform me, through the Farmer, 

 whether salt thatch would be good covering for 

 strawberries in winter ? A. Green. 



Amesbiiry, Mass., 1867. 



Remarks. — We have no doubt it would. All 

 covering should be slight, and whatever saline 

 matter was washed from the thatch would be very 

 slight, and we should think would prove useful. 

 However, we have never known it used, and would 

 cdvise to employ it cautiously. 



about 1100 times in one year, so that the saving 

 of labor witli. stanchions is quite an item, especially 

 as small children or women can occasionally take 

 care of the cattle, who could not if they were fas- 

 tened with chains. Cattle get very dirty in chains 

 by lying in the manure, getting wet and uncom- 

 fortable, while in my stanchions they lie to one 

 side of where they stand and keep themselves 

 much cleaner. a. l. w. 



Hope, Me., Aug. 2, 1867. 



STANCHIONS FOR CATTLE. 



I noticed an article some time since In the Far- 

 mer, written by "C. H. W." of Wiscasset, oliject- 

 ing to stanchions as "barbarous," &e. I will allow 

 that the stationary ones are so, but I am using, as 

 are many others in this section, a kind that are as 

 easy as chains, while they are more safe, conven- 

 ient, and much better every way. There are many 

 disadvantages in the use of chains. They are not 

 safe, cattle often getting badly hurt or killed ; 

 they break and let the cattle loose ; they are un- 

 safe for children to tie with, and inconvenient for 

 any one. I turn out my cattle twice each day in 

 winter, and once a day in summer, which makes 



CUTTING GRAIN. 



Having a piece of grain so badl.y beat down and 

 crippled by the late storms, that "we were unal)le 

 to cut it with the cradle, we determined to try it 

 with the mower; raking oif by hand each swath 

 as fast as cut liy the machine. 



We found this plan to succeed quite well, and 

 the grain was gathered in bundles, as nearly 

 straight, perhaps, as could have been done in any 

 other way, from the bad condition the storms had 

 left the field. 



There was, however, one serious objection to 

 this plan. The team had to stand still much the 

 larger part of the time ; the two rakers not being 

 I al)le to gather near as last as it fell from the knives 

 i of the machine. There were about three acres of 

 the rye, and after spending two or three hours on 

 it we found the field was not cut by considerable. 



Another expedient was then hit upon, which 

 succeeded somewhat beyond our expectations, 

 and we have thought that some account of it 

 might perhaps furnish a hint to some reader of the 

 Farmer, in like circumstances. 



The plan was as follows : a piece of stout rope, 

 some five or six feet in length, was procured. One 

 end of this was made fast to the outside shoe ; the 

 other end was knotted and slipped into the slot of 

 the "bar latch." Another rope, a little longer than 

 the first, was then attached to the machine in like 

 manner. The shorter rope, as the grain pressed 

 on it, was kept about a foot or so above the longer 

 one. The longer one was kept on the ground by 

 the weight of a stick four feet in length and about 

 the size of a fork handle ; the stick having a 

 short fork or crotch on the end next the straw. 

 This served to gather the grain by sweeping it 

 along with the machine as it fell. 



When a good lot of it was thus gathered — say 

 fifty to a hundred pounds — the machine was stop- 

 ped, backed up a little, and the gi-ain, with but 

 little trouble or delay, taken up and laid in bunches 

 ready for binding. The straw falling in one di- 

 rection was swept along as fast as cut, the butts 

 coming together nicely, while the heads, from lay- 

 ing in all directions, were necessarily gathered in 

 about the same positions ; though occasionally a 

 lot was found wonderfully straight and even. 



Now, neighbor farmers, we don't pretend that 

 this will serve every purpose just as well as a reap- 

 ing machine, though the reaper is far from being 

 as perfect a machine as the mower. But one thing 

 is certain, we shall not wait very long "for the 

 man to get ready to come to do our cradling" an- 

 other year. r. 

 Chestnut Hills Farm, 

 Norfolk, Mass., Aug. 15, 1867. 



bee-bread — MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 



Your correspondent, "F.," must be mistaken in 

 supposing that his bees died from the lack of liee- 

 bread. I have kept bees for ten years, but I never 

 heard of bees dying from this cause before. I 

 know that bee-bread alone will not keep bees alive ; 

 and I also know that honey will, as long as they 

 can get it. Many colonies starve every winter, 

 even when there is plenty of honey in the hive, 

 owing, in part, to the way the comb is built in such 



