472 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



hives. Bees sometimes build their combs down, 

 without leaving any holes to puss through from 

 comb to comb, and if the owner fails to malie any 

 winter passages in the fall, three colonies out of 

 five will die l)efore spring. 



Now I contend that all bee-keepers should know 

 how the combs are built in this respect. He should 

 aho see to it tliat they have plenty of lioney, a 

 good queen, and are free from worms, &c. Any 

 Ijee-keeper who has the frame hives in common 

 use, can know all al)out his bees at any time dur- 

 ing the winter or summer, and if he does not at- 

 tend to these things he will proljably lind bee- 

 keeping unprofitable. We are using a frame hive 

 liere (in Essex County, Mass.,) which is as near 

 perfect as a hive can be, for wintering bees. We 

 have wintered bees in tliem for the last two sea- 

 sons, and when these liives were opened in the 

 spring, tliey were found to be free from mould or 

 moisture, and the combs were as clean and bright 

 as at any time during the summer. Bees in these 

 hives do not consume near so much honey during 

 the winter, as those do which are in coujmon hives. 

 The hives were described by your correspondent 

 "W." in the Faumek of August 10. 



Mr. John Gould, of VVenham, had fifty-one 

 stocks last spring; twelve of which were in the 

 hives alluded to, and these colonies were the lirst 

 ones to swarm, and the colonics whicii made tlie 

 largest amount of sur|ilus lunicy. These hives 

 are so constructed that corn cobs can be placed in 

 the winter directly over the bees, which keeps 

 out the colli, preserves the heat, absorbs ail the 

 moisture wliicli rises from the bees, and secures 

 good winter passages for the bees to pass from one 

 com I) to another. 



If your correspondent had such a hive as this, 

 he would lose less bees, and have better success, 

 generally, in keeping them. H. Alley. 



Wenham, Mass., Aug. 20, 1867. 



MURIATE OR Bl'TYK OF ANTIMONY. 



Has any one ever used Butter of Antimony for 

 foot rot in sliec)), so that they can tell us whether 

 it will cure, without any thing else, if applied to 

 the foot, and whether it as good as vitriol r 



Roxbury, Vt., Aug. 20, 1«67. Y. f. 



REiLiRKS. — We are not certain what our corres- 

 pondent means by the expression, "without any 

 thing else." Water will put out fire, "without any 

 thing else." But if a fire is kindled in the ceiling 

 of your hoiujc, floods of water dashed against 

 the outside clapboards, or the inside walls, might 

 not quench it. The experienced fireman, in such 

 case, would at once make an opening, and "play 

 away" directly upon the fire. When the heat and 

 blaze were subdued, he might "hold on," but he 

 would carefully examine for some smouldering 

 heap, or mere sparli, which, having escaped his 

 stream of water, might kindle into a new confla- 

 gration. Thus with the inflamed foot of the sheep ; 

 the remedy must be applied directly to the dis- 

 eased part, and so thoroughly as to "put out" every 

 spark or germ of the disease, or a radical cure will 

 not be efiected. It is diflicult to do this when the 

 disorder has secured a lodgment under the hoof 

 and about the claws of the poor sheep. And it is 

 idle to expect that any "application to the foot" of 

 the best medicine in the world, "without any thing 

 else," will infallibly cure so insidious a disease 

 as the hoof-rot. With the proper preparation of 

 the foot, and the necessary subsequent care, we 



presume that butyr of antimony is a reliable rem- 

 edy. A correspondent of the Ohio Farmer says 

 that he has cured over four hundred sheep by its 

 use. He pares tlie hoofs of those that are alfected 

 very closely, cutting away carefully every diseased 

 part, then with a feather, or small brush, applies 

 the antimony very thoroughly. He also brushes 

 in a little between the hoofs of those which show 

 no signs of the disease. He overhauls all his 

 sheep once in two weeks, and generally finds five 

 or six applications to remove the disease entirely. 

 After specifying ten recipes that are in common 

 use, the most popular one in Central New York 

 being 1 lb. vitriol, 5 to ^ lb. verdigris, 1 pint lin- 

 seed oil, and 1 quart of tar. Dr. Randall says "any 

 of these remedies, and fifty more that might be 

 compounded, simply by combining caustics, stim- 

 ulants, &c., in diflfcrent proportions and forms, will 

 prove suthcient for the extirpation of hoof-rot, 

 with proper preparatory and subseqtient treatmeyit. 

 On these last, beyond all question, principally de- 

 jlends the comparative success of the application." 

 Consequently, we cannot i-ecommend the butyr of 

 antimony "without any thing else." 



GARGET IN COWS. 



Will you or some of your numerous correspon- 

 dents, tell me what I shall do for my cow ? She 

 has what is called the garget in her I)ag. What is 

 the cause of it, and how shall I treat it ? By re- 

 plying to the aliove you will much oblige one who 

 has taken the Farmer as many years as any other 

 person. p. 



Hinsdale, N. H., Aug. 21, 1867. 



Remarks. — This disorder, which it is feared is 

 on the increase in our dairies, is ascribed to vari- 

 ous causes. It is sometimes produced by exter- 

 nal injury. It is often ascribed to colds contracted 

 by exposure to the changes and storms of our cli- 

 mate. While others believe that, like the gout in 

 the human foot, garget in cows often results from 

 high feeding, and from the preternatural develop- 

 ment of the lacteal organs produced by such high 

 feeding, and by a long course of breeding for the 

 special purpose of securing a race of deep milkers. 

 Two years ago the subject was somewhat exten- 

 sively discussed in our columns, but as we did not 

 then print a monthly edition of the valuable sug- 

 gestions of our practical correspondents, and as 

 we furnish no index to our weekly sheet, few of 

 our readers will be able to refer to the courses of 

 treatment then recommended. One writer who 

 does not object to medicines, cither external or in- 

 ternal, if you cannot get along without them, says 

 that whenever a cow comes home affected with the 

 garget, he puts her in the cow-house where she 

 has a warm dry bed, feeds her on dry ha)', and 

 allows her to go to pasture but a short time the 

 next day — in one word, as another correspondent 

 said, he treats her as jjatients should be treated 

 with a cold and inflammation, believing that, in 

 the particular case alluded to, the cow had actu- 

 ally taken cold from lying upon the damp ground. 

 P'requent milking, with gentle and patient rubbing 



