1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FAPJ'.IER. 



447 



October air is friendly to the team, and the 

 weather will be sufficiently warm perhaps to 

 bring on fermentation of the sward turned un- 

 der, and thus prepare it as plant food for the 

 next spring. 



Apples. —Save the apples. The crop is 

 abundant this fall. A little cider is whole- 

 some to persons of a bilious temperament, and 

 especially to those subject to inflammatory 

 rheumatism. But only a little — half a 'pint 

 per day, perhaps. Owing to the scarcity of 

 apples for several years past, good vinegar can 

 hardly be found. Now is the time to fill the 

 old vinegar casks. All the vinegar that can 

 be made from good cider may be sold at a 

 profit. Late made cider is best for all pur- 

 poses. Do not gather winter apples too ear- 

 ly. Slight frosts will not hurt them while on 

 the trees. And though leaves are falling, and 

 the flowers are fading, we will go on cheerily, 

 and sing, — 



"The Spriner, ■with sun and rain, 

 Shall call thf m from the hill and vale 

 To bud and bloom again," 



"WHITE "WEED. 



On going over his mowing fields, the observing 

 farmer will now notice numerous fresh and vigor- 

 ous stocks of the white weed. Having been cut 

 off when the grass was cut, they have now thrown 

 out fresh leaves in abundance, and are probably 

 taking firmer root than ever. Is it not now a good 

 time to exterminate them, or, at least, to check 

 their growth so that they shall not completely 

 overrun our fields ? 



Let us, one and all, make a vigorous attack upon 

 them, some in one way and some in another, hop- 

 ing, that in the midst of numerous experiments, 

 some means of destroying them will be found. 



In examining the roots of white weed, we have 

 found them in a mass near the surface of the 

 ground, entirely unlike those of the dock and 

 chiccory, which penetrate the earth from one to 

 two feet. 



Now, if the leaves were cut ofi" with a sharp hoe, 

 and a handful of gas-lime thrown upon the surface, 

 would it not completely kill the plant ? And if 

 not the gas-lime, some other cheap and virulent 

 substance ? Gas-lime may be had at the gas-works 

 in cities, or wherever gas is made, and with small 

 cost, excepting that of transportation. 



We have no knowledge that experiments of this 

 kind have ever been made, but it seems that some- 

 thing of this nature may be cheap and effectual. 

 ■\Ve hope that many will try something of the kind 

 and report to us the results. 



In most plants, such as those named above, 

 where the roots go deeply into the ground, it is 

 doubtful whether any application to the surface 



would destroy the plant; still, gas itself kills trees 

 wherever it reaches their roots, and the gas-lime 

 must be equally destructive. The chiccory roots 

 are rather slender and long, and throw out very 

 few lateral roots, so that a rain might wash the 

 gas-lime down this single root and destroy it. 



If this substance should be efficacious, it would 

 prove of great value to the farmers of New Eng- 

 land. There will be no need of hunting for the 

 white weed, for M'herever they grow they are per- 

 fectly visible now, and will be again in the spring 

 if not destroyed. 



On fields nearly covered with them it would be 

 best to plough and cultivate, but where they are 

 introduced in patches, a man might go over two or 

 three acres in a day and cut and dose them. 



BEES IN SEPTEaiBEK. 



This is a mouth of comparative leisure with 

 bees. There is but little done now more than 

 perhaps to change about their stores to some 

 extent in the hives, so that it may be most 

 convenient in winter. Bees, in all well man- 

 aged apiaries, will be peacefully enjoying their 

 well-earned treasures, and the quiet move- 

 ments, and the gentle humming about the 

 doors of their houses, speak only of content 

 and happiness. 



Bees require but little attention now more 

 than to guard against robbing, and but few 

 operations should be performed upon them, 

 the less the better, at this season. Such jobs 

 as transferring from common to movable comb 

 hives should not be done now under any cir- 

 cumstances ; my experience would not warrant 

 transferring bees thus, later than the first of 

 July. If bees are to enjoy the fumes of brim- 

 stone, it is time now ; but the man who suffo- 

 cates his bees in the fall for their honey, will 

 sooner or later be troubled with bad luck, de- 

 pend upon it ; while he who is willing for them 

 to share the fruit of their labor with him, that 

 is, who uses a desirable hive understandingly, 

 will succeed, and his bees will grow more and 

 more prosperous each year, as his stock ot 

 knowledge of their habits and requirements 

 increases. 



We must learn to profit by the experience 

 of others in this as well as in other branches 

 of business ; and the careful reading of good 

 practical books on the subject cannot fail to 

 be both interesting and instructive, and well 

 worth the necessary expenditure to procure 

 them. I would especially suggest that bee- 

 keepers look into this matter of hives more, 

 and before another season comes, provide 

 themselves with something better than the old- 

 fashioned box-hive. A good working, mov- 

 able comb-hive is very desirable, and quite 

 important to people who would keep up with 

 the times in bee-keeping, and these hives can- 

 not be objected to by any one aside from the 

 needless expense of the frames if they are not 

 to be worked. — O. W. P. Oerrard, P'ymouth, 

 in Maine Farmer. 



