1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



281 



constitution that full recovery will not be made 

 during the entire season. 



Corn meal and corn in the ear is fed a great 

 deal by dairymen in the spring, and it is one 

 of the best grain feeds that can be given to 

 make flesh and fat, but one of the poorest as 

 a direct milk producer. Of course, a cow in 

 good condition will secrete more milk than a 

 poor one, and so far as this goes, corn is a 

 good feed. Wheat bran, mill stuff or mid- 

 dlings, cotton seed cake meal and oat meal 

 are all good milk producers, but a cow fed 

 upon these will not increase in flesh as rapidly 

 as if fed upon corn. Wheat bran, which is 

 one of the very best feeds for milk producing, 

 will not fatten a steer. Oat or corn meal 

 mixed, or corn meal with bran and middlings 

 fed together are profitable, one to keep up the 

 strength of the system, and the other to pro- 

 duce milk. 



Farmers who have roots to feed at this time, 

 are wise and fortunate ; roots are good regu- 

 lators, and put the animal in the right condi- 

 tion, while upon hay, to change to pasture 

 feed. We regret that farmers do not more 

 generally appreciate the value of roots for 

 stock feed, and give their cultivation more 

 attention. — Ohio Farmer. 



BEES nsr APBHi. 



Owing to the very small harvest of honey 

 last season in our State, it is but reasonable 

 to expect that a great number of stocks must 

 die of starvation this spring, unless properly 

 cared for in due season. The fact that a cer- 

 tain colony has wintered safely for several 

 winters is no guarantee that it will live through 

 this one, for old stocks are full as likely to 

 be found wanting this spring as any, so we 

 shall be obliged to examine all and feed such 

 as are needy, if we would save them. We 

 can ascertain pretty certainly which need help 

 by carefully turning the hive bottom up, some 

 pleasant morning, and let the sun shine in 

 between the combs. We can easily see any 

 combs containing sealed honey, and can judge 

 whether there is enough to last until flowers. 

 Inexperienced or nervous persons would do 

 well to blow a few whiffs of tobacco smoke 

 into the hive before inverting it if they would 

 avoid stings. 



I would not recommend feeding honey or 

 any other liquid food at this season, unless 

 the object is to promote extensive breeding. 

 It is quite certain to excite a disposition for 

 robbing, and this is not all, it must be fol- 

 lowed up regularly or the increasing brood 

 making a larger consumption of food they are 

 full as likely to starve as when let alone. 



My favorite feed is a bard candy, which I 

 make of a cheap article of sugar (muscavado) 

 which can be bought for about ten cents per 

 pound. I dissolve this in hot water, and boil 

 until a little dropped into cold water will go to 

 the bottom and be hard enough to break readily. 



I then turn it into tin pans about one-fourth 

 of an inch deep over the bottom, and set them 

 into cold water that they may cool quickly, 

 and avoid graining like sugar again. When 

 cool I break it into pieces of a convenient size 

 to feed at once, and put it away to use as 

 wanted. To feed with this, turn common 

 hives bottom up and drop it in between the 

 combs on to the bees. The bottom board 

 may be secured with a stone upon it that it 

 may not be blown off, and the hive remain 

 thus inverted as long as it needs feeding. In 

 movable comb hives it may be laid on the 

 frames above the bees. This feed does not 

 stimulate breeding, is easily given them, and 

 is not expensive. 



Rye or wheat meal should be given to bees 

 on all pleasant days. Put it in shallow dishes 

 near the hives in some place out of the wind, 

 but where the sun can shine on it, and they 

 will eagerly appropriate it. A few pounds 

 given to each hive is worth many times its 

 cost. — G. W. P. Qerrard, in Maine Farmer. 



For the New England Farniir, 

 HAY AND STRAW. — No. 2. 

 Shall more prominence be given to the pro- 

 duction of these articles? 



The increased demand for hay and straw 

 with us, and the decreased production, to- 

 gether with the expense of bringing them 

 from long distances to our markets, have car- 

 ried the price up to a high figure compared 

 with the prices obtained for other farm pro- 

 ducts. 



The reason for the increased demand is 

 owing to the number of horses kept in our 

 cities and villages, and to the various uses to 

 which straw is adapted in manufactures, &c., 

 that in the past were comparatively unknown. 

 Many owners of horses will not allow them 

 to be bedded with any other than the nicest 

 flail-threshed rye straw, free of dust. It is 

 also changed as soon as soiled. In this man- 

 ner large quantities are used up. Our street 

 cars and omnibuses work up a large amount 

 during the winter season. The demand is 

 legitimate and at better compensating prices 

 than other farm products command. 



The first cjuestion that every farmer will 

 propound to himself when he considers the 

 propriety of giving more attention to these 

 crops is, how can it be done, and the produc- 

 tive capacity of the farm be maintained. I 

 am aware of the seemwj^r difliculty there is in the 

 way, and that to many it appears insurmount- 

 able. Let us examine the matter and see if 

 there is any serious obstacle after all. 



We will make the case an extreme one, so 

 far as keeping up the fertility of the farm is 

 involved. Carry no more stock through the 

 winter than is required to do the neeessary 

 work of the farm — jierhaps retaining a cow 

 to furnish milk for family use. This will 

 liberate capital that can be appropriated to 



