1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



509 



couples bees and dust together in his letter, though 

 I can t see why. 



I should like to learn more about N. B. Hatch 

 and his bees. It is ra;her an uusatistactory de- 

 scription of a hive to say "It is of a plain square 

 funu, a quarter hiirlur than it is wide," and 

 honey sold for "about" ^'3000 is rather indefinite. 

 Is that for this year or since he commeaccd the 

 business ? 



I have eleven stocks of the black bees, and have 

 got from them this season 180 boxes of honey, 

 which will weigh from four to live pounds each. 

 I use the Lang&troth aud the Colton hive, but pre- 

 fer the former. 



My bees allow me to do as I choose with them. 

 I use no bee dress of any kind, yet I have turned 

 the hives bottom side up and taken the honey from 

 the body of the hive several times this season. 



I am no hand to write, but if Mr. Brown will 

 come to my place, I will lead him into the myste- 

 ries of the'honey bee so he can describe a hive bet- 

 ter than to say it is of a "a square form, a quarter 

 higher than it is w/rfe," and he will tind as many 

 copies of the Farmer in our town as in any place 

 of its size, I think. Julius G. Mokse. 



Cambridge, Vt., Aug., 1S71. 



Remarks. — Thank you, sir, most kindly. Your 

 invitation is a sincere and hearty one, we have no 

 doubt, and your criticisms are of the same stamp. 

 Just what we like. In a ramble with you among 

 the fields, bees and gardens, we should tind in- 

 struction, and that is our aim whenever we go 

 abroad. 



We hope your letter will stir up farmers all over 

 New England to cultivate gardens and bees, and, 

 what is of still more importance, to cultivate a 

 greater interest in each other by interchanging 

 visits and communications in relation to their 

 business. 



But in order to make our remarks clear to our 

 friend, we will say that the little "captions" in the 

 letter which he has so kindly noticed, are designed 

 merely to denote the topics which follow. Eng- 

 lish writers criticise our people quite sharply for 

 making these divisions in books or in public letters 

 or speeches. We like them. One reader maj- care 

 little about "The Town of Whitetield,"' or "The 

 Prime Crops of the Region," whose attention would 

 be arrested at once by an account of bees. Por- 

 tions of these letters are sometimes written in the 

 cars, on the seat of the wagon, or in the tavern 

 where a brisk conversation is going on. 



We have reviewed the phraseology in our letter 

 in relation to the /or;« of the hive, and fail to see 

 how it could be better. We were aware that no 

 greater difference of opinion exists on any subject 

 than that in regard to the size and form of bee 

 hives, and in accordance with these opinions they 

 are made and sold at a cost of fifty cents to ten 

 dollars each. Our idea was, to state in the briefest 

 manner, how any one could imitate the hives of 

 this successful bee master; namely, "in a plain, 

 square form, a quarter higher than they are wide, 

 and boxes placed in the upper part." That is, if 

 the hive were one foot square, across it, it should 

 be one and a quarter foot or fifteen inches high ; 

 that is, as we understood him. We should think a 

 better form would be oue foot square in the clear, 



and the boxes above, five or six inches high, which 

 would make the whole hive about one foot and 

 eight inches high. 



We hope the letter of our coiTcspondent will 

 cause more attention to be given to the culture of 

 the honey bee. His crop of between 700 and 800 

 pounds from eleven swarms already taken up this 

 summer, shows a very profitable business in that 

 direction. The cash received for honey by Mr. 

 Hatch was #'3000 during his residence of some 

 ten or twelve years on the farm. We shall cer- 

 tainly miprove the first opportunity lo visit the 

 beautiful valley of the Lamoille, eat honey and 

 garden sauce with our correspondent, and learn 

 whatever we can that relates to farming. The 

 "sage, saffron and wormwood" we hope to have no 

 occasion to use. 



■WHAT AILS THE FRUIT TREES ? 



A great many limbs of pear trees are dying. I 

 did not observe it until since the fruit set, but now 

 it is common in this Coimty, to see limbs with the 

 fruit shrivelled, and the "leaves turning black. I 

 have a fine dwarf tree in my garden that has borne 

 fruit three our four years. It bears moderately 

 this year, but a few days ago I sawed off one limb 

 an inch in diameter, that was dead, besides some 

 smaller branches. A standard tree grafted with 

 the same variety, Flemish Beauty, is healthy yet, 

 also one native tree, but in many places the nat- 

 ural tree is dying as much as any. " 



Many young apple trees are affected in a similar 

 manner. Ttie young twigs dry up, turn red, and 

 die. Can any one tell the cause"? 



The season is dry, though not so drv as last 

 year. 



The crop of apples will be pretty good. Small 

 fruit scarce. Grapes are doing very well. I have 

 some Concord vines that are well loaded. 



Grain is good. Rye mostly cut. Barley harvest 

 has commenced, — a great deal of it raised in this 

 county. Peas will be good. Hay crop light, but 

 mostly secured, and m prime order. Corn looks 

 well. 



The potato bug has not reached us, though many 

 are frightened, and, of course, find bugs in abun- 

 dance on then- vines, but the true ''Colorado" has 

 not been seen here, I think. 



The past month has been cool, especiallv the 

 nights. Graxi'te. 



Bloomfield, Out., 7th Mo. 27, 1871. 



Remarks. — Some pear trees in this region are 

 aflfected as described above. This, however, takes 

 place every year in some degree. Perhaps some 

 of our readers have given special attention to the 

 matter, and can throw li.ht upon it. 



Cutting off the dead branches as fast as they 

 show signs of di^ease is generally practiced. 



RED WATER IN A COW. 



A neighbor has a cow that is troubled with what 

 he calls red water. The cow is growing poor and 

 is almost diy of her milk. He has done all he can 

 for her, but she still grows worse. He wishes to 

 know if anything can be done for her, and what. 

 •Henry Miller. 



Westfeld, Vt., Aug. 8, 1871. 



Rejiarks. — The diseases of our domestic stock 

 are so similar to those to which our family physi- 

 cians devote their time and attention, that we must 



