lived a swarm and removed them to the bee house 

 imoiig the old hives in one hour from the time oClheir 

 eaving the hive. 



My other way is as simple, and as far as I have 

 ried it, equally sure. I take a board wide enough 

 set a hive on, and two or three feet long, bore a 

 lole in the centre, and drive in a pin, one or two inch- 

 is in diameter, and eight or ten inches long; I then 

 ake two email cords and fasten the end of each to the 

 orners of the board so that they form a loop at each 

 nd of the board about two or three feet long; this 

 loard thus prepared I suspend (rom two stakes in 

 rent of the hives, with the pin pointing downwaris, 

 iking care that the stakes slope towards each other so 

 bat the board may not touch at the end, around this 

 in the bees will cluster, and when they get still, un- 

 ,ook the cord from the stakes, turn the board over 

 arefiilly, lay it on the ground and set the hive over it, 

 n this way much time and trouble may be saved, or 

 lere is no need of watching for swarms, only pro- 

 ide such resting places, and "there you will find them, 

 have left a swarm suspended under the board as laet 

 lentioned, through the day and found them safe in 

 le evening, and hived theni after the other labor of 

 le day was past. I think on the whole this method 

 Jie '>e8', as they »eem more contented under cover 

 , ijf the board than when more exposed, and not so like- 

 to take wing hel'ore they are hived — Mechanic and 

 amer. j. R. jyi. 



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AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



r fTTpTr TTMfiT' — 



107 



Circular. 



'othe Agriculturists, Manufacturers, Mechanics and 



Artizans of Ike United States. 

 The American Institue of the city of New York 

 ive directed us, the Trustees, to announce to the pub- 

 ;, that the I'ourteenth Annual Fair will be held in 

 lis city, in tha early part of October next. The 

 me and plr.-je, with a variety of details, wili be 

 ade known and published by the Managers as soon 

 1 convenient, after their organization shall be per- 

 cted. This Institute was established and incorpo- 

 ted by the Legislature of the State of New York, 

 promote domestic industry and improvements in 

 e United States. Among the means suggested in 

 e charter, are public exhibitions of meritorious pro- 

 ictions, and rev/ards for such as ate most deserving. 

 Thirteen Great Annual Fairs have already been 

 ;ld. Their beneficial effects in exciting emulation 

 ve been seen and directly felt in more than half the 

 ates of the Union. 



The popularity of these exhibitions, the extended 

 d intense competition they have excited, is without 

 jrecedent. More than one hundred thousand viei- 

 •s have been admitted, and more than fifteen thou- 

 id specimens ofdomestic products have been exhibi- 

 1 at a single anniversary. 



A Repository for the daily exhibition of itnprovc- 

 jnts, and a Library, of great utility for practical 

 rposes, have both been established by this Institute, 

 d have been open for years free of expense to con- 

 butors and visitors. Five ploughing exhibitions 

 ve been held on fields in the vicinity of New York; 

 d many eloquent addresses, instructive lectures, 

 d able reports, have been made on ditTerent ocea- 

 ns, all having a bearing on productive industry. 

 The amount of gratuitous labor bestowed by the 

 iductore of this Institute in fourte<n years, it is be- 

 ved, is without a parallel in the history of our pub- 

 institutions. Hitherto the Institute has been sus- 

 ned by voluntary contributions, unaided by city or 

 «e bounties. Impressed with these ideas, the Leg- 

 iture, in a law just passed, intended for the promo- 

 n of "Agriculture and Household Manufactures," 

 re wisely included the American Institute, and on 

 ■tsin conditions appropriated to it nine hundred and 

 y dollars per annum for five years, requiring premi- 

 ig to be awarded as suitable means for accomplishi.ig 

 ! objects of this enactment. In addition to the pe- 



i,"'(j uisry aid contemplated by this act, which is timely, 

 i will enable us to extend our premiums, it is a 

 blic testimonial of the high consideration maintain- 

 by the Institute in the opinion of our Legislature, 

 le confidence reposed in the Institute is in the high- 

 degree honorable to its conductors, making it there- 

 the direct agent to carry into effect a law inipor- 

 it in its future efiiscts, and expressly enacted to en- 



"^i i™gc the great and paramount interests of agricul- 

 •e, which supplies not only the principal materials 

 which all other labor is employed, but also afibrds 

 itenance to the whole human race. 

 iVccommodations will be provided at the Fourteenth 



^ irfor the exhibition of every kind of agricultural 



T^I horticultural productions, for machines and imple- 

 I nts, and steam power and engines. Separate and 



suitable places will be assigned for exhibiting cattle, 

 horses, sheep, swine and other farming stock. The 

 best jiroductions of the manufactory and the work- 

 shop, including woolen, cotton, silk and linen fabrici-. 

 will have their appropriate rooms. Ijabor-saving ma- 

 chinery will not only be examined by competent 

 jtulges, but also tested by wteam power. All new and 

 useful labor-saving inventions will eoinmand atten- 

 tion, and publicity given to their merits. Purchasers 

 will have the best possible opportunity to examine, 

 compare, and select such articles as they may wish. 

 Gold and silver medals, silver cups, diplomas, as well 

 as rewards in money, will be bestowed on those most 

 deserving. The appropriation will enable the mana- 

 gers more liberally than heretofore, to reward indus- 

 try generally, and more particularly female industry, 

 for ingenious fabrics of household manufactory. 



On behalf of this Institute, we would earnestly in- 

 voke the patronage and exertions of prosperous and 

 intelligent agriculturists, to enable us to fulfil the ex- 

 pectations of the Legislature. In its wisdom it has 

 laid the foundation of great and lasting good to the 

 Stale. But much of the success and popularity of the 

 law to encourage agriculture will depend on the 

 American Institute. Its position in the city of New 

 York is of all others the most favorable. There will 

 always be in this great emporium choice spirits, and 

 such as know well the inestimable value of agricul- 

 ture, and who are able and willing to aid any and all 

 great and beneficial objects. The whole island is sur- 

 rounded with fertile and highly cultivated farms and 

 gardens, extending into the interior, which bring their 

 supplies daily to our numerous markets, to meet the 

 vast demands of city consumption. A large propor- 

 tion of all the farming and gardening implements 

 used in this and the adjoining States is supplied from 

 this city; and with the facilities of conveyance by 

 horses and by steam, by land and by water, it would 

 seem to be the chosen place for agriculture and horti- 

 culture to present their lairest and best contributions, 

 anithe radiating point from which the knowledge of 

 improvements may be readily made to flow to every 

 portion of our country. 



In conclusion we would also respectfully appeal to 

 all the multiplied interests of industry and art to make 

 their contributions of the best specimens, that the 

 miniature view may be presented of the skill, the ge- 

 nius, and the ample resources of our country at the 

 coming anniversary and to the public at large, whose 

 countenance and cheering approbation has uniformly 

 attended all our undertakings for more than thirteen 

 years, and to whose favor this Institute owes its exis- 

 tence, we appeal with unqualified confidence, and, at 

 the same time, with a strong desire for the special and 

 best influences of our fellow citizens, at this time, to 

 enable us triumphanily to carry out the coroing exhi- 

 bition, and discharge the obligation conferred by the 

 recent legislative grant. By the kind aid which the 

 public can confer, and wiih the means provided, a new 

 impulse may be given to agricultural improvemenis, 

 and to invention and the arts, over our whole State; 

 other States, tome of which are behind, will thereby 

 be induced to [)rofit by our example, and thus the be- 

 nign influence of liberal legislation will be exempl 

 fied in every section of our wide spread country. 

 Repository of the American Institute, 

 New York, May, 1841. 



James Tallmadge, ") 



Adomram Chandler, | 



William Inglis, j 



John Travers, } Trustees. 



Alex. J. Hamilto.v, 



T. B. Wakeman, 



Joseph Titcomb, 



For t/ie yew Genesee Farmer. 



Tencp Posts Heaving by Frost. 



Gektlemek — Can you inform me how posts should 

 be placed in the ground so as to prevent their heaving 

 by the frost ? My land is clayey, and a good fence in 

 the fall becomes a poor one by the next spring. Should 

 the holes be very deep and closely filled up, or left 

 loose at the top ? H. 



Utica, June, 18-11, 



Posts set in clayey ground, if eurroimded by the 

 soil removed in digging the hole, will be thrown up- 

 wards by frost, in spite of any precaution we know 

 of But where they are put in a gravelly and not 

 tenacious soil, they rarely, if ever, heave in winter. 

 Nor do they in a clayey soil, if the holes about them 



ate filled with small or broken stone -rljscly beaten in. 

 Possibly other materials would accomplish the same 

 end, though we have no experience on the subject. 

 Deep and firm setting, is of course necessary. * 



Fat Cattle. 



Since taking charge of the Keystone we have ob- 

 served a very large juimber of fat cattle passing our 

 ofiice daily for the eastern market, and have made in- 

 quiries as the probable number. Through the polite- 

 ness of Mr. Kuhus, tho toll collector at the Western 

 end of the Harrisbmg bridge, we have ascertained 

 that from the 15th of April to the 17th of June, thero= 

 have passed over said hrlilge, eastward, seven thou- 

 sand eight hundred and fifteen head of fat cattle. Add 

 to this three hundred which were enabled to ford tho 

 river yesterday and to day, and there has passed 

 through llarrisburgh for the eastern market, ejglit 

 thousand une hundred and fftccn head of cattle. 

 These cattle, we understand, will bring upon an aver- 

 age gj.'iG per head, making them, in the aggregate, 

 worth $l.l'J,3ii5, — Keystone. 



Proper Season for Cutting Grain. 

 It is a good practise to cut every kind of grain rath- 

 er before it is fully ripe in the grain or the straws. In 

 a.^iic season, some iurincrs cut their crops when they 

 fmd the neck oi' tho straw miuicdiately under the ear, 

 free of juice when twisted round between the finger 

 and thumb, and do not wait until the lower part of tha 

 stems are dry and yellow, because they find in such a 

 season the straw to die from the car downward. In 

 a had season, on the other hand, the lower part of 

 the stem first becomcB yellow and dry ; after which, 

 of course, the crop is not !^'N)-.ved to stand, for in such 

 aseti^-on the ear n.'-vcr becomes mature, having less 

 absorptive power, whilst the vitality of the root is 

 early destroyed by the combined eifectsof bad weath- 

 er and an ungenia! state of the soil. — Quarterly Jour- 

 nal of Agriculture. 



From the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Application of Limn tu Soil!4, 



Read before the Fhilndelphia Society for Promoting 

 Agriculture, April 7, Itill. 



Lime has long been regarded by farmers in certain 

 sections of our country, and cultivating districts, as a 

 most valuable agent. Stiff and tenacious soils are 

 greatly benefited by its application, as is admitted by 

 all who cultivate them. Whether the v.-rious chemi- 

 cal influences which have been assigned to its pres- 

 ence, are really those which constitute its virtue, I 

 shall not inquire in this essay : I propose merely to 

 submit some views that have occurred to me, which 

 the plain practiciil farmer can fully appreciate, with- 

 out the aid of chemistry oi science, or their techni- 

 calities. 



Clays and red shell soils are compact and tenacious, 

 and are therefore greatly benefitted by an admixture of 

 lime, as they are rendered more mellow or friable by 

 its application ; the color of the soil is also changed 

 to a dark brown, and has a rich oily appearance. 

 These combined influcncee give it a greater capacity 

 for imbibing heat from the action of the sun, and this 

 additional heat communicates an increased vegetative 

 power; besides, the iinproved friability or mellowness 

 of the soil gives greater "iacilitics to the fibrous roots 

 of plants to shoot further into it, and hence they ob- 

 tain a larger supply of nourishment or food. Its capa- 

 city for absorbing moisture is also greatly increased, 

 because, for the reasons above stated, the plastic pro- 

 perties of a stiff soil arc removed, and moisture, either 

 from rain or dev/, is more freely admitted and absorb ■ 

 ed; and having pen^.riitcJ deeper into the soil, ia re- 

 tained, as if by a sponge, for ajonger period. Far- 

 mers who are familiar with stiff soils, know full well 

 that they will not admit heat nor absorb moisture so 

 readily as those which are lighter, and the latter do 

 not bake and become so hard and dry ns the former — 

 besides, a purely clay soil is always cold at a short dis- 

 tance below the surface. 



Such soils, so improved, have increased capacity foi- 

 imbibing heat from the action of the sun by day; and 

 this heat is maintained for a longer period at night; 

 and hence, a protracted evaporation or emission of 

 heat is secured, which, acting upon ihe cool atinos- 

 phere of nighi, produces a greater amount of dew.. 

 The soil is therefore rendered capable of creating a 

 larger supply of moisture — of imbibing more heat, 

 and of receiving and retaining those agents of vege- 

 tation alternately, for a more protracted period. Dews 

 are occasioned by a cool atmosphere coming in con- 

 tact with tho exhalations from the healed earth, or 



