138 



THE NEW GEiNESEE FARMEIl, 



Vol. 2. 



plnnls as migniocue mid white cljver, to yield ihem 

 pasturage — th"/ would improve thoir cotidition as 

 men, add greatly to their own wealth, and botc an- 

 nually to ilic country ojme milliona of dollars that arc 

 now lo3'.. • • • 



Tlie certain destruction occasioned by tlic moth, if 

 it e/i'e..ta a lodgement, is the principil »iid most seri- 

 ous bnr to succejslui bec-ttecding in this region at 

 tue present day. 



JJunierouB plans have been published for their pre 

 voniion, sjme of which were good^Kjtbere worthless. 

 The only ones that hare been successful, are tlioee 

 that have had for their object tte eni.re excluaion ot 

 the moth; and the keeping each hixe in « strong, heal- 

 thy cjndition, in a box or hive projiortioned to their 

 strength, fc-> ihit they were enabled to defend thern- 

 Belve* from (1*7 invnilers. • » • 



in aliipting a plan for the keeping and manage- 

 ment of lje€3, several important poinia nnist be con- 

 sidered. It must combine simplicity with conveni- 

 ence; and cheapness with durability. It must allow 

 of the iuniales i»rocecding in their own natural way: 

 of tiicpi'.>|)rietor removing honey when it c«n be spar- 

 ed, without disturbing or injuring the bees. It must 

 alibrd them; durinj; winter, a warm and dry hsbita- 

 tion; and in summer a cool and airy one. Its en- 

 trances mnst be so arra".ged, as to allow th« hces a 

 free passage, and yet enable them to debnd them- 

 selves from cnomies. It luust aiford, with a reason- 

 able degree of care, complete protection against the 

 moth; and facilities fir putting two or mors weak 

 swarms together, where they come off late in the sea- 

 son. And it ought to give the proprietor control over 

 his bees, as perfect as the nature ot the insect will 

 admit of 



All this and more can be attained by the uae of the 



SIDTESDEI) HIVE. 



It is a simple and economical plan; of easy man- 

 agement; and one within the means of any farmer 

 who can handle a enw, a platie and a hammer. 



Tne bo.xes of which it ie composed, arc farmed of 

 good, well-seasoned pine plank — if posiibie, free from 

 knots and wind-sbokea. It ought to be at least one 

 inch thick. The boxes may be ten, eleven or twelve 

 inches square, in the clenr. Let the plank bo dress- 

 ed on each side, and jointed on the edges, so as to lit 

 close, without being tongued and grooved. Before 

 nailing them together at the sides, lay a thin strip of 

 thick white lead painton the edge to be nailed, which 

 will render it impervious to the ovipositor of the moth. 

 In the top cut two semicircular holes at the front, and 

 two at the back, of one inch an a half in diameter — 

 the straight side being in n line with the back and 

 front of the bo-t, so that the bees may have a straight 

 road in their way from one story to the other. I'ut 

 the top on without any layer of paint, using eight 

 atout screw nails, that it miy bo taken off to facilitate 

 the removal of the honey. Give the outside of the 

 box two coats of white lead paint, all except the top; 

 and let it be done so long before it is necessary to use 

 it, as that the emcll mny be dissipated, os it it very 

 otfensivi! to the bees. I'our a little melted bees-wax, 

 while pretty hot, over the inside of the top, which 

 Will enable the bees to attach their comb much more 

 firmly. Let three-quarters of in inch of the tbiekiiess 

 of the lower edges of iho box in the inside bo bevel- 

 led off, so as to leave but about one-fourth ol an inch 

 of surface to rest upon the stand — this will all'ord leas 

 filiclter for the egg^ of the moth. 



Wc will siippcae the boxes, thus made, to be n cube 

 of twelve inches inside. In that case, the tunnel 

 stand will be inado thus. Take a p'ece of two inch 

 plank, free from knots and shakes — what carpenter's 

 xorm clan stuff; length 26, and breujth IS inches. 

 Ten inches from one end, and two fro.m the other and 

 from each side, is marked a flquarc of fourteen inch- 

 es. From the outside of this square, the hoard id 

 dressed off, with an even slope, until its thickness at 

 the front eilgo is reduced to half anincli, and at the 

 other three edges to nhjut an inch. The square is 

 then reduced to twelve inchei, in the centre of which 

 ia bored an inch auger hole; to this hole, the inner 

 squaie ia also gradually sloped to the depth of an 

 inch; thus sccurina the bees from any poasibilily of 

 wet I idging ab-iut their hive, and affurdiiij/ them free 

 ventillation. There will then bo a level, sfnooth stiip 

 of one inch in width, sniTounding the square of li! 

 inches, on which to set thehox or hive, 'i'wo inches 

 from the front edrro of the stand, commence cutting ;i 

 t!ianno; twj inches in width, and of such a depth as 

 to carry it O'.it, on an even slope, half way betwri n 

 the inoor edge ot the hive, and the ventillating bnle 

 ill the centre. Over this, fit in a strip of wood as 

 neatly as possible, dressing it down even with the 

 el-jpe of the stand, so as to leave a tunnel two inches 



in width byn quarter of an inch in depth. Under the 

 centre hole, and over the outlet of the tunnel, nong 

 small wire grates, the one to prevent the entrance of 

 other inseclfi; and the oihor to bo thrown bock to per- 

 mit the "xit of the bees, or fastened down to kceii 

 them a; home in clear, sun-shining days in winter. 

 For feet to the stand, use four or five inch screw- 

 nails, screwed in, from below, far enough to be firm 

 The lov/er side ought also to be planed eiiiooth; and 

 the whole should have two coats of white paint some 

 lime before it is wanted. • • » 



lUitatiun of Crops. 



This is a subject of great interest to the Farmer: 

 And yet few points in Agricultare are less understood. 

 The importance of the systematic rotation in crops is 

 nowhere set foith in briefer or clearer terms, than in 

 one ef the Agricultural lectures of Dr; Daubeney, 

 Professor of Rural Economy in ihc University of Ox- 

 ford. (By the bye, why are our American Colleges 

 so destitute of instruction in ikat branch of know- 

 ledge !) Annexed is an extract frem that discourse; 

 an extract which, if properly appreciated by our far- 

 ming readers, will alone be worth more than the 

 cost of the New Genesee Farmer for an ordinary life- 

 time. — Read it, my trend — reHcct on it — and guide 

 your operations by the important principles which it 

 developce: 



" Those plants ought to succeed each other which 

 contain different chemical ingredients," says the in- 

 telligent Professor, " so that the quantities of each 

 which the »jil at any given lime contains may 

 bo absorbed in an equaljrntio. Thus a productive 

 crop of corn ceuld not be obtained without the phos- 

 phates of lime and ijiagueiia, which ore prteseni in 

 the grain, nor without the silicate of potass, which 

 gives stability to the Elailts. It would be injudicious 

 therefore, to sow any plant that lequired much of any 

 of the above ingredients, immediately alter having di- 

 minished the amount of them present in the soil by a 

 crop of wheat or of any other kind of corn. But on 

 the other hand, leguminous plants, such as beans, are 

 well calculated to succeed to crops of corn, because 

 they contain no free alkilis, and less than one per 

 cent, of the phosphates. They thrive, therefore, ev- 

 en where these ingredients have been withdrawn, 

 and during their growth nliiird time for the ground to 

 obtain a Iresh supi'ly of them by a further disintegra- 

 tion of the subjacent rock. For the same reason, 

 wheat and tobacco may sometimes be reared in suc- 

 cession in a soil rich in potass, because the latter 

 plant requires none of those phosphoric salts which 

 arc iireseiit in wheat. In order, however, to proceed 

 upon certain data, it would be requisite that an analy- 

 sis of the plants most useful to man should be accont- 

 liliahed in die diflerent stages of their growth, a lab- 

 or which has hitherto been only partially undertaken. 

 It is a curious fact that the snine plant differs in con- 

 stitution when grown in different climates. Thus, in 

 the beet root, nitre takes the place of sugar when this 

 plant is cultivated in the wniiner pans of France. — 

 The e.xplnnation of this difference ia probably as fol- 

 lows: Beet root contains, ns "n essential ingredient, 

 not only saccharine matter but oleo nitrogen; and it 

 is probable that the two are mmually so connected to- 

 gether in the vegetable tissue that the one cannot ex- 

 ist without the oO'.er. The nitrogen being derived 

 Irom the decomposition of ammonia, niu=t be effected 

 by any cause which diminishes the supply of the lat- 

 ter; and in proportion as this ingredient is wonting, 

 the secretion of eug.ir will likewise fall off. Now it 

 has been shown by Liebig that the formation of nitric 

 acid ia owing to the decomposition of ammonia; and 

 it is conceived by liim that the last products of the de- 

 composition of animal bodies present tbeniselvcs in 

 the fo.m of arnnionia in cold cliiuntes, and in that of 

 niuicaeid in warm onts. Hence in proportion to 

 the amount of nitric acid formed, and of nitre abeoib- 

 od by the plant, that ol the nitrogen, and consequent 

 iy that of the saccharine matter present in it may be 

 diminiabed. 



Dy order of Government, the roads in Prussia ore 

 lined on each side with fruit ireen. Noticing that 

 some ofHhcm had a wisp of straw attached to them, I 

 enquired of the coachman what it meant. IIo replied 

 that the straw was intended ns n notice to the public 

 not to take fruit fnmi those trees wi'hont special per- 

 mission. "I fear," said I, "that such a notice in my 

 country, wiu'd but be an invitation to attack ihem." 



"Habtns sie kcins tchalen?" (Have you no schoolsJ 

 was his eignificont rejoinder. — Prof. Stoice. 



From tht f^'eu England Farmer. 



Early Suppers. 



By late suppers I do not mean a fourth meal, such 

 as is often token in fashionable life, for I have seldom .J 

 known our pinin agricidlural families oddicted to thia ^ j 

 practice. They leove it chiefly to the inhabitants of 

 lar»e towns and cities, to go to the closet at 9 or 10 

 o'clock in the evening, when they ought to go to bed 

 and toko a meal of cold ham or tongue, and bread 

 and butter, or something else quite as difficult of di- 

 gcfiion. 



But by late suppers among our farmers, I mean the 

 usual third meal, deferred to on umeaeonable hour — 

 to 7 or 8 o'clock, or even later. I have known ma- 

 ny a firmer who made it his constant practice at all 

 seasons, to work as long as he could see, and not to 

 take supper till his work was finished; consequently 

 his hour of snpper, during a part of the season, would 

 be from 8 to 9 o'clock — never earlier than 8, and of- 

 ten when the fields were but a little distance from the 

 house, as late ns nine. 



The best and most thriving farmers I hove ever 

 known, however, take supper at precisely 6 o'clock, 

 even in haying and harvesting. I know that a thou- 

 sand objections may be brought to such early hour, 

 especially in the month of June, July and August; but 

 I know too, they con be met. 



Some years since, having finished our haying, (I 

 resided then in New Coventry, Conn.,) I took my 

 scythe and went into the employ, for a short time, of 

 David H. Warner, in Litchfield county, whose grata 

 was rather later than cur's, and consequently was not 

 yet all cut. At that time I had not known of any 

 other way than to work till dark and cat supper when 

 we could. 



But Mr. Warner bod supper uniformly, at six 

 o'clock. Whatever the weather might be, and bow- 

 ever pressing the work might seem to be, he requir- 

 ed us nil, at six, to suspend work and " come to tea," 

 as it was called. This consisted of a light repast; 

 wholesome and perhaps rather too sol: , or I might 

 say heavy, but not luxurious. When this meal was 

 finished, which occnided, including a little conversa- 

 tion, about half an hour, we were permitted to go to 

 work again if we choose. In general, however, all 

 we did was to grind our scythes and get ready for the 

 next day. 



I do not soy that when, by some unforscen occur- 

 rence — an accident or a shower — a very pressing ne- 

 cessity seemed to exist of dcr'erring supper half an 

 hour to get in a load of hay or oats, it was never done; 

 for I believe itwaseo; though I saw mlthing of the 

 kind while I was there. It takes no longer to grind 

 scythes at evening than it does in the morning; and 

 Mr. W.'e workmen were ready to go to mowing in 

 the morning, in the cool of the day, ond while the 

 grass cuts easily, instead of being compelled to spend 

 a part of the best of the morning in making prepaia- 

 tions which ought to have been made the night be- 

 fore. And having began betimes and got ahead of 

 their day's work, tL-.'v were net obliged to mow so 

 late in the forenoon in the great heat. As soon as 

 the ground and swath were dry enough to spread, 

 their mowing was finished for the day, and they were 

 ready to attend to it. And thus by being an hour or 

 two earlier in the morning, and by keeping btj'ore 

 their work, they found it as easy to get through at 

 six, as others at eight. 



lint there are other and numerous advantages which 

 are enjoyed by those who take supper at six. 



1. 'They are not quite so apt as others are to over- 

 eat. Our farmers — especially those who no not take any 

 luncheon in the afternoon — and there are ooiiie who 

 do not — and who do not get ready to sit down to sup- 

 per till 8 or 9 o'clock, are very apt to eat too much. 

 Some, it is true, lose their appetite, instead of having 

 it increased, but these cases are not very numerous, 

 and ore diminished some%vhat by the custom of taking 

 soiiietUing to give on appetite. My eld friend, Levi 

 Atkins, used to defend the practice of taking a little 

 spirit before supper, to give an appetite — but thi s va _ 

 before the, temperance rr/orm comvieiicrd. 



2. They do not si often go to bed with a load on 

 their etonicchs. He who eats at six, besides enting 

 less in quantity, is not so apt to go to bed till nine, 

 by which hour the digestion is'partly through. Where- 

 as be who takes hit' supper at eight or nine, ond goes 

 immediately to bed, is apt to have a moss of food in 

 his stomach either undigested or bit half digested, 

 for n considerable time: and is opt to toss in bed and 

 dream a good de:il, or else sleep too sovniibj. 



3. And what is n nitural conscqueneo of this over- 

 Icadinj the stomach, he who eups late, gels up with s 



