214 



THE ILLI]S"OIS FAKMER 



July 



Second 2 00 



157 — Best display of Wild Flowers, of not less 



than 25 varieties 5 00 



Second 3 00 



15! — Best collection of Wild Flowers, not less 



thnn 25 varieties, under name 5 00 



Second 3 00 



Third 2 00 



159 — Best Herbarium of Wild Flowers, under 

 naiue, giving location and habits of 



growth 10 00 



Second 5 00 



160 — Best Herbarium of Wild Flowers, under 

 name, not less than 150 yarieties, collect- 

 ed the present season 5 00 



Second 3 00 



161 — Best display of Japan Lillies, in variety... 5 00 

 Second 2 00 



Come on, al: you lovers of the beautiful, all 

 you lovers of good health, and learn how to sup- 

 ply your tables with the best of food, and to de- 

 corate your homes with the beautiful in nature. 



-*—- 



out of the sales in some way. Inadequate com- 

 missions is a premium offered for rascality. We 

 advise our readers to avoid these cheap houses, 

 men who work for nothing and find themselves. 



Rates of Co.mmissioit. — For at least ten years 

 the established rate of Commis ion for buying 

 and selling grain in this market has been one 

 cent per bushel, but in the strife of competiiion 

 recently, a number of candidates for country con- 

 signments have offered their services at a quarter 

 of a cent per bushel, in order to draw away bu- 

 siness from older commission merchants. Great 

 irregularity in rates, and much ill feeling, have 

 necessarily grown out of this state of things, 

 which has now reached a climax, and the ffatter 

 will be permanently adjusted at a meeting of the 

 Board of Trade, July 12th. 



We are of course not directly interested in this 

 matter, but we are confident that the old rate is 

 none too high, and we hope it will not be re- 

 duced. Our country readers, who are consign- 

 ors to this market, may at first thought disagree 

 with and condemn us, but sober reflection will 

 probably convince them — and if not, experience 

 will certainly demonstrate to them — tnat they 

 had better pay commissions, liberal enough to 

 insure the best possible attention to their inter- 

 ests, by the best class of men here, who ever 

 have engaged, or who are likely to engage, in the 

 produce commission trade. 



While the matter was rather loosely left by the 

 Board of Trade, some very good and reliable 

 parties may have felt at perfect liberty to cut 

 under on rate's, and others who would not have 

 done so at first, have been drawn or forced into 

 it in apparent self-defence, but it is of the high- 

 est importance to all parties that one rate should 

 be decided upon ; and after that is done, any 

 Chicago man who shall propose a lower rate to a 

 country consignor, as a bid for business, may 

 safely be set down at; once as a rascal and a 

 thief, whose small commissions will be an excuse 

 for a big haul on the consignments. — Com. Ex., 

 Ohio. 



The above is sensible advice. We know of a 

 verity that the commission merchant will live, 

 and if the commissions fal short, it must come 



Why Bees Die in Winteh. — In apiaries where 

 the patent frame hive is used many swarms usu- 

 ally perish by freezing. I can see only two rea- 

 sons for this : the first is one that can be guarded 

 against, and that is, severe cold. Almost any 

 swarm, be it ever so strong, will freeze, if it gets 

 cold enough, if not protected. The second rea- 

 son is, that in a natural state the bees build their 

 combs in such a shape that they are not obliged 

 to spread out over them to get their food in cold 

 weather, but with the patent hives they have to 

 build them in an artificial place after a pattern 

 not of their own choosing, consequently they are 

 obliged to separate to get around on under the 

 the frames unless there be holes punched through 

 the combs and then the bees cannot always clus- 

 ter as in a natural state. It will be noticed that 

 in a gum or square hive the inside combs are 

 shorter and dovetailed into each other so that all 

 spreading to get around is obviated. If you want 

 your bees to take up a great deal of time, make 

 you a great deal of trouble and need your atten- 

 tion every twenty-four hours, put them in a pa- 

 tent moveable comb frame hive, and my word for 

 it you will have trouble enough to winter them, 

 unless it should be a very mild winter, and your 

 bees have plenty of honey. I can see no reason 

 why artificial swarming can not be practiced in 

 cotrmon Lives as in patent ones, unless it is in- 

 tended to do it by moving comb with young brood 

 which will oftener disappoint the aparian than 

 natural swarming. I shall try artificial swarm- 

 ing this month and will give you the result. * 



-—— 



Fawkes, the inventor of the steam plow, has 

 made us a visit, and removed his plow "Lancas- 

 ter," which has stood on our farm since Novem- 

 ber, 1800, to Decatur, there to be used in a ma- 

 chine shop to drive machinery. He has given up 

 all hopes of the traction principle for plowing, 

 and says it can only be done by a windlass. He 

 is now busy inventing a ditcher for open ditch to 

 be attached to his old machine, which he has re- 

 paired and has in working order at Decatur. We 

 hear little or nothing about steam plowing at 

 present, and probably all other inventors have 

 come to Fawkes' conclusion that it can't be did 

 by traction engines. 



