1862. 



THE ILLmOIS FARMfiPw 



ix 



275 



Culture of Bees — Ventilate Your 

 Hives. 



A cheap, but tasty bee house, or a hive set 

 here and there among the shrubbery about the 

 house, has a wonderful home-like and interesting 

 appearance. The curious habits of the bee, and 

 the lu8cix)U8ne6S of its products, have a charm 

 for children which they never forget, if they 

 have once visited the farm and enjoyed them. 



A swarm soon becomes acquainted with those 

 who have the care of them, and will cover the 

 flowers of the garden or the farm in search of 

 honey, and scarcely ever molest any one who is 

 careful not to injure them. In picking raspber- 

 ries and strawberries, it is rarely the case that 

 any cue is stung, though hundreds of bees may 

 be visiting the blossoms for their rich treasures, 

 at the samatime. 



We visited a bee master recently, who inform- 

 ed us that he took one hundred pounds of honey 

 from a single swarm, last fall. This swarm win- 

 tered well, while several others standing near, 

 were utterly ruined by mice. 



The greatest drawback, however, in bee keep- 

 ing, is the destruction occasioned by the accum- 

 ulation of their own breath and the exhalations 

 of their bodies. These are much greater than 

 any suppose, so that the stronger and more num- 

 erous the swarm is, the more danger there is to 

 them from their own vapor. It is quite common 

 to hear bee keepers say, they have lost their 

 strongest and best swarm, and the loss arises 

 from the cause we have just stated, or, in other 

 words, from the want of proper ventilation. 

 Three-fourths of all the swarms lost, die fjom 

 this cause. — New England Farmer. 



The Evir-Blooming Rose. — If there is a plant 

 in whose culture we excel the people of all other 

 nations, it is the "ever blooming rose;" if there 

 is one plant that gives more gratification and 

 pleasure than others for the care bestowed upon 

 it and the price of its cost, it is the ever-bloom- 

 ing rose; if anybody grows but one plant, it 

 should be an ever-blooming rose. It will thrive 

 as well in a common flower-pot in the window of 

 the poor as in the richest vase of the conserva- 

 tory of the wealthy ; and with the same soil and 

 with the same toil and care, it flourishes as well 

 at the side of the humble cot as at the ingenious 

 veranda of the palace. When there were none 

 but the yearly flowering rose, it was praised, 

 worshipped, adored ; orators lectured upon its 

 virtues ; scribes wrote of it, and poets sung of it; 

 it was strewed on the paths of the great and 

 meritorious as an enblem of adoration ; it was 

 wrought into wreaths and garlands to ornament 

 the temples, thrones, and persons of kings ; it 

 garnished the bride and holy alter where the cer- 

 emony of marriage was performed; it decked 

 the festal boards on great occasions, and em- 

 balmed the remains of the dead ; it was plan- 

 ted upon the graves of the worthy to record 

 the virtues of the departed. When so much 

 adultation and honor were bestowed upon the 

 rose that flowered but one month in the year, 

 what language is sufficient to chant the praise 



of one that now far surpasses it in beauty and 

 fragrance, and gives us a continual feast of its 

 gorgeous bloom and sweet perfume. 



So various are the habits, colors, and sizes of 

 the ever-bloomingro.se, that it can make a diver- 

 sified garden of itself, an oruamental hedge for 

 enclosure, garnish and beautify the walls of un- 

 sightly buildings, grow as dwarf bedding plants, 

 and as stately shrubs ; clothe trellis work for or- 

 nament, and arbors where we may rest and re- 

 pose under its grateful shade and shelter, and 

 feast upon its matchless beauty and fragrance. 



Summer Chickens. 



Those who bring out chickens in April, or 

 earlier, do it at the risk of making considerable 

 loss, as that month is usually a cold, wet and 

 windy one. When successful, however, '^hey 

 bring a high price, sometimes when marketed m 

 July, as high as fifty conts per poi^nd. This has 

 prompted many to get broods as early as the 

 last of March, and the first of April. — Farmer 

 and Gardener. 



We copy the following from the London Cot- 

 tage Gardener, and think it Tiorthy of attention 

 by those who do not care to send chickens to 

 market, but only to provide themselves with an 

 annual stock. 



There is an old proverb in some parts of the 

 country, that summer chickens never thrive. It 

 runs thus, in parts of Hampshire : 



' Chicks that are hatched when there's making 



of hay. 

 Will never grow up, but pine away." 



All those who wish to rear poultry without 

 much trouble, choose the month of May, for 

 doing so. { Sometimes a hen deserts a few days 

 before hatching; sometimes she dies upon it. If 

 we listen to the above tradition, there is no rem- 

 edy. But we believe there is, and a simple one ; 

 set more egg^, and be not deterred by fables. 

 We go on hatching till August, and we are suc- 

 cessiul. The London market is only supplied by 

 this process, with the poultry for which it is 

 justly celebrated. Fowls of the same age can be 

 had all the year round, because the work of 

 hatching never ceases. If we were to tell such 

 of our readers, as require instruction on the sub- 

 ject, that any expensive or very troublesome 

 process was necessary, they might, perhaps, say, 

 that of two troubles, they thought waiting was 

 the le?s. But it is not so; and we confess, it 

 seems to us that the idea can only be supported 

 by that undeniable argument, " I do not know 

 how it is, but I know it is so." 



Another large class of poultry breeders say 

 they do not believe in the saying ; but June is 

 too late for chickens. Well, if you say it Is too 

 late, we say — prove it. The nights are shorter 

 in June than in May; the weather is warmer. 

 Near to the winter you may say ; but you have 

 four months to the end of October, all good 

 growing, genial weather, and at that age, your 

 chickens will stand anything. They are three 

 weeks or a month later, that is ell. It may be 



