200 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMEK. 



July 



ure of the hen dung or droppings, and so keep the 

 house free from bad odor. 



3. Breed of Chickens. — Carefully avoid breed- 

 ing your chickens from the same stock of fowls, or 

 from fowls closely allied to each other, for this will 

 invariably produce a small, delicate and unprofita- 

 ble stock, while cross-breeding of choice different 

 kinds of poultry will just as certainly yield you a 

 large, strong, healthy and very profitable supply 

 of hens and roosters. 



4. Ego Nests. — The butter or lard tubs or box- 

 es, procurable at any grocer's, put on shelves rais- 

 ed two or three feet above the floor, at the rear or 

 sides of the hen-house, make the best laying nests 

 as their well-soaked greasiness will keep the hen 

 lice entirely away, as no hen louse can live on or 

 in grease. And hence it would, for the same rea- 

 son, be well to give the entire roosting ladder an 

 occasional greasing. And the boxes aforesaid 

 should be frequently cleansed and supplied with 

 fresh straw or hay. 



5. Young Chickens. — As the earliest hatched 

 chickens, provided they have a dry, warm and sun 

 exposed house or coop, free from lice, generally do 

 the best ; the hens should be set to hatching about 

 the middle of February or the first of March, but 

 have fewer eggs than common so that they may 

 cover them well and keep them equally warm. — 

 And the young chicks should be kept off the cold 

 ground and out of the wet, and in a dry, warm 

 place, and fed with warm food, until they are old 

 and strong enough to do without warm food. If a 

 setting hen looks pale about the head, it is a sure 

 sign that she is lousy. To remedy this evil clean 

 out her nest, wash her eggs in warm water and 

 grease her under her wings and on her breast and 

 belly, and put her back again and feed her well 

 and she will soon improve and do well. 



6. Eggs in Winter. — To make your hens lay in 

 winter, they must have a clean, dry and warm 

 house, and be fed on scraps of flesh or unsalted 

 meat, fat, finely powdered bones or oyster f hells 

 or refuse lime, green cabbage leaves, &c., and have 

 a proper supply of pure and unfrozen water to 

 drink. Hot Indian corn, buckwheat and oatmeal 

 contain a large amount of heat producing qualities 

 and so form the best winter food for laying hens. 



7. Gapes in Chickens. — Holding gappy chickens 

 in or over tobacco smoke until they have inhaled 

 smoke enough to make them sneeze two or three 

 times, is said to be an infallible cure for this dis- 

 ease. 



Sun Flower Seed. — Chickens are very fond of 

 sunflower seed, which not only fattens them very 

 quickly, but make their , flesh very tender, juicy 

 and fine flavored. And so it will be well for you 

 to plant sunflowers in some corner of your grounds 

 for this purpose. — Rural American. 



Do Bees Injure Grapes ? 



At a late meeting of the Cincinnati Horticultu- 

 ral Society, this subject receivod the following at- 

 tention : 



"Mr. Wells said he wished to relate a circum- 

 stance about bees. Last winter soon after the very 

 cold weather, he was out in his yard on a mode- 



rately pleasant day, and his attention was attracted 

 by the buzzing of bees around his head. On look- 

 ing up he saw a perfect stream of bees coming 

 from a certain hive of his apiary, and after per- 

 forming the circuit around his head returning to 

 the hives. This induced him to go and see what 

 the trouble was. On examining the hive he found 

 that all the honey had been consumed, and he con- 

 cluded that the bees had been trying to convey 

 this alarming intelligence to him whom they look- 

 ed up to as their natural protector. 



"This brought up the general subject concerning 

 bees aad the effects of the severe winter upon 

 them. It appeared from various statements made, 

 that a great many swarms were killed by the cold 

 weather. In response to this information, Mr. 

 Sanford said he wished the cold weather had killed 

 them all within a circle of ten miles around Cin- 

 cinnati. 



"Mr. Addis replied warmly to this wholesale de- 

 nunciation of bees. He said he presumed the re- 

 mark was made on account of the supposed injury 

 that bees committed on grapes. But the scientific 

 members of the Society, such as Dr. Warder and 

 Dr. Whipple, had assured him that the honey-bee 

 never atacked the perfect grape. 



"Dr. Whipple, being present, stated that he was 

 fully persuaded that the honey-bee never made the 

 first attack on grapes. But after the fruit had be- 

 come punctured by wasps or other insects, then 

 the bees would come and suck the sweet juiee from 

 the opening made. Mr. Hodge, living one and 

 one-half miles from him, was a wine-grower, and 

 they both pressed their grapes in a common wine- 

 press. Mr. Hodge would not keep bees owing to 

 the alleged injury they committed on grapes. But 

 when they pressed grapes last fall, it was found 

 that his (Dr. Whipple's) grapes were no more in- 

 jured by bees than Mr. Hodge's, although he (Mr. 

 Whipple) kept bees, and there were none within 

 a mile and a half of Mr. Hodge's place. 



"Mr. Sanford remarked that it was for this very 

 reason that he wanted them exterminated or re- 

 moved for distance of ten a miles. Ceasing to keep 

 them ourselves was no remedy while our neighbors 

 persisted in keeping them. Our vineyards would 

 be their pasture-ground the same as though we 

 kept them ourselves. 



'•Mr. A. K. Williams, of Mt. Auburn, said that 

 if the honey-bee did not injure grapes, the bees of 

 a certain citizen in his neighborhood were greatly 

 slandered ; for so wide-spread was the opinion 

 among nearly all the grape-growers of Mt. Auburn 

 that the bees of the gentleman referred to, were 

 ruining their fruit, that they had felt like getting 

 up an indignation meeting, and see what could be 

 done in the way of compelling that gentleman to 

 remove his extensive stock of bees from that neigh- 

 borhood. 



«•» 



Bke Robbing. — When bees are robbing, close 

 the entrance so nearly that but one bee at a time 

 can escape. At sundown remove the hive to a 

 secure place well darkened, and keep there for a 

 week. This will get the robber bees used to the 

 new neighbors, and they will work and remain with 

 them. This should be done only when the swarm 

 is overcome by the robbing bees. Otherwise leave 

 the swarm on the stands, with the entrance hole 

 nearly closed. In such a condition they will fight 

 their way through. 



