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163 



down ; for if it was put up on a dry day and strained tight, 

 a shower of rain or a heavy dew would break it by contract- 

 ing it, and leaving it out made it rot. But the wire is bad 

 in some ways, for, if the coating of zinc has any imperfec- 

 tions, there comes a rusty patch on the linen — an iron-mould ; 

 and if the stuff is old or tender, the wooden peg jamming it 

 upon the iron will sometimes cut clean through it. 



A Cottager's Bee-Hivks 



Many cottagers are clever bee-keepers. The old straw 

 hive is still in use among the poorer folk. Luckily for 

 appearance' sake, it is cheaper than the more scientific wooden 

 one, and the cottager's device for sheltering it, as in the 

 case shown, with a bonnet made of pieces of sacking, and the 

 broken halves of a red-ware washing-pan, adds to the pretti- 

 ness of the little bee establishment. 



