170 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
bees gather honey from buckwheat better than the Ital- 
ians ?''— I do not know u'hy. The fact that they do so is 
the point of interest. 
Alsike Clotee,— " What do yon think of Alslke clo- 
ver for a forage plant as to quality of honey ? Will it 
stand the drouth better than red clover ?"— The quality 
and quantity of honey are good. It does not stand 
drouth well, but does best on moist ground. It is not a 
lasting kind of clover. 
Loss OP Bees.— "A. C. B." Hives that have too much 
honey in the fall are in very poor condition for winter- 
ing. This is without donbt the cause of your loss. Hav- 
ing no empty combs in which to cluster and form a com- 
pact body, they soon became frozen between solid combs 
of honey. If 20 lbs. of honey had been taken from the 
center combs with the extractor, without doubt the bees 
would have been saved. The combs being old is an ad- 
vantage rather than otherwise. The honey ran from the 
fact that the combs were broken by freezing. 
Qun^ET HrvE. — " How long and wide should the bot- 
tom board of the Quinby hive be?"— As wide as the 
frames are long, and as long as the width of eight frames, 
with sis inches each aide for boxes, to which shotild be 
added on all sides the thickness of the lumber for out- 
side case "What is at the sides and top of frames?" 
—When the boxes are not In place, I use panels at the 
aides, and a quilt on top "How is the outside case 
made ?"— Each of the four sides is made separate, fast- 
ened at each corner with the clasp, shown below. Jt 
of these cords has a hook at the end, by which it is 
fastened across the sheep's legs, to an eye screwed 
CLASP FOB HTTE. 
make them 26 In. long, 19i wide, and 18 In. high, inside. 
HoNET Eighteen Teaks Old.— A correspondent re- 
ports a box of honey that he has kept 18 years, that is 
seemingly in good condition, and not candied in the 
cells. In referring to it, he says he desires to show that 
"combs with unbroken cells will keep a great while, 
whether the cells were capped or not."— In this I think 
he la incorrect. If honey is kept in a perfectly natural 
state, as when stored, even half as long as the box he 
mentions, it must be perfectly capped and sealed, and 
kept under very peculiar conditions. The subject of pre- 
serving honey is one of interest, and the attention thus 
called to it, may lead to valuable investigation. 
Weight op Swajrjis.— The swarms, the weights of 
which were reported in Feb. and March notes, consumed 
during Feb., aa follows: the one out-doors 5 fts; of 
those in-doors, one consumed 2J and the other 2 fts. 
In March, that out-door 3ilbs, and the other two IB) each. 
Helps in Sheep Shearing. 
There are many helpful contrivances which tend 
to ease the tiresome labor of shearing sheep. To 
avoid stooping, the shearer may use the table shown 
at figure 1. This is made with a hoDow, curved top. 
Fig. 2. — TROUGH rOK TAGGING SHEEP. 
into the side of the table. When one side of the 
sheep is shorn, the cords are loosened, the animal 
is turned over, the loose part of the fleece being 
tucked under it, as it is turned, and the legs fasten- 
ed on the other side. The shearing is then finished, 
and the sheep turned off. Before the sheep is 
shorn, it should be tagged, and a table for this pur- 
pose is shown at figure 3. The sheep is placed on 
this table feet upwards, in which position it is per- 
fectly helpless, and will not struggle. Then the 
soiled wool about the hind parts, the belly, or the 
legs is clipped oflF with great ease, less than a 
minute being needed to tag a sheep. Half that time 
will serve for some shearers to do this. In large 
flocks these tables will be necessary, and those who 
have small ones will find them very useful. 
Ogden Farm Papers.— Uo. 87. 
ET CEOEGB E. WARINO, JR. 
I have long known Mr. C. M. Beach, of Hartford, 
Conn., to be unusually careful and reliable in all 
matters pertaining to his dairy. Learning that he 
had recently given his personal attention to the 
testing of his herd of Jerseys, I applied for fuU par- 
ticulars for publication, and give them herewith: 
" We tested our herd for the week ending last 
Saturday, March ITth, taking the milk to exactly 
the same point as in the previous week. I heUeve 
the cows are all in calf, with the exception of three. 
The following table shows their condition : 
Jerseif 
Names of cows. Hml 'Be-] gyg^^i 
igtster No. ^^ 
Fig. 1. — SHEEP SHEARING TABLE. 
upon which the sheep is laid and secured by passing 
over its legs the cords, shown at each side. Each 
Betiine 
Fantie 
Daisv ^Vash'ton 
Dotlia 
Doretto 
Roberta Gray. . 
Greta 
Poem 
Faithful 
Freeda 
Witch Hazel 2a 
Donna 
Kitty Clover.Gr 
Aline 
S062 
Feb. 19, 
3066 
.\pril 6, 
3003 
Feb. 22, 
3073 
AprU 3. 
3073 
Feb. 28. 
3063 
April 19. 
3075 
May 11, 
30V7 
5fay SO, 
307S 
July 2,' 
3079 
.luly 4. ■ 
28-38 
Mch. 10. 
4412 
Jlch. 24. 
15-16 
.Mav 15, 
Guernsey 
Aug.. '7 
Last calf. 
'70 Feb.14, V7 
'71, Sent. 12,76 
'72 AU5.21,70 
'72 tell. 22. — 
'73 .\as. 8, 
.'73 Jq1t26,'76 
'73 Dec. 28. '76 
'73 Sept. 3, "76 
'73 Nov. 2. '70 
■78 Xov.27. '76 
.•74IMavl5, '76 
'74 Feb. 13, '76 
;9 .lnly27. '76 
'U. lOct. 18, '76 
Av 
Age. 
182 
204 
21 
217 
7 1 
511 
5 1 
411 
4 « 
311 
310 
3 9;^ 
3 8 
'3 
191 
131 
104 . 
302 :3 
393 13 
229 7 10 
1J6 !2 7 
TT.d. Av.4j 
"The milk was only measured by counting the 
number of cans, but the estimate of something 
under 7? qts. for a pound of butter cannot be out 
of the way — the cans being of the same size and 
filled aUke as nearly as possible. 
" The product of butter from the cream churned 
was 209 balls of ¥ lb. each, making 1041 lbs. We 
are feeding one calf, and in addition there were 
used during the week over 56 qts. of fresh milk, 
equal to 8 lbs. of butter. This makes a total pro- 
duct of ll-2i lbs. of butter, or almost exactly 8 lbs. 
average to each cow. 
"The previous week, under the same eirctun- 
stances, we made 203 balls, or lOli lbs. of but- 
ter. An exact trial of three days' mUk from the 
herd a short time previous, gave 1 lb. of butter to 
li qts. of milk. There is a slight variation from 
week to week in richness caused by feed and the 
quantity of milk the cows are giving. Some think 
we feed too high, but so far I see no ill efiects, and 
have been doing the same for several years. These 
facts I am willing to vouch for." 
I do not hesitate to accept this statement as be- 
ing not only that of a man who honestly believes 
what he says, but who is also sure to say nothing 
that he does not know to be true. I am disposed to 
regard this as the most valuable report that we 
have had. Dividing the cows roughly into two 
classes, four came in early and ten came in late, 
but the average time from calving was between five 
and sir months, and the herd probably averages 
between three and four months in calf. As they 
will come into snnimer keep in good milking con- 
dition, they will doubtless increase their yield on 
grass. In view of the season of the year and of the 
condition of the animals, it seems reasonable to 
suppose that they are not now making more than 
the average of their yearly product, which would 
carry the average yield of each one of a herd of 
fourteen cows to something over 400 lbs. of butter 
each per annum. This seems incredible. Let us 
suppose that we make a deduction of 25 per cent, 
we shall still leave an average of SOO lbs. per cow 
per annum. This is not the largest story that I 
ever heard of the performance of a herd of Jersey 
cows, but it is the largest that I have ever believed, 
and this one I do believe. The process by which 
Mr. Beach has attained this success, cannot proba- 
bly be exactly formulated. Good care, rich land, 
and ample feeding, have been important items, but 
probably much is due to his luck in beginning — at 
a time when his ovra knowledge of the breed was 
slight — with a herd containing one or two unusually 
good cows. This has been supplemented by a 
shrewdness that led to keeping the best animals 
and selling the inferior ones. No price that any 
one would be likely to pay, would buy his best cow, 
while the less satisfactory animals were freely sold 
at whatever they would bring. Probably ilr. Beach 
does not ascribe much of his success so far as quan- 
tity goes, to the use of deep cans, but he believes 
that he gets an improved quality by their use. 
J. M. B., of New York, writes about chums. 
Forty years ago he used something similar to the 
Bullard — a long box set on rockers. The rockuag 
sent the cream from one end of the box to the 
other. This was not very satisfactory, and he tried 
a chum in which the dasher moved back and forth 
through the cream. Since then he has used many 
others, liking best a barrel chum, which he has 
used for fifteen years past. This has paddles work- 
ed by a crank; and he finds the usual objection, 
that, as the floats do not work close to the sides of 
the barrel, there is soon deposited a considerable 
thickness of cream which gets no churning. He 
thinks that this occasions a loss of from 5 to 10 per 
cent of the butter. This waste is probably over- 
estimated; but if anything like this, is a serious 
objection to these chums. Probably the rocket 
churn described did not throw the cream with 
sufficient violence. We find that the "Bullard" 
does so. ilr. J. B. Williams, of Conn., has invent- 
ed a barrel chum, in which the floats, when turned 
in one direction, for churning, run close to the 
sides ; when tumed in the opposite direction, for 
working the butter, they leave considerable space. 
I hope to try this chum this season. 
The same writer asks about the strip of laud on 
Ogden Farm, described some years since as having 
been injured by too deep plowing. Time has greatly 
improved this land, and it is now about as good as 
that lying on either side of it. It stood last sea- 
son's drouth no better than the rest of the field. It 
may show an improvement when we plow it up 
again, but thus far it offers no argument in favor of 
turning down a good surface soil, and bringing up 
a stiff clay snb-soil. 
Mr. B. also asks about "dried grass," a subject 
which I have overlooked for a year or two past, 
and whether " early cut hay " has taken its place. 
" Are there any experiments on record, of the effect 
on the subsequent crop of early, medium, and late 
cutting for hay V ' — He suggests that valnable infor- 
mation would be gained by investigating this mat* 
