290 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Attgtjst, 
not qneenlesB may often be beneflted by removing tbe 
honey from the cehter combB, which will allow a mnch 
larger niimber of young bees to be reared. 
Q,iiestioiis ntltl Answers. 
Excess of Deones.— "I have a great many drones in 
Bome of my hives — how can I get rid of them ? ' ' — An ex- 
cess of drones should be prevented by removing nearly 
all drone comb, thereby preventinj^ their batching. They 
may be separated and destroyed by shaking or driving 
the bees into an empty hive or box, of the earae size as 
the hive containing the bees. Place on the box a piece 
of wire-cloth, which is just coarse enough to allow the 
queen and workers to pass through, or a board may be 
used in which a hole is cut, and over tbe hole nail nar- 
row strips of tin at proper distances apart. Set the hive 
over the box, when the queen and bees will pass np, 
leaving the drones, which are too large to pass through 
■„, e opening, in the box below ; the hive may then be re- 
r^.ived to its place, and the drones destroyed. It would 
b! preferable to find the queen and place her in the hive 
n jove, as the bees would the more readily pass np, 
NATtTRAL OB AKTmciAL SwABMiNQ. — " Do you pre- 
fer natural or artificial swarming? " — I very mnch prefer 
arliflcial swarming, which is done by driving, or shaking 
tU - queen and a part of the bees into a new hive, placing 
it where the old hive stood, and removing the old one to 
a new position. 
Dbivino to a New Hrvz. — "I desire to drive my bees 
from my old box hive to a new and more modern one ? '' 
— The time to chauge bees from box hives to those with 
movable combs is in May, yet it may be done at this sea- 
son. For directions for transferring, see Notes for May, 
1876. Tlie hives referred to by D. H. should be trans- 
ferred to tbe frames as shown in Notes referri'd to. 
Fkames for Extracting.—" Can the honey be ex- 
tracted as readily from tlie standing Quinby frame as 
from tbe banking frame ? " — Yes, I think better, as it is 
a stronger frame. 
Questions on Hite Constetictions. — " TThen l*! 
frames arc in place in tbe. new Quinby hive, do you use 
panels at the sides ? " — No, the frames just fill tbe hive. 
...."Are the panels to be clealed when only X inch 
thick, to prevent warping? — Yes, put a cleat at each 
end "How wide should the hoop iron be that the 
frame books on in the rear and rests on in front?"— 1?| 
inch wide — ''Should the outside case be cleated ? " — 
Yes, a cleat two inches from each end of the sides and 
ends. . . "Is there any way to contract the entrance ? " — 
A block may be used, or it may be partly filled with 
paper "Should dowels be used to hold the case in 
place on the bottom board?" — Yes, one in the center of 
each end. 
A correspondent from N. C. writes of tbe condition of 
bee-keeping in his State, to whom I would reply: You 
first need a hive with movable Irames, to which your bees 
may be transferred, or ni-w swarms may be hived in them. 
Yon can then take your surplus in a desirable shape, in 
small boxes, or with the extractor. The questions in re- 
gard to queens and queen rearinir, will be most fully and 
accurately answered by repnbli.-^binir one of the most able 
papers ever prepared by the late M. Quinby upon this 
subject. With tbe consent of the Editor, it shall appear 
some time before next season's operations commence. 
Parapfin aud Seeds. — The English papers con- 
tain accounts of soaking peas and other seeds in 
paraffin, to prevent their destmction by insects and 
birds. One correspondent wishes to know if the 
heat necessary to melt the paraffln wiU not injure 
seeds. His question is a very proper one, as paraffin 
is really a solid, like wax, which could only be nsed 
in the melted state, and it would probably have no 
protecting effect. The trouble rises from an in- 
correct use of terms. The UluminatinK nils, that 
we call kerosene, are in England known as paraffin 
oils, which have by usage come to be called simply 
paraffin. If our correspondent wishes to experi- 
ment, let him use kerosene, and he will be able to 
see how far the method of the English gardeners 
will answer here. 
PcrESLAiTE ON THs TABLE. — Every one who has 
a garden knows the common purslane or "pnssley " 
as a persistent and troublesome weed, but we have 
met with very few who knew that it had its uses, 
and that it was capable of making an acceptable 
vegetable for the table. Indeed, in France, 
the plant is cultivated for the table, but we, 
unfortunately, do not need to take that trouble. 
Those who wish to try it should select vigorous 
plants that hare grown quickly in rich soil, and 
■use the leaves and tender stems, rejecting the 
tough portions of the steins near the root. Boiled, 
and dressed with butter, in the same, manner as 
spinach, it is no mean substitute for that vegetable, 
and can be had in the hot months, when that can not. 
Feitit rs Englajjd. — The weather of spring was 
very disastrous to all out door fruits except apples, 
which it was supposed had escaped ; we see by re- 
cent papers that the apples, from some unex- 
plained cause, are falling to such an extent, that it 
is feared that these will also be a very short crop. 
»-. ■»■ —m 
The Peach Ceop. — Randolph Peters, Esq., of 
"Willmington, Del., who keeps a very close watch of 
the peach-growing districts of Delaware and Mary- 
land, informs us, (June 29th), that the estimates 
made earlier in the season, are not likely to be 
bome out. Lately the fruit has fallen to such an 
extent, that it is now thought that the quantity 
sent to market wiU not be greater than that in 1875. 
Ogden Farm Papers.— Ho. 90. 
ET georgh e. wariho, jr. 
I have the following from St. Paul, Neb.: " I see 
by a late article that you have had experience in 
pumping large volumes of water by wind-mill. We 
in this region (Central Nebraska) are greatly in- 
terested in methods for raising water for irrigation. 
The most of the streams and valley lands are not 
well located to irrigate by ditching, and, in fact, it 
would be hard to get enough of the inhabitants to 
pull together to accomplish it, so that the only 
course left seems to be for each one to raise his 
own irrigation water. This country is primarily a 
stock region, but a certain amount of grain must be 
raised even to raise cattle successfully. I have 
ventured to write you to ask, if you can not and 
wiU not write and illustrate in the Ajiurican Agri- 
culturist an article, or series of articles, explaining 
in detail the methods of raising large volumes of 
water by wind power — i. e., sufficient quantities to 
irrigate from 10 to 40 acres. It would interest the 
people of a very wide scope of country west of the 
Missouri. We have very excellent wind-mills built 
in the West, but they are all so very expensive, 
(1. e. those which develop any power,) that they 
are mostly beyond the means of the people of this 
country. What is wanted is a wind-mill device of 
simple construction, that can be built on the farm 
at small expense, and that will raise a volume of 
water from 8 to 13 inches diameter, to a hight of 
from 15 to 30 or 40 feet, with a velocity of say 200 
feet per minute. Information on the best and most 
desirable form of pump would of course be of in- 
terest. There was an Archimedean screw pump ad- 
vertised some years ago. Has it proven a success ? " 
Of course, I am interested in all such questions 
as the above, and give them the fullest possible at- 
tention. The service that it is proposed to perform 
is by ^o means a light one. Taking the lowest 
estimate : a pipe 8 inches in diameter, rising to a 
hight of 15 feet, discharging water at the rate of 
200 feet per minute, we have a duty requiring two 
(2) nominal horse-power. Or taking the extreme 
case : a IS-inch pipe, rising 40 feet, and delivering 
at the same velocity, we have a duty of twelve (13) 
nominal horse-power. In both of these calculations 
there is no allowance made for friction, which is 
more or less important, according to the size of the 
water-way of the pump used. Practically, even 
with the large pump, it would not be safe to de- 
pend on less than two-and-a-half (3i) horse-power 
for the smaller service, or fifteen (15) horse-power 
for the larger. 
To raise such a large volume of water by wind 
power, as the larger instance calls for, about 160 
cubic feet per minute, against a head of 40 feet, 
would be a severe tax upon an ordinary wind- mill, 
and for what requires a very large and costly mill, 
it would certainly be better to use a fifteen (15) 
horse-power steam-engine. The smaller amount, 
about sixty-five (65) cubic feet per minute, might 
be raised by a Fijnje pump, by an 18-foot wind-miU, 
working in a breeze of not less than 15 miles an 
hour. Such a miU would cost S250, aside from the 
cost of the tower and pump. It is doubtful, 
whether a wind-miU to perform this service ac- 
curately and well could be build for much less on 
the farm, where it is to bo used, and a home-made 
miU would hardly be self-regulating, so that it 
would require an amount of attention, that would 
cost more than the interest on the purchase. If, 
however, it is thought best to make a wind-mill at 
home, and save the cash outlay, I should then 
recommend the form nsed by the millers on this 
Island, who grind corn by wind power. This is the 
familiar, old-fashioned, four-armed milk The arms 
would have to be at least 12 feet long, and they 
should be provided w ith lattice-work, bearing can- 
vass saUs, 2J feet wide. It would be practicable to 
make a mill of this size, with a vane to turn it to- 
ward the wind, bnt anything larger than that would 
have to be turned by hand. In any case, the sails 
would have to be furled and unfurled by hand. 
The pumping mills, so largely nsed in Holland, 
where they raise the water by paddle-wheels, have 
only about a four-foot lift. Each mill, with its 
pump, costs about §10,000, and requires the super- 
vision of an attendant, who lives in the mill-house. 
If the Archimedean screw is used, the lift may be 
doubled, but the amotmt of water discharged is 
proportionately less. A steam pump, to perform 
the service required in the larger instance given 
above, would consume about four pounds of coal 
per horse-power per hour. Bather than use a wind- 
miU or steam-engine, it would be better, if prac- 
ticable, to go to the expejse of making a long 
canal, tapping the stream at a higher level, and de- 
livering the water by gravitation. 
As to pumps, the Archimedean screw is as old as 
history, and is very efficient for raising water to 
the hight of 8 or 10 feet. For greater hights, it has 
serious objections. The Fijnje pump is very simple, 
and has a very large water-way, so that less allow- 
ance need be made for friction, and for disturbance 
of the current, than in the case of any other, but 
for working under a head of 40 feet, it would re- 
quire special provision for strength, and would con- 
sequently be somewhat expensive. 
The fact is, that to raise a sufficient amount of 
water lor the irrigation of any considerable tract is 
hard work, which requires substantial appliances, 
and ample power. That it would be profitable un- 
der the circumstances named, I have no doubt, but 
that it can be easily and cheaply done by any home- 
made contrivance, is doubtful, and tmless the ap- 
pliances are adequate to the conditions it had bet- 
ter be left undone. 
The best service that I can render on this subject 
is to call attention to the very excellent work on 
Irrigation, recently written by Mr. Henry Stewart, 
an associate editor of the American Agricuiiurist, 
and published by the Orange Judd Company. It is 
the first American work on the subject, and a. re- 
markably good one. Certainly, any man who con- 
templates the adoption of irrigation, should read 
the book as his first step. It contains argumen'-a 
in favor of the process, which should be more than 
ample, and which ought to lead to the introduction 
of irrigation works all over the country. At the 
same time, it holds out no delusive hopes, and does 
not pretend that the great benefits offered, are to 
be got for nothing. Except in the matter of me- 
chanics, it gives all that can be desired. It does 
not mention the Fijnje pump, (which was intro- 
duced to our notice only last year at the Centen- 
nial,) and it is much less specific, than it might be, 
on the subject of wind-mills— a subject which is at- 
tracting more attention, as the value of win* 
power for farm work is becoming better known. 
Beyond the size of 18 feet in diameter, the windt 
mills are only made with cog-wheel gearing for 
driving machinery, but doubtless a pumping miU 
cotdd be made 24 feet in diameter, (haying 6 horse- 
power in a 25-mile breeze,) at a cost of about 6400. 
My preference would be for two 16-foot mills, cost- 
ing §200 each, and working separate ptmips. The 
cost of the pumps for the smaller size mills wonld 
be proportionately considerably less than for the 
larger one. 
I became a practitioner and an advocate of the 
