S30 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Septeiebek, 
ble to relarn n first swarm when an increase in swarms 
is not desired f "— Tiiis is a good, practiral question, and 
the entire space given to the '• Notes " nii^jlit be profita- 
bly osed in answeriuj; it. In my liome apiary about one- 
half or my hives are boxed, anti the rest arc extracted. 
Tlioge extracted seldom swarm, no matter liow populous. 
When a swarm issues from a stock that is boxed, I re- 
move part of the combs filled with brood, and after rc- 
movini? all the queen cells from the remainder, fill the 
place of those taken away "with em'>ty frames, and re- 
turn the swarm. In most seasons this will prevent further 
swarms, if plenty of box room be given. The combs of 
brood removed may be given to lighter swarms for ex- 
tracting. 
To HAKE Bees Work in Boxes.—" How can I in nee 
my b'-es to work in boxes?''' — Fasten pieces of white 
comb in each box, and if slnmg with bees and plenty 
of forage, there will usually be no trouble. 
Swarms goinq Back. — '" One hive of bees has attempt- 
ed U' swarm four difi"erent times, and each time returned 
to the old hive. What was the cause ? "—Without doubt 
the old queen had a poor wing, and being unable to fly, 
returned to her hive, when the bees returned with her. 
NoN-swARMiNQ Bees. — '' Mv bces ctdlect surplus honey, 
but do not swarm. Why is this ? "— Bees'often gather so 
much honey early in the season, and the combs are so 
filled with it, that space is not left for a suflJcient amount 
of brood to be reared, and, in consequence, colonies do 
not become populous enon;,'h to swarm. In such cases, 
the Extractor for emptying the combs is invaluable. In 
other seasons stocks may be very populous, and a lack of 
honey will hinder swarming. 
Straight Combs. — '• How can I manage to secure 
straight combs in my frames ? " — If a fnime or two filled 
with combs were placed in e:ich hive, they would assist 
in securing straiirbt combs. Kecent experiments impress 
me that the comb foundation, which is being largely 
manufactured, may prove serviceable in this direction. 
The Best HrvE.— " All things considered, which is the 
most desirable hive?"~I use the '-New Quinby." 
Would change, if I knew of a better one. 
AxsiEE Clover.— "Will this alone produce a good 
crop for stock ? "—Not the best. If I were to carry on 
fanning in connection with bees, I should sow it each 
year, as it yields honey abundantly and of a fine quality. 
It does not stand severe winters well. 
Time for Putting on Boxes.— "Does it make any 
difference in the amount of surplus honey, if the boxes 
are put on before the bees have fill. -d the hive below ? " — 
Yes. if a card of brood be placed in the hive when the 
bees are put in to keep the queen from entering the box- 
es, and the yield of honey be good, I would put boxes en 
at once. II the br.iod is not furnished, I would put box- 
es on in a couple of days. 
"Do Bees need Salt? "—It is not essential to them. 
Science Applied to Farming.— XXXTTT . 
■\Voocl Ashes, tbeir Composition and Uses as 
Fertilizers — Ashes vs. Pllosphates a.iid Guano. 
I had quite a talk with a farmer friend in Ver- 
mont, recently, about ashes and phosphates as fer- 
tilizers. He had been using both, the superphos- 
phate, of good quality, costing about S50 per ton, 
■while fresh ashes could be had at 12 to 15 cts., and 
leached ashes at 10 to 12 cents per bushel. He was 
in doubt as to whether the phosphate paid, but was 
quite certain the ashes were profitable, I thought 
the ashes cheap and the phosphate dear, and ad- 
vised him to use the ashes, and very freely. I be- 
lieve practical experience and correct theory jus- 
tify this advice. 
Very common experience shows that wood ashes 
are an excellent, reliable, and lasting fertilizer. 
Hundreds of farmers will recall places where a 
brush heap or an old log has been burned, and a 
luxuriant vegetation has followed and lasted for 
years. In this section it is an old saying that " the 
land never forgets ashes." Many of our best farm- 
ers in Connecticut use leached ashes, imported 
from Canada, at a cost of from IS to 28 cents or 
more per bushel, in preference to all other fertilizers 
except bam-yrrd and stable manure. Mr. T. B. 
Wakeman, of Westport, one of the most successful 
farmers fti the State, says : 
'* The f araiers here have used ashes for more than 
thirty years ; the cheapest manure we can buy. 
Over fO.OOO bushels were sold here last year, be- 
sides -too tons of bone, which is next to a'^hes as a 
(«rtliizer. Vie know that ashes and bone-dust pay. 
and more than three times over. We can put that 
down as a fact, and prove it, too. If any one 
doubts it, wiU call and see our crops, when grow- 
ing, he will admit its truth." 
This good effect of ashes is very easy to explain. 
The trees from which they come subsist in essen- 
tially the same way as the cultivated crops. Both 
require the same materials for food, though in some- 
what different proportions, and obtain them from 
the same sources — atmosphere and soil. The 
ash that is left after the wood is burned, includes, 
practically, everything that the tree took, and the 
plant requires, from the soil, except nitrogen, and 
the ingredients are in very available forms. Further, 
while the ashes do not supply nitrogen themselves, 
they are veiy active agents in rendering the nitro- 
gen of the soil available to crops. Our ordinary 
soils contain this precious ingredient largely in ex- 
cess of the needs of the crops. But the larger por- 
tion of it is in such forms that plants can not ap- 
propriate it for food. This is the case in partially 
decayed vegetable matter, as roots, stubble, humus, 
etc. Ashes induce chemical changes by which the 
nitrogen is rendered available. They do the same 
for the other soil ingredients of plant-food also. In 
the fragments of minerals and rocks contained in ev- 
ery ordinary soil are locked up stores of potash, lime, 
magnesia, phosphoric acid, and so on. The ashes 
liberate these, and work them over into forms fit 
for the support of plants. These changes of plant- 
food from inert to active forms, are going on in the 
soil all the while. It is in virtue of these processes 
that our soils are enriched by tillage and fallowing. 
Ashes, by accelerating these changes, enable the 
soil to feed the crops it bears more rapidly, or what 
is the same thing, more bountifully than it other- 
wise could. 
Again, ashes may be usefnl as a mechanical 
amendment to the soil. On a portion of one of the 
fields belonging to my friend alluded to, ashes had 
been applied. On comparing this with an ad- 
joining strip where no ashes had been used, a 
great difference in the texture of the soil, a some- 
what sandy loam, was noticeable. Where the ashes 
were, the soil was soft and yielding to the step. We 
could run our fingers down into it several inches, 
and dig up large handfuls with ease. Whereno ashes 
had been applied, it was harder and more compact, 
and it was with difficulty that wo could force our 
fingers into it more than an inch or two. An ac- 
quaintance was telling me, recently, of some of the 
firming land in New Jersey that has been so won- 
derfully improved by the application of marl. He 
said he could tell the soJ where the marl had been 
put, by the tread, when walking over it, even in the 
darkest night. The marl he referred to was some- 
what similar in composition to leached ashes, and 
its application produced analogous effects. 
And, finally, ashes are usually applied in large 
quantities. Of course, none of theu- constituents 
can escape into the air. The loss through leach- 
ing away in the water which percolates through the 
soil is very slight. They therefore remain, furnish- 
ing the crops with plant-food, and improving the 
condition of the soil for years, until they are them- 
selves consumed. Hence their lasting usefulness. 
■n^tow are figures by Wolff, representing averages 
of *-aiopean analyses (mostly German) of wood 
ashes. Analyses of ashes of peat and anthracite 
coal are also given, for comparison. 
ASHES 
FKOM 
100 LBS. CONTAIN 
Everereen Trees.. 
Deciduous Trees.. 
Leached Asbes 
Peat 
Anthrat-ite Coal. . . 
^" 
e 
. 
g 
|| 
S 
>5 
B.S. 
BB. 
ne. 
Ibe. 
jS's 
i^ . £ . ?'5 
s^'S^ 
5.0 6.0 2.0 35.0 6.0 
5.010.0 2.5 30.0 5.0 
20.0 2.5 1.3 24.5 2.5 
5.0 1.5 0.8 ? i 1.5' 
5.0i 0.1 0.1' ? ' 3.0' 
-i- 
4.5 
6.5 
6.0 
0.6i 
" O.li 
.la>s. 
1.6 
1.6 
0.3 
l.S: 
5.0' 
m 
Ins 
18.0 
18.0 
20.0 
6s 
n>s. 
0.3 
0.3 
I 6'.2 
The above analyses of wood ashes differ some- 
what from those of the ashes ordinarily produced 
in household and furnace fires. The percentages 
of phosphoric acid, particularly, are much higher 
than those of common wood ashes.* The amounts 
* The reason of this is lliat the iinAlyses refer more to the 
ash <as prepared lor investltratioii, b.v careful burninp in ihe 
laboratory, so that all the phosphorus of the wood remains 
of phosphoric acid, as well as of some of the other 
c nstituents of ordinary wood ashes as obtained 
from household fires in this country, are illustrated 
by the following analyses by Prof. Storer.* Nos. 
I and II were "from soap boilers' stores," and, of 
course, mixtures of various kintis as gathered pro- 
miscuously from houses. The rest were carefully 
taken from stoves and furnaces in private d\rellings 
in New England, except IX and X, which were 
from Illinois. 
WOOD ASHES, imieached.) 
SOUECES, KtVPS of WOOD, ETC. 
100 lb-,, contain. 
Soapboiler's ashes. 
T. — Collected from Houses 
II.- 
From hot-air fitexaces ls houses. 
III.— Beech, Birch, and Maple, mixed... 
IV.— Hard Wood, chiefly Oali 
VI.— Boc'i Mapl 
From HorsE stoves. 
v.— M'lstly Red Oak. (open fire.) 
VTI.— Maple and Apple 
VIII.-Be ch 
IX.— Pin Oak, (green wood.i 
X.— Pin Oak, (dry wood.) 
XI.— Apple, (old trees.) 
SII.— Pitch Pine 
SIII. -Alder 
■s-=-a .1^ 
■i ■^■s sS'"8 
a ,oj s.'^ cB 
a, ^S;~|!:> |.55 
ns lbs. lbs. s>s. 
6.3IJ....I.... 
6.1, 3.O1. ...!.... 
10.4 1.525.4' 5.9 
8.5, 1.7 21.9 14.1 
8.S 
2.0 28.7 l.S 
8.6 
2.0 30.7, 7.8 
8.4 
1.8 ....'.... 
il 5 
2.8 
9 11 
2.2 23.411.9 
7.4 
0.7 20.3 5.1 
9.1 
0.4 28.3 2.7 
111:8 
4.2 
6.6 
2.3 
Leached ashes differ from nnleached chiefly in 
containing less potash and more water. Below are 
some analyses by Prof. Johnson, t 
I-EACHED 
WOOD ASHES. 
100 LBS. COSTATN- 
lbs.' IbB. lbs 
5^ ?-:!--,•'-" 
lbs. Ibp. as. Bs.lTbS. 
Sa7}iple from 
Deer Kiver.N.T. 35.0' 0.8 0.229.7 3.41 1.3' 0.0'l9.9i 8.9 
Canada S5.0 2.3 (I.O 2 .! 3.3 1.3 0.2 18 2< 9 9 
Canada 35.0, 0.7 0.0 23.21 2.9 1.4 0.1 n.lllS.l 
Soap Facturv.i .^.-^ ' ' 
Xew Haven, C"t.35 0' 0.9 'gl.sl 4.1i 1.1 0.1 20.2'30." 
From the above analyses and other data, which 
we have not room to discuss here, we may assume 
the following figures as expressing accurately 
enough for practical purposes the average per- 
centages of the valuable ingredients of plant-food 
in wood ashes as obtained from household fires, or 
commercially, in this country. 
Wood Ashes. 
ICO (is. contai.-. 
ontheaveragf 
Potash 
IbB. 
Lime 
tbs. 
Magnc- 
fsia. 
E>S. 
F/iospA'c Sulphu- 
Acid, ric Acid. 
ES. lbs. 
Unlcached 
Leaciied 
7t .10 
Ito 2 
25 
5 
2 1 I'A 
IK 1 1-5 
A bushel of unleached ashes weighs, on the aver- 
age, about 48 lbs. A " struck " bushel of leffched 
ashes ■will average some 57 lbs., and a "heaped 
bushel " about 71 lbs. A dressing of cO bushels of 
unleached ashes to the acre, at 4S lbs. to the bush- 
el, would give some 200 lbs. of potash ; 76S lbs. 
lime; 120 lbs. magnesia; 4S lbs. of phosphoric acid, 
and 36 lbs. of sulphuric acid. A manuring of 60 
bushels of leached ashes, at 60 lbs. to the bushel, 
would furnish about 5i lbs. of potash ; 900 lbs. of 
Ume ; 136 lbs. of magnesia ; 54 lbs. of phosphoric 
acid, and 7 lbs. *f sulphuric acid. Either of these 
would cost but little more, and, in many places, not 
nearl}- as much a* an ordinary dressing of guano or 
superphosphate. The main value of the guano or 
superphosphate would be in the ni;rogenand phos- 
phoric acid it contains and supplies directly to the 
plant. The ashes would contain about as much 
phosphoric acid and would supply nitrogen indirect- 
ly, as explained above. In addition to this, the 
ashes would yield a large quantity of potash, of 
which the guano would contain little and the phos- 
phate probably none, considerable magnesia, and a 
in rhe ash as phosphoric acid. In ordinary fires a good deai 
of the plinsplio- us of the wood is lost, by b'-iug volaiilized 
and ca/ried away in the draft, or chauged to otlier forms ol 
combin lion th;ni phosplioric acid. Ilonsehol I and furnace 
a-shes also contain considerable coal sand and other impuri- 
ties, which do not occur in the samples prepared in the 
l:d)oratory. Wolff's figures, above fiiven, evidently make 
allowance for these latter contaminations, however. 
* An eihaustive treatment of this suhject by Prcf. Storer 
maybe found in the "Btilletin of the Bussey Instiiution of 
Harvard Univer.'^ity," Vol. I pa{reI91. See also accounts of 
composition and feniliziug effects of ashes in other part; o( 
same work. 
t From Report of Conn. Board of Affricnltnrc IST?, p. 417. 
The original samples varied in the percentages of water, bnl 
the analyses are calcnlated 00 a ha-is of 3.i per cent, whirli 
is proiiaiily a fair average. The last sample had an admix- 
ture of anthnicile coal ashes. 
