54 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Februart, 
Cut Feed— Chaffed Hay, Straw, etc. 
la these times of high prices, it seems need- 
ful to renew the inquiry whether more pains 
should not be taken to cut feed for stock. Care- 
ful experiments show that hay chopped fine 
affords about a quarter if not a third more 
nourishment than coarse hay. So then, if the 
gain is more than equivalent to the cost of the 
labor, it is good policy to cut hay. The 
reason cut feed goes so much farther than coarse 
is this: The woody fiber of the hay, after it is 
chopped fine, is mose easily masticated, and is 
more intimately mixed with saliva and digested, 
and so becomes nutritious and fattening. Still 
more, if the food is steamed, or wet with 
scalding water, it carries on tlie process forther 
and better. Now, add a little meal, and the 
fodder is more nutritious and every way better. 
If the foregoing be true of hay, it is more so 
of straw and corn-stalks, because they contain 
more cellulose matter, or wood fiber, and less 
starch and nitrogen. Experiments show that 
some four-tenths of this woody fiber may be as- 
similated, and so converted into fat. But to se- 
cure this result, it must previously be made fine 
by artificial processes. Alderman Mechi is re- 
ported to have said that 100 pounds of straw 
cut and steamed is more nourishing than the 
same weight of Timothy hay not chopped. "We 
suspect his experiments were made with over- 
ripe hay, and straw harvested " in the milk." 
Either his hay was not as good as our Yankee 
hay, or his straw was better. * 
: — ■ ■«■ I ■ 
For the American Agriculturist, 
Superiority of Italian Bees. 
Tue highest test for the purity of Italian bees, 
is their greatest difference from black bees : 
namely, the greater prolificness and length of life 
of the queens ; the greater industry and conse- 
quently quiet temper of the workers ; the greater 
size and beauty of the drones ; all tliese ex- 
treme qualities are found fullj' developed in each 
of the distinct kinds of bees in the hive, and 
they should be preserved to maintain purity. The 
nearest approach to perfection is obtained in a 
dry, clear atmosphere, and a continual harvest 
of flowers. The loss of these points of excel- 
lence is in the extremes of heat and cold, and 
in barrenness, and want of ventilation. By be- 
coming chilled in winter, large numbers of 
queens become worse than useless. 
The great difference then is not that Italian 
bees are really more industrious, but that they 
are imfc nearly perfect^ and the queens more 
prolific ; and prolificness seems to us to be the 
best test of perfectness. "We have removed one 
comb daily well filled with eggs from Italian 
queens, while no black queen we ever tried fill- 
ed her comb in less than two days. One of 
their most estimable qualities is the mildness of 
their temper. Their worst fault is their liability 
to cross with black bees, which gives an oppo- 
site character. In a stock of Italians, black, 
and cross-bred bees mixed, the half-breeds are 
first and most easily aroused to anger, the blacks 
next, and lastly, and with difficulty, the Italians. 
"When the number of black stocks are in- 
creased, they become more and more uneasy ; 
fearing oi-.o another, more bees remain at home. 
"With Italian bees it is different, what tliey do 
has more definiteness of purpose. To work 
seems th? one law of llieir existence, whether 
they hav.' 100 lbs. of honey stored or only 10 
lbs. Bees do not store honey in anticipation of 
needing it in winter. For if one drives out a 
stock late in the fall, those remaining will con- 
sume the honey gathered in brood raising, and 
will continue to do so after flowers fail, if fed a 
moderate allowance daily. Nor does a cold 
climate increase their stores, except as cool 
nights check its evaporation, thickening and in- 
creasing it. For this cause also, Italian bees 
being more hardy, and working earlier, gather 
a greater quantity than the black bees, which 
are required to collect the less amount which 
the plant replaces. The reason bees work less 
in a warm climate is, that the honey gathered, 
long remains too fluid for sealing. This shows 
the necessity of ample ventilation during the 
working season, to carry on this necessary eva- 
poration and thickening of the honey even in a 
temperate climate, or in a close situation. 
"We placed several stocks of bees in a close, 
deep ravine, and found the bees gathered honey 
faster than it thickened, and consequently left 
large quantities unsealed, which soured. This 
sometimes happens in wet and cloudy weather, 
but less frequentlj- with Italians than black bees. 
Italian bees are somewhat longer, and reach the 
honey in deeper flowers, being quicker to go 
and return, or perhaps, go farther, and living 
longer, can secure more honey. The Italian 
queens are of a beautiful light straw-color when 
young, changing to a deep orange yellow when 
old, except the extreme tip, which changes with 
age, from brown to black. All lier worker 
progeny are alike, with long tapering bodies, 
maiiced with three bright j'ellow rings, com- 
mencing at the " waist," which are divided by 
two longitudinal lines of brown, then three 
rings of black (including the tip), edged with 
two small bands of yellow down. Tlie drones 
have but four abdominal rings, the two nearest 
the waist are of a light, rich yellow, enlivened 
with tlie colors of the rainbow. The light yel- 
low of young queens, drones, and workers, by 
crawling in and out of the cells, becoming 
smeared with honey, or otherwise, changes to a 
deep orange, and the brown and 3'ellow down 
to black. Sometimes their change occurs in 
carl}' life, 'out generally in old age. 
Minnefiota. Bidwell Bros. 
European Notes on Hop Culture. 
One of the most experienced hop-growers of 
tliis State, Mr. F. "W. Collins, spent the past 
summer in England, and on the Continent, en- 
gaged especially in looking into the culture and 
trade in hops. Having recently returned, he 
sends us the following notes which will be read 
with interest by American hop-growers : 
"Tlie districts where hops are grown comprise 
some of the most beautiful farming country of 
England. The Hop crop is considered as one 
of the most paj'ing in England, as it is now one 
of the most important products of this State, 
and rapidly increasing in importance, in otlier 
States of the Union. 
" During a recent tour among the great ho]i- 
districts of England, I had tlie opportunity of 
freely conferring with the best growers of Kent, 
Sussex, Suri-y, AVorcester and Hartford, where 
nearly all the hops in England are grown. The 
Eastern and Central parts are the onlj' ones in 
which they are raised, while here, almost every 
part of our broad country is adapted to their 
growth even better than England, as will be 
shown by comparing the product of that coun- 
try with our own. There was an excise duty 
and an import duty collected in England for 
many years, both of which by Mr. Gladstone's 
efforts, were removed, about four years since ; 
the official reports show the number of acres 
and the whole product of the country accurate- 
ly. The average yield per acre for the last 23 
years that are reported, was less than 7 cwt., 
the greatest average which was in 1850, was 
11 cwt. lOlbs., the smallest average, in 1840, was 
1 cwt. 2qrs. 81bs., the number of acres in hops 
in England, has been for many years about 
50,000, and is put by good judges at from 55,000 
to 60,000 at the present time, there being but 
about one-third as many in this country, but 
the hop crop is rapidly increasing here, and the 
demand for hops is growing faster than the in- 
crease of the crop. Our census report does not 
give our average ; in 18.50 less than 3,000,000 lbs. 
were raised ; in 1860 over 11,000,000 are re- 
ported, and last year there must have been near- 
ly 18,000,000 lbs. produced. This year the crop 
is considered a failure, on account of the hop- 
louse and the blight, yet I estimate the crop at 
400 lbs. to the acre, not more than one-half 
what is wanted for consumption by the trade, 
and the price is high. 
" In England, the crop was good, called by the 
factors and most of the farmers a high average. 
I saw them sold at several markets at £5 to £10 
($25 to $50) per cwt. Bavarian hops sell much 
higher than English, some as high as £16 ($80). 
The price varies very much in different parts of 
England. East Kent, Farnham, and "Worcester, 
have a high reputation. I think very much de- 
pends on the care used in picking them clean, 
keeping them whole, and the skill in drying 
them. The English factors admit the superior- 
it}' of the American hop to theirs in strength. 
The new kiln which received a Silver medal at 
the N. Y. State Fair, is the best system of dry- 
ing hops 3-et used, all who have seen the model 
admit it. It is described in your 'Hop Culture.' 
" Within a few years past the system of grow- 
ing hops on stakes and twine described in the 
first prize essay in the book you published on 
Hop Culture, has been used in nearly all parts 
of this countiy, where hops are raised, and as 
far as I have learned it gives satisfaction, it is 
very economical, not over one-fourth the ex- 
pense of the long pole system, requires less la- 
bor, produces better liops, and in most cases 
much larger crops, and the hops are gathered 
without cutting down, which is of great impor- 
tance in preserving the root, as then no sap is 
lost by bleeding at picking time. I found this 
system in use in England in a few gardens, for 
tlie first time this season. One plantation had 35 
acres on this plan belonging to Messrs. Simmons 
& Hunt, of Maidstone, Kent; they used it on 6 
acres last year with satisfactory results, and 
said they got as many bushels of green hops per 
acre, and of a quality and color much superior 
to any on poles. This process is patented in the 
United States and England, and also in Belgi- 
um, Holland, and Bavaria, and other hop-grow- 
ing countries on the continent. Austria is a 
very excellent hop district. The number of 
acres in it and its dependencies devoted to liops, 
is about 150,000, and it is said to consume all the 
produce. The following extract from the cor- 
respondence of an English paper of last May, 
will show the horizontal plan is appreciated. 
" 'In the autumn of last year I drew attention 
to the importance of preserving the hop vine 
until the leaves had fallen and the sap had 
ceased to flow. I advocated the American sys- 
tem of training the plant on strings, stretched 
from pole to pole, in order that the crop may 
be gathered without the necessity of cutting 
down. I have just returned from Kent where 
