4J0 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
usual courtesies extended to members of the press were 
forgotten at this fair. The managers of the Western N. 
Y. Fair were more thoughtful and enterprising, and 
from a rapid survey of the grounds, we judge this fair 
to have been the more successful of the two. The New 
Jersey State Fair, at Waverly, was unfortunate in hav- 
ing a succession of stormy days, which necessitated a 
postponement. In all else this fair was a well deserved 
success, and its ill fortune is to be regretted. The Con- 
necticut State Fair, held at Hartford, was the first agri- 
cultural and industrial exhibition of the Connecticut 
Stock Breeder's Association, and was well attended. 
The stock on exhibition was very good. One of the side 
shows here was a fat heifer, 7 years old, Baid by her 
owner to weigh 4,000 lbs.: among the horses exhibited 
was a stallion IS years old, with 15 of his colts. The 
other of the State Fairs in New England were sufficient- 
ly successful to satisfy their managers and the public. 
The Pennsylvania State Fair opened at Easton, Sept. 29. 
Here there was a large collection of stock, of which the 
horses were very fine. This was a better exhibition 
than any previous one we have seen in thiB State. The 
Illinois State Fair, as usual, had an immense exhibition 
of stock. The Shorthorns, of course, predominated ; 
the Percheron horses made an attractive show, which was 
deservedly popular ; the hogs, more especially Berk- 
shires and Poland-Chinas, were in great number. The 
Iowa State Fair opened with nearly 5,000 entries, and 
was well attended. The Kansas State Fair made a re- 
markable show, considering the reported devastations of 
the locust and chinch bngs. Certainly a good deal must 
have been left, if the collections of products gathered 
by the various railroad companies were a fair sample. 
But the Kansas people have long been noted for the 
cheerful way in which they take their mishaps as they 
come. At this fair horse-racing and whiskey-selling 
were prohibited by the Legislature, nevertheless it was 
the most successful in a pecuniary way of any fair yet 
held. The pomologic:il display this year was especially 
good. Nearly all of the above remarks will apply to the 
Nebraska Fair, which was very similar in character to 
that of its neighboring State. As a rule, the present 
year has been remarkable for an increased popularity of 
the county and local exhibitions, and for a correspond- 
ing neglect of the State fairs by the farmers. One could 
not fail to observe in some cases that the visitors were 
in great part dwellers in towns and villages, and not 
farmers. Perhaps this is not to be regretted, for if 
farmers sustain their county and local fairs well, many 
of the State fairs might usefully "be given to those who 
will be easily satisfied with a very little of the agricul- 
tural and a great deal of every thing else. It is to be 
hoped that we may sometime see an agricultural fair 
that is really what its title suggests, and that farmers 
will be found ready to support and encourage such a 
fair. Farm stock and implements, farm products, and 
trials of machinery, with plowing matches, ought to be 
sufficient of themselves alone to make up an attractive 
agricultural fair without the aid of the contents of a*i 
immense variety-store, vhich serve to fill the eye for a 
moment and then are forgotten. 
Introducing a " Professor." 
Ladies avd Gentlemen: — We would introduce to 
you a " professor. - " — We know he iBa profesBor, because 
he signs himself so, and as we shall show, he professeth 
much. His name it is James N. Bishop, and his dwell- 
ing place it is Plainville, Conn. His vocation was a flor- 
ist, but now he is a l " writist. 11 — We became acquainted 
with "Professor" James N. through the medium of the 
Manchester News. The Editor of the News has an article 
praising the "professor," and in the same column the 
"■professor" has an article praising the New*. From both 
these articles we glean that " Prof. B. has retired from the 
business he so long followed, and consequently having no 
axe of his own to grind, may be relied upon as the best 
authority in the matter of horticulture.''— See that now 
—here is a ''best authority" who has been in retire- 
ment, and has only now come out, to speak horticultur- 
al^, in full blow. Then the "professor" says, "we 
sh:\U aim only at the truth in horticultural discussion" — 
which he proceeds to do— only the "truth" gets badly 
hit when James N. " aims " at it— but he " shall seek in 
this department to record the best obtainable informa- 
tion"— and that if* just exactly what he does, nis first 
contribution to enlighten the people of Conn, is on 
" Soil for Potting Plants," and this " professor " knows 
just where to go for the "best obtainable informa- 
tion," and finds it too — else what's the use of being a 
"professor." His information was "best obtainable" 
in ■' Practical Floriculture." written by Peter Hender- 
son, and published by the Ornnire Jwld Company. The 
article in the Manchester Aeuttfor Aug. S is. sentence 
after sentence, quoted word for word from Chapter V. of 
the work above referred to ; a few omissions are made. 
such as Mr. II. 's invitation to the public to witness his 
operations, and a few verbal alterations are here and 
there, but the article is essentially, in its ideas and lan- 
guage, Peter Henderson's, yet it is signed James N. 
Bishop. Our publishers might invite the publishers of 
the News and this Bishop into court for violation of 
copyright, but we have no doubt the News was imposed 
upon by this pretender, and as for the " Professor," it is 
not likely that any one who wonld be guilty of the mean- 
ness of appropriating another's labors, can have any- 
thing of his own with which to pay damages. — Mr. James 
N. Bishop, there are many men on Blackwell's Island, 
sent there for offences which appear respectable by the 
side of yours.— And yet you style yourself a " Professor 
of Botany and Horticulture."... The News states that 
this article on "Soil for Potting Plants," ie to be fol- 
lowed by one on "Temperature and Moisture."— As 
that is the title of the very next chapter in " Practical 
Floriculture," it would look as though the "professor" 
was going through the book. Of course the News will 
put a stop to these antics, and relegate J. N. B. to the 
obscurity from which he has temporarily emerged. 
Bee Notes. 
BY M. QTJTNBT. 
Twenty-five years ago I bought honey in several parts 
of this county, (Montgomery, N. Y.). Box hives were 
then used, and the average yield was not over ten pounds 
per hive. A man in the southern part of Herkimer Co., 
N. Y., had the past season the care of 175 hives, from 
which he obtained over 17,000 lbs. surplus. Another 
man, not far from the Central E. E., in the same county, 
started with 102 stocks in the spring, and obtained from 
them over 10,000 lbs. surplus. Other parties, with smaller 
numbers, have succeeded as well. I mention these cir- 
cumstances to show that we have gained something in our 
knowledge of bee-keeping. Here is an average of about 
100 lbs. per hive, instead of 10 lbs. Allow me to state 
what one person obtained the paBt summer, in extracting 
from one hive in about two months. Bees worked very 
slowly early in the season ; fruit-tree blossoms and 
clover yielded but little, and the bees did not gather 
freely until the last of June. 
Aug. 
June 50th he pnt onlv f» lbs, 
July 4th the yield was 11 " 
.. 8th ■< it .. 30 » 
" 16th " " " 31 " 
" 23d ' 5S " 
" 25111 57 " 
" 29th 05 " 
Total 
1st the yield was fi-j lbs. 
5th " " " 72 " 
Sth 46 " 
ltth 62 *' 
17th ' 43 " 
26th " " " 37 '* 
5S2 1bs. 
All of this, except SO lbs., was white honey. This case 
would indicate that there was a gain in frequent extract- 
ing, and furnishing as many empty combs as the bees 
could occupy. The dry pleasant weather of September, 
was more favorable for the secretion of honey than usual. 
Some colonies have obtained almost enough for winter, 
from the asters and golden rods. I have heard of but one 
man whose bees have added honey to his unfinished 
boxes from these flowers, and it seldom occurs in this 
section. The slovenly farmer, who suffers these weeds 
to mature, may feel that he has contributed something to 
the sweets of life It is presumed that all bees 
destined for winter, are in proper order at this time. 
For all localities above the latitude of New York City, 
bees winter safest in the house. If there is no warm, 
dark room, proportioned in size to the number of bees 
to be wintered, prepare one at once. If a place is 
arranged in the cellar, let it, if possible, be directly under 
the living room, where there is a fire, or adjoining a 
room with a fire. If the cellar contains a furnace, let a 
close partition separate the bees from it. Let them be 
disturbed as little as possible. In carrying them in, let 
it be done so quietly that they will know nothing of it. 
Provide a thermometer that you may know the tempera- 
ture of the room. If yon can keep it at 45° there will be 
little risk in ventilating, whether from the bottom or top, 
very little will do A word now in regard to the idea 
that bees are guilty of depredations on grapes and other 
fruit. I hope those who have made these accusations, 
have made further observations this fall. The weather 
has been so warm and fine, that the bees have been less 
eager for the juices of fruit than usual. I noticed — par- 
ticularly on Concord and Delaware grapes— a strip of 
skin near an eight of an inch broad, peeled off half 
around the grape, leaving tlje pulp exposed, and as far as 
I could see, unmolested by bees or wasps. No sane man 
will suppose that bees will leave the hive Viefore sunrise, 
do this mischief, and return without being seen. Now 
whoever has noticed these things this fall — and I hope 
some have been sufficiently interested to do so — will do 
the public a great favor to report accurately what he has 
seen. According to observation, after the exposure of 
the peeled grape a few days, the bees discovered the 
tempting morsel, and sucked them nearly dry. In the 
cool spell nf weai her, which occurred the first of October, 
when the bees did not fly at all, I noticed crapes damaged 
in the same way. The question now ariseB, what begins 
the mischief.— it is evidently not the bees. Will some 
one help find out? Most of the grapes injured, were 
perhaps 60 rods from the house. Others of the same 
kind, were in the garden, and near it. Very few were 
molested near the honse, while those further off suflVml 
greatly — another proof that bees are innocent. I once 
Buspected rhe robin, but I did not see one during the 
month of September. Mice might do it, as clusters oT 
grapes that hung over the wooden bars of the trellis, 
were molested the most. Will not some one set a trap 
and catch something. Let us have facts to depend upon., 
and not be obliged to guess. 
Ogdea Farm Papers.— No. 57 
" I am a young man, married, and have been 
for several years out of health, so that I have 
been unable to pursue my vocation of book- 
keeping. I have recently settled in a healthy 
mountain region in the South, and need some 
means for my support. I am -without capital, 
but I can borrow a few hundred dollars. If I 
can hire a place that I want, how would it do 
for me to buy six cows ? I can readily sell 
their milk at 30 cents per gallon. Six cows 
cost — say $40 each=$240. ; 2 gallons milk 
each day, for 30 days, at 30 cents per gallon= 
$108. ; 14 lbs. of hay, and 12 lbs. of meal per 
day, each=2,520 lbs. of hay, and 2,160 lbs. of 
meal per month. Hay is worth $15 per ton, 
and meal is $20 per ton. This will cost per 
month — say $40.60. A man's wages and board 
— say $14. This will leave me about $50 per 
month, which would make me independent. I 
would like to have your advice." "What is one 
to do in such a case as this? How can one give 
any advice that will not seem hardhearted? 
Probably there would be few shorter roads to 
the entire loss of whatever might be borrowed 
for this purpose, than the course laid out by my 
correspondent. If he were a laboring man, and 
were able to take care of a cow, and to milk 
her himself, and to carry the milk to his cus- 
tomers, he might, perhaps, by beginning in a 
small way, make his subsistence, and become 
comfortable in time. But here is a man, 
unable to work, and having no practical 
knowledge of cattle, setting down and deluding 
himself with the hope that he would be able 
to make an independent living on borrowed 
capital and hired labor, where a laboring man, 
having much less expense, would find it diffi- 
cult to get along. These agricultural compula- 
tions are the most deceptive things in the 
world. 8 quarts per day as an average, is 2,920 
quarts per annum, which is pretty nearly twice 
the average product of the good dairy regions 
of New York State. "With such cattle as one 
would find at the South, fed and cared for as 
they probably would be, the estimate is most 
extravagant. Then, what sort of "care would 
six cows receive at the hands of a Southern 
negro, whose wages and subsistence would cost 
less than 50 cents per diem. 
In fact, the whole proposition, were it not 
seriously made by a suffering and hopeful man, 
would be ridiculous. As it is, it is only very 
sad; and it would not merit notice here, were 
it not for the fact, that there are all over the 
country — and perhaps largely among the read- 
ers of the Agriculturist — thousands of men 
whose hope for success in life is turned away 
from employments which they understand, and 
for which they are qualified, and centered 
upon an intricate and difficult occupation, 
which requires more skill, patience, endurance, 
strength, and judgment, than almost any other 
within the whole range of human industries. 
It is another instance of farming upon paper, 
