210 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
we were to say that the article which displeases him 
was not written by the responsible editor, but by one of 
the young men in the office? Here is just what is the 
matter. Mr. Writs is too old to attend to the duties of 
his office, and his chief clerk is the head and front, the 
top and bottom of the affair. In the words of the hymn, 
"he can create and he destroy." Personally we have 
no objections to Mr. Watts, and never saw him, and 
never heard of him before he took the office, save in the 
mismanagement of the Pennsylvania Agricultural 
College. We have only judged him, as we did his 
predecessors, by his official acts and publications. 
Our position in regard to the Department is this. It 
has thus far been a disappointment— not to say a 
nuisance. Let it be either abolished altogether or be 
put upon a respectable footing. It is yet a problem 
whether wo really need a Department of Agriculture, 
and that will never be decided until the experiment is 
made on a respectable scale. No man who can be had 
for three thousand dollars a year, and is obliged to put 
his sons and daughters upon the pay-roll in order to get 
enongh to live upon, is fit to occupy the position of 
Commissioner. We advocate ample appropriations, 
securing the best men the country affords, and a fair 
trial of say five years. Then if no good results are per- 
ceptible, abolish the Department, and let agriculture 
look out for itself, just as any other interest does. 
Bee Notes for June. —ByM. Quinby. 
Be sure and put guide comb in every box. The whiter 
and cleaner, the better. Cut white comb in pieces, 
an inch square. Dip each piece in melted glue or bees- 
wax, and stick before it cools. It is very seldom that 
boxes are filled and finished ready to remove in this month, 
as far north as this— Montgomery Co., N. Y. When it 
does happen, be sure to know it, and remove them, put- 
ting on empty ones in their places. After they are finished, 
every day they are left on, rentiers the combs darker. Tbe 
best way to get rid of the bees when these boxes are 
taken off, is to drum them out. It takes time, but it is 
safe. First lay down some bits of scantling or strips of 
wood. Lay a board on these, put on the boxes, with a 
passage at the side or top, so that the bees can pass out 
directly from the finished box intoan empty one, without 
flying. With a hammer or stick strike the board steadily 
a few minutes, and all will run out. The boxes con- 
taining the bees should be put on the hive in the place 
of those removed. A number on the hive and box to cor- 
respond will prevent putting the bees on the wrong hive 
when tne box is returned. As soon as the beus are out, 
set away the empty boxes until October in a dry, cool 
place, if possible. Examine all weak stocks, of which 
there will be many this season, and supply all with a 
laying queen at the earliest moment. If you give a 
weak colony, or any other, brood to raise a queen, 
it will take six or eight weeks before the bees raised 
from her will be of any use— in which time tbe worms 
might destroy the hive. 
Leave no old pieces of comb lying around to breed 
worms. If no better UBe is found, either bum or make 
wax. It takes a larger force to get away from the main 
body of the hive to work in boxes than to simply store 
honey in comb furnished ready-made. When honey is 
«xtracted, from three to six pounds can be obtained where 
one of box-honey is to be had. 
The first principle of extracting honey from comb is 
centrifugal force. It can be illustrated by different 
methods. A pail, or box with a flat bottom, large enough 
to allow a comb, with cells open, to lie on the bottom, or 
rather on wire cloth, a little above the bottom, may roughly 
represent it. If such a machine should he whirled, as a 
boy whirls a sling, the honey on the lower side of the 
comb would be forced out, especially iu warm weather. 
Now, instead of a pail take a barrel. If you make a 
frame of wire-cloth — tinned or galvanized wire Is prefer- 
able—as large as the comb, set it vertically in the barrel, 
close to one side, securing it there — it is plain that whirl- 
ing the barrel will throw out the honey on the same prin- 
ciple. But the finished machine is a vast improvement 
on this. A regular machine will empty four combs at one 
time. As there is no patent legally covering any of them, 
tUcy can be made by any one having sufficient skill. 
They are usually made by constructing a box, large 
enough to hold four combs, perhaps fifteen inches square 
by twenty deep. This will fit any sized frame. The box 
is made of wire-cloth, and outside of this a tin can, lar^e 
enough for the box to be turned in, and to catch the honey 
as it is thrown out. The best machines are geared, giv- 
ing the frames three or four revolutions while the hand 
makes bnt one* As most people Will prefer getting a 
good extractor ready made, I will not describe It further. 
A knife to cut the sealingfrom the cell, will be needed. 
One a little crooked at the end will work much better 
than a straight one. When ready to operate, choose a 
day when the bees are busy, doing nothing to them before 
ten o'clock, at which time, if there is room for stores, 
most of the old bees will be out foraging. A bee that 
comes in laden is not disposed to sting until its load is 
discharged. Open the hive without jarring it, lift out a 
comb, and shake off the bees. The few that stick fast 
can be brushed off with a quill. There is an art in brush- 
ing bees. If you make a short, quick motion with the 
quill, you can throw them off from the comb, not simply 
roll them over. The latter may make them cross. 
Take out four combs at a time. If any is sealed, cut off 
the sealing with the knife. Set the side from which you 
would take the honey, next tbe wire-cloth, and give the 
machine a few turns. You can see when the honey is 
discharging, and when it is out— that is, if you have a 
machine in which the outside is stationary. If that re- 
volves witii the rest, as in some extractors, you can not 
tell much about it. When one side is emptied, turn the 
other. The brood will not be disturbed, unless turned 
unreasonably fast. The combs may be returned to the 
hive. When all are emptied and returned, close up the 
hive. The process may be repeated in from three to 
seven days, according to the season. Most bee-keepers 
can save combs this season to work with. 
This extracted honey is the purest that can be obtained, 
but of this another time. 
The Boys and Girls' Pictures. 
Award of Prizes. 
To the Boys and Girls; Never did a poor Doctor have 
a more bewildering task before him. Those doctors who 
practice medicine and have to prescribe for people who 
have nothing the matter with them except the 
"whimsies 11 have a difficult job; but what is that 
to reading nearly seven hundred stories by boys and 
girls from five to sixteen I Well, I have done it as 
faithfully as I could, and with as much care as if hun- 
dreds of dollars depended upon the decision. In the 
first going-over about fifty of each boys 1 and girls 1 stories 
were selected; then these were looked over again, and 
about twelve of each of the four classes were selected, 
and at last— there was the rub— the three in each class 
chosen. The object in offering the prizes was to induce 
you to exercise your ingenuity in story- telling, so the 
inventive talent displayed was the first consideration. 
The next point taken into account after the story itself, 
was the style, or, as you will understand it better, the 
way of telling it. The spelling and handwriting, though 
these were generally creditable, were not much regarded. 
There are some curious things tbat I may tell you about 
if I have time ; such as the number of writers who hit 
upon nearly the same stories, and the number of similar 
names chosen for the characters. Quite a number who 
did not receive prizes sent stories so creditable that they 
deserve honorable mention, which I will try to give next 
month. The little boy and little girl, too young to write 
but who dictated their stories to their parents, will hear 
from me. But now I have only space to add the list of 
Boys between 12 and 16. 
1st. Cyrus D. Chapman, age 15, Irvington, N. J. 
Knife. 
2d. Arthur S. Shumway, age 12, Madison, O. Book. 
3d. James H. Brewster, age 15, Mt. Carmel, Ct. Book. 
Boys under 12. Prize for each, a book. 
1st. Herbert Alexander, age 10, North-East, Md. 
2d. Elmer Frail, age 9, Franklin, N. T. 
3d. Harry C. Ladd, age 11, Beverly, Mo. 
Girls between 12 and 16. 
1st. Nellie G. Brown, age 13, New Canaan, Ct. 
Gold Pen. 
2d. Sarah C. Lyman, age 15, East Hampton, Mass. 
Book. 
3d. Julia B. Mansfield, age 15, Twyman's Store 
(Spottsylvania Co.), Va. Book. 
Girls under 12. Prize for each, a book. 
1st. Carrie M. Wheeler, age 10, Eyota, Minn. 
2d. Nettie Van Ness, age 11, Boone Co., Ky. 
3d. Lila A. Eipley, age 8, Hendersonville, N. C. 
Of course, as I read story after story I wished I could 
give each one a prize; but each one has tried, and that 
has done him or her much good. More than half of the 
children stated that it was their first attempt at composi- 
tion. I think it has done some good to induce some 
four hundred children to write for the first time, and I 
hope their parents think so too. Now, as to the books 
to be sent. I would like to suit all, and if the boys and 
girls to whom books are awarded will send me the name 
of any work that retails for $100 or less, I will send it. 
If they fail to do this before June 10th, I will exercise 
my discretion in the matter, and send such as I hope 
will please them ; but I had rather they should indicate 
at least the kind of book they prefer. The Doctor. 
Roofing Materials. 
Many inquiries have been made by our corre- 
spondents about roofing materials, and with 
regard especially to their cost, durability, and 
case of application, to which we reply. The 
roof is the most important part of a building, 
and should be water-tight and fire-proof, or the 
whole building is comparatively useless, and in 
danger in case of a fire occurring near by. The 
materials for roofing are shingles, slates, tin, and 
the various fabrics of paper, felt, or other similar 
materials used in connection with some prepara- 
tion of coal-tar. Shingles are by far the most 
commonly used ; and when made of pine, split 
and well shaved, are light, durable, and able to 
resist rain. But they are becoming scarce and 
cosily, and their cost will undoubtedly increase 
until it becomes necessary to use some other 
material in place of them. Sawn shingles make 
a very handsome roof, but tying very closely, 
and having a rough surface, they hold tbe water, 
and become moldy and decayed very soon 
unless some preventive measures, too trouble- 
some for general use, are taken. Slates are ex- 
ceedingly heavy, and are not well adapted for 
frame buildings unless they are very stoutly 
built; besides, the cost of freight on them 
restricts their use to the neighborhood of the 
quarries or to contiguous lines of railroads. 
Tin roofs are especially valuable iu cities and 
towns where flat roofs are desirable, and where 
mechanics can be obtained "who can lay them 
properly. They are probabty more costly than 
any other roof. The most useful roofs for far- 
mers or dwellers in the country, as we be- 
lieve, are those which can be easily applied 
without the aid of skilled labor. Some 
of these forms of roofing are peculiarly valu- 
able for their fire-proof qualities, as well as for 
their durabilit}% lightness, cheapness, and the 
ease with which they are laid. Most prominent 
amongst all these is Johns' Asbestos Roofing. 
which is light, strong, and practically fire-proof, 
and being manufactured in rolls of sufficient 
length to reach quite across the roof, very few 
joints are made in laying it, and it is not likely 
to leak. Two men quite unskilled, or only 
sufficiently skilled to be able to lay one strip on 
another with a lap of one inch, can cover a 
large roof in one day. The roofs covered with 
it do not need much pitch ; in fact, they are 
better to have only so much inclination as to 
cause the rain to flow off and no more. This 
saves expense of timber in the roof. The roof 
once laid is kept in order at a very trifling 
expense, and will last many years. 
A Visit to Mr. Mackie' s Jerseya. 
BY GEORGE K. TTABLKG, JR., OODBN 71DM. 
Having to deliver the address at the Annual 
Fair of the Housatonic Agricultural Society 
last fall, I took occasion to visit the beautiful 
farm of Mr. J. Milton Mackie near bj r . By 
correspondence, I have kept myself informed 
of the condition of the establishment since that 
time, and the herd of Jerseys which forms its 
principal feature seems worthy of notice. 
There are about thirty, all thorough-breds, 
several of them imported from the Island of 
Jersey. They are of various colors, from dark 
mulberry to creamy fawn. The lightest ones 
are quite as hardy as the dark, and both are as 
hardy and health}-, under the same treatment, 
as the native cattle— bearing the rigor of Berk- 
shire winters with only ordinary care. Mr. 
Mackie has noticed the same tendency to the 
