170 
AMEKICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
BSorseoTtaimeir's Secret. — A correspond- 
ent in Iowa, sends us one of the recipes, for taming " tlie 
■wildest horses," which are sold about the country. Oil 
of Cumin is to be rubbed on the horse's nose, Castor is 
to be put on his food, and 10 drops of Oil of Rhodium on 
his tongue. "Before applying the above, the following di- 
rections should be observed. 11 The "following direc- 
tions* 1 are to subdue the horse by throwing him on Rarey's 
plan, by the use of straps, which is apt to tame a horse 
without the use of Cumin, Castor, or Rhodium. We are 
informed that "some will tame the wildest horse and drive 
him through the streets without a bridle, while others 
can do nothing with the tamest horse. 11 — "All persons 
found making known this recipe to others, except au- 
thorized agents, will be dealt with according to offense. 11 
"Jess so I 11 Please begin with us. 
as applicable to the Vine disease in America. By William 
J. Flagg. N. Y. : Harper & Brothers. This is a neat 
little treatise of 100 pages in which the systematic use of 
sulphur for mildew is enforced, and its manipulation ex- 
plained. The author does not seem to be aware that the 
subject has been discussed by "Horticola" and others, 
in this country. We have no doubt that the thorough 
application of sulphur will prevent the evil effects of 
mildew, and this work gives directions for doing it. 
A$s*a*£ceall!iflB-sl Colleges and Exper* 
lEasent IFarnis,— A pamphlet issued by the Trustees 
of the Agricultural College of Penn., reporting the re- 
sults at their three experimental farms, has been received. 
The report presents a mass of results through which the 
inquirer must wade for hours to learn much. Yet there 
is a good deal of value in it. We have the highest opin- 
ion of the good which well managed, experimental forms 
may he to the community — and can well see that great 
benefit might be derived by the students at an agricul- 
tural college, if they could watch and help conduct the 
experiments ; — hut these farms seem to be conducted en- 
tirely separate from the college, and without any idea of 
giving instruction to the pupils, according to the provi- 
sions of the Agricultural College Act. This may be all 
right, and whether it is or not, do let us have well di- 
gested statements of the experiments, showingwhat they 
were undertaken to prove,- and a classification of the re- 
sults, showing clearly what they teach. If we criticise 
unfavorably those institutions, which, accepting the 
boimty of the government, teach agriculture without 
practical demonstration, what shall we say of Agricultural 
Colleges " running " farms 150 miles from their students 7 
" HP a item a sag s&s a Profession, or, How 
Charles Loring Made it Pay. By T. A. Bland, Editor 
North-Western Farmer. Loring, Publisher, Boston." 
Mr. Loring — not Charles; hut the publisher, — has already 
given us two horticultural novels, and now offers this 
one which proclaims itself as an agricultural one. The 
other two were by a young man writing as a woman, and 
one on reading this, might suppose it was by a senti- 
mental school girl, assuming the name of Bland, did not an 
advertisement at the end of the book state that it is by T. 
A. Bland, editor of the North-western Fanner. True genius 
cannot bury itself in the columns of any country paper, 
so it goes to Boston and finds a publisher to bring it 
to light. The book comes to us for an editorial review, 
and it would hardly be handsome to say that a work by 
one who claims to he an editor is unworthy of notice — 
whatever we may think. If we ignore the book alto- 
gether, we shall do less than justice to our readers, as 
they will not know of the work, and we do not wish to 
assume the responsibility of keeping from them the fact 
that they can buy S7 pages of large-typed and double- 
leaded wisdom, by T. A. Bland, all for the small sum of 
30 cts. Shakespeare and T. A. Bland are two authors 
who defy criticism — in vain one attempts to analyze 
either — we can only humbly render them homage by 
quoting them. T. A. B. is versatile, and treats one sub- 
ject as well as he does another. His characters love and 
buy manure, assert woman's rights and broil chickens, 
scatter money freely and make it rapidly, and oratorize 
and osculate as no other people could. The characters 
are all natural born orators, and all make speeches and 
kiss one another in a manner wonderful to contemplate. 
Such matter-of-fact topics as agricultural papers, or such 
profound ones as the future state, are disposed of with 
equal facility, while the legal profession catches it in a 
way to make us thankful that we arc not a lawyer. But 
it is in the highly sentimental portions of the work that 
the author shows his strength. His style we should set 
down as inimitable — at least, we hope it is, in witness of 
which we give the following specimens. Charles, the 
hero—the author says he is, is meditating. "Just be- 
hind this bright constellation of home lights, there arose 
above the horizon of hi* memory a bright particular star 
in the graceful and langhiug form of Stella Momlnnd, 
only daughter of his father's nearest neighbor. 11 The 
fancy of calling "Stella 11 a "bright particular star, 11 is 
so good that it is repeated a few pages further on. 
"Laughing figure, 11 is decidedly neat, and we suppose 
Stella was a plump girl who shook all over wheu she 
laughed. " Charles went off to college, and on the even- 
ing preceding his departure, they [Charles and the 
"bright particular 11 aforesaid] held a long and highly 
confidential (need I Eay interesting?) interview, which 
finally terminated in solemn vows of eternal constancy 
sealed with kisses of undying love. 11 That is what we 
call rather nice, than otherwise. All this took place "at 
the gate leading out to the woodland path, which formed 
the pedestrian link between the homes of the Moreland's 
and the Loring'g. 11 "Pedestrian link," is good —it savors 
of sausages, some links of which are said to walk off 
when one whistles as if calling a dog. Charles having 
gone to college, in time had to return, and the way he 
behaved in the railroad car must have astonished his 
fellow passengers. " He opened his portfolio, and taking 
from it a package of tiny letters, encased in white envel- 
opes, and tied into a bundle by a rose-colored ribbon, he 
busied himself for the next hour with their contents. 
Then taking from his breast pocket, just over the heart, 
a miniature portrait of a fair-haired, blue-eyed girl, he 
gazed earnestly and long upon it, and finally kissing it, 
he closed the case," etc. In the way of description, we 
doubt if anything in any of Beadle's Dime Novels can 
equal that bit. The "rose-colored ribbon 11 and the lo- 
cation of that breast pocket are touches of a master-hand. 
But it was all very funny to do in a railroad car. The 
meeting between Charles and the original of this "breast 
pocket over the heart 11 picture, is just touching, and 
altogether " Charles Loring Made it Pay. 11 Charles 
gets a farm by a process which we commend to all ueedy 
3'oung men. He gets six thousand dollars of his father 
and buys a farm — which is much quicker and vastly 
easier than the stupid old way of working for one. 
Charles and Stella are married and do wonders at farm- 
ing and housekeeping, and continue to deliver short 
orations full of most excellent sentiment. In commend- 
ing the sentiment of the work we must not forget the wit 
which is as brilliant as the other is satisfying, and it la 
so properly pointed out that he must be a dull reader if 
he does not laugh in the right place. Charles 1 sister, who 
does the funny in the hook, says: "In view of the prob- 
abilities that we ladies are to take charge of the political 
interests of the country, very soon, it may be well for the 
gentlemen to become familiar with the details of house- 
keeping." "All laughing (as who could help it?) at 
Lilies 1 wit, the party, 11 etc. This is intensely witty, hut 
the tremendous joke of the hook is in calling a law firm, 
Quirk & Gammon, and the profundity of the wit here ib 
carefully pointed out by Charles 1 sister, who thinks the 
names apropos to lawyers. If Charles 1 sister had read 
much she would have known that the names of Quirk & 
Gammon were long ago rendered classic by Dr. Warren, 
in his admirable novel of Ten Thousand a Year. We 
have quoted sufficiently to induce all admirers of this 
style of literature to buy the work and read the whole. 
It probably has a moral and a purpose, and we suppose 
that the moral is that of a good old lady who improved 
every opportunity to teach by precept and example. 
" My friends," said she, " as I came along I saw a cow 
a-switching of her tail. How calm and gentle she looked 
a-switching of her tail, in this wicked world of strife she 
was peaceful and contented a-switching of her tail, and I 
said to myself— Go thou and do likewise." 
Apiary for May.— By M. Quinhy. 
Look out for moth worms. Destroy as many as possi- 
ble, and thereby save loss and vexation. Several gener- 
ations are produced in a few months, so that one, de- 
stroyed now, is equivalent to hundreds or thousands in 
the fall. They may he found in the morning collected 
on the bottom boards of the hives where they have be- 
come chilled. In some places, good stocks will swarm, 
or may swarm in the latter part of this month. If hives 
are not ready, they should be made so. When bees 
swarm, if a good hive is at once presented, they will ac- 
cept it ninety-nine times in a hundred ; but a delay of an 
hour, leaving the bees to hang in the cluster meanwhile, 
might issue in the loss of the swarm. He who depends 
on making hives as they are needed from time to time, 
will be likely to have " bad luck." Swarms coming 
just before a wet, cold spell, should be fed. Have a care 
that light hives do not suffer for want of honey. Swarm- 
ing in general is not to be expected before the white 
clover blossoms. Before swarming, the bees build cells 
for queens, to make sure the succession after the old one 
has left. These cells maybe seen by examining the 
edges of the combs in a box hive or hy taking out the 
movable frames, where these are used. When these 
cells begin to be sealed, look out for the swarm at once. 
Swarms usually issue between the honrs of ten and three, 
but thio is more the case with the natives than with the 
Italians. The latter will issue sometimes earlier or later. 
They take as much honey with them as they can cany, 
and usually settle on some tree or bush not far from the 
hive, where they may stay 24 hours, and possibly, not 
one. If they start for the woods, scatter water or dirt 
among them. This throws them into confusion, and 
sometimes will stop them. Those who believe in rat- 
tling pans and blowing horns on such occasions, may use 
them, hut for myself, I lack faith. Paint no hives now, 
but let them be clean and cool. It matters little how the 
bees are put into them— may be jarred, dipped, or brush- 
ed, hut brushing is apt to irritate them. Sometimes the 
branch on which they are can he cut off, laid on a sheet, 
and the hive set over it. When the bees are in, shade 
the hive. This is of the very first importance. All hives 
should be kept from the sun in some way. When clover 
begins to bloom freely, put on as mauy surplus boxes as 
the bees will occupy. 
IBee ^Bacries Answered, — By M. Quin- 
by. "G. M. H., 11 Narrows Bridge, Ky., asks, 1st. "What 
size do you make honey boxes for the frame hive de- 
scribed in your book, 'Mysteries of Bee-keeping? 1 
2d. Which do you use most, the honey hoard, or the 
cross-sticks on the top of the frames? 3d. Do you 
confine the frames at the top to keep them from moving, 
while hiving natural swarms? 4th. When dividing 
frame hives, in the division containing the queen, do you 
put the frames containing the comb all together on one 
side, or do you mix empty frames with them?" Ans. 
1st. Boxes for the hive mentioned should be 5 iuches 
deep, and 6$£ square, or GJ4 by 4?4 inches. The smaller 
sizes generally sell better 2d. I find a very thin 
honey board the least trouble 3d. When hiving a 
natural swarm in a frame hive, spread the frames apart 
each way, as far as possible, and put the bees in at the 
top, having previously hived them in a half-bushel meas- 
ure or any convenient box, then restore the frames to 
their original position 4th. The frames containing 
comb should be all put on one side, on account of the 
brood. The empty frames in the division without a 
queen are liable to be filled with drone comb, which is 
undesirable for breeding. To remedy this, surplus boxes 
should be put Inside the hive instead of frames, as de- 
scribed in the book referred to. You should watch the 
building of new combs that any irregularities maybe de- 
tected, and the combs straightened. 
"A. L. n., 11 Narrows Bridge, Ky., asks, "Will it pay 
to obtain and plant basswood trees for the sake of the 
honey their flowers would yield, and where would be the 
best place to obtain them ?" Ans. Basswood is the 
most desirable tree for producing honey, but I hardly 
think it would pay to plant it for that purpose alone, as 
it would he 15 or 20 years before the yield of honey 
would amount to anything. I do not know -where the 
trees could be obtained. I would recommend, if dis- 
posed to plant anything for honey, that the Antwerp 
Raspberry be cultivated in large quantities. There 
would be a gain in fruit, besides the honey, and the re- 
turns would begin the second year. 
The Duties on Plants and Seeds 
ET PETER HENDERSON. 
An amendment to the present Tariff bill now pending 
before Congress, provides that " Plants, Trees, Shrubs, 
Boots and Seeds," shall be admitted duty free, if wanted 
for private use only, and not for sale. A more unjust and 
absurd provision was never made. If a man who uses 
Pear Trees or Peas may import these free of duty, why 
may not another who wants cloth for his coat, or leather 
for his boots, do the same? If this bill pass, it will 
open the door to easy fraud to hundreds of unscrupulous 
men, who will not be slow to take advantage of it. What 
advantage the provision would be to any amateur in hor- 
ticulture is hard to conceive, for the privilege of import- 
ing trees or plants duty free would not be of the least 
value to those not versed in gardening matters. In what 
are known as green-house or hot-house plants, with all 
the care that we florists can bestow upon them, at least 
one-half of all we import die outright in a week or two 
after they are unpacked, and the balance are only saved 
with the greatest care and attention, many of them not 
recovering for months. With fruit or ornamental trees 
the experience is not much better, as a large proportion 
are lost, and those which live take years to make trees 
as vigorons as might have been purchased here. More- 
over, the coat of plants in the leading florists 1 establish- 
ments iu London or Paris, is higher than in this country. 
These facts are so well understood by nurserymen and 
florists, that few articles are now imported except new 
varieties. Few amateurs have the knowledge to enable 
them to judgi> of what is novel. When the American in 
Loudon or Paris, sees at an exhibition of flowers some 
fine grown specimens of a plant, such as he thinks he 
never saw here, and buys it, he perhaps finds that his 
