August 26 , 1880. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 201 
is truer still that a Yankee labourer is too sensible ever to work with 
a bad one. 
- The Future of Agriculture. —Professor Wrightson made 
the following remarks on this subject in a recent lecture :—The true 
future of farming points in the direction of an enlightened tenantry 
exercising their vocation with freedom. We have a good climate 
and a grateful soil, but who ever commanded us to employ it solely in 
the cultivation of about half a dozen crops ? We must gradually 
break through this tradition, and be ready to grow crops which will 
continue to be profitable. Farming will tend to approximate towards 
market gardening, and the rage for large farms will be found to 
diminish as a larger capital is found necessary to stock an acre of 
land. The tendency may be gradual, but it nevertheless exists, and 
we must be ready to accommodate ourselves to the necessities of 
inevitable changes. We must consider closely the directions in 
which we are likely to meet with the most severe competition. 
Wheat, and corn in general, is not likely to fetch high prices any 
more. Beef is likely to keep to a lower range than heretofore, and 
mutton will to some extent sympathise with beef. Milk, poultry, 
green fodder, Turnips, and soft fruits are, on the other hand, likely 
to maintain their value, because of their bulk and weight in propor¬ 
tion to their value. 
THIRD ANNUAL SHOW OF THE HERTFORDSHIRE 
BEE-KEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
At the annual Meeting of the above Association, held a few months 
since, the Rev. Herbert R. Peel suggested that in connection with the 
Show, which had at that time been arranged to be held at St. Albans, 
there might take place an exhibition of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. 
The encouraging result of this suggestion will be found chronicled in 
another column, here we have to do with bees and their surround¬ 
ings. One of the highest feats of generalship is to create an army, 
and in this the worthy Secretary seems to have been successful, since 
the member roll of the Herts Association is stronger than that of any 
county association in the kingdom, and, as might have been expected, 
the Show was an admirable one, the collection of honey especially 
being, quality and quantity considered, equal to if not better than 
any we have yet seen. The Judges in the open classes were the Rev. 
Canon Kewley, Baldock, and the Rev. F. J. Wilcox, Frithsden; 
and of the county classes, T. W. Cowan, Esq., Horsham, and the Rev. 
J. S. Sisson, Edingthorpe Rectory, North Walsham. The hive classes 
call for no special remark after the digest of the exhibits at South 
Kensington. 
For the best exhibition of comb honey in sections, each not more 
than 2 tbs. in weight, packed in the most attractive and portable form 
for sale. Although this class was confined to the county the display 
was splendid. Mr. S. Thorne took first with fifty-three large sections 
of his well-known quality. We hear that of the immense bulk of 
honey he had at South Kensington only one section remained unsold 
at the close of the Exhibition, so that these sections and those of his 
to which we come presently are another brewing altogether. This is 
all done with fifteen hives, and speaks well for the district, the bee¬ 
keeper, and the profits of bee-keeping. Mr. E. Bacon made a good 
second, and Mr. Frederick Smith third ; Mr. Gulston being highly com¬ 
mended with twenty-seven large sections carefully decorated. No 
bad exhibit appeared. For the best five sections of comb honey, each 
weighing not more than 2 lbs. Here quality was the test, and here 
it was found. The sections were really artistic, flat, and faultless as 
slabs of alabaster. Mr. Thorne took first, the Rev. Herbert Peel 
second, Miss Gayton third, and Dr. Smith commended. For the best 
exhibition of honey in supers of any other kind than section boxes, 
Rev. — Jenkyns first and Rev. E. Bartrum second with three fine 
Stewartons ; Col. Smyth took both third and fourth places. For the 
best exhibition of pure extracted honey in small glass jars, not to ex¬ 
ceed 2 lbs. each, each entry to consist of not less than five jars, the 
competitors were sixteen in number, and the quality of the honey in 
many cases superb. Of the winning lots it is hardly possible to speak 
too highly. Clear as crystal, good in bcdy, delicate on the palate, 
nothing seems to be left for improvement. The first and second quite 
correctly fell to Dr. Smith and Miss Gavton, and were, we understand, 
extracted from combs of the swarms of the year, and in which brood 
had not been raised ; no breakdown, however, occurred. Comb honey, 
to be exhibited by bond fide cottagers. Here quality was not equal to 
that of which we have already spoken, but yet great advances have 
been clearly made. No first prize was awarded; second T. Hudson, 
Croxley Green. 
The beeswax was shown in plain slabs. First Miss Gayton, second 
Mr. Thorne, third Mr. Clapp. The Rev. H. R. Peel offered a special 
prize for an exhibition of flowers suitable for the pasturage of bees, 
which fell to Mr. Gibbs of St. Albans. In the open classes for honey 
Mr. S. Thorne once more successfully battled against all comers. 
Mr. Walton’s extractor received second, no first beingawarded,on the 
ground, we understand, that as the cage is partly wood it renders the 
honey sour. We had thought honey could only be rendered sour 
by fermentation. Perhaps someone possessing honey made sour by 
extraction will give us a little information. 
The driving competition and subsequent manipulation were as 
usual sources of much attraction, and no doubt edification also in 
matters apicultural. In conclusion, it is clear that we may now 
regard as a thing of the past that dirty material contaminated with 
pollen and fouled by the juices of bee grubs, perhaps some days dead, 
and flavoured with sulphurous acid, which, as the latter is antiseptic, 
had for this mixture its advantages. Even this we once called 
honey, but now the word means an article of diet delicate in flavour, 
pleasing to the eye, sustaining to the system, and having about it no 
suspicion of any sophistication which could turn the most delicate or 
fastidious. 
COMB FOUNDATION. 
Your correspondent, Mr. George Procter, in his last communi¬ 
cation on page 177 uses my name in a connection which I think 
he would hardly upon reflection regard as justified. He says, 
“ Now Mr. Cheshire and Mr. Raitt can answer for themselves why 
they have endeavoured to strengthen foundation, but it strikes me 
that the public craving for novelties on one hand and the desire 
on the other for some material so prepared as to defy careless 
handling may have some part in the matter.” If Mr, Procter 
thinks that a desire to satisfy a public craving for novelty has 
been the object sought in the devotion of very much time and the 
spending of a good deal of money in solving problems in con¬ 
nection with apiculture during several years, I can assure him he 
is totally mistaken. But for this remark I should not again have 
alluded to the sagging of foundation. Having solved the problem 
and communicated the method, my public work in relation to it is 
ended. 
Mr. Procter’s first letter a little puzzled me, but his second has 
brought its solution. He will, I hope, pardon my saying that 
a veil of such density as to allow brood to be mistaken for honey 
would account for much. I assert, without fear of contradiction, 
that machine-made foundation invariably stretches so little indeed 
in some cases that practically it is perfect, but so much in others 
as to spoil it utterly. I have a piece of Mr. Raitt’s foundation 
now, 3 inches of which has stretched to very nearly 4 inches. 
Everybody of experience knows that if one side of a sheet be 
worked out before the other is attacked, that the corners if left to 
themselves retreat from the worked side, because that side, and 
that side only, has increased in size. Mr. Root, upon whose 
machine Mr. Raitt’s foundation is made, surely knows somewhat 
of this question, and in the last month of “ Gleanings ” he speaks 
thus in referring to my wires :—“ Mr. Cheshire, your experiments 
are most valuable, and the united world of bee-keepers owes you 
its thanks.” Nothing can more surely damage the reputation of 
an article than claiming for it more than its fair due. Mr. Raitt’s 
foundation is most excellent in quality, but in swarms in warm 
weather it will stretch, and often be utterly spoiled if used in full 
sheets unless assisted. The thicker the foundation is made the 
better it will stand, but this means waste if sagging can be pre¬ 
vented by other means less costly than a double allowance of wax. 
The thinner we can use foundation the better, because the more 
economical if we can get perfect combs, and at the same time save 
the bees almost entirely for wax secretion. But my wires have 
other advantages than those I have hitherto claimed for them. 
They fix the comb very quickly, secure perfect straightness, and 
prevent drooping ; but in addition—as Mr. Cowan has pointed out 
to me, for it did not occur to me before his suggestion—they per¬ 
mit the use of thin foundation in hives and the joining together of 
pieces to make up a sheet, and this advantage lies happily alto¬ 
gether outside the contention of Mr. Procter’s letter. His method 
of fixing his sheets I regard as unnecessarily troublesome, and 
quite out of the question in a large apiary. His reference to 
“ boiling wax ” for fixing is undoubtedly an oversight. Boiling 
wax is necessarily carbonised, and bees will not touch it, besides 
which it would simply melt instead of fixing the foundation. 
Wax at the temperature of boiling water must be meant, and this 
is essential ; using wax only a little over its melting point, 150°, 
is generally the cause of breaks down, about which, as Mr. Procter 
rightly supposes, I know nothing experimentally. Mr. Hooker's 
method is much less trouble and quite as safe as the one Mr. 
Procter gives. He simply provides a saw-cut through the top 
bar ; he springs the cut open with a large nail, holds it open with 
a simple tool somewhat like a big bell-hanging clip, withdraws 
his nail, and inserts the edge of the sheet. The removal of the 
tool grips the wax by the elasticity of the wood, and the thing is 
done. Wax may be run in if thought necessary. I simply use a 
board fitting loosely inside the frame, and of such a thickness as 
to hold the sheet in the correct position. On the back of this 
board are two stiffening strips extending beyond its edges, and 
