1873.J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
249 
keep two pair for doing the work that one pair can ac¬ 
complish, by being on the go from morning until night, 
that neither may be overworked. I make each pair of 
oxen, on my farm, gain from $50 to $100 a year. If cat¬ 
tle can not be well fed, they ought not to be kept. I have 
enjoyed and been interested in oxen from boyhood, and 
on my father’s farm, broke and trained many a pair of 
steers. Always bear this in mind, that animals are very 
apt to catch the spirit and temper of their masters, there¬ 
fore try to keep good-natured when directing and con¬ 
trolling them. B. C., Bennington, Vt. 
--—- 
Drilling Grain. 
For many years, the only method recognized by lead¬ 
ing English farmers, as suitable for planting grain, has 
been the sowing of the seed in rows by means of a drill; 
and the system is now coming into prominent use by our 
own grain-growers. That corn in hills will produce more 
grain than if sown broadcast, as for fodder, seems a need¬ 
less statement to 
make, so well is it 
known. Why does 
not the same prin¬ 
ciple hold with re¬ 
gard to wheat and 
other small grains ? 
It does, and only 
needs trial, to be as 
generally accepted. 
The accounts of the 
yield obtained from 
wheat drilled and 
cultivated like corn, 
almost surpass belief 
—one cultivator in 
California reporting 
the product of an ex¬ 
perimental plot at the rate of 175 bushels per acre. It is 
well known that tlie yield of wheat-fields where drilling 
is practised, with the proper fertilization and culture, 
is often double, and even many times that obtained 
in ordinary practice. The principal difficulty in the way 
Fig. 2.— “farmer’s friend” grain drill. 
of drill-planting in the past has been the lack of suitable 
machines. Now, however, there are several excellent 
ones, among which is the “Farmer’s Friend Grain-drill,” 
made at Dayton, O. The working parts of this machine 
are shown at fig. 2. It is made to sow both fertilizer 
and seed at the same time ; and not the least of it is the 
arrangement by which it becomes a hoe when desired. 
This matter of hoeing grain is of as much importance as 
the drilling, and is to be compared with the hill-planting 
and cultivation of Indian corn. Figure 1 indicates a sec¬ 
tion of the arrangement for feeding the seed into the 
drill. The diagonal ribs distribute the grain very evenly. 
This drill can be made to sow corn, peas, beans, turnips, 
and mangolds, as well as the small grains, and also to 
distribute any fine fertilizer. 
Bee Notes for July. 
BY L. C. ROOT, MOHAWK, N. Y. 
In many locations the early part of the season has been 
very unfavorable to bee-keeping interests. The month 
of May, in Central New York, was cold and wet, prevent¬ 
ing bees from securing the usual early honey from apple 
and other fruit blossoms. In most other parts of the 
State, bees have suffered severely. April was favorable, 
and many colonies were strong enough, and would have 
swarmed during fruit blossoms had the weather been 
propitious. At this writing (June 3d), colonies are not 
in so good condition as they were a month ago. I have 
found it necessary to feed my own bees regularly each 
evening to induce them to continue breeding, and in 
many cases to prevent starvation. In 1874 I was obliged 
to continue feeding until after the middle of July. I had 
100 colonies, and many of them did not have a pound of 
honey until basswood commenced blossoming on the 
20th of the month. I had fed so regularly that they were 
kept constantly breeding, and were very populous. Bass¬ 
wood, then, afforded an unusual flow of honey, and dur¬ 
ing the balance of the season I secured an average of 
100 lbs. from each stock, while many who took little note 
of the early scarcity of honey failed to secure even a 
moderate yield. In most northern sections, the heaviest 
product will be secured during the present month. Boxes 
should be removed promptly as fast as filled and well seal¬ 
ed, and their places supplied with empty ones. If extract¬ 
ed honey is desired,an extra number of empty combs must 
be supplied, from which the honey may be thrown with 
the honey extractor as fast as filled. Box honey should 
be kept in a cool dry place. Ex¬ 
tracted honey may stand in a warm 
room. Avoid the very common prac¬ 
tice of allowing over-swarming. If 
movable combs are used, and swarms 
are allowed to issue naturally, 
open the hive after the first swarm 
issues, and clip off all queen cells 
except one, which will prevent after 
swarms. If all are removed, and 
a laying queen introduced, it will be 
found to be the preferable method. 
Questions. — “ What is Grape 
Sugar?’’—“What is Glucose?”— 
“Is there anything objectionable or 
deleterious in their use, in con¬ 
nection with the production of 
honey?” Ans. — Glucose and 
grape sugar are the same thing, 
and are obtained from grapes, 
honey, starch, and other articles. 
As to the use of the ordinary grape 
sugar, which is used by brewers, 
and can be so cheaply obtained, for 
feeding bees, or any purpose, my 
experience has not been favorable. 
So far as the wants of the bees are 
concerned, I consider nothing bet¬ 
ter than pure honey. When feed¬ 
ing to stimulate breeding, if there 
is a scarcity of honey there is much 
danger of inducing robbing. For 
this reason, I prefer to feed a syrup, 
as heretofore directed, made of 
4 lbs. of sugar to 1 quart of water. 
This answers every purpose id feeding the bees ; be¬ 
sides it attracts pillagers very much less than honey. 
Worker and Drone Combs.— “ Will you give such 
information as will enable a novice to distinguish work¬ 
er from drone combs?”....I find that very many have 
trouble in readily distinguishing the different kinds of 
comb. It is a matter worthy of earnest attention, as 
in practical operations it is very essential. Figure 1 is 
an illustration made by the late M. Quinby. from a piece 
of comb, showing the different sizes of cells and the 
bees that are reared in them, which is very true to na¬ 
ture in the form of the cells and size of the bees. The 
small cells, on the right hand side of the engraving, are 
worker cells. It will be found by measuring, that there 
are five of these cells to the inch, or 25 to each square 
inch, on each side of the base. The eight small bees 
are the workers reared in these cells. On the left of the 
engraving are shown the drone cells, which occupy about 
to the inch, or about 20 to the square inch on each 
side of the base. The large bee at the bottom is a good 
Fig. 2. —CLUSTER OF QUEEN CELLS. 
representation of the drones hatched in these cells. Al¬ 
though not included in the question, it may be of inter¬ 
est to some, to state that the queen, shown in the center, 
is hatched in a cell of entirely different form and appear¬ 
ance. as shown in figure 2, which represents several 
queen cells ( b, d, e) attached to a piece of worker comb. 
About Medical Matters. 
As it is hardly just to class these as “ Humbugs,” the 
frauds as well as the well-meaning, we treat them 
under a separate head. Some ten years ago we set down 
ONE DOCT. E. H. BURNER, 
from the reading of his stupidly ridiculous circular, as a 
chap to be avoided. It appears that said Burner has re¬ 
cently been at work in and around Hartford and New 
Haven, Conn. He was prosecuted awhile ago for some 
reason, but escaped through an imperfection in the in 
dictment. But for all this. Burner does not escape pun- 
Fig. 1.—DIFFERENT SIZES OF CELLS. 
ishment; the “Hartford Courant” and other papers are 
after Burner with such a series of regular scorchers, 
that he will not find Connecticut a profitable field for 
future operations ... A subscriber in Vermont sends a 
circular of somebody’s “ Restorative Remedies,” for our 
opinion. The circular has four closely-printed pages. 
We read on the very first line, after the heading: “ Dear 
Sir—We enclose you Dr.-’s prescriptions; 
“A CERTAIN CURE FOR”— 
and we had no need to read any farther. Whoever 
promises “certain cures,” takes a contract that he can 
not Jill. Medical men know of but one “ certain cure.” 
So far as is known, sulphur has proved to be a “ certain 
cure ” for the Itch —and that is not in the true sense 
of the word a disease—it is merely an eruption caused 
by the presence of a minute insect, to which, as to many 
other insects, sulphur is fatal... .Frequent inquiry is 
made of us as to the efficacy of 
ELECTRIC BELTS AND CHAINS, 
which are now being advertised as generally as they 
were 20 years ago. There are questions much more im¬ 
portant than that concerning Ihe electric appliances 
themselves, which each one who writes us, should settle 
first.—'“What is the matter with you ? ”—“ Who besides 
yourself, has determined upon the character of your dis¬ 
ease ? ”—“ Who has decided that electricity is the proper 
remedy in yourcase?”—“If electricity is prescribed by 
a competent physician, what one of the several forms in 
which it may be applied, has he advised ? ”—If the “ Pui- 
vermacher,” or any other chains, are thus prescribed, get 
them. If any other appliance, get that.' We will not do 
or say anything to induce any persons who are really ill 
TO TREAT THEMSELVES, 
nor can we encourage those who imagine themselves ill, 
to putter with electricity or any other remedial agent. 
The great trouble with all this medical business, is, that 
persons who do not know whether their liver is inside of 
tlie stomach, or outside, [indeed, we once knew of a 
quack doctor who certified that a woman had vomited up 
a part of her liver —which she could no more do, than 
throw up her great toe], who have not the slightest idea 
of their own anatomy—the action of the organs in health, 
and what may result from their disease—the great, trouble 
is, we say, that such persons assume that so and so is the 
matter with them, and then write to us to ask if this or 
that is good for them. Frequently they write that they have 
spent $5, or $10, on some stuff “ warranted to cure,” and 
getting no relief, they wish us to expose the maker of 
the nostrum as a fraud. Such people are all beyond our 
