37 0 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[October, 
there Charlie, there is Lucupia.”—We know the rest- 
herb gathered—stuff made—Ada took—“ and nature 
lived and coursed through her veins triumphant.” 
hloral .—Go thou and do likewise. “Price, $1.00 per 
bottle, six bottles, $5.00.” Ada, you are welcomed as a 
bright star in the constellation in which Old Mother 
Noble, Eddie Eastman, Thee and Thou Severalbarks, 
Piliudias Unoka, and the rest are shining lights. 
Moths in Furniture—Important. 
Taken as a whole, throughout the country, house¬ 
keepers suffer more annoyance and destruction of furni¬ 
ture, carpets, and woollen garments by moths , than from 
any other pest. The little red ant is a great nuisance in 
some localities, but it is not destructive and not very 
prevalent. Moths are universal, and whole sets of costly 
upholstered furniture fade away, losing their beauty 
and substance, even after days, weeks, and months of 
watching, beating, and picking, with painstaking care. 
Latterly, establishments have been opened in leading 
cities to kill moths. First it was done by removing 
the upholstery from the wood and thoroughly baking it. 
More recently liquid preparations have been used. But 
the necessity of transporting furniture to these estab¬ 
lishments, and the large expense, have been serious ob¬ 
stacles. Some parties advertised to sell a moth-killing 
secret for a certain sum of money.—We are happy in be¬ 
ing able to announce to the readers of the American 
Agriculturist an easy, simple process, that we have tried 
the past season, with what appears to be a complete suc¬ 
cess. (We mentioned it to a furniture dealer and re¬ 
pairer to-day, and he said he had practised it for some 
time, and that it was a sort of “ trade secret.”) 
The Process :—A set of furniture that seemed to be 
alive with the larva;, from the month it came new, and 
from which hundreds of these pests had been picked, 
and brushed, was set into a room by itself. Three gal¬ 
lons of benzine were purchased, at 30c. a gallon, retail. 
Using a small watering pot, with a fine rose sprinkler, 
the whole upholstery was saturated through and through 
with the benzine, llesult: Every moth, larva;, and egg. 
was killed. The benzine dried out in a few hours, and 
its entire odor disappeared in three or four days. Not 
the slightest harm happened to the varnish, or wood, or 
fabrics, or hair stuffing. That was months ago, and not 
a sign of a moth has since appeared. The carpets were 
also well sprinkled all round the sides of the rooms with 
equally good effect. To have known this two years ago, 
would have been worth at least $50.00 in the saving to a 
stogie set of furniture, and would have saved many days 
of most annoying labor. If this is not worth, to multi¬ 
tudes of housekeepers, many times the cost of the 
American Agriculturist, we shall be greatly mistaken.— 
For furs, flannels, indeed all woollen articles contain¬ 
ing moths, benzine is most valuable. Put them in a box, 
sprinkle them with benzine, close the box tightly, and 
in a day or two the pests will be exterminated, and the 
benzine will all evaporate on opening. 
Caution Benzine, in fluid or vapor form, is 
very inflammable ; therefore, when using it, have no fire 
or burning light in the room—not even a match on the 
floor to be trod on. With this precaution it is safe. 
With the windows open its odor even will soon disappear. 
Some Bee Notes for October. 
BY L. C. BOOT, MOHAWK, N. Y. 
WINTERING BBES. 
I am frequently asked which method of wintering I 
prefer—out-of-doors, or within doors. My readers of 
three years past know my preference for in-door win¬ 
tering, when done under suitable circumstances. If 
without a properly arranged, dry room, better leave the 
bees on their summer stands for the winter, as they will 
ordinarily do much better than when unsuitably packed 
within doors. General directions for in-door wintering 
may be found in the American Agriculturist for October, 
1875. To prepare bees for out-door wintering, each hive 
should contain at least 25 lbs. of honey at this date. 
About one-third of the way from the top, and midway 
between the ends, a f inch hole should be made through 
each comb, to allow the bees to pass through freely. 
They often starve in very cold weather, even with plenty 
of honey in the combs, for the want of these passages; 
extreme cold preventing them from leaving the cluster, 
and passing around the edges of the combs to get the 
honey. The honey-board of each hive should be re¬ 
moved, and a quilt placed over the top of the frames. 
These quilts should be made of a size to fit tha top of 
the hive, of heavy unbleached muslin, with about half of 
a roll of cotton batting, and tied closely enough together 
with stout twine to keep the cotton properly in place. 
The cap of each hive should be packed closely with 
chaff or cut straw, and a piece of burlap tacked on to 
keep the straw from scattering when it is put in place. 
Make a hole in the top edge of the cap, to allow the mois¬ 
ture to escape. If the New Quinby, or any side-boxing 
hive is used, the space at both sides and top may be thus 
packed. If hives are not well protected from wind, sot 
posts and make a tight board fence around the apiary. 
The hive should face the warmest direction; finish the 
fence on that side later in the season, when the bees fly 
less freely. Set the posts before the ground is frozen, 
and finish the fence when desired. 
ARTIFICIAL COMB FOUNDATION. 
What is it?—and how can it be used successfully?— 
The base of the cells and a beginning for the walls, is 
formed by passing sheets of pure beeswax between two 
rolls. It is one of the leading inventions of the day in 
our line, and will prove a valuable aid to bee-keepers. I 
will soon give a full description of the mode of manu¬ 
facturing, and indicate some of the important ends to be 
gained by its use.—In consequence of the moderate 
yield of fall honey, the amount last taken from the hive, 
of which a record has been kept, was only 10 lbs. 
Do bees gather honey from the Ailanthus, and is it 
poisonous?—I have never lived in sections where this 
tree was common, and am wholly unfamiliar with it. I 
do not recall any mention of it by writers on bees.— 
[Any information on this point will be acceptable.— Eds ] 
W. A. Dean, Minn., is referred to the January num¬ 
ber, 1876, of the American Agricultui'ist, for directions 
concerning the New Quinby Hive, and to the October 
number, 1875, for suggestions about in-door wintering. 
Brass Milk Cans—Water Fences. 
A young lady reader, who has traveled in many lands, 
but uow lives on a fine farm, loves the coHntrv, and is 
observant of rural things, sends ns the following: — I 
was quite interested in the engraving in the September 
number representing the “Flemish Milk Wagon,” for 
it brought to mind many little facts in connection with 
the dairywomen of Holland and Belgium—some of which 
may he of interest to your readers The whole “ turn¬ 
out” is peculiar, as the picture shows, but it does not 
indicate how much the cans differ from any used in this 
country. They are all of brass, and shine as if their 
owners had but just ceased polishing them. A ride in 
the cars through the rich pasturing districts, presents 
man.v ;w features. As we look on either side for miles 
over tne-leyel country, the gates which are set here and 
there cause one to wonder how the cattle can be kept in 
a pasture with only a gate for a boundary. But the fact 
is, these fields are fenced with a ditch of water some six 
or eight feet wide, so that a gate on the slight plank 
bridges which lead from one field to another, is all the 
protection that is necessary. Much of the land being 
below the level of the sea at high tide, there is never any 
scarcity of water with which to make the water fences. 
As early as four o’clock in the afternoon, women can be 
seen going out in boats to the pastures through these 
small canals. The brass milk can stands in the stern of 
the boat, and is filled from the pail which the woman 
uses when milking the cows. There are scarcely any 
trees in these pastures, which, however, is not such a 
lack in that country as we should consider it here, as the 
climate is mild and moist on account of the close 
proximity of the ocean. [In traveling through Holland, 
we noticed that in many places there were no gates even. 
The short bridges alluded to by our correspondent were 
arranged to slide off, or perhaps more frequently to raise 
up. So, to “ close the gate,” they simply elevated one 
end of the bridge, sometimes two or three feet, and 
sometimes they stood perpendicular. Some were held 
up by a cord or rope attached to a stake; others were 
supported erect by an upright post that lay upon the 
ground when the bridge stood on end. On the west 
coast of Holland, subject to cold winds from the ocean, 
most of the cows in the fields, even in July, were covered 
with a sort of blanket jacket, extending from the shoul¬ 
ders or neck to the flanks. Many of these were in 
variegated color's, and were quite ornamental.— Ed.] 
Tell Us About Your Wheat. 
The wheat questions in the September number 
(page 334), have called forth many responses, 
which contain so much of interest, and we consider 
the subject of so great importance, that we are 
desirous of obtaining data from as many wheat 
growers as possible, in order that the results may 
be of the greatest benefit to our readers. If every 
wheat-growing reader of the American Agriculturist 
would reply to these questions, we could present 
such an array of facts that each one would be 
many times repaid for his trouble, in being able to 
compare his own experience with that of hundreds 
of others from widely scattered localities. All of 
the questions may easily be answered on a postal 
card by writing the replies opposite the respective 
numbers, as in the following transcript of one of 
the replies received; 
(1.) Don’t sow any.—(2.) Hard Scotch Fife.—(3.) Black 
loam, clay subsoil.—(4.) Burnt straw.—(5) Scatter straw 
whec we thrash.—(6.) H bushels.—(7.) 15 bushels on the 
average.—(8.) Think not.—(9.) Never.—(10.) A pail, or as 
as soon as possible in spring.—(11.) 75 cents to $1. 
(Signed), Henry Armstrong, Louriston P. O., Chippewa 
Co., Minn., western part of State, on St Paul & P. R. R. 
Send on the postal cards, the more the better. 
Steam Power for Farm Use. 
On many farms, steam as a motive power is now 
considered indispensable, and its rapidly increasing 
use for farm purposes is a striking sign of agricul¬ 
tural progress. Many large farms of the West 
would be almost as much 
at fault without steam, 
as a back country saw¬ 
mill without water. The 
multiplicity of uses to 
which steam power can 
be applied on a farm, is 
hardly appreciated, save 
by those who have had 
experience. The proper 
“agricultural engine” is 
mounted on wheels, that 
it may be moved from 
one part of the farm to 
another, and 
the greater 
number of 
purposes to 
which it may 
he applied,the 
more valuable 
be. 
an en- 
may be 
for run¬ 
ning a thresh¬ 
ing machine 
in the field 
or at the barn, or a portable saw-mill in the 
woods, for turning a grist-mill, or for ginning 
cotton. When placed in position at the barn, 
its power may be utilized for baling hay, run¬ 
ning a hay fork, cutting fodder, sawing wood, 
pumping water, winnowing grain, shelling corn, 
etc.; while its steam may be utilized, if desired, for 
steaming fodder, or cooking food for swine. By 
conuection with the dairy, it may run the churn, 
and the steam warm the milk room, or even be 
used for heating milk. A year ago we illustrated 
several excellent engines used for these purposes ; 
the one now presented is a portable machine, made 
at the Pennsylvania Agricultural Works, York, Pa. 
It differs from some others in its vertical tubular 
Fig. 2.—ON WHEELS READY FOR MOVING. 
boiler; figure 1 represents it in position for use, 
and figure 2 shows the engine mounted on wheels, 
for transportation. The wheels shown in figure 1 
are on an axle made fast to the boiler, and are use¬ 
ful in placing it in position ; any farm truck may 
be used for forward wheels. In common with 
