168 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
THE GREAT 
Special Premiums 
CONTINUED 
One Month More. 
T3ie confusion of moving the whole es¬ 
tablishment, disturbed and interrupted the 
printers, and delayed the mailing long after 
the usual time. So also the unprecedented 
storms and heavy snows greatly delayed the 
mails over a large part of our country. (We 
have letters from Northern States and ter¬ 
ritory that have been 20 to 35 days coming!) 
As these delays shut out a large number of 
our readers, the Publishers have arranged 
to extend the time of giving the Special 
Premiums, Wo. 1 and Wo. 9, offered last 
month, thus : Instead of from March 1st to 
April 1st, the offers are now extended from 
March 1st to May 1st. 
All other conditions remain precisely the 
same as last month (page 120.) 
The Book offered will be highly valued 
by every one, and there is scarcely a doubt 
that the new Pea will prove very desirable. 
Until Next June. 
The General Premiums offered for 1881 remain 
open until next June. Premium Lists of Subscrib¬ 
ers already in progress can be increased from time to 
time, and new lists be started.— APRIL is a 
good month for continuing the canvass. Many 
thousands of subscribers were added to these lists 
during April of last year, and owing to the better 
condition of the country the number may be largely 
increased now. (See page 37, January Agriculturist). 
(jggpThe 32 page Illustrated Premium List, de¬ 
scribing all the Premiums, will be sent free to any 
one not having it, on application by Postal Card. 
jgp” The Special Premiums named 
above, are a separate matter. Of course names 
sent for the Special Premiums can not be counted 
in any other list for the Genera! Premiums. 
Bee Notes for April. 
BY L. C. BOOT. 
The “Notes’ 1 for February have been copied 
by the different Bee journals, and in some cases 
severely criticised, many taking strong ground 
against my preference for in-door wintering. One 
acknowledges that bees may be wintered safely 
in-doors during extreme cold weather, such as 
we have had during the past winter, but claims 
that the reverse is the result during mild winters. 
I have wintered large numbers of swarms, both in 
and out of doors, for many years, during which 
period the winters have varied widely, and I can 
say 1 know that for climates like that of Central 
New York the advantages of in-door wintering are 
so marked, that there is no room in actual practice 
for doubting them. I think the advantages in 
warmer winters are quite as marked as in the severe 
ones. I have often advised those who were so 
much opposed to the long confinement of bees, to 
leave their swarms out of doors until they had 
made their usual January or February flight, and 
then place them in winter quarters until the first of 
May. There is more to be gained by having bees 
in a properly arranged wintering room during the 
changable weather of March and April, than 
during the early winter months. At the late North 
Eastern Beekeepers’ Convention many advocated 
wintering bees under the snow. The objection to 
this practice is, that the temperature is liable to 
become too high, and breeding be induced. The 
advice given by so many, to stimulate breeding 
during early spring, indicates a lack of practical 
experience. If I am successful in keeping my 
bees quiet, and iu preventing breeding until May 
1st, when breeding may be continued without in¬ 
terruption, I count it a great gain. Far too many 
swarms of bees are each year disturbed and stimu¬ 
lated to death during early spring. Many of my 
friends are reporting bees in fine condition at this 
date (March 3rd), saying they have a good quantity 
of brood. 1 regard this a disadvantage at this 
season. I consider it a good indication to hear a 
beekeeper say during March and April that he knows 
little of the condition of his bees, except that they 
went into winter quarters in good condition, and 
have been left entirely undisturbed. Many an in¬ 
dolent beekeeper is successful in wintering, by 
neglecting his bees, or in other words, by failing to 
disturb them, in giving them what many prescribe 
as proper care. My advice, often repeated, is: 
to let the bees be quiet during winter and early 
spring, and spend the time in earnest study of the 
best methods for future adoption, and in the prep¬ 
aration of necessary hives and fixtures for use the 
coming season. 
Feeding.— In addition to the remarks on feeding 
in February “ Notes,” I desire to say that reports 
are coming in from 
many as to the large 
amounts of honey which 
bees have consumed 
during the extreme cold 
weather. This indicates 
the necessity of examin¬ 
ing stocks, when the 
weather will admit, to 
prevent starvation. The 
Van Deusen Feeder was 
illustrated in February 
Notes as one that would 
be found convenient for 
feeding liquid food. As 
many will desire to feed at the sides of the combs, 
or at the entrance, we have added to this a bracket 
(shown in the engraving), upon which it may be 
placed, so that it may be used as a top, side, or 
entrance feeder. 
VAN DEUSEN FEEDER 
ON BRACKET. 
Houses loi* Two Families.— A sub¬ 
scriber at Marblehead, Mass., says he has not seen 
among our plans any houses for two families. He 
says that two-story houses, each story to be occu¬ 
pied by a family are quite common in his locality, 
and thinks that a few plans of such would be ac¬ 
ceptable to those of small means who need very 
cheap houses. We hold that one house can not he 
large enough for two families, and that such build¬ 
ings are only tolerable in crowded cities, where 
they are a matter of necessity. In families whose 
means make it necessary to live in such houses the 
wife usually does all the work. To make her do it 
on the second floor, where there is a constant lift¬ 
ing, is to add needlessly to her labors. Besides, 
there is a lack of privacy, the risk of giving chil¬ 
dren undesirable associates and other moral reasons 
why, in this country of cheap land, every family 
should have a roof to itself. 
Population of the United States. 
States, 
Population, 
Increase. 
Panic. 
1880. 
1870. 
1880. 
1870. 
Alabama. 
. .1,262,344 
096,992 
265,352 
17 
16 
Arkansas... 
484,471 
818,093 
25 
26 
California........ 
560,247 
304,489 
24 
24 
Connecticut. 
... 622,683 
537,454 
85,229 
28 
25 
Delaware_..... 
... 146,654 
125,015 
21,639 
38 
35 
Florida.. 
187,748 
78,718 
84 
33 
Georgia. 
1,184,109 
354,974 
13 
12 
Illinois ... 
2,539,891 
438,745 
4 
4 
Indiana... . 
1,680,637 
298,221 
6 
6 
Iowa... 
...1,624,463 
1,194,020 
430,448 
10 
11 
Kansas... 
364,399 
630,936 
21 
29 
Kentucky. 
...1,648,599 
1,321,011 
327,588 
8 
8 
Louisiana.___ 
... 940,263 
726,915 
214,348 
22 
21 
Maine.. 
626,915 
22,030 
27 
23 
Maryland.. 
... 935,139 
780,894 
154,245 
23 
20 
Massachusetts... 
.. .1,783,086 
1,457,851 
335,735 
7 
7 
Michigan. 
...1,634,096 
1,184,059 
250,087 
9 
13 
Minnesota. 
.. 780,807 
439,706 
341,101 
26 
27 
Mississippi. 
...1,131,899 
827,922 
303,977 
18 
18 
Missouri.. 
...2,169,091 
1,721,295 
437,796 
5 
5 
Nebraska. 
... 452,432 
122.993 
829,439 
so 
S8 
Nev'ada.. 
... 62,265 
42,491 
19,774 
43 
40 
New Hampshire. 
... 347,784 
318,300 
29,484 
81 
81 
New Jersey...... 
...1,130,892 
906,096 
224,796 
19 
17 
New York.. 
...5,083,173 
4,382,759 
700,414 
1 
1 
North Carolina.. 
...1,400,000 
1,071,361 
828,639 
15 
14 
Ohio..... 
...3,197,794 
2,665,260 
532,584 
8 
3 
Oregon.. 
... 174,767 
90,923 
83,844 
37 
38 
Pennsylvania.... 
...4.282,738 
8,521,951 
760,787 
2 
2 
Rhode Island_ 
... 276,528 
217,353 
69,175 
33 
32 
South Carolina.. 
... 995,706 
705,606 
290,100 
20 
22 
Tennessee... 
...1,542,463 
1,258,520 
283,943 
12 
9 
Texas . 
...1,597,508 
818,579 
778,929 
11 
19 
Vermont._.... 
... 332,286 
330,551 
1,735 
32 
Virginia. 
.. .1,512,203 
1,225,163 
287,043 
14 
West Virginia... 
... 618,193 
442,014 
176,179 
29 
38 
Wisconsin........ 
1,054,670 
260,716 
16 
15 
Territories. 
Arizona... 
... 40,441 
9,658 
80,783 
44 
46 
Dakota. 
... 131,002 
14,181 
119,821 
40 
45 
Diet’ct of Columbia 177,638 
131,700 
45,938 
Idaho............. 
... 32,611 
14,999 
17,612 
46 
44 
Montana. 
... 39,157 
20,595 
18,562 
45 
43 
New Mexico. 
... 118,430 
91,874 
26,556 
41 
37 
Utah.... 
... 143,907 
86,786 
57,121 
89 
89 
Washington. 
... 75,120 
23,995 
51,125 
42 
42 
Wyoming...._ 
... 20,788 
9,118 
11,670 
47 
47 
Total. 
50,152,559 
38,558,371 
What a Texan says.—A friend in Ellis 
Co. writes : “If I am better situated and live bet¬ 
ter than my neighbors, as they say I do, it is all 
due to the American Agriculturist ... .It would take 
one with a loose tongue to make a cotton farmer 
believe he could live better, cheaper, and with less 
labor by raising his own bread, meat, and vegeta¬ 
bles. He will acknowledge the fact, but won’t 
take the paper. Cotton here is king.” 
Treatment of Scab.—“ G. W. T.,” New¬ 
castle Co., Del., had a lamb which was last summer 
affected with what, to judge from the description 
given in January, he takes to have been the scab. 
The animal had pulled the wool from its sides and 
back, wherever it could reach, and the skin was 
scabby. Not knowing much about sheep ailments, 
the lamb had no treatment for a while, but at 
length at the suggestion of his wife, he completely 
saturated the animal’s neck and body generally with 
coal oil, which resulted in a complete cure. Mr. 
T. does not say whether he used crude oil—petro¬ 
leum—or the refined oil—kerosene. We should 
prefer the former as likely to be less painful, and 
it would be quite as effective. The prime cause 
of the trouble is an insect, and this would be 
destroyed by either of the oils. 
Ensilage—Whitman & Burrell’s. 
—The firm at Little Falls, N. Y., so well known as 
manufacturers of dairy apparatus, are also dairy¬ 
men, and on their experimental dairy-farm have 
erected two silos of the capacity of 200 tons of 
fodder-corn each. These they partly filled in Sep¬ 
tember last. After allowing for every item, in¬ 
cluding full wages for their own time, their ensi¬ 
lage costs a few cents over $1 per ton. They be¬ 
gan to feed on October 20, and write to their local 
paper a very enthusiastic account of the excellent 
condition of the fodder, and its feeding value. 
Their plans for “intensive” cultivation of fodder 
