456 
AMERICAN AG-RICUET URIST 
[November, 
attractive as ever. The Exhibition was more fall in 
fruits than usual. Elhvanger & Barry, Rochester, N. Y., 
made one of their rare displays—an exhibition in it¬ 
self. and were first in native grapes, peaches, plums, and 
in pears, of which they had over 100 varieties. E. P. Roe, 
CornwulI-on-the-Hudson, N. Y., had strawberries in pots, 
peaches, grapes, and apples. VY. & C. Smith, 189 Broad¬ 
way, N. Y., took the prize for the best ornamental basket 
of fruit. Chas. J. Copley, Staten Island, bad the best six 
native grapes. Mr. J. H. Ricketts, Newburgh, N. Y., 
besides his wonderful grapes had other fruits, including 
the Miss Brett peach and Souvenir du Congress pear. J. 
S. Force, Newburgh, N. Y., had fine apples and pears. 
The prizes for exotic grapes were divided between Peter 
Henderson and Chas. Aitken. In vegetables, the collec¬ 
tion of potatoes by B. K. Bliss & Sons, No. 34 Barclay 
St., was conspicuous ; it included, besides the standard 
varieties, 51 new seedlings. It is surprising that so few 
vegetables are presented at these exhibitions. The pre¬ 
miums are liberal, and nowhere is their culture carried 
to greater perfection than in the vicinity of New York. 
{Basket Items continued on page 479.) 
Bee Motes for November. 
BT L. O. BOOT, MOHAWK, N. T. 
Wintering Bees.— Numerous inquiries are made as 
to the cause of the great loss of bees during last winter, 
and instructions are asked for, which will prevent a sim¬ 
ilar loss during the coming winter. There is probably 
no subject of greater interest than this, to both the nov¬ 
ice and the experienced bee-keeper. Many who have 
had experience can succeed in wintering their bees com¬ 
paratively well, yet I may safely say that none have, as 
yet. reached uniform success. Why, when a number of 
colonies, in apparently the same condition, are put into 
winter quarters, a certain portion of them should winter 
perfectly, while another portion wastes away, and the 
stocks become almost if not entirely worthless, is a 
question which yet puzzles the wisest ?... In answer to 
the first question, as to the cause of loss in the past, I 
would say that it was probably due to a failure to ob¬ 
serve some of the essentials which I shall point out, yet, 
with the mass of bee-keepers, these failures seem at 
times almost unavoidable. I predict heavy losses during 
the coming winter and spring from the same causes. It 
is notable that the yield of honey from buckwheat and 
other late blossoms has been very light, and, as a conse¬ 
quence, brood rearing was discontinued at a much earlier 
date than usual; hence one of the essentials to success¬ 
ful wintering is, to a large degree, lacking. It is impor¬ 
tant to secure a large number of young bees late in the 
season, and each colony should possess a sufficient 
number before it is time to go into winter quarters. 
Proper Food for Winter.— Twenty to t.w nty-five 
lbs. of well-sealed honey or sugar syrup is the next es¬ 
sential. This amount should not be guessed at, but 
should be ascertained for each hive by careful weighing. 
Proper Place to Winter Bees.— While It may be 
desirable, in many warmer localities, to winter bees upon 
their summer stands, I recommend only in-door winter¬ 
ing for northern latitudes. Many advocate properly ar¬ 
ranged, above-ground houses, but I prefer a dry, dark, 
well-ventilated cellar. If the cellar is not perfectly dry, 
place a stove in it, and keep a fire until the walls are 
thoroughly dried. This should he done in time to allow 
the room to cool before the bees are placed in for winter. 
Time to take in Bees.— This is a point of much more 
importance than usually supposed. The exact date can¬ 
not be given, as the length of the seasons varies. With 
us, the time is usually from the 10th to the last of the 
present month. They should not be neglected until 
snow falls, as the hives will be wet, and they should be 
placed in the room as free from moisture as is possible. 
They should be handled with care, so that the bees will 
be as little disturbed as may be. Never make the mis¬ 
take of closing the entrance to confine the bees to the 
hive, after placing them in the cellar. It would be far 
better to raise the hive half an inch from the bottom- 
board, thus giving an opening on all sides. This would 
afford better ventilation, and also lessen the liability of 
the nead bees falling down and closing the entrance if 
that be small. After the bees are properly arranged, the 
room should be left dark and ..sfree from noise as may be. 
Present Season’s Results.— Much interest is ex¬ 
pressed as to the result of the present season’s work, 
particularly as to the demand and supply of honey. Re¬ 
ports from all parts of the country indicate that the de¬ 
mand for the best qualities of honey will far exceed the 
supply. The demand for such honey has been largely 
increased during the last year, while the supply is one- 
half less. The best box-honey will be in demand at from 
20 to 25 cts., according to the size and nature of the box, 
while prime extracted, honey will be called for at from 15 
to 16 cts. I think an acquaintance with the honey 
market for several years, will warrant these conclusions. 
Back-Firing. 
Those who live in the western portions of our 
country, do not need to be told that the close of au¬ 
tumn is often a -season of great danger from fire. 
Eight years ago,“the day on which this is written, 
Chicago was in flames; and throughout the country, 
thousands of acres of dry marshes, woodland, and 
stubble and meadow fields, were on fire. Upon the 
evening of that memorable day, the writer and sev¬ 
eral others was fighting fire, and “ back-firing,” to 
save farms, houses, and even the lives of the people. 
Those days of excitement, and nights of terror can 
never be forgotten, and that the experience there 
acquired may be useful to others, we will describe, 
aided by an illustration, the operation of “Back- 
Firing.” It is well known that a fire increases in 
its fury, so long as its fuel is in abundance, and, 
therefore as the prairie fire moves on, its heat and 
rate of progress increases until it is impossible to 
meet it by a direct attack. We must deprive it of 
Its fuel—this is done by back-firing. Let us sup¬ 
pose that a house, barn, stacks, etc, are in the path 
of a prairie Are. If nothing is done until the fire 
approaches very near, the chances are that all will 
be destroyed. By means of rakes, and if need be 
scythes, the grass, stubble, etc, is removed from a 
broad ring, of three rods or so across, the dry ma¬ 
terial being raked to the inner edge of the ring, as 
from the dotted circle A, A, to B, B, as shown in 
the engraving. After this space is made clean, and 
there is no more time to spare, begin at once to 
back-fire by lighting the grass, etc., along the front, 
represented by the dotted line, and on the side only 
towards which the fire is approaching. As this 
fire is in its infancy, it is easily controlled, espec¬ 
ially if it is started in but a single place. As it 
spreads, watch that no sparks get near the build¬ 
ings. In this way the combustible material may 
be burned away from all sides of the house and 
barns, and the approaching flames are met so far 
away by the opposing fire, that there is no danger 
from them or the flying sparks. The plowing of 
a circular belt, the same in shape that we have in¬ 
dicated, to be cleaned of imfiaminable material, is 
sometimes recommended, but it is not necessary if 
proper care is taken in starting and watching the 
back-fire. Back-firing should seldom be resorted 
to, until it is known that the Are is sweeping on in 
PLAN OF BACK-FIRING. 
the path of the buildings, as it may start a fire that 
may burn over the whole region, and cause great 
destruction of property. If early back-firing is 
done before the fires are approaching, a still day 
should be selected, and if possible, one just on the 
eve of a storm, that the coming rain may put it out. 
Period of Gestation. — Beginning with the 
largest of animals—and there appears to be a rela¬ 
tion between size and period of gestation—we have 
the following table as the average of many records: 
.Bear. 6 Months. 
Elephant. .. 20-23 Months 
Giraffe.14 
Ass.12 “ 
Mare.11 “ 
Cow . 9.J£ “ 
Reindeer. 8 
Monkey. 7 “ 
especially in the case of the domestic animals. The 
breed, size of animal, heredity and other and un¬ 
known, or partially understood, conditions modify 
the period of which the above are the averages. 
New Jersey Green Sand MarL 
A peculiar sandy deposit, of greenish color, is 
found in large quantities over a large section of 
country in Southeastern New Jersey. Three beds 
of it, the upper, middle, and lower, sometimes all 
of them in the same locality, and sometimes only 
one or two of the layers appearing in the same lo¬ 
cality. Applied in large quantities to the light san¬ 
dy soils of Monmouth County, and elsewhere, it 
has effected a wonderful improvement in their pro¬ 
ductive value, and, as it is abundant, efforts have 
been made from time to time to introduce it else¬ 
where. The Conn. Agr. Experiment Station has 
recently made a careful analysis of it, given in the 
first column below. The second column gives the 
analysis of another sample, made by the N. J. State 
Geologist: Conn. Exp, St'n. N. ,7. Geol. 
Moisture.16.70 ) n 
Combined Water. 3.26 j 
Sand (Insoluble Silica).18 33 t „„ 
Soluble Silica. 26.65) 50 - s() 
Oxide of Iron 1.,, 1 17.63 
Alumina.). < 8 77 
Lime.43 2.13 
Magnesia. 3.12 3 54 
Potash. 5.69 5,18 
Soda. .60 
Phosphoric Acid .'..90 2 24 
Sulphuric Acid. ) ,, .39 
Other undetermined matters.) _ 
Total...100.00 100.34 
The first column gives in a ton, 114 lbs. of pot¬ 
ash, worth, as a fertilizer, say 41 cents per lb., or 
$5.13; and of reverted phosphoric acid, 18 lbs., 
worth say 9c., or $1.6:2. —Total value of potash and 
phosphoric acid, $6.75. By the same reckoning, 
that of the second column is worth $8.69 per ton. 
The large amount of soluble silica is believed to 
have a very favorable effect in cementing the light 
sandy soils. This deserves the attention of farmers. 
Editorial Correspondence. — Items 
Notes by the Way. 
from 
Sheep. 
Sow.4 “ 
Dog.. 3 “ 
Cat. lVs “ 
Rabbit... 1 “ 
iGuinea Pig. 3 Weeks. 
This period is subject to considerable variation, 
[We continue extracts from Mr. Judd’s copious notes, 
gathered during his extended summer tour—as far West 
as Wyoming and Colorado. No order of time is follow¬ 
ed in the selection, but some of the earlier observations 
made will appear in later numbers. Ed.] 
Personal Property—Ono County’s List. 
Owatonna , Steele Co., Minn .—The Census to be 
taken next June will show a wonderful aggregate 
in many single items. Without considerable 
thought and figuring, one can faintly appreciate the 
immense sums expended for any one of the little 
things that go to make up the comforts and con¬ 
veniences of individual homes. I have just looked 
over the Assessor’s report of 1879 for this county- 
one of the smallest in the State, 18 by 24 miles in 
extent, and embracing only about one-half of one 
per cent of the total area. (Minnesota comprises 
83,531 square miles.) Remembering that it is but a 
few years since this region was first settled, and 
taking into account the usual omissions, and low 
assessment valuations, the following figures are in¬ 
teresting : Number of horses, 5,765; valuation, 
$252,627. Cattle, 10,458; valuation, $103,398. Sheep, 
4,119; valuation, $5,970. Swine, 3,754; valuation, 
$7,418. Mules and Asses, 132; Wagons and Car¬ 
riages, 1,953 ; valuation, $35,608. Agricultural Im¬ 
plements and Machinery, valuation, $70,198. House¬ 
hold and Office Furniture, valuation, $41,726. 
Melodeons and Organs, 140; valuation, $4,654. 
Piano Fortes, 64; valuation, $6,595. Sewing and 
Knitting Machines, 663; valuation, $9,331. Watches 
and Clocks, 716; valuation,$4,471.— A total of nearly 
One Million Dollars. Several curious suggestions 
arise in looking at these figures, as, for example: 
the Pianos exceed the Sheep in value—perhaps the 
dog laws are not sufficient, or efficient. The farm 
implements nearly double in value the household 
furniture. Horses more than double the Cattlp in 
value. The Musical Instruments reach $11,249, 
while Sheep and Swine together are only $13,388. 
The entire Household and office Furniture foots up 
only one-seventh more than the Wagons aDd Car- 
