1880. J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
287 
Bee Notes for July. 
BY L. C. ROOT. 
It is safe to say that the greater part of the best sur¬ 
plus honey is, in most northern localities, gathered from 
Basswood. The bloom commences in Central New York 
from the 10th to the 20th of this month; the present sea¬ 
son it may begin even earlier than this. The yield con¬ 
tinues from 12 to 20 days, according to the variation in 
the opening of the flowers, caused by the difference in 
altitude and other local causes. Basswood is a free 
bloomer, and generally yields honey profusely, and of 
superior quality; in fact, I think basswood honey is not 
surpassed by that of any other plant in any region of the 
United States. I speak of this to show the necessity of 
having all things in readiness, to take the advantage of 
this most valuable honey yield when it comes. The 
practical bee-keeper has been preparing for this harvest 
foi many weeks. Strong stocks, and plenty of room for 
storing surplus honey are the essentials. Every bee¬ 
keeper should be familiar with the sources from which 
he is to expect his honey, and be fully prepared to secure 
it promptly. If a day is lost, no after vigilance will se¬ 
cure the honey which might have been obtained during 
A TWO-STORY HIVE. 
that day. Many bee-keepers wait until the yield has be¬ 
gun, before they prepare their boxes, or arrange their 
swarms for surplus, and they are the ones who find the 
keeping of bees the least profitable. The basswood 
blossom matures very slowly. In riding through the 
country for the past week, I have looked for the first ap¬ 
pearance of the buds, I find the trees heavily budded, at 
this date, May 29th. They are nearly one half the size 
they will attain when open, and yet they will not be in 
bloom until the first half of July. The old saying that 
‘ good things come slowly” is applicable here. They 
seem to start thus early, and mature slowly, to keep us 
in mind of the good yield coming, and to give us ample 
time to be fully ready. Let us then have our boxes 
ready with generous starters of natural comb, or comb 
foundation, and properly arranged at as early a date as 
the bees will begin filling them—or if the surplus is to 
be taken in the form of extracted honey, have the empty 
combs in place which are to be used for this purpose. 
There are two methods of doing this: many bee-keepers 
prefer placing one hive above the other, as shown in the 
engraving. Others advocate a brood hive where the ex¬ 
tra combs are added at the side of the brood combs. 
Our preference has been to place these combs at the sides 
rather than the top. We shall test the two methods ex¬ 
tensively the present season, and give the results at a 
future time. If it is the intention to extract the honey, 
procure an Extractor in season, and have casks or cans in 
readiness for storing the product. I speak of basswood 
at this time because of its value in most locations. The 
same advice is applicable to any class of blossoms from 
which the yield of honey may be expected. Be ready 
for the yield from whatever source it may come. 
Ice and Ice-Houses.— In these hot July days, 
we would call the attention of those who did not build 
and fill an ice-honse, as advised last winter, to the com¬ 
fort. convenience, and money value of a good supply of 
ice at this season of the year. Perhaps this reminder 
will stir some persons up to the resolution to build and 
fill a house the coming winter, at least it is hoped so. 
American Apples Abroad.— The extent to 
which our apples find a market in Europe is surprising. 
It is impossible to give any exact figures on this article 
of export, but when a single firm shipped 30,000 barrels 
in 1879—a poor apple year—we may conclude that our 
standard fruit is in demand ; and that the best varieties— 
those of fine quality, and good keepers—will find a ready 
foreign sale. It is reasonable to expect that the close of 
the present year will see the export of apples well up 
among the millions of barrels. With this expectation, it 
is well for orclrardists to see that a good share of their 
fruit is of a kind that will bear the ocean transit, and 
also be acceptable to the eye and palate of the foreign 
consumer. The Baldwin, Newtown Pippin, Spitzenberg, 
Northern Spy, and Roxbury Russet are among the fore¬ 
most of the varieties that are in most demand abroad. 
Small Fruits. —This is the season of small fruits, 
and we wish every family throughout the country had all 
of them that they could use. A noted writer has recently 
said : “ Small Fruits, to people who live in the country, 
are like heaven—objects of universal desire, and very 
general neglect.” There is more solid truth than com¬ 
fort in the above remark that is so strongly put. 
Drawing Grain, etc.— If there is only one team 
upon the farm, and two wagons are to bo had, it is often 
a great savingof time to change the team from one wagon 
to the other, so that there may be a wagon in the field 
loading and another in the barn being unloaded at the 
same time. In this way there maybe no going of the 
hands to and from the field, except the one who handles 
the team. Three wagons and two teams are still better. 
Fix Up tl»e Barn. —When we go along the coun¬ 
try highway, and see the wide cracks in the empty barns, 
we want to stop and tell the owner that those cracks are 
leak holes in his farm management. Through these 
places the farmer’s profits slip away, because the thief- 
cold—finds here its entrance. While his cattle shiver, 
some fodder must pay the cost, or less flesh and milk are 
the results. Now, before another winter, stop the leaks. 
Results of Ensilage.— Dr. John M. Bailey, of 
“ Winning Farm,” near Bellerica, Mass., is pleased with 
his results of Ensilage. He says ; “ Since the opening of 
my silos, Dec. 2,1879, I have been feeding a large stock 
of cattle and sheep upon corn fodder, ensilaged last Sept. 
I am now (May lj, feeding my milch cows, and ewes and 
lambs upon it exclusively. Its preservation is as perfect 
as when the silos was first opened.” Dr. Bailey cordially 
invites farmers to visit his silo, and inspect the system of 
preserving green fodder, which he prizes so highly. 
Cow Milkers. —There are still inquiries regarding 
“milking machines” nowand then coming to us, and 
this of itself show’s that many are at least slow to accept 
them as proper instruments in the dairy. There are cases 
when tubes of some sort are necessary to draw the milk 
from the udder, as, for example, when the teats are bad¬ 
ly chapped, the udder caked, or when the cow is a very 
hard milker. Under ordinary circumstances the old way 
is the safest and best, and if nothing is the matter with 
the cow we should not encourage the use of any of the 
milking tubes or so-called “milking machines.” 
Tile Buckwheat Field usually receives the 
poorest attention of any farm crop, and sometimes the 
preparation given the soil 
—usually the least fertile 
portion of the farm—is so 
imperfect, that it seems 
like imposing on the good 
nature of this plant to sow 
it and expect it to grow 
at all. But the buckwheat 
plant can stand this harsh 
• treatment better than any 
other grain, and for this 
reason it is so valuable in 
building up a worn-out, or 
otherwise poor soil. It 
should be borne in mind 
that if buckwheat will im¬ 
prove a field when poorly 
treated, it will do all the 
more good if the soil is 
thoroughly prepared for it, that a good bed may be given 
the seed to grow and doits best. If it is intended to plow 
under the crop as a green manure, then an application of 
a quick acting fertilizer will pay well, that a large 
growth may be secured to be turned under. 
Coal Aslies for Walks.— Coal ashes are of very 
little value as a fertilizer, and are not worth applying to 
the soil unless they will make it lighter and loose, and 
thus improve it mechanically. After trying all sorts of 
materials, a writer in “ The Garden ” (London) says he 
finds none better for tvalks than coal ashes. The bottom 
of the walk is made of stones and coarse pebbles, cov¬ 
ered with an even surface of the ashes, which, when thor¬ 
oughly rolled down, makes one of the most pleasant of 
walks, and is easily kept free from weeds, and smooth 
| and compact. This agrees with our own experience. 
The Auction Sale of Jerseys. 
The public sale of Jersey cattle in charge of Peter C. 
Kellogg & Co., held in New York City on May 26-27, was 
in some respects an interesting and noted one. It af¬ 
forded a striking illustration of the importance which is 
now attached to animals that have a blood relationship 
with those that are or have been great performers at the 
pail. The reputation which the cow “ Alphea” obtained 
as a butter producer, attaches itself to all animals that have 
the blood of that famous cow or that of her own brother, 
“Jupiter,” in their veins. A portrait of “Alphea” was 
given in the American Agriculturist in May last, where 
will be found an account of her great butter-making 
qualities. We did not at that time think we should so 
soon have an illustration of the great value that attaches 
to such an animal in her progeny. The descendants of 
“Alphea” and “Jupiter” will sustain the reputation of 
the mother of the “‘Alphea’ strain” of Jersey cattle, 
and it is because these qualities are perpetuated, that so 
much importance is attached to the nearness of a given 
cow to another that has been a remarkable milker. For 
example— 1 “ Eurotas,” the most famous Jersey cow now 
living, is a granddaughter of “Alphea,” and there are 
others that are, so to speak, “chips from the same block.” 
It is not surprising that those animals at the sale, which 
bad more or less of this valuable “ Alphea” strain, were 
eagerly sought for, and the prices at which they sold 
were high. A son of “ Eurotas ” headed the list—a calf 
“Ramapo” of 7 months—and was struck off to Mr. Lawson 
Valentine, of New York, for $600. This was a surpris¬ 
ingly low figure, and an offer of $1,000 was shortly re¬ 
fused by the purchaser. This handsome animal is now 
at Houghton Farm, Orange Co., N. Y., where it is ex¬ 
pected he will develope into a breeding animal that will 
sustain the reputation of his family and worthy of the 
distinguished company in which he will find himself in 
the Houghton Farm herd. The two cows having the 
largest proportion of “Alphea” blood, namely, “Myra 
2d” and “Lass Edith,” were highly appreciated by a 
number of cattle men, and the bidding was spirited and 
enthusiastic. Both were purchased by Mr. Valentine at 
the following figures: “Myra 2d” (6289), at $1,400; 
“ Lass Edith ” (6290), at $1,425. The mingling of the 
“ Alphea ” blood in these valuable cows, and also the 
relationship which they bear to each other, can best be 
shown by the combined pedigree chart which is here 
given. It is interesting to note that the two heifer calves 
of these cows sold at the same sale at the following fig¬ 
ures : “ Lass Edith 2d,” $825, to Moulton Bros., and 
“ Donnabel,” daughter of “ Myra 2d,” sold for $810, to J. 
Stillman. “Butter Boy,” the sire of these valuable young 
heifers, was also secured by Mr. Valentine. It is a mat¬ 
ter of congratulation that the animals of the “Alphea” 
strain were not widely scattered in the public sale, but 
were kept together as the foundation of a Jersey herd at 
Houghton Farm, which, under the supervision of Prof. 
Manly Miles, Mr. Valentine can reasonably hope to make 
of national reputation. The sale of the second day con¬ 
sisted largely of unregistered and grade animals, and was 
in marked contrast with that of the previous day, in the 
character of the animals and the prices at which they 
were sold, and the two days afford a striking illustration 
of the real money value of a noted pedigree. If some of 
our readers consider the prices paid for the cows and 
heifers as “ fancy,” and extravagantly high, we have only 
to say that the animals sold for what a company of shrewd 
and intelligent breeders considered them worth, and they 
were the result of sharp competition among men who are 
not given to paying more for things than they are really 
worth. The prices would indeed be “ fancy ” as the 
value of these as butter-making cows and heifers, but 
with them was bought the possibility of a long line of 
descendants, each of which can claim a share of “Alphea” 
blood. How valuable this blood is, the sale of the 
second day shows. Here good animals were offered, but 
they could not only not trate back to a strain of “Alphea” 
blood, but could not trace back at all, having no record. 
As a consequence, sixty-two cows, some of them excel¬ 
lent milkers, sold at an average of about $50 per head. 
DIAGRAM OF PEDIGREES OF “LASS EDITH” AND “MYRA 2d.” 
