AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
7 
mic in length, will furnish 20 or 30 loads of good 
muck annually. Doctor. 
West Norwalk, Conn., Dec. 9, 1857. 
The Corn Stealer in a Trap. 
The following story though an old one, is, like 
many other old things, none the worse for wear. 
We read this, or a very similar story, when but 
a boy, and it left a very lasting impression. The 
moral is a most excellent one, and the perusal of 
it by the reader, whether for the first, second, or 
the tenth time, will do him no harm. 
A man had been in the habit of stealing corn 
from his neighbor, who was a Quaker. Every 
night he would go softly to the crib and fill his 
bag with the ears which the good old Quaker’s 
toil had placed there. Every morning the old 
gentleman observed a diminution of his corn 
pile. This was annoying, and must be stopped— 
but how 1 Many a one would have said, take a 
gun, conceal yourself, wait till he comes and fire.” 
Others would have said, “ Catch the villain, and 
have him sent to jail.” 
Put the Quaker was not prepared to enter into 
any such severe measures. He wanted to punish 
the offender, and at the same time bring 
about his reformation if possible. So he fixed a 
sort of trap close to the hole through which the 
man would thrust his arm in getting the corn. 
The wicked neighbor proceeded on his unholy 
errand at the hour of midnight with a bag in hand. 
Unsuspectingly, lie thrust his hand into the crib to 
seize an ear, when lo ! he found himself unable 
to withdraw it 1 In vain he tugged, and pulled, 
and alternately cried and cursed. His hand was 
fast and every effort to release it only made it the 
more secure. After the tumult in his breast had 
measurably subsided, he gave over his useless 
struggles, and began to look around him. All 
was silence and repose. Good men were sleep¬ 
ing comfortably in their beds, while he was com¬ 
pelled to keep a dreary disgraceful watch through 
the remainder of that long and tedious night, his 
hand in constant pain from the pressure of the 
clamp which held it. His tired limbs compelled 
to sustain his weary body, fain would have sunk 
beneath him, and his heavy eyes would have 
dosed in slumber, hut no ! there was no rest for 
him. There he must stand and watch the pro¬ 
gress of the night, and at once desire and dread 
the return of morning. Morning came at last, 
and the Quaker looked out of his window, and 
found he had “ caught a man.” 
What was to be done 1 “ some would say, “ Go 
out and give him a good cowhiding just as he 
stands, and then release him ; that’ll cure him.” 
But no, said the Quaker. Such a course would 
have sent him away embittered, and muttering 
curses of revenge. The good old man hurried 
on his clothes, and started at once to the relief 
and punishment of his prisoner. 
“ Good morning, friend, said he, as he came 
within speaking distance. “ How does thee do.” 
The poor culprit made no answer, but burst in¬ 
to tears. 
“ 0 fie,” said the Quaker, as he proceeded to 
release him. “ I’m sorry thee has got thy hand 
fast. Thee put it in the wrong place, or it would 
not have been so.” 
The man looked crest fallen, and begging for¬ 
giveness, hastily turned to make his retreat.— 
“ Stay,” said his persecutor—for he was now be¬ 
coming such to the offender, who could have re¬ 
ceived a blow with much better grace than the 
kind words that were falling from the Quaker’s 
lips—“stay friend, thy bag is not filled. Thee 
needs corn, or thee would not have taken so much 
pains to get it. Come, let us fill it.” And the 
poor fellow was obliged to stand and hold the bag 
while the old man filled it, interspersing the ex¬ 
ercises with the pleasantest conversation im¬ 
aginable—all of which were like daggers in the 
heart of his chagrined and mortified victim. The 
bag was filled, the siring tied, and the sufferer 
hoped soon to he out of the presence of his tor¬ 
mentor but again his purpose was thwarted. 
“ Stay, said the Quaker, as the man was about 
to hurry off having muttered once more his 
apologies and thanks. “ Stay, Ruth has break¬ 
fast ere this ; thee must not think of going with¬ 
out breakfast. Come, Ruth is calling !” 
This was almost unendurable. This was ‘heap¬ 
ing coals’ with a vengeance ! In vain the mor¬ 
tified neighbor begged to be excused ; in vain he 
pleaded to be released from what would be to 
him a punishment ten times more severe than 
stripes and imprisonment. The Quaker was 
inexorable, and he was obliged to yield. 
Breakfast over, “ Now,” said the old farmer, as 
he helped the victim to shoulder the bag, “ If thee 
needs any more corn, come in the day time, and 
thee shall have it.” 
With what shame and remorse did the guilty 
man turn from the dwelling of the pious Quaker ! 
Every body is ready to say that he never again 
troubled the Quaker’s com crib. I have some¬ 
thing still better than that to tell you. He at once 
repented and reformed, and my informant tells 
me that he afterwards heard him relate, in an ex¬ 
perience meeting, the substance of the story I 
have related, and he attributed his conversion un¬ 
der God’s blessing, to the course the Quaker had 
pursued, to arrest him in his downward course. 
----»«■«—-- «-- 
Taking Honey to Market in Glass Boxes. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
My Honey Boxes are essentially like those de¬ 
scribed by Mr. Quinby, but the best I can do is to 
get about one-fourth of them to Chicago—my 
nearest market—with the honey unbroken. 1 
would like to , ask the best mode of packing the 
boxes to prevent breaking the honey. My bees do 
well here. R. M. Rose. 
Berrian County, Mich., Dec. 3, 1857. 
We submitted the above to Mr. Quinby, and 
received the following 
REPLY. 
The plan that we have adopted here is probably 
as good as any for water conveyance. All our 
carting is done on springs. The jolting of a wag¬ 
on is more sideways than endways, and as the 
combs will bear more wrenching lengthwise than 
sidewise, we pack them, as far as possible, so that 
the combs shall stand across the wagon while ri¬ 
ding. Cases are made that will each hold glass 
boxes enough to contain about 100 pounds of 
honey. Good handles are fastened to the ends of 
the cases. The glass boxes are packed closely 
to prevent sliding, and set in bottom upwards. The 
cases, when moved, are carried and carefully set 
down, not dragged or shoved about. 
Getting honey to a distant market is a precarious 
operation, and water conveyance is undoubtedly 
the best, consequently we patronize the canal in¬ 
stead of the railroad. But perhaps Mr. Rose can 
not avail himself of water conveyance. Railroad 
hands have such a knack of “ throwing things ” 
which ought to be quietly carried, that whenever 
honey combs come in contact with them, it is 
quite sure to change to drained honey. Yet I 
think if packed as above, and cartful handling se¬ 
cured, that it might be safely taken on the cars, 
especially if accompanied by the owner. It will 
not do to say to hands “ be carefulthey cannot 
be made to realize how easily honey is spoiled by 
striking it against something else, or setting it 
down too hard. Let some one that understands 
the matter be along to take one end of the case 
whenever it is moved. M. Quinby. 
-- • . Tin ea Ifr EBr .. I H 
Humber of Bees in a Swarm. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
In the article “Wonders of the Bee-Hive,” 
page 285 of the December Agriculturist, it is said: 
“ The number of hees in an ordinary swarm, may 
be estimated by actual weight. It has been found 
by experiment that a pound of bees contains about 
five thousand ; and if one knows the weight of 
the hive in which he has put a new swarm, he 
can easily calculate the number of bees. * * It 
is to be noticed, however, that a new swarm on 
going from the old hive, is heavily loaded with 
honey, and if no allowance were made for this, 
the estimate of numbers would be too large.” 
Now in this “ allowance,” there appears to be a 
difficulty. What portion of the weight of a swarm 
is allowed as honey 1 A first swarm, leaving on a 
warm day, will be quite a different affair by weight 
with another of equal number, issuing on a cool 
day. In the latter case, nearly all will come from 
the interior of the hive, well filled with honey ; in 
the other, a great many bees will have been on 
the outside for hours, if not days previous to leav¬ 
ing, and consequently, carry but little honey. 
Now unless the writer can give us some rule to 
separate the weight of bees from the honey, I see 
but little use in guessing at the number, by the 
weight. M. Q. 
Remarks. 
Our correspondent asks a very interesting 
question which we are not prepared to answer. 
Careful observation alone can decide upon the 
weight of honey which 20,000 bees can carry. 
The opinion of M. Quinby, as expressed in his 
“ Mysteries of Bee-Keeping Explained,” is, that 
“a large swarm will probably carry with them 
some five or six pounds of honey from the parent 
stockbut he adds “ 1 only guess at this, be¬ 
cause I am uncertain what the bees weigh exact¬ 
ly.” 
And by the way, in turning to his treatise, we 
notice that he had observed a fact mentioned in 
our November number, supposed at first to be an 
original discovery with ourselves, viz.: that 
in small families the queen sometimes lays sev¬ 
eral eggs in a single cell. 
Whence comes the Cut Worm ?—A 
Question to be Answered 
To the Editor of the American A gricultnrist. 
Whence comes the cut worm, which is so de- 
stuctive to corn and potatoes, and especially to 
to the tobacco crop 1 The question w’as sug 
gested by the following fact: A piece of ground, 
plowed eariy, with the intention of a second 
plowing, received instead a thorough harrowing, 
which, owing to the ground being very wet at the 
time, packed the soil so tightly as to make it diffi¬ 
cult to hill it, and the harrowing was discontinued. 
The remainder of the piece, having similar soii 
and treatment, otherwise, was plowed in the 
course of a day or two, which left it mellow and 
light. 
Now what had this to do with the worms 
which, on the plowed piece, cut down nearly every 
plant, at least once ; and on most of the piece, a 
half-a-dozen times; while on the portion har¬ 
rowed, and thereby packed, very few plants re. 
quired resetting. Subscriber, 
Cromwell, Conn., Dec. 14th 1867 
