AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
269 
a new country, far awav from our native land, we 
are apt to look back to the days of our childhood, 
while “distance lends enchantment to the view,” 
and we fancy that many things, which we left 
behind us, if only in our possession now, as then, 
would be superior to what we have ; but a trial 
would only convince us that many of them are 
illy adapted to our new wants and conditions. 
Care of the Health of the Horse, 
We refer now, not to any special management 
of horses in particulai cases, but to the ordinary, 
daily care which they require. Were this noble 
animal properly cared for every day, there would 
be little need of any special treatment. As 
it is, horses are continually ailing; it is al¬ 
most impossible to buy one that is perfectly sound. 
In the general management of the horse, it 
is very important to secure him a plenty of fresh 
air. Neither man nor beast can enjoy health 
while inhaling corruption at every breath. And 
yet, most stables are built with little regard to 
this important matter. They are low, contracted, 
close and hot, with scarcely any means of venti¬ 
lation. The urine and dung are allowed to lie 
upon the floor mixed with litter, and, fermenta¬ 
tion setting in very soon, a pungent and unwhole¬ 
some gas is emitted which pervades the whole 
stable. Who has not perceived this on entering 
a barn, especially in the morning 1 The heat and 
odor are sometimes so powerful as almost to 
stifle one’s breath. It is no wonder that horses 
occupying such stalls, should suffer from inflamed 
eyes, chronic cough, diseased lungs and glanders. 
The only surprise is, that they can endure such 
barbarous treatment, as long as they do, with so 
great impunity. 
Every stable, then, should be well ventilated. 
The stalls should not be boarded up tight from 
floor to ceiling, but left open from four to four 
and-a-half feet upward. There should be some 
means for introducing fresh air in the neighbor¬ 
hood of the stalls. It should not be through a 
window blowing directly on the horse, but at 
some little distance from him. Then, there should 
be an opening in the roof of the stable through 
which the foul and heated air can escape. Be¬ 
tween this ventilator at the top and the aperture 
in the lower part of the building, a constant cir¬ 
culation will be kept up; but neither one will 
work efficiently without the other. 
It is generally considered inexpedient to occu¬ 
py the loft directly over the stalls, with hay. The 
foul vapors rising night and day mix with the hay 
and make it unpalatable and unwholesome. 
Many insist even that the ceiling above the stalls 
should be plastered. The floor overhead should 
at least be battened tight to prevent the dropping 
of seeds and dust upon the hair and into the eyes 
of the horse. But if this is done, some means 
should be provided for the free escape from the 
stall of had air and the introduction of that which 
is fresh and wholesome. 
One important means of securing good air in 
stables is to keep them scrupulously clean. Some 
persons allow dung to accumulate for several days, 
and many clear it out only once a day. It is 
absurd to expect pure air where fermentation and 
putrefaction are going forward. All manure and 
wet litter should be swept out twice a day, and 
means should be provided for the passing away 
of urine. The floor of the stall should have a 
slight inclination, allowing the water to run off 
into a gutter; or if any object to this, they should 
frequently strew their stable floors with saw-dust, 
tan-bark, or plaster. Dr. Dadd observes : “The 
bedding which,according to long custom, is stowed 
under the crib, there acting as a sort of noxious 
smelling bottle to the horse’s nostrils, should be 
spread out in the open air, and sorted ; the refuse 
and excrements removed to a dung heap located 
as far from the stable as possible ; for the com¬ 
mon manure receptacle, under the stable floor, is 
one of tbe worst features of stable economy. 
The stable floor should be washed clean as often 
as circumstances permit.” 
Remarks upon. “Notes on Honey Bees.” 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist : 
S. C. Mendenhal, gives some “ Notes on 
the Honey Bees,” in the August number of the 
Agriculturist , page 237, that are so out of the usual 
routine of their doings, that they would seem to 
require some remarks, even if I were not called 
upon by name for ‘‘explana 
tion.” The incidents rdated 
are certainly very remarka¬ 
ble, and so many are together 
that I find myself wishing 
that I was assured that there 
was no mistake about it. As¬ 
suming that this matter is 
fact, that the comb of that 
old “ gum ” was really 25 
years old, (it must have been 
tough as well as black,) we 
might expect it to be as des¬ 
cribed ; he concludes the par¬ 
agraph by asking, “ Does not 
this prove that bees degener¬ 
ate in size, if old brood combs 
are used V’ and thus inti¬ 
mates, that somebody had 
said they would not. I have 
known combs half that age 
to be used for brood, and the 
bees bred in them could not be 
distinguished from those 
reared in new combs ! But 
this does not prove that cells 
used twenty-five years, are 
not too small. The cell is 
at first a little larger than 
really needed ; but each young bee reared, leaving 
a cocoon, would in time fill it, however large the 
cell, or thin the lining. But what I contend for 
is that the cells do not fill up as fast as the inter¬ 
est of the majority of our patent venders leads 
them to represent, and therefore the renewal of 
combs, because of the cells becoming too small, 
is unnecessary, short of eight or ten years. 
The writer’s next item is in relation to swarms 
leaving before clustering, and he asks for a 
“ remedy.” This happens so seldom with us, that 
I had not thought of it Since writing the 
work on bees in 1853, I have had five years fur¬ 
ther experience, making the whole time thirty 
years ; and during this time, such an occurrence 
has never happened with me, although the 
chances have been somewhat numerous. As for 
a remedy for those who are losers in this way ; 
I would say that it has been remarked that “ very 
good attention to the bees would lead them to ex¬ 
pect a tenement to be provided when needed, and 
they would take no pains to look up one.” I 
would at least recommend this attention, as some¬ 
thing likely to pay in several ways—it is an im¬ 
portant item in bee keeping. 
The last item relative to the piping of the queen, 
is still more unusual. My printed remarks on that 
part are fully confirmed by subsequent experience. 
On the average, the queen will not commence 
piping in more than one stock in fifty, before the 
first swarm. That they should do so in two out 
of three of Mr. Ms. neighbor’s, is quite possible ; 
but I suspect there has been some mistake. Mr. 
M. further says, “ In a swarm that has been out 
four days, I last evening heard the queen piping 
when I was twenty feet from the hive.” This is 
a circumstance so very extraordinary (piping in a 
new swarm) that I would like to inquire as to the 
position of said swarm relative to the old stocks, 
whether near or otherwise ; whether at the dis¬ 
tance of 20 feet, it was not possible for the piping 
(heard at that distance) to proceed from one of 
the old stocks, the one for instance, that had sent 
out said four-days-old-swarm ; it seems that two 
of three were piping before the first swarm. 
If these things can be substantiated as facts, 
(leaving no chance to doubt,) they are worthy of 
notice, as forming exceptions to general rules. 
St. Johngville, N. Y. M. Quihbv. 
