B64 
AMEEIOAInT ageioeltueist. 
[SePTEMBEP.; 
acre, does no harm, unless you want to sell the 
hay. For your own use, especially if the hay is 
chaffed and mixed with meal, or mill-feed, rye and 
Timothy, cut before the rye gets ripe, make excel¬ 
lent and economical fodder for horses.” 
“ There ;s one thing,” said the Doctor, “ that our 
farmers are doing that is highly to be commended. 
Our roads are many of them four rods wide. 
Formerly when we did not know where else to put 
stones, brash, and weeds, they were dumped into 
the road. Now the practice is becoming quite 
general of turnpiking the road in the centre, 
drawing on more or less gravel, and keeping it 
smooth by the use of the road-scraper, and plow¬ 
ing and sowing the remaining land on each side.” 
I have seen the best of wheat growing close up 
to the traveled road, and the best of clover and 
grass the next year. It has a remarkably neat and 
thrifty appearance, adds greatly to the beauty of 
the country through which the roads run, and 
to the actual and selling value of the farms. 
A Sliding Measuring-Rod. 
The engraving represents a convenient device 
for measuring in places where a long pole can not 
be used. To make this measure, take a three-inch 
strip of straight-grained timber (hard-wood is best), 
and out of the center cut a slot with a rip-saw, an 
inch wide, running from the top, to within six 
A MEASURING ROD. 
inches of the bottom. Saw out a “ tongue ” to lit 
snugly into this slot, and mark the scale of inches 
and feet upon one side. If a twelve-foot pole is 
desired, make the piece containing the slot six and 
one-half feet long, and the tongue live and one- 
half feet. To hold the tongue in place, and keep 
the sides from separating, narrow zinc strips are 
fastened around the whole, but not so tightly as to 
prevent the tongue from working freely. These 
strips are marked a, a, in the cut, b representing a 
small thumb-screw to be turned against and hold 
the tongue, after it has been placed at the proper 
bight. As the length of the slot-piece is known, 
the measurement of an object is obtained by ad¬ 
ding the slot-piece length to the number of feet 
and inches indicated by the scale on the tongue 
at the point where it enters the slot. 
Autumn Care of Meadow Land. 
Meadows should not be closely grazed at any 
time, and especially not in the fall. They need to 
have fertilizing materials added to instead of taken 
from the soil. Young animals are much more in¬ 
jurious than mature ones, while full-grown stock 
that are being fattened, and are fed rich grain 
rations, may by their droppings add materially to 
the fertility of the soil. Young-growing stock 
withhold a large share of the potash, phosphoric 
acid, and nitrogen of the food to build up their 
bodies, leaving the manure comparatively poor. 
On the other hand mature fattening animals need 
very little of these three chief elements of soil 
fertility. Aside from the loss of jilaut-food, the 
close feeding of stock on meadow land does me¬ 
chanical damage. If the soil is soft, the feet of 
the animals injure it, and the close grazing pulls 
much of the grass up by the roots. Meadows, like 
winter grains, are injured by freezing and thawing, 
and the plants need to be in a vigorous condition 
in late fall, with a good growth of after-math for 
protection from the frosts, winds, etc. Well-rotted 
manure applied to the meadows as a top-dressing, 
will strengthen the plants and insure a flue crop 
the next season. Tbis application is best when 
made soon after the hay is removed. Later in the 
season much of the soluble material is washed out 
of the soil by the fall rains. Quick-acting manures 
should be used in the growing season, otherwise 
loss is sustained. Take good care of the meadows, 
for they suffer greatly if abused. They are easily 
and often injured by animals in late autumn. 
Bee Notes for September. 
W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 
If a few bees are seen entering the hive, it should 
be examined. Perhaps from some cause the colony 
is queeuless ; and unless proper attention be given, 
its stores will soon fall a prey to the bee-moths’ 
larvae, or to robbers. In localities where buck¬ 
wheat or other field forage is abundant, bees some¬ 
times swarm in the early part of September. By 
hiving such swarms, giving them sheets of comb 
foundation or empty combs, and jierhaps supply¬ 
ing them with a frame or two of brood, they will 
usually build up fair colonies by winter, and will 
frequently be found among the best the succeeding 
year. Honey is a luxury. Many people do not go 
to the grocer expressly to buy honey, and only 
purchase it when seen. Comb honey is usually 
placed in a side glass case; and extracted honey 
too frequently is kept out of sight. Bee-keepers 
would do well to furnish each grocer with a neat 
stand, upon which to expose his extracted honey 
for sale. Nearly all extracted honey will soon be¬ 
gin to crystallize or “ candy,” and it should be 
placed in vessels in which it is to be stored. The 
writer markets his honey in small tin pails, varj'- 
iiig in size from one pint to two quarts. These are 
filled with honey just as it begins to crystallize, 
and when solid, the pails have neat labels affixed, 
stating that crystallization is a good test of purity, 
and that a gentle heat will soon liquify the honey. 
The present month is an excellent time to change 
the stock of bees. The main honey harvest is 
over, and if the colony remains queenless a few 
days, the loss is not great. The best queens are 
reardd during the hight of the honey season, and 
can be bought very cheaply. Purchase queens of 
the nearest reliable breeders, as long journeys by 
mail often exhaust them of their vitality to an in¬ 
jurious extent. Queens need to be vigorous. 
Fall Feeding. — In the Middle States fall- 
feeding should usually be finished by October 1st, 
in order that the food may be ripened and seal¬ 
ed before cold weather comes. Granulated sugar, 
or “ confectioners’ A” are the least likely to be 
adulterated. The best way to secure pure sugar is 
through some reliable candy manufacturer. To 
prepare the syrup, add one quart of water to four 
pounds of sugar. Heat the mixture to boiling, 
and skim. Let the feeding be done as rapidly as 
possible, so that the bees will not be thereby stimu¬ 
lated to undue breeding. 
A Bee-feeder. — An excellent bee-feeder is 
shown in the engraving. The feeder is as large as 
the top of the hive. The sides are four inches 
high, and made of well-seasoned half-inch pine 
boards. The bottom of the feeder is one inch 
A bee-feeder. 
in thickness. A division-board, c, is fitted within 
the feeder about two inches from the right side, 
and extends upwards from the bottom board 
(to which it is joined), to within three-eighths 
inch of the top. The heads of the nails holding 
this board in place can be easily seen. The bees 
crawl up in the space between this division-board 
and 'the top of the feeder; then over the top of 
the division-board, and pass into the apartment 
containing the food. Another division-board, e, ex¬ 
tends from the top of the feeder to within one- 
eighth inch of the bottom-board. When the feeder 
is in position upon the hive, the cover is moved 
back until its edge is even with the top of the di¬ 
vision-board, e, when the food is poured into the 
space between the division-board and the board 
forming the outside of the feeder. The food passes 
under the division-board, and rises in the centre 
apartment of the feeder to which the bees have 
access. After the feeder is filled, the cover is 
drawn hack to its original position. To give the 
bees a foothold, the center apartment is filled with 
little slats of wood one-fourth inch thick, and wide 
enough to reach within one-fourth inch of the 
bottom. These slats, the upper edges of which 
can be seen at /, are held in position by two rows 
of small wooden posts slipped down between them. 
These posts, the tops of which can be seen at g, g, 
are three-eighths-inch thick, and rest upon the bot¬ 
tom. The slats are tacked to the posts. The- 
joints of the feeder are made water-tight by paint¬ 
ing the edges of the boards with white lead, before 
nailing them together. With this feeder there is 
no escape of heat; no daubing of bees; no ex¬ 
posure of the food to incite robbing; and no bees 
escape from the colony when tilling the feeder. 
The bees can take the food very rapidly, and a 
large amount of it may be given at one feeding. 
Prepare for the Fairs. 
Go to your fair, whether it be the State Fair, or 
that of the County, and by all means exhibit some¬ 
thing. It will be safe for those, who propose to 
exhibit fruits and vegetables at the coming fairs, 
to assume that no provision will be made for them 
and to prepare before-hand. Common store boxes, 
such as may be had at a very small cost, can eac h 
be converted into two or three trays or flats. These, 
however rough they may be, by lining with cheap,, 
white paper, will serve for the display of fruits. 
If lined merely with moss or freshly cut grass, 
they will serve for showing vegetables. If the 
premium schedule calls for a bushel or half bushel 
of potatoes or of apples, etc., these may bo ex¬ 
hibited in receptacles made by cutting a half-barrel 
in two, and lining each tub thus made with white 
paper. Help decorate the “Floral Hall,” the place 
in which the products of the garden are usually 
shown. Young evergreens are always welcome. 
Such trees, taken up from pastures or the edges of 
the woods, and set in nail-kegs with soil, will last 
as long as may be required, and greatly add to 
the general effect of the display of vegetables. 
-- 
Rainfall and Distribution of our Grains. 
Over ninety-two per cent of our wheat is grown 
where the annual rainfall is above twenty-five inch¬ 
es ; sixty-two per cent where it is between thirty- ' 
five and fifty inches, and over twenty-eight per cent 
with an annual rainfall of forty to forty-five inches. 
The important wheat region of California has less 
than twenty-five inches annual rainfall, but the 
rains come at the most favorable time for the grain. 
Nearly half of all our wheat is grown where the 
rainfall during the growing season is not over 
twenty-five inches. Over sixty-five per cent of all 
our Indian corn grows where the spring and sum¬ 
mer rains do not exceed twenty-eight inches, and 
ninety-eight per cent where it is between fifteen and 
thirty inches during the growing season. Corn is 
emphatically a hot weathei- plant, and will not- 
thrive in Europe, w'here the summers have less- 
bright sunshine, though the rainfall seems more 
favorable than in this country. Four-fifths of the 
national oat crop is grown where the mean annual 
rainfall is between thirty and forty inches, and 
the spring and summer rains range between fifteen 
and twenty-five inches. Oats like a cooler climate 
than corn. Barley has the widest range of climate 
of all cereals, and the greatest production is with 
an annual rainfall of fifteen to twenty inches— 
much less than that required by other grains. IVe 
are apt to overlook the importance of clouds when 
harvesting a crop, and even think rains a great in¬ 
convenience; yet without them during the growing 
season there would have been no golden grain. 
