1884.] 
AMERIOAl^ AGEIOULTUEIST. 
52' 
every day. If the plants are not frozen when snow 
falls, the glass .should be cleared of snow soon 
afterwards.... Spinach, kale, and onions, that are 
now in the ground, should have a moderate cov¬ 
ering of straw, bog hay, or leaves. Boots in pits, 
and celery in trenches, will need more covering up 
as the weather grows colder-Parsnips and sal¬ 
sify, if needed before spring, may be dug during 
the thaw that usually occurs this month, as also 
may horseradish... .It is poor economy to sow 
seeds of uncertain quality. Overhaul the stock on 
hand, and reject all that are doubtful. Determine 
what seeds are to be bought, and order them. 
While parsnips, onions, and a few other seeds are 
uticertain if not of the growth of the previous 
year, cucumbers, squashes, and all of that family, 
will remain good for many years... .Every source 
of manure supply should be watched, and nothing 
allowed to go to waste that will increase the value 
of the compost pile. The market gardener should 
be acquainted with all the manufactories in the 
vicinity, and ascertain the character of their refuse, 
with a view to securing it if of value... .Have all 
the implements in good working order. If any are 
beyond repair, procure new ones. Make all home¬ 
made appliances, such as markers, dibbles, etc. 
Secure labels, tying materials for bunching vege¬ 
tables, baskets, boxes for raising seedlings, etc., etc. 
Flowei* Gai'deH and ILiawii. 
But little can be done here save to prevent injury 
to trees, etc. Have the snow plow in motion soon 
after a storm, as the labor of opening paths is 
much less when the snow lies lightly. Evergreen 
trees and hedges are often injured by snow, which 
coliects in and breaks them. Shake or beat out 
accumulations of snow, before they harden. All 
proposed improvements in the grounds may be 
leisurely considered at this season, and if a plan of 
the grounds is made on paper, drawn to a scale, it 
will greatly facilitate doing the work next spring. 
Greenhouse and Window Garden. 
A sudden cold snap, or “ cold wave,” as it is now 
termed, is liable to come at any time during the 
winter, and must be guarded against, in the green¬ 
house. by attention to the fire, and in the dwelling 
by moving the plants away from the windows, to 
the middle of the i-oom... .Dryness of the air is the 
chief obstacle to successful window gardening. 
Plants succeed much better in the kitchen than in 
the parlors, as the air is charged with moisture 
from the cooking, etc. If the house is heated by 
a furnace, there should be a pan for evaporating 
water in the furnace, kept well supplied. If stoves 
are used, keep vessels of water on them.... Dust is 
injurious to plants. Much may be prevented from 
settling on the leaves by covering the plants with 
a light fabric whenever the rooms are swept. All 
smooth-leaved plants, like the ivy, camellias, etc., 
should have a weekly washing with a damp sponge. 
The others may be placed in a sink or bath tub, and 
given a thorough showering... .Water should be 
given as needed, whether daily or weekly. Do not 
water until the soil is somewhat dry. Keeping the 
earth constantly wet, soon makes unhealthy plants. 
Let the water be of the same temperature as the 
room. Hanging plants dry out rapidly. Plunge 
the pots or baskets in a pail or tub of water, and . 
after they have ceased to drip, return them to 
their places_The so-called green-fly, or plant 
louse, is easily killed by tobacco water. Apply this 
when of the color of weak tea. Red spider is very 
minute, and works on the lower sides of the leaves. 
When these turn brown, the spider may be sus¬ 
pected. Give frequent showers, laying the pot on 
the side, and apply water with the syringe. Seale 
insects, and mealy bug, are best treated by hand¬ 
picking, before they become numerous_Chry¬ 
santhemums, when through flowering, should have 
the stems cut away, and the pots of roots taken to 
the cellar... .The pots of bulbs which were placed 
in the cellar or in a pit, for roots to form, may be 
brought to the window, and as they grow, give an 
abundance of water. Jf needed, support the 
heavy flower spikes of hyacinths by a small stake. 
Bee Notes for December. 
Preparing for Another Se.vson.— The bees 
have now settled down for the winter, and should 
not be disturbed. Noiv is an excellent time 
to prepare for another season. Some dealers in 
supplies sell their wares at a discount during the 
winter; advantage .should be taken of this, and 
everything that will be needed another season order¬ 
ed in one lot. If the goods are sent as freight, the 
charge will be light. Build hives, cases, shipping- 
crates, etc., and make sections ; fill them with foun¬ 
dation ; place them in the cases, and pack every¬ 
thing snugly away for the next season. All this 
is pleasant work, if one has a neat, warm shop. 
Observatory Hives. —The engraving shows a 
single frame observatory hive, that the writer has 
several times exhibited at fairs, where it was con¬ 
stantly surrounded by an interested crowd. The 
hive revolves upon its stand, and can be turned in 
the direction to secure the best light, which greatly 
assists visitors in “ finding the queen.” The words 
were made by cutting out letters of gUt paper, and 
fastening them on with paste. In a hive of this 
kind, if the bees are allowed to fly, the queen can 
be seen depositing eggs, with workers always sur¬ 
rounding her, offering her food, and patting and 
caressing her with their antennae. The nurse bees 
may be observed feeding the larvae, which increase 
in size, until each nearly fills its cell, when the bees 
seal it over. The operation of sealing, and that of 
the young bees biting their way through the cap¬ 
pings, may be watched in such a hive. The young 
bees crawl forth as soft and downy as young 
chickens. Should the queen be removed, there 
could then be witnessed the building of queen 
an exhibition hive. 
cells, and, later on, the hatching of the young 
queens, and the royal combats that result in the 
‘‘survival of the fittest.” Except when upon ex¬ 
hibition, the glass sides of an observatory hive 
should be covered with wooden shutters, to exclude 
the light. To furnish the bees with an entrance, a 
hole can be bored down through the standard, 
lipon which the hive turns, and a tube connect¬ 
ed with it, and passing out through the side of the 
house. The bees will pass in and out through this. 
Apiarian Exhibits at Fairs.- —The most liberal 
premiums for Apiarian Exhibits offered at any fair 
in the country, have, of late, been those of the 
Michigan State Agricultural Society. As the result, 
Michigan has made the grandest display in this 
line ever seen in the United States. A large share 
of the preparations for a fine display at an apiarian 
exhibition can be made during the winter. A few 
hints are here given from the writer’s experience 
as an exhibitor: Articles that are liable to dam¬ 
age from “punching,” or “fingering,” should 
be shown under glass, likewise those that can 
be stolen. Comb-honey, packed in crates with 
glass sides, and piled up in the form of a pyramid, 
makes a fine display. Extracted honey shows to 
the best advantage stored in glass, and the vessels 
containing it built up in the form of a pyramid, or 
upon iiyramidal-shaped stands or shelves. If 
placed immediately in front of a window, its beauty 
is increased. Full colonies of bees should be 
shown in hives witli glass sides, and the whole sui- 
face, both above and below the combs, may be 
covered with wire cloth, and a space of three 
inches left between the combs and the wire cloth. 
The bees should be given a little water occasional¬ 
ly, and, if possible, allowed to fly near the close of 
day, as often as once in two or three days. Letter¬ 
ing the hives, as shown for the Observatory hive, 
will add to their beauty, and save answering the 
question, “ what kind of bees are these?” All ex¬ 
hibits, that require explanation, should have de¬ 
scriptive placards attached. It saves talking, and 
increases the educational value of the exhibition. 
Beeswax looks well molded in different sized 
vessels, then piled like a pyramid, the “peak” 
being surmounted by some fanciful object made of 
wax, as for example, an old-fashioned straw hive. 
To prevent cracking, large cakes of wax require 
cooling very slowly. Large articles, such as hives, 
comb foundation machines, honey extractors, etc., 
are shown upon a platform or table, but queen 
cages, honey knives, bee veils, and such small 
wares, had better be exhibited in a show case. 
Perhaps the most important work that can be done 
this winter, is to secure the offering of appropriate 
premiums. The executive boards of most Agricul¬ 
tural Societies will meet within the next two 
months, and if the. matter is properly brought be¬ 
fore them, they will be likely to make a revision 
of the list, and increase the amount of premiums 
offered for apiarian exhibits, to an amount cor¬ 
responding to the importance of the department. 
Cooking Food for Swine. 
The cost of pork is greatly lessened by cooking 
the food for the hogs. Wormy apples, small po¬ 
tatoes, etc., will pay handsomely for the trouble of 
cooking. It is the greatest fault of our pork prck- 
duction, that we feed corn almost exclusively. 
This motonous diet, rich in oil, must jeopardize 
health. It is as if a man ate nothing but fat meat 
or corn-bread. The value of cooked food does not 
depend altogether upon its nutritious contents. 
In cold weather much good is done by feeding 
hogs heated food. It warms up the body, and 
stimulates the digestive organs to vigorous action. 
It pays always to warm slops in cold weather. 
The main reason farmers do not feed more cooked 
food to their swine, is fancied labor and trouble of 
preparing it. A good utensil is a large iron kettle, 
swung upon two poles of sufficiently strong wood. 
The bail is removed, and a piece of chain, forming 
a loop a foot long, is passed through each eye of 
the kettle, and over the respective pole. The 
poles are placed on forked sticks, set in the ground. 
The poles should be parallel, and as far apart as are 
the eyes of the kettle. Place near the kettle a 
large, light trough, made of two-inch pine boards, 
which may be situated in a small lot separated 
from the hog lot by a fence with a small gate. 
Old broken fence rails make excellent, cheap 
fuel; they ignite readily, give a quick, hot fire, 
and soon die down. When the cooking is done, 
rake the fire to one side, and bring the trough par¬ 
tially under the kettle on that side from which the 
fire has been removed. Raise the pole from that 
side out of the crotches, and let it down. This will 
tilt the kettle on the edge of the trough, and most 
of the food will be deposited in it; the balance is 
easily scooped out with a board or pan. When 
only one pole is used, it is diffieult to get the 
cooked food into the trough. After the food has 
cooled sufficiently, open the gate in the fence, and 
let the hogs in to the feast. Managed in this 
way, the labor of cooking a kettle of food can be 
done in five minutes and the only expense of 
making the ration is a few pieces of old rails. 
