302 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
ground and appeared to be in tlie agonies of 
death, but after a time partially revived, but one 
side seemed to be wholly paralyzed. While I 
was considering my failure and commiserating 
the fate of the queen, I observed my first artifi¬ 
cial swarm to be in a state of the utmost confu¬ 
sion, running in every direction upon the out¬ 
side of their hive. Here is my explanation: 
their royal mistress had been out upon an excur¬ 
sion with the drones, and on returning missed 
the entrance of her own home, got upon the 
wrong hive and met the reception that the 
strangers thought was due to a rival of their 
own royal mistress. 
I returned her to her own hive, they received 
her with every mark of gladness, but the next 
day I found her near the entrance, so crippled 
that she could not ascend the side of the hive; 
and I placed her among the bees in the box. 
She lingered a few days longer and one morning 
I found her dead before the entrance, and the 
bees all in confusion, as is usual whenever they 
loose their queen. On examination, no eggs or 
young bees w 7 ere found in the combs, and I con¬ 
cluded my swarm was destined to a failure, un¬ 
less I could procure them another queen. So 
on the first day of July I took a queen cell from 
a neighboring hive, that had just swarmed, and 
put it next the glass on the edge of the sheet of 
comb, j ust pressing the edge of the comb around 
the rough edges of the cell, so as to hold it to its 
place. The bees at once appeared to compre¬ 
hend their acquisition, and paid the most assid¬ 
uous attention to the cell. I examined it two 
or three times daily; and on the morning of the 
seventh day of July, on lifting the cover I saw 7 
the mouth of the cell open; and on looking on 
the upper edge of the comb there stood her roy¬ 
al highness surrounded by several of her sub¬ 
jects, which from time to time extended their 
tongues and gently passed them over various 
parts of her body. For several days she appear¬ 
ed to make her headquarters near her cell where 
she had issued, as I saw her constantly on the 
same piece of comb. On the 15th of the month I 
saw the before-mentioned cells in several places 
containing eggs. On the 18th young larvae were 
distinctly visible. These cells w T ere some of them 
sealed over on the twenty-third. And now, 
August 2nd, the young bees are issuing quite 
speedily. I also saw 7 several issue yesterday. 
By the foregoing observations I think several 
facts are established : 
First :—Artificial swarms may be made, with 
entire success if taken in the proper season: 
Second :—The queen begins to deposit her 
eggs several days sooner than most authors 
have asserted. Issuing from her cell on the 7tli 
she began to lay eggs on the 15tlx at the latest— 
only eight days from her issue. Ten days has 
been the time generally allowed her. I think 
in this case it was but seven days; as I saw eggs 
quite plentifully early in the morning of the 15tli. 
Third .—The bee is matured much sooner than 
supposed by many: Eggs deposited on the 15th 
developed into the perfect bees by the 2nd day of 
August—giving but the interval of eighteen 
days at most. A high temperature may have 
produced the difference; but it would seem that 
this will hardly account for it. 
Mr. Quinby says, “ she will begin to deposit 
eggs in about ten days, possibly a little less;” 
this would have brought the time up to the 17th. 
Then allow twenty days—the shortest time he 
gives—for maturing, and it would be the Gtli of 
August, lengthening the term by just one fourth. 
’ejfe. son Co., Iowa. E. L. BlUGGS. 
Chapter on Hedges. 
In answer to many inquiries we give here¬ 
with in as condensed a form as the subject ad¬ 
mits, the main points needing attention in suc¬ 
cessful hedge-growing, with illustrations. 
In the first place, much care should be given 
to the cleaning and preparation of the soil along 
the proposed line. If large trees or shrubs grow 
in the immediate neighborhood, they should be 
removed. Hedge-plants may, indeed, live and 
grow under the drip of trees; but as they are 
thereby deprived of abundant light and dew and 
rain, and are robbed at their roots of much need¬ 
ful food, they cannot grow as vigorously as those 
in the open air. If, then, one desires a good 
hedge, and one of uniform strength and beauty 
throughout the whole line, he must get rid of 
surrounding trees and bushes. 
Then, the ground must be cultivated and en¬ 
riched. Lay off a track, say five feet w T ide, plow 
or spade it, according to circumstances. Any 
part of the soil less fertile than the rest, should 
receive more manure. The ground should be 
brought into uniform richness, so that the 
plants will grow with uniform strength all along 
the hedge—a matter of great importance. 
The next thing is buying and setting the plants. 
Buckthorn, Osage Orange, Privet and the like, 
can be bought at the leading nurseries, for from 
four to six dollars a thousand for yearling plants. 
If one is in no haste, and wishes to practice 
economy, let him raise his own plants from seed. 
When ready to plant, see that the ground is 
clean and in fine tilth, stretch a line along the 
middle of the border, and dig a trench about ten 
inches deep, and as many wide. Cut back the 
plants to two buds, and clip the ends of the 
coarsest roots. Set the plants eight or ten inch¬ 
es apart, and exactly on the line. Weak plants 
should be rejected, and only those of uniform 
strength set out. 
If the hedge is to be made of evergreen plants, 
the same care should be used in preparing the 
soil, but with this difference, that no manure 
should be worked into it within six months of 
planting time. Set them carefully on a line, and 
at such distance apart that the ends of the 
branches will just touch each other. In a few 
years, they will interlock. Cut in the tops and 
the side branches, and mulch the roots with 
leaves, laying on a few stones. 
Both deciduous and evergreen hedges should 
have the ground kept clear of weeds the first 
Summer, and in the Fall, or in the following 
Spring, the soil should have a dressing of manure. 
For evergreens, the manure may well consist of 
leached ashes, chip-dirt, or rotten leaves, though 
old barn manure is often used with advantage. 
Tlie Second Year .—If any plants (we now refer 
to deciduous plants) failed to grow, last season, 
or started quite feebly, they should now be re¬ 
placed. At this time, also, go over the entire 
row, and trim down to about four inches of the 
ground. Give the border a good cleaning, and 
work in the old manure. 
Throughout the Sum¬ 
mer, keep down all 
weeds. If the plants 
make a very rampant 
growth, they may have 
a second pruning in Au¬ 
gust, but this we do not 
recommend. In Au¬ 
tumn, it is well to apply a little manure. 
The Third Year .—In the Spring, before the buds 
start, give the annual pruning, cutting back 
half the previous year’s growth. Cut most se¬ 
verely at the top, and bear lightly on the lower 
shoots. The hedge is now, we will suppose, a 
foot or eighteen inches high. This is slow pro¬ 
gress, some will think, but it is rapid enough. 
The most important part of our work is done, 
for we have got a good base to our pyramid, 
broad and strong. The roots are strong and the 
branches are filled with stout buds, and a multi¬ 
tude of them. These 
buds will break vigor¬ 
ously on every side, 
during the Summer, and 
make a growth of at 
least two feet. Keep tho 
ground well hoed during 
the season. For an ever 
green hedge, the prun 
ing will be less severe. 
The Fourth Year .—Proceed with the usual 
Spring shearing, taking off about half of the last 
year’s growth. Be sure to leave the bottom 
branches a little longer than the top, aiming al¬ 
ways to keep the hedge in the general shape of 
a tall bee-hive, fig. 1. The practice of some, to 
train their hedges into the shape of a box, flat- 
topped and square-sided, (fig. 2,) and of others 
to cut them to a sharp peak and with a broad 
shoulder, (fig. 3,) is very objectionable. These 
forms are stiff and unnatural, and hard to pre¬ 
serve from year to year. After the fourth season, 
the hedge may be sheared twice a year, say in 
June and September, allowing it to gain eight 
inches or a foot, annually, 
until it has reached the 
desired hight and size. 
As a general rule, five 
feet is a good hight, 
though fora garden en¬ 
closure to break off cold 
Fig. 3. winds, six feet would be 
better. After the hedge 
has reached its destined elevation, it must be 
sheared often, and not allowed to gain more 
than an inch annually. And once in four or 
five years, it must be cut back to the original 
point of five or six feet. In a. locality suited 
to its#growtli, a hedge so planted and trained, 
will make a living wall of verdure, from the 
ground to the top, unbroken, symmetrical, and 
every way satisfactory. Unlike our common 
wood fences, it will not rot, nor be thrown 
over by the wind, nor heaved out by frost: it 
will need no painting or mending. Give it an 
annual shearing, and it will last a long life-time. 
The Best Hedge Plants. 
The great difficulty with us heretofore, has 
been, to get a suitable hedge plant. The haw¬ 
thorn, so famous in England, does not answer 
as well in our arid and cold climate. We have 
several other plants that make a fine ornament 
al screen, but not more than one or two that 
will make a hedge strong enough and thorny 
enough to repel vicious cattle, including the two- 
legged sort. Yet it deserves mention, that 
some of these thornless plants, if well cut back 
at the start, and made dense and stiff from the 
ground, and carried up to five or six feet in 
hight, will sometimes answer for protecting 
hedges. For if cattle can not see through a 
hedge, they will seldom try to break through it. 
The Privet. ( Ligu-strum vulgare.) — This is a 
beautiful shrub, and thickens up well when 
trained for a hedge. It is easily propagated from 
cuttings, grows fast, the foliage is a lively green, 
showered over in spring with an abundance of 
small white flowers, and it holds its leaves until 
about mid-winter. It has no thorns. North of 
Fig. 1. 
Fig. 2. 
