10 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[JANUARY, 
form a complete hive. The past season I have increased 
my stock about 60, using only the closed end frames 
without the outside case or hive. 
With the hanging frame, if you desire to use only one 
frame to rear a queen, a hive must be used to hold the 
frame. Another advantage is manifest when we come to 
place the hives in winter quarters. Only the frames 
need be removed to the winter repository, which renders 
the package light, and easily handled. 
Hives that will accommodate the requisite number of 
boxes in a good season—or the necessary supply of 
frames for extracting, must certainly be unwieldy to han¬ 
dle, and occupy too much space. Hives with hanging 
frames cannot be handled without the outer case, and if 
a special one is made for winter packing, it involves un¬ 
necessary outlay. Then, too, when bees are removed to 
their winter quarters, it is very important that all about 
them be dry. It will easily be seen that when the case is 
left on the summer stand, no snow or dampness can have 
touched the frames. 
Straight Combs.— Our correspondent asks again: “Is 
it as easy to secure straight combs in the hanging as 
standing frames, and if so, should the bottom of the 
hanging frame be held in place, as described in Mr. Q.’s 
book Straight combs may be secured as easily in one 
as the other. Frames in all hives should be held firmly 
in place by some device or other. No hive with frame 
banging loosely would be practicable to handle. 
Roofs.—A good roof for each hive is indispensable, 
and the winter months afford ample time to make and 
Fig. 3.— SLOPING ROOF TO HIVE. 
paint them well. The one shown in figure 3 is in most 
general use, yet the other, figure 4, is, for some reasons, 
preferable. The roof described in fig. 4 is made as follows; 
cut three cleats, o, 6 in. longer than the width of the hive. 
Then cut J-in. boards, 6, 6 in. longer than the depth of 
the hive from front to rear. Nail the boards to the cleats 
as shown in the cut, placing the middle cleat about one- 
third of the distance from one end, and nail battens, c, 
over the cracks. This will makq a roof projecting three 
inches over all sides of the hive. It will be seen that the 
middle cleat will rest on the hive near the front, and the 
rear one will hang over the back of the hive, giving the 
roof the desired slant. This form of roof is adapted to 
all styles of hives, but especially to those that are broad¬ 
er than deep, while that 6hown in fig. 3 is better for long 
and narrow hives, and carries the water off at tbe sides. 
With this style of roof, the water may all be carried to 
the rear of the hive. In case of a sudden dash of rain, 
Fig. 4.—ELAT KOOF TO HIVE. 
when bees return hastily to their hive, they are not hin¬ 
dered by tbe dripping of the water before their entrance. 
When to Purchase Bees.— Mrs. A. N. N., of Rock¬ 
ford, Ill., asks: “ Would it be preferable for me to pur¬ 
chase bees at this season, or in early spring I always 
advise purchasing bees in spring. Beginners, especially, 
should purchase at that time. 
Ogden Farm Papers—No. 83. 
BY GEORGE E. WARINO, JR. 
Frequent reports have recently been made con¬ 
cerning “Prickly Comfrey” as being a valuable 
plant for soiling cattle, yielding an enormous 
amount of green forage (said sometimes to exceed 
one hundred tons per acre), the leaves being re¬ 
moved from time to time during the season. It is 
a native of the Caucasus Mountains, and withstands 
the coldest climates. Analysis shows these green 
leaves to contain more than 10 per cent of nutritious 
matters, which is certainly a very high pijoportion— 
as much as the beet and cabbage. It is highly 
commended as a forage plant in England, and has 
been introduced with success in this country. Not 
only does it withstand extreme cold, but it seems 
to thrive remarkably well under the dry climate of 
our Southern States. In Virginia, plants set out in 
April, and growing near corn, which had withered 
with the drouth, gave at that time a supply of live 
to seven pounds of fresh green fodder to the plant. 
The leaves may be cut or pulled, and the cropping 
may be continued until heavy frosts. When a good 
top-dressing of manure is given to the ground, the 
Comfrey leaves are the first product of the 6oil in 
the early spring. Like all heavy yielders, it is of 
course a heavy feeder, and must be manured very 
abundantly. Indeed, it is peculiarly a high farming 
plant. It will pay much better to grow one acre 
with fifty loads of manure, than ten acres with five 
loads of manure to the acre. 
It is planted in hills three feet apart each way, 
and may be planted even late in the autumn. Dig 
a hole deep enough to receive a large shovelful of 
manure, without filling it nearer than within two 
inches of the surface. After the heat has passed 
from the manure, place the set directly upon it, and 
cover it with about 3 inches of earth. As soon as 
the weather is warm enough for any vegetable 
growth, the plant will start rapidly. The only fu¬ 
ture treatment needed, is to keep the ground free 
from weeds, (which may readily be done by cross- 
cultivating), and giving it a heavy top-dressing 
every autumn. It is claimed that with sets planted 
in the autumn, the yield per acre of the first season 
will he 20 tons of green leaves, of the second 50 
tons, and of the third from 80 to over 100 tons. 
This seems a very large story, but I hope in time 
to report the results of my own experiment. 
Dr. Voelcker’s analysis is as follows : 
Lea-* 
£$3 
r ES. 
is 
Stj 
q ~ a 
ni. . 
Water. 
88.400 
94.74 
Flesh-tormina: substances. 
2.712 
23] 37 
.69 
islde 
Non-nitrogenized substances 
Heat anil fat producing matters. 
Inorganic matters (ash). 
6.898 
1.990 
59.49 
17.14 
3.81 
.76 
72.49 
14.45 
100.000 
100.00 
100.00 
100.00 
This analysis would give a produce of actual nu¬ 
tritious matters amounting to at least 10,000 lbs. 
per acre, for a green crop of 50 tons, equal to the 
nutritious matter of 15 tons of the best hay, and 
would be fully equal to 50 tons of corn-fodder. 
If it is true that this new comer has anything like 
the advantageous qualities accorded to it, it will be 
a most valuable acquisition, especially to those who 
stall-feed their cattle during the summer months. 
A correspondent in Wisconsin, referring to former 
accounts in these papers of our experience in 
steaming food, asks whether it proved a success. 
He has an 8-horse engine used for sawing lumber. 
This he proposes to use for grinding com, cutting 
fodder, and steaming the mixed food. We steamed 
all of our fodder—or nearly all—from 1868 to 1873, 
and found a decided benefit in doing it, as during 
this time we had to buy a very large part of our 
forage, and had a great quantity of corn-fodder 
saved for winter use, (cured and left in the field.) 
Since 1873 we have raised nearly all of our hay on 
the farm, and our corn-fodder has—now from rain, 
now from the army-worm, and now from drouth— 
failed to furnish any excess for winter use. Our 
home-grown hay was cut early and stored in the 
barn. It was sweet, palatable, and nutrititous, and 
would have been but little, if at all, benefitted by 
cutting and steaming. When we steamed corn- 
fodder and poorer purchased bay, we found that 
we got the same effect from it that we did when we 
used our own hay unsteamed, and the effect was 
not sensibly improved when we used our own hay 
in the steamed mixture. This indicates that the 
result of steaming late cut, or poor hay, is to bring 
it more to the condition of good hay; and that 
really good hay—young, tender, and sweet—is not 
materially improved by steaming. Probably the 
cellulose in good hay is naturally in a condition to 
be digested by stock, while that in poor hay is too 
much hardened by age, and needs the softening ac¬ 
tion of cooking to make it digestible. Then, too, 
any slight taint of must or mold, which would cause 
cattle to refuse the hay, is corrected by steaming, 
and the appetizing flavor of the meal or bran added 
to the mixed fodder, is diffused throughout the 
mass, and causes it to be eaten more readily. 
The hard stalks of corn, and the harder kinds of 
straw, are made more tender, and their nutritive 
parts become more readily available. To sum up 
the case : all.inferior food is made enough better 
by steaming to pay any reasonable cost of the op¬ 
eration, while good food is already so good that it 
does not receive enough improvement to make 
steaming profitable. In such a case as is indicated 
by my correspondent,—where the power for cutting, 
and the steam for cooking are already secured, and 
when it would consequently be only a question of 
keeping up the fire a little longer, the cost would 
be so much reduced as to make it economical to 
steam under conditions where it would not pay if 
the operation had to hear all of its own costs. 
Then, on the other hand, it must be remembered 
that the experience at Ogden Farm was with coal 
at $8 to $10 per ton, hay at $16 to $22 per ton, and 
corn at 75 cts. to $1 per bushel. In Winconsin fuel 
would be cheaper, hut labor would cost about the 
same as here, and the fodder, on which the saving 
is to he made, would be so low in cost that the ac¬ 
tual saving would amount to very much less. If 
the quality of the hay is really poor , then steaming 
would be more important, with a view to the con¬ 
dition of the stock. I am asked where my writings 
on this subject can be had. The best will be found 
in the Ogden Farm Papers for 1868 to 1873, and in 
“ The Handy Book of Husbandry,” which the 
Orange Judd Company sell. 
Incidentally to our use of corn-fodder for winter 
steaming, we hit upon the following plan for curing 
it, which seems worth repeating for the benefit of 
newer subscribers to the American Agriculturist ,— 
and to refresh the memories of old readers. We 
plant in rows, about 3 feet apart, and if we have 
good luck, the com stands about 6 to 7 feet high 
over the field,—a solid sea of green. When it is 
well advanced in tasselling, we cut it up and bind 
it into small stooks, well secured at the top, and 
well spread at the foot. After every high wind we 
go over the field, and set up and hind anew all 
stooks that have been disturbed. In this condition 
we keep it until hard weather sets in in November. 
Then we cut each stook loose by cutting up its still 
rooted members, bind it firmly around the middle, 
and gather it into very large stooks,—say six small 
ones being made into each new one. This is set up 
very securely, and bound as tightly as possible at 
the top, so tightly that there is but little chance for 
the weather to get in at this vulnerable point. 
Such stooks, from their size and compactness, need 
very little attention, and they are good to with¬ 
stand any weather. We have generally used the 
last of ours late in February,—hauling them in as 
they are wanted for steaming. The very outside of 
the stook is somewhat weathered, but all except 
this, (probably 95 per cent of the whole), is in 
good condition, and is in my opinion,—and in the 
opinion of my cows,—as good as good hay. The 
quantity is, of course, very much more than any 
crop of hay from the same' area,—I should say ful¬ 
ly six tons per acre, if not more. 
Mr. Hardin, of Kentucky, has his little joke in the 
“ Country Gentleman ” about my getting up in the 
night to fire-up and keep the frost out of my dairy. 
Fortunately it is only a joke, for we never have 
freezing weather inside of our milk-house. The 
hot-water pipes take care of that,—and they were 
not so stupidly provided for that they can’t be 
trusted to keep hot all night. He says he is not so 
much a deep setter as a cold setter. He sets as deep 
as I do, and my milk is often as cold as his can be,— 
I have found it considerably below 40° at times. 
Then he advances the amazing idea, (and advances 
it with an authority which ought to be based on 
more knowledge than any one probably has), that 
much more butter may be made from milk set at 
