1877.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
417 
will therefore have to be imported. The quantity re¬ 
quired is estimated at 90,000,000 bushels. There is no 
source from whence this enormous amount of wheat can 
be procured other than the United States. As it happens, 
we have practically the world’s market in our hands, and 
the price of wheat may now be fixed at New York, in¬ 
stead of, as heretofore, by our rivals at London. But we 
are not to understand by this, that any unreasonable 
price can be put upon our grain, and realized. There is 
such a thing as prohibitory prices, by which business 
is stopped altogether. The fact is, we can get full 
value for our wheat, but no more, for if prices should 
become unreasonably high, an active economy will he 
exercised in the consumption of those countries having 
either some surplus, or just sufficient for their own 
wants; and supplies will appear from unexpected quar¬ 
ters, to compete with ours. Then the bottom would 
drop out of our market, and our stock partly remain 
upon our hands. This should be considered, lest too 
high expectations should be formed, which will not 
be realized. To spare 90,000,000 bushels, will draw very 
closely upon our granaries, and will add $120,000,000 to 
our income in hard cash. In our present condition, the 
moment this outward current of grain and inflow of 
money begin to operate, business will feel the beneficial 
effects, and give us reason to congratulate ourselves that 
fortuitous circumstances combined for our advantage, 
just when we were in the greatest need of help. 
Bee Rotes for November. 
BY L. C. ROOT, MOHAWK, N. Y. 
It will be remembered by the readers of these Notes 
that one of the best swarms in my apiary, the present 
season, is one that was wintered upon its summer stand. 
I am generally opposed to out of door wintering, yet in 
an ordinary season, bees may be so wintered with suc¬ 
cess. Even when the season is severe, bees may be win¬ 
tered on their summer-stands more successfully, when 
the necessary requirements are observed, than when 
placed in a damp, poorly-ventilated cellar. A cellar, 
properly ventilated, so arranged as to be kept dry, dark, 
and of an even temperature, where the bees may remain 
perfectly quiet, and undisturbed, is undoubtedly the 
more preferable place for wintering. If, however, it is 
thought, after due consideration, best to winter out of 
doors, the hives should be protected in some way from 
the wind, and the cap, or vacant space at the top of the 
hive, well packed with cut straw or chaff. This packing 
will absorb the moisture, and at the same time retain 
the warmth. When wintered indoors, I use a small quilt 
spread over the frames. 
Tile Honey Crop in Central New York. 
The yield, generally, has been below the average, and 
besides being lass in quantity, it is generally inferior in 
quality, or, rather, in appearance. This is from the fact 
that it was gathered less rapidly than ordinary, and the 
combs thus became soiled and yellowish. It does not 
follow that the flavor is inferior, it is quite likely to be 
the reverse. Having recently visited the dealers in New 
York City, and inspected the honey from the aparies of 
several prominent beekeepers, I find that the average ap¬ 
pearance is as stated above. In my home apiary of 150 
swarms, I have but very little increase in numbers, and 
have marketed 2,775 lbs. of box honey, and 6,644 lbs. of 
extracted. From another apiary, seven miles away, re¬ 
sults are better. One of the peculiarities of this location 
is, that the bees gather no dark honey, and the white 
honey is of superior quality. In this apiary there were, 
in the spring, 65 swarms; this number was increased to 
100, and the honey marketed was 3,225 lbs. box honey, 
and 356 lbs. extracted, showing a much better average of 
box honey than from the 150 swarms above mentioned. 
Questions and Answers. 
About Ventilation.— “ W. H.,” of Ironton, Mo., 
asks; “Is it best to close the bottom ventilation, or 
to leave it open in wintering bees out of doors ? There 
is a 3-inch square hole in the bottom board of my hive 
covered with wire cloth.”... .1 am inclined to think that 
the lower ventilation is not essential, yet there are con¬ 
ditions that seem to make it necessary. The lower en¬ 
trance to the hive, of necessity, gives some ventilation 
The arrangement of this lower opening, so that it may 
not become closed by dead bees, is of much more impor¬ 
tance than the question of lower ventilation. If the 
hole in the bottom-board were 12 inches square, and cov¬ 
ered with wire-cloth, it would not prevent injury, should 
the small entrance become closed, and the bees find 
themselves confined to the hive. Some of our best bee¬ 
keepers make hives with a 6xl2-inch ventilator in the 
bottom-board, which may be opened or closed with a 
slide. For wintering, these slides may be opened a 
short distance, leaving the opening in such a position, 
nearly under the cluster, that the dead bees will drop 
through, thus avoiding the possibility of its becoming 
clogged; while the opening is so near the cluster that 
the bees are aware of their perfect freedom. The hole 
in the bottom-board, 3 inches square, is large enough, 
but the wire-cloth should be removed, and a slide used, 
that may be opened or closed at pleasure. 
A Very Unjust Custom. 
“ James is naturally smart, and we are going to 
give Mm an education, perhaps make a lawyer or 
minister of him.”_“George don’t seem to get 
along well with his books—is rather dull—and we 
shall make a farmer of him.”-We have heard 
talk just like this, and the majority of people act 
upon this principle. It is rank cruelty—rank in¬ 
justice, at any rate. It is giving to the rich, and 
withholding from the poor. If through the fault of 
his parents, or otherwise, George is less endowed 
with intellectual gifts, he should have all the more 
done for him to make up any natural defect, by 
culture, by discipline, by exercise of the mind, and 
thus place him upon a par with his more gifted 
brother. If a youth dislikes arithmetic, or any par¬ 
ticular branch of study or thinking, it shows a de- 
fi jiency in that faculty", which culture and study 
should make up, and thus produce a well balanced 
mind. We abominate the whole system of “ elec¬ 
tive studies,” now so popular in some schools and 
colleges, which allows a scholar to mainly cultivate 
those mental powers, in which he is already most 
proficient. A rigid course of diverse study, plan¬ 
ned to develope uniformly the various faculties of 
the mind, is the one which will turn out the best 
and most useful men. After a good general ground¬ 
work is thus laid, and the thinking faculties are 
well and uniformly developed, the final study may 
be directed to some specific line, that will be re¬ 
quired in a particular business, or professional life. 
Why It Pays to Read. 
One’s physical frame—his body—his muscles—his 
feet—his hands—is only a living machine. It it, the 
mind, controling and directing that machine, that 
gives it power and efficiency. The successful use 
of the body depends wholly upon the mind—upon 
its ability to direct well. If one ties his arm in a 
sling, it becomes weak and finally powerless. Keep 
it in active exercise, and it acquires vigor and 
strength, and is disciplined to use this strength as 
desired. Just so one’s mind, by active exercise in 
thinking, reasoning, planning, studying, observing, 
acquires vigor, strength, power of concentration 
and direction. 
Plainly then, the man who exercises his mind in 
reading and thinking, gives it increased power and 
efficiency, and greater ability to direct the efforts 
of his physical frame—his work—to better results, 
than he can who merely or mainly uses his muscles. 
If a man reads a book or paper, even one he knows 
to be erroneous, it helps him by the effort to com¬ 
bat the errors. The combat invigorates his mind. 
Of all men, the farmer, the cultivator, needs to 
read more and think more—to strengthen his rea¬ 
soning powers, so that they may help out and make 
more effective, more profitable, his hard toil. 
There can be no doubt, that that farmer who 
supplies himself with the most reading, the most 
of other men’s thoughts and experiences, will in 
the end, if not at once, be the most successful. 
“The mind makes the man,” is a trite but very 
true adage. How much above the brute that toils 
with him, is the man who merely works, eats, and 
sleeps, and cares for his progeny ? The brute does 
all this. The man rises in dignity, in self respect, 
in the respect of others, just so far as he rises in 
intelligence. We have a certain regard for the ant, 
or colony of ants, that by long, hard, patient toil, 
gathers a fine, large, showy mound of earth—yellow 
earth it may be, or of silvery white. In what is that 
man superior to the ant, who spends his life 
wholly in scraping together a mass of land, and a 
pile of yellow gold or white silver, and a large 
house, lives in it, and dies there ? He may be called 
a successful man, a rich man, but what does that 
amount to after all. If he be rich in good deeds, if 
he be an intelligent man, if he be able, by the su¬ 
perior cultivation of his mind, his thinking and 
reasoning powers, not only to plan successfully 
for himself, but to give wise counsel to others, 
he commands our real respect. 
Farmers, think of these things. Now, and for a 
few coming months, while the field work does not 
press, devote some time each day or evening to mind 
development. Lop off, if need be, a dollar or two 
here or there, and with it buy one or two books, 
especially those treating of your own business, of 
the character and nature of the soils you till, of the 
crops you raise, of the animals you have to do with, 
their differences and character, etc. This will lead 
to further thinking and reasoning ; it will develope 
mind-power; it will make you more intelligent; it 
will raise you higher in your own estimation, and 
higher in the estimation of your family, and of your 
neighbors. It will aid you in planning better for 
the future, and will thus really pay in dollars and 
cents. Turn to the long list of books on the busi¬ 
ness pages of this paper, and select some book, 
first one that will interest both yourself and family. 
Let it be read and studied well. When its thoughts 
become your own, lend it to a neighbor and get 
him to read it. Then choose another book, and do 
the same with it. Next summer’s toil will be more 
cheerful, you will have more to think of while fol¬ 
lowing the plow, the harrow, etc. ; and we firmly 
believe that a year from now you will have more 
dollars in your pocket. 
Science Applied to Farming.—XXXV. 
Polagli In Fertilizers. — The Necessity ami 
Functions of Potasli as Plant-food.—THe 
German Potasli Salts. 
1 am in receipt of inquiries from farmers in all 
parts of the country, about the “ German Potash 
Salts,” what they are, and when, where, and how it 
will pay to use them. There are abundant indica¬ 
tions that, on many soils in tbe older States, the 
available supply of potash has become reduced, and 
must be re-supplied or the crops will fail. We are 
having here precisely the same costly and bitter ex¬ 
perience that the farmers on the other side of the 
Atlantic have gone through with. They are begin¬ 
ning to find the way out of the difficulty, and that 
way leads down some twelve hundred feet below 
the surface of the earth into the depths of the pot¬ 
ash mines in the region of Stassfurt, in Germany. 
Commencing near there but a few years ago, the 
use of potash salts as fertilizers has already become 
almost universal in Germany, has extended largely 
into other parts of Europe, has reached to the im¬ 
poverished fields of our own country, and even to 
the coffee plantations of Brazil and Ceylon. The 
amount used has increased from a few hundred to 
many thousands of tons per year. The Stassfurt 
fertilizers have excited an interest and reached an 
importance comparable with that to which Peru¬ 
vian guano attained years ago. 
Potash is an ingredient of every cultivated plant, 
and none can grow without it. In the American 
Agriculturist for March, 1876, were described some 
elaborate experience by Dr. Nobbe, of Tharand, 
Germany, which showed that potassium is neces¬ 
sary to the formation of 6tarch in the leaves. As 
Dr. Nobbe says, “Without starch the plant cannot 
assimilate (the materials needed for the growth) 
and shows no increase in weight because, without 
the cooperation of potash in the chlorophyle grains, 
no 6tareh is formed.” Another function of potash 
has been pointed out by Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert 
as one of the results of their famous experiments 
at Rothamsted, in England, namely, that it aids 
leguminous crops, such as clover, to assimilate the 
nitrogen needful for their growth. 
The Amounts of Potasli In Different Plants 
and Manures 
are, of course, quite variable. Clover, beans, peas, 
and other leguminous crops, the common grasses, 
potatoes, tobacco and hops, have a good deal of 
potash. Turnips, beets, and carrots, contain less, 
and com, wheat, rye, oats, and other grains less 
still, though the stalks and straw contain a good 
deal of potash. Taking into account the size as 
