I860] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
133 
those which continue from year to year, without renew¬ 
ing do better, kept in pots. Set them in a place sheltered 
from high winds. Some florists prefer placing the pots in 
the border, setting them in the ground up to their rims. In 
all cases where kept in pots, they will require more water, 
and should be cut back with a bold hand. 
Azaleas—Water and syringe freely now that they are 
growing rapidly. Cut back straggling branches to form a 
compact head.’ 
Bedding Plants—Large numbers of these are now 
wanted to grace the flower borders and lawn beds. Plant 
freely in masses, which produce the finest effect. 
Cactuses may be readily increased by cuttings put in, 
ff, m. Examine for and destroy insects. 
Camellias—These have completed their bloom and 
should now be in a fine growing state. Keep them in a 
thrifty condition, so that good sized healthy flower buds 
may be formed later in the season. Give them an airy 
situiition, partially shielded from the sun, syringe often to 
keep down insects. 
Cinerarias are still in bloom in many houses. Keep in 
a warm situation, watering freely. 
Cuttings of both woody and succulent plants from well 
ripened or firm growth, may now be freely made, and 
struck in prepared soil, under glasses. 
Fuchsias—Plant out in borders, in, or shift those in¬ 
tended to bloom in pots. Water freely. Increase the 
slock by putting in a good supply of cuttings. 
Grapes require care according to the degree of forcing 
they have received. Some vines may now show good 
sized berries or nearly ripe fruit, and require little water, 
especially among the bunches. Others are later and 
need frequent syringings and pinching back. A portion 
may need thinning with scissors. The borders should be 
uncovered, manured and forked over. 
Inarching may be performed on woody plants that do 
not root readily by cuttings, such as oranges, lemons, etc., 
as described under orchard and nursery. 
Insects—Allow no stronghold to become colonized at 
this season. It will be more difficult to dislodge them 
afterwards. Water and tobacco fumes will usually do 
the business. Read the illustrated articles upon the 
“ Insect World,” and see if some aids may not be intro¬ 
duced to keep the injurious aphides and other insects in 
check. 
Japan Lilies—Plant out, ff, m, and tie up flower stalks 
of those in bloom. Increase the stock by separating and 
potling the scales. Plant seeds for new varieties. See 
llustrated article on page 148. 
Layer, ff, woody and herbaceous plants for increase. 
Oranges, lemons, oleanders and myrtles—Carry to open 
ground and water frequently. Plant seeds for a stock. 
Pelargoniums—A good stock of these should now be 
ready for bedding out. More cuttings may still be put in 
for Winter blooming plants. 
Roses may all be removed to the open grounds, f, m. 
Increase the stock by cuttings, ff. 
Water freely, both before and after removing plants 
from the houses. Evening is the best time to apply it. 
Apiary iaa May. 
BY M. QUINBY. 
Whenever the weather is wet or cold for a few days, 
all light colonies will need especial care to prevent starv¬ 
ing. When the Spring has been favorable, one stock in . 
500 on an average, will throw off a swarm during the blos¬ 
soming of the apple orchards. A larger number will swarm 
about the time these flowers are gone. But swarming is 
not general until clover blossoms. In most places, between 
apple and clover blossoms, there is a scarcity of honey ; 
the bees of very good stocks, at this time having nothing 
to do, will cluster outside, if the weather is warm ; indi¬ 
cating that the hive is crowded, and that a swarm may 
be expected almost immediately. In a few days, honey 
will be more abundant ; these bees leave to collect it, and 
the hive presents a deserted appearance, leading to the 
supposition that a swarm has actually left. These ap¬ 
pearances at this season, are not to be depended upon. 
An examination will generally decide, and save much 
anxiety. A hive that swarms, changes its queen ; the old 
one does not leave until preparation is made for a succes¬ 
sor Every interested bee keeper will acquaint himself 
w.th the appearance of the queen cells ; and the swarm¬ 
ing season is the best time. Such as have the movable 
comb hive, have only to blow some smoke among the 
trees, or sprinkle them with sugar water, to keep them 
quiet, and open the frames, when every cell may be seen. 
The box hive must be inverted, and the bees may be kept 
quiet andtlriven away from the ends of the combs by 
smoke. The queen-cells—generally situated on the edges 
of the c unbs— from 3 to 20 in number—are about half an 
inch in diameter and three eighths deep when they re¬ 
ceive the royal egg. As lire open end is downward, the 
interior with its contents, if any, is readily seen, when 
the hive is inverted. When the egg is hatched, the cell, 
unlike'.Vise for other bees, is not full length, but addi¬ 
tions are made to accommodate the growing wants of 
the royal larva, and sealed up when about an inch long. 
At this period, if the weather is fine, the old queen leaves 
with the first swarm. By watching the progress of these 
cells every few days, the issue of the first swarm may be 
predicted with considerable certainty. If honey is scarce, 
they will pass this period a little ; if very abundant, they 
will issue a little in advance. If it is suspected that a 
hive has swarmed, and a thorough examination can dis¬ 
cover none of these cells occupied, it is evidence that 
no swarm has left_When it is more of an abject to in¬ 
crease stocks, than to obtain surplus honey, second, and 
even third swarms in this month may be hived separately. 
Unless the season is a poor one, they will be likely to ob¬ 
tain stores for Winter. Do not neglect a swarm long, 
after it has clustered—in this situation, arrangements for 
a departure are sometimes made somewhat expeditious¬ 
ly. Have the hive to receive the swar'.n, clean, and not 
too smooth inside. It is important that the whole swarm 
—except the few flying—enter the hive. Stirring gently 
will hurry them on, or, if obstinate, sprinkle with water. 
Carry to the stand immediately, raise the front half an 
inch, and protect from the sun. 
Notwithstanding all the proof offered by Mr. Doddridge 
to the contrary, with the additional testimony of the ed¬ 
itor, (See Agriculturist for July, 1859.) I will repeat 
that I consider “ no noise is necessary to make them 
cluster.” I have the proof of over 30 years’ practice with¬ 
out music, and have superintended the management of 
more swarms, probably, than most apiarians. Yet I never 
found the person, w hether an advocate for the tin-pan or 
not, that could count a less per cent in swarms lost than 
myself. Bees sometimes act very singularly without any 
music. As not over three or four swarms in a thousand, 
will leave for the woods without clustering, it is not 
strange that many persons think they have compelled, them 
to do just what they would instinctively have done with¬ 
out interference. When they leave after clustering, it 
may be attributed usually to bad management, such as 
allowing them to hang too long when they settle, not get¬ 
ting all the swarm in the hive, raising the bottom of the 
hive too high, leaving them standing exposed to the hot 
sun, strong smell of new paint, etc., etc..'..When the 
combs of the old stocks are well covered with bees, raise 
the hive a little in front. Continue to watch the weak 
colonies for worms, and when the bees increase so as to 
make examination difficult, split some elders, scrape out 
the pith, cut some notches cross-wise, and lay them flat 
side down under the hive. Take them out once a week 
and destroy the cocoons. 
“ Shall I buy ‘American Guano ’ 1” 
[Chapter V, of “ Scientific and Practical Talks on Ma¬ 
nures,” was prepared for this number, but owing to the 
special interest now manifested in regard to “ American 
Guano,” we have deemed it worth while to leave our 
regular article over to another month, and let the follow¬ 
ing take its place.] 
During the past few months, this question has 
been addressed to us by subscribers, personally 
and by letter, a great number of times. In fact 
we expect that every few minutes during the 
day, some one will knock at our door, and almost 
invariably ask on entering . “ What do you think 
of this American guano 1” We therefore offer a 
general reply here. But first let us correct a 
false impression that we have any “ preconceived 
prejudice ” against the article. On the contrary, 
we would gladly commend it in the highest terms, 
could we do so consistently with our own views. 
We dislike as much as any one, the monopoly of 
Peruvian guano, and would be right glad if Amer¬ 
ican farmers could dispense with its use altogeth¬ 
er. We could heartily wish that all that is claim¬ 
ed for the “ American guano ” might prove to be 
below its real merits. It would be a national bles¬ 
sing, of more value than all the gold of Califor¬ 
nia. Several enterprising men have devoted their 
time and money to its introduction, and, so far as 
we know, they have done this in the belief that 
they are doing the country, as well themselves, 
good service, in hunting up and bringing these 
fertilizers here. 
But, as we have said to some of them person¬ 
ally, we think they are guided by an incorrect 
theory in regard to the wants of our soils and 
crops ; and our present opinion is, that, after a 
year or two, these purely phosphatic guanos will 
have had their day, and Cease to be in demand by 
farmers, at least where they have been tried. 
That some portions of the material bt ought from 
the Pacific Islands may prove moderately use¬ 
ful, is probable, for we have seen specimens 
which contained sufficient ammonia and other or¬ 
ganic constituents to warrant the belief that they 
would be beneficial to crops. And this will, in 
part, account for the fact that some persons have 
been pleased with their first trial of American 
guano. We have examined a dozen different 
specimens of the material, in its unground, un¬ 
mixed state, and found them of various composi¬ 
tion, running all the way from a nearly pure phos¬ 
phate, up to one containing a valuable admixture 
of organic matter including a considerable per¬ 
centage of ammonia. Now any person chancing 
to obtain a sample of the last named quality would 
doubtless see sufficiently good results to lead him 
to try it further, and to commend it to others. 
We have seen certificates from such persons. 
But how many are there in the country who have 
reaped no benefit 1 We have heard of many such, 
yet no one is interested in collecting and setting 
forth the cases of failure, and farmers, as a class, 
seldom write out their experiences, unless it is 
drawn from them, and so we seldom get tho 
dark side.* 
We have hesitated to discourage the introduc¬ 
tion of the American guano, because we have 
hoped, that in the progress of the enter¬ 
prise, there would be found deposits containing 
organic material enough to verify at least a por¬ 
tion of the expectations indulged on the part o! 
the importers, and the public. This may yet tun- 
out to be the case, and we advise those enlisted 
in the enterprise to turn their attention specifi¬ 
cally to the discovery and introduction of organ¬ 
ic deposits ; for we are firm in the conviction 
that the purely mineral or phosphatic guanos, 
such as are now mainly brought here, will not 
prove profitable or satisfactory. We are aware 
that the sellers take a different view, and have on 
their side many scientific men ; but we are quite 
willing to put our opinions on record to be tested 
by time and experience. In the meanwhile, we 
must caution not only farmers hut the importers 
themselves, not to invest too largely in a mate¬ 
rial which is at best of doubtful utility. In our 
last article on manures (No. 4) we stated, perhaps 
fully enough, our reasons for calling in question 
the supposed value of mineral manures generally, 
including the phosphates. 
But whatever may be the character of some of 
the American guanos already introduced, or of 
those yet to be found and brought here, we will 
now only consider the general character of those 
offered, remarking that the chief excellence 
claimed for them by those interested, is that they 
abound in phosphates. We have been furnished 
with the following recent analyses of several 
* An illustration may be given of the fact referred 
to above. A few years since, one of the special pleaders 
for super-phosphate visited a New-England town, and lec¬ 
tured so strongly in favor of the use of this material, that 
the cultivators at once made up orders for some 80 tuns, at 
a cost to them of nearly $4,000. It proved a failure, and 
we believe not a pound of it has since been sold there. 
But the buyers quietly pocketed the loss, acknowledged 
themselves sold, and discarded all scientific teachings in 
regard to agriculture. But no one of them ever took the 
trouble to collect and publish the facts. On the other hand, 
in another town, one man obtained, or thought he ob¬ 
tained, good results, (perhaps he had an extra good sam¬ 
ple,) and on application he gave his certificate in its fa¬ 
vor. That certificate, and a few others of similar charac 
acter, were published all over the land by interested par¬ 
ties, and very many persons bought super-phosphate or. 
the strength of them. We only mention this as an illus 
tration of how one-sided statements may sometimes go 
forth, and further to invite those who try any new ferti 
lizers to report their failurei in all cases. Let us have 
both sides. 
