314 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
sior, etc;, but they may all be reduced to two 
classes, the White Solid and the Red Solid. The 
only difference between these is in their color, 
and the ability of llie : red to stand frost a little 
better than the white, and its being more uni¬ 
formly solid, while the white is more delicate in 
flavor. The difference in size is the result of 
cultivation entirely. 
To secure good plants, the seed is best sown 
in a cold frame, and when an inch or two high, 
pricked out into the open ground, in a warm, 
sheltered border, and it is well after ten days or 
two weeks to move them again, leaving the" 
plants three or four inches apart. These sever¬ 
al transplantings make them stocky and harden 
them off for final setting in the trenches in June 
or July, or even as late as the first of August., 
For planting, choose a rich and level piece of j 
ground, dig the trenches-eight inches or a foot 
deep, a foot wide and three feet apart. Remem¬ 
ber to throw the top-soil on one side of each 
trench by itself, and the poorer soil on the other. 
The trenches should, if convenient, run north 
and south, though this is not essential. Give 
the ground in the bottom of each trench a thor¬ 
ough enriching with old manure; leaf-mold 
mixed with the remains of an old hot-bed is the 
very best thing. Having watered the plants 
thoroughly the evening before, they will be in 
good condition to take up. Use a garden-trow¬ 
el, taking up as much dirt as possible with each 
root. Some recommend clipping the loose 
leaves and the extremities of the roots on re-set¬ 
ting. Let the plants stand in the trenches four 
or five inches apart. If the weather is liot and 
dry, water the ground well, and for a while lay 
a few loose boards over the trenches by day. 
The after treatment is simple, yet it is of the ut¬ 
most importance that it be rightly done. Keep 
the ground well stirred with the hoe, that the 
plants may grow rapidly; if the weather is dry, 
watering must be resorted to. Do not be in 
haste to “earth up.” About the middle of Au¬ 
gust or first of September, is soon enough. In 
doing it, hold the leaves of each plant together 
with the left hand, and with the right draw the 
soil around the stalks several inches high, using, 
the best soil thrown out of the trench, rejecting 
the poor. But use the greatest caution not 
to draw the dirt into the center of the stems, as 
this will cause them to rot or become very rusty; 
and do hot press the soil too much towards the 
stalks, as this will check their growth, but it 
must be tightly packed down in order to turn 
the rain. Repeat this earthing up once a fort¬ 
night, using the same care in doing it. 
Before hard frosts set in, in the Fall, the 
plants should be lifted, taken into the cellar, and 
set out with little earth adhering to the roots, in 
nearly dry sand. They will grow and blanch 
in the cellar, and may be used for many months. 
Movable Frame Bee-Hives, 
It is well known to all bee-keepers that bees 
ordinarily build their combs in more or less uni¬ 
form perpendicular cards or curtains, about 
inches from center to center. If guides, made of 
thin strips of comb regularly fastened to the top 
of any chamber of the hive, are provided, these 
will be followed, and the combs made with sim¬ 
ilar regularity. Where any rather rough edges 
are similarly presented, the result is the same. 
The cards of comb are attached to them, and 
if the edges are straight and not too far apart 
there will seldom be any considerable irregular¬ 
ity. In all movable frame hives, the aim is to 
present such edges at proper distances, so that 
the bees may economize all the room in the hive, 
'and that we may remove any one or all of the 
frames with the comb attached.at pleasure and 
without disturbing the other combs. This, Mr. 
Langstroth accomplishes by using oblong frames, 
like slate frames, the upper edges of which, when 
in position, are so much longer than the frames 
that the frames may be suspended by them in 
a box. Others use frames of different shapes, 
some arranged to, draw out sideways, which is 
attended with many inconveniences; others are 
triangular to accommodate slanting floors which 
facilitate efforts of the bees to keep the hives 
clean; and another plan is to have the frames 
hinged, so as to be swung apart w T hen the hive 
is opened, like leaves of a book held perpendicu¬ 
larly. For these and other forms and combina¬ 
tions with them, of various supposed or real ad¬ 
vantages, letters patent of the United ' States 
have been granted. But the fundamental idea 
of movable frames, which the inventions of Mr. 
Langstroth first rendered practically useful in 
this countiy, was early in the present century 
put in practice by Huber, a Genoese apiarian, 
and subsequently by others both in Germany 
and Great Britain. A person of ordinary inge¬ 
nuity, living where the movable frame hives can 
not be bought, can easily adapt frames to a 
square box, taking care chiefly to present a 
rough, narrow edge (as left by the saw) for the 
comb to be attached to, and not allow the frames 
to come anywhere so close to the box that the 
bees will cement them to it, and taking care also 
not to give so much space that they will build 
a line of cells between the frame and the sides. 
Keeping Swans. 
Who that has seen the swans in the Central 
Park, in this City, or on the little lake in Mount 
Auburn Cemetery, Boston, does not wish to 
adorn his own pond or stream with a few of 
these graceful water-fowl? We are glad to 
learn that they are being introduced into the 
grounds of many private residences throughout 
the country. These birds are often called “tame 
swans,” - “ domestic swans,” and so on ; but, let 
it be remembered, they are not so very tame, 
after all; they never become so quiet and home- 
loving as the goose or barn-fowl. They are con¬ 
stitutionally wild and capricious, and need 
watchful care; though apparently very tame 
and familiar toward those who feed them, or 
from whom they expect no harm. 
At the outset, they must have good water- 
privileges. A lake, or a pond of good fresh 
water, wull answer. Take no pains to clean out 
the weeds and rushes which chance to grow 
near the margin of the water, for it is among 
these that swans delight to ramble and feed. 
They love corn, oats, barley, etc., but their nat¬ 
ural food is seeds and grass, insects, worms, 
larvae, and mollusks. When grain is fed, scatter 
it just on the shore and in shallow water near 
the shore. They love the waste vegetables of 
the garden, and all the more for being half-de¬ 
cayed. Watch their eating habits, and you will 
observe that they prefer to eat by “suction,” 
rather than by picking up their food like a hen. 
They love to dive their heads under water, and 
suck down the soft, half-rotted vegetation on the 
sides and bottom of the stream. Thus they act 
as scavengers, purifying the stagnant waters 
that would otherwise become foul and unwhole¬ 
some. In Holland, they are considered very 
beneficial in this respect. : If they will swallow 
down miasms and fevers for us, and harmlessly 
to themselves, we ought to thank them. 
In buying a pah of swans, it is best to get 
young birds, for the old are hard to domesticate 
in a new place. But in purchasing cygnets, be 
sure and get birds of opposite sexes, a thing not 
so easy to determine by their plumage. Two 
males will quarrel, and two female-birds, though 
they live pleasantly together and lay eggs, of 
course will raise no family between them. Get 
husband and wife, and all will go off well. To 
ascertain the sex, put several cygnets into water, 
and those which swim deepest, (i. e. sink . deep-", 
est,) will prove to be females. After fixing upon 
your pair, have them securely pinioned. And 
then, to prevent their flying away from your 
grounds some fine day, have the last joint of 
each wing taken off. Let this be done at the 
place of purchasing the birds, so that they may 
have no unpleasant associations with their new 
home. This can be done so as to disfigure the 
bird but very little. When they reach their 
new quarters, treat them kindly, keep them 
quiet, and feed them regularly. 
The male bird is capable of increasing his 
kind when two years old; the female not until 
three years of age. When they show a dispo¬ 
sition to breed, they should be supplied with a 
bushel or two of coarse litter, such as straw, 
rushes, stalks, and a few sticks. They will work 
this material up without any instruction. They 
lay from six to ten eggs before setting. When 
the female commences her maternal labors, no-’ 
body should approach her nest. The male bird 
will sail very proudly and defiantly up and down 
before the nest, and wo to the youngster who 
dares to approach the sacred bed! 
A fat young swan makes a capital dish. From 
October to Christmas, these birds are in prime 
order for the table. After that period,' they arc 
not as good—the turkey excels them. Well fat¬ 
tened, they weigh, in their feathers, from 25 to 
30 pounds. And now, hoping that we have got 
our readers into a good appetite, we leave the 
subject, intending to resume it again in due time. 
Luncheon. 
The habit of eating five meals a day during 
Summer, and especially in haying time, came 
over with our fathers from England. The cus¬ 
tom perhaps originated in certain, peculiarities 
of their climate. The summer days are longer 
than with us, and the fair days for gathering the 
hay and grain harvests are fewer. It was neces¬ 
sary for the laboring force of the farm to make 
the most of these fair days, and to work while 
the light lasted, sixteen hours or more. More 
food was necessary to sustain the body under 
such prolonged exertion. 
Our work is severer in Summer than at other 
seasons—more so formerly than now, when the 
horse-reapers, and mowers, and rakes, have lift¬ 
ed the farmer’s heaviest burdens, and put the 
hay and grain harvest completely within his 
power. Whatever apology there may have 
been for working fifteen hours a day, in the last 
generation, there is none in this. We do not be¬ 
lieve anything is gained by more than ten hours 
of severe labor in the field daily. This, wi th the 
chores at night and morning, will be as much 
labor as the body ought to sustain, taking the 
season through. In a single, day, a man may do 
more in fifteen hours than in ten. In a month 
we think the man laboring ten hours a day only, 
will accomplish the more. The overtaxed sys¬ 
tem must , have rest, or break down. If it can 
not get it in the bed at night, it will take it in 
the field, inadvertently, if not willingly. There 
will be lagging, want of spirit, and slighted 
