1871 .] 
139 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
sylvania and New York, and that salmon will 
flourish in any water congenial to trout. It 
would seem to have been a much wiser policy 
to have reserved this stream for the king of the 
river fishes. The Black-bass of the South can¬ 
not fail to prove very destructive to salmon 
spawn and fry, should it ever be attempted to 
stock the river with salmon. 
The Oswego bass is named from Oswego Lake, 
in which it is found, but it is by no means con¬ 
fined to those waters. It is found in most of 
the lakes in the interior of this State, and in the 
Waters of Ohio and Kentucky, and in the west 
part of Canada. It is similar to the Grystes ni¬ 
gricans in all outward marks, except that it has 
a larger head, lacks the double curve at the 
end of the lateral line at the joining of the tail, 
and lias no red in the eye. Its flesh is softer 
and more watery. We are not aware that any 
efforts have been made to transplant this fish. 
The Spotted-bass and the Rock-bass of the 
lakes, are both smaller varieties, rarely reaching 
two pounds in weight, and though considered 
very good pan-fish, are not worth propagating 
where the larger and better varieties will flour¬ 
ish. These different species of bass have led to 
a good deal of confusion in the minds of fisli- 
culturists. Some persons have exported fish 
called Black-bass both to England and France, 
but whether they were the Grystes nigricans is 
quite questionable. Many are now inquiring 
for the best fish to stock ponds that will not 
support trout, and are liable to be misled for 
want of the information we have here endeav¬ 
ored to lay before our readers. The Grystes ni¬ 
gricans does well wherever it is introduced. 
It has gone into Pennsylvania; and for all 
places north of the southern line of that State, 
we have no doubt it is the best lake fish we have. 
—-- —-- 
The Steaming and Cutting of Fodder. 
Wm. Q. Elliott, of Centreville, Ind., asks: 
(1.) Are there steam-powers in use which both 
furnish the power to cut the feed and steam to 
cook it with? (2.) If so, where are they to be 
got, and what is the cost of one of sufficient 
capacity to cut and steam for 100 head of cattle ? 
(3.) We have manufactured, in Indiana, a feed- 
cooker designed to boil corn in a large hopper, 
and it does it effectually. From your experience 
in cooking and steaming, would }'ou think that 
a tight cover, placed over this large vat, and 
fastened down to save the steam, would make 
this answer to steam fodder in a large box, or 
chest, at a short distance? (4.) What do you 
use to cut with—what to steam with? (5.) 
What precautions have you against fire ? (0.) 
The size of your car from which you feed? 
(1.) The only steam-power we know any thing 
about is the steam-engine. This, with its boil¬ 
er, does all you ask about. (2.) They are to be 
had from many machine-works in all parts of 
the country. The cost of a boiler and engine, 
to cut and cook for 100 head of cattle, would be 
from $500 to $900, according to circumstances. 
(3.) The principal objections to this apparatus 
would be that it would not make steam fast 
enough, and would not bear pressure enough to 
allow the steam to be raised to the most econom¬ 
ical degree of heat.—For further particulars 
on this point, see Ogden Farm Papers in our 
March number. Whether this apparatus, or a 
better one, is used, the distance to the steaming- 
box should be as short as possible. If you have 
this apparatus, and cannot conveniently incur 
the expense of getting the better one, it will, of 
course, be possible to cook with this, but it will 
take longer and cost more. You will need to 
have some mechanical power to cut your fodder, 
and an engine is the best; consequently, if you 
have 100 head to feed—or even 50 head—it will 
pay you to start right. (4.) We use Cummings’ 
Cutter (Rochester, 1ST. Y.), driven by the steam- 
engine, and steam from the same boiler that 
drives the engine. (5.) The engine-room is 
built outside of the stone wall that forms the 
north side of the first story of the barn ; the 
boiler (in this room) stands in a pit 4 feet deep, 
so that all the firing is done in a. safe place, 
and the smoke-stack is carried high above the 
eaves of the barn. (6.) The floor of the car is 
about 4x6 feet, and its sides are two feet high. 
The Progress of the Earth System. 
It has been a source of surprise to ourselves 
and to all who were enthusiastic in the belief 
that the earth-closet would effect a rapid reform 
in the habits and economies of our people, that 
its progress has thus far been, comparatively, 
slow; but on reflection it seems not unnatural 
that this should have been the case. Until 
now, the system has been adopted mainly by 
the better educated and more intelligent classes. 
The masses—those for whom it really promises 
the greatest benefits—are slow to change their 
habits in any respect. The inconvenience, the 
wastefulness, the danger to health, and the an¬ 
noying exposure of the system that prevails, 
especially in villages and in the country, and 
above all in the Southern States, are deplorable 
in the extreme; but they have so long been ac¬ 
cepted as a necessary evil, that those who en¬ 
dure them have come, by long habit, to disre¬ 
gard them, and to look with indifference upon 
any plan proposed for their avoidance. The 
means for the application of the reform are so 
perfectly within the reach of even the poorest 
people, that the bringing of the closet within 
the house itself, cannot fail sooner or later to 
approve itself to the minds of all. 
If it were necessary to the establishment of 
a satisfactory earth-closet, that the patented 
apparatus should be adopted, even the moder¬ 
ate cost that this would entail would be a suffi¬ 
cient reason to deter many persons. But as the 
full essential benefit of the system lies within 
the easy reach of all who can provide them¬ 
selves with earth of almost any description, or 
with coal-ashes, without the least necessity for 
the outlay of money, it is certainly reasonable 
to suppose that the amendment of our customs, 
which has taken so strong a hold among those 
who are in more comfortable circumstances, 
will in due time secure universal adoption. And 
when we reflect that the benefits of the use of 
earth in stables aro hardly less marked than 
those of its use in closets, we are impatient to 
sec its influence brought to bear, to check the 
appalling waste of every kind of animal ma¬ 
nure that i3 now threatening the entire agri¬ 
cultural prosperity of the country. 
How to make a Simple Hive. 
BY M. QUIMBT. 
A subscriber to the Agriculturist in Florida 
wishes a full description of the frame hive so 
often referred to, and directions for use. He 
says : “ The woods are full of bees, but they do 
not seem to work well in the old hive, many 
swarms leaving the day after hiving from the 
tree. If I knew how to make them slay, I 
could get as many swarms as I could tend in a 
month. Information on these points will be 
gladly received.” 
The “information” may possibly benefit 
Northern bee-keepers also. A full description, 
and directions for making and using the simple, 
movable comb-hive will be found in “Bee 
Keeping Explained.” There is another hive, 
still more simple, particularly adapted to the 
honey emptying machine, which, from present 
indications, is just what is wanted in Florida. 
The frames are about 11x18 inches square; 
strips for top and ends l'| 3 -inch by ’|,-inch; 
the bottom may be square or triangular. These 
frames are held upright by a short piece of 
hoop-iron, bent in this shape, [, and nailed on 
the bottom of the frame thus, □, and hooked 
on the edge of another piece of hoop-iron, 
nailed to the bottom board; one edge, raised 
slightly, is sufficient to hook the bent piece un¬ 
der; the bottom board may be any size. Cut 
out a space for ventilation, a few inches square, 
in the center, and cover with wire cloth. Set 
up a half dozen frames close together, and put 
boards on each side just the size of frames, and 
you have a hive very near perfection for the 
warm climate of Florida. Farther North, an 
outside box, simply set over the frames, will be 
an additional protection from the weather. 
The boards forming the box may be held at 
the corners by hooks instead of nails. If sur¬ 
plus boxes are used, holes can be made through 
the top, and boxes set directly on the frames. 
I think Mr. Warner would find it to his inter¬ 
est to make his bottom board large, and put¬ 
ting some twenty-five such frames together, 
making an enormous hive, and then use the 
honey emptying machine for his surplus. If 
the honey thus obtained is as much superior to 
the ordinary Southern honey, as our machine- 
extracted is superior to ordinary strained honey, 
the difference in value would be inestimable. 
From the south somewhere, honey now comes 
to our market by barrels, tierces and hogsheads. 
The flavor is very unpleasant, which, if not 
natural to it, may, and probably is, caused by 
carelessness in mashing up dead bees, larva 
and bee-bread, etc., in straining. It only finds 
a ready market here when Northern honej' is 
scarce. But let pains be taken in preparing it 
for market, and sending a pure article—no taste 
of bee-bread or other adulteration—and our 
Mohawk Valley honey, that is now unsurpassed 
for fine flavor, would find a serious competition 
in quantity as well as quality. But the reflec¬ 
tion that ten times the amount will be used that 
is now, when we have a better article, thereby 
increasing the demand, ought to satisfy our 
Northern producers that I have not wholly ru¬ 
ined their business by my instructions. Where 
bees are so plenty in the woods that .they may 
be had for the taking, swarms can be no object, 
and swarming should be controlled. The large 
hive alluded to above would have a tendency 
to discourage preparations, but would not al¬ 
ways do so. Find and clip one wing of the old 
queen, and when the swarm issues, the queen, 
unable to fly, will be found near the hive; or if 
there is not time to watch for their issuing, the 
hive maybe opened once a week, and whenever 
any queen cells are found sealed up, destroy all 
but one. The old queen, also, not being of much 
account, should be destroyed, otherwise more 
cells will continue to be started. Another ex¬ 
amination should be had in four or five days, to 
destroy other cells which might be started from 
the brood. In this way the whole force that 
accumulates may be employed in one hive. By 
