128 
[ April, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
physician, an accomplished naturalist; being a traveler 
and explorer of wide experience, lie is accustomed to the 
wilds, and moreover lias the tact and ability to control 
others so needed in such a position. 
IgssraflSolB^i** ISamel §ea(lnS»wcr.— 
Ir requires some practice to sow seed evenly by hand, 
and it is slow and tiresome work; 
several seed drills are offered, which 
do the work in an admirable manner, 
but those who have only small gar¬ 
dens, do not care to be at the expense 
of such a machine. Some facilitate 
sowing by using a bottle, or by sow¬ 
ing from a horn 
or tin tube, and 
now we have a 
little machine, 
intended to do 
in a small gar¬ 
den, what the 
drills do in a 
large one. This 
sower, which we 
saw at the store 
of B. K. Bliss & 
Sons, 34 Barclav 
RANDOLPH'S seed-sower. St . ( is represent¬ 
ed in the engraving. There is a receptacle 01) for 
the seed, at the bottom of which is a piece (F) which 
opens the drill ; there is an opening here, the size of 
which is varied by changing a plate (i7). A line being 
set, the implement, held by the handle ( C ). is drawn 
along it, while the fore-finger, by moving a lever, (74), 
agitates the seed, and regulates the discharge. The im¬ 
plement. is simple, and so far as can be judged with¬ 
out actual trial in the garden, will do its work well. 
Items coat- 
tinued on page 153. 
A Method of Cooling Milk. 
The rapid cooling of milk and the setting of it in 
deep cans have been frequently described in these col¬ 
umns, and neither of them are new. There has recently 
been presented at the dairymens’ conventions an appa¬ 
ratus based upon these principles, and this application 
of them being new, the device has been patented. The 
inventor, Mr. L. S. Hardin, of Louisville, Ky., claims 
that by this method milk can be kept at about one-half 
the cost that attends the use of shallow pans. Several 
comparative tests have been made with well known dairy- 
men in Pennsylvania, New York, andMissouri, in which 
Mr. Hardin made excellent butter, in somewhat larger 
quantities than did his competitors by the ordinary pro¬ 
cess. At the annual meeting of the Dairymen’s Conven¬ 
tion, held at Rome, N. Y., the apparatus of Mr. Hardin 
was highly commended by the committee on dairy uten¬ 
sils. The apparatus consists of a refrigerating box 
which holds cans of a certain shape. For the milk of 10 
cows the box is 24 inches wide, 32 inches long, and 40 
inches high. The fresh milk is put into cans S inches 
across and 20 inches high, with tight fitting covers. 
The cans are immediately placed in the box, some ice is 
HARDIN’S MILK-COOLER. 
laid upon the shelf, and the door closed. The tempera¬ 
ture rapidly falls below 50°. The milk is kept at as near 
49° as possible for 36 hours, when the cream, about 4 
inches deep, is taken off with a dipper. It is taken oil' 
while sweet, and can be churned immediately, or can be 
kept until soured. Mr. Hardin considers that sweet 
cream makes more and better butter than sour cream. 
The saving of space, and the perfect control over the 
temperature, arc both very important points with dairy¬ 
men, and both are secured by this method. It will be 
seen that the use of ice is necessary in warm weather. 
Bee Motes for April. 
BY L. C. ROOT, MOHAWK, N. Y. 
In most locations, bees will be placed upon their sum¬ 
mer stands during this month. It is desirable, (though 
not essential), that each hive occupy the stand it did last 
season. Where possible, set out those farthest from 
each other at the same time, as in the confusion of the 
first flight, they are more likely to mix, and in returning, 
to draw largely to one hive. Choose a still day, and at 
least as warm as 60°. Towards evening, after the bees 
become quiet, close all ventilation, except at the lower 
entrance, and that partially, if large. When movable 
frames are used, ail combs should be removed, except 
those occupied by the bees. If hanging frames are used, 
a close fitting division board should bo put in. Moder¬ 
ate feeding is desirable to stimulate breeding. If honey 
is abundant in the hive, the capping may ho broken, 
when the bees will remove the honey to the center of the 
hive with desired effect. Rye-meal should he placed 
where the bees may have access to it from the very first, 
and continue the supply until it is refused; using dishes 
of a size corresponding to the number of colonies. For 
125 swarms, I use two platforms, 4 feet square. The 
amount of meal taken by the bees will depend upon the 
supply of pollen. 
Qucsf ions amt Answers. 
'• What constitutes a desirable location for bees ?”.... 
This is an important question. In buying bees, I have 
often, with some accuracy, determined their condition 
before examination, from seeing the location they occu¬ 
pied. If in a high, bleak place, I judged they would be 
much poorer than when well sheltered from the wind. 
If natural protection is not afforded, a high, tight board 
fence should he constructed, or an evergreen hedge set 
out for this purpose. 
“ How do you Construct Gloss Boxes I” 
In describing the honey-box we shall take the size of 
box used on the Quinby hive, with two combs, and 
weighing 5 lbs. when filled. The top 
and bottom are made of pine £ inch 
thick, C} in. long, by 4|- in. wide. 
Three lj-inch holes are made in the 
bottom piece. The posts at each 
corner are £ in. square by 5 in. long. 
This constitutes the entire woodwork 
of the box. When nailed together, 
the outside of the posts should stand 
1 - Tin. i in. in from the corner, so that when 
packed closely together, the glass will not be in danger 
of breakage. The glass is held in place by tins, (fig. 1), 
cut with a die, driven diagonally through the center of 
the post, and clinched. This work is done with a heavy 
machine in a most perfect and workmanlike manner. It 
will be seen that these tins will allow the glass to be 
taken from the sides of the box, and returned, even when 
the box is filled with honey—a fact of importance to the 
bee-keeper. Glass for the sides is 5 by 6 inches. If de¬ 
sired to use only top box¬ 
es, both end glasses may 
be alike, and cut 5 by 4f 
inches. In practice it will 
be found that boxes to go 
at the sides and on top of 
the frames should be made 
exactly alike, as at times 
it becomes necessary to 
place those that are part¬ 
ly filled at tire sides, on 
top to he finished, and 
vice versa, hence we make all boxes with both end 
and bottom entrance. For this purpose cut one end 
glass 5 by 2£ inches, fasten it at top and bottom with 
glue. This leaves a space of over 4 in. at each side of the 
glass which serves for entrance, when placed at'the side 
of the combs, and when open ends are placed together 
on top, gives a passage from box to box. Guides of clean 
white comb, as shown in figure 2, are indispensable. 
Holes for nails should ho made to avoid splitting... .1 
am asked to describe the block used to set up the above 
described box.—To make this I use 1-in. basswood lum¬ 
ber. It is a box 5 in. high, and 4 in. smaller each way in¬ 
side, than the bottom aDd top of the honey box. Before 
nailing the bottom on the block, saw £ in. from each in¬ 
side corner, outwardly, on an exact miter. This is for the 
purpose of receiving the tins that are in the posts. 
Slight steel wire springs should be used to hold eaclt post 
in position until nailed. On top of each of the 4 sides, 
nail a narrow thin strip, £ in. from inside edge, to hold 
bottom of box in exact position over the posts, for nail¬ 
ing; this completes the block. Figure 3 shows the in¬ 
side of one corner of such block. Now to put together 
the box, place a post in each corner of the block, lay the 
Fig. 2 .— box. 
bottom in place, and nail each corner with inch finishing 
nails. If the springs for holding posts are properly ar¬ 
ranged, the four posts may be drawn from the block with 
the bottom piece. To nail on the top, take a piece of 
inch hoard, 12 in. long, and 8 in. wide for a base. Near 
one corner, make a standard 5 5 / 1G in- high, of 2 pieces, 1 
inch thick, one 4 and the 
other 2 inches wide. Nail 
them together at right 
angles as in fig. 4. At bot¬ 
tom of standard cut a slot 
£ in. deep to receive the 
bottom of the box. On top, 
£ in. from the inside edge, 
nail thin strips, same as on 
top of the block. In the 
center of the corner of 
the standard bore an incli hole to receive the tin on the 
post. Lay the box as taken from the block against this 
standard, place the top on it, and nail each corner alter¬ 
nately. At this point it 
will be found that the top 
does not rest snugly 
against the ends of the 
posts. It is left y 10 in. 
away to allow the glass to 
be more readily put in 
place. This should now 
he done, and fastened with 
the tins bent each way. 
Put in the guide comb3 
before putting in the 
glass. After the glass is 
STANDARD. 
in. except the narrow end piece, place the box on a 
smooth metal surface, and drive the nails snug. Now 
put in the narrow end glass with glue, and the box is 
complete, (fig. 2). If the work is properly done in all its 
parts, this makes a neat, strong and desirable box. 
Ogden Farm Papers.—Ho. 74. 
BY GEORGE E. WARING, JR., 
Haw can wc Ketp 1 lie Boys on <Jic Farm! 
This question recurs periodically in all American 
agricultural writing, and it must come up almost 
constantly in the minds of thousands of farmers, 
who see their own, and their neighbors’ children, 
deserting the occupation of their fathers, aud seek¬ 
ing their fortunes and a pleasanter mode of living, 
in the towns. I am far from advocating for others, 
or even accepting for myself as a final solution, any 
new idea that occurs to me on this subject, but it 
has had a large share of my consideration for many 
years, and latterly there has grown in my mind a 
conviction, that one source of relief may be sought 
through the rather startling means of keeping 
everybody off of the farm. This idea has suggested 
itself from r. somewhat careful examination of the 
life of the agricultural population of certain parts 
of Germany, where one rarely, if ever, sees a house 
or building of any kind outside of the villages, in¬ 
to which the farmers aud their families, and their 
trades people, and mechanics, have congregated. 
AVe have, several instances of such living in this 
country, in towns along the Connecticut River— 
notably Deerfield, in Massachuetts, which is a 
beautiful village of farmer’s houses and barns and 
cow-yards, with a broad lawn-like street, carry¬ 
ing from one end to the other, four rows of such 
elm trees as could hardly he matched elsewhere iu 
the world. Local conditions suggested the origin 
and continuance of this mode of living'; first, com¬ 
munity for defence against the Indians; second, 
the fact that most of the fields these farmers culti¬ 
vate, are at certain seasons covered by a broad lake, 
in which their village stands like an island. 
No one would be mad enough to suggest such a 
radical reform as the abandoning of the houses aud 
barns now in use, and the substitution of newly 
built villages. If this road is to he traveled at all, 
it must he by slow and easy stages. When farms 
are divided among sons, the old homestead may re¬ 
main to one of them, aud the others may assemble, 
with the new off-shoots of other families, at cer¬ 
tain well selected centers, which will in time grow 
into comfortable communities, and take the place 
of the present scattered residences. That is, let all 
new houses be built in villages, and let the old oues 
die their natural death. Such community of living 
would, of course, not be suited to regions where- 
