1876.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
289 
some flue Cacti, excellent specimens of the new Agave 
Shawn , good tree-ferns and other plants. 
John Dick, of Philadelphia, has a collection of good 
plants, and there are several smaller collections of which 
we do not remember the owners’ names. Two excellent 
specimens of Toctma superba, charming filmy ferns un¬ 
der glass cases, are worthy of notice. One of the side 
houses is mainly occupied by Cacti, Euphorbias, and 
other stuff which may be appropriately classed as rubbish. 
The florists appliances, the preserved and wax flowers 
and fruit, skeleton work, and other matters in various 
parts of the Horticultural building are worthy of in¬ 
spection. We must leave a notice of the outside horti¬ 
cultural display until the abatement of the fierce heats 
allows of a more close examination. 
Bee Notes for August. 
BY L. C. ROOT, MOHAWK, N. Y. 
As the honey yield draws to a close, which, in most 
sections, will be during this month, care must be taken 
to avoid too many partly filled boxes. Beginners are apt 
to continue to supply the place of full boxes with empty 
ones too late in the season. Instead of this, the number 
of boxes should be diminished, and in some cases those 
colonies which work in boxes most rapidly, should finish 
such as are partly filled by those that work less freely. 
Box honey that has been removed from the hives, and 
packed away as directed in the July notes, should be ex¬ 
amined occasionally, and if the moth-worm is found in 
any, they should be either removed, or the boxes placed 
in a tight box, and fumigated with brimstone. Such 
boxes should be placed by themselves for home use, and 
when honey is taken from them for the table, all places 
disturbed by the worms can be cut away. A correspon¬ 
dent asks how the worms conld get into his boxes, as he 
sealed them up tight when taken from the hive. The 
eggs were deposited in the boxes while on the hive, and 
sealing up closely aids the progress of the worm, by re¬ 
taining the heat. Worms are seldom found in boxes, ex¬ 
cept such as contain bee bread. 
In most sections swarms will not issue later than this 
month. Each swarm should be examined to ascertain if 
it has a laying queen. Young queens are liable to be 
lost when sometimes a swarm has no means of rearing 
another, and unless another quefcn is supplied, or brood 
from which to rear one is given, the colony will soon he 
worthless. 
On page 254, of the July No., under the head of 
“Among the Farmers,” your correspondent asks a plain, 
practical question, and justly heads his remarks, “Wast¬ 
ed Sweets.”—" Why is it that we have no more bees f ” 
is a question that claims the attention of every farmer. 
In attempting to give some of the reasons why so few 
bees are kept by farmers. I shall differ somewhat with 
your correspondent. If all who have attempted bee¬ 
keeping had been successful, the number of colonies 
throughout the country would be far greater than at 
present. The real answer to the question is, lhat the ad¬ 
vance that has been made in bee-culture during the past 
few years, is not generally understood. The foremost 
reason that would be given by the inexperienced, would 
no doubt be the fear of stings. Were the present facili¬ 
ties for subduing bees, and the ease of ample protection 
properly understood, the fear of stings would become 
one of the least hindrances to bee-culture. Again, many 
farmers, as well as others, would keep a few swarms, if 
it were not for the idea that they must be watched dur¬ 
ing swarming time, and thus interfere with their general 
business. This belongs with many other absurdities of 
old time bee-keeping. Your correspondent speaks of the 
ease of preventing loss of swarms. If he means glass 
during winter and spring, I think he is in error. This 
is the knotty point of bee-keeping. Not that the loss 
may not be prevented in a great degree, hut he should 
have said, with earnest care and attention. He suggests 
that it is not safe to move bees less than three miles. 
Many can testify to having moved them one mile, and 
even less, with entire satisfaction. 
I am aware that in urging all to investigate the inter¬ 
ests of bee-keeping, I expose myself to criticism. We 
are told by those interested in the production of honey, 
that in so doing we are working against our own inter¬ 
est. I can hardly believe their view correct, and if it 
were, we should hardly be justified in remaining silent, 
while, as your coprespondent truly says, “forage for 
bees abounds, and acres of honey are hardly sipped.” 
Let me urge then that the readers of these notes procure 
some standard work on bee-culture, and learn for them¬ 
selves what, as the late M. Quinby expressed it, “they 
are losing, not for the asking, but for the taking.” Be¬ 
sides it is an interesting pursuit, so much so, that if 
those who study it never keep a bee, it will he time well 
spent to learn their natural history. 
Let me not he understood as conveying the idea that 
it is a business in which any one can he successful with¬ 
out persevering study and effort, and if one engages in 
it extensively, he will find plenty of hard work. Bee¬ 
keeping as an exclusive business, and the care of a few 
as amusement or for home supply, involve altogether 
different methods of handling and practice. While few 
are adapted to pursue bee-keeping on a large scale, al¬ 
most any one can succeed with a few colonies. 
I would here repeat the suggestion made in a former 
number, that questions of general interest be forwarded 
to me to be answered through these columns. 
Strawberries—How to get a full Crop in 
ten Months from the time of Planting. 
BY PETER HENDERSON. 
Our success in the culture of Strawberries, by 
the system of layering the runners in pots, has been 
so complete the past season, that even at the risk 
of repeating some of the directions already given, 
I will briefly state how it is done. In July of 1875 
we threw out every other row of the plants that 
had fruited, thus leaving the rows four feet apart. 
This space between the rows was deeply plowed 
three or four times, so as to thoroughly pulverize 
it. It was then leveled with a rake, and the run¬ 
ners from the old plants, as soon as they began to 
grow freely, led out upon it. Flower pots, 21 inch¬ 
es in diameter, were filled with and plunged into 
the soil up to the brim, and the layers or buds at 
the ends of the runners were placed on the earth 
in these pots. To keep the runners in place, we 
use small flat stones, which are laid upon them, 
and these also help to mark the places where the 
pots are sunk. The layers so placed on the soil of 
the pots are not only kept down, but are kept moist 
by the stone, and root rapidly. In two to four 
weeks from the time the operation is done, the 
plants are well rooted in the pots, and ready to be 
set out. Our plants last year were set out from the 
pots the first week in August, not a single plant 
died, and all grew freely. They were set in rows 
two feet apart, and 18 inches between the plants, 
and all the runners made were at once pinched off, 
so that by the end of the season each plant was 
nearly one foot in diameter, having finely developed 
“ crowns ” for next season’s fruiting. The ground 
had been first prepared before planting by plowing 
and subsoiling to the depth of 18 inches, turning 
down at the same time 3 or 4 inches of well-rotted 
manure, from the horse or cow stable. Of course 
the ground was kept entirely clear of weeds. By 
the middle of December, the whole bed of straw¬ 
berry plants was covered with salt-meadow hay; 
(straw, leaves, or any thing similar, will do as well), 
to the depth of two or three inches, entirely cov¬ 
ering up the plants and soil so that nothing was 
seen but the hay. By April the plants showed in¬ 
dications of growth, then the hay was pushed a 
little aside, and by May, the full developed plant 
showed on the clean surface of the hay. This 
mulching is indispensable to the bqst culture, as it 
protects the plants from the cold in winter, keeps 
the fruit clean, and at the same time keeps the roots 
cool by shading the soil from the hot sun in June. 
The crop began ripening June 10th, and was at its 
best on June 15th ; the yield was perfectly enor¬ 
mous. Each plant of the “ Seth Boyden ” variety 
averaged a quart, many of the berries being nearly 
an ounce in weight. In a trial of some 15 varieties, 
our choice was for the following, as presenting the 
best combination of qualities: “Seth Boyden,” 
earliest and largest, and fair flavor; “ Monarch of 
the West,” late, large size, and fine flavor ; “ Chas. 
Downing,” medium early, and of medium size, fine 
flavor. Our soil is heavy clayey loam, with a stiff 
subsoil. I am convinced that the most profitable 
way to grow strawberries, either for market or for 
private use, is by this system. Any handy man can 
place 2,000 layers in pots in a day. Each layer, in 
ten months, makes a plant that gives its full crop 
of fruit. The labor is less than by any other meth¬ 
od, because nothing more has to be done after 
planting, but to keep the crop clear of weeds, and 
pinch off the runners for only six weeks of the 
year, while with beds planted in spring, in the usual 
way, you have nearly six months work on them, 
with no better plants in the fall. Besides, when 
ground is limited, there is plenty of time by this 
system to throw out the'plants that have fruited in 
June, and plant the same ground over again in Au¬ 
gust with the young plants from pots. That is really 
our owu practice, for the space we devote to straw¬ 
berries is less than an acre. In our experiments, 
the past season, we found that no variety which 
had been left two seasons to fruit, produced so 
large a crop as the young plants, and the berries 
were hardly half the size. This system of starting 
plants in pots, and setting them out in August, 
properly carried out, will never fail to give entire 
satisfaction in growing strawberries. 
Shelter for the Head. 
Many a severe headache, and a restless night 
after an exhausting day’s work in the harvest field, 
might be prevented by the use of some simple pre¬ 
cautions. The sun beats down upon the head and 
neck with great force, when the thermometer marks 
00 degrees and over in the shade, and the scorching 
effect of a heat of 120 degrees in the direct sun¬ 
shine, is both uncomfortable and dangerous to the 
health. The head should be protected in such cases 
by wearing a straw hat, 
or one of some open 
material, with a broad 
brim, and by placing a 
leaf of cabbage or let¬ 
tuce, or a wetted cam¬ 
bric handkerchief in the 
crown of it. The very 
sensitive back of the 
head and neck, is best 
protected by means of 
a white handkerchief 
fastened by one border 
to the hat-band, and the 
rest made to hang down 
loosely over the neck 
neck protector. and shoulders. The 
neck is thus shaded 
from the sun’s rays, and the loosely flapping 
handkerchief causes a constant current of air to 
pass around and cool the neck and head. We have 
found this to he a most comfortable thing to wear, 
and its value as a protector to the base of the brain 
and the spinal marrow is so well known in hot 
countries, that the use of a similar protection is 
made imperative in armies when on the march. 
Ogden Farm Papers—No. 78. 
BY GEORGE E. WARING, JR. 
It will be remembered that much that I had af¬ 
firmed concerning the use of the deep-can system 
for setting milk, was controverted by several crit¬ 
ics, notably by Mr. Eastburn Reeder, and other 
members of the Solebury Farmers’ Club, of Penn¬ 
sylvania. I had no time and no opportunity to go 
fully into comparative experiments, nor did I dare 
to take the risk of changing my system for experi¬ 
ment—fearing to injure the quality of the butter, 
and so permanently injure my business. 
All I could do was to “ ride a waiting race,” and 
trust to time to adduce further evidence for or 
against it. Time seems to have done all that I 
could ask. Mr. Reeder, who had made frequent 
careful experiments, demonstrating in every in¬ 
stance a decided advantage in shallow setting, at 
various temperatures, was the most effectual of the 
opponents of the system, and when Mr. Hardin 
made experiments in deep setting at the Chautauqua 
County Dairy Exhibition, if I remember correctly, 
Mr. Reeder came again to the charge, and insisted 
that the effect was not, and could not be, under the 
circumstances, what its advocates had claimed for 
it. Now, however, since Mr. Hardin has given so 
much prominence to his form of the deep-can sys¬ 
tem, Mr. Reeder, who seems to be imbued with the 
true spirit of careful investigation, has experiment¬ 
ed with it in comparison with shallow setting, and 
has reached results corresponding exactly with 
what I had always claimed—that is, in general 
terms, he found, as we did, that either shallow or 
deep setting, if properly carried out, will develop 
