13 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
that I had saved the year before. This hive I 
placed on the stand occupied by the purchased 
stock, and transferred that to a new location. 
The bees that had left the old hive, and were 
out in the fields, having marked this location, 
returned to it and soon furnished the new hive 
with a goodly family. They immediately start¬ 
ed nine queen cells. I had a young queen in 
a single-frame observing hive, not fertilized. 
W aiting a few days, I found her laying eggs, and 
concluded I would introduce her into the queen¬ 
less hive, and thus save time. I put her in a 
wire cage «md laid her over the hole in the 
loney board. Next day I took off the honey 
ward, not doubting that all was right, cut out 
ill the queen cells, and took up the cage con¬ 
fining the queen. Behold she was dead! 
Sere was a dilemma. No queen, and all the 
aieans the bees had of raising one destroyed. 
What was to be done? After cogitating, I 
opened another hive and took out a frame con¬ 
taining eggs and brood in various stages, and 
introduced it into the queenless family. They 
commenced once more to supply their loss, by 
constructing queen cells. A day or two after, 
in examining a swarm that had been transferred 
from a box to a movable frame hive, and that 
contained a fertile queen, I found a card with 
two sealed queen cells, nearly mature. This, 
I also introduced into the motherless stock. 
Shortly after, I had the satisfaction of seeing 
the bees of this hive working with increased 
vigor. On opening the hive, I found they had 
matured a queen, and she had already deposited 
several thousand eggs. This happened late in 
the season, and having had an unfavorable spell 
of weather, part of my stocks having destroyed 
their drones, I feared the queen would not be 
able to meet the drones. My fears were not re¬ 
alized. Soon after, we had a few days of good 
weather, and the bees rapidly accumulated 
stores, and I see no reason now why it is not 
one of my best hives. It is not so heavy as 
some, but still, I think it has honey enough 
to carry it safely through the Winter. 
Improvement of Highway Borders. 
S. Edwards Todd says in the Country Gen¬ 
tleman, that in many portions of Onondaga 
Co., N. Y., the soil on each side of the beaten 
track has been neatly graded, seeded with grass, 
and all the stones and rubbish removed, and a 
good crop of hay is annually cut. In some lo¬ 
calities visited by him, which had just been 
mowed, he judged there would be not less than 
two or three tons of good hay per acre. This 
of course necessitates the mutual agreement of 
all the residents of a neighborhood, to keep 
their stock out of the highway. It is true that 
by a law of this State, no one has a right to 
pasture cattle along the road adjoining the field 
of another owner, yet few would care to im¬ 
prove their own highway borders, if compelled 
to go to law to protect their rights. There 
must therefore be a general, voluntary observ¬ 
ance of the regulation, to have the plan succeed. 
Where a farmer has a long line of highway run¬ 
ning through his lands, it will pay well to bring 
it into meadow. Leisure time during the pres¬ 
ent Winter may be well employed in grading 
this ground and removing obstructions, prepar¬ 
atory to seeding in Spring with timothy and 
clover, or other grass suitable to the locality. 
Such an improvement would add greatly to the 
attractiveness, and it would thus increase the 
value and salableness pf a farm. 
More Notes on the White Willow. 
Unless considerable care be taken, there is 
danger of confounding this with some of the 
inferior or worthless varieties. The smooth, 
Tight greyish bark, only slightly scarred where 
the leaves grew, serves tolerably to distinguish 
the cuttings of the white from those of the yel¬ 
low variety which are of a bright yellow color; 
also from those of the Ozier which are of a 
reddish grey, and from the black and swamp 
willows which are more deeply scarred, and of 
a darker hue. The habit of the tree, however, 
is the marked feature: the stems are more erect, 
the branches starting from the main stems at 
a less angle, and the tree throughout, presents a 
trimmer and more regular look. In the De¬ 
cember Agriculturist we referred to the use of 
this willow at the West as a live fence, and for 
timber. The engraving herewith presented, 
represents some trees well grown in a fence, 
(a little too stiff, bare-stemmed, and poplar-like,) 
and some which have been topped. Had but 3 
or 4 shoots been allowed to grow after topping, 
they would have made a much larger growth. 
How many shoots are to be left, and how long 
they are to be allowed to grow, depend upon 
the purposes for which the wood is desired. 
An enumeration of some of the uses of this tree 
may be profitable to many of our readers. 
For Powder. —So extensively is the white wil¬ 
low used for making charcoal for the manufac¬ 
ture of gunpowder, and so much is this species 
(Salix alba, which includes the yellow willow,) 
preferred, that throughout the districts where it 
is raised, particularly on the Connecticut and 
Delaware rivers, it is known as “ Powder wil¬ 
low.” The wood is cut 8 feet long and sold to 
the manufacturers, or it is bought standing and 
cut by them. The yellow willow is equally 
good, but it does not make so rapid growth. 
For Basket, or other wicker work, this willow is 
used in both Europe and this country. It is 
especially valuable where stout coarse wicker¬ 
work is made, and for the coarse parts of very 
fine work. For this purpose, the shoots are cut 
in Spring when the bark peels easily. The 
many applications of wicker-work are not un¬ 
derstood in this country, but we think when 
once the willow becomes common, where tim¬ 
ber for boards is scarce, it will be valued as it is 
in many parts of Europe. Movable hurdles for 
fencing yards, sheep-folds, grain-stacks, etc., 
may be constructed of it, and they possess great 
strength and durability. They are made in 
lengths of about 8 feet, with a width of 4 feet, 
and are woven so closely that even a rabbit can 
not go through. Similar wicker-work makes 
very good wagon bodies, which may be con¬ 
structed like a huge basket, or be made in sep¬ 
arate pieces to be put together and held in place 
by stakes and withes. Other uses of a similar 
character will occur to our readers. 
Farm Roads. —Where the ground is not plowed 
every year or two close to a live willow fence, 
the ground within 12 to 16 feet becomes fill¬ 
ed with roots; then the lower branches being 
lopped off, this space forms, wherever we 
have observed it, an excellent cart path, good at 
all seasons. No heavily loaded cart will cut 
through the surface. Where farm roads cross 
wet swales or soft ground, this will afford a 
great convenience. 
Corduroy roads and Causeways. —Roads must 
often be made across sinking ground, where 
stones and earth are swallowed up, and even 
where common corduroy will not stand long. 
The willow is well adapted for this. If the 
shoots of two years growth be taken, and laid 
thickly in the road-bed, and then covered with 
sufficient earth to make a smooth road, not only 
will the willow answer as well as any other 
wood, but the sticks will sprout and grow from 
each end, and the road-way will be filled with 
a mass of living roots, binding the whole togeth¬ 
er. We saw causeways made in this way of 
the white willow on Duck Island, in the Dela 
ware, on the farm of Mr. Joseph Reader, who 
strongly advocates the use of this kind of road 
through the sloughs, which are such impedi¬ 
ments to travel on prairies. After our well-re¬ 
membered experience during “ a wet spell ” on 
the prairie, both by day and night, we may be 
excused for pressing this matter earnestly upon 
the consideration of western men. In our 
view the Counties ought at once to lay out roads 
and provide at least for causeways crossing me 
sloughs, which shall be good and firm at all 
seasons. -The bark of the willow is used foi 
tanning in Europe, where also woolen fabrics oj 
yarn are sometimes dyed of a sort of butternut 
color, (not a favoritv ' 'ie in these times foi 
