106 AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE.-(13746) 
Calved May 28, 1853. Bred by the late St. George Gray Esq., and imported by the present owner, Thomas Richardson, West Farms, Westchester 
Co., N. Y. Pedigree : Got by Royal Buck, [10750] ; Dam Rose de Meaux, by Collat'd, [3149] ; g. d., Moss Rose, by Matchem, [2281] ; gr. g. d., Por¬ 
tia, by Cato, [119] ; gr. gr. g. d., by Jupiter, [342] ; gr. gr. gr. g. d., by George, [273] ; gr. gr. gr. gr. g. d., by Chilton, [136] ; gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. g. d., by 
Irishman, [329] ; gr. gr.gr. gr. gr. gr. g. d., by B., [45 |. 
TALKS ABOUT BEE CULTURE—NO. IL 
Having encouraged our readers last month 
to give some attention to bee-keeping, as a 
source of pleasure and profit, we intend, as 
we have space, to give a few brief hints 
from month to month, which will be of ser¬ 
vice to those commencing the culture of this 
insect. 
Those who own no bees must, purchase 
either stocks that have been kept through the 
Winter, or new swarms. In the former case 
no time should be lost in removing them ; let 
it be done before the trees blossom. Buy 
only strong stocks, which give every sign of 
activity on a warm day. At evening, or on a 
day when the bees are not stirring, turn the 
hive up side down, and quickly cover it with 
a coarse towel; tack this around carefully 
so that the air can get in, and no bees get 
out; and then carry the hive home, with as 
little jarring as possible , and put it into the 
place where it is to stand for the season. If 
you wish,to begin with a new swarm , engage 
some beekeeper—on whom you can rely—to 
sell you an early swarm, and the first that 
goes out from the parent stock. Let him 
have your hive in advance, and put the bees 
into it at the proper time, and then you can 
move it as directed above. Swarms some¬ 
time issue in May, more usually in June, but 
the earlier the better. 
One word as to hives. Beware of spend¬ 
ing money on patent contrivances ; it is oft¬ 
en thrown away. We can do little to help 
the bees gather and secure their honey. 
They do that of their own accord, and as 
well in a state of nature as when domestica¬ 
ted. By giving them hives protected against 
the heat and rain, we can save them trouble 
and annoyance; and so hives should be 
made w'th tight joints and be painted white, 
and should stand under the shade of trees. 
By movable boxes we can secure honey in 
a marketable form without inconvenience ; 
and so the glass boxes described by Mr. 
Quinby, in our January number, will be 
found very useful, though wooden ones will 
answer. If we wish to study the habits of 
bees, it is necessary to get a sight of the in¬ 
side of the hive ; and for this hives of a pe¬ 
culiar construction are required; though a 
single light of glass in the side of a common 
wooden hive will teach some people what 
they never knew before. 
If we wish to pursue the most complete 
system of management, and have entire con¬ 
trol over every part of the hive at all times, 
a hive on Mr. Langstroth’s plan is absolute¬ 
ly essential. But the simple hive described 
by Quinby, we venture to say, will be found 
as profitable as nine-tenths of those which 
are registered at the Patent Office. Some¬ 
times a queen will be lost, and the stock 
will die ; sometimes loo much honey may be 
taken away in the Fall, and the bees do not 
survive the Winter; sometimes the bee- 
moth gets access to a hive poorly defended 
and does a deal of mischief; but ordinary 
patents will not do much to remedy these 
difficulties; whatever may be said by men 
who have them to sell. 
As this is the moiUh for the blossoming of 
fruit trees, and for securing the delicious 
honey of the apple and the pear, it is well to 
give the bees access to at least one of the 
spare honey boxes ; and, as the weather be¬ 
comes warmer, if they are found to be doing 
well, the other boxes mav also be opened to 
them. 
AMERICAN SHORT-HORN HERD-BOOK. * 
We learn that the third volume of this in¬ 
valuable work to the breeders of Short-horn 
Cattle will be issued early this month. It 
contains about three thousand five hundred 
pedigrees of thorough-bred animals, nearly 
all of them never before recorded. It is 
gratifying to mark the progress which our 
neat-stock breeders throughout the United 
States and the Canadas are making in the 
introduction of the better races of English 
cattle to take place of the common and infe¬ 
rior animals which they have heretofore bred. 
the Herd-Book, that there are at this time 
not less than six thousand thorough-bred 
Short-horn breeding cattle in the United 
States and the Canadas, the aggregate value 
of which is upwards of one million of dol¬ 
lars at the lowest valuation, their individual 
value being from one hundred and fifty to 
five hundred, and in many cases ranging up 
to two thousand dollars each. Success, we 
say, to such noble enterprize in our Ameri¬ 
can farmers. 
MANURES AT THE WEST-MILDEW, h. 
To the Editor of the America}i Agriculturist: 
Your articles on Manures and the Mechanical 
Preparation of the Soil are very valuable. In the 
February number, the question, “ How do Plants 
Growl” is answered very plainly, and there is no 
doubt of its truthfulness You say: “Nothing 
