130 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Then proceed to drive the bees out of the first 
hive into the upper box, by constant drumming 
with the hands upon the sides to which the 
com^s are attached. The bees finding escape 
impossible, proceed at once to fill themselves with 
honey, and in the course of fifteen or twenty 
minutes will retreat with the queen to the upper ! 
box When the greater part have gone up, the 
box is to be quickly lifted and placed upon a 
bottom board, so as to confine the bees, and yet 
furnish them with air. If this forced swarm is to 
be removed to the distance of a mile or more, it 
should be treated exactly like a natural swarm, 
while the first hive is set back in its original 
place instead of the decoy; the bees from the 
fields will be glad to regain their home ; a new 
queen will speedily be provided, and the maturing 
brood will make good the place of those expelled. 
The plan thus far described, we have pursued 
with gratifying success. If, however, the bee 
keeper wishes to retain the forced swarm, and 
cannot send it away for a time, something 
more must be done. Mr. Langstroth confidently 
recommends a process which we have not yet 
tried. He announces as a new and important 
discovery, that “ nearly all the bees which have 
entered the decoy hive, if now presented with 
their own, will adhere to it even when its location 
is changed.” 
His advice, then is, after the foraging bees have 
relumed to the old hive, now standing in its form¬ 
er station instead of the decoy hive, take up this 
old hive and put it in a new place, and in the old 
place put the hive prepared for the forced swarm. 
Shake out before it, upon a sheet, the bees 
forced into the box, and they will quickly as¬ 
cend and make themselves at home in their new 
quarters; and having a fertile queen will con¬ 
struct worker cells, and do in all respects as well 
as a natural swarm. If, however, the new swarm 
should be kept in by a storm, or by a temporary 
failure of the honey-harvest, it would be prudent 
to give them a little food. 
Where shall the swarm alight? —For those who 
prefer natural swarming, we have a single hint 
that may be of great serviee. An eminent apia¬ 
rian, last Summer, threw his black hat into a 
small tree as his bees were swarming, and they 
at once alighted upon it. It may be that any 
black object that looks like a cluster of bees, (an 
old cap, a piece of cloth, or whatever is conven¬ 
ient,) will attract them to a spot where they may 
be easily reached. Try it. 
RAINY DAY RAMBLES-NO. IV., 
AMONG THE MILK FARMERS OF LONG ISLAND. 
To theEditor of the American Agriculturist. 
I had often noticed a lot of milk cans, glittering 
in the sun, as I rode by my friend Jackson’s, and, 
knowing by the fine appearance of a herd of thir¬ 
ty cows in a field adjoining, that the pure article 
must be furnished there, if anywhere, I determin¬ 
ed to call, and will proceed to relate how the 
Queens County farmers manage this branch of 
business. My friend took me first to his sta¬ 
bles, to show me his arrangement for stalling and 
feeding them. The barn was over 100 feet in 
length, and a hovel adjoined it at right angles in 
the form of an lx. An alley ran from the barn- 
floor to the corner where he had a room with a 
cistern beneath for wetting the feed. Over this 
was a large bin, holding 1,000 bushels or more. 
A spout from this leads the bran to the feeding box, 
placed under the pump spout, so that he could 
wet his feed with little labor. From this room a 
similar alley ran along the hovel to the end, which 
was wide enough to throw down the hay and car¬ 
ry the feed to the cows He said “there are many 
ways of making stalls for cows, but I like best to 
have them about feet wide, with a partition 3 
feet in length between each two. The cows are 
fastened by cattle-ties, that play on a post near 
the stall, and secured by a staple to it, so as to 
allow it room to play when the cows lie down. 
He had windows with shutters, so that it could 
be made dark, to keep the tormenting flies away ; 
for, he said, we have to milk, for six months, in 
the middle of the day here. Our regular feed for 
cows is wheat bran and Indian meal, say eight 
bushels of bran to one of meal, and also all the 
pumpkins, beets and carrots, that we raise.” 
I asked about turnips for milch cows, and what 
effect, if any, it had pn the taste of milk. He 
said, “ in small quantities, cut and mixed with 
feed, they gave no unpleasant taste ; but green 
rye, musty hay and stalks, and sedge hay, often 
spoiled their milk. As soon as we milk, it is set 
into tubs of cold water, and stirred until it is cool. 
This drives away the animal heat and preserves 
it sweet much longer. In Summer it ought to be 
cooled as low as 70° before being sent away, but 
lower is better, if we have time. We generally 
pay a quarter of a cent per quart for its carriage 
to the Long Island Railroad, and they charge one- 
third of a cent to carry it to Brooklyn. Our price 
this year is to deliver at Brooklyn at three cents 
a quart for half a year, and four cents the Winter 
half. So you perceive our pay is small, in com¬ 
parison to other farm produce ; but we feed our 
grain and much of our hay, and all of the straw, 
at home. This gives a large supply of excellent 
manure, which I think is about all the profit. 
We cannot purchase a middling cow for less than 
$45, if she is dry, and they add from $16 to $30 
if she has a calf, according to the quality.” He 
answered to my inquiry about improved short 
horned cattle, that he always purchased the best 
cows he could find ; it took no more to keep a 
good than a poor one. The extra price more 
than compensated.” 
He said “the Durham may give richer milk 
than good natives, but he questioned their aver¬ 
aging more in quantity. We don’t look for the 
richness ; the quantity is what we want.” Well, 
I asked, if you had a cow that gave milk of supe¬ 
rior richness, why not bring it to a par with the 
other portion by the addition of a little water 1 
“ Well, the faot is, if we did the citizens would 
find it so much better than swill milk, which they 
used to have, that they would know it.” “ Why,” 
he said, “ there are several well attested facts of 
their complaining of the thickness of the milk. 
They thought the milk-man had thickened it by 
adding flour.” He told many amusing anecdotes 
of the milk business, one of which was that many 
upright milk-men have to add water, and reduce 
the price in the same ratio, or else lose their cus¬ 
tomers,for citizens will not buy the pure article and 
water it to suit. Perhaps, too, they think the milk¬ 
men being so long accustomed to it, can do it better. 
Cleanliness is very necessary in producing good 
milk, the cans require thorough washing, and ev¬ 
ery thing they feed should be sweet and fresh. A 
large number of farmers purchase brewers’ grains 
in cold weather, to give in equal quantities with 
bran and meal. It is cheaper feed than grain, 
yielding more milk from the same cost, but some 
milk-men say the milk is not so good, and will 
not keep sweet as long as that made from grain 
alone. 
He said “ there was one advantage that every 
one could observe in those that kept a large num¬ 
ber of oows for the sale of milk. Their cows 
were finer in appearance, and superior in quality, 
to those that did not, and they continually in¬ 
creased the productiveness of their farms.” 
“And,” he continued, “we have mowing and 
harvesting machines now to cut our grass and 
grain, and we can increase our lands in feitility 
without limit, if we wish.” I asked his opinion 
about the profit of raising carrots and beets for 
cows. In reply, he stated that “ he and several 
others had made small trials, but nearly all aban¬ 
doned it now. It takes a large quantity ol manure 
to grow them of good size, and a great amount 
of labor of the most tedious and unpleasant kind. 
They needed the greatest attention in the most 
busy portion of the year, and they are an uncer¬ 
tain crop every way with us. We like beets bet¬ 
ter, as they come up surer, are easier thinned, 
sprout in half the time, often starting before the 
weeds, while carrots are behind them. I think 
they will yield more loads to the acre, and I do 
not perceive but they afford us as much milk. It 
may not be as rich for butter, but that is no ob¬ 
ject to us. Take the same amount of labor, rha- 
nure and time, and devote it to the culture of In¬ 
dian Corn, and I believe it will be more profitable. 
“ We make great U3e of corn, planted close, fur 
cattle feed in the latter part of Summer. We 
could not succeed with so many cows without it, 
especially in dry Summers. If there is any left, 
that the cows do not require, I allow it to stand 
until the stalk is cured, and then cut it up for fod¬ 
der, and excellent fodder it is too, when properly 
cared for.” 
Before taking leave I inquired how much milk 
he, or milkmen generally, averaged per cow a 
year. “ That depends upon the quality of cows 
you keep. I think 10 quarts multiplied by the 
number of cows we milk is a fair average, al¬ 
though many exceed it, and as many fall below it.” 
Having obtained all the information I wished, I 
took leave of my clever informant, and in the 
same manner will treat my friend, the Drolessor, 
and his friends. S. 
PROPAGATING THE CRANBERRY. 
To the Editor of American Agriculturist. 
I have noticed many advertisements of the 
Cranberry plant, and also different modes of 
propagation. If one buys the roots, and sets them 
out in a congenial soil, he will be obliged to wait 
many years for those roots to cover the whole 
surface planted, and will be unable to reap a full 
harvest for a long time. The best method of 
propagting the Cranberry is this : Prepare the 
ground by plowing, taking off the turf, or burning. 
Pulverize the soil as you would to sow a crop of 
grain Procure vines from any cranberry mead¬ 
ow by mowing with a scythe. Pass them through 
a common hay cutter, leaving them in lengths 
of from two to three inches. After they are thus 
cut sow them broadcast, and harrow them in 
well; or if your ground is too soft to use a team 
upon, cover with a common garden rake. The 
month of May, or early in June, is the best sea¬ 
son to plant. If the soil be of a peat formation, a 
coating of sand or gravel will be beneficial. The 
Cranberry vine is very tenacious of lile, and will 
throw out roots from every joint when placed in 
the soil. Theie are three distinct varieties, or 
shaped Cranberries, viz : the oblong, the hell 
and the round. You will find these three kinds 
in any natural Cranberry meadow in Massachu¬ 
setts, one or the other preponderating, according 
to soil and locality. A. Richardson. 
East Medway, Mass. 
LICE ON HOGS 
Show a careless feeder, and neglect of their com¬ 
fort. A pig wants regular feeding, thrice daily by 
the clock. A dry lodging place, with plenty of 
clean straw, changed once a week. A pig thus 
treated, never becomes lousy. But when they 
become lousy by neglect, a dose of sulphur in the 
teed, and washing with tobacco water about the 
parts of the body most infested, will effect a cure. 
