202 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
occasions is that privilege granted to human eyes. 
We notice that the bees are coming into the hive 
about as rapidly as they are going from it. And 
some of them have their thigh baskets full of the 
pollen of flowers; good large loads, and of differ¬ 
ent colors, orange, red, brown ; and yet no load is 
of a mixed color. This shows that each bee has 
visited only flowers of the same kind, and sug¬ 
gests a wise arrangement of providence, in so 
directing the instinct of the bee, that it promotes 
the fruitfulness of plants by; carrying the fine dust 
of the flower from one blossom to another of the 
same kind, while it does not mix the pollen of 
cucumbers and squashes with that of water-mel¬ 
ons and cantaloupes. 
The bees also carry honey into the hive, for 
they “ gather ” it instead of making it, but we can 
not see it, as it is stowed away in the honey bag 
in the front part of the abdomen. Wax on the 
other hand, is not collected, but manufactured 
within. Another thing interests us as we look at 
the entrance. A dozen bees are standing near, 
with their heads turned to the hive, holding on 
with their fore-feet, and fanning with such a rapid 
motion that we can not see their wings. This 
must be hard work, and they do not keep it up 
long ; but as they cease, others take their places, 
and the ventilation goes on. This is designed to 
secure a supply of pure fresh air, which is essen¬ 
tial to the success and energy of the workers. 
Bees may very soon be smothered, if the hive is 
entirely closed, and great care is needful, when 
they are carried any distance, to give them suffi¬ 
cient breathing holes. When excited by fear or 
auger, or some penetrating offensive odor, an ex¬ 
tra force is sent to pump in fresh air, but the lazy 
drones never take their part in the work. “ Sink 
or swim, live or die, survive or perish,” they look 
outonly for theirown comfort, and not at all for the 
public weal. Some of the bees at the entrance 
do the work of sentinels. Let a strange bee come 
there, and they attack it, sometimes one, some¬ 
times more set upon it, and rarely do they allow 
It to enter. And insects of other kinds are likely 
to meet with a similar and decided repulse. 
We arq not the only interested spectators at 
the hive, for a couple of toads, squatting on the 
ground close by, lift up their heads toward the 
bees, as if they knew a thing or two about bee- 
culture. A toad is a philosopher, almost as wise 
and dignified as an owl; the great difficulty is 
that while he does “ a deal of thinking,” as Paddy 
said, he has not the gift of speech. These toads 
are watching for their dinners, they know very 
well that the bees coming home, with a heavy 
load of pollen and honey, sometimes miss the 
alighting board and fall to the ground, or to a blade 
of grass; and they are ready to swallow any such 
poor unfortunate straggler, honey, pollen, sting 
and all. It is done in an instant, before you can 
say Jack Robinson, and it is well worth seeing for 
the curiosity of the thing, though the bee-keeper, 
after a little, will be very apt to wish the toads 
were somewhere else than near his hives. 
Thus far we have seen only the outside, but we 
must another time contrive some way to see 
what is going on within the hive. 
Running a String. —This is not a difficult mat¬ 
ter, if you have a tape-needle, and especially if 
wife, or daughter, or sister is at hand to use it; 
but if you are so unfortunate as to have neither 
of these, what then 1 The other day, we saw a 
bachelor sea captain get over the difficulty in this 
wise : Wishing to put a ready-hemmed curtain up 
at his office window, he whittled out a small 
round stick, split one end a little, put an end of 
the string into the opening, and at once run it into 
the border of the curtain. Not a bad substitute 
for a tape-needle.— Ed. American Agriculturist. 
HORSES' GNAWING TREES. 
This morning, on the way to our office, we no¬ 
ticed that the trunk of a magnificent shade tree, 
which we have a hundred times admired, is now 
all torn and scraggy, because some careless man 
has tied his horse to it, and left him at liberty to 
gnaw the bark. This tree, which has been reared 
with care, may survive the scathing, but it will not 
flourish, and its once smooth trunk will always pre¬ 
sent an unsightly appearance. And how many 
thousands of other valuable trees are in like man¬ 
ner injured every year. We could moralize upon 
the subject at any length; we could write down in 
strong language the conduct of those who will 
make hitcliing-posts of fruit or ornamental trees, 
but that woifld not remedy the evil. Said a country 
physician to us, rvhen conversing on this point: 
“ In four out of five places I call at, I find no post 
to tie my horse to, and the anxious people within 
cannot wait for the “ doctor” to go half a mile to 
find a suitable place, and so I am compelled to 
hitch to the nearest tree I can find.” 
The sight of the tree above alluded to, and the 
recollection of the physician’s statements, called 
to mind a simple contrivance published by us a 
few years since, which we will now describe 
again. It was called “Ashley’s Hitching Rod.” 
It consists of a simple iron rod, half an 
inch in diameter, and twenty inches long, 
with the strap A upon one end, and a clasp, 
B, at the other. The strap, A, may be 
buckled around a post or tree, and the 
clasp, B, attached to the bit. It may be 
attached permanently to the post, and left 
there for any horse stopping, or it can be 
carried in the carriage, and used when¬ 
ever wanted. It would be especially use¬ 
ful to physicians and others who make 
frequent stops, and is quite as convenient 
to use as the common halter or leather 
strap used for the same purpose. 
Another especial advantage in its use, 
pqf even where there is a regular hitching- 
^ post, is, that it will prevent a horse from 
spoiling the beauty of a harness, and perhaps 
breaking it, by rubbing against the post. The cost 
is very trifling, scarcely more than that of a com¬ 
mon halter, and it can be made anywhere. We 
have never heard of its being patented. Would 
it not be well for our agricultural implement 
dealers, harness makers, and others, to keep them 
on hand for sale 1 
BARN-YARD SCRAPINGS. 
“Yankee,” a Maine correspondent of the 
American Agriculturist, writes that two years 
ago, wdiile remodeling a barn-yard, to so arrange 
it in a basin form that water would not run away 
from it carrying off the rich manure, he had a 
quantity of the bed of the old yard to remove. 
This he carted to an old grass field and spread it 
on the surface, at the rate of 15 loads to the acre. 
The result was that last year the good quality and 
the quantity of hay was increased 50 per cent., 
and this year the effect of the top dressing is quite 
as great as last year. 
This is doubtless so. Many economical farm¬ 
ers practice carting hundreds of loads of earth 
into their yards every Autumn, where it becomes 
saturated with the rich manure liquids, and it is 
then spread out upon grass lands, and applied to 
other crops. This plan will pay, generally, when 
manure is required. The liquids from the ma¬ 
nure yards usually contain the richest portion of 
the fertilizing matters, and more than one half of 
all this material in the country is entirely lost. 
Muck and swamp mud is the best kind of soil 
for mingling with manure, but in the absence oi 
these, good sod land is an excellent material, 
while any kind of soil is much better than nothing. 
Nmo is the time to dig out and pile up to dry a 
large quantity of muck or swamp mud. There is 
money in it. 
A TURNIP DISCUSSION 
NO. III. 
We have noticed the objections to the culture 
of this crop, the preparation of the soil and the 
manures appropriate for it. 
THE VARIETIES 
are so numerous, that we might fill many columns 
with a mere catalogue. The crop is in so high 
esteem in England, that the be§t agriculturists 
have sought to improve it, and carry it to the 
highest point of perfection. There are several 
classes of turnips, such as the Swedish tur¬ 
nip or Ruta baga; Yellow turnip; White 
turnip, &c. Each of these classes has its place 
in British husbandry ; some for storing for Win¬ 
ter and Spring use, others to be fed from the 
ground during Winter. 
The Swedish turnip stands first in point ol ex¬ 
cellence. The yield is not only very large, but it 
keeps until the following Spring without losing in 
quality. It requires a somewhat richer and 
deeper soil than the other varieties, and more 
time to arrive at maturity. Seed should be sown 
in June, or early in July, in this country. There 
are a dozen or more varieties of the Ruta baga 
Skirving's new improved purple-topped Swede is 
among the best of these, and has been quite ex¬ 
tensively introduced among us. Two years since, 
we had a fine crop of this variety, and it fully re¬ 
alized the expectations we had cherished con¬ 
cerning it. It grows rapidly, and attains a large 
size. As a feed for stock in the Spring months, 
we think nothing excels this variety. 
Most of the varieties of white and yellow tur¬ 
nips cultivated in England are not particularly 
adapted to our climate, and we do not anticipate 
any very marked results from the attempt to in¬ 
troduce them through the seed distribution of the 
Patent Office. Not one in ten will probably 
prove to be an acquisition. River's Stubble tur¬ 
nip, and Ashcroft’s, we hear favorable accounts 
of, and we have them under trial this year for the 
first time. They have a short season, and admit 
of sowing from the 20th of July to the 1st ol Au¬ 
gust, which is very much in their favor. The va¬ 
rieties which have proved themselves adapted to 
our climate are the Cow-horn, which is the turnip 
for sowing among corn at the last hoeing; the 
Red or Purple-topped, which may be sown as late 
as the 16th of September; White or Flat Butch, 
the Green-topped Ox-heart, and the Autumn Stub¬ 
ble or Six Weeks All these late varieties grow 
rapidly, have a soft texture, and should be used 
before the 1st of January. After that period, they 
begin to grow pithy, and lose their good qualities. 
THE AMOUNT OF NOURISHMENT 
contained in the turnip is less than in most other 
roots, and it is used to best advantage only in 
connection with more solid and dry food. Cattle 
want green and succulent food the year round, 
and with this crop the American farmer can al¬ 
ways furnish it in the greatest abundance. An 
analysis of the several varieties of the turnip 
shows, in 
64 drachms of the Swedish turnip 110 grains of aliment. 
64 drachms of Osarden turnip.85 grains of aliment. 
64 drachms of Norfolk turnip.83 grains of aliment. 
64 drachms of Com’n White turnip.80 grains of aliment. 
64 drachms of Tankard turnip.76 grains of aliment. 
METHODS OF SOWING THE SEED. 
These are various. The old plan of sow’ing 
