AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
395 
investments made in his poultry than from any 
other item on his farm. 
Mr. J. Reynolds said he knew a lad who five 
years ago began to keep poultry. He bought 
five or six hens, raised chickens, and sold chick¬ 
ens and eggs. lie fed largely upon fresh fish. 
He now has a flock of. some fifty hens! has 
purchased a cow, repaired his little barn, clothed 
himself, assisted his mother more or less, and is 
now from the sale of his milk and the produce 
of his poultry, quite a thriving young man, ac¬ 
cumulating a very pretty capital. 
-®-CM>- 
Fattening Poultry. —Mr. C. Jackson, of 
Alleghany County, Pa., says, I keep my fatten¬ 
ing poultry in a warm, quiet room, one with 
glass windows, with shutters facing the South: 
“ I vary the food constantly never giving the 
same twice successively. Small potatoes boiled, 
boiled oats and Indian meal, a piece of cooked 
meat suspended from the rafters always acces¬ 
sible, milk to drink, and water fresh every day, 
a heap of gravel, one of ashes, and some char¬ 
coal, arc m.y means of making poultry ready 
for the market in two weeks from the time they 
are put up to fatten. If longer than this time 
is required, there must be some mistake in the 
management. It should be recollected that the 
sooner meat is put on a fattening animal, 
whether a steer or chicken, the more tender it 
is. I place before my poultry all the materials 
for fattening themselves, tempt their appetites 
by giving them variety, and keep them quiet 
and comfortable, as I have alluded to. It is 
well known that the digestive process is sooner 
and easier finished during a state of rest. A 
chicken should, have nothing to worry it, no 
anxiety of mind. Could they anticipate their 
latter end and the reasons for our supplying 
them with the dainties of the land, they would 
be held very uneasy, and I make it a point to 
keep all such information from them.” 
HORSE vs. MULE. 
Mr. Editor : — I have seen a good many com¬ 
munications in your paper showing the advan¬ 
tage'of mules over horses. I wish to give you 
a few fireside calculations of an old farmer. 
To start with a team of ten mules, which will 
cost, say, $1200; the losses would amount to 
at least one in two years, which at the same 
price, would be sixty dollars a year to keep up 
his team. Suppose another to start with four 
horses and six mares, costing $1000; he ought 
to raise not less than two colts a year—the cost 
of raising which is, say $40. As I have allowed 
that five mules would die in ten years, I will 
allow that eight horses would die in the same 
time, which would leave the farmer twenty-two 
horses at the end of the ten years. He ought to 
have sold during the ten years twelve of these 
at $1200; now deduct the cost of raising, $480, 
which would make his team cost him $280, 
during the ten years. Whereas 
If he were to attcmpt to raise the mules, he 
would have to buy mares, which added to the 
cost and trouble of raising them, would make it 
cheaper in the end to buy the mules. But 
where are the mares to come from if'we all raise 
mules ? They say that mules live longer, stand 
abuse, and eat less than horses. I have disposed 
of the long life in allowing eight horses to die 
in the same time that five mules would. I can 
allow nothing for abuse to either; and as for 
eating less, I have not found it the case.; be¬ 
cause I can turn my horses out on grass every 
night for six months in the year, besides all 
times when they are not used, and have always 
found the old saying true about mules, “ that 
there was but two places for a mule, the stable 
and the harness;” for as soon as he is turned 
out he will get into mischief, consequently eat 
more grain in a year than a horse. 
Virginia is now paying to Kentucky $200,000 
or $300,000 per annum for mules; and must pay 
more, because the Kentuckians have already 
bought up a large number of mares in Western 
Virginia at double the price they formerly sold for, 
and have almost stopped the raising of horses 
there; and w r e arc obliged from necessity to buy 
their mules. That, I believe, is the principal 
cause of the high price of horses at present; 
and I think that they will steadily rise to nearly 
double their present value. Now, sir, this must 
be a losing game. Virginia, once famed for her 
fine horses, has now become tributary to Ken¬ 
tucky for animals to supply their places, which 
cannot keep up their own race, and must be an 
increasing tax on her farmers, who could raise 
their own horses and some to spare .—Southern 
Planter. 
-OOO- 
TnE Cost of Living. —The following table, 
from the Tribune , shows the prices of food and 
fuel in' this City for the past half-dozen years. 
It has been prepared with great care, and we 
think its figures may be relied on as correct: 
Articles. 1849. ’50. ’51. ’52. ’53. ’54. 
Wheat Flour, State. 4.81 5.25 4.31 4.18 4.62 8.81 
Rye Flour, fine. 2.81 2.87 3.50 3.31 3.81 6.12 
Corn Meal, Jersey. 2.75 2.81 3.12 3,25 3.00 4.50 
Wheat, Genessee... 1.25 1.33 1.14 1.11 1,28 2.25 
Rye. 57 59 73 77 00 1.20 
Oats. 36 41 45 39 46 52 
Corn.. 59 61 64 64 67 1.02 
Candles, Mold. 111/2 12 12 13 12 16 
Candles, Sperm.... 34 42 43 40 32 29 
Coal, Ahthracite... 5.50 5.50 5.00 5.50 5.00 7.00 
Coffee, Brazil. 61/2 83/4 9 3 /4 9% 91/2 11 
Coffee, Java. 8 V 2 11 121/2 111 4 iu / 2 14 
Fish, Dry Cod. 2.62 2.81 2.75 4.18 3.25 3.37 
Mackeral, No. 1 — 9.87 11.62 10.25 11.00 12.50 15.50 
Molasses, N.0 . 231/2 26 31 29 28 29 
Oil, Sperm. 1.12 1,20 1.27 1.31 1.35' 1.45 
Pork, Mess. 10.06 10,25 15.00 18.75 15.75 15.75 
Pork, Prime. 8,25 8,50 13.00 16.75 13.37 13,50 
Beef, Mess. 12.12 9.25 9.75 10.00 10.00 11.50 
Beef, Prime. 8.25 6.00 5.50 6.00 5.75 6.37 
Pickled Hams. 53/4 6 I /2 9 93/j. 91/2 9 
Pickled Shoulders. 4 31/2 63/4 8 61/4 6 V 2 
Lard. 61/4 63/s * 63/4 10 93/4101/2 
Butter, State. 17 18 16 22 20 20 
Cheese. 6 V 2 73/4 7 8 I /2 91/2 11 
Rice. 3.12 3.50 2.87 3.62 4.37 4.75 
Salt, Liverpool. 1.25 1.37 1.40 1.15 1.57 1.70 
Soap. New-York.... 41 2 5 5 51/2 6 6 1/2 
Sugar, New-Orleans 4% 4% 5 43/4 5 6 
Sugar’, Cuba. 4 B /s 43/4 5Ve 43/4 47 /s 5 
■Sugar, refined white 81/4 SVs 8 V 2 77/s 83/g 8 I /2 
Tea, Young Hyson. 43 47 53 55 50 50 
Tea, Souchong. 33 26 24 18 17 23 
Tea, Oolong. — 35 33 30 29 33 
-MH- 
For the American Agriculturist. 
SECURING WILD BEES. 
In No. 15 of the Agriculturist , an article is 
copied from the Maine Farmer , stating that a 
Mr. Smith had obtained a log some “ nine feet 
long by two and a half diameter, the hollow very 
large, appearing to be actually filled with bees 
and honey.” As the process for obtaining it 
was particularly given, it was probably intended 
as advice for others to do likewise—providing, 
of course, that they are fortunate enough to find 
the bees. [This was inserted merely as an in¬ 
teresting item, not as advice.— Eds.] Now, this 
is all well enough so far as relates to securing 
the bees and honey; but this trouble of cutting 
off a large log and conveying it home entire, in¬ 
dicates that something more is expected; since 
combs never grow better with age, the issue of 
swarms will be the only remuneration. This 
then being the object, 1 wish those of your 
readers who may take trouble in this line to get 
a recompense, and to this end they should ob¬ 
serve some of the conditions of a hive that pro¬ 
duces swarms. 
Should the hive when cut from the tree be of 
the proper size, taking nearly 2000 cubic inches 
as the standard for the cavity, it would probably 
be well enough to keep it for a stock, (care hav¬ 
ing been observed not to break the comb.) It 
would appear that the instinct of bees when 
choosing a hive is somewhat at fault, or they 
are very often compelled by circumstances, to 
locate disadvantageously. They have been 
found in the open air, attaching their combs to 
some large over-hanging branch; they often se¬ 
lect cavities entirely too small for their accom¬ 
modation, when they have insufficient room for 
brood-combs, so that the production of young 
bees will not supply the place of the old that are 
continually dying off, and should they last till cold 
weather, they must starve, as there is also too 
little room for storing honey. Any family of 
bees discovered under these circumstances, may 
be transferred, with their combs, to a hive of or¬ 
dinary size. Even should they be found occu¬ 
pying a cavity the enormous size of Mr. Smith’s, 
it appears to me worse than folly to expect a 
swarm from it. It is now a fact pretty well es¬ 
tablished, that before a stock will construct 
queen-cells and prepare for swarming, they must 
occupy about all the combs with brood and 
honey—whether the whole hive is filled or not. 
This large tree of Mr. Smith’s being filled with 
combs already constructed, the queen would al¬ 
ways find empty cells for her eggs, the bees for 
their honey, and there being no necessity for 
an emigration, in most places they would never 
swarm. When the mortality of the old bees 
just equals the production of the young, of course 
there is no further increase. Experience has 
repeatedly proved, that there are no more bees 
in stocks that cast no swarms at the end of five 
years, than at the end of the first. They may, 
however, be transferred to a hive by the follow¬ 
ing process, and made as profitable as any. 
About the first of April is the best time. 
First introduce some tobacco smoke into the en¬ 
trance—arouse the bees and puff in more. This 
prevents much flying, and any disposition to 
sting. With wedges open the log—select about 
15 lbs. of combs stored with honey—the hive to 
receive them bottom up—the comb should be 
regularly placed about the right distance apart, 
on their edges, and rolls of paper be placed be¬ 
tween to preserve their position. Let the hive 
then be filled out with brood combs, taken from 
the vicinity of the bees, which are to be trans- 
fered with them, taking care to let the edges 
rest directly on the edges of those below. When 
the hive is about half full, cross-sticks should be 
introduced. The hive is to remain bottom up, 
till the bees cement the combs to each other, 
and to the hive, which a large family will do in 
a few days, unless cold prevents. A board 
should closely fit over the top, to keep out wa¬ 
ter. Through the center of one side, there 
should be a passage made for the bees an inch 
in diameter; this will ventilate sufficiently, un¬ 
less the weather is very warm and the family 
large; in which case the board should be raised 
a little to prevent the combs bending out of 
shape by too much heat. After the combs arc 
well attached, which can be ascertained by rais¬ 
ing the board, the hive may be turned right end 
up. Should the combs be very old and black, 
perhaps it would be best not to fill the hive any 
more than half fall, as this would obviate the 
necessity of pruning very soon. If some brood- 
comb and honey was not quite essential at this 
season, the bees alone might be put into an 
empty hive; yet it should be remembered, that 
constructing combs will take both honey and 
time, consequently, swarms from such a stock 
must of necessity be later. Many persons will 
object to this operation for fear of stings, but I 
can assure them there is no trouble on that ac¬ 
count ; only begin right; introduce the tobacco 
smoke at the commencement, apply it occasion¬ 
ally during the operation; with this help, much 
that we have to do with bees is comparatively 
easy, though without, nearly impossible. On 
many accounts, for most operations, it is prefer¬ 
able to either puff-ball or chloroform. 
M. Quinby, 
"Author of Mysteries of Bee-keeping.” 
St. JohnSville, N. Y., Feb., 1854. 
-• o •- 
A Large Pear Tree. —Henry Ward Beecher 
tells of a pear tree in Illinois, about ten miles 
from Vincennes, Ind., that bore 184 bushels of 
pears in 1834, and 140 bushels in 1840, of large 
sized pears. One foot above the ground it girths 
ten feet, and nine feet above, six and a half feet, 
and its branches spread over a space sixty-nine 
feet wide. It is said to be about fifty years old. 
-0 O o- 
California. — The total product of tire mines 
of California sir\ce the discovery (five years and 
ten months ago) is estimated at $200,000,000. 
