4:51 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
1875.] 
Webraslta.— Those who are interested in the 
progress of this flourishing western state, or who are at¬ 
tracted to its fertile and beautiful prairies in search of a 
home, will be greatly interested in reading a book writ¬ 
ten by Mr. Edwin A. Curley, entitled, “Nebraska, its re¬ 
sources, its advantages aud its drawbacks, 1 and pub¬ 
lished by the American News Co. Mr. Curley came to 
this country as the special commissioner of the “London 
Field,' 1 to examine our “ emigrant fields, 11 and to report 
thereon. The advantages of our western country were 
so conspicuous, that Mr. Curley was compelled in justice 
thereto, to extend his report in the form of a book, in 
which his very thorough examination of the country 
■could be exhaustively treated. His book contains a de¬ 
scription of the soil, surface, climate, grasses, fruits, and 
trees, with maps of every county, showing every section, 
road, village, town, post-office, and mail route in the 
state. He also gives much statistical information with 
figures relative to the profits of farming and stock grow¬ 
ing from actual accounts of persons who are, and have 
been for some years, engaged in the business. For 
those who propose to find a home in the west, tills will 
furnish a very valuable hand-book. One of its chiefly 
valuable points is that the drawbacks of the country, 
such as they are, are honestly set forth. 
Tiie So-called Hog Cholera.—' The 
present season has been very fatal to many of the west¬ 
ern hogs. A large portion of many herds have been car¬ 
ried off by what is known as hog cholera. The disease 
is so virulent that before any course of treatment can be 
determined on, it has run its course, and in the majority 
of cases, most of the herd is lost. Treatment is either 
of no avail whatever, or if the animal recovers, it is left 
in such a wretched condition, paralyzed, rheumatic and 
emaciated, that it is of less value than the cost of resto¬ 
ration. It is therefore necessary to consider how to 
prevent the “ hog cholera, 11 rather , than how to treat it. 
The disease is closely related to the so-called Texan 
fever, or splenic apoplexy of cattle, and on examining a 
a dead hog, the spleen is found gorged with black blood, 
soft, and greatly enlarged. Sometimes it takes the form 
of carbuncular erysipelas, or the black leg of cattle, the 
legs breaking out iu sores. It is a true case of blood 
poisoning, that results in a fever which may be called 
typhoid, enteric or intestinal, or anthrax, as persons may 
choose. The disease can be prevented, but can hardly 
be cured. It is most common in low, undrained, marshy 
places ; or where the hogs are kept in filthy pens, and 
have to drink water fouled with their own evacuations. 
From these it spreads to other quarters where it would 
not originate. Sanitary measures, good food, pure 
water, clean quarters, and the regular removal of the 
droppings, and the abolition of the disgusting practice 
of permitting hogs “ to follow cattle, 11 and consume 
their excrement, would doubtless entirely prevent it. 
The most economical thing in stock keeping is human¬ 
ity, and such measures as would preserve the health of 
the owners themselves, would immediately remove their 
stockfrom the danger of the virulent diseases which now 
decimate them. 
Basket Items coai- 
tinned m\ page 477. 
Emerson’s Trees and Shrubs of Massa¬ 
chusetts. 
A report on the Trees and Shrubs growing naturally in 
the forests of Massachusetts. Originally published 
agreeably to an order of the Legislature by the Commis¬ 
sioners on the Zoological and Botanical Survey of the 
State. By George B. Emerson. Second edition, pub¬ 
lished by Little, Brown, & Co., Boston, 1875, 2 volumes, 
8vo., with 146 plates), is a work likely to interest agricul¬ 
tural people, and all who plant or love trees. The 
ground, or we should rather say, the forest it covers, is, 
to be sure, not so wide as the circulation of the American 
Agriculturist, yet the trees and shrubs of Massachusetts 
are mainly those of the whole northern states, and many 
of the southern, although these may boast of many be¬ 
sides. But in what other district of the country, Penn¬ 
sylvania excepted, have they had so good a historian ? 
The first edition, published thirty years ago, was a single 
volume. The second is in two, of equal size, the enlarge¬ 
ment mainly owing to the plates, which have been added 
with a lavish hand, all of them good, the colored ones 
especially full of truth and beauty, and paper and typog¬ 
raphy combine to make the work as attractive as it is 
substantially useful. The original volume was pub¬ 
lished by the state, and had for its companiqn, the late 
Dr. Harris 1 celebrated Report upon Insects Injurious to 
Vegetation. This was reprinted by the state several 
years ago, and illustrations added. The same course 
would probably soon have been followed with the Report 
on Trees and Shrubs, had not the author himself deter¬ 
mined to take it in hand at his own charges, for which 
he can hardly expect pecuniary reimbursement, at least 
in his day. But he will have a reward, to him far more 
valuable, if haply his instructions aud pleadings cause 
two trees to grow where only one, if any, grew before, 
aud if his interesting descriptions make our native trees 
and shrubs more generally and familiarly known to 
those who live among aud near them. He says in his 
original preface: 
“ A point with which I have each year been more and 
more struck is the beauty of our native trees, and of the 
climbing vines and undergrowth associated with them. 
I have thrown aside much which I had written upon this 
point. Utilitarian readers will perhaps find too much 
still retained. My apology for not pruning more severely 
must be found in my sincere conviction, that associa¬ 
tions with the beauty of trees about our country homes 
enter deeply into the best elements of our character ; 
and in the hope that what I have written may induce 
some of my readers to plant trees for the purpose of in¬ 
creasing the beauty and the appearance of seclusion and 
quiet of the homes of their wives and children. 11 
Let us venture upon another quotation: “ I shall al¬ 
ways esteem it one of the best fruits of my labors in this 
survey, that they have brought me better acquainted 
than I otherwise could have been, with the intelligence, 
hospitality, and good and kind manners of the common 
people in every part of the state. If there are better 
manners and a higher intelligence among the people in 
other countries, I should like to travel amongst them ; 
but I very much doubt whether in any country on which 
the sun shines, there are amongst the people in common 
life, more of those qualities which are always pleasant 
to meet with, delightful to remember, and most honor¬ 
able to our common humanity to record, than are found 
among the independent mechanics and yeomanry of 
Massachusetts. 11 We trust that the eulogy is still de¬ 
served. aud is applicable over the whole breadth of our 
country. 
The part of the preface written for this edition, as well 
as the introductory chapter on the uses of forests, their 
continuation, improvement, and management, opens up 
a variety of topics of much practical interest, and some 
mooted questions as to the effect of the destruction or 
the renewal of forests upon the climate, and in particu¬ 
lar upon the distribution of summer rains. These sub¬ 
jects, treated by our author with discretion, and with a 
practical view, are too large to be entered upon here, 
and when they are touched, nee(j somewhat particular 
handling. In a recent issue, while alluding to the un¬ 
doubted benefits of forests, as reservoirs of moisture and 
preventive of floods, as moderators of extremes of heat 
and cold, and barriers against winds, we remarked that the 
fall of rain is governed by the course of the winds, and that 
this depends upon causes which are not bounded by small 
areas, but operate very widely. The good, therefore, that 
may in this regard he reasonably expected from planting, 
or the evil produced by cutting away forest growth, must 
relate mainly to summer rain in regions where that is 
precarious, to the local showers which we see are often 
more or less affected by the configuration of the land, and 
apparently also by the nature of its covering. On the 
other hand, some one has recently called attention to the 
fact that “the magnificent forests found from Minnesota 
to Maine, have a rain fall precisely identical with that of 
the nearly treeless prairies west of Chicago, viz: 28 to 
40 inches,” and inferred from this and like instances, 
that the supposed relation between woodlands aud rain¬ 
fall was grounded only upon “dogmatic theorizing.” 
As if there could be forests where rain was wanting, and 
as if there were not other causes of local treelessness 
than want of rain. As. if, moreover, the season in which 
rain fell or fuiled were not important, as well as its 
amount. The extension of our great western unwooded 
region eastward, in patches, into a district of apparently 
sufficient summer rain, lias been difficult to account for, 
no doubt, but explanations are not wanting. 
Returning to our volumes, we note that Mr. Emerson 
has added to this edition a copious selection of “figures 
of allied European trees as they grow in their native for¬ 
ests,” thus giving “ better than in any other way, some 
conception of what will be the appearance of our trees 
when they shall have been cultivated in large numbers. 
The best old trees of all our native kinds, have been long 
ago destroyed. Our ancestors have had no reverence for 
trees. All the grandest and most beautiful have long 
ago been sacrificed. I have seen in an hour's drive more 
numerous and finer trees in various parts of England 
than I have seen, excepting the American Elm alone, in 
all New England.” One good reason for this is. that our 
country has not been settled long enough to have really 
magnificent and picturesque old trees. All this part of 
the country was forest-clad, thanks to sufficient rain dis¬ 
tributed through the year, and dense forest growth is 
fatal to individual tree-development, except in hight. 
Nor, as our author elsewhere well explains, could any of 
our primeval trees have stood alone, even if our wood¬ 
chopping forefathers had spared them as specimens. In 
duo time, those who come after us may have noble and 
venerable trees of open growth to show, not inferior to 
those of the ancient parks aud roomy woods of England. 
As respects European trees, we call attention to an ob¬ 
servation in Mr. Emerson's preface. He says: “I have 
been cultivating, without special care, for more than 
twenty years, on land excessively poor and exposed to 
all the winds, a few rods from Boston Bay, all the varie¬ 
ties of the English Oak, Beech, Birch, Linden, Maple, 
Elm, Ash, Mountain Ash, and Pine ; and I find them 
more hardy than the corresponding American trees, with 
a single exception, 1 '—that exception being the “Canoe 
Birch, which grows equally well with the beautiful Eu¬ 
ropean Birch.” It should be noted that this observation 
relates only to a bleak position on the New England 
coast, where “Rock Maple can with difficulty be made 
to live.” 
The plates representing the Massachusetts trees and 
shrubs, are all from original drawings by Isaac Sprague. 
When that is said, it is unnecessary to praise them, for 
in neat and accurate delineation he has no superior. The 
plates which he contributed to the first edition, here re¬ 
produced, are interesting as being almost his first work 
of the kind. He has now contributed many more, some 
of them in outline, representing foliage, flowers, and 
fruit, many in colors, and these are admirable specimens 
of chromo-lithography. Whether this is any cheaper 
than hand-coloring, we are in doubt, but it is certainly 
better, and indeed it leaves nothing to be desired. Not 
only the New England trees are illustrated, but a large 
number of the shrubs. With liberal interpretation even 
the May-flower, (Epigcea), shows its delicate rosy blos¬ 
soms, and the Cranberry its much prized fruit, and all 
the New England Blueberries and Huckleberries are 
represented to the life. Advantage is taken of the late 
ripening of many fruits, as of the late flowering of Witch- 
Hazel, to display the autumn coloring of foliage. 
The descriptions are sufficiently botanical for scientific 
accuracy, sufficiently plain and popular for ready com¬ 
prehension by any intelligent reader. Altogether, for 
beauty and for use, it is a book to have, and to be proud 
of. A. Gray. 
Bee Notes. 
BY L. C. ROOT, MOHAWK, N. Y. 
Bees are now snugly packed away, and only need per¬ 
fect quiet, and a proper temperature... See that all sur¬ 
plus combs are secure from rats aud mice, and in a place 
where they may be thoroughly frozen, in order to destroy 
all the eggs of the moth or miller. Preserve all pieces of 
comb that will answer for use, either as guides in boxes, 
or in frames for extracting. Even old drone comb is val¬ 
uable for the last named purpose_All worthless pieces 
of comb and the cappings removed from combs when 
extracting, should be made into wax... .Decide upon 
what hive is to be used the coming season, and get a suf¬ 
ficient number ready during the winter months. 
Mr. J. II. Parsons, Franklin Co., N. Y., asks : “What 
is the proper size for a hive ? ”—Let it be large enough to 
accommodate the size of the swarm. I like the Quinby 
hive, because it can be adapted to any number of combs, 
and consequently to a swarm of any size. It is all impor¬ 
tant, especially in the spring, that the size of the brood 
chamber corresponds to the number of bees that are to oc¬ 
cupy it. Mr. P. also asks “ if a piece crossing the frame 
through the center would not be beneficial? 11 —The subject 
of frames and their construction is one of much import¬ 
ance, and it is proposed to make it the subject of Bee Notes 
for January. lie asks again “ How to strain honey? 11 — 
It is a difficult matter to remove honey from the comb in 
cold weather. It may be readily taken from almost any 
comb by use of the extractor, if done at the proper sea¬ 
son, and the comb be saved. Again he asks “ Will bees 
make more honey in large than small boxes?”—The 
proportion stored will he greatest in large boxes. 
Those who winter bees where they do not have the 
benefit of artificial heat, should bear in mind that not 
only a warm atmosphere is necessary, but that it must be 
dry as well as warm. I mention a case in point. Many 
practice wintering in what is known as a damp, made 
partly under ground and covered with earth. I saw the 
working of one of these clamps the past winter, and 
watched it with interest. It was carefully prepared, and 
when completed, a stove was placed in it, and a fire kept 
up until it was very dry. The stove was then removed 
and the bees packed in the clamp for winter. About two 
months later the inside of the clamp was found to be 
covered with mold. The frames and combs were also 
somewhat moldy, and I am satisfied that if prompt action 
had not been taken, the loss must have been heavy. A 
small stove was placed upon a plank above the bees, iu 
which an occasional fire was made, when it all became 
dry. Tiie objection to this method is that the bees were 
too much disturbed. It would be much.better to make a 
small ante-room for the stove, and let the pipe pass 
through the room which contains the beee. 
