1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
91 
sides in order to allow the earth to slip out. A preserved 
fruit-can will answer; the top can be removed by placing 
the can on a hot stove until the solder is melted. 
Peamsit Csa.ll.nre. —The Peanut, or Pinditr, 
as it is called in some parts of the country, is now attract¬ 
ing the attention of cultivators in Virginia and other 
Southern States. In April of last year, we gave an ac¬ 
count of a North Carolina planter’s method of growing 
them. Since then, the Department of Agriculture has 
published its Report for 1868, in which is detailed the 
method followed in Virginia. As this volume is not in 
the hands of all those who are making inquiries about 
peanuts, we will.give an abstract containing the essential 
points. The plant is found to succeed well in Virginia ; 
it is not ascertained how far north it may be cultivated 
with profit, but it is suggested for trial in the tide-water 
district of Maryland, and in Delaware, and the southern 
part of New Jersey. The Virginia peanut is preferred 
to the Carolina or African, as being larger and heavier. 
It requires two bushels to plant an acre. Well cured 
seeds are essential. The soil selected should be friable 
and light; red or chocolate-colored soils stain the nuts 
and impair their value. Land that has been in corn, or 
other hoed crops, except sweet potatoes, is preferred, and 
if it has not been heavily marled for previous crops, 
should be dressed with 150 bushels of marl or 50 bushels 
of lime to the acre. These may be sown broadcast or 
strewed in the furrow over which the beds are to be 
raised. It is said that the peanut will not fruit, except on 
a calcareous soil. Mr. Ilcnry M. Butts, of Southampton 
Co., Va., makes the peanut crop a part of a rotation. 1st. 
Peas, the vines of which are plowed under in September. 
2d. Peanuts, the land being dressed with lime and super¬ 
phosphate. 3d. Sweet potatoes, with a liberal supply of 
stable manure. 4th. Peas, to be followed by peanuts, 
with lime, as before. Mr. Butts’ crops by this course 
have averaged 100 bushels to the acre, and in 1867 he sold 
1,300 bushels of prime nuts from ten acres. The crop 
ranges from 30 to 100 bushels to the acre, the average be¬ 
ing placed at 50 bushels. The ground is plowed in March 
or April to a depth not exceeding 4 or 5 inches. It is 
plowed thus shallow, because the nut does not form un¬ 
til the stalks or pedicels reach firm earth ; besides the 
harvesting is much facilitated if the nuts are near the 
surface. The time for planting is, in Virginia, from the 
10th to the 20th of May. The details of planting and 
cultivation are deferred to another month. 
Farming; Prospects iaa California. 
—A correspondent writes: “Farming in California for 
fifteen years was, and indeed to a great extent still is, 
conducted upon a most improvident and lazy system. 
The farmers were simply grain raisers. They neither 
made their own bacon, butter, and soap, nor raised their 
own vegetables, eggs, or fruit. They burnt the straw of 
their fields as soon as the grain was taken off. and thou¬ 
sands of cattle perished for want of grass in the drought 
of the winter of 1SG1-2, which would have been kept 
alive had the straw of the previous autumn been preserv¬ 
ed. These and many other reckless practices character¬ 
ized the California fanning system of the decade between 
1857 and 1867, and of course where the farmer was im¬ 
provident and careless, his home was a cheerless and 
uncomfortable one. As a class, however, they have 
lately awakened to the necessity of reform, and to greater 
independence of the town grocer and trader. The straw 
is now generally preserved, and if drought does not make 
it invaluable, the straw rots sufficiently in about threo 
years to constitute a most valuable and much needed fer¬ 
tilizer. Rotation of crops, which was not dreamed of 
even so lately as five years ago, is now practised by many, 
though not to the extent, which the exhausted state of 
the soil of the old farms calls for. Over 150,000 acres of 
land were taken up last year in the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin valleys alone; mostly by small farmers or by 
capitalists in large tracts, for cattle and sheep ranges. 
The great valley of California (the Sacramento valley) is 
now being supplied with a railroad—the California and 
Oregon line—which road will supply the greatest pres¬ 
ent railroad need of California. Much of the grain of the 
coast valleys was blighted in MaV last, and was poor in 
quality. It sold for but $1.1214 to $1.20 per quintal. The 
grain of the two valleys named above was, however, full 
and heavy, and sold for an average of $1.35 per quintal. 
There are yet many thousands of acres of land in the 
southern and southeastern counties of the State, and in 
the upper portion of the Sacramento valley, near to wlicro 
the California and Oregon Railroad line will pass, which 
are yet either Government land or which can be purchas¬ 
ed from the owners at $2.50 to $5 per acre. Those who 
settle in California, and bring with them that care of 
the land, thrift, and economy, which prevail in New 
England, will do fully as well there as in any State of the 
Union. Riches in California must be sought by the safe 
and snro channels of patient industry and economy, and 
not by unhealthy and rapid moans." 
Onions—Seeds and Sets. 
It is not practicable to publish each year full accounts 
of every special culture. Those who have asked us to 
give an article on onion raising, are referred to the Agri¬ 
culturist for April of last year, and to the Onion pamphlet 
noted in our book list. These give the details of pre¬ 
paring the soil and raising the crop. It is of the first 
importance to those who undertake the culture of onions, 
that they secure good seed. It is better to pay a high price 
for proper seed, than to take that which is inferior for 
nothing. The onion crop requires too much labor to 
allow one to run the risk of sowing poor seeds for tho 
sake of saving a few dollars. Our leading dealers are 
fully impressed.with the importance of sending out good 
onion seed, and that furnished by establishments of good 
reputation can generally be relied upon. Many corre¬ 
spondents do not seem to understand the difference be¬ 
tween seeds and sets, some of them, speaking of sets as 
“ seed onions.” Tho seeds are the produce of the flower; 
they are by some called “black seed,” to distinguish 
them from sets. When tho seeds are sown in suitable 
soil and climate, bulbs are formed, the top dies away, 
and we have the ripened bulb—the onion ns we usually 
see it in market. If these onions be put out the follow¬ 
ing spring, leaves are produced, afterwards a flower stalk 
appears, which at length bears seed, and the onion com¬ 
pletes its career, extending over two years. When the 
seeds are sown in a warm climate, the bulbs have their 
developmejji arrested quite early by the heat and dryness 
of summer, and they ripen up/when no larger than a hazel¬ 
nut, and from that down to the size of a large pea. 
These little, prematurely ripened onions aro what are 
called sets, and are harvested and kept with the same 
care given to large onions. When these little onions, or 
sets, are put out the following spring, they are not able, 
like large onions, to throw up a flower stalk and bear 
seeds, but they go on and grow and gather strength for 
the effort, forming a large bulb, which, at the end of tho 
season, is like that grown, under favorable circumstances, 
in one year, from the seed. An onion set, then, is a 
small onion bulb which has been checked in its develop¬ 
ment, and when planted will resume its growth. If the 
sets are too large, or have not been raised under favora¬ 
ble conditions, instead of going on to form bulbs, they 
will produce flower stems. The large onion crops of the 
Northern States are raised from seed. The sets are used 
by market gardeners, who sell their onions mostly in the 
green state, and by those who wish to get a crop of ripe 
onions early, as they are a month or more earlier than 
those from seed. South of New York, even no farther 
than Philadelphia, it is difficult to raise a crop from seed, 
and the sets are resorted to. Sets are raised in greater 
perfection farther South than they are in tho onion dis¬ 
tricts of the Northern States. In the colder localities, 
they aro longer maturing, and are more likely to run to 
seed. To raise sets, shallow drills, about two inches 
wide, are made 9 or 10 inches apart, and in these, seed is 
sown so thickly as to almost cover the ground. When 
the dying of the leaves indicates the ripening of the bulb, 
the sets are pulled and stored in an airy room, or loft. 
They are spread in layers of from 2 to 4 inches thick, and 
when severe weather comes they are covered with 6 inch¬ 
es of hay and left until spring. The sets are planted 
early in spring, in rich soil, prepared as for a crop from 
seed. Rows are marked out from 9 inches to a foot apart, 
and the bulbs thrust into the ground, right side up, three 
inches apart. The rows are covered with the foot, and 
afterwards rolled. The cultivation and weeding is tho 
same as for onions from the seed, but less is required. Tho 
price of sets varies with the quantity in the market, and 
ranges from $5 to $12 per bushel. The sets of the Yellow 
Danvers onion keep better than those of other varieties. 
Those of white onions are the most difficult to preserve, 
and must not be spread over two inches thick when stored. 
-,----o®o---- 
Bee Notes .— By M . Quiriby. 
Apiary for March. Bees Out-doors.— Raiso 
the hives and clean the stands. Brush dead bees from 
among the combs and cut out mouldy pieces. Look to 
the strength of your stocks, unite weak swarms and feed 
light ones. The best way to feed now is, to open the 
holes in the top, put thereon honey sealed in the comb, 
and cover with a close fitting box. Scatter unbolted rye 
flour in large shallow boxes near the hives before the bees 
get a taste of pollen from the flowers. Look out for loss 
of queens—about one in fifty is the average. Immature 
bees and eggs on the bottom board are the indications of 
her presence. With movable combs she may be readily 
found. No matter how strong now, a qneenless stock 
would probably run down by swarming time. If snch a 
hive should be neglected and chance to be diseased, it 
would undoubtedly bo robbed and the fearful pestilence 
spread broad-cast. In uniting swarms, hives partly or 
entirely tilled with combs are left. If these are clean and 
in good condition, save them with care. From ten to fif¬ 
teen pounds of honey are required for the secretion of one 
of wax, lienee, never melt up good worker comb. Such, 
thoroughly frozen in the winter and kept protected from 
the moth will keep indefinitely, but if the bees are taken 
out too late to freeze it, fumigate with sulphur occasion¬ 
ally. Put swarms into such hives, taking special care 
not to break the combs when new and heavy with honey. 
Bees Bn-doors.—Set out on the first warm day—a 
few at first, as far apart, as possible, mors in two or three 
hours, and so on. Place them as nearly as possible on 
stands occupied by same hives last year. Bees will prob¬ 
ably mix some with the utmost care ; examine in a day 
or two, and equalize by causing strong and weak to inter¬ 
change stands. If cold weather supervenes, the weak 
ones should be set back till it passes. Don’t tempt the 
bees to rob by leaving refuse honey or comb in their reach. 
IFreparijig tho ItUvcs.—A correspondent asks : 
“ Is it necessary to wash the inside of a hive with hickory 
leaves dipped in salt and water No. Let the hive bo 
clean and rough on the inside as the saw leaves it, and the 
bees will like it well enough. I have hived thousands of 
swarms in such hives and rarely had one leave. 
Preventing; Swarming.—Will Mr. Q. please 
tell us how to prevent swarming, especially the after 
swarms ?’’—Immediately after the issue of the first swarm 
open the hives, (you must have movable frames for this,) 
destroy every royal cell but one. If at tiie end of five days 
this has not hatched, look over the combs again and de¬ 
stroy every royal cell that may now appear, excepting the 
one saved at first. But if the oldest of the young queens 
is allowed to hatch and begin piping before anything is 
done, the fever of swarming will rise to such a pitch that 
you cannot allay it, and the old hive may even bo left 
destitute. The best way is to make the first swarm an 
artificial one before, or soon after queen cells are started. 
Then, at the end of nine days destroy all cells but one as 
above. To prevent first swarms, clip the wings of tho 
queen and put a “ queen yard!’ in front of the hive—a shal¬ 
low box some two feet square, with edges of tin project¬ 
ing inward, so that no bee can get out and away from 
the hive without flying. This will of course prevent tho 
escape of the queen, and swarms will return. 
-- 
Ogden Farm Papers—No. 3. 
The new chest for steaming food (435 cubic 
feet) holds, when well packed, four full days’ 
rations for the following stock, (receiving no 
other food except a little grain to horses and 3 
qts. of meal daily to milking cows): 2 mules, 7 
horses (partly hoarders), 2 colls, 2 oxen, 3 
steers and 1 bull, 13 cows, 3 2-year-old heifers, 
7 yearlings, 9 calves. The chest is packed 
through a scuttle from the hay floor, and its 
contents are removed through a side door open¬ 
ing on the feeding floor gangway. The steam 
is admitted under a loose false bottom, which 
allows it to spread under the whole mass. It 
is necessary to have the steam up when the 
packing is begun, and occasionally to turn it 
on until that, which is already in the box, is 
heated up and softened,—that is, until the steam 
begins to show itself at the top of the mass. 
This enables us to pack the chop much more 
firmly, getting more in the box, than if it wero 
not so softened. At the last steaming I used 
steam at 90 lbs. pressure, and found it even more 
satisfactory than at a lower pressure. The 
heating up was much more rapid (which is not 
ot very much consequence), and the tempera¬ 
ture to which the fodder is raised is considera¬ 
bly higher and the cooking more thorough. 
My short experience fully justifies the excel¬ 
lent article of Messrs. S. & D. Wells, in your 
new Agricultural Annual—except in one point. 
They say that the cooked food is not so well 
eaten after the second day. I find no difference, 
even at the end of the fourth day. The scuttle 
is not taken off at all while there is any hay in 
the box, and the side door is open only while 
food is being taken out. Except at these times 
it is kept constantly closed, and the mass in¬ 
side is kept much too hot to undergo any fer¬ 
mentation or souring. Even the last bushel of 
feed removed is too hot to be handled with 
comfort—and it i3 eaten as readily as the first. 
