301 
1803 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Miles' Improved Sap Boiler. 
The apparatus represented in the above illus¬ 
tration was devised by Henry Miles, Addison 
Co., Vt., who sends a drawing and description 
for the American Agriculturist , with the remark 
that it is not yet patented, and perhaps never 
will be. It was intended for evaporating maple 
sap, but is equally applicable to boiling down 
sorghum juice. As it contains some novel fea¬ 
tures, which Mr. Miles considers valuable, we 
publish it for general examination. In the sketch, 
A, represents the arch, built in the ordinary 
manner, to accommodate the boiling pan, A, 
resting upon it. The pan is of sheet iron, 20 
inches wide, and 6 inches deep. A rim of hem¬ 
lock strips, 21 inches wide, fitting close within 
the edge of the pan, is added to prevent the sap 
or syrup from boiling over. The pan is furnish¬ 
ed with a faucet, F, through which to draw off 
the syrup. A cover of boards, C, nearly steam 
tight, is placed over the pan, resting upon the 
rim. In this cover, If inch holes are bored to 
receive hollow posts or tubes, T, T } to convey the 
steam to a wooden conductor, D. These posts 
or tubes are each 9 inches long, and 2 j inches 
in diameter. The dimensions of the conductor 
are not given, but the drawing indicates a 
wooden box with an interior, 12 inches wide, 
and 3 inches high. The conductor, D, conveys 
the steam to the steam box, S, (dimensions not 
given) in which rests the heater, if, a sheet iron 
pan, 20 inches square and 3 inches deep. An 
opening from the steam box, not shown in the 
engraving, allows the escape of the waste and 
condensed steam. A wooden tube, -67, passes 
from the heater, if, to near the bottom of the 
boiling pan, B. The reservoir, f?, for receiving 
the cold sap, is placed above the level of the 
heater, E : and is connected with it by a tube. 
The object of this arrangement, as will be 
readily seen, is to use the steam escaping from 
the boiling liquid, to heat the raw sap before its 
introduction into the boiler. At first it would 
seem that any obstruction interposed to the 
freest escape of the steam, would require an in¬ 
crease of heat and consequently of fuel to expei 
it, and that this would more than counterbal¬ 
ance any advantage accruing from heating the 
sap with the steam. Mr. Miles asserts that his 
experience and that of his neighbors, has proved 
that there is an actual gain in fuel by covering 
the boiling pan, from the fact that the external 
cold air is excluded, which would abstract a 
great amount of 
heat from the 
boiling surface. 
He says that the 
steam will take 
good care of it¬ 
self, and find its 
way out without 
any difficulty, and 
that the heat im¬ 
parted in its pas¬ 
sage through the 
condensing box, 
will be sufficient 
to raise the cold 
sap to nearly the 
boiling point. 
Our own idea of 
evaporation has 
always been, that 
there should be 
the largest pos¬ 
sible surface of 
liquid exposed di¬ 
rectly to the air, in order to get the best results. 
The air acts as a sponge to suck up the fluid, so 
to speak. It is well known that evaporation 
goes on most rapidly when the atmosphere is 
dry, and when a current of air passes over the 
surface of the fluid. In the apparatus here 
proposed, a moist atmosphere, or rather pure 
steam is constantly over the boiling liquid. On 
further considering the subject, we are inclined 
to think the amount of heat saved in barely 
bringing the cold sap to a boiling heat would 
hardly repay the loss incurred in evaporating 
under cover. We may perhaps be in error. A 
practical test would be to evaporate a certain 
amount of sap, with the cover on, and the same 
quantity with it- off, and compare the amount 
of fuel consumed. 
Cheap and Good Straw Hives. 
E. J. Ferris, of Lake Co., O., .1. T. Smith, of 
Uniontown, and several others, inquire how to 
make the straw hives referred to in the July 
Agriculturist. While at M. Quinby’s, we ex¬ 
amined quite a variety of straw hives, mostly 
patented by different parties. We will describe 
one of the best forms, one which is unpa- 
tented, and can be made by any person with 
moderate skill. The size depends upon what 
is required. If for a particular kind of honey- 
boxes or movable frames, the size must be 
made to correspond with what is wanted. It is 
a square or parallelogram, to be covered with a 
fiat board to receive the surplus boxes, and 
over this a wooden box with sloping or flat 
roof, and projecting over the sides to shed rain. 
The essential part or body of the hive is made 
as follows: For the upright corner-pieces, cut 
2-inch square stuff to the required length. 
Upon the inside of these nail three pieces of lath 
for the sides and ends, putting one strip around 
both top and bottom, and one in the middle, as 
seen in fig. 1. Then nail fiat thin strips, 2 
inches wide, around the top and bottom, cover¬ 
ing the ends of the uprights, as also shown in 
fig. 1. Next cut clean, straight straw, in a cutting- 
box, to just the required length to fit into the 
sides. Pack this straw in firmly upon the sides,. 
and nail strips of lath on the outside, as shown 
in fig. 2, and the thing is done. To prevent 
crowding off the inside strips while packing in 
the straw, it is well to have a false box just the 
size of the inside, and slip this in while packing 
the straw. To prevent the spreading of the 
lath, bind them together at the middle points 
with wire running through the straw, especial¬ 
ly on the longer sides of the hive. Straw 
hives are grateful to bees, cool in Summer and 
warm in Winter, and with the straw standing 
perpendicular, as above described, it sheds off 
all rain. As 2 inches thickness of straw would 
seem to be more than is needed, if the corner- 
pieces be 2-inch stuff the outside slats might be 
let into the pieces the depth of their thickness, 
though this would somewhat increase the labor 
of making them. They are quickly and cheaply 
made, and are neat in appearance, especially if 
the wood be planed ; this is not essential, how¬ 
ever. If. the wood-work be painted, they will 
look still more attractive. 
-•*» -—a® -- -- 
For the American Agriculturist. 
A Cure for the Sorrel. 
The death of this pest would be hailed with 
as great joy as that of poor Cock Robin was 
with grief. The bull could afford to pull the 
bell that rung its death knell, for henceforth 
hay would be more plentiful in many a scanty 
meadow. But it is not dead, as the meadows 
with their large red patches testify. It is found 
not only in the fields of the slothful, but in 
those of the diligent. To be sure it is most 
abundant on the former, Mr. Slack descants 
upon the adhesive qualities of sorrel thus: “ It 
is of no use to try to get rid of it. It is one of 
those things that is doomed to come. Wan’t 
weeds a part of the curse upon the soil ? What 
is to be, will be, and there is no use in fighting 
against nature.” Slack is provoked at any com¬ 
plimentary allusion to the ruddy aspect of his 
fields. Pray don’t sorrel grow every where ? 
Not excactly every where. It is found in great 
abundance on old meadows where the gras9 
begins to fail. The philosophy of this fact may 
be that the grass has sucked out all the aliment 
in the soil suited to its nature, and the sorrel 
comes in as a succession crop. It is worthy of 
notice that sorrel abounds in soils that have 
been long manured with uncomposted fish. 
This manure stimulates the land to a large pro¬ 
duction of cereals, and when it is laid down to 
