THE CULTIVATOR. 
141 
just stated, cannot last many yeai - s more, against 
such efforts to remove it; and that you may all live 
to see your most sanguine anticipations accomplish¬ 
ed, in this respect, is the sincei-e wish of, dear sir, 
yours, very i-espectfully, 
JAMES M. GARNETT. 
P. S. There is a means of distinguishing the male 
from the female plants of the hautboy, besides that 
by the blossom ; but I have forgotten it. Can you 
inform us what it is ? 
The Vermont Bee-Hive. 
Hon. Jesse Buel —Sir—In my communication, 
which appeared in the Cultivator, May last, relating 
to the construction of a lee-house and bee manage¬ 
ment, I recommended my mode of growing honey, 
in pi-eference to the old mode of managing bees, 
where it was designed to facilitate their cultivation 
among those who would pay but little attention to 
them, dislike the task of hiving, and render them 
more safe from the destruction of the moth and other 
casualties, than the ordinary method by which bees 
are genei’ally kept. 
In all cases where it is convenient and desirable 
to the owners of bees to devote their attention, hive 
them where they swarm, and those who wish to rea¬ 
lize a profit from this insect, by forwarding yearly 
a quantity of honey to market, I do freely, and con¬ 
sider it no more than justice due my neighbor, Mr. 
John M. Weeks, and the community at lai’ge, re¬ 
commend the Vermont bee-hive, which is consider¬ 
ed the best in use by a majoi'ity of the apiarians of 
this state, and is coming into general use in most of 
the states in the Union. 
This hive was invented and patented by John M. 
Weeks, Esq. of Salisbury, Vermont, who has from 
youth devoted a portion of his time in studying their 
nature, and most assiduously for the last eight or 
ten years, in observing their habits and demonstrat¬ 
ing facts ; the result of which no doubt is opening 
a new era in bee management, from which the pub¬ 
lic must derive a great benefit. 
He is considered the first apiai’ian in this state, 
and it is a matter of doubt whether there is one in 
these United States that has investigated the sub¬ 
ject, and made so many discovei’ies respecting the 
natui’e and habits of this instructive little insect, as 
Mr. Weeks, who has been at sevei’al thousand dol¬ 
lars expense, in time, in experimenting, publishing 
books, illustrating facts, &c. &c. 
When on a visit at his residence, a few weeks 
since, I could not but feel deeply interested in his 
illustration of facts, as exhibited to us by means of 
full observing hives, (glass, covered with wood,) 
neat and elegant as any parlor furniture ; the cham¬ 
bers filled with the most pleasing and admirably 
constructed drawers of glass, and drawers filled and 
filling with beautiful honey, without bi-ead, or any 
thing unpleasant in its appearance. These drawers 
are taken out and sent to market at any season of 
the year. He informed us that he usually obtained 
from his old stocks, from twenty to thii'ty pounds of 
honey in these drawers annually, and from his ear¬ 
liest young swarms, thirty pounds and over, without 
robbing them of their winter stores. The Vermont 
hive affords an easy and safe method of preserving 
the lives of the bees through the winter, without de¬ 
stroying any. Pie showed us a feeder, and the man¬ 
ner of using it. Through the means of this, the bees 
may be fed on low priced or sale honey. We no¬ 
ticed several healthy stocks, which he informed us 
were wintered entirely on Havana honey, and have 
yielded several boxes of clover honey this summer. 
We were also informed that the principal part of 
bee management depends on a knowledge of the 
natural habits of the queen and her influence ; and 
no apiarian can at all times be sure to succeed in 
their cultivation, unless he has a thorough know¬ 
ledge in managing them. 
He also instructed us in his art of compelling the 
bees to make and keep on hand extra queens ; how 
they may be divided into separate colonies when 
they have become too numerous, without swarming - . 
He showed us how the bees would transfer them¬ 
selves when the age of their combs rendex-ed it ne¬ 
cessary, by a little aid of their owner, and urges, 
by many arguments, that bees should never be com¬ 
pelled to leave one tenement and take another. 
We observed in one hive, that he had killed the 
queen and confined her therein. In this experiment, 
Mr. Weeks is about to demonstrate sevei’al important 
facts, viz: That there is no monarchical government 
in a hive of bees, nor domineering power in a queen ; 
though the queen may be dead the bees will con¬ 
tinue to work as well, provided her cax-cass be pre¬ 
sent ; and that no young bees can be raised without 
a queen ; the old bees never eat bread, &c. These 
experiments Mr. Weeks intends to publish, and their 
results ; thei - efore I can only say, that it is an inte- 
i - esting system, which affords an agreeable amuse¬ 
ment, a comfort and profit. He advances his opi¬ 
nion, that bees ai - e susceptible of a high state of 
cultivation; that they will never flee to the woods 
and mountains, unless neglected by their owner, or 
through a deficiency in knowing how they must be 
managed ; and that he had not lost a swarm by 
flight to the woods in seventeen years. One reason 
of the bees deserting for better quarters is, when the 
rays of the sun are direct it exhausts the air in the 
hive of its vitality. Mr. W. sells the common coarse 
wood drawers of honey, in Boston, at from thirty-four 
to forty-two cents per pound, by the quantity; and for 
his best glass and mahogany boxes, he receives a 
higher price. 
Mr. Aaron Bairns, of Rutland, states, that ten of 
his swarms in the Vermont hive, produced, last sea¬ 
son, $75 worth of extra honey. 
Mr. Week’s last edition of books on the manage¬ 
ment of bees, have all been ordered, but another 
edition will px - obably be published the ensuing win¬ 
ter. He is ever ready to congratulate all those who 
may call on him—such as parties of pleasure, 
amusement, and profit, and none can leave without 
a taste of his bread and choice honey; in addition 
to a pleasing coui - se of lectures on the natures and 
habits of the honey bee, and other insects, which 
are very entei-taing, instx-uctive and useful. Re¬ 
spectfully yours, SOLOMON W. JEWETT. 
Weybridge, Vt. August, 1838. 
Patronage to Agriculture, 
Goshen, Aug. 27, 1338. 
Jesse Buel, Esq.—Dear Sir—If you think the 
following will subserve the cause of agrieultui’e, you 
can give it a place in your valuable journal. It has 
always seemed surprising to me, that this country, 
which is so productive in the fruits of the earth, 
should have received in its agricultural department 
so little aid from its rulers. While patronage is ex¬ 
tended with a libei’al hand to the various mechani¬ 
cal arts, and impi - ovements in machinery anxiously 
sought after, the parent art, upon whicli all others 
depend for their support, is neglected. I know that 
the fault, in some measure, rests upon the people 
themselves ; but something should be done to ele¬ 
vate the standard of agriculture. The ancients took 
much more interest in the cultivation of the soil, 
than is manifested at the present time. The arts 
and manufactures had not attained their present 
state of pei'fection, and it was only by the tilling of 
the soil that the greater portion of the inhabitants 
were enabled to procure a subsistence. But their 
kings and princes, orators and great men, united in 
carrying the science to such a pitch of perfection as 
has not been seen since. A gi - eat many excellent 
treatises were composed upon the subject of which 
we ought much to regret the loss. The kings of 
Egypt were famous for their skill in husbandry, and 
for the improvement they caused to be made in that 
country. They caused drains to be made to convey 
the water of the Nile to the dry and arid tracts not 
usually irrigated in the annual overflow of that river. 
Of such utility were these improvements, combined 
with the fertilizing properties of the water brought 
from the Nile, that the country of Egypt., consisting 
of only 6,000 square miles, comprised, as we are 
told by Pliny, a population of 20,000,000 souls. This 
amazing fertility, although caused principally by 
the Nile, could not have benefitted the Egyptians in 
a very great degree, without the kindly aid and in¬ 
struction of their rulers. Cicero, also, one of the 
first orators of Rome, devoted much of his time to 
agricultural pursuits. He composed many valuable 
works. Virgil also has immortalized himself in his 
Bucolics. _ But perhaps of all the kings recorded in 
history, Hiero, king of Syracuse, in Sicily, stands 
first as a patron of husbandry. He came in posses- 
sioix of the throne at the age of thirty, and found the 
countiy convulsed with seditions and coiTupted by 
luxury. He soon succeeded in placing agriculture 
in honor among his subjects, who, whether high or 
low, rich or poor, applied themselves diligently to 
cultivating the soil. The consequence was, that in 
a few years the inhabitants of Sicily, a small speck 
in the Mediteranean, who were in the habit of im¬ 
porting nearly all their grain from the continent, 
had now a large surplus for exportation. This 
brought the wealth of the surrounding country into 
their own, and then into the pockets of the farmers. 
By means of these wise regulations, he also kept an 
infinite number of hands busy, which might other¬ 
wise have been employed to the detriment of the 
state. This is a policy which should (and it cannot 
be too often i - epeated) be the peculiar care of a wise 
and prudent government, but it is often sadly ne¬ 
glected. Hiero’s laws were so excellent in this re¬ 
spect, as well as others, that sometixxxe afterwards, 
when the island became a Roman px - ovince, the in¬ 
habitants wei'e allowed to be govei’ned by their own 
laws, the Romans not being able to substitute any 
thing better in their room. 
And why, permit me to ask, may not the exam¬ 
ple of Hiero be imitated in this country ? It is from 
the legislatui’es of the several states that we must 
look for encouragement, in a governmeixt constitut¬ 
ed as ours is. They have begun to awake, and have 
done something, as is the case in regal’d to Maine, 
Massachusetts, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. But 
much still remains to be done. 
The condition of agriculture at present, is some¬ 
what aixalagous to that of our common schools.—• 
Something should be done to give the useful science 
of agriculture its proper respect in the minds of men. 
Education and agriculture should go hand in hand. 
All improvements in the one should be met by im¬ 
provements in the other. The power and influence 
of the general assembly, are acknowledged by 
many to be necessary in advancing the character 
and promoting the usefulness of common schools— 
Why should not that power and influence be exerted 
in forwarding the usefulness of agriculture, upon 
which so much depends, and in which so many are 
concerned? That august assembly, the senate of 
Rome, did not think it beneath them to bring this 
art to perfection, and why should the legislatui’e of 
this country neglect so important a soui - ce of reve¬ 
nue ? In the hope, dear sir, that this may not be 
altogether out of place, I remain your obedient ser- 
vant. CHARLES STRONG. 
Bone Dust. 
New- York, Aug. 20, 1838. 
In your number for August, you gave an article 
from the Aberdeen. Journal, on tlie operation of bone 
dust. 
The writer states, that “bones are phosphate of 
lime—that is, they are composed chiefly of lime 
and phosphoric acid.” So far the writer is con-ect, 
but he goes on to theorize on the effect produced 
when crushed bones are mixed up with soil as ma¬ 
nure, and here his theory is at variance with prac¬ 
tical facts. He says, “ When crushed bones are 
deposited in the earth, by the action of heat and 
moisture, the bones are soon induced to a state of 
decomposition, and the original elements of which 
they are composed are thereby set at liberty to form 
new combinations in the great circle of revolving 
nature.” He then goes on to say, that “ the lime 
is left in its caustic state, deprived of its neutraliz¬ 
ing acid ; and the phosphoidc acid is set free in the 
form of gas.” 
It is exceedingly easy for any flippant writer to 
produce a plausible theory ; but when chemical ac¬ 
tion fomis the foundation of a theory, the writer 
should be sure that the agents he employs are equal 
to px - oduce the effects he ascribes to them, or his 
theory decomposes itself. 
There are few materials moi'e difficult to decom¬ 
pose than bones, or phosphate of lime. To decom¬ 
pose bones, they are first calcined, then ground to 
a powder, and are then mixed witlx fox'ty per cent 
of sulphuric acid, in which state they remain for 
two days, being fi’equently stin-ed. Tlie solution is 
then poured oix a filter, and the liquor passing 
through is added to a solution of niti'ate of lead— 
the white powder which iorms is mixed with char 
coal powder, and has then to be exposed to a strong 
red heat in a porcelain l’etort, when the phosphorus 
distils ovei\ 
The affinity of phosphoric acid for lime, and the 
affinity of lime for phosphoric acid, is so great that 
none of the alkalies will take the phosphoric acid 
from the lime, and none but the most powerful acid 
will take the lime from the phosphoric acid. After 
all it requires several hxuxdred degrees of heat to li¬ 
berate the phosphorus. 
In the process I have described for obtaining the 
phosphorus, the sulphuric acid combines with the 
lime, forming a sulphate of lime, and the phospho¬ 
ric acid is liberated. I would ask the writer of 
Aberdeen, what acid there is in any soil sufficiently 
powei-ful to decompose phosphate of lime, and if 
the lime could exist in a caustic state after coming 
in competition with an acid sufficiently powerful to 
decompose the bones ? 
The px - obability is, that bones act merely as phos¬ 
phate of lime, and that the only change which takes 
place when used as manui’e, is the rendering the 
particles so fine as to be held in solution by mois¬ 
ture, and in that state are taken up by the absoi’b- 
ent vessels of the plant. WM. PARTRIDGE. 
J. Buel, Esq. 
Novel Premiums. 
. Lake C. H. Ia. Aug. 27, 1838. 
J. Buel,. Esq.—Dear Sir—Not being blest with 
an overplus of gold and silver, I propose to offer a 
“barter trade,” to any one desirous of obtaining a 
premium, upon the following proposition : I am the 
owner of sixteen lots, in one of the numerous new 
towns of the west. It was laid out in 1836, about 
three miles from the head of Lake Michigan, on the 
great western thoroughfai'e which passes the head of 
