§mp of ggwuttmal gomttis 
Annual Meetings, Ac., of State, County and Local Societies. 
of the blossom. 5 - as well as the pollen, form th§ only 
food of the bees, with the exception of the honey 
dew, mainly the product of the aphides, and which 
the bees gather from the leaves of the linden, the 
chestnut, the oak. and other trees. That bee culture 
in the South pays a larger profit than at the North, 
is shown by the fact ibat each colony at the North 
requires at least from fifteen to twenty pounds of 
honey as food for winter, while at the South itbardly 
requires five pounds, being about fifteen pounds less, 
that may be counted among the profits of the bee¬ 
keeper. As regards the annual yield, figures will 
also here decide, as in other cases. A colony, 
including the hive, which in many coses is almost 
worthless, is sold here (in Texas) for from five down 
to three and often two dollars. 
Whether the price be high or low, the profit will 
be at least 100 per cent, in case a new colony or 
swarm he obtained. Butin, favorable seasons, two 
swarms, either natural or artificial, may be expected 
from a hive. The intelligent practical beekeeper 
may annually raise ten new colonies, in this favored 
region, from one old stock. But the question is 
whether the supplies of nature will nourish and sup¬ 
port his weak colonies. This will certainly require 
that they be located in a district extraordinarily rich 
in honey, such as the writer has never known. Dr. 
Blumenau, of Brazil, stated in 1852, that more than 
a dozen swarms had issued in a season from one 
single hive in that country. Such an increase might 
be possible in a very rich locality, and Dr. T31u- 
menau is a reliable authority, as the moderation of 
his other statements shows. At a distance of only 
thirteen miles from the writer's residence, a bee¬ 
keeper (M. Spangenberg) has hived eight natural 
swarms from two old stocks, while three escaped 
under his own eyes, and judging from certain cir¬ 
cumstances, probably three more absconded unno¬ 
ticed. These make fourteen swarms from old 
colonies, a sevenfold increase; and this in a stony 
and sterile region, of which only a small portion is 
susceptible o i cultivation. Five of these eight 
swarms stored up a considerable quantity of surplus 
honey during their first summer. 
From two hundred to five hundred colonies may 
be sustained on one square mile, as the nectaries of 
the flowers are replenished very speedily and fre¬ 
quently in favorable weather. In very unfavorable 
weather, however, even a small number will suffer. 
Yet it is certain that with proper management of the 
bees, the country can not only produoe a sufficient 
amount for its own consumption, but its surplus 
may also enter largely into the articles of export, 
adding much to the increase of national wealth and 
prosperity. Here the question very properly arises 
whether Nature’s stores of honey, which are so rich 
on this continent, should be collected, as can be 
done with so little means, or whether thousands upon 
thousands of tuns of honey should be lost How 
many colonies might be kept, and what a vast 
amount of honey and wax might be produced 
throughout the whole country, may be seen by a 
glance at its extent or noting the number of square 
miles, deducting the barren tracts, which are destL 
tute of all boo food. All that the bee-raiser requires 
is a simple habitation for himself, room and fencing 
for his hives, and dogs to secure them from injury 
by cattle or from thieves. Bees neither require any 
soil adapted to cultivation nor pasture land, like 
cattle. Even the so-called waste land, as swamps 
and rocky tracts, will add to their sustenance, though 
nothing grows on such places but marsh plants, 
shrubs, or trees. They can do without agriculture 
and population, the latter not being desirable on 
account of too much intercourse and interference. 
The neighborhood of large cities, or a situation 
within a moderate distance of railroad communica¬ 
tion, offers the beekeeper a good market for his 
honey, especially while yet in the comb. The ves¬ 
sels required in his operations are few—a boiler and 
some honey casks—and are not nearly as expensive 
as the apparatus required for the manufacture of 
sugar, simp, or other products. The wax, after 
melting, requires no peculiar packiug; it can only 
be destroyed by fire, and never deteriorates. 
Bee Book. 
Eps. Rural New-Yorker:— Please inform me through 
the columns of your paper the best works on the treatment of 
bees.—J. L., IFerf Kort wright, .V. Y., 1862. 
L angst both on the Honey-Bee; or, Mysteries of 
Bee-Keeping Explained, by M. Quinby. 
ers were paying $3 to $3.50 per hundred, gross 
weight. Thus, you see, my friend's $25 imaginary 
pigs were cut down to $14, the highest market 
price here. This he claims as dear profit. That is 
a term too little known to fanners. 
“ Mr. W. says bubhklls of meal.” I think Mr. 
D. misread my article, as the term is not in it. I 
said they were fed 1,744 pounds of meal, (not bush¬ 
els.) worth 50 c.-nts a bushel, or 0 mills per pound. 
Not as my learned friend has it—corn 18 bushels at 
50 cents, 8i bushels of peas at 88 cents, 8$ bushels of 
barley at GO cents, equaling $21.54—but 1.744 pounds 
of meal, worth $15.60$, the market price here, (per¬ 
haps not at Wilson, N. Y.) Am I to figure up my 
feed at what it is worth where I live, or go to some 
place, perhaps a thousand mileB away, to learn the 
market price? As to going to mill, 1 always have 
other business; theretore, I count it but ono of the 
chores of life. The marketing must be expensive, 
as I carefully packed it away in my pork barrels to 
await a better market, when my profits will at least 
he doubled. Mr. D. claims that time is money. 
May be this is a modern discovery, hut I trow not 
Perhaps I should havfc mentioned the item of butch¬ 
ering in my former article, which was all of 50 cents 
besides self and fuel. This I consider all the light 
my friend needs. 
“But convince a man against his will, 
He's of the same opinion still.” 
H. A. WniTTKMOEK. 
LIST OF NEW ADVERTISEMENTS. 
The first dressing or cultivating commences soon 
after the plant puts out the second or third leaf. 
The hoeing or cultivating should be repeated as 
often as the weeds or the condition of the soil render 
it necessary, until the plant is in bloom or podded. 
The thinning should not he done all at once— 
not at the first or even second hoeing; forallowance 
must be made for cut worms and other depredators. 
Suckers about the root should lie removed. In the 
culture of the Sea Island Cotton, the suckers must 
not only be removed, but the tops of the plants, it 
vigorous, must lie pinched off once or twice. One 
writer, referring to upland cotton, says : “ Topping 
may or may not lie resorted to ; it may strengthen 
the plants, but I do think, makes tkam later in bear¬ 
ing.” It is doubtful if any pinching off is necessary 
in the culture of the herbaceous cotton. 
picking 
Should begin a few days after the balls open, be¬ 
cause the sun soon evaporates the oil. and a large 
per cent, of weight is thereby lost. It should be 
picked as free from leaves as possible. The cotton 
picked—except that fur seed—should not bo sunned, 
unless wet; but should be packed in close bulk 
from four to eight weeks to allow it to heat; care 
being taken not to allow it to heal too much. 
There is much test imony in favor of gathering the 
staple ns soon as possible after the pods hurst; and 
if gathered in the morning, while the dew is on, it is 
more easily kept free from leaves. 
A writer says : “ In gathering, care must be taken 
to grasp at once all the locks of cotton in the pod, so 
that they may come away together. If any dry 
leaves fall upon the cotton before the gatherer has 
secured it in the hag hanging by his side, they must 
be carefully removed. This bag must be covered 
to prevent the admission of pieces of the dry leaves 
always to be found about the branches, and which 
are disturbed by a very slight agitation. It is this 
admixture of leaf which is so much objected to by 
the spinner, and proportionately lowers the value of 
the cotton.” 
This writer also says, the cotton, after gathering, 
should immediately be thoroughly dried, whether it 
is to be stored, or at once M essed and packed. He 
does not say how dried—whether by exposure to the 
sun, which most writers condemn, or not. 
CLEANING AND BALING. 
It is a fact that Northern mechanics have furnish¬ 
ed the most and the best of the machinery used in 
cleaning cotton. And there is little doubt that the 
supply of cotton gins, of an improved character, will 
fully equal the demand. The ginning process re¬ 
quires to be moderately performed so as not to injure 
and waste the fiber. 
The baling is done by the use of cottou presses. 
Formerly, the bales were tied with hemp, grass or 
cotton rope ; latterly, iron hoops have been prefer¬ 
red, for the reason that the bales are made more 
compact, retain their form, and are easier handled. 
The usual size of those iron-hooped bales is twenty- 
tw'o to twenty-four inches square, and four feet six 
inches long. 
MANURES. 
Inasmuch as I have testimony at hand on this sub¬ 
ject, it may be proper to giveii in this connection. 
It is strongly urged that two successive crops of 
cotton should not be taken from the same land. If 
this is not done the land may be strongly manured 
each alternate year, and some gross feeding crops, in¬ 
volving clean culture, be taken from it. 
Some American cultivators, on poor soils, sprinkle 
well decayed stable compost along the trench where 
the seed is to bo sown. Vegetable carbon in the 
shape of leaf mold, peat, Ac., is excellent. Wood 
ashes are recommended. All these materials, 
thorougly composted with stable manure, make, 
in the aggregate, a safe and excellent manure. 
Gypsum is also recommended on the dry, upland 
soils; and salt everywhere. Salt seems to be essen¬ 
tial where fineness of staple is desired. Mr. Sea- 
brook. before mentioned, believes that the length, 
firmness and silky qualify of the Sea Island staple is 
due lo the use of salt mud as a manure. Another 
South Carolina planter demonstrated that one bush¬ 
el of salt added to sixty bushels of compost, and 
spread upon the soil of a cotton plantation, improv¬ 
ed most decidedly the quantum and quality of the 
crop. 
This article might be extended almost indefinitely ’ 
with interesting facts relating to this crop, but I 
forbear. 01‘ course, what I have written is the re¬ 
sult of extended reading on this subject, and not of 
my own observation or experience. But it has been 
gathered from reliable sources, and will be worth 
something to the tyro in cotton culture, who has no 
access to reliable works on this subject. 
Choice Flower and Vegetable Seeds—James-Vick. 
Auction Sale of Sheep—L. A. Morrell. 
Cottonwood Cuttings—Henry Chapman. 
Farm for Sale in Cayuga Co.—Daniel B. Chase. 
Fourth Annual Meeting of Stock Assciation—II. A. Dyer, Sec. 
New and Valuable Seeds—1„ Norris. 
Or an berry Plants—P. P Chilean. 
Grafts for Sale — Fahnestock Bros. 
A Free Gift to all—Robertson & Co. 
New Jersey State Ag. Society.— At the annual meeting 
of this Society, hejd at Trenton, on the 21st ult., the following 
officers were elected for 1862: President —N. N. Halsted, 
Hudson Co. Vice President, 1st Diet.—John B. Jessup, Wood- 
bury; 2d, N. S. Hue, Fillmore; 3d, P. A. Voorhees. Six Mile 
Run; 4th, Geo. F. Cobb. Morristown; 6th, Geo. Hartshorn. 
Railway. Secretary —Wm. M. Force, Trenton. Treasurer— 
B. Haines, Elizabeth. Executive Committee —E. A. Doughty. 
Atlantic; Hon. Win. Parry, Burlington; Daniel Hols man, 
Bergen; John R. Graham, Camden, Doct. Learning, Cape 
May; B. F. Lee, Cumberland, C. M. Saxton. Essex; Samuel 
Hopkins, Gloucester; C. Van Vorst, Hudson, Geo. A. Exton, 
Hunterdon; J. G. J. Campbell, Mercer: J R Buckalew, Mid¬ 
dlesex; Doct. A. V. Conover, Monmouth, William Hilliard, 
Morris; J. S. Forman. Ocean M. J. Ryerson. Passaic; Benj. 
Acton. Salem; J. V. D Hoagland, Somerset; Thomas Law¬ 
rence, Sussex; C. 8. Haines, I'nion; Philip F. Brakely. Warren. 
Tub Pennsylvania State Ao. Society held its annual 
meeting and election for officers at Harrisburg, on the 21st 
ult. Thos. I J . Knox was chosen President, with a Vice Presi¬ 
dent for each Congressional District. Gen. Tobias Barto 
w as chosen Vice President for Berks District in place of Gen. 
Geo. M. K>:im, deceased. A. Boyd Hamilton, of Harrisburg, 
is the Corresponding Secretary. 
Broome Co. Ac. Society. — The annual meeting was held 
at Liide, Jan. 30th. when the following officers were elected: 
President — Oliver C. Crocker. Vice Presidents— Mulford 
Northrop, James S Ilawley. Secretary —E. D. Robinson, 
Treasurer —Wm. M. Ely. Directors (for three years)—George 
W. 8toddard, James Hogg. The Treasurer and Secretary 
presented their annual reports, by which it appeared that the 
receipts and expenditures of the Society for the past year 
amounted to 14,227.26. 
Jeffbrson Co, Ac. Society. —At the recent, annual meet¬ 
ing the following board of officers was elected for the ensuing 
year: President — Evelyn Cartkr, l.e Ray. Vice Prcsidemts 
—John Tallniun, Orleans; A. Tibbits, Roduian; L, Palmer, 
Evans Mills, Secretary —A. P, Sigourney, Watertown, 
Treasunr —J. E. Massey. Watertown, Directors (for full 
term—M. B. Hunting, Henderson,andO fS Woodruff Pamelia, 
to fill vacancy, Lorenzo Baldwin, Orleans. Beard of Auditors 
—T. H. Camp, E. S. Massey, John A. Sherman, Watertown, 
Seneca Falls Union Ac. Society. — Officers for 1862: 
President— G. W. Randall. Vice President — DemiDg Board- 
man. Secretary—H. Holton. Treat urn —John Cuddeback. 
Directors -8. G. Armstrong, JohnHoster, JohnLautenscblager, 
J. B. C-. Vreeland, L. C. Partridge, Geo. Cowing. The report 
of the Treasurer shows a balance on band, after paying pr» 
miums and other expenses of the past year, of $466.67. 
Loni Ao. SodBTY.— Officers for 1862: President—C. B\ 
Vkscklitjs. Vice President—George Predmore. Secretary — 
James Van Horn. Treasurer—S. B. Mundy. Directors— M. 
B. Ellison, Jacob Meeker, T. C. Osgood, Abram Slaght, 
David McNair, Isaac Lamoreux. 
®l)e Nno0 (Honbcnscr 
— The debt of the State of New York amounts to $32.- 
926,264. 
— Navigation between Cairo and St Louis has been fully 
resumed. 
— In Indiana, daring the last year, 91 executive pardons 
were issued. 
— A tax on bachelors is suggested for the benefit of Uie 
Government. 
— A YAnkee writer proposes a tax of $5 a head on dogs, to 
raise a revenue. 
— At Sacramento, Cal., Jan. 24th, the lower floor of every 
dwelling was flooded. 
— Inverness postoffice, Livingston Co., N. Y., has been 
changed to Fovvlersville. 
— The Little Rock (Ark.) Journal (calls Sterling Price the 
“ Ajax of the Revolution!" 
— One thousand seven hundred and twenty-six marriages 
occurred hi Chicago in 1861. 
— The total number of flags lately presented by Pennsyl¬ 
vania to her troops, was 146, 
— The late eruption of Vesuvius has deprived 24,000 people 
of bed, food, and subsistence 
— Y'ankee traders are buying up whole stocks of cotton 
arid woolen goods in Montreal. 
— Gold coin wastes half per cent, in 16 years' wear, and 
silver from two to five per cent 
— The “ Nary Y'ard at Portsmouth, N. II.,” is in the town 
of Kittery, in the State of Maine. 
— The Pope has announced his determination to canonize 
23 uew saints, martyrs slain in Japan. 
— States prison statistics show that there is a great felling 
off in commitments for the past year. 
— The new Secretary of War will contract for no more 
arms till those on hand are put in use 
— The States Of South Carolina and Virginia hare paid the 
interest on their debts <kie in London. 
— The Louisiana legislature liave passed a bill authorizing 
a loan of $10,000,000 to cotton planters. 
— There is a great sleighing carnival in New York just now. 
Anything on nmners lets for $5 an hour 
— The remains of Geti. ZcJlieoffor and Bailie Peyton, Jr., 
have been delivered to the rebel Gen. Hindman. 
— The Massachusetts soldiers' fund amounts to $60,000 
invested, and $2,022 deposited in the Suffolk Bank. 
— According to Prof. Agassiz and the Florida reefs, the 
world is certainly 24,000 years old, and perhaps older. 
— The Memphis | Tcnn.) Argus of Jan 2, confesses that the 
South is “ten-fold worse off than when the war began." 
— Some 400 or 600 persons were drowned in Honduras last 
month by floods, caused by unprecedentedly heavy rains. 
— Wm. A. Lamed, au esteemed Professor in Yale College, 
fell in the street in a fit. Monday week, and died immediately. 
— There were 2.867 new buildings added to the city of 
Philadelphia last year, making the present numbor 02,000. 
— Thu destruction of the cotton crop by the extraordinary 
height of the Nile, amounts to one-third of the whole year’s 
produce. 
— Extraordinary preparations are making everywhere for 
the manufacture of maple sugar. The crop promises to be 
very large. 
— The Quakers have taken Lynn., Mass. The new Mayor, 
City Clerk, City Treasurer, and President, are all of that 
persuasion. 
— One of the Maine regiments at Washington, which con¬ 
tains upward of 1,000 men, has among them only five who 
are married. 
— Ttie city of London, CL W., has been seized by the Sheriff 
under two executions of $50,000, in behalf of the Provincial 
Government. 
— Free trade will be established this year throughout the 
Danish Territory, and trade-guilds will exist hereafter only as 
free societies. 
— David Stafford, the last survivor of the “ Wyoming Mas¬ 
sacre," still resides near Fenner Comers, Madison Co., N. Y. 
His age is 93. 
* 
— The Southern Confederacy lias ordered that all free 
negroes who do not volunteer shall be impressed into the 
public service. 
— The population of France, on the 1st of January lost, 
was 37,392.225, an increase of 1,312,861 as compared with the 
census of 1836. 
— The aggregate of all the claims presented to the Com¬ 
missioners sent to settle up Gen. Fremont’s bill in Missouri, 
is $9,070,371.65. 
— The annexation of Fall River. R. L, to the city of Fall 
River, which takes place on the 1st of March, adds to that city 
3,593 inhabitants. 
— During December, 1861, 4,500 emigrants reached Liver¬ 
pool on their return to their homes. T|iey were principally 
natives of Ireland. 
— The coal mined the past year in Pennsylvania is about 
eight and a half million tuns, being a million less tlian was 
produced last year. 
— Rev. Joshua Wells, the oldest minister of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, died at Baltimore on the 25th ult., in the 
98th year of his age. 
— 8inee the interruption of trade with the United States, 
the proprietors of the guano islands in the Pacific are sending 
cargoes to Australia. 
— In Chicago, the retail trade hi dry goods last year amounted 
to $3,229,S67; the aggregate wholesale and retail business 
amounting to $S,466,000. 
— The N. Y. Post says that 12 regiments and corps of vol¬ 
unteers, numbering more than 7,000, are in camp in or near 
that city, awaiting orders. 
— A whirlpool, some tliree hundred and sixty feet in diam- 
ter, has been formed in the sea near Torre del Greco, by the 
late eruption'of Vesuvius. 
— The Indians in New Mexico are becoming troublesome. 
Bands of them are scouring the country, killing the Inhab¬ 
itants, and driving off cattle. 
— Tbe rebel government finds itself badly out of pocket by 
its attempt to establish mail facilities in the Confederacy, even 
at largely inCTiaaed rates of postage. 
— The cost of' the school system of Maine, last year, was 
$748,152, of which $43,51# was paid for private tuition. The 
whole number of scholar* is 249,000. 
— Samuel Tudor, the oHest man in Hartford, and for many 
years one of the most wealthy and respected citizens, died 
Wednesday week, at the age of W years. 
— An English paper states that the ship Vigilant, of Bath, 
burnt by the Sumter, was insured aJ Lloyd's; and Is the first 
loss of the institution under the war risk: 
— A writer in the London Star and Dial suggests the mob¬ 
bing of Mason and Slidell, after the fashion of Haynau by the 
workmen of Barclay & Perkins’ B/ewery. 
— Ten new craters have appeared on Vesuvius daring 5 the 
present eruption. English photographers are taking photo- 
graphs of the mountain in its excited state. 
— A new postage bill will soon be introduced into the 
House, reducing the postage on letters to two cents, and 
delivering all letters free of charge in cities. 
— The barn of H. B. Curtis, of WiUiamstown, Mass., was 
burned on the 23d, by snow blowing into a barrel of lime in 
one corner of the barn, and causing it to slake. 
— Drafting in Connecticut for the State militia is not popu¬ 
lar, but profitable, nevertheless, for the State. The fines 
received under the law amount already to $60,000. 
Fluvanna, N. Y., 1802. 
Farmers, house-wives, sweet girls, and boys, who 
are fond of sweet things, now is your time for sugar 
making! What will you do for your thirty pounds 
each, allowance for the coming year, if you do not 
bestir yourselves in February and March to obtain, 
from your own sugar orchards, the sugar maple, 
(Acer saccharinum,) which God has planted around 
your own homes, your supply tor domestic use ? You 
may not expect it from the rebels. They have enough 
to do to fight your brothers and friends—the brave 
hearts who have gone to defend and maintain our 
government against their bloody assaults. These 
brave men have left upon us the responsibility to 
do what we can for their comfort while absent; and 
when they return what will be more welcome to 
them, on the table of a friend, than a bowl of clean, 
well-refined sugar, made by the hands of a thought¬ 
ful friend, which was never polluted by the hand of 
a traitor? 
From motives like these, with patriotic hearts, we 
must not be idle. We must make sugar now, as we 
make hay while the sun shines.” Let us increase 
the quantity and quality made the present year, if 
the season be favorable. Let societies and neigh¬ 
bors in school districts meet and devise means, by 
rewards or otherwise, for an increased supply in 
quantity and quality, and see that we take a step 
toward independence in the article of sugar. We 
seo that in the prairie districts, north of the Ohio, 
the people are growing Sorghum, and making good 
progress in making sugar and sirup. But in the 
Sugar Free States, the consumer cannot yet lean, on 
that source lor supply. lie must roly on his home 
resources. The farmers can and will make beauti¬ 
ful sugar, well-refined, and suitable for any table 
use. For the present season we must begin now,— 
buckets, kettles, and fires must be set in motion. 
And do not let us make black stuff;, while those 
who take pains make a white, refined article, choice 
as the world affords. 
The Maple sugar crop has been estimated at 
28,000 tuns. We should increase this at least 33 per 
cent; and at eight cents per pound, as estimated, 
get 38,000 tuns, yielding $6,080,000, instead of $5,- 
017,600, giving au increase of $1,062,-400. It is now, 
if ever, with sugar making, and if it is not supplied 
by our own hands, many must do without. *• A 
word to the wise is sufficient. n. 
Ahoct Advertising in th* Rural Nkw-Yorkbr.—A few 
weeks ago we staled that, though desiring to treat all courte¬ 
ously, we could not answer, by letter, those requesting otir 
best advertising terms, and referred all interested to rates, 
published in every number, for particulars. We also stated 
that '• such as wish to advertise at the rates charged by papers 
having from five to twenty thousand subscribers only, must 
wait awhile, as we are not doing that land of business. The 
si inple pact that we have received and entered upon our books 
an average of oyer Fifteen Hundred SuOscritnrs per day for 
nearly three weeks past, is one reason why we ‘ charge more 
than other papers do’ for advertising." 
And now that the season for adv ertising is again at hand we 
repeat (what many, who know whereof they affirm, concede,) 
that the Rural is the best and cheapest medium of its class 
on this Continent for the Business Cards and Announcements 
of all who wisli to reach, at once, tens or thousands of the 
most enterprising, progressive, and wealthy Farmers, Horti¬ 
culturists, &c., and thousands of Merchants, Mechanics, 
Manufacturers, and Professional Men. Dealers in Implements 
and Machinery,—Fruit Trees, Shrubs, Plants, and Flowers,— 
Seeds and Fertilizers,—Improved Stock, Real Estate, Ac., will 
find the Rural the medium; while it will prove an advan¬ 
tageous one for Wholesale Dealers, Manufacturers, Educa¬ 
tional Institutions, Land, Insurance and other Companies, 
Agencies. &c., that wish to secure largo ami wide publicity. 
The fact that but limited space is usually devoted to Advertis¬ 
ing, and a rigid censorship exercised over that department- 
(our aim being to keep the whole paper free from quackery, 
humbug, and deception,) greatly increases the value of the 
Rcrai. as a medium of making known matters of utility and 
usefulness,—for its announcements are generally so new, and 
of such character, as to be read and heeded by; all interested. 
— In this connection, we would refer to the long advertise¬ 
ment of Mr Vick, in our present number. And we do so 
for the purpose of saying that Mr. V., having hitherto tried 
the Rural and learned its superiority as an advertising 
medium, cheerfully pays full rates, without asking any abate¬ 
ment whatever. We trust the investment will pay him many¬ 
fold, and that others who advertise with us will find it profitable. 
Mr. V. has taken much pains to procure the best seeds 
obtainable, and merits the patronage of all lovers of the rare 
and beautiful in the Floral Kingdom. 
CUTTING STALKS FOB FODDEB. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: —In your paper for 
Jan. 25th, I observe an article with the above title, 
over the signature of J. N. Sterns, of Shelby. My 
object is not to criticise or review his communica¬ 
tion; but, in the first place, to endorse in full all he 
says of the value of stalks for fodder, and in the 
next place to say. that although ‘'cutting” is no 
doubt a groat improvement upon the plan of feed¬ 
ing them out whole, as usually done, we are now, 
however, placed a long distance in advance of that 
process, 
A mechanic of this city has recently invented a 
machine that grinds them about as fine as cut straw. 
In this condition they are readily eaten, without 
resorting even to the process of steaming, as prac¬ 
ticed by Mr. Sterns. I have been using ono of 
these machines now about four months, and for the 
last month have not given my horses one pound of 
hay, but fed them entirely on ground corn stalks, 
with mill feed. They eat them without any hesita¬ 
tion. and have, if anything, done better, and felt 
better, than when fed with hay and mill feed mixed 
with cut straw. Previous to the experiment of the 
past month, I had fed in the same way about one 
tun of stalks, though not entirely without hay. 
From this short experience, I am inclined to 
believe that well-cured stalks, ground , furnish as 
much nutriment, tun for tun, as the best timothy 
hay; and that horses or cattle may be as well kept 
upon them as on that article, with a saving of at 
least fifty per cent. At any rate, 1 am prepared to 
say, with reference to feeding them in this shape to 
horses, as does Mr. Sterns in reference to cows, “I 
know it wiil pay.” M. M. MathRws. 
Rochester, N. Y., 1862. 
ml 
Cebf.nt you Bruised Sap Pans.—W e have a pan for boil¬ 
ing sap that has been bruised on the bottom in two or three 
places so that it leaks. Can any of your numerous readers 
give me a recipe for a kind of cement or mixture that will 
prevent it from leaking’—A Suiisckihuk , Fitlmore. N. Y 
Prevent Your Tools from Rusting.— An exchange truly 
remarks that thousand of dollars are lost each year by the 
rusting of plows, hoes, shovels. &c. Some of this might be 
prevented by the application of lard and rosin, it is said, to 
all steel or iron implements. Take three times os much lard 
as rosin, and melt them together. This can he applied With a 
brush or cloth to all surfaces in danger of rusting, and they 
are easily kept bright. If tools are to be laid by for the 
winter, give them a coating of this, and you will be well 
repaid. It can he kept for a long time, and should always be 
on hand and ready for use. 
Sowing Timothy anti Clotbr Seed.—F inding trouble in 
sowing timothy and clover seed by hand, will some of my 
brother fanners inform me through the Rural where I can 
purchase a machine tint will do it up right and at what price 4 
Also, information with regard to the quantity of seed per 
acre, and in what proportion of clover to n gravelly so LI f 
After sowing, would >ou harrow it or not! Will some 
practiced farmer give his views, and by so doing much oblige 
— J. A. McCollum. Ntufane, IV. Y , 1862. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:— In reply to my 
brief communication on feeding pigs, Mr. E. Y. W. 
Dox says;—^ As a general thing it is easier to cipher 
out a desirable result upon a sheet of paper sitting 
by a comfortable stove, than to work the same by 
patient toil continued for long weeks and months.” 
I would suggest to Mr. D. that it would be very 
uncomfortable indeed to sit and figure up such a 
result by a cold stove, in a cold room, with mercury 
ranging 10 degrees below zero, and that, too, long 
before the gray light climbed over the eastern hills. 
Passing over a portion of the gentleman’s labored 
article, I come to the light, he is wishing to see. 
“ Mr. W.’s feed account begins when the pigs are 
about five months old. Are we to understand 
that their expense and cost was nothing up to 
that date, or no more than equal to their manure?” 
I answer without hesitation, yes. sir! We find 
these pigs were fed for 99 days with 6 ears of corn 
and milk. Now 99 multiplied by 6 equals 594 ears. 
Allowing 100 ears to the bushel, and we have less 
than 6 bushels of ears at 20 cents a bushel in the ear, 
(and corn was sold for 20 cents a bushel in the ear 
in this vicinity,) and we have $1.20, the cost of com. 
If you figure the milk (sour) at 3 cents a quart, (city 
prices,) you Bee they fall largely in debt But if 
you count the manure worth anything, (and it is 
worth $1 a cord and four miles cartage here,) 1 
think no reasonable mind trill think those pigs $25 
in debt the 22d of August 
Mr. D. thinks those pigs must have weighed 250 
pounds each at 5 months, and at $5 per 100 pounds, 
would amount to $25 the two. Allowing a propor¬ 
tionate gain from April 25th or May 14th. to Decem¬ 
ber 9th, and wo find they would gain nearly 41 lbs. 
5 oz. per month, making them to dress at five months 
2061 pounds. Now, does it look reasonable to sup¬ 
pose the pigs gained os much on bout milk and 6 
ears of com a day as they would upon 16 pounds of 
meal and sour milk to boot I think those pigs 
would probably have weighed 200 poimds each at 
five months old, perhaps not that (I saw the pigs, 
and could judge, perhaps, impartially.) Hog buy¬ 
Thh Rural's War News, — In remitting two gold dollars 
to renew his subscription, a subscriber in Harrison Co.. Va., 
wrices:—“ My wife thinks it impossible to dispense with your 
most valuable paper. The War News alone is worth the 
subscription price, as it is reliable and brief." And a sub¬ 
scriber in Clinton Co., Mich., writes:— u Y’our information on 
the War, in a single paper, is worth more tlian six months of 
any other paper we get here." We have many similar expres¬ 
sions of late, showing that the manner in which we give The 
War News is highly approved. 
an article on the “ Value of Raw-Hide." Will some one 
inform me how the hide is prepared f Is it tanned or simply 
dried!— J. M. Barber, Plainfield, Hampshire Co., Mass. 
How to Frkparh Raw-Hides for Common Use — Will 
somebody do the farmers generally a great fevor by telling us 
how to prepare dried Raw-Hides for use? I have from 40 to 
60 deacon skins eTery year that do not bring much, and would 
be grand for many uses— P. 
Whitewash.— 1 read a recipe in the Rural for preparing 
whitewash that would not rub off. I think it was in 1858 or 
1859, It was prepared of lime, whiting, and glue, I lost 
our paper, and the parts used do not recollect. Should like 
to read it again.—R. B. Keeler, Ridgefield. Corm. 
We bare examined our files, but do not discover just what 
Mr. Kekler writes for. Wo give, however, some recipes 
; which may meet the object sought: 
In 1854 we gave the following recipe:— Make a barrel of 
whitewash in tile ordinary manner, and while hot dissolve 10 
pounds of salt and Iff pounds of sugar, or an equivalent 
quantity of molasses, and stir it with your whitewash. Some 
add, also, an equal quantity of glue. This can be colored by 
ochre, umber, Ac., to any desirable tint. It ti better if 
applied hot. 
The following was g.vCn in our volume for I860;— Two 
A Mammoth Hog. — In a recent letter, Mr. C. M. Brown, 
of Roslyn, writes that lie w ill vouch for the correctness of the 
following statement in every particular:— 1 - A hog weighing 
S18 pounds was killed by Mr. John Chxrlice, of Roslyn, 
Long Island, on the 4th inst. This monster animal was raised 
by Mi. Cii aiu.ick, and is said to have been the largest hog 
ever raised on the Island, if not in the State.” A monster 
hog, truly; but if the breed, age, what and how fed, etc., had 
been added, the account would have been more interesting. 
Bee Culture. 
Wk have given some extracts-from a valuable 
paper in the Patent Office Report on Bee Culture, 
by William Bruckish, now of Texas, hut formerly 
of Prussia, where he labored most energetically and 
successfully in bringing the importance of the sub¬ 
ject and the modern or Dzierzon system to the 
notice of the people and the government. Having 
spent a large amount of time, and a fortune, in this 
work, we understand, he left his fatherland with the 
hope of retrieving his fortune in this country. We 
hope' he will be successful in this as well as in 
advancing the important interest of which he is the 
zealous advocate. We give further extracts from 
his interesting paper: 
The most favorable conditions for bee culture are 
found in those countries which combine great warmth 
with sufficient humidity; where none of the millions 
of blossoms is deficient in its nectar formed from the 
abundance of juice, but which is almost wholly 
wanting in dry and unfruitful regions. The nectar 
The Iowa Homestead is the title of a weekly agricultural 
and family newspaper just started at Des Moines, by Mark 
Miller, for several years publisher of the Northwestern 
Farmer. It is a handsome 8 page quarto, about two thirds 
the size of the Rural. The number before us, (So. 2. Feb. 
6,) tile only one we have seen, is well filled, and creditable 
in appearance. Brother Miller's new enterprise merits 
more success than it is likely to achieve. Terms, ?2 per 
annum—less to clubs. 
Breeders of Improved Stock, and all others interested in 
the subject, will see by reference to advertisement in this 
paper that the next annual meeting of the " Association of 
Breeders of Thorough-Bred Neat Stock •" is to be held at 
Hartford Conn., on the 5th of 51 arch ensuing. The objects 
of the Association are most commendable, and we trust the 
meeting will be numerously attended. 
The Sheep offered at auction on the 26th inst., by L. A. 
Morrell, Esq., (author of “ The American Shepherd,”) are 
undoubtedly superior and worthy the attention of wool grow¬ 
ers and breeders of fine-wooled sheep. See advertisement. 
