i 
ties, but, carpenters have frequently been M 
foiled, and although I have ofLeu essayed to J 
contrive a regula tor I have not been success- 5 
ful, and I shall feel greatly obliged if any <Jj> 
simple means can be suggested to assist me , 
in the use of the auger and brace. My lathe > 
will not assist me, being too small. I find 
there is generally a disposition when work¬ 
ing the brace to incline somewhat to the 
right, and if some indicator could be con¬ 
trived by which the slightest variation from 
a direct line could lie indicated, or, better 
still, prevented, it would be a great benefit 
to others beside amateurs like myself. 
tto Jnbtntions, get 
nbustriitl 
tobacco, there are many other sections oi me 
State, where a wiser system of tillage has 
kept it up to its natural fertility. Perhaps 
there is no State in the Union that has a 
greater diversity of lamia now in the market, 
or one where an energetic farmer, with some 
capital at his command, could bett er succeed 
in improving his pecuniar}’ condition. 
Unfortunately for her, \ irginia had relied 
for many years, on breeding negroes for the 
Southern market, and looked to the proceeds 
of their sale for her support; and when the 
war closed her large proprietors found them¬ 
selves deprived of their chief riches, with 
their neglected lands impoverished by bad 
tillage and themselves involved in debt. 
More especially is this the case in all the 
counties lying on tide-water. In 'hose sit- 
ABOUT GOING SOUTH. 
Should Northerners Emigrate to the South? 
Those contemplating removal to the South 
would doubtless like to hear moro about the 
healthfulness and other peculiarities of the 
climate. As to the farmer, over so vast a 
territory, any one would know at a thought 
that there is a vast difference in different 
localities. But that very variety is a promi¬ 
nent, inducement since it. promises to every 
one a home adapted to the peculiarities of 
lhs constitution. North Carolina alone af¬ 
fords a vast margin for choice in this regard, 
ovtr.nrlinir from the SCftCOftSt OH tllC CUSt Ot OI 
Can no one invent a style ot building 
which shall be rat-proof? We have water¬ 
proof compositions for roofs, heat-proof ma¬ 
terial for walls, and fire-proof structures for 
the starvation of insurance companies and 
the disbandment of fire companies, but thus 
far, no one has invented a mode of keeping 
rats out of buildings. And every year the 
plague of rats increases. They arc like the 
flies, “ if you kill one, a hundred will come 
to its funeral.” They are increasing in num¬ 
bers in Chicago at a fearful rate, and, unless 
something can be done, ere long they will 
jtpiitran 
DIFFERENCE IN SIZE OF BEES. 
A correspondent of the Massachusetts 
Ploughman says:— “There is a great dif¬ 
ference in the size of bees, that is betv een 
the bees of one hive and those of another, 
and this is owing to the age of the comb. 
Bees bred in new comb are larger than those 
bred in old comb, as die longer tlie comb is 
used lor breeding the smaller die cells will 
be.” (See Rural, Jan. 30th.) It is true as 
far as that the cells crow smaller when used 
ing paramount to the sectional issues oi tne 
past eight years. J - ^ K - 
Clifton, Ala., Feb., 1809. 
About Settling in Georgia. 
Op late I have seen so many inquiries, 
asking about Southern land, and at the same 
time each writer has expressed himself as 
being afraid to venture down here, because 
they have, one and all, learned that, life and 
property were insecure, that 1 feel con¬ 
strained to give my experience, after a suc¬ 
cessful and fail’ trial of three years, upon a 
large cotton farm in middle Georgia. 1 can¬ 
not say much for ot her sections, but people 
arc just as safe here, and there is as little 
crime as in the most moral part, of New 
York State. We have in this county (Mor¬ 
gan,) several Northern families, and 1 have 
yet to learn of the first act. Of hostility or of 
even an unkind word being spoken to any 
one of them; on the other hand, we are 
treated with unusual kindness and courtesy. 
It may be well to state that it is generally 
known here that I was a staff ofllcei in 
Sherman’s army, and passed through i bis 
very place. I have no object in writing, 
other than to correct these false impressions 
as regards this locality at least. If people 
fantry forming to receive cavalry. Another 
step, and no sign of retreat on die part ot 
the rodents; he was afraid to proceed; he 
went back. It was only after he had beaten 
the top of the steps with a long stick, from 
tile bottom, that the man dared to complete 
the ascent. 
Chicago Is peculiarly adapted to the mul¬ 
tiplication of rats. The lumber used so 
largely on buildings and sidewalks affords 
them hiding places from which it is almost 
impossible to dislodge them, while our im¬ 
mense stores of grain form an extraordinary 
alimentativc attraction. The peculiar needs 
of the situation stimulated inventive inge¬ 
nuity in the matter of constructing swing 
bridges and moving ponderous buildings, 
perpendicularly and laterally. Is not the 
gnawing necessity great enough to incite the 
to diminish the size of bees reared in them I 
cannot see. Because a cell at first is a little 
larger than the natural size of the bee, it 
does not follow that the young worker bee 
should grow to fill it anymore than a young 
queen should fill her cell, or a young speci¬ 
men of humanity should always till the eia- 
dlc when it is larger than needed. This 
gt x >ry, for the interest of ihe “changeable 
hive” patent vender, has been told to the in¬ 
jury of the victimized bee-keeper long 
enough. 1 have several hundred hives of 
bees, some of them have what he would call 
old comb — from eight to twelve years old- 
others new. Now it ho "will visit mj api¬ 
aries in the working season, and designate 
which has the old comb by the size of the 
bees alone, I will pay bis fare from home and 
back; and what is more, 1 will acknowledge 
that there is a power of discrimination that 
I do not possess, and will advocate hereattci 
frequent change of combs. M. Quincy. 
8t. Johnsville, N. T. 
The water is good, timber magnificent, and 
lands very cheap. Near this place a good 
farm of four hundred acres, with comfortable 
improvements, can be bought tit five dollars 
per acre. Any young man of energy, if lie 
displayed any tact or genius whatever in tin: 
management of a farm, could pay for it in 
one year. 
I send you a specimen of grow ing wheat, 
which is exactly two feet high, and the 
whole field is nearly as good. We can raise 
just as good grain of all kinds as 1 ever saw 
grown in western New r York. I have red 
clover, on which cat tle and sheep are grazing 
now. I do not pretend to feed my sheep at 
all during winter. 
I will gladly give persons wishing it any 
information as regards this locality. 
Madison, Ga., Feb. 8,1869. B. H. Trite. 
bee cholera. 
We have already recorded the strange 
fatality to bees which lias prevailed in Ken¬ 
tucky and Indiana. The Dayton (O.) Jour¬ 
nal says that Mr. Hawkins, a bee raiser of 
that vicinity, having lost some thirty hives, 
set about to ascertain the cause of the mor¬ 
tality, and came to the conclusion that the 
disease was cholera. During the warm 
weather, Mr. 1L discovered that the bees 
were attacked with a violent purging, and 
that the matter thus evacuated, being of a 
glutinous quality, clung to and bedaubed the 
bees in such a manner as to retard their mo¬ 
tion. This, he thinks, accounts for their 
entire absence from many hives. Their 
w r ings become so glued up that iu attempting 
to fly they drop down a short, distance from 
the hive and perish. Ilia observations in 
regard to the hives vacated is the same as 
that of others in his vicinity — many hives 
which were well stocked with a good quality 
of honey. 
The bees die in large numbers soon after 
being attacked by the disease, and there is 
no remedy for it that has yet been discovered. 
There is but one way to prevent tJte spread 
of the disease. Very close watch should lie 
kept, and just as soon as the bees of any 
hives are discovered to have these glutinous 
evacuations, at once remove the hive from 
the vicinity of others. It would bo better to 
at once suffocate the bees, and thereby lessen 
the chances of contagion. 
nr %mm 
sends us from the farms with our plow’s. 
The first of this season fell on the llth of 
December. When you have finished seed¬ 
ing your wheat and completed your prepara¬ 
tions for tho season of hibernation, and rise 
from your crackling fires or glowing grate. 
driven animal arrives at his journey s end, 
he is treated to a very limited supply, and 
the pail is taken away before its necessity is 
half met. It is a mistaken notion that cold 
water does cause abdominal pain ; it is from 
long abstinence and wlicn the horse drinks 
to excess. But even this is rare. 1 allow 
my horse to drink from every trough I meet 
on the road, if the water be clean, and, in 
my own stud, I never had a case of colic. 
At home, my horses always have w r ater 
before them. A friend of mine, to whom, 
the other day, I gave this advice, directed 
his servant to adopt it. The servant shook 
his head and said 14 he thought he knew as 
well as Mr. Cartledge when his homes 
wanted water, and how much.” The owner, 
in reply, told the servant that might be so, 
Put he must, allow his horses to drink as 
often and as freely as he did himself. — Eng¬ 
lish Farmer# Journal. _ 
A KAO Lampman, 
I would recommend any of your men of 
the hidden resources of 
capital to examine 
this State, before emigrating to the West 
Every bushel of corn or wheat raised here is 
worth from twenty-five to fifty cents more 
than if raised in Iowa, and when the price 
cornea down, (as it will whenever the cur¬ 
rency question is settled,) this ot itself would 
more than pay for the fertilizers which would 
have to he used on the worn-out lands of 
tide-water, or would justify an increase in 
the pries of the good farming lands of the 
northern counties and the Valley. 
A Native American. 
Inducements lo Northern People. 
In answer to a communication from one of 
your correspondents, making inquiries as to 
the prices of lands in the South —also ns to 
the protection and welcome which would be 
extended to Northern men coming in our 
midst,—we would reply that the condition 
of affairs here has been so grossly misrepre¬ 
sented by interested politicians, that to at¬ 
tempt to convince-our 
•we have accepted the result of the w’ar in 
good faith seems almost as hopeless a task 
as convincing a man against his will. Never¬ 
theless, to your correspondent, and all others 
exercised on the same subject, we would say 
we have a hearty welcome for all who will 
oome and cast their lot with us, and can 
of the winter yet to come. In this tho 
farmer sees at a glance that peculiar ad¬ 
vantage of our climate, the more pi oti acted 
duration of the season of growth and culti¬ 
vation. The spring is earlier, as well as the 
winter later. This peculiarity has enabled 
many to do well in putting ft’uits and veget¬ 
ables into more northern markets in advance 
of the northern products. 
Flat River, N. 0. __ A - W- Mr 
Position, Condition and Resources of Vn. 
In reading the Rural for the past year I 
have noticed that it had many correspond¬ 
ents in the South, but I do not remember to 
have seen any from the State of Virginia. | 
I have wondered at this, as this State has 
been freer from outrages of almost every 
kind than any other part of t he States lately 
in rebellion, and offers perhaps more and 
greater inducements to Northern settlers 
than any others. 
Our climate, while milder than yours, is 
sufficiently affected by the action of frost to 
Insure a salubrious atmosphere, and is well 
adapted to all the cereals and grapes that 
grow with you. It is a mistake to suppose 
ViroHnift is identified in interest with 
To Get Bees out of Honey Boxes.— A Simple, 
cheap, and easy way to get bees out of honey 
boxes, is to place an empty barrel anywhere 
about the aptary, to suit your convenience. Re¬ 
move tbe boxes from the hives and place them 
in it; theu lay u dark cloth overt tie top of the 
barrel, leaving a space at one side large enough 
for one or two bees to lly or crawl out at a time. 
You may then leave for other work and return 
at your leisure, without fear of robber bees. I 
have tried this plau several yearn, sometimes 
placing a dozen boxes in a barrel at one time, 
and never yet knew a bo© to return to the barrel 
for honey, nor a cell to bo uncapped. 
If any one has a cheaper, quicker, or easiet 
way not patented, I should like to hear ot it.— 
John L. IIxce, RcnssdacrvUk, N. Y. 
Alls the Colts. 
“ What — 
Lima, Iowa, writes us that hts colts have been 
troubled as described in our issue of January 9, 
and the remedy he nsed was to put a rowel in 
each jaw, one or two in the breast, and give tbe 
animal a dose of salts every day, poulticing the 
swollen parts. He asks for further information 
. concerning this disease from those who may have 
Northern friends tlplt j had experience with It. He regards it as a now 
disease._ _ f _ 
Strangles In Colts.— One of your subscribers asks 
for information concerning diseases in colts. 
The disease that he refers to is strangles. His 
Bee-hive Patents.—Wo have an article from 
Dr. S. N. Vickery, Darien Contc-r, N. Y., in re¬ 
sponse to an article published in the last volume 
of the Rural, written by F. 8. Roys, which it. 
would be of no practical advantage to our read¬ 
ers to print. We refer to it simply to say that 
disputes about the merits or demerits of patents 
cannot be admitted to our columns. Wo admit¬ 
ted Mr- Roys' article because of Its practical 
suggestions —not because it seemed to favor 
anybody’s patent. We reject Dr. Vickery s 
article beoause it contains no practical sugges¬ 
tions of especial value to the bee-keeper, and 
attacks acrimoniously a patent which we have 
no disposition to advertise by such a discussion 
in our columns. 
A REGULATOR FOR AUGERS. 
An English correspondent of the Scien¬ 
tific American asks:— Can any of your in¬ 
ventive readers devise a means by which may 
be insured perfectly true, boring with the 
long shanked, beautiful American augers, 
when passing through wood, four, five, or 
six: inches thick, where great accuracy is 
needed. Not only have I met with difficul- 
