“ I don’t know, sir; I don’t remember his 
giving it to me. But it seems to me I saw 
one somewhere.” 
And thus it is from week to week, more 
or less, the whole year on some farms. It 
may not be so much the case where only 
white labor has been uniformly used, but I 
know it to be so in those sections where the 
improvident and unthrifty freedmen have 
been depended on to take care of everything. 
Nor is it confined to the froedmen in that 
sectiou. There are numbers of white per¬ 
sons who are similarly negligent. The con¬ 
dition and appearance of tho tools betray 
this want of proper attention to their preser¬ 
vation. The wood is dingy and decaying, 
and the metal rusty and dull. 
The writer referred to mentions the clean¬ 
ing of the implements when they are brought 
in—wiping them with a dry cloth, and, 
when not to be used the next day, rubbing 
them with an oiled cloth. He also directs 
the use of lard oil during summer on the 
metal, and when there is no further use for 
plows and cultivators, he advises a good 
coat of linseed oil to keep off moisture and 
rust. So far from this being followed by all, 
there are many who do not dream of even 
carefully knocking off the lumps of earth 
that have stuck to the tool. While there 
are honorable exceptions—and perhaps 
many—to this wasteful and unmanly neg¬ 
lect, yet it prevails to so great an extent, 
throughout at least a large portion of our 
country, that all friends of agricultural 
progress and general prosperity should cry 
out against it and use every legitimate means 
to secure a reform. 
The aggregate annual loss among our 
agricultural population, from this cause, 
could it. be certainly ascertained and an¬ 
nounced, would astonish the most criminally 
negligent farmer in the land. I doubt 
whether ten per cent, on the real value of 
farming implements would be too high an 
estimate of the rate of deterioration annually 
to be attributed to this single cause. It is 
doubted whether there is another popular 
and respectable calling in the country whose 
followers are guilty of such thoughtless 
waste of the special instruments on which 
their success depends. w. 
'nfomdogkal. 
[Qi^-tions to bo an&wef««l in tbh> Department, when accompanied 
by specimen*, should bo scut directly to C. V. Rii.cv, 221 North 
Main Street, St. Louia, Mo.J 
CURCULIO, OR PLUM WEEVIL. 
Having had considerable experience with 
this insect in the South, where it is more 
troublesome on peaches than 1 ever knew it 
in the best, peach districts of Western New 
York, I will state some facts for the benefit 
of those who wish to raise stone fruits free 
from the larva) of the eurculio. 
This insect prefers the nutritive matter 
that surrounds the stone of a plum, peach 
or cherry, for the development of its young, 
to the fruit of the apple, pear, or quince; 
although in the absence of its favorite food 
it will use the latter. Occasionally, late 
spring frosts kill all fruits alike; yet, in all 
of our orchards, curculios do not perish ; a 
few survive, but by what means I have failed 
to learn. With a plenty of plums, peaches 
and cherries, il, is safe to say that all cui’cu- 
lios will lay their eggs in these fruits, when 
within their reach. If so, to destroy the 
entire young in these fruits (no matter how,) 
is to free one’s peach, plum and cherry 
orchards from this pest for a year or two, at 
least. Having such orchards, my experi¬ 
ence is, that so far as pigs and poultry make 
clean work in consuming wormy fruit, the 
eurculio nearly disappears; but beyond their 
range, (where 1 have many trees,) the fruit 
grown this year, and in the last four, has 
had no value. Pigs and poultry gave me so 
many sound peaches in Georgia that I often 
had hundreds of bushels rot on the ground. 
It is immaterial how one destroys curcu¬ 
lios ; only be sure to kill them all. It is best 
to raise peach and plum trees by the thou¬ 
sand, and apple trees in the same way, and 
let domestic animals have any surplus (iu- 
cluding tho worms,) that may grow. One 
advantage in having a southern plantation 
of fair dimensions is that one can keep his 
neighbor’s curculios, apple-tree worms, pea 
bugs, and many ot her injurious insects, and 
also many weeds, at a respectful distance. 
But farmers and fruit growers must learn to 
unite their efforts to keep down, and, when 
possible, wholly exterminate their common 
enemies, whether animal or vegetable. 
D. Leis. 
—-♦♦♦- 
Tobacco Smoke and (he Cotton Worm. — A 
correspondent asks if any Southern planter has 
ever tried tho effect of tobacco smoko upon tho 
cotton worm. Will it. kill them? If so, lias it 
boon tried to any extent as an exterminator? 
Wo shall bo glad to receive a statement of any 
experiments heretofore made to destroy this 
worm during its depredations upon crops. 
-♦♦♦-. 
Tlic lady bug is said to prey upon apple-tree 
lice very target j. 
T % « - 
be Aptartatt. 
INQUIRIES ANSWERED. 
My father has a tree standing on his farm, 
whieli is about three feet or more through at the 
butt, and about fifteen or twenty feet from the 
base is a swarm of bees at work. I wish to know 
how to capture them, and when Is the best, 
time.— m. 
Bettek not attempt it before October. 
The combs now arc probably too heavy with 
brood. It would then be better to do it 
pretty early in the morning, so aa to avoid 
the inconvenience of robbers, if there are 
other bees in the neighborhood. I think t he 
best way would be to protect the face with a 
veil, and the hands with woolen mittens or 
gloves, and then cut a hole in thu side of the 
tree. When everything is ready for the op¬ 
eration, close the entrance, strike a few vig¬ 
orous blows on the trunk in the region of the 
bees, and thoroughly arouse them. They 
will then immediately fill themselves with 
honey, and he very amiable during the re¬ 
mainder of the operation. It is well to re¬ 
member this for a variety of operations with 
bees. 
Cut the hole large enough to work con¬ 
veniently in taking out the bees and honey. 
If you have a hive with movable frames, put 
the combs, in as large pieces as you can get, 
in t he frames and hold them there by means 
of thin strips of wood l ied together at the 
ends, or with narrow strips of cloth tied 
around t he frame and supporting the combs. 
Bee full directions in “ Bee Keeping Explain¬ 
ed. ” The bees will fasten the pieces in 
their places in the course of a. few days—the 
quicker if fed a little. If you have a box 
hive, it will be somewhat more difficult. 
Turn it bottom up; set in thu combs as near¬ 
ly in their natural position as you can, and 
keep them from falling together by rolls of 
paper, and sticks across their edges; put in 
tho bees, and give them several days to 
fasten the combs. Then, turn it carefully 
over, in such a way that the combs will rest 
on their edges, as you turn it. This will les¬ 
sen the danger of their breaking loose. This 
caution should always he remembered in 
turning hives with tender combs, especially 
in warm weather. 
If you don’t like to adopt the above 
method, however, you may obtain the bees 
from a hollow tree as follows:—Put a dish 
of honey on a smooth, level hoard, and set 
over if a common box hive, with several 
holes in the side, all lint one covered with 
wire cloth. The bees from the tree will soon 
find it, and begin to carry away the liouey. 
When fairly at work, make a wooden tube— 
a common elder stick with the pith punched 
out will do—five or six inches long, and 
push it in the hole in the side of the hive 
until the outer end is even with the surface, 
and stuff in paper about if so that the bees 
will have to go through the tube to get into 
the hive to the honey. In this way you can 
trap the bees, for having once got in through 
the tube, they will crowd against the holes 
covered with wire cloth and caunot get, out. 
If you don’t get them all the first time, re¬ 
peat the operation till you do. Keep the 
bees confined a week, feeding, of course, 
and then give them a queen. 
This lat ter plan may be put in execution 
any time when honey is not abundant, but 
it ought to be early enough to allow the 
swarm to gather some honey, or, if the bees 
are fed, still, while the weather is yet warm. 
Of course it would not lie right to adopt it 
at all where there are bees in the neighbor* 
hood belonging to other persons. 
Before attempting to gel. a swarm from 
such a tree, however, especially by the first 
method, one should be pretty sure that it is 
a strong and vigorous one, otherwise it will 
cost more than it will come to—indeed may, 
likely enough, in any case. M. Quinby. 
Tim above should have appeared some 
time since, but was mislaid. Its publication 
at this time, however, docs not invalidate the 
importance of the subject discussed. 
-- 
BEES IN THE SOUTH. 
Mb. Quinby, in the issue of the Rural of 
October 23, in sundry comments upon my 
article on the above caption, insinuates that 
at least part of my views have been careless¬ 
ly obtained, and are, therefore, unreliable. 
He. is respectfully assured, that, on the con¬ 
trary, they are the result of a cautious and 
conscientious effort to arrive at the truth. 
They are not to be esteemed infallible from 
that cause, for even the lessons of our own 
experience, or that of others, on any subject 
susceptible of improvement., may deceive us, 
whatever our boastful confidence, so subtle 
and complicated are the relations of cause 
and effect. However, views predicated upon 
carefully acquired information are at lead 
worth]/ of rzxjfint, Mr. Q. is hereby advised 
that the views in my former article, which 
provoked his strictures, were deliberately ad¬ 
vanced by a lady of character and practical 
intelligence, who has been dealing with bees 
, for forty - three years; and the sincerity 
of her statements is unimpeachable. His 
remarks in reply have been submitted to 
her, and she reiterates the main features of 
the former article. Worms do eat the honey. 
They have been found in it, and when honey 
has been put away in ajar with some of the 
worms left in it, the worms have oaten the 
honey up. 
In saying that tobacco smoke is a “ remedy 
or rather a preventive of tho worm,” refer¬ 
ence was had to the effect of the smoke on 
the moth that, produces it, and not on the 
worm. It is believed to rouse and drive out 
the moth, so that it may be killed and thus 
prevented from engendering the worms. Let 
Mr. Q. try the smoke on the former, and he 
may think hotter of the remedy. In keeping 
with his suggestion, that a strong stock of 
bees is protection against these little van¬ 
dals, it has been observed that, those gums 
which were so fully stocked, t hat the bees 
crowded to the bottom of the Live have been 
unmolested. 
Observation here has shown that bee-breiul 
is their “ special feed.” Hives taken in March, 
from a special cause, revealed the fact that 
the bee-bread was all consumed, and the 
honey was Still in the gum in large quantity 
and of excellent, quality. On this point the 
experienced apiarian referred to is quite 
positive. If Mr. Q. will re-examine my for¬ 
mer sketch, lie will perceive that, the experi¬ 
ence which I said might be of advantage to 
apiarians, wns not, in reference to this point 
as his reply intimates, but to the subject of 
feeding bees whose stores were exhausted. 
Mr. Q. says he does not quite understand 
what 1 mean by “honey locusts”—on which 
hungry bees were found feeding—whether 
they arc the tree of the Northern States or 
some kind of insect; fend wishes to know, if 
it be a tree, how it happened to lie in the 
loft of tho kitchen. Now I do not quite un¬ 
derstand what lie means by “ the tree of the 
Northern States;” whether it be what we 
call the “ honey locust,” or some other genus, 
or species of the same genus. 
There is such variety and dissimilarity in 
the popular nomenclature of the vegetable 
family in different sections, that while any 
one is liable sometimes to be ridiculously 
wroftg, conventional usage may render him 
at, tho same time exoueably ridiculous. It 
has, however, long since been established 
that technicalities are not the only indices 
or vehicles of truth in this matter-of-fact 
world. “ A rose with any other name would 
smell as sweet,.” 1 therefore expect Mr. Q. 
to excuse me for not knowing what, lie means 
by the Northern hoiqy locust, and shall ex¬ 
cuse him for not knowing what I mean by 
the Southern. 
Our “ honey locust ” is the tree of the 
locust family which bears the well-known 
black pod , to which the same name of the 
tree is given. The tree is so called here to 
distinguish it from the wild locust, which is 
indigenous in our mountain forest, is very 
frequently found in yards in other purls ot 
the State, and bears no fruit. Tlu: lumcy 
locust has long thorns frequently, while this 
has a short, briar-like growth on the limbs 
In appearance the two are utterly unlike 
The pod on the thick edge contains a sac¬ 
charine pulp that is esteemed quite savory 
by many, This, which I would describe 
more minutely did I not suppose it grew also 
in the North, was the Object that attracted 
the boos to the kitchen loft. 
I have never known it to he given to bees, 
but think it worthy of atrial. It grows in 
abundance on my premises, and if Mr. Q. 
lias none, and will give me his address in the 
Rural, L will send him osamplewith which 
to try ail experiment with his bees. Il keeps 
in the winter well. It would be necessary to 
lay open the rich part of the pod, as the bee 
could not well penetrate the thick coating. 
Mr. Q. has " known bees to starve ” with 
molasses in reach. 1 did not intimate that 
they would feed upon it unmixed. I dis¬ 
tinctly mentioned the mixing with water and 
dried fruit. 1 am fond of molasses myself, 
lmt do not like to take it alone, nor would 
Mr. Q., who doubtless likes lard in his bis¬ 
cuit, like to take the lard alone. The kind 
of fruit used was dried apples. The bees, in 
the case in which this mixture was used, 
would crowd about the hand and vessel con¬ 
taining the relief when it was brought near 
them—showing their anxiety for it. 
Since I began Ibis article two individ¬ 
uals have told me that they have saved 
bees by feeding them on dried fruit. One 
used dried peaches, either with or without 
sugar, stewed very soft. The other used the 
peculiar method of putting corn cobs in ap¬ 
ples while stewing and then laying the cobs, 
thus saturated with the juice, around the en¬ 
trance of the gum. These are simple means, 
involving no expense of moment, and may 
therefore be tried by any one. I hope Mr. 
Q. and others may be benefited, and I prom¬ 
ise to report to them any additional informa¬ 
tion I may acquire. w. a. 
North Carolina, 18*59. 
-- 
Wild Decs. An Indian letter gays The wild 
bees of India are very dangerous customers, as 
they attack an animal that happens to disturb 
them; elephants have died from inflammation 
caused by their stings. 
(The fjtrrstman. 
BREEDING MARES. 
Discussing the pernicious results which 
follow from breeding from animals whose 
peculiarities ought not to be perpetuated, 
the New England Farmer sensibly says: 
“ If' two or three general rules were observed 
by all breeders, great changes might be 
wrought in a few years. The first of these 
is, never to breed from an old animal, whose 
body lias been injured and its vitality weak¬ 
ened by injudicious treatment or by too 
severe labor. The results which follow 
these are obvious to every observer, both in 
man and beast. They are till impressed 
upon the living organism, and can no more 
be separated from il Ilian breath can from 
the body and life still be preserved. They 
are there, whatever they may be, and will 
be imparted to the offspring, just as sure as 
‘ like begets like.’ 
“ Il is possible that eases may exist where it 
is safe to breed from an old mare. Two of tho 
finest horses that reins were ever drawn over 
were from a tnarc nearly thirty years of age, 
but she was perfect in limb and spirits; bad 
always been owned by the same person, and 
fed with ns much regularity as the owner’s 
meals were served; she was never raced at a 
‘military muster,’ or overloaded in any way, 
and at thirty-three years of age, she and her 
mate, of about the same age, were not onl) 
sound in wind and limb, but were a pair to be 
proud of when one held the reins over them. 
A pairoflior colts, born after she was twenty- 
Jive, sold, under our eye, for twice ns many 
hundred dollars us other fine horses about 
them brought! A moderate old age should 
not, therefore, absolutely exclude the mare 
from breeding, if she is right in other par¬ 
ticulars. 
“ The common practice for many years 
past, and one which has become woven, as if 
were, into the habits ofl.hu people, so that it 
seems as natural as the breath of life, is to 
keep the old mare for breeding, when she is 
unfitted for service on t he road or on the 
farm! This is where the evil commences. 
She is a fa vorite animal, was handsome, spir¬ 
ited, and with a power of endurance almost 
beyond belief. But now she is seventeen 
years of age, has a spavin,,a slight touch of 
the lieavca, and one or two other trilling 
matters which arc a little inconvenient for a 
working animal, lmt, she will make a good 
breeder, and about pay her keeping besides ! 
This is the conclusion arrived at, and thou¬ 
sands of such cases exist among us to-day. 
“So‘the old mare, crippled by too early 
labor aud disabled by disease, is to become 
the progenitor of a race which is to occupy 
a certain locality, perhaps, for a hundred 
years! It. is scarcely possible that her young 
will not be injured before they see the light; 
mid the strong probability is that each of 
them will hear the marks of her imperfec¬ 
tions. Some with ringbone, perhaps, or 
asthma, or spavin, or some, lurking disease 
that had not developed itself in the over¬ 
worked and disordered mother. We have 
seen a yearling Colt with a ringbone upon 
every foot. Well-formed otherwise, appa¬ 
rently healthy, eating and drinking well, 
but suffering and utterly worthless.” 
mitr ffisitfiiL 
SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF WATER. 
A Michigan correspondent asks if some 
one will toll the readers of the Ritual 
whether there is any difference between the 
weight of newly fallen rain water and that 
which has been standing several weeks. Old 
rain water is somewhat putrid, and so far 
unwholesome. If the new is the heavier, it 
will settle to the bottom of the cistern and 
force the old out through the waste pipe at 
the top when the cistern is full. If the old 
is the heavier, it should be pumped out 
when there is new, in order to keep the 
water pure and good. The tube of the 
pumps should go to the bottom of the cis¬ 
tern, and if there is no difference in the 
specific gravity of old and new rain, it 
would be well to have the tube conducting 
the water into the cistern also reach the 
bottom, so as to carry the new water under 
the old, and thus drive the latter off through 
the waste pipe. Will some of our readers 
having experience in the matter reply to this 
question ? 
-- 
LINSEED OIL AND WHITE LEAD. 
Cheap oils are frequently mingled with 
linseed oil, which are so volatile that they 
will evaporate soon after the oil is employed 
for painting. It is sometimes exceedingly 
difficult to determine when pure linseed has 
been adulterated, except by a practical test 
in painting. When the paint does not dry 
readily, it will be safe to assume that the oil 
was not pure linseed. In some instances 
impurities may be detected by putting a 
piece of ice into a cup containing about half 
a pint of oil. If the oil be adulterated, the 
impurities will separate from the linseed oil, 
and will usually become still' and thick like 
very soft lard. 
If the linseed has been boiled, and emits 
a very dark color as it is poured out, wo 
may suspect that it has been scorched and 
perhaps burned while it was being bmled,or 
that it has been adulterated. Yet, if the ice 
test fails to show any impurities, and the oil 
dries satisfactorily when employed in paint- 4 
ing, tho quality is good, even when dark™ 
colored. 
When paint is ground.in oil, a very poor 
quality of oil is often employed, and a large 
proportion of Spanish whiting is worked in, 
which is much lighter than either white or 
red lead, and of course will not form so 
thick a covering as pure lead. Adulterated 
lead paint, that has been ground in oil, is of 
a darker color, and the pails or kegs contain¬ 
ing a Certain number of pounds are muck 
larger than other vessels in which there are 
an equal number of pounds of pure paint. 
r. 3. E. 
-- 
TELEGRAPH TO THE PLANETS- 
An enthusiastic French philosopher has 
proposed a means of telegraphing to other 
worlds which throws the inventions of Gul¬ 
liver’s philosophers completely in the shade. 
An English paper fiftys:—“He wishes to 
mount a gigantic mirror, capable of being 
readily moved, and to give flashing signals to 
Jupiter and Venus. His theory is that if 
these are repeated regularly at. given intervals 
and in equal numbers of times, the inhabit¬ 
ants of the planets will conic to discern them, 
or understand that they mean something, 
and to return them. Should they do this, a 
code of signals could manifestly, without 
much difficulty, be devised. The proposer 
of this curious scheme points out that even 
now bright spots are occasionally seen on 
some of the phmets, mid suggests they may 
possibly be similar signals from the inhabi¬ 
tants of those orbs to each other and to us. 
The idea is said to have been discussed be¬ 
fore now, and to have been abandoned; but, 
however impracticable or absurd, it has been 
thought worthy of serious attention by the 
French Academy of Sciences.” 
-- 
USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC ITEMS. 
A New AtmtMie, —Dr. Liebseich of Ber¬ 
lin has discovered a now uinnsthetie agent— 
“chloral” — the aldehyde of trichloretcd 
acetic acid, obtained by the action of chlorine 
gas upon alcohol. It is thought that it will 
prove in many cases superior to chloroform 
or ether. 
To Silver Cad- Iron, —M. Boeltger, in the 
columns of the Moniteur Scienttfu/nc, recom¬ 
mends a hath prepared as follows:—13 purls 
of nitrate of silver arc dissolved in 230 parts 
of water, with the addition of 30 purls of 
cyanide of potassium, and the whole is 
poured into a solution of 15 parts of common 
salt in 750 parts of water. 
Crickvib Manic .—B. F. Cutter of Pelham, 
N. 11., has given us some curious observa¬ 
tions in regard t o crickets. I lbs theory is 
that the singing of tho “ merry cricket ’’ is 
governed very largely by the temperature of 
the weather, and that the change of one de¬ 
gree even, makes a corresponding change in 
its music. According to his experiments, 
when the temperature is at 74 the cricket 
gives 154 M notes” in a minute ; at 7‘2 , 145; 
at 70 ,134; at fi7°, 120 ; at 03", 100; at 48’, 10. 
To Clean Paint ,—The Coachman's Jour¬ 
nal gives the following simple mol hod to 
clean most any kind of paint that has be¬ 
come dirty, and if our housewives would 
adopt it it would save them a gn at deal of 
trouble :—Provide a plate, with some of the 
best whiting to be had, and have ready some 
warm water aud a rag, squeeze it nearly dry; 
then take as much whiting as will adhere to 
it; apply it to the painted surface, when a 
little rubbing will instantly remove, dirt or 
grease. After which, wash the part well with 
clean waller, rubbing it dry with a soft 
chamois. Paint thus cleaned looks us well 
as when first put on, without any injury to 
the most delicate colors. It is far better than 
using soap, and does not require more than 
half the time and labor. 
Color of Autumn, Leave*. —Tlic change of 
color of the leaves in autumn from green to 
red has been attributed to the effect of acid, 
and it was asserted that the green color could 
be restored by submitting the leaves to the 
action of an alkali. This hypothesis, howev¬ 
er, was advanced without any basis of facts 
to support it, but the London Allicmeum now 
asserts that the theory lias been established 
by experiment.. Autumn leaves placed under 
an exhausted receiver with vapor ofammonia, 
it is asserted, in nearly every instance lost 
the red color and renewed their green. In 
some leaves, such as the sassafras, the black¬ 
berry and maple, the change was rapid and 
could be watched by the eye, while others, 
particularly certain oaks, turned gradually 
brown, without showing any appearance of 
I green. 
