* 
r klir 
FIELD NOTE& 
Experience with Orchard (;ra«a, 
In the various articles tlmt have appeared 
in the Rural New-Yorker on the subject 
of orchard grass, I have not, noticed any al¬ 
lusion 1o the time or best manner of sowing, 
or the quantity per acre necessary for a good 
seeding. I have made considerable inquiry, 
but found no person that could give me any 
information. I had a piece of four acres, 
new land, adjoining a marsh meadow, ele¬ 
vated enough above the marsh to lose the 
muck, and to consist of a sandy, gravelly 
loam. I planted in the spring to corn, and 
decided to seed down among the corn to 
orchard grass and red-top grass for pasture. 
1 obtained two and a quarter bushels—one- 
half of* each—and sowed after my last culti¬ 
vating, the 12 lh July. The season has been 
so dry it lias not done very well. On the 
lower portions of the ground it has shown 
some growth, and appears about thick 
enough. Whether it is the best to sow in 
fall or spring, and whether the quantity is 
sufficient, I would like to learn.—M. Parke, 
Kalamazoo, Mich. 
Last April we published a statement made 
by A. W. Cheever, Sholdonville, Mass., 
who says orchard grass should he sown 
thick; he does not think two bushels per 
acre too much. On rich, moist land, it is as 
sure, he says, to yield three crops In a year 
as red-lop is to give one ; and yet it stood 
the hot, dry weather of 1870 better than any 
other grass with which lie is acquainted. He 
does not state at what season of the year he 
sows it. 
We happen to know that it succeeds 
whether sown in the spring or fall. If we 
could choose, however, we should prefer to 
portions of the country, We do not know 
of a better way of exterminating it in 
meadows than by digging, and with a chisel 
lixed on u long handle, or with a very nar¬ 
row hoe. This may seem to be a very hard 
task; but unless the plants are very plenti¬ 
ful a man will clear out a Jurge plot in a 
day. If this weed is very plentiful we 
an tin. 
jO , 0 nor do we, at this moment, remember to 
(11)c Apiarian. have known any apiarian who used such 
(§* J comb successfully, nor do we know that 
- ■ - -- there is any manufactory of such comb. If 
BEE NOTES an y one 9Uccee d 9 m inventing a comb in 
- which bees will deposit lioney (as many bee 
Honey nmi Pollen. Pioiiuciue Plants. keepers hope may he done) he will have se- 
A correspondent of the National Bee cured a source of great profit to himself, in 
BEE NOTES, 
Honey nml PolIcn-ProiluciiiK Plant*. 
would advise plowing up the meadow and ; Journal has gathered from different sources our judgment.. 
... it._il. . ! /• d< I . . 
cultivating the ground for a few years, or 
until the Buttercups no longer appear. 
Nettles for Stock. 
Can you inform me how to plant, grow, 
harvest and keep the Great Nettle which is 
used in some countries for stock-food? 
Where can I obtain the seed? I believe it 
the names of the honey and pollen-produc¬ 
ing plants of this country, which he gives, 
saying:—“I have classed or placed them 
in three classes: 1st, spring flowering trees 
and plants; 2d, summer; and, 3d, fall flow¬ 
ering trees, etc. 
bpring: willow, alder, aspen or poplar, 
Wintering I.unto anil Hinnll Colonies of 
Boos Toko [her. 
Frank R. P. writes the Rural New- 
Yorker that lie has seen it stated that large 
and small colonies of bees do not winter 
well together in the same room, and asks 
bee-keepers to give the reason why. In re- 
'unit fpcprfmtnf. 
SUNDRY LETTERS. 
From Wittsbui'K, Cross Co.. Avk. 
I take this opportunity of writing you a 
letter from the least conspicuous State in 
the Union, but why Arkansas should he 
ranked so far behind the other States does 
not so easily appear, It is the best timbered 
of any part of the United States and its 
climate is very mild. The land produces, if 
properly cultivated, more than a hale of cot¬ 
ton to the acre. Corn does well—in fact, 
Ik any of our readers know of any species suckle, oak, redbud, hazel, yellow jasmine 
of nettle being cultivated ns food for stock, sweet myrrh, magnolia, hawthorn, box elder 
we should he pleased to have them com- locust, azalea, shepherd’s purse. 
"tunicate the facts relating thereto. The Sumner: red clover, plantain, thistle, 
Great Nettle ( Lrlicadovica) may furnish food strawberry, pea, sumac, catnip, peppermint, 
for goals; but we doubt if any other animal smartweed, Spanish needles, while clover 
would eat the leaves or steins. We are in* alsike clover, honesot, thyme, sweet inarjo 
dined to side with Jesse in his natural raiu, star wort, cliickwecd, raspberry, thorn, 
history when he says, “Nellies are never crab apple, cocltsptir, whorlleherry, sour- 
touched l»y cuttle of any description; neither wood, black haw, azalea, self-seal, lioney 
will they trample upon them. What a secure dew, cinquefoil, linden or basswood, cucum- 
rctreat, therefore, do they afford for birds to her, chinkapin, bee-balm, ironweed, chest- 
build their nest amongst and for hares to nut, maize, persimmon,sorghum, heliotrope, 
deposit their young amidst the shelter they beggars’ lice, buckwheat, silkweed, cardinal 
afford.” _ flower, balsam, mountain mint, turnip, spear- 
Rre for Forage lor Milch Cows. minl * vi P ( ' rH ’ h "£ loss > dandelion, pemiyrov- 
I notice in Rural New-Yorker of Oct. ^well, English clover, sweet clover, 
28, that you recommend rye as green feed for elderberry. 
milch cows. I have grown it for a number Autumn : buckwheat, white clover, Eng- 
ol years and consider it a valuable early lisli clover, red clover, sweet clover, alsike 
; : ... .“ ** " c spring and summer feed for all kinds of stock 
could choose, however, we should prefer to eM4 . pt , ull( .|, row#t U lmparlg u Very disft . 
prepare the soil well and sow hi autumn. It greeahle taste to the milk and butler. All 
is the lime nature sows grass seed, ami it is you say in regard to orchard grass I fully 
as good a time as there is. It should he ilK,orse j bill do not think so great an error 
sown, whether in spring or fall, on ground a8 "" ll ,n re «'t Pd *J e Bho,,1,i 6° to "' e 
. .. .... , 1 , ' numerous readers of the Rural uncorrected, 
m fine tilth and covered very lightly. For _j. <; Nut,son, port Wayne, hid. 
meadows not less than two bushels should o m) ■ ‘ , . , , 
, . Our fr end Nelson is a man of extended 
he sown ; for pasture it should he mixed ^ ... . . 
, experience and reliability and his opinions 
with other grasses—tunothv, red-top, etc. , „ r , •’ , .. 
_** are valuable. We have allowed milch cows, 
Sclcctiim Seed Corn. however, to forage upon rye, and never dis- 
In selecting seed corn I would suggest to covered ft,, - v P eculi » r 'ty *« l| ie flavor of the 
the farmers generally to select their seed 
while stowing it for winter. My method is 
this:—When I am unloading my corn from 
the wagon to the crib (or corn-house), T al¬ 
ways do it by hand, and not with a shovel, 
which allows me to throw sound apd ps.*r- 
sweet myi i h, magnolia, haw thorn, box ehlei, 40 ° to 50° of heat ley 8 Ri<lge and the low lands of the St. 
locust, azalea, shepherd s purse. _ Francis and Laiiguille River, for hundreds 
Summer : red clover, plantain, thistle, “Skip” as Applied to Bees. °f miles in extent, is almost inexhaustible, 
strawberry, pen, sumac, catnip, peppermint, In the Rural New-Yorker of Oct. 28, Poplar and oak, the largest I ever saw (and 
smartweed, Spanish needles, while clover, an inquiry is made in regard to the deriva- 1 have traveled all over the Union), Oppress— 
alsike clover, boneset, thyme, sweet marjo- tion of the word “ skip,” as applied to bees. ' vl ' i<:l1 a11 Southern men know to be superior 
ram, star wort, ehickweed, raspberry, thorn, 1 it ig Scotch. I never heard the term hive to any other for building purposes—walnut, 
j tion of llie word “skip,” as applied to bees. 
It is Scotch. I never heard the term hive 
used in Scotland. A hive of bees is called 
a. sleep of bees, and a bee hive is a bee sleep. 
Skep, and not “skip,” is tile proper term.— 
A. J, Murray, Memphis, Tenn. 
orseimut. 
clover, aster, golden rod, cinquefoil, penny¬ 
royal, phlox, ehickweed, smartweed, dande¬ 
lion, artichoke, crysauthemum.” 
Foul Brood. 
Mr. E. Rood recently read a paper before 
a Bee-Keepers’ Convention at Kalamazoo, 
Mich., in which he said he had watched this 
NOTES FOR HORSEMEN, and we 
Colic tu Home*. <IICt VCI 
A Y eterinakian writes:—“ In some cases !"* 
of simple spasmodic colic, after a drink of ” n,mm 
cold water, exposure, and the like, a stiniu- .V" 1018 ' 
luting and anti spasmodic drink will relieve, ( 
pine find various other useful trees are sland- 
ing thick upon the ground; and If some 
Northern man of energy and capital would 
come and locate here with a first-class saw 
mill, he would he a millionaire in about five 
years. The winters do not get cold enough 
at any time to stop a man from work out 
doors. 
I say we need men of capital, for since the 
war the people have not got clear of debt, 
and we have had no wealthy emigrants—in 
fact very few of any kind. Land is very 
cheap, but, owing to the scarcity of lumber, 
improvements are high. We want mechanics, 
farmers, capitalists and ull classes of useful 
and nothing further will be necessary. A 
Tliis part of the State is so sparsely set¬ 
tled that it is very difficult to keep up 
good formula is one to two ounces of spirits 1 R( ,!U n 13 very difficult to keep up 
of nitrous ether, twenty drops tincture of scl,ooIs - districts have only two 
milk and butter in consequence^ nor have through an apiary as cholera or small-pox 
we ever heard such complaint before. But 
Mr. Nelson’s testimony should be regarded 
until proved to he otherwise than bethinks. 
Alfalfa or Lucerne. 
1 beg to inclose you a sample of seed nml 
liscase for many years, and lost a great ftconite, and ten ounces tepid water. In 
many colonies by ft, but was unable to de- co ^ (: ,rom indigestion, constipation, and tlie 
termine the cause, of the disease or give a l' be » 1 bough this may temporarily relieve, it 
remedy. It was contagious and would go Cill,no *' be iclied on to do permanently. It 
hrough an apiary as cholera or small-pox ‘ s *-bcn preferable to give a laxative (four 
voultl a human hive of people. He used s ‘ x ( b' al,is Barbadoes aloes) to clear 
feet ears in the crib, my small ears and un- wT ! V samp,e 01 seen ami appears, mg may oe cone m pre- 
sound ones in one basket and nil l u-oe ^ .... 1 ■ af ° , l 1 |“ 1 l ' 011 m i' £ !,r * venting its spread. He hoped that an effec- 
sommones 111 one uasuct, iinu ni) large,Sound den, and which I received from the Slates .1 . . 1 
and perfectly filled ears in another basket, in a packet of pepper seed. 1 wish to know ,IUil l preventive 01 lemedy would be discov- 
forseed. I store this last away for seed Lite " bat (lie plant is and what the seed is ered, but lie knew of none, nor of anyboby 
would a human hive of people. He used 10 S1X (liai,is Bartiadoes aloes) to clear 
disinfectants to prevent its spread and was ftvv,| y 'be irritating contents of the bowels, 
very careful to destroy bees and lioney after lllK ^ lbu8 remove the cause. In tympanitic 
a hive luid been attacked. He thinks notli- Co ]fo (windy colic) an ounce of aromatic 
ing can sMje ol bees after foul brood 8 l )1, '* a of ammonia may be given in ten 
appears, muH^Withing may be done in pre- ounces of water. \ln all cases alikA copious 
venting its spread. He hoped that an effec- | n J e Qlions of warm water may be thrown 
tual preventive or remedy would be discov- "lto the rectum at frequent intervals. 
following year, and llie imperfect nml un¬ 
sound corn 1 store by itself to feed my cattle 
through the winter. 
The advantage I claim for this method is, 
first, that in handling the corn 1 have an 
opportunity of inspecting almost every ear, 
and thereby am enabled to select in a short, 
time enough of the largest and most perfect 
ears for planting; second, 1 have my un¬ 
sound corn by itself, ami nothing hut sound 
corn in my crib; third, 1 do not have to go 
to the crib for my seed when I go to plant, 
and am not compelled to take almost any 
sound car in sight, or turn the crib upside 
down limiting for good, large ears; fourth, 
by so doing I keep my corn up to a standard 
of excellence for quantity and quality that 
cannot be attained by any other means.— 
J. T. P., Kentucky. 
Sanford Corn. 
My experience with this corn has been 
very unsatisfactory. In planting three niut 
a half acres, 1 believe 1 have lost $100. 1 
have stalks nearly ten feet high and no corn 
—stalks enough for ten acres of ground. 
They nrn so large 1 believe lhem to lie no 
belter than the same bulk of rye straw. I 
selected my best coin ground and put on 
fifty loads of ham-yard manure to the acre, 
and took good cure of the coi n in the early 
stages ot iis growth,as well as in its last, anil 
spared no pains in any direction. Yet wluit 
a disappointment I I would advise all farm¬ 
ers in this latitude to Id the Sanford corn 
alone, ami plant known good varieties. On 
u piece of land joining, 1 raised about sixty 
bushels of corn per acre. If I had taken 
your advice, see how much belter it would 
have been for me. Farmers should read the 
Rural New-Youickr carefully, and treas¬ 
ure up its teachings, and they need not, he 
led into such humbugs.— Wst 11. Norton. 
worth. It grows about, two feet high, and who did. 
withstands the winter here. — YV, A B 
Canon City, Colorado Ter. 
. r i 11 1 * wish to ask those who have had con- 
it is the old and well known Lucerne siderable experience in bee-culture if hnck- 
(Medicayo sativa ), which the Greeks intro- wheal is uniformly regarded us a good forage 
duccd from Media twenty-three or lour linn- plant for bees in nil seasons and localities 
dred years ago. From thence it has been 'v'mre it blooms If there are exceptions, I 
carried to almost every portion of the globe 
where forage plants are cultivated. In 
South America, Mexico and California, it is 
generally known as Alfalfa, or Chili clover. 
The price qf seed is variable, according to 
supply and demand. 
Lenclie<l A*li<-* for Sweet Potatoes. 
My experience the past year lias taught, 
me that there is no better fertilizer for sweet 
potatoes than leached ashes, even on very 
poor soil. The ashes were placed in fur 
rows, covered with soil, and the potatoes 
planted thereon. My crop was most excel¬ 
lent where, without the ashes, L could hardly 
have made any. Soil sandy loam.— Middle 
Georgia. 
should like to know what they are. 1 um 
sure that my bees have not done well on 
A Biiiinrit Kui'i'o, 
I have a horse which bruised his knee 
slightly a few days since; after a day or two 
it became rather r<* ft, and swollen. What is 
the best tiling to do in such cases?— a. p. c. 
We should keep the horse us quiet as pos¬ 
sible and bathe the bruised part, with a lo¬ 
tion composed of one ounce each of nitrate 
of potash and muriate of ammonia, dis- 
huckwheat this season.—F. Turn., near To- solved in two pints of avaler, with a h 
ledo, 0. 
pint ot alcohol and half an ounce of the cs- 
We remember that Mr. Langstrotr once, sence ol peppermint added and thoroughly 
in a public meeting, advanced the theory shaken together. 
that in some regions buckwheat was utterly - 
useless for lioney, staling that lie hud seen Remedy lor wore Shoulder*, 
acres and acres of buckwheat that the bees ^ ( ° 1MiESPONUKNT °f the Canada Farmer 
would not touch, while in other localities lie " 1 ‘ ll 3 11 ^ ll ' ve *° Hore or S ft hed shoulders of 
lmd found the buckwheat fields covered horses“ Wash them well every night ami 
with bees. We do not remember that he nioim,, £ "’"h ttstrong solution of oak bark, 
gave the peculiarities of locality which make niilde iM, ilbig the hark in water, then rub 
this difference. “»eni with linseed oil. Anoint them 
scholars, and it is sometimes ten or twelve 
miles to another school. The houses and 
conveniences art: poor, but are the best that 
the inhabitant* cun afford, or know how to 
build. If Northern settlers would come 
here in numbers sufficiently large to open 
large tracts of land, they would not be 
subject to malarial diseases. The chills 
nml bilious fevers are nearly all the dis¬ 
eases indigenous to this country. They 
have some pneumonia liei-o in winter, 
but that comes from insufficient clothing 
mid poor dwellings, ami from the exposure 
consequent upon hunting their slock in the 
cane brakes, where they feed all the year 
mid keep as fat ns beeves. 
To persons who desire to make a home 
and leave a legacy to their children this 
would he a very desirable place to come. 
1 nin a physician and have not been here 
very long, and it would be very gratifying 
to me to have settlers from the North, where 
1 lived much of my life. I came here to 
benefit by the climate, and now I would not 
exchange this for my old New England 
home, dear as it is to me, Still 1 long for 
the society we had in Massachusetts, hut 
hope to see the day come when chance or 
something else will direct the talent and 
wriles relative to sore or galled shoulders of < *^ ie States to Ibis. We could 
SIiibhvv’m Cottage Ilive. 
M. L. Dodson commends this as the best 
hive lie lias ever used, and describes it as a 
P. S.—Let Southern farmers carefully save movable frame hive, accessible, easily mun- 
nnd use their ashes. I find it pays as well as «gcd—a hive within a hive, having an unt¬ 
il does to save stable manure. 
Keeping Irinli I'otatncn in Rontli Carolina. 
A South Carolina correspondent of the 
Southern Cultivator says concerning keeping 
Irish potatoes:—I have found no difficulty 
in summer or winter. When T dug my crop 
this summer I put them on llie ground floor 
of my smoke-house—some in a long box 
side box in the form of a cottage, and with¬ 
in another hive composed of movable frames 
which may he enlarged or diminished to 
suit the colony, A huge air chamber sur¬ 
rounds the inner hive, which prevents any 
extreme of cold or heal from affecting it. 
The honey boxes are placed on the top of 
the inner hive. The colony stands prairie 
temperature, either summer or winter, with 
homes:—“ Wash them well every night and 
morning with a strong solution of ou k hark, 
made by boiling the bark in water, then rub 
them well with linseed oil. Auoint them 
every night aud morning will) a salve made 
of three parts of linseed oil and one part 
quick-lime. To make horses’ shoulders 
tough, wash the shoulders well twice a day, 
for a week before working, with the oak 
bark solution.” 
Coll Willi 11 Boat Knee. 
My mare had a very lute colt, Sept. 11, 
have nice dwellings and every convenience 
here in a very little time, if we had mills 
and machinery and men of means to put 
them in motion. 1 am very truly, Akkan- 
saw Doctor.” 
From l>lt, Plenunut, Henry Co., Town, 
Perhaps there is not a better tract of 
land in the wide world than Southeastern 
Iowa. The soil is very rich and productive, 
and very little waste land. Many farms, in 
fact, nearly every farm, in the county would 
he very much improved by draining, espe- 
well formed and sprightly. About twelve chilly in wet seasons. As the draining of 
days ago I had to draw some wood about 
two miles. To pacify the mare, living a 
novice in horse flesh, 1 let the colt run with 
her. The next day its light, knee bent in 
lands has only just began litre, it will be a 
paying business to manufacture tile for many 
years. Tile sell here at nearly three times 
as much as they arc sold for in Indiana and 
wherein I had sailed meat—sprinkled lime no other shelter than the hive affords, with 
This letter is dated at Spriugwater, but is the lime. 
among them and they have kept well. I perfect solely. B3 
have done this several years past successful- tid 11 * swarming is 
ly. One year I tried them in a dry well (14 a "d stocks can lie 
feet), and they kept well. The secret, I think, deemed desirable. 
perfect safety. By the use of this hive arli- "uve Jcit 11 in me pasture since when 1 hav 
ficial swarming is rendered perfectly eas}', " an ^ e ^ die mare like shutting the doo 
and stocks can he multiplied to any extent when the horse is stolen.—J ohn Burrows. 
and does so now. Can any of your readers Ohio, and labor and fuel is very little, if any, 
teii whether I can do anything to help it I higher here than there. Wood land is worth 
have left it in the pasture since when 1 have from $20 to $30 per acre, 
wanted the mare—like shutting the door This county is about one-lialf timber and 
the State is not given, so we do not know 
the latitude in which the experiment was 
made. One hundred dollars would pay for 
the Rural a good many years. 
Tull Crowfoot. 
Inclosed you will find a weed which is j 
getting quite plentiful in our meadows and 
pasture grounds. It made its appearance in 
this section a few years ago, and is spread¬ 
ing over the country at an alarming rate. 
It grows about t wo feet high, blooms during 
June. 1 should like to learn its name and 
the best way of exterminating this unwel- 
Mlllet for Soilinc; Cow*. 
A subscriber, Wallingford, Conn., under 
date Oct. 28, 1870, writes “ I would like 
to ask those having experience, when to 
sow millet for soiling cows, and if it can be 
cured for hay. What grass is best to sow 
Flavor of Extracted Honey. 
I should like same ol your correspond¬ 
ents who have had experience, to tell us 
how soon a Her honey is deposited in the 
comb by the bees it is wise or best to extract 
it with the mel-cxlrnclor. I ask this quos- Sa ^- Buhe the horse’s legs well from the 
(ion because new honey that I extracted a knees down. If lie flinches, don’t go so high 
wanted the mare—like shutting the door This county is about one-half timber and 
when the horse is stolen.— John Burrows, the other half prairie. It is one of the old- 
- est settled counties in the State. It has 
How to u»t* Alum in t'mio ot Founder. about 25,000 inhabitants, nearly all of whom 
II. A. I., Indian Buy, Ark., uses it as fol- speak the English language, and is well 
Ions: Make a drench of one tablespoon- supplied with churches and schools. I have 
lul for a dose; give two doses, an hour apart. ] ive d here for nineteen years ; I have eleven 
Take a bucket of scalding water, put in it cbi ] dren . some of them married and on 
one teueupiul ol turpentine and one pint of own farms,and we have had very little 
suit. Bit he the horses legs well from the sickness. As the country grows older it 
becomes healthier. 
wtiiry grows oiuer it 
1 believe Iowa lo be 
noiv, the first season ?” Our correspondent few days after it was deposited, and canned, U P- 11 w >" not take hair off. This will cure out Q f j], e healthiest of Hie Western Slates. 
neglects to lell the kind of soil to be seeded, became sour. Beside, when first extracted, tlie worst case of founder in two hours. We 
which renders it difficult to answer his last it was tliln and almost flavorless. 1 am in- have successfully tried it.” 
question. 
dined to think llmt it should remain in the 
r ‘X'T'; I’vV T* !“**“• Ul, nilg Turnips ill Marshall Co., lad COmh some time; hut I do not know how 
the* best wayuf ex^rmiuuihig^his'unw^L My c1erk I,a9 J ’" sl ,,ron S bt in from his ,ons . il is , '^ es ' li,r - v in onlei ' to insUre its 
come intruder. We are not well versed in uncle’s (Thos. Gray’s) farm, a fine white bcL ‘P ,n ^ ^ 1,1 some oue le!1 me?—P. V. 
botany in this section, hence the inquiry.— turnip, weighing thirteen pounds and nine Lebanon, Pa. 
J ‘ Jl; - f1 „ ... tj ,, _ an(1 a half «"«*■ His average crop of Anificiai Combs. 
It the wild Buttercup or Crowfoot three hundred bushels will weight about In answer to R. P. F., Jacksonville Fla we 
{Ranunculus acne) an introduced weed eight to nine pounds each.—C. S. S. T., nssertthatwehnvenevcryctseen’anyarti- 
which IS becoming far too common in many Plymouth, Ind., Oct, 1871. ficial combs in which bees would work- 
Artificial Combs. 
In answer to R. P. F., Jacksonville, Fla., we 
A SlabbcrinK Mare. 
A Subscribeii, Sanborn, N. Y., has a 
mare that has a disagreeable way of slabber¬ 
ing when driven. He asks If it can be cured 
or prevented — if a leather-covered or a 
smaller bit will be of any benefit? If any 
of our readers have experience and can sug- 
I am over fifty years old, but I have never 
been confined to bed a day at a time since I 
can remember. 
Slone coal is also plenty: there are sev¬ 
eral mines ill this and adjoining counties. 
Coal is worth about ten cents a bushel at 
the mines, and usually about fifteen to twen¬ 
ty-five cents at the different depots on the 
railroad. Good bearing orchards are plenty. 
Apples are usually abundant, but peaches 
are not a very- sure crop here. Grist mills, 
gest a remedy or preventive, it will be ac- snvV mills, woolen factories, wagon and car 
ceptalfle. 
riage factories, are plenty.— a. y. 
