smooth, dark green surface is the admiration 
of all who see it/ 
Mowing. 
Frequent mowings must he kept up if you 
would have a smooth, thick, durable lawn. 
Rolling, also, will add much to its beauty. 
It makes decidedly the handsomest lawn of 
any grass; and no combination of grasses 
can make a lawn of such beauty and excel¬ 
lence, and of such durability. 
Mulching. 
In climates as far North as New York, I 
would advise, for lawns only, a slight mulch¬ 
ing of rye, wheat, or oat straw, or salt hay, 
an inch thick, during the winter months; to 
be removed in early April, or sooner, if the 
spring is forward. Unless lime is one of the 
leading components of the soil, I would not 
advise sowing Kentucky Blue Grass, as there 
are other grasses that, suit better in soils 
where lime does not enter extensively into 
its composition. 
January, 1870. 
Remarks.— In Morgan, Sangamon, Macon 
and other central counties of Illinois, as well 
as in several counties of Indiana, this grass 
thrives wonderfully—old Kentuckians who 
have settled there asserting that their pas¬ 
tures of it equal any they ever saw in their 
native Slate. 
have fully recovered from the effects of ex¬ 
posure aud imprisonment. 
A ppoiul incut a» Commissioner of Agricul¬ 
ture. 
One who has thus wrought, striven and 
fought for his country in so many fields, for 
so many interests, and with an aim so high 
and a record so honorable, was deemed 
worthy to represent officially the fqpnd&tion 
interest of our productive system. Gen. 
CAPRON was confirmed as Commissioner of 
Agriculture November 29,1867, Of his fit¬ 
ness for that position the results of his ad¬ 
ministration are the best demonstration. He 
knows the Capabilities and the wants of the 
North, the South and the West, and appears 
to realize his opportunity, through the 
agency of bis office, to increase by millions 
the wealth of the country. Yet his enthusi¬ 
asm for progress, which has all the warmth 
of youth, is tempered by the discretion of 
age and wisdom gained in the school of ex¬ 
perience. He is quick to appreciate a sug¬ 
gestion of improvement, and prompt to 
puncture an inflated conceit of utility. In 
his intercourse with all he is courteous and 
urbane; yet he is capable of stern severity 
with imposition and incivility. lie is evi¬ 
dently an officer of uncompromising integri¬ 
ty, with a high sense of honor, of great per¬ 
sonal dignity without its frequent concomi¬ 
tant of vanity, and a man who will be better 
appreciated by the plain farmers of the 
country in proportion as they know him 
more intimately. 
Devon breeder, and no herd approached his 
in uniform excellence, beauty and value. 
Oflicial Appointments* V 
This record is not long. His active tem¬ 
perament and mental progressiveness render 
business pursuits m:re congenial than offi¬ 
cial station. He was seiected by the Gov¬ 
ernor of Maryland ns one of the Commis¬ 
sioners of the London World's Exposition 
in 1851. During President Fillmore’s ad¬ 
ministration be was commissioned as a spe¬ 
cial agent for tho wild tribes of Texas, 
where he spent, three years amid the varied 
Beenes of Northern and Western Texas, 
discharging his duties to tho perfect satis¬ 
faction of his government. 
Elis Military Hlutorr. 
A young man of martial bearing, inherit¬ 
ing from Revolutionary ancestry decided 
military tastes, he early in tares tod himself 
in the Maryland militia, accepting from 
Gov. Thomas, in 1834, a commission as 
Major of the Thirty-second Regiment, and 
again in 18315 a commission as Colonel of 
the same regiment. But the mimic warfare 
of these “ piping times of peace” was des¬ 
tined to be superseded by the horrors of 
real and most devastating war; and Colonel 
Capron, then residing in Illinois, acceded 
to the demand of tho recruiting officer for 
his sons, bade them farewell, and sent them 
from the harvest field to the camp of the 
first regiments that took tho flold from llli- 
hile lie struggled on alone in the 
pntnan 
FEEDING BEES, ETC, 
KENTUCKY BLUE GRASS, 
1. Can I feed bees to advantage at this season 
of the year? 
It is probable that, a careful person, though 
inexperienced, would succeed in carrying 
bees through that are now destitute. It is 
far better, how’ever, to feed in October. The 
bees will store their honey then, seal it, and 
can be left undisturbed through tho winter. 
To meddle with them now excites them, 
causes them to spot and soil the combs and 
waste their numbers. 
2. How shall I feed ? 
Put the bees in a warm, dark room—a 
room perfectly dark and with a temperature 
at least above the freezing point, and turn 
them bottom up on strips of wood. If there 
are no holes in the tops, make them so that a 
current of air can pass up through the cen¬ 
ter of the hive, thus securing ventilation. 
After the hive is turned over, cut a cavity in 
the edges of the combs of such size and 
shape as to accommodate a saucer of honey. 
A sirup of sugar and water—four pounds 
white coffee sugar to a quart—will answer, 
and give either at the rate of twenty ounces 
a month to a swarm. The sirup or honey 
should be mixed with shavings or cut hay 
to prevent the bees from drowning, and at 
first a little should be drained over the edge 
of the dish among the bees to lead them up. 
A correspondent states that from the 12th 
of March to the 12th of April ho found that 
a swarm of bees will consume five pounds 
of honey. Three pounds a month is an 
average large enough if fed In October, but 
after beginning to breed in February they 
require more. 
3. What hlvoshall T use? 
Some movable comb hive, certainly. Tho 
box hive is behind the age, ^hat described 
by N. B. J. appeare to he an old suspension 
hive of some thirty years ago. Do not use 
it or any like it. The bees, when heavily 
laden or beaten down by rain or wind, often 
fall to the ground and are lost, because there 
is no means of climbing to the hive. 
M. Quinby. 
I believe that Kentucky Blue Grass is 
famed throughout the length and breadth 
of our country as the very best for graz¬ 
ing purposes. At any rate, we believe 
that nowhere else does this grass do so well 
—nowhere else can there be found a grass 
which grows and flourishes with such luxu¬ 
riance the year round. Our winters are 
often severe, the thermometer running down 
sometimes, and for a few days, as low as 12’ 
below zero; and yet, on field and pasture, 
where but little or no stock has been allowed 
to run during the summer months, this grass 
has fallen down and become a thick mass, 
and retains its green color and succulence 
throughout the entire winter. On such 
fields, brood mares, sheep, aud other stock, 
are permitted to run from November to 
May, without any other feed whatever, and 
they come out in spring with sleek coats and 
“ fat as butter." An occasional " salting " is 
all the attention they require, except that, a 
fhw weeks before foaling, the mares arc given 
a few ears of corn once a day, under the im¬ 
pression that it gives them extra strength to 
endure the labor, and increases the flow of 
milk. I walked across a pasture of two 
hundred acres to-day, in woodland, in this, 
(Lincoln) county, where this grass was at 
least eight inches high, if it stood up; and, on 
examination, found the grass a beautiful 
green color underneath. In this pasture a 
hundred head of fat cattle were grazing. 
When snow lies on the ground, the stock 
will paw it away and feast on the living 
green food beneath. Do not understand 
that all of Kentucky produces this surpris¬ 
ingly excellent grass; far from it. Only a 
comparatively small portion — principally 
the central belt of counties—can be relied 
upon as affording it spontaneously, namely, 
Lincoln, Boyle, Garrard, Jessamine, Mer¬ 
cer, Anderion, Franklin, Bourbon, Fayette, 
Clark, Woodford, Henry, Jefferson, Scott, 
Madison, Shelby, and perhaps n few others 
to some extent. In the above named coun¬ 
ties, there is much land where the blue grass 
will not grow, even when sown, the hilly 
parts thereof being of a different formation. 
Where it. does grow, It is unnecessary to sow 
the Boed, unless a speedy sod 1 b desired, os It 
is indigenous to the soil, and in three years, 
or four at most, tilled fields, if permitted to 
lie untouched, will become thoroughly sod¬ 
ded with it. 
Time to Sow the Seed. 
Early in winter, just as the first enow falls, 
istbefcesf time to sow the seed, and while 
the snow is on the ground, as yon can then 
see how to do it evenly and thoroughly. 
However, it can ho 60 wn at any time during 
winter, and even as late as April 15—later 
than that it is not advisable to do it, as tho 
seed lies dormant a long time, and the sun¬ 
shine of June and July will effectually burn 
it up, unless these months are unusually 
wet; and even then, the peculiar influence 
of summer weather is deleterious to its 
growth. 
now to Sow. 
Get “ cleaned ” seed, not “ stripped,” as the 
latter is in long feathery plumes, and cannot 
be sown except in clumps—too many seed 
in a hunch, and much more is required, to 
sow a given space. Procure a basket, and 
hang it on one arm, and with the tips of the 
fingers of the other hand gather up as many 
of the seed as they will hold, and sow as you 
would clover seed. Tho ground need not 
be plowed, although it is better to have it so. 
The seed are many weeks in germinating, 
and when the young grass first appears it 
has the appearance of little lmirs, somewhat 
like that on an infant’s head, and one who is 
not familiar with its growth would think he 
had but a “slim” chance for a sod. How¬ 
ever, do not fear. The following season will 
show a decided improvement, and your sod 
will begin to assume a much more perma¬ 
nent “ set." The third year the surface is 
covered with a heavy mat, and the continual 
falling of the seed every year, and the ex¬ 
tension of the “stool,” will eat out all in¬ 
truders, even noxious weeds, clover, etc. 
Vitality. 
I do not agree with Mr. Fuller, and 
other members of the New York Farmers' 
Club, that old seed is not so good as new, 
fresh seed. If kept dry, the seed will germi¬ 
nate just as readily at ten years old as ten 
weeks. I have sown seed gathered seven 
years that grew as finely m fresh seed. 
A gentleman of New York city wrote me 
several years ago to send him some pure 
Kentucky Blue Grass seed to sow for a lawn 
of several acres, near the city. I sent him 
some “cleaned’’ seed that I knew to be just 
four years old, and this he sowed in accord¬ 
ance with directions herein indicated, with 
the best possible results. He writes me of 
date, November 25th, that he had the hand¬ 
somest lawn in his vicinity, and that the 
GINSENG CULTURE 
nois, w 
effort to secure and protect bis crops; and, 
in the following year, the darkest period of 
the war, though exempt from liability to 
military service, and no longer a young 
man, he literally left the plow in the fur¬ 
row, and offered his services to bis country, 
and was authorized by tty; War Depart¬ 
ment, without solicitation on his part, to 
raise a oavalry regiment. lie was commis¬ 
sioned by Gov. Yatbb, January 17, 1863, 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fourteenth Illi¬ 
nois Oavalry, and on the 25th of February 
he was promoted to tho Colonelcy. This 
regiment, raised by his personal exertions in 
1862, went into service as tho“ Fourteenth,” 
although recruited a* the “ Eighteenth," the 
intermediate numbers having failed in their 
attempted organization, though authorized 
six months prior to the earliest efforts of 
Col. Capron. 
He commanded his first brigade under 
(Son. Jut>AU, in pursuit of Morgan, was in 
the saddle twenty-six days, participated in 
the battle of Buffington's Island and in Mor¬ 
gan’s capture, and was one of tho field offi¬ 
cers accompanying Gen. Shackelford to 
Cincinnati to deliver the prisoners to Gen. 
Burnside. 
He entered Knoxville with the advance 
guard of Burnside’s army, and formed the 
first Federal picket for that city; he partici¬ 
pated in nearly every battle of the campaign 
of East Tennessee, and at its close was or¬ 
dered to Kentucky to rc-mount and re-arm 
several shattered regiments. When Gen. 
Stoneman was ordered to tho front, Col. 
Capron was left in command, and alter com¬ 
pleting his re-organization, Joined Stone- 
man near Chattanooga, and immediately 
went into active service with the army of 
Gen. Sherman, participating in all the bat¬ 
tles of that, memorable and decisive cam¬ 
paign, to the taking of Atlanta, wliero Col. 
Capron furnished tho advance guard of the 
Twentieth Corps from his old regiment, 
driving the enemy’s cavalry through the city. 
lie was selected by Gen. Stonkm an in his 
famous raid through Georgia, to command a 
brigade known on “Capron’s Brigade,” and 
was with that General at hiscuptucfi ; but, 
with three hundred men, lie cut through the 
enemy’s lines, and after almost incredible 
hardship, being closely pressed for six days, 
he succeeded in reaching the Federal lines 
at Marietta, Qa., where he was congratulated 
in a complimentary dispatch from General 
Sherman, upon his safe passage through so 
many difficulties and dangers. Ho was 
again ordered to Kentucky, with five regi¬ 
ments, for re-mounting and arming anew, 
but had scarcely reached his destination, 
when he was ordered to report to General 
Thomas, under whom he rendered efficient 
service in the campaign against Gen. Hood, 
and was injured in a night charge before 
Franklin, and after the relief of Nashville, 
believing the war at an end, lie tendered his 
resignation, upon a surgeon’s certificate of 
disability and unfitness for active service. 
April 9,1866, he was commissioned Brevet 
Brigadier-General—in this instance no self- 
sought distinction, but an honorable recog¬ 
nition of faithful and signal services rendered 
in a spirit of earnest patriotism. 
Three sous of Gen. Capron were in the 
army. The oldest, Lieut. IIou ace Capron, 
;• a gallant officer in his own regiment, 
who had been promoted for noble daring, 
'I and had received a gold medal of honor, was 
t killed at the head of his command, in a 
f charge, while upon an independent expedi¬ 
te tion against a band of whites and Indians 
yk. among the mountains of Western North 
Y*- Carolina. The second son was made a 
^ prisoner and taken to Charleston, South 
tv Carolina. Neither of the surviving sons 
rrintreture 
PLAN FOR COW STABLE 
I saw in the Rural some time since a re¬ 
quest for some one to give a desirable plan 
for a cow stable. I will suggest one that I 
have proven to be good if not the very best. 
For two cows I would build thirty-two by 
thirty-two. This would give an alley of six 
feet and leave two twelve-feet apartments 
for stalls on either side, supposing the walls 
and partitions to take up two feet.. I would 
then have six five feet stalls on either side. 
These should be boarded up tight, four feet 
high at least, and eight feet back; the en¬ 
try, also, should he tight equally four feet. 
Then I would make a feed-box on the right 
side of each partition in the left side of the. 
stall, two feet wide at the bottom, with some 
flare at top, so that cows with their horns 
could easily reach the bottom for their food. 
This box should be three feet deep and tight, 
except the front, end next to tile cow. At. 
this end a foot at front is sufficient with a 
rope at tire right hand corner of the feed- 
box. This rope should be tied around the 
neck rather than around the horns. It gives 
a cow better room to reach all over the box, 
and it also gives her more room to go up be¬ 
side the box to lie down, which she will do 
if she has three feet room, which this plan 
gives her; and if these stalls arc cleaned out 
daily, as is my rule, the animals seldom get 
stained with manure. If they do, I groom 
them as I would a horse. By this plan the 
cotv stands well back to eat, and conse¬ 
quently drops the excrement out of her bed. 
This plan also places a cow handy for the 
milker. This plan is my own invention. I 
have had it in use twenty years. 
R. Johnson. 
OVER-STOCKING WITH BEES. 
In looking over some old agricultural pa¬ 
pers I cumo across Jasper Hazen’b report 
of his apiary for 1803, in which he lays his 
poor success to, first, unfavorable season, 
and, second, to over-stocking. I think his 
conclusions partly wrong, as the tendency 
would be to deter many from keeping bees 
from fear of over-stocking, which, as I think, 
has had nothing to do with it. He says in 
1867 four of his colonies averaged one hun¬ 
dred and twenty-five pounds surplus each, 
and doubled the number of colonies. 1867 
was, in most parte of the Eastern States, one 
of the best seasons for honey ever known. 
That season my brother, in an apiary of 
some forty or fifty stocks, had one swarm 
that gave him one hundred and seventy-six 
pounds surplus, and several that gave one 
hundred and fifty pounds each. This honey 
was taken from off tho top of the hive in 
seven pound boxes. The same season I had 
several colonies that gave me over one hun¬ 
dred pounds surplus each. In 1868, from 
eight swarms taken on shares and transferred 
in tho fall, I divided six hundred pounds of 
box honey and fourteen first-class swarms. 
Tho past season wc hired an apiary of 
thirty 6wnrms in the box hive; transferred 
them into the movable comb hive, aud by 
artificial swarming increased the number 
to fifty, and had 1,500 pounds of No. 1 box 
honey. In this yard we had one swarm 
that gave us one hundred and eight pounds 
surplus. This swarm we gave a young lay¬ 
ing Italian queen very early in the season. 
All of the stocks that we Italianized early 
gave us surplus honey; and most were heavy 
enough to spare from one to two frames of 
honey to lighter colonies. 
In this section bees usually store a large 
amount of buckwheat honey. In our apiary 
of over two hundred colonies they have not 
stored any that I can discover. After the 
15th of July our bees did not gather enough 
for daily use except a few days in Septem¬ 
ber, when some of our largest swarms in¬ 
creased in weight about five pounds, gath¬ 
ered from the Golden-rod. 
Henry 8. Wells. 
Lisle, Broome Co-, N. Y. 
TO PAINT AN OLD HOUSE, 
I see that a paste is recommended l)y Ru- 
n al correspondents; but I have a way which 
I think superior, with less cost. It is this: 
Take three gallons water, and a pint of flax 
seed; boil half an hour; take it. off and add 
water enough to make four gallons; let it 
stand to settle; pour off the water in a pail, 
and put in enough of Bpanish white to moke 
it as thick os whitewash; then add half a 
pint linseed oil stir it. well and apply with 
a brush. If the whiling does not mix readi¬ 
ly, add more water. I have tried it. for 
thirty years, and know it to save one-half 
the cost, and wear equally as well. Flax 
seed being the nature of oil, is better than 
glue, and will not wash off' as readily.—A. 
Willson. 
I would recommend to the inquiring cor¬ 
respondent (J. M. C.) a preparation made 
thus;—Take flax seed, boil it, down to a 
“ sizing,” and strain. One of my neighbors 
has used it on a weather-beaten house for a 
priming before painting white, and recom¬ 
mends it as superior to anything in regard to 
cheapness and durability.—S. H. B., Pierre- 
pent Manor , A~ F. 
Requisites of n Good Hire.- Each hire should 
be carefully made, and then It should receive 
two coats of dark paint. The requisites of a 
good Live, I believe, are flve:-l. Moans of per- 
foot ventilation. 2. Capacity for all tho honey 
boxes necessary. 3. The internal construction 
should be such as to avoid the waste of heat 
from the bees in winter. 4. Easy access to tho 
bees. 6. External beauty.— Riank B. 5 awin, 
WeelHtld, JY. 1'. 
Women and Tobacco.—Tlie Western Farmer 
tells us of a Wisconsin woman who has entered 
upon a new vocation. In addition to the dis¬ 
charge of her household duties, a Mrs. Coryell 
( whoso husband grew seven acres of tobacco the 
past season, yielding an average of 1,800 pounds 
per acre, for which he has been offered fourteen 
cents per pound) has cultivated a half acre of to¬ 
bacco, and by extra care and attention has se¬ 
cured a crop of superior quality, for which she 
has been offered thirty-five cents per pound. 
The product of the half acre is estimated at 1,000 
pounds. What smoker will object to women 
horticulturists hereafter? 
Ptnn of Parsonage Wnnted.—Wo are about to 
build a parsonage house in our (Congregational) 
parish. Our village Is small, but beautiful. We 
wish for a pretty, convenient, house, not extrav¬ 
agant. Will some one give us a plan in the Ru¬ 
ral?—!. C. P., Center Harbor , i\ T . //. 
Foul Brood Comb for Bees.—Can new comb, not I 
containing honey, but which has a lew dead Cwj; 
larvae (from foul brood) be transferred, and a 
swarm, not diseased, be introduced and fed witn J' 
honey without contracting the disease? It not, VVty 
Brick Tor (he Country.—We believe that coun¬ 
try houses should be more generally built of 
brick and stone. We notice that it Is asserted 
that eighty brick yards in Rome, Ga., are unable 
to supply the demand for bricks. This indicates 
a regard for substantial homes. 
UUI1U> nnHuui wi’uuvuHn , - 
would removing the larvae make it sate t yum- 
by’s “ Mysteries of Bee Keeping” does not give 
me as direct information as I would like.—H. J 
me as 
Conger. 
