%> 
$20 per acre. Improved farms at $25 to $40 
per acre. Iu Scotland county, prairie lands 
sell at $10 and $15 per acre; improved, at 
$20 to $30. A railroad will be completed 
through the counties west from Alexandria 
this spring.” 
About Premiums at Fairs. 
As a guide to Agricultural Societies now 
preparing premium lists, the following was 
adopted: 
Whereat, The greatest amount of choice sur¬ 
plus honey stored in a salable form obtained 
from a single stock Is the best evidence of suc¬ 
cess, and meritorious management. therefore 
Rewtoed-, That our President and Secretary be, 
and are hereby appointed as a committee to 
correspond with the agricultural societies, es¬ 
pecially of Now England and the State of New 
York, and urge them in offer premiums for 
honey instead of bee hives. Wc advise them to 
offer liberal premiums for the largest quantity 
of surplus honey obtained from one slock of 
bees, and for the largest amount of choice box 
honey taken from one stork. The parties com¬ 
peting to state whether the stock east a swarm 
or not, whether the honey emptying machine 
was employed or not, and whether the stock 
was strengthened or not, by feeding or adding 
bees, comb or brood from other stocks, and the 
statements to have their proper influence in 
awarding premiums. 
tpartmtnt 
BEE MANAGEMENT, 
SHALL WE GO SOUTH, 
How to Make a Swarm Remain in a Hive. 
D. J. Reedy, in Rural of March 12th, 
asks: “Will some experienced apiarian in¬ 
form me, through the Rural, the best meth¬ 
od of inducing very large swarms to stay 
and work in a non-swarming, very large 
sized box-hive—say 10 by IS inches by 30 
inches high—without frames? What kind 
of entrance-holes should the hive have in 
front,?” 
Without any great claim to experience, 1 
will write an answer. The hive should be 
perfectly clean, and taken directly from the 
shade, so that it is cool when the bees are 
hived. Do not rub the inside of the hive 
with anything, just to please them, for it 
may have an opposite effect. The smell of 
fresh paint is very offensive to bees: if hives 
are to be painted, it should be done two 
months or more before bees are placed in 
them. All the bees should be made to cuter, 
for if any remain out the queen may be with 
them, in consequence of which the others 
will all come out and join the. queen. After 
' the bees arc hived, place them in the shade ; 
I raise the front edge of the hive half an inch, 
| but do not, on any account, elevate the rear, 
for if the bees should fall to the bottom, 
they will have no means of again as¬ 
cending. If the foregoing precautions 
are heeded, 1 think no one will he 
troubled iu this direction. Bees may 
>. be effectually prevented from leaving 
movable comb hives, by inserting a 
—frame containing brood. An entrance 
live Inches long and one-fourth inch 
deep, should be made in the front edge; 
also two holes, one inch in diameter, 
about half way between the top and 
j bottom. 
ttjt 
— J Nou-fc'wnrniitur Hives. 
v ' This class of hives is receiving a 
^ great amount of attention at present, 
and not without propriety. 1 believe they 
will completely change the present system of 
management. Almost any style of movable 
frames can be used in them. Frames about 10 
inches deep are best adapted to this purpose. 
I do not, however, see of what practical use 
a non-swarming box hive can be. The di¬ 
mensions, given by Mr, Reedy, make a hive 
containing 10,368 cubic inches. Oar best 
apiarians estimate 2,000 cubic niches as be¬ 
ing room enough in the brood chiunbcr. 
Here, then, are 8,3G8 cubic inches of room, 
which is of no use to the bees. The bees 
will have to work hard to fill this hive the 
first season; and after it is filled, they need 
Jess than one-fifth of it to w inter ill. Now, 
how are we to get the oilier four-fiflhs? If 
it was in movable frames, wo could extract 
the honey with the comb-emptying machine, 
and keep the comb for another season’s use. 
The amount of comb required to fill 8,368 
cubic inches, would give about 250 pounds 
of strained honey, if well filled. Or if the 
same amount of room were given to them in 
surplus honey boxes, properly arranged, they 
would give over 225 pounds of box honey. 
This may he a large estimate. 
The largest non-swarmer does not need 
10,368 cubic inches, I doubt if an}' first 
swarm would fill an empty hive of these di¬ 
mensions the first year; but, if they could, 
then I have not over-estimated. Readers of 
the Rural, look into this matter 
J. H. Nellis. 
Cauajoliarie, N. Y., 1870. 
A Reply by a Yon ns Georgian to tno Ar¬ 
ticle* on this Subject, which hove Ap¬ 
peared In the Rural. 
1 am constrained by u desire to have jus¬ 
tice done tiie South, to offer this, a reply to 
articles headed as above, that have appeared 
in your paper. Being personally and well 
acquainted with you, 1 am not disposed to 
believe that you would do an injustice to the 
youth. This being true, you will willingly 
allow her to refute, in your columns, that 
Which has appeared therein to her dispar¬ 
agement. 
You were frank to admit that your knowl¬ 
edge of the. South was superficial What 
you wrote was the impressions formed part¬ 
ly by hurried observation,—partly from hear¬ 
say, perhaps. Hut by this information judg¬ 
ing, you counsel the people of the North 
against going South,—intimating that life 
and personal property are insecure, and that 
those who go will enjoy no social immuni¬ 
ties or pleasures. The latter needs to be 
qualified,—the former to be refuted in full. 
I presume you do not look for a paradise 
any more on earth, and 1 am free to say that 
we have not one even in the South ; for men 
quarrel and fight there as men do every¬ 
where. You have much more of these per¬ 
formances North thuu we have, for your 
population is more numerous. Our quarrels 
and fightings, however, are more than mere 
misdemeanors or crimes, before the news of 
them reaches you. They arc political out¬ 
rages. That there have been instances of 
violence at the hands rtf rash men, T do nol 
deny; but 1 do affirm Unit, far the larger 
number of so-called “outrages” reported, 
are exaggerated in extent , and distorted as to 
cause, for political effect. 1 call in strong 
proof of this affirmat ion, the fact that, when¬ 
ever Congress has been on t he eve of action 
on some State -Georgia, for example—the 
news disbursers of “ Ku Jvlux outrages,” are 
just then most vigilant. 
Since 1805, political parties and partisans 
in the South have wrangled, as political par¬ 
ties and partisans do in all countries. And 
yet history does not furnish a parallel for the 
order and observance of law in any over¬ 
powered country of the same extent. 
Personal property is as safe, the rights of 
citizenship as fully respected, and the man 
who conducts himself in an orderly manner, 
and attends to his own business, is as sure to 
die of old age in Georgia, as in New York 
State. 
No man will be mistreated by the South¬ 
ern people simply on account of his having 
been born North, and those who have stated 
the contrary to you, mistake themselves. 
There are Northern families from various 
sections in Georgia who are received cor¬ 
dially as citizens, neighbors and friends by 
the people whom others of the North at¬ 
tempt to traduce with reports of iuhospitali- 
ty and maltreatment. If we had a dislike to 
you simply on account of birth, would not 
one fare just ns another at our hands? If 
unsafe for one Yankee to come South, would 
it not be unsafe for all V 
There is a great, “hue and cry” on the 
part of some of the Northern papers, because 
we of the South do not receive every new 
comer to our midst, into our confidence and 
association. 
Arc you surprised at this? Does any sane 
man expect to go into a community to which 
he is an entire stranger, and be welcomed in¬ 
to society? Do 3 t ou do this at the North? 
What would be the state of society in any 
community if the gates were thrown open to 
every adventurer passing ? 
With 1865—the year terminating the hos¬ 
tility at arms between the sections—there 
began sliding into the Southern States a 
class of adventurers from the North. In a 
great measure they were a class whom you 
do not respect at home, and whose presence 
you were no doubt much better to be re¬ 
lieved of. On the supposed nun and hu¬ 
miliation of the Southern people, they an¬ 
ticipated a feast aud fortune for themselves. 
They came with tauntings of defeat, which 
only a coward would offer, which a brave 
man will not bear unresented. I affirm 
what I here write to be facts, and I will 
give instances. There was a loud-mouthed 
M. D. from New York State, -who presented 
his card iu a pompous manner to the writer. 
He was kindly greeted. A brief lime after 
thus introducing himself to me, he was in 
Inquiries About Lands.—A. M. JOHNSON, Bay 
City, Mich., asks what good improved farms, 
with good buildings, can be bought for In Mary¬ 
land or Virginia.—&. A. R. asks East Tennessee 
correspondent to give the prices of farm lands 
there.-B. A. asks the character of the lands in 
Northern Mississippi. 
arm Karnamg 
ECONOMICAL NOTES 
The Use of Coal Ashes. 
A. B. Snyder asks “ What is the best use 
1 can make of hard coal ashes?” They are 
excellent deodorizers of privy vaults. They 
are valuable as a mechanical application to 
stiff soils. We have used them for both 
these purposes with good results. 
— Since writing the above we notice that 
Prof. S. \Y r . Johnson recommends them for 
soils where the texture is too open; for light 
sands which hold neither water nor manure. 
He says they benefit such soils mechanically 
by occupying the cavities or spaces between 
the grains of sand with fine ma tter, and thus 
give such soils a more retentive quality. 
innocent confidence. The arrest of this 
youngster is a “ Ku Klux outrage perpe- 
petrated on an unoffending Northern mail.” 
There is another class that figure iu this 
same side. Home are insurance agents, others 
venders of healing salves, drugs, books, or 
patent rights They are fawning, sycophan¬ 
tic, will do and say anything to please a man 
to the extent of a dollar. 
In instances, men have purchased land and 
settled on it, and talked and acted in such 
manner as to incur the dislike of their new 
neighbors, obtruding their political opinions, 
as though their object in moving South was 
to quarrel Instead of work. The South is 
not more disposed to tolerate such classes 
than is the North. The best class at the 
North do not respect them . in fact, they are 
not admitted iu your good society I f we of 
the South, however, do not receive them 
with outstretched arms, we are reputed in¬ 
tolerant toward the. people of the Norik 
It is not to be wondered at, if the presence 
of such classes ns 1 have enumerated have 
made the people of the South cautious, and 
indisposed toward all whom they do not 
know. 11 cannot be expected that even your 
bet ter citizens will be made as welcome when 
traveling through, or on their first arrival 
among us, as after they are better known. 
We have thousands of Northern men 
throughout the South,—men of enterprise, 
of wealth, of character, and who arc re¬ 
spected and highly esteemed. What they 
may believe in polities is immaterial, so long 
as they arc deserving in other regards. 
Such are the men whom the South stands 
in need of, aud whom she will welcome. 
She needs no political brawlers; she is full 
to running over with them. She wants no 
agents of gift enterprises, no venders of 
wooden pumpkin seed. 
To both capital and labor there is open a 
field for profit in the South such as is, in my 
opinion, to be found nowhere else. If not 
settled rapidly just now, it nevertheless will 
be twenty years hence, and those who settle 
first will purchase lands cheapest, and avail 
themselves of the finest openings to -wealth. 
To the young men—more especially—the 
field is inviting, and to all who are industrious 
and otherwise deserving, fortune awaits. 
Idlers will thrive as illy with us as elsewhere. 
Wo want hands to make, and not to consume. 
We want labor and capital to build up cities, 
construct railways and factories. For all 
who will lend hand and purse and heart to 
such material developments, we have a wel¬ 
come. For all who come with guarantees of 
good standing North, or who prove them¬ 
selves iu our midst deserving of esteem 
socially, we have a welcome. 
Such are my own sentiments and I believe 
them to lie those of almost the entire people 
of the South. Sam’l A. Echols. 
Atlanta, Ga., March, 1870. 
Cheater Fig's Dying, 
E. A. Hewitt, Groton, Conn., writes us; 
“ 1 have been breeding Chester Whites for 
the last three years, with very poor success 
For the last, two years mauy of the sows in 
this vicinity have dropped their pigs from 
one to two days before their time, the pigs 
invariably dying. Can any reader of tbe 
Rural give a cause for it?” 
Chester Whites Defended. 
J. I)., Ashland, O., says “ Rural Reader’s” 
article (see Rural, March 12, page 174,1 
shows that lie has an ax to grind, or else 
that, he has never seen a Chester White, and 
adds:—“You have made an attempt to 
bring the Chester White stock in disrepute, 
but you have made a very poor show at it 
You say the Chester White has a coarse 
bone, a shortish body, a great abundance of 
long, coarse hair; and there is not a word of 
truth in it. You say he has a heavy tup-ear, 
which is just the reverse of what they have. 
I think if they had such a coarse bone and 
short body they would not be apt to break 
down, as you claim they do. Now, for the 
benefit of the readers of I,lie Rural, 1 will 
give a correct description of the Chester 
White:—Short snout, broad head, thin ear, 
drooping slightly at. the tip; broad shoulders 
and hams; very deep, wide chest; straight 
back, small bone, fine hair and skin ; weight 
from three hundred to seven hundred pounds 
after dressing, at. ages varying from nine to 
eighteen months.” 
There is one thing tho Rural wants to say 
in this connection, viz.:—That there has 
never been a breed of swine distributed in 
this country in connection with which there 
has been more out and out swindling than 
in the distribution of Chester Whites. We 
have seen pigs called Chester Whites, 
which, purchased aud bred as such, were 
exactly as described by “Rural Reader." 
And we have also seen such Chester Whites 
as are above described by J. D. Now, 
so long as men get from the supposed to be 
original fountain of all Chester Whites, such 
pigs as “Rural Reader” describes, as such 
it may, and ought to be expected that the 
breed will grow in disrepute compared with 
other breeds, the type of which, respectively, 
is unmistakably established. And this is the 
reason why we print such articles as that 
criticised by J. D. 
Wheat for liners, 
D. Johnson, Howard Co., Ind., writes. 
I was the first to begin feeding wheat to 
hogs, in this settlement, last fall. My hogs 
did well, and several of my neighbors fol¬ 
lowed my example. 1 think all are satisfied 
that it pays. I realized $1,25 per bushel, 
selling my hogs at $8.75 per oue hundred 
pounds. I would recommend grinding and 
slopping. I mix my slop in the morning to 
feed in me evening; aud iu the evening to 
feed in the morning, I think it benefits 
them more if soaked, but it is not necessary 
that it sour. 
If I have occasion to feed wheat again, I 
purpose to try boiling a portion of it and 
feed with it some corn; for a hog will hold 
his appetite better on a variety of food. If I 
can realize tho market price for my grain by 
feeding it on my place, I think I am the 
gainer, since the manure is worth something 
to me; but some people act as if the quicker 
they get rid of their manure the better, for 
they select a waste point on the edge of the 
branch or creek to feed their hogs, and the 
manure the hogs make is lost. 
Chester Whites a Hutnbnc. 
A Western correspondent writes: — “I 
am glad that one man, ‘ Wyoming,’ is bold 
and honest enough to declare the Chester 
White hogs, such as we get from Chester 
county, Pa., and various other places, a 
humbug. Aud there have been many of us 
badly sold, and more will be, if they don’t 
let them alone. I have no interest in writ¬ 
ing against the Chester White hogs, ex¬ 
cept the good of the people. And if I could 
know that this writing would save one man 
his twenty-five or thirty dollars, I would feel 
well paid.” 
A Fancy Gate. 
We give, herewith, :i very neat design of 
a fancy gate, made of wood, with scroll, 
carving, &e., furnished by Mr. Snook. It 
requires no explanation. Any carpenter can 
make it. It is designed to harmonize with u 
fence constructed as shown in the engraving. 
Preserving Hop*. 
An Otsego, N, Y, correspondent writes 
the Rural :— “ lt*Ts well known that hops, 
if kept over a season, deteriorate rapidly, 
often losing to the owner one-third to one- 
half. Hence he is at the mercy of buyers. 
I write to ask if any process for the preser¬ 
vation of hops has been devised. If not, it 
is a matter well worth}' experiment.” 
Wc believe there have been many attempts 
to preserve, indefinitely, the virtues of hops, 
but we know of none practically successful. 
An English patent is said to cover the stor¬ 
ing of bales of hops in air-tight refrigerators 
or chambers, the temperature of which is 
kept below 50° Fahrenheit. It is claimed 
that being kept cold and dry, the lupulin, or 
“ dust,” undergoes no change, and the flavor 
aud odor of the hops are not dissipated. It 
is an experiment worth trying, at any rale. 
Steam Plowing with Traction Ena lues. 
The English Journal, Engineering, gives 
the following account of an experiment 
made in January with the Thompson ltoad- 
steamer, which lias India rubber tires:— 
“ The frost, which at the former trial acted 
against the work, had lost all hold of the 
ground, but had left it soft and slippery, and 
not in a condition for being turned over 
even by ordinary plows. This being the 
case, a single double furrow-wheeled plow 
only was used during the forenoon, which 
was pulled through the ground at the rate 
of five aud a-half or six miles per hour. 
This 6peed, however, had to be reduced, as 
tbe men who were holding the plow were 
unable to guide it at so fast a rate. After a 
considerable portion of tbe ground bad been 
turned over, which was very evenly and 
quickly done, another plow was attached to 
the engine, but, before much had been done, 
rain began to fall, and further operations 
were discontinued.” 
Salt for Fence Posts. 
JonN F. Semper, Ogle Co, Ill., asks if 
any Rural correspondent has used salt in 
any shape as a means of preserving fence 
posts. We have seen it stated that refuse 
salt or salt bitterns thrown around fence 
posts will prevent them rotting off at the 
surface. 
NORTHEASTERN BEE KEEPERS 
WHAT CORRESPONDENTS SAY, 
At the recent meeting of bee keepers at 
Albany the subject of organizing an 
American Bee Keepers' Association 
was broached, and the following resolutions 
adopted : 
Resolved, 1. That wc invite all kindred associa¬ 
tions to unite with us iu culling a Bee Keepers’ 
Convention, to be held at Pittsburgh, Pa., Co¬ 
lumbus, Ohio, or some other central point, the 
coining' autumn, lor the purpose of organizing a 
permanent. American Bee Keepers' Association. 
2. That our President and Secretary be, and 
they me hereby authorized to correspond with 
the Presidents and Secretaries of other associa¬ 
tions in agreeing upon the time and place of 
meeting, the subjects for discussion, and what¬ 
ever other arrangements may be deemed ad¬ 
visable to publish with the cull for said Conven¬ 
tion, all of which shall be submitted for the ap¬ 
proval of the Convention when assembled. 
8 . That this Association appoint two or more 
of its members to deliver addresses or read short 
essays at said Convention, and suggest that 
other associations appoint one or more, accord¬ 
ing to the territory represented by each. 
Marketing Honey. 
The following preamble nucl resolution 
relating to this subject was adopted: 
Whereas, Some of our large honey raisers (Mr. 
HelheringtOn and others.) have uniformly ob¬ 
tained tho highest price for their honey in the 
Now York market, wki I a otb era have complained 
of poor prices, and as all commission merchants 
do not know how to handle aud when to sell 
honey, therefore 
Resolved, That this association choose a eum- 
mittee who shall confer with parties in the city 
of New York, and make arrangements with 
some one who, in their judgment, will best pro¬ 
tect the interests of our members, there, and re¬ 
port the arrangements through tho agricultural 
press. 
Messrs. IJetherington, Van Slyke and 
Stanton comprise the committee. 
From Columbus, Nebraska. 
Andrew J. Stevens writes us:—“ Please 
say something in the Rural about the Platt- 
Valley, its advantages, &e., for settlers. We 
have thousands of acres of the choicest lauds 
in the West, which can be pre-empted and 
taken under the Homestead Act The Union 
Pacific Railroad runs through these lands, 
affording an excellent market.” 
From Vineland. Missouri 
G. R. Rathbone writes us that Vineland 
is forty-seven miles south of St. Louis, on the 
Iron Mountain Railroad; that Maine, Massa¬ 
chusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, 
Wisconsin and Illinois have Lheir represen¬ 
tatives there. Churches and Sunday schools 
are flourishing. Fruit growing is a special¬ 
ty, about one hundred and twenty acres be¬ 
ing in grapes. The apple and peach orch¬ 
ards are extensive and cannot be excelled; 
small fruits do finely. Dr. Child baa a 
vineyard of nine acres which produced about 
five tons to the acre. Locality healthful. 
Laud cheap. 
From Knliokn, Clark Co., Mo. 
A. L. C. writes:—“ I wish to answer I. W. 
M.'s inquiry in regard to lands in Northern 
Missouri. Clark and Scotland counties ore 
rich and easily tilled. Tho prairies are small 
but numerous. They are situated between 
little streams, on which there is plenty of 
timber very convenient to the prairie farms. 
Prairie lands are selling in Clark county for 
Economical Inquiries.—A Missouri correspond¬ 
ent asks if any Rural reader has used Hol¬ 
brook's swivel plow, and if it gives satisfaction. 
—R. W. Putnam asks our readers to give infor¬ 
mation “ As to the relative value of wheat meaL 
compared with corn meal as feed lor pigs.” 
Who eau answer?—Will some one give me a re¬ 
liable recipe for a whitewash for out-buildings 
that will not scale off in a single season ?— r. a. 
Application of Superphosphate,— John Brown 
should write to the proprietors of the superphos¬ 
phate named in his inquiry for directions for its 
use. They will probably prefer to furnish him 
with them. 
Inquiries for Swine-Herds.—Who has pure-bred 
Essex swine for sale ?— s. h. a. 
