|bt intim. 
ITALIANIZING BBES. 
P. Gatkb asks:— " I bIjouW like to know 
what apiarians mean by Italianizing bees? 
Of course, 1 suppose that, they mean hybrid¬ 
izing. If such is the case, I would like to 
know when and bow to do it. Can it be done 
this season yet?” 
By Italianizing, is meant the process by 
which a stock of the common black bees is 
changed to Italians. By hybridizing, the 
native bees arc only partially Italianized. 
To become Italianized, in the true meaning 
of the word, they must be changed to pure 
Italians. The operation is not difficult of ac¬ 
complishment, and may be performed at any 
time from May until October. First, order 
an Italian queen of some reliable dealer. 
There are many who have queens to sell, 
and of course they all claim to send out none 
but those that are pure. Your best guide in 
making a selection, is to avoid all who sell 
very cheap. Hundreds of queens are annu¬ 
ally sold for pure Italians, which are nothing 
but hybrids. It is absolutely essential that 
you have a pure one to commence with. 
When your Italian queen arrives, select some 
good, strong stock, In a movable-comb hive, 
and remove its queen. This is most readily 
accomplished in the middle of a pleasant day, 
as many of the bees are then absent in the 
fields. Carefully open the hive, and take 
out <>nc of the center combs, as the queen is 
apt to be near the middle of the hive. Have 
an assistant help you, he looking upon one, 
side of a comb for the queen, while you look 
for her upon the other. You fray have to 
look over each comb separately before you 
find the black queen. When she is found, 
secure her in a glass; or If she is not wanted, 
she may be destroyed. 
Now place your Italian queen in the cage 
which was sent with her, together with a few 
of her own bees, close the open end, and if 
the weather is warm, lay it upon the top of 
the frames. But if the weather be cool, push 
two of the center frames a little farther apart, 
and push the cage down near the cluster of 
bees. Let it remain two or three days,—not 
more than three,—when the queen may he 
safely liberated. 
You now have one colony with au Italian 
queen. Now wait until next spring, and as 
soon as drones make, their appearance, you 
can commence to raise queens, with which 
to Italianize vom* whole apiary. Tie move 
your Italian queen from the hive you put 
her in, and introduce her into another black 
colony as before. The colony from which 
she was taken will now proceed to construct 
queen cells, usually from four to twelve. In 
ten days from the time the queen was re¬ 
moved, open the hive and ascertain how 
many cells have been built At night re¬ 
move ns many queens from your black 
stocks as you have, queen cells, save one, 
and the next morning give each a queen 
cell. Select a comb containing eggs and 
larva, make an opening at their lower edge 
large enough to admit of the cell, so that its 
lower end will not touch the comb. Much 
care is necessary in transferring these cells 
from one hive to another, for they must not 
be pressed or dented, nor will it do to ex¬ 
pose. them long to a cool air or the rays of a 
summer’s sun. Leave one good cell in the 
original hive, and if you have not cells 
enough for the number of hives you wish 
to Italianize, remove the Italian queen from 
the hive she was placed in, eight days from 
the time of her liberation, and give her to 
another black colony as before directed. 
Continue this process until you obtain as 
many queen cells as you want. 
Some stocks will destroy the cell given 
them, but usually not more than one out of 
ten will do so. Wait eight days longer, 
then examine such hives, and if any queen 
cells are found, destroy them, and again 
give them another cell taken from a hive of 
Italians, which will, this time, be accepted. 
In from six to eight days after the introduc¬ 
tion of the cells, a perfect queen will come 
forth, and in about a week will commence 
laying. Her worker progeny will be hy¬ 
brids—that is, a cross between the native 
and pure Italian ; but her drone progeny 
will bo pure Italian. It is this law in regard 
to the queen bee which makes it possible to 
Italianize an apiary. 
Your work is now' accomplished for the 
first year. Early the next spring place a 
frame of drone comb near the center of 
several populous stocks, and proceed to 
raise queen cells from a pure colony ns be¬ 
fore directed. You will have Italian drones 
very early, and your young queens will 
mate with these, and wrll produce a pure 
worker progeny. Give one of these to each 
of your hybrid stocks, and your apiary is 
Italianized. 
There are many methods practiced for | 
Italianizing bees, lint the above is the one I 
| prefer, ana is a good one. It is plain enough 
a- to be understood by any one of ordinary 
>■ ability. Although it will incur some labor, 
money and time in its accomplishment, yet 
* it will pay well to do it. 
k. South Haven, Mich. Herbert a. Boitcur. 
BEE NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Pollen On in tin- Pumpkin and Sqiinih. 
Mr. J. II. Thomas in Rural Nrw-Yokk- 
er of Sept. 3, page 158, writes:—“The 
same operation may be seen by watching 
the bees that are working in the pumpkin 
blossoms which yield an abundance of pol¬ 
len." If Mr. Thomas has seen bees gather 
pollen in pellets on their legs from the 
pumpkin, lie has seen more than I, or some 
eminent Apiarians, have ever witnessed. 
Although there is an abundance of farina, 
the bees seem to coHect only honey. If Mr. 
Thomas will look a little closer, 1 think he 
will see that, although the bees are covered 
with the yellow dust, they are gathering 
only honey. Mr. Qutkry says in “Myste¬ 
ries of Beekeeping," page 88 , speaking of 
the pumpkin and squash :—“ The latter are 
visited only in the morning, and honey is 
the only thing obtained. Notwithstanding 
the bee is covered with farina, it is not 
kneaded into pellets on its legs, &c.” I have 
watched them a great many times, and 
found this to lie true in every instance. Let 
us try and arrive at the truth as near as pos¬ 
sible about bees as well as other things 
A liont Itnlinu Bees. 
In Rural New-Yorker, July 2d, I see 
that one of your correspondents is troubled 
with his Italian bees being very cross. I 
find them Just the reverse. When 1 wish to 
open a hive of black bees, I have to smoke 
them to do it, while T can open a hive of 
Italians at any time without smoke and not 
have one otter to sting me unless by some 
mishap I jar them so as to arouse them, 
which takes considerable. The hybrids arc 
fully as cross ns the blacks. The Italians 
to be pure should have three yellow bands; 
and some when filled with honey will show 
the fourt h. Besides their being peaceable you 
can find t he queen readily. The young bees 
do not drop from the combs as the black ones 
"do; and as far as my experience goes they will 
gather one-third more honey. I have one 
stoc k that has given me one good swarm, 
and I have taken one hundred and twenty- 
five pounds of surplus honey from it, most 
of it being stored in boxes. The most I 
have taken from any black swarm is seven¬ 
ty-five pounds. The season for bees has 
been very favorable, in this locality.—G. M. 
Doolittle, Borodino, Onondaga, Co., N. Y, 
j Sept., 1870. 
Jjrrtlir (!* ropo. 
FIELD NOTES. 
How to Test tlie Vitality of Seed. 
The Rural World says: — “ L. D. Votaw 
assures us that by placing almost any of the 
larger seeds and grains on a hot pan or grid¬ 
dle, where the. vitality was perfect the grain 
would pop, or crack open with more or less 
noise. Where the; vitality is defective or 
lost, it lies immovable in the vessel.” 
The i’eevicii" Potato. 
About the tenth of May I planted two of 
Breese’s Peerless potatoes, and did not pet 
them, but tended them well, and August 15th 
I dug one bushel of the finest potatoes I ever 
saw anywhere. If that is yield big enough 
to brag of, yon may inquire who can beat it. 
—Thos. C. Baily. 
Our reports of this potato, from all quar¬ 
ters this season, are decidedly in its favor as 
toearlincss, productiveness and good quality. 
(■viiss from PeuiiMVIvania. 
Some time last fall l sent a specimen of 
grass found growing here in a swamp, to the 
Farmers’ Club, which none of the members 
recognized as a known variety. I inclose 
specimens in different stages of growth, and 
hope you will farther notice it. Cattle eat it 
freely. From present prospects it will yield 
three tons per acre, and grow in land cov¬ 
ered with water. I have sown seed on dry 
land, for experiment. — O. T. Hobbs, Ran¬ 
dolph, Pa. 
It, is Ciniui arundinacea variety, pendula — 
common wood reed grass of the Northern 
and Western States. It is a handsome orna¬ 
mental species, and worth cultivating for that 
purpose in addition to its value for hay. 
Experience with Norway Oats. 
Having seen it stated that one bushel of 
Norway Oats was sufficient for an acre, I 
sowed two bushels broadcast on two and 
Otic-eighth acres, one ImlT of which was wet, 
and produced little, the oats rusting. There 
was no manure on this part. On the other 
half l put about three cart loads of horse 
manure. No part of the ground was 
plowed more than once, and the oats were 
harrowed in with a common tooth harrow. 
We had no rain from the time of sowing to 
harvesting, except two or three small 
.bowers. The straw on the upland was as 
high as the fences. The product of the field 
was fifty-one bushels. 1 think two bushels 
Should "be sown on an acre, broadcast, with 
which, l am confident, under good cultiva¬ 
tion, lean raise from fifty to seventy-five 
bushels to t he acre. I think some of your 
readers, judging by their testimony, have 
got stuck on seed or sowed it on poor 
ground, where these oats will do nothing. 
1 counted from one to seven stalks from one 
seed, and a great many heads had from fifty 
to seventy seeds per head. — C. I. J., Stam¬ 
ford, Conn., 1870. 
Post-Mortem Appearances. 
These will he apparent, having alluded to 
them greatly in an enumeration of the signs. 
The whole series of membranes — mucous 
and serous — are studded with ecchymosis, 
and sometimes the brain and spinal cord af¬ 
ford signs of inflammatory action and soft¬ 
ening, while the cavities contain an increased 
quantity of fluid. The whole organs of the 
body arc softened and congested, and the 
blood vessels are filled with dark or black 
fluid blood. The sinuses of the head are 
filled with offensive pus, the bones are soft¬ 
ened, lining membranes covered in places 
with blue or purple spots, while at others 
the epithelium is removed, and ungry-look- 
ing ulcers occupy its place, having dis¬ 
charged blood before death. The surface of 
mucous membranes have a livid or Modena 
red color. Removal of epithelium, with the 
changes just stated, are also common to the 
back of the mouth, fauces, gullet, windpipe, 
stomach, and intestines generally. 
Diagnosis. 
Malignant catarrh may be confounded 
with cattle plague, (rinderpest,) and purpura 
hwrtiorrhdgim. It is, however, distinguished 
by the following tests:—From rinderpest it 
is known by the fact that young animals 
and oxen are chiefly affected; that it occurs 
erbsman 
orsrman 
FATTENING CATTLE 
HORSE NOTES AND QUERIES 
Mr. Bela S. Hastings, w ho is one of the 
leading drovers from Vermont, in supplying 
cattle for the Boston market, gives his expe¬ 
rience and observation in relation to fatten¬ 
ing stock, at a late meeting of the Caledonia 
County Farmers’ Club:—“ He said the main 
object of the farmer was to get the most out 
of bis fodder. It does not pay to feed grain 
to a poor creature, one that, does not take 
on flesh jmpidly. Farmers will do better to 
dispose of such stock for what it will bring, 
and procure animals of good style. He be¬ 
lieved that one-half of the grain fed was 
wasted by not being fed to good cattle. 
Another important point is, farmers do not 
feed heavy enough. Ho would commence 
with as much feed as they could bear at first, 
and then increase. In feeding twelve quarts 
of meal, the last four quarts are worth twice 
as much as the first four for fattening pur¬ 
poses. Some farmers complain that, they do 
not get pay for the grain they feed out., but 
he had noticed that'it was only those that 
fed light thus complained. Whether the 
animal was to be fed a long or short time, 
he would recommend heavy feeding. Mr. 
Hastings said that he knew nothing better 
than corn meal. The cob is not worth much, 
if anything. Those persons of whom lie 
purchased lat stock, who w r ere the most suc¬ 
cessful, and made it most profitable, were 
those who fed meal largely. If a farmer lias 
potatoes or other roots, It is well enough to 
feed those in part, but a farmer will do bet¬ 
ter to exchange some of his roots for corn 
than to feed roots altogether. It is important 
to feed regularly and not too often, as the 
stock will eat and lie down and ruminate. 
It is better to feed cattle but three times a 
day, and sheep but once,” 
A Marc With Heaves. 
Wti.l some reader of the Rural New- 
Yorker be kind enough to tell me what 
ails my mare, and what can be done to re¬ 
lieve her ? She has a difficulty in breathing. 
Some call it the heaves, others asthma, and 
others phthisic; she is a great deal worse in 
warm, close or foggy weather. In the 
spring 1 was advised to turn her out to 
grass, but soon found that it made her worse 
than ever. Corn stalks or any other bulky 
green food causes her to puff and blow like 
a steamboat, even when standing idle. The 
mare is twelve years old. I have had her 
one 3 r ear. Do not know how long she has 
been affected. 
During last winter, she was able to work 
every day, although she coughed some, and 
showed signs of the heaves. 1 treated her 
for the heaves, but without avail. At times 
she is unable to draw the empty wagon fifty 
rods without stopping for rest; there is, at 
such times, a rattling in her throat; then,in 
a day or two, she will trot off as lively as a 
colt, and draw her share of a heavy load 
without any trouble. The hard breathing 
spells will last two or three days, when they 
will cease, for a week or more, only to reap¬ 
pear. I am greatly puzzled to know what 
to do with her. An answer is earnestly de¬ 
sired, and will be thankfully received.— 
Thomas Marshall, Whiteside, Co., 111. 
Years ago, when wc first removed to Illi¬ 
nois, we were told that horses never had the 
heaves there, because they fed upon the 
Rosin-weed or Compass-plant., (Silphium h- 
ciniatum ,) which grew 
in prairie pastures. 
We were told that men who had driven 
horses afflicted with heaves from the 
East, had found them cured after pasturing 
them cm the prairies awhile. And during a 
residence of thirteen years in Illinois, wc 
never saw a horse affected with heaves 
Whether the exemption is due to the pres 
ence of this plant in forage or not we cannot 
say. If so, the introduction of the culti¬ 
vated grasses and the destruction of prairie 
grasses by plowing, will be likely to exter¬ 
minate this Rosin-weed, which is, without 
doubt, a. useful plant, and should be pre¬ 
served. 
Malignant Catarrh, first stage, 
after exposure to cold, rains, &c.; that only 
one, or perhaps at most two, out of a herd 
are seized, and with their death the affec¬ 
tion ceases, thereby deciding its non-con* 
tagions nature. From purpura hemorrhagica 
it is known by the absence of diffused swell¬ 
ings and sanguineous (bloody) or scro-san- 
guineous (blood and serum) exudations from 
the skin. 
Duration. 
From four to nine, or eleven days. The 
writer’s* experience of the affection has 
been confined to some of the most rapid 
cases. 
Treatment. 
Remove the animal from the pasture, and 
place it in a comfortable cool place with 
good bedding. Cooling or evaporating lo¬ 
tions, water, &c.., should he constantly ap- 
applied to the head. Bleeding moderately, 
MALIGNANT CATARRH IN 
CATTLE. 
We copy the following from an English 
Veterinary work— ClaTer’s “ Every Man 
his own Cattle Doctor 
Malignant catarrh or coryza, known also 
as Coryza. Gangreima, has been confounded 
with Purpura Hasmorrhagica and out tie 
plague or rinderpest, in some points of which 
great resemblance exists. 
Nature. 
A specific or maligmmt condition of the 
blood in which catarrhal signs are promi¬ 
nent, affecting chiefly the sinuses of the head 
in young cattle and oxen generally. Old 
cows are seldom affected. It has been de¬ 
nominated, “Glanders of the ox tribe.” 
, Symptoms. 
Three stages of the affection may be de¬ 
scribed. In the first, a shivering fit may he 
observed, and the animal is separated from 
the rest in the pasture. Shortly lie is dull, 
the head is held low, ears pendulous, visible 
membranes are of a bluish-red color and 
dry; the eyes arc closed and swollen ; tears 
flow', and light cannot hi: endured; the muz¬ 
zle is dry and hot, and saliva is sometimes 
discharged abundantly. There is a painful 
cough, pulse is frequent and full, but the 
heart’s action is feeble; the cough becomes 
even more painful as the disease advances, 
and the breathing is accelerated and some¬ 
times catching; the bowels are costive, faeces 
black and hard, but shortly diarrhoea ensues; 
the animal is thirsty, but eats nothing, and 
the urine is scunly, offensive, and has a high 
color. 
Tlic Hfi-nnil Stage 
occurs within eighteen or twenty-four hours 
from the appearance of the first signs of dis¬ 
turbance, and is denoted by a marked 
change in the character of the discharges. 
The membranes of , the eyes and nose now 
fhrnish a purulent secretion, having -an ad¬ 
mixture of blood and ichor, which irritates 
and makes sore the skin over which it flows. 
Within the sinuses of the head, large accu¬ 
mulations of pus occur, and when the hones 
over them are lapped by the fingers, (per¬ 
cussed,) a dull sound is emitted. If the mouth 
is opened, red patches will be observed, 
which in some places will have fallen off, ex¬ 
posing a foul ulcer beneath, and the mem¬ 
branes are now of a deeper purple hue, and 
the breath foetid. The animal is lame, and 
experiences great paiu when urine or dung 
is discharged. Pregnant animals are almost 
sure to cast their young (abort.) From the 
first, an increase of temperature may be no¬ 
ticed, but now the thermometer registers 104 a 
or 105° F. 
Third Stage. 
Great prostration is evident. Sloughing 
of membranes extensive, and probably the 
horns and hoofs have come off. The pulse 
has become imperceptible; convulsions en¬ 
sue, with general coldness. The t hermome¬ 
ter indicates a rapid and unusual full, 90 to 
95" F., being the amount of heat that can be 
registered at the rectum. Sometimes ulcera¬ 
tion of the cornea is effected before death, 
and the contents of the eye-ball discharged, 
giving rise to a great amount of addition¬ 
al pain. 
Cure for Glanders. 
A writer in the Western Rural gives the 
following remedy for glanders. He says: 
“ One of my neigh bora had a good horse sick 
with that scourge, the glanders; the disease 
was well advanced, and his near neighbors 
were looking threatening. 1 * and the law. He 
asked me what 1 would do in such a case. I 
told him T would take one ounce of calomel 
and make four dough pills, putting one- 
fourth of the calomel into each pill; give the 
home one of the pills every three or four 
hours, and for drink, give him water as 
strongly tinctured with very sour vinegar as 
the horse would drink freely of; to keep the 
horse comfortably housed, and to salivate 
him until his mouth runs freely. This was 
in November last; he followed tbe directions, 
and though his horse did not salivate, begot 
well, and is doing his usual amount of work. 
I ought to add that the course was repeated 
once.” _ 
Treatment, of Foundered Horses. 
A correspondent of the Tribune had a 
five-year-old horse which broke out in little 
knots under the skin, and soon became so 
stiff in the limbs that it was difficult to 
drive him heyoud a walk. A veterinarian 
says in relation to this condition of the ani¬ 
mal:— “ Theie was manifestly disordered 
digestion, culminating in skin eruption and 
slight inflammation of the feet. Have his 
bowels freely opened by a dose of aloes, (six 
drachms); when that stops operating give 
half an ounce of niter daily. Keep on wet 
standing ground, and rub the pasterns of 
the fore limbs with tincture of cantharides.’ 
Malignant Catarrh, second or Sloughing Stage. Horn 
removed, and ulcerations have appeared on nose 
and lips, &c. 
while the pulse is full, may be attended with 
benefit. Injections should be thrown up, 
and a laxative dose administered, such as 
the following drench 
Take of Epsom salts. 12 oz. 
Culoinel . IS gre. 
Ground liiuaer ... So*. 
Treacle. H lt>. 
Warm ulc.1>< pts. 
Mix and give to a Iwo-ycar-ohl beast; two- 
thirds for one a year old ; half at six months ; 
and quarter lor lesser animals, as calves, 
sheep and large pigs. A long seton placed 
in the dewlap, in the earliest stages, also 
proves beneficial. Two to four drachms 
of niter may be given in water three or four 
times a day. Acetate of ammonia, also, in 
doses of one to four ounces at similar inter¬ 
vals, in water, during the existence of great 
fever. 
When the animal is found at the termina¬ 
tion of the second stages, mineral acids 
should be given after the laxative medicine. 
Solutions of carbolic acid or sulphurous 
acid gas ancl chlorine in water, should he 
used for the purpose of dressing the wounds, 
and cleansing the points of discharge, «fec, 
It may also he necessary to open 1 lie sinuses 
and syringe them, using die same solutions. 
Sometimes setons passed through them are 
beneficial. Frequent stimulants are needed 
from the commencement of the second 
stages. 
-♦♦♦- 
Bloody Milk.—A Subscriber writes:—“I have 
a two- year-old belter that has lately given 
bloody milk from one teat. I thought at first it 
must have boon hurt, but as it continues. I know 
not howto account for it. I would like to know 
a remedy, and also a remedy for warts on cows’ 
teats.” 
A Mare with Contracted Feet. 
I have a mare, three years old last spring, 
whose feet have become contracted ; do not 
know what is the cause; may have been 
feeding grain, or giving drink when warm. 
She seems to limp a little when traveling on 
hard, stony ground. Five or six months 
since she commenced to favor her feet. It 
any of the Rural New-Yorker readers 
could give me any information in regard to 
her, I would be very glad, as I have no ex¬ 
perience with horses.— Rural Reader. 
Warts on a Home'll Nose. 
I can tell what cured warts on a colt of 
mine this summer. I used salt butter- 
smeared the warts with it. A few applica¬ 
tions completely removed every wart and 
left the colt’s nose as smooth as ever. His 
nose and under lip were literally covered.— 
John A. Oorncross. 
Exercising Horses Afflicted with Sweeuie. 
W. S. F. asks if horses affected with what 
is called “ sweenie ” should have regular 
exercise. Yes, at a walk on smooth ground. 
