small  quantity  of  potatoes,  say  four  quarts  as  n. 
feed,  will  iucreaso  the  yield  of  milk  nearly  as 
much  as  so  much  grain,  provided  they  are  fed 
with  other  footl  rich  in  tho  constituents  of  milk. 
The  American  dairyman  is  prone  to  feed  ouo 
thing  at  a  time,  almost  wholly,  instead  of  giving 
variety  in  food  which  will  furni.sh  all  tho  ele¬ 
ments  required  in  tho  proper  proportion.  We 
found  an  objection  to  tho  use  of  oil-meal  when 
fed  above  two  pounds  per  day  to  a  cow,  as  it  is 
too  laxaliro.  We  fotiiid  ouo  quart  per  day  the 
most  profitable,  and  have  also  found  one  peck  of 
potatoes  per  day,  in  two  feeds,  the  most  profita¬ 
ble. 
in  Canada,  for  the  experience  of  seeing  the  run¬ 
down,  poverty-stricken  fields  in  tho  East,  does'ut 
stop  the  pitiable  despoliation  out  West. 
in  clipping,  will  it  do  in  all  cases?  Whore  a 
horse  is  sometimos  called  upon  to  ilo  farm  work 
and  at  other  times  is  driven  on  the  road  before 
a  light  vehlelo,  is  it  advisable  to  clip  ?  When  a 
horse  is  nseil  for  nothing  but  work,  would  you 
clip  him  ?  How  soon  after  a  hard  drive  can  a 
clipped  one  be  fed  ?  It  is  claimed  that  he  will 
cool  off  enough  in  ten  minutes  to  be  fed.  If  that 
is  so,  it  is  an  important  consideration — or  rather 
argument — in  favor  of  clipping.  I  have  found 
that  it  takes  a  long  time  sometimes  for  an  uii- 
clipped  horse  to  cool  off.  I  have  been  told  that 
it  is  always  safe  to  feed  ouo  hour  after  beiug 
driven.  Is  that  so  ?  n.  z. 
Oim  correspondent  has  certainly  presimiod 
too  nmol)  upon  tho  knowledge  of  editors,  for 
there  arc  some  things  which  are  past  finding  out. 
Had  yon  asked  ns  to  decide  the  question  whether 
this  earth  was  hoUow  or  filled  with  sawdust,  it 
would  have  hiioii  much  easier  to  have  answered 
it  correctly  tlian  tho  ouo  you  have  prupoimded 
about  clipping  horses. 
If  tho  “  clipperitos"  would  only  discover  some 
way  of  driving  in  tlie  hairs  ou  a  horse  instead  of 
cutting  them  off,  thou  wo  could  imdorstaud  how 
there  might  bo  a  saving  of  food  equal  to  tho 
amount  required  to  produce  tho  extra  length  of 
hair ;  but  howto  save  by  cutting  olf  and  wasting, 
is  a  problem  not  solved  in  our  philosophy. 
If  cutting  off  tho  hair  short  is  such  a  saving, 
wliy  not  shave  it  off  close,  and  then  who  knows 
but  taking  off  tho  skin  would  bo  still  bettor  ?  Of 
course  there  are  horsemen  who  will  find  plenty 
of  very  plausible  theories  to  employ  in  support 
of  clipping,  just  as  their  cruel  prodoccasors  did 
for  piiokiiig  and  docking  the  tails  of  horses  yeai’s 
ago ;  hut  tho  saving  of  feed  by  lessening  the 
length  of  the  lialr  on  an  animal,  is  somotljing  in 
tho  way  of  a  discovery  worthy  of  the  hi’ight 
minds  of  the  nlneteeuth  century.  Never  having 
thought  it  worthy  of  our  Umo  to  tost  the  cliji- 
ping  theory,  we  must  plead  ignorance  and,  fur¬ 
ther,  fear  we  shall  bo  no  bettor  off  years  honeo 
than  now,  owing  to  our  faith  in  Divine  wisdom 
in  giving  tho  iiohlo  horso  a  good  coat  of  hair  to 
protect  bim  from  the  olomcuts. 
deeply  the  winter  through,  we  could  ark  for 
nothing  bettor.  I  never  had  my  bees  do  better 
than  wlmn  thus  protected,  diu-ing  tho  disastrous 
winter  of  ’72—^  when  my  bees,  and  those  of  a 
neighbor  which  I  arranged,  were  all  that  sur¬ 
vived  in  the  whole  neighborhood. 
2.  The  bees  should  not  go  into  winter  quarters 
without  at  least  30  lbs.  of  good  capped  honey. 
If  tho  combs  contain  uncapped  honey  it  should 
be  extracted.  If  tho  a{)iarist  has  not  tho  reipii- 
sito  amount  of  suitable  honey  it  will  do  equally 
well  to  supplement  his  sujiply  by  feeding  good, 
thick  honey  which  has  been  extracted  early  in 
the  season,  or  if  tliat  bo  not  at  his  ooiumand  a 
sirup  made  of  coffee.  A  sugar  of  the  oonsistoncy 
of  honey,  or  just  so  that  it  wiU  not  erystalizo 
upon  cooling,  will  answer  equally  well,  rcrhajis 
tho  most  oonvoniont  method  to  food  this  is  to 
l*ut  it  in  a  bag  luado  of  driliing  which  is  tacked 
to  a  strip  of  wood  just  like  tho  top  bar  of  a 
framo,  except  that  it  Is  two  inches  wide  and  has 
a  hole  cut  in  tho  center  1  inch  wide  and  2  luehos 
long.  Hang  this  between  tho  frames  and  tho 
end  of  the  hive,  thou  jiour  in  tho  honey  or  syrup, 
llio  boos  will  sip  it  up  and  store  it  away  as  it 
oozes  tlirougU  tho  feeder.  Of  course  tJie  bag 
should  not  roach  (piits  to  tho  bottom  or  sides  of 
tho  liivo.  The  feeding  should  lie  ilono  as  early 
as  the  last  of  Heplomber,  so  that  tlic  bees  may 
have  time  to  cap  the  cells  bofoi’o  tho  weather  is 
too  cold. 
3.  Any  impotent  queens  or  any  not  first-class, 
should  be  superseded  early  in  the  season.  If 
the  bees  stop  gathering  in  August,  feed  sparing¬ 
ly,  as  described  above.  Onedialf  pound  daily 
will  HUllico.  Again  if  storing  bo  very  rapid  in 
August  and  September,  as  it  is  likely  to  be  wliero 
fall  bloom  is  plenty,  tlio  honey  uiu-st  bo  extracted, 
so  that  tho  queen  may  have  a  chanen 
SHEEP  HOSBANDEY  AT  THE  SOUTH, 
How  far  does  the  eUmate  of  tho  cotton  States 
resemble  that  of  AusU-alia?  Sheep  do  well 
there.  Again  why  cannot  wool  be  grown  instead 
of  cotton.  1  was  in  the  South  and  in  the  S.  W. 
some  years  since  and  saw  that  sheep  ilid  well, 
consequently  as  tho  land  is  very  cheap  and  runs 
to  grass  readily,  and  everybody  knows  that 
grazing  with  sheep  rapidly  improves  the  pas¬ 
tures,  why  doos'iit  sheeii-raising  become  a  great 
source  of  wealth  ? 
I  expect  tho  cause  for  such  unaccountable 
neglect  must  be  tho  failure  of  some  few  young 
men  who  have  gouo  out  and  lost  money,  but 
this  only  prove.s  that  tho  system  as  at  present  in 
vogue  is  altogeihor  wrong. 
Some  years  ago  I  was  about  to  engage  in  this 
enterprise  with  one  of  tho  r,Er..\j;i)s  but  would 
not  do  so  because  of  being  obliged  If  I  did  to 
follow  in  the  steps  of  those  who 
crawling  along  in  the  old  track; 
SWINDLERS  OF  DAIRYMEN 
We  find  the  following  going  tho  rounds  of  the 
press  without  credit  to  the  author,  but  as  it  may 
be  the  meaus  of  saving  some  of  our  readers  from 
being  swindled  wo  publish  the  story  as  it  is  told : 
A  new  (lodge  for  swindling  farmers  has  just 
been  put  into  operation.  Several  strange  mtm 
drive  into  an  agricultural  distilct ;  they  stoji  at 
all  the  farm  houses  and  make  a  contract  to  take 
all  tho  butter  tJie  farmers  can  t'liruish  at  50  cents 
a  pouud.  Further,  it  will  bo  gathered  up  by  a 
fast,  siiecial  team,  and  the  cash  paid  for  it  at  tho 
door.  Tho  pretence  is  that  during  the  fall  and 
winter  Uie  large  cities  will  be  crowded  and  that 
butter  will  be  scarce.  In  this  way  all  tho  farm¬ 
ers  in  a  district  are  contracted  with,  and  arriingo- 
inents  are  ma<lo  to  come  for  tho  butter  on  cer¬ 
tain  days  and  at  certain  points,  tho  contract  to 
go  into  effect  in  two  weeks. 
A  few  days  after  the  departure  of  the  men  a 
drove  of  cows  comes  along ;  they  arc  fine-looking 
milch  cows.  Tlie  farmerH,  having  a  good  tiling 
in  view,  think  tliey  might  use  a  few  more  cows. 
They  try  to  buy  them,  but  the  drover  doesn’t 
seem  amdons  to  sell.  Finally,  liowover,  he  is 
Induced  to  sell  two  or  tlireo  to  each  farmer,  at 
prices  considerably  higlier  than  tho  real  nuukot 
value.  He  then  dojtarts,  meets  his  partners 
who  put  up  tho  butter  job,  and  they  divide  their 
rascally-carned  jirofits.  Forewarned  is  fore¬ 
armed,  and  farmers  will  do  well  to  bo  on  their 
guard  against  this  new  stylo  of  sharpers. 
were  only 
then  I  cor- 
rosjMJuded  with  a  hanker  of  Cazinovio  who  had 
a  dairy  and  sheep  establishment  in  Iowa,  but  ho 
refused  to  coiiqily  with  my  first  proposition  to 
raise  calves,  using  pure  bred  bulls,  and  then 
he  consulted  with  some  friends  about  my  next 
proposal  to  kill  off  or  sell  all  tho  old  wether 
sheep,  (over  a  thousand)  putting  owes  in  their 
places  and  using  Cotswold  rams,  then  ho  inti¬ 
mated  I  knew  HO  littlo  about  tho  West  that  I  had 
no  chance  with  him.  I  respectfully  replied  ho 
would  find  those  miserable  men  would  lead  hhn 
ou  to  groat  losses,  and  two  years  after.  I  hoard 
his  Hock  could  not  bo  kept  up  in  numbers  with¬ 
out  pm-chases,  although  ho  made  no  sales  of 
aught  but  wool,  and  that  it  took  all  the  profits  of 
the  dairy  to  buy  fresh  cows,  and  tho  next  nows 
was  seeing  the  whole  concern  offered  for  sale  in 
an  advertisement. 
It  is  useless  to  mince  words  about  shoop- 
raising,  wool-growing,  or  managomout  of  flocks 
in  tho  United  Htatos,  for  facts  speak  for  them¬ 
selves  and  as  long  as  fanners  soil  ewe  lambs  and 
use  scrub  rams,  and  keep  wethers  till  jiast  their 
prime,  there  will  bo  no  fortunes  made  ,by  sheep 
husbandry. 
Sheep  are  easily  kept  healthy,  and  if  managed 
systematically  will  return  more  profit  than  can 
bo  made  from  any  other  animals,  and  where 
they  are  well  taken  care  uf,  in  the  way  of  keeping 
tho  young  and  old  separate,  and  never  allowed  to 
pine  or  suffer  in  any  way,  they  are  certain  to 
bring  in  a  handsome  income  and  the  land  will 
improvo  in  proportion  to  the  prosperous  state  of 
tho  sheep,  and  tho  higher  condition  of  the  sheep 
will  produce  a  similar  increase  in  tho  fatness  of 
the  soil. 
Thus  in  England  the  farmer  who  occupies 
much  arable  laud  and  feeds  his  sheep  on  the 
English  modern  system,  by  keeping  all  tho 
lambs  in  high  condition  and  tho  wotlior  ones 
very  fat  from  their  birth,  will  have  a  groat 
iiicomo  from  mutton,  from  wool  and  also  from 
the  increased  quantity  of  grain,  straw,  grass, 
Ac.  Sheep  thus  give  three  sources  of  income 
WouKiNu  Faiimeu. 
f  Ijt  |i|)uiriau 
DO  BEES  MAKE  HONEY  I 
MORE  SHEEP  WANTED 
1  no  not  know  wliy  there  should  ho  any  mys¬ 
tery  about  tills  ipiestiou  of  bees  making  or  gatb- 
ering  honey,  for,  to  me,  it  is  as  clear  as  sunshine. 
SupjKiso  we  lake  tho  best  sugar  and  make  a 
gallon  of  molasses  and  sirup  and  put  it  wliore 
tho  bees  can  get  it,  and  tliey  take  it  into  the  hives, 
and  iu  time  cap  it  over  in  tho  cell,  hut,  lu  the 
moautimo,  lot  iis  koop  a  little  sirup  for  conipar- 
isoii.  After  awlulo,  talco  an  exti'aotor  and  re¬ 
move  tho  sirup  from  the  comb,  and  It  will  he 
found  to  bo  honey  and  quite  different  from  the 
reserved  material— in  fact,  one  is  honey  and  the 
other  is  not.  The  bees,  of  course,  did  not  inako 
tho  honey,  but  chaugod  tho  finvor  only. 
It  will  not  bo  clover  Jionoy,  linden  or  buck¬ 
wheat  honey,  but  sirup  Inmoy.  Tlioir  Creator 
has  given  the  bees  tlie  power  of  changing  the 
flavor  of  the  sweets  gatlierod,  and  it  is  then 
called  by  us  honey.  ^Ve  may  say  that  boos  made 
it,  and  so  wo  may  say  Umt  cloth  made  of  wool  is 
woolen ;  and  of  flax,  liiicii ;  of  col  ton,  cotton 
cloth,  and  so  with  honey.  If  from  buckwheat, 
it  is  buokwlieat  honey,  for  tho  boos  caimot 
change  it  into  clover  lionoy  any  moro  than  we 
can  m.‘iUe  cotton  clolli  out  of  wool, 
Onondaga  Co.,  N.  Y.  A,  NVii..sos. 
MELIPONES, 
Few  of  our  readers  probably  over  hoard  of  an 
insect  by  tho  above  name,  but  the  Condon  Gar- 
donors’ Chronicle  tolls  us  tiiat  tlxo  liymeiioptcrous 
insects  known  as  .’itclipones,  and  found  in  various 
parts  of  tlie  world,  rosemblo  bees  very  closely 
but  arc  without  any  sting.  'Their  lionoy-prodnc- 
ing  (piulities  are  very  decidod.  Itcsernbling  hoes 
iu  their  general  characlcr,  they  arc  smaller”  with 
a  more  densely  clolhod  body  ami  tlie  bind  feet 
proportionally  longer.  As  iu  the  ordimuy  heos, 
there  are  throe  varieties  of  individuals -the 
males,  I’eirmles,  and  neutors.  Home  of  tliom 
make  their  nests  in  iioUow  trees,  wliilo  others 
Buspenil  them  from  tho  brandies.  The  honey 
of  these  insects  is  said  to  be  of  a  very  superior 
annually. 
CLIPPING  HORSES 
BEES  IN  WINTER 
Tue  Essay  ou  Bee-Keeping  rcceiviug  tho  prize 
offered  by  the  Ceutonnial  committee  of  the  North 
Eastern  Boo  Keepers'  Associatiou  was  written  by 
Prof.  A.  J .  Cook,  of  Mioliigau.  Not  having  room 
for  the  entire  essay  wo  cojiy  that  inution  relating 
to  winteiing  Bees. 
Wluil  are  (he  requmtes  lo  aa/e  xoinlerimj  ? 
1.  Tho  colonies  must  bo  kept  in  a  uniform  tom- 
peraturo,  which  sliould  never  vary  beyond  tho 
minimum  temperature  of  35  or  tho  maximum  of 
45  deg.  This  may  be  safely  seem  ed  by  placing 
tliom  in  a  dry,  dark,  well-ventilated  oelkr,  which 
shall  maintain  the  required  temperature ;  or  in 
a  house  with  douhlo  walls,  endosing  a  space 
wide  enough  when  filled  in  with  sawdust  to  bo 
frost  proof,  oven  during  the  severest  winter,  and 
so  arranged  as  to  bo  ventilated  without  admitting 
the  light.  Tho  aaino  results  may  he  gained  with 
the  colonics  on  their  MUinrner  stands,  if  wc  but 
place  boxes  or  boards  around  and  above  tho 
hives,  leaving  a  space  of  a  foot  or  more  to  bo 
filled  in  with  sawdust,  chaff,  straw,  or  shavings, 
all  of  which  I  have  used  with  perfect  success! 
ITALIAN  BEES, 
I'lior.  M. CcoK,  in  speaking  of  (he  races  of 
hoes  iu  his  ‘•Manual  of  the  Apiary,”  says  of 
these  bees ;  They  take  their  name  from  the  fact 
that  they  were  first  discovered  iu  the  niountaiu 
basin  of  iiortlitrn  Italy  and  Hwitzeriaiid,  shut  in, 
as  it  were,  by  tho  Alps.  Without  much  doubt 
they  are  a  climatic  variety,  with  characters  of 
coloration  and  habits  so  inbred  that  they  are  a 
fixed  race.  It  may  bo,  as  lias  been  assorted, 
that  tho  original  stoolc  was  a  cross  between  tho 
blai’k  ^d  (ho  Egyptian  races.  The  queen  varies 
much  in  color.  She  may  be  almost  entirely  yel¬ 
low,  Is  rarely  almost  us  black  as  the  German 
queen,  but  is  generally  iiTegularly  marked  with 
black  and  yellow.  Tho  drones  are  also  black, 
anmUiited,  or  spotted  with  yellow,  wliilo  the 
neuters  will,  without  exception,  if  the  stock  is 
pure,  possess  three  yellow  bands  about  the  base 
of  llio  abdomen.  I  reiioat,  every  hcc  in  the  col- 
ony  must  be  thus  marked.  The  first  ring  is  close 
to  the  thorax,  and  very  narrow.  The  scixmd  Is 
qiilto  broad.  Tlieso  two  rings  are  usually  quite 
uisuuot  in  hybrids.  Tim  Uurd  ring  is  narrower 
and  may  le  obscured  in  old  bees,  ospodally  if  not 
^rtendtd  wiir.  hr-ney.  Wlien  tuis  ring  is  absent 
m  any  of  the  bees,  there  is  “  something  rotten  iu 
JL/ G  xxux&r  K  • 
