r 
SEPT 22 
by it in a climate where the ground will freeze 
a great deal. The soil will be more friable 
and will be more easily cultivated. Most 
land plowed in the Fall is for coni which 
delights and revels in a freshly plowed soil 
and seems to require it to give a vigorous, 
early growth. 
Again, in plowing ground in the Fall with 
the sod, the Summer’s grow th is turned under, 
and in its decomposition a chemical action 
takes place in the soil that brings its latent 
and inert fertility into a more soluble condi¬ 
tion, and unless there is a growing crop to 
take up the available fertility so formed, it 
will be leached through the soil by the Winter 
rains and the loss thus incurred Dr. Lawes 
says is very considerable. 
A field was fall-plowed while the Summer 
growth was green; it was taken in one land 
and there was a narrow strip in the middle 
that was not plowed. It lay idle the following 
Summer, and growth on this narrow strip w as 
ranker and more vigorous than on the 
laud that had been plow ed the previous Fall. 
Again, l noticed that in a field I had plowed 
in the Fall after frost, the hired man did not 
come back to plow one land running through 
the middle, and it was not plowed afterwards. 
In plowing, planting and culti vating, the soil 
seemed the most level on tills strip. The corn 
that grew on it was the best , and of the best 
color. I hired an acre of land plowed for 
melons in the Fall. The man took it in one laud; 
but a rain stopped him before the whole was 
plowed, so that a strip was leftunplowed, and 
next Spring in working the soil was the 
liveliest in this strip and the melons on it 
were decidedly the fiuest. I have never no¬ 
ticed one case of Fall plowing that proved 
beneficial on soil of anything like a light 
character. t. d. b. 
Greenville, Ky. 
small holes one above the other—each to be 
closed by a plug—iu the end of the tank or box 
next to the evaporator so that the juice can 
be let off as it is wanted, by pulling out the up¬ 
per plug until the juice ceases to run; then 
pulling out the next plug, and so on, until all 
are out. Drawing the juice off in this way does 
not disturb the clay iu the bottom of the tank. 
While using the juice out of one division or 
box, the other can be filling up from the press. 
In order to succeed well the tank should be 
large euough to hold the juice from a half¬ 
day’s grinding of cane. This process is said 
to be Letter than filtering through charcoal, 
gravel or earth, and the juice requires but 
very little skimming, as the gum and starch 
are carried down by the cl a)', which makes 
the sirup as clear as strained honey, with a 
good flavor and unexcelled in quality. J. B. 
Billingsley, Ark. 
seen in the drawing, are mere specks of a red 
color, and fiom the fact that there are several 
sizes in the gavid females, indicating separate 
crops, it is probable that these females are not 
creatures of a day, but possess quite a lon¬ 
gevity. The mites were sent me in a bottle, 
aud when they arrived there were very numer¬ 
ous eggs and several of the young six-legged 
mites occupying the vial with the more mature 
forms. 
REMEDIES. 
The fact that what would be prison to the 
mite would probably be death to the bees, 
makes this question of remedy quite a difficult 
oue. I can only suggest what Mrs. Squire has 
tried—frequent changing of the bees from oue 
hive to another, after which the hive can he 
freed from the mites by scalding. The trouble 
with this cure is the rapid increase of these 
Liliputiau pests, aud the fact that many would 
adhere to the bees, and so be carried along 
with them, and so escape the hot-water 
bath. Of course, the more frequent the trans¬ 
fer the more thorough the remedy. 
IMPORTANT SUGGESTION. 
I would suggest placing pieces of fresh 
meat, greased paper, etc., in the hives in hopes 
to attract the pests, which when massed on 
these decoys could easily he killed. If thought 
best, the traps could be screened by placing 
them in a box made of fine wire gauze so that 
the bees could not reach them. In such screens 
I should try placing pasteboard smeared with 
a thin coat of thick sirup, to see if the uutes 
had a sugar tooth to lure them to destruction. 
On such a sticky surface it would he well to 
sprinkle flour, sugar, etc. If we can find iu 
this manner some substance that will attract 
these little destroyers, and call them off of the 
bees, the battle is won. 
the ground when it blows slightly, but in hur¬ 
ricanes and tornadoes they arc about power¬ 
less. 1 would advise all who have suitable 
places to plant trees to plant such kinds as 
produce good fruit or valuable timber; but 
the idea of planting them to produce rain 1. 
don’t think correct. The scheme of irrigat¬ 
ing desert places along the Suez Canal, may 
be a good one for contractors if they can get 
sufficient of the “standard of values” for the 
service; but one old man thinks it can’t look 
promising to agriculturists or stock raisers. 
McLean, N. Y. l. r. g. 
mm ATT 
A NEW BEE ENEMY. 
PROFESSOR A. J. COOK, 
Sugar from Begasse 
It has long been known to chicken fanciers 
that our poultry often suffer serious injury 
from a small mite. I have seeu these little 
pests, red with the internal juices, so thickly 
clustered on hoards, etc., iutbo poultry house, 
that to grasp the board meant death by crush¬ 
ing to thousands of these infinitesimal pests. 
It has long been known that other mites 
attacked others of our domestic animals, like 
the cow, the horse, the sheep, etc. Other 
mites attack sugar, flour and cheese. The 
little red spider—also a mite—so thrives in a 
dry atmosphere that house plants are often 
destroyed by its blighting attacks. I have 
known the tidy housewife to be seriously an ■ 
noyed by mites which had come from birds 
that had nested just above her window. The 
little vital specks (ably swarmed on the win¬ 
dow panes. Other mites take up their abodes 
between the bases of the human lingers, while 
others still smaller inhabit the face pimples 
even of the graceful belle. 
That insects are often preyed upon and de¬ 
stroyed by mites is a well known fact. New¬ 
port described a mite which he found on the 
larva of a wild bee; but that our honey bee 
is attacked and even destroyed by these little 
liviDg particles is recent and most unwelcome 
news. 
During the past Spring a lady bee-keeper of 
Connecticut discovered these mites in her 
hives while investigating to learn the cause 
of their rapid depiction. She had noticed that 
the colonies were greatly reduced iu number 
of bees, aud upon close observation she found 
that the diseased or failing colonies were 
covered with these mites. The strong and 
prosperous colonies were exempt from the 
annoyance. So small are these little pests 
that a score could take possession of a single 
bee, and not I >e near neighbors either. Mrs. 
S. feels certain that she found the same kind 
of mites on the church window where she re¬ 
sides. Upon request she sent me some of these 
latter which were lost in the mails. The lady 
Department of Agriculture in order to see 
how much sugar might be obtained from 
begasse. A series of barrels were so arranged 
that, having been filled with begasse, water 
was allowed to flow in at the top uutil the 
barrel was full, aud then by means of a pipe 
leading from the bottom of the barrel the 
water flowed into a second, and thence to a 
third barrel, and so on. 
The overflow from the successive barrels 
was taken when it first ran off, aud the result 
was that the water as it gradually passed 
through each barrel of liegasse, increased very 
regularly in density and its contents of sugar, 
and it was found that after four barrels of 
water had passed through the begasse the 
water afterwards passed through, tcok up no 
sugar, the begasse having been exhausted of it. 
It was found as the average of nine expert 
meuts that it was possible to recover 8.12 per 
cent, of the weight of the begasse taken iu 
sugars, aud that finally by these successive 
teachings there was obtained a juice as rich 
iu sugar as was the juice expressed from the 
cane by the mill. 
turni 
A Good Gate. 
In the Rural of June 10, is figured a “farm 
gate” which is certainly cheap, but in my 
opinion not a very desirable oue, for it must 
“sag” badly after a while. I herewith send 
a drawing of a gate (Fig. 042) I have had in 
use some five or six y are, which, up to this 
time, has not sagged a particle. The boards 
are mortised into the upright which is about 
seven feet high. The battens B. B. aud the 
brace h are double, the long brace A, also 
arm 
WHEAT SOWED ON GREEN GROWTH 
TURNED UNDER. 
I see iu the Rural of August 25, that the 
Elmira Farmers’ Club was of the opinion tliat 
wheat sown on green growth turned under 
would end in bad results. All green growth 
incorjKirated with the soil near the time of 
seeding, will be found prejudicial to wheat. If 
what is meant is to sow the seed immedi¬ 
ately after turniug the green growth under, I 
can not speak of the results from my own ex¬ 
perience; but to turn green growth under four 
or ii ve weeks before sowing, from my obser¬ 
vation gives the most satisfactory results. 
One of our bast farmers has practiced turn¬ 
ing under green weeds or green growth of any 
kind four or five weeks before sowing his 
wheat, and he always has had a greater aver¬ 
age yield per acre than any of his neighbors, 
although some of them have richer soil than 
he has, but they do not turn under a green 
growth. A neighbor of mine turned under 
what is known here as “hog-weed,” that was 
from five to six feet high. The weeds were 
turned under with n heavy chain attached to 
the plow beam, dragging just abend of the 
uprising soil. In five or six weeks he run a har¬ 
row over the groundnjid then sowed his wheat, 
and then harrowed the seed in. I had my doubts 
about it doing any good at all, but to my sur¬ 
prise it was the greenest wheat of any iu the 
neighborhood all "Winter. He pastured his 
sheep on it for fear it would joint before all 
danger of frost wus over. It finally made the 
heaviest yield of any in the county except 
the wheat on the land of the fanner first 
spoken of. It seems that the crop of wheat de¬ 
pends on the Fall growth, und this green 
growth is in a fair Rtate of decomposition 
when the gases (which are rich food for the 
young wheat) are forming, giving the wheat 
so vigorous a Fall growth that it is euabled 
i f, if.Vis.tji ml the Winter weather. The roots 
A Farm Gate. - Fig.012. 
mortised into the upright, is seven inches wide 
at the upper end, tapering to four inches at 
the lower. The two lower hoards are six 
inches wide, the others four. The whole is 
bolted, as indicated, with % carriage bolts. 
The slide s for fastening the gate, passes 
through the battens aud the brace B, enabling 
a person to open or close the gate by approach¬ 
ing it at any place. Unlike the gate above 
objected to, it cannot “be made in an hour,” 
but when made it is made to stay. 
Portage Co., O. H. D. Smalley. 
A new Bee Enemv. From Life.—Fig. (141. 
states that the bees roll aud scratch in their 
vain attempts to rid themselves of these an¬ 
noying slick-tights, and finally, worried out, 
either fall to the bottom of the hive or go 
forth to die outside. 
Mites are not true insects, but are the most 
degraded of spiders. The sub-class A rachnida 
are at once recognized by their eight tegs. 
The order of mites (Acearina) which includes 
the wood tick, cattle tick, etc., aud mites, are 
quickly told from the higher orders true 
spiders and scorpions—by their rounded bodies, 
which appeal like mere sacks, with little ap- 
pearauee of segmentation aud their small, 
obscure heads. The mites alone of all the 
Arachnida, pass through a marked metamor¬ 
phosis. Thus the young mite has only six 
legs, white the mature form has eight. 
The bee-mite is very small, hardly more 
than five m, m. (1-50 of an inch) long. The 
female is slightly larger than the male, aud 
somewhat transparent. The color is black, 
I lmd the pleasure of seeing Mr. Wilder’s 
strawberry patch when it was in full bearing 
this Summer. Some forty sorts wore growing 
iu plots side by side. The prof usiott of Bid well 
was astonishing, it had from 200 to 400 blos¬ 
soms on a plant aud represented 100 to 250 
fruits, but 1 perceived the fruits did not all 
swell and ripen well, and I thought the plants 
a little lacking in foliage. Iu fact, it here 
seemed evident that the enormous croppers 
did not ripen their fruitsso fully and perfectly 
as did those of lesser profusion; also that 
robust, well-folinged plants bore the best crop 
of large, ripe berries. The veteran pomologist 
white admitting that Charles Downing and 
Crescent muy he the strawberries lor the mil¬ 
lion, remarked that President. "Wilder, Iiervey 
Davis and llovey’s Seedling are unsurpassed 
for flavor. And he urged that raisers of new 
varieties give more attention to scouring tine 
flavor, form and beauty. Leon, 
CLARIFYING SORGHUM JUICE, 
BOOKS, ETC., RECEIVED. 
Wisconsin Agricultural Ex. Station 
Madison. Bulletin No. 1. “Sweet Skim 
VIilk; its value as food for pigs and calves.’. 
Ellwangek and Barry, Rochester, N. \ 
No. 1. Descriptive catalogue of fruits, price 
