JCI'lt !l 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
repressible blood-suckers are enabled to take a 
quick meal. 
There are three species of lice that disturb 
# the peace aud quiet of the hu¬ 
man family. The head louse, 
(Fig. 8 ) Pediculue capi¬ 
tis (De Geer), is the most 
common. It is said that in 
old times it was thought no 
disgrace, but fashionable 
and desirable, to harbor and 
nourish the crawling pig¬ 
mies of the head; now they 
are only common among 
such people as neglect per- 
soual neatness. The most 
Fj9.5, cleanly person may be so 
unfortunate as to possess 
head louse, gpeeimens not pinned in au 
entomological cabinet, but he will soon banish 
them according to the fashion well understood 
in all civilized society. The Grayback, Pedi- 
culus corporis (De Geer) is not confined to the 
head, and was the irritatiug pest of our brave 
soldiers in the late war. It is apt to be a source 
of annoyauce in lumber camps and on ship¬ 
board. This species is so like the head louse 
in appearance that were not the habits so dif¬ 
ferent, we might almost regard them as iden¬ 
tical. The Crab-louse, Phthirius pubis (Leach), 
F[G. 4 -- 
CRAB LOUSE. 
receives its common name from its close re¬ 
semblance to the crab, and its specific name 
from the region of its attacks. 
Both of the last-mentioned may be banished 
by the use of a little mercurial ointment, which 
is a poison and should be used with care, or of 
kerosene and sulphur, which are to be applied 
to the part of the body attacked. As the eggs 
will continue to hatch for a time, the applica¬ 
tion will need to be repeated at intervals of six 
or seven days for two or three weeks. Cleanli¬ 
ness is the great preventive, which in this case is 
certainly better and vastly more pleasant than 
cure. 
The genus Haematopinus includes, among 
many others, the 
cattle louse, H. vitu- 
li (Denny), (Fig. 5), 
the horse louse, H. 
euristernus (Denny) 
the hog louse, H. 
suis (Leach), and the 
dog louse 5 H. pile- 
ferus (Denny). In 
form these are much 
like the common 
head louse. The 
five-jointed antenna- 
r ~ g: are stout, the eyes 
''”**'* are verj minute, the 
cattle louse. head obtuse iu front, 
while the posterior legs arc the longest. 
Bird Lice—Mallophaga. 
These lice, although the sucking tube is re¬ 
placed by jaws, are nevertheless degraded 
Hemiptera, or bugs. The body is fiat and horny, 
the head is broad, the antennas, four-jointed. 
Unlike other bugs, they have both maxillary 
and labial palpi. The species are very nu¬ 
merous. Nearly all birds have one or more 
species to annoy them, while the hen has five 
or six. 
Remedies. 
The washes already described for fleas are 
also efficacious in destroying lice. If the de¬ 
coction of tobacco, or the kerosene and water, 
is to be used in cold weather on cattle or calves, 
especially the latter, they should be kept in a 
warm raom, or well blanketed until thoroughly 
dry. If au ointment made of sulphur, lard aud 
kerosene, be applied to the bauds and under 
the wings of fowls that are annoyed with lice, 
the latter will soon disappear. The nests 
should be sprinkled with sulphur, the roosts 
washed with kerosene, the house and yard 
sprinkled with carbolic acid solution, aud the 
poultry bouse frequently whitewashed. Per¬ 
sian Iusect Powder dusted outo, or rubbed 
into the hair and feathers of animals attacked 
by lice, will destroy the pests without harm to 
the animals. Ointments may be easily applied 
with the common brushes used iu grooming 
horses. No good farmer or fancier will allow 
his animals to suffer from these enervating 
parasites, if he but knows of these cheap aud 
effective remedies. During the past seasou I 
permitted my poultry aud their houBe and yard 
to be overspread with countless myriads of 
these foes to comfort and prosperity—purpose¬ 
ly permitted it—that I might learn by actual 
test, of the difficulty of procuring a riddance. 
In a few days after inaugurating the measures 
suggested above the disgusting pests were 
wholly banished. A little care will work 
entire prevention; while but little labor is re¬ 
quired to work a radical cure.—[Drawings by 
8. Upton. Eds.] 
®jjt apiarian. 
PROTECTION AGAINST STINGS. 
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to a more 
general adoption of bee-keeping for recreation 
and pleasure, as well as for profit, is the dread 
most persons have of the sting of the bee. To 
vented by applying strong ammonia or a solu¬ 
tion of soda in water. 
Another little contrivance which affords as 
much interest as instruction, and one which 
every beginner in bee-keeping should have, is 
an 
Observing Hive. 
The accompanying engraving gives a faith¬ 
ful representation of one used by Professor 
Cook, of Michigan Agr'l. College, in his ob¬ 
servations. It is simply a miniature hive, 
large enough to hold three frames. The sides 
are doors that can be opened and shut at pleas¬ 
ure, and inside each is a pane of glass through 
the nervous amateur it is, indeed, anything 
but encouraging when he suddenly finds him¬ 
self surrounded by thousands of infuriated 
bees that madly dart at his face and hands, 
and hardly touch the skin before that keen, 
penetrating, painful sensation is felt, which 
seems entirely to control the action of the 
nerves. On such occasions one must keep 
cool. To strike at them only augments their 
fury, yet this is too often the remedy to which 
the amateur resorts. 
We once knew a venerable gentleman who 
h«d been seized with a sudden enthusiasm for 
bee-keeping, and, acting on the impulse, he 
purchased a few colouies with a view to experi¬ 
ment. We happened to lie present when he 
made the first examination of the new-comers 
the day after their arrival. With more eager¬ 
ness lhau caution he attempted to lift the box- 
bive In his arms, desiring to look in from 
beneath. Having raised it a few inches from 
the ground, an impudent bee thought the dis¬ 
turbance sufficient cause to sting him ou the 
hand. The hive returned to its stand rather 
quickly ; the sting was duly extracted aud the 
spot rubbed with an emollient. Again the hive 
was lifted, this time a couple of feet from the 
ground, almost to the edge of the board where 
it should rest while he peeped in ; but it never 
got there, for with a sudden jump he let go of 
the box and grasped bis thigh with both hands, 
an intruder having crawled up under his pan¬ 
taloons. Then, with some peculiar gymnastics 
that can be well imitated only by people in 
similar situations, he began to beat the air 
with his hat, and make incoherent ejacula¬ 
tions, aud finally struck a bee-line for the 
house. When we met him the next day. with 
a deformed face aud one eye 6 hut, he said he 
wished somebody would take the bees off his 
premises. 
8 uch is, indeed, too often the experience of 
those who neglect to protect themselves. 
Everybody to whom the sting is painful, and 
especially those on whom it causes a swelling, 
should wear a good bee-veil when working 
among the bees, such aB the one shown in the 
engraving. Then nobody need carry about a 
swelled face and a resentful spirit. 
The veil should he made of some strong but 
sheer fabric, and be 
black or brown, as it 
tires the eyes to look 
through a white veil. 
It can be sewed to the V mWl j 
the case in the engrav- jff 
ing ; or it may be sup- J 
cord, that can be pull- M 
ed over the crown of M| #1 
the hat; it can then H| / >§§» 
he removed when not s 
in use, thus making || || W 
any hat one happens to II w f 
wear, serve as a bee- ' * ' 
hat. The lower end of the veil is most con¬ 
veniently gathered in under the coat. 
To protect the hands, gloves can be worn, 
though after some experience one generally 
finds that they can be dispensed with. India- 
rubber gloves are manufactured for (he pur- 
posj, aud can be obtained from dealers in 1 
apiarian supplies. To prevent the beeB from 
crawling up under the pantaloons, it iB a good 
plan to put these inside the boots or to tie a 
a cord around them at the ankles. The 
poison is an acid, and can sometimes be neu¬ 
tralized, and the evil effects of the sting pre¬ 
which the observer can look at the bees when 
the door is open. The hive measures twelve 
inches long and fire inches wide inside, allow¬ 
ing room for three frames, each one and a half 
inch wide. Anybody who can use a saw and 
drive a nail can make an observing hive. 
Make each of the inside dimensions half an 
inch longer than the frames that are to be 
used, and make it wide enough to hold two or 
three frames. The upright end pieces can be 
grooved or simply nailed to the bottom-board. 
To give it more rigidity, a strip the length of 
the hive and one and a half inch wide, should 
be fastened at each 6 ide at the top between the 
end pieces. The panes of glass c:.n next be in¬ 
serted, the doors hung, and a movable cover 
fitted to the top. In such a hive one can ob¬ 
serve the whole mystery of the interior work¬ 
ings of a bee-hive. If a couple of frames of 
comb, one of them having some worker-brood 
and eggs, are inserted with a few hundred 
bees, the latter will not ouly remain, but they 
will go to work to rear a queen from one of 
the eggs or young larvaj. When the queen is 
hatched and fertilized, she will begin to lay, 
while the workers will build comb, gather 
honey and pollen and attend to the brood, 
operations which can all be seen. The hive 
can be placed in any convenient place; on a 
table in the garden, on the piazza, or, better 
still, on the sill outside oue’s window. There 
is no danger that the bees will attack anybody 
in the room when the window is opened, and 
such a position affords excellent opportunity 
to observe their work. 
fomologtral, 
neighbor of mine shipped his apples at one 
dollar per barrel. That was a very low price 
for fine fruit, yet the result showed a good 
profit and the advantage of closely-planted 
trees. On au acre 108 trees may be set 20 feet 
apart. At the low average of four barrels to 
the tree, we would have 432 barrels from an 
acre, at one dollar per barrel. We can raise 
no other crop with so little care, which would 
give returns so large. Now, supposing the 
trees to be planted at a distance of 40 feet from 
each other, we could get only 27 trees on an 
acre, and in the same proportion a 6 ihe others, 
only 108 barrels of fruit. The objection may 
be that the trees will not bear as well if set 
close. It has been our experience tiiat they 
will, until twelve or fifteen years after plant¬ 
ing, when, should the brandies become inter¬ 
laced, every alternate tree may be removed. 
All things considered, we deem closcdy-planted 
orchards the most profitable. Moreover, the 
trees are less liable to injury, for they furnish 
for themselves a protection. 
Hector Bertram. 
-♦♦♦- 
Ornamental (tuince as a Stock for the Pear.— 
Paradise Stuck for the Apple, 
We take the liberty to publish the following 
remarks made in a private letter by Mr. Charles 
Downing in answer to our inquiries: 
•‘I have never tried the ornamental Quince as 
a pear stock, and know nothing except what 
Mr. Strong has published. It is worthy of a 
trial, and I see no reason why it should uot 
succeed. As to the Paradise 8 tock for the 
Apple I never made but one trial wbicli was 
not successful, mostly, I think, because I did 
not know how to manage them properly, aud 
think I could do better with another trial. 
They require much time and are ouly fitted to 
the amateur and for small gardens. One 
orchard tree will give more fruit than twenty 
of these dwarfs, aud with much less labor. 
CLOSELY-PLANTED ORCHARDS. 
When we plant another orchard—if we ever 
do 60 —we shall set the trees nearer each other 
than we have done heretofore. An orchard 
should never beexpected to produce agraiu crop 
in addition to the fruit, after the trees become 
large. We think twenty-five, instead of thirty- 
five or forty fe«t each way, to be nearer the 
most profitable distance—and this question of 
profit, is the one the small farmer must con¬ 
sider. In our experience we have found low- 
trimmed trees the most productive. Aud how is 
it possible to cultivate a crop of any kind in an 
orchard of low-headed trees, even if they are 
set at a distance of two rods apart. ? Let the 
land calculated for an orchard, be used ex¬ 
clusively for that purpose, and more clear eash 
will be realized than when too much is ex¬ 
pected of it. 
Auother serious mistake that many farmers 
make when selecting trees for an orchard is, 
that they choose too many varieties. Where 
only enough are grown for home consumption, 
this may uot be disadvantageous, but where 
the farmer iutends ultimately to make of his 
orchard a constantly increasing source of reve¬ 
nue, he commits a grievous mistake. When 
they are of one variety mainly; that is, of 
winter fruit, there is much less labor required to 
put them in presentable shape for market, and 
a much more ready and profitable sale is made. 
Besides, the trouble of keeping the different va¬ 
rieties apart is avoided. 
A properly managed orchard is, without 
doubt, the surest source of income to its owner. 
In some seasons, like the last, there may be 
exceptions to this. Yet even during the past 
season apples have been a paying crop. A 
®t)f fonltrg garb. 
A CHEAP DRINKING VESSEL FOR YOUNG 
CHICKENS. 
So many and so varied are inventions iu this 
line, that anything more seems almost super¬ 
fluous. Yet something that can be made by 
any one, andiswithin reach of all, never comes 
amiss; especially so in these days of econo¬ 
mical expenditures. 
None of the various so-called water-fountaius 
is adapted alike for old 
fowls and young chicks, 
although most all of 
them may be used for 
both. The writer’s ex¬ 
perience has led him to 
devise numerous drink¬ 
ing vessels designed to 
keep young chicks from 
getting into the water, 
as they arc sure to do if given an open pan or 
similar vessel to drink from. The above has 
been in use. now two seasons, and “improves 
on acquaintance." 
The materials and tools necessary are two 
old fruit or preserve cans, a pair of tinners’ 
snips aud a small hammer. Cut one can off, 
one and a half inch from the bottom. In the 
other, simply remove the opened end, leaving 
the sides as near full-length as possible. Cut 
the side into strips of three-fourths, aud one or 
one and one-fourth inch wide, alternately, to 
within one and a-balf inches of the closed end: 
cut off the three-quarter strips, leaviug only 
enough to turn iu ; turn this down smoothly 
with the hammer. To use, fill either end with 
water and invert the other over it, always let¬ 
ting the eut ends go inside the rim of the other. 
This width of opening—three-quarters of au 
inch—is enough to admit the heads of the 
chicks until they are a week to ten days old. 
If made an inch wide, some of them will 
squeeze through and get into the water. After 
the first week, give them one with larger-sized 
openings. The same device may be used for 
feeding. It is quickly and easily filled ; as 
quickly and easily cleaned, keeps both food and 
water clean, and almost every one who keeps 
chickens has the cans within reach. Fifteen 
minutes’ work at the nearest tin-shop, will 
give one half-a-dozen of them, which will an¬ 
swer the purpose intended as well »b any that 
can be bought. A. M. Halstep. 
Rye, N. Y. 
-♦ ♦♦ - 
“ DOES IT PAY I” 
Was ever an undertaking proposed involving 
any expense of labor or mouey where this 
question was not asked ? I had occasion to 
ask it last fall aud will tell the Rural 
readers about it. I was walking over the 
grounds of a friend with him, and my attention 
was drawn to the large number of little chick¬ 
ens just then feathering out. I asked how it 
happened that he had 60 many late chickens ? 
He said he did n’t get as many as he had intend¬ 
ed to. I opened my eyeB at this aud he ex¬ 
plained. These chickens in his warm house 
