driven directly under it. At one side of the 
wagon is placed a shield or apron, up which the 
manure slides. Mine is made of 2x4 stuff and 
two-inch plank bolted together. A front view 
is given at Fig. 15, and a side view at Fig. 16. 
Three like Fig. 16 are made the hight of the 
wagon and thoplanks areas long as t he wagon. 
The ground pulley is then attached and the 
horses.hitched to the rope. Two small fork¬ 
fuls generally till the wagon with straw man¬ 
ure. R. E. D. 
Catherine, N. Y. 
WAGON BOX SEAT ELEVATORS. 
The wagon-box seat elevators shown at Fig. 
17, are so made that they can be taken off iu 
an instant and clapped on to a sleigh-box. I 
find the device just the thing when drawing 
apple barrels, bags of grain, corn, wood. The 
seat is up out of the way, and I seldom have to 
move it to load or unload. A person can make 
them in three or four hours. Eight strips of 
ash from two to three feet long, one-and-oue- 
half inch wide at the top and two inches at 
the bottom, half an inch thick, one piece two 
feet or so long, and as thick as the wagon-box 
and another of the same length two inches 
wide and a little thicker than the wagon-box, 
so as to make the cleats clamp lightly on the 
box. Eight inch bolts; one brace. 
F. H. R. 
PRESERVING SHINGLES. 
The Rural inquires ‘‘what is the best way 
to preserve shingles?” I think an application 
of crude petroleum or W, Va. lubricating oil 
is as good as any, and is inexpensive. Seven 
years ago 1 coated one shingle roof and the 
weather boarding of nearly all my out-build¬ 
ings with these oils. I like the W. Va. oil the 
best, as it has more body than the petroleum 
and stays nearer the surface. It is easily ap¬ 
plied with a large paint brush in warm weather; 
in cold weather it will have to be warmed. 
The objection to oiling is the dark color, es¬ 
pecially on the parts not much exposed to the 
sim. It is also apt to loosen the nails in build¬ 
ings that are not firm in the frame-work. 
Rockland Farm, Md. a. l. c. 
<TI)c Spkrifm. 
SIXTEENTH SESSION, NORTH AMERI¬ 
CAN BEE-KEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
A flue attendance; importance of bee-keep- 
ing; bees and fruits; the Bee-keepers' Union; 
widening the honey markets; comb honey; 
foundations. 
(RURAL SPECIAL REPORT.) 
The attendance at the Detroit meeting of 
this society was unprecedentedly large. Among 
those in attendance were the mast successful 
and distinguished bee-keepers of the United 
States and Canada. The venerable L. L. 
Langstroth, the father of American apicult ure, 
who honored the meeting with his presence, 
remarked that this was the greatest assembly 
of the kind ever held on this continent. Such 
apiarists as L. C. Root, President of the socie¬ 
ty, G. M. Doolittle, W. E. Clark and Mr. 
Barber, of New York; D. A. .Tories, and 
Messrs. Hall. Emigb and Pottet, of Canada; 
Newman and Dadant of Illinois; Muth, A. J. 
Root. Dr. Mason, Newman and Boardman. of 
Ohio; Ueddou, Hutchinson and Cook, of Mich¬ 
igan, were present to consider the many im¬ 
portant questions vital to apiculture. The 
“blizzard"’ had the effect of keeping most of the 
apiarists of the South at home, which was 
greatly regretted. The annual meeting for 
1686, upon request of the State Association of 
Indiana, will be held earlier, some time next 
Autumn, at Indianapolis. H. D. Cutting, of 
Clinton, Mich., was elected President for 1880; 
Frank E. Dougherty, of Indianapolis, Secre¬ 
tary; Mrs. Robins, of Indiana, Corresponding 
Secretary, and Chas. F. Muth, of Cincinnati, 
Treasurer. 
Owing to the great loss of bees last Winter, 
the reports of honey the past season showed a 
small product. The year has been generally 
favorable, though in some States, as California, 
which last year gave an enormous crop, the 
product for the present year was very light. 
Considerable uneasiness was shown as to 
prices. Though the crop is so small, yet the 
prices are unprecedentedly low. The opinion 
seemed to be that, the general depression in 
business was the principal cause. Large deal¬ 
ers who were present thought the tendency of 
the market was upward. The Venerable L. 
L. Langstroth gave an interesting account of 
the invention of the movable comb hive which 
has revolutionized bee culture 
Pres. Willetts, of the State Agricultural 
College, welcomed the society to Michigan. 
He showed the importance of the bee-keeping- 
industry, which produced millions of wealth 
each year, which, without bees and bee-keep¬ 
ers, would be lost. He commented upon the 
excellence of houey and the fact that it could 
not be produced except by the bee. He show¬ 
ed that Michigan, in apiculture and its fruits, 
ranked among the first. States. In comment¬ 
ing upon the reeent suits at law between fruit 
growers and bee-keepeis, he spoke both as a 
lawyer and law-maker. He said the courts 
looked kindly upon this pursuit, because of its 
usefulness and age. Bees existed before courts 
or statutes. They have the strong right of 
prior possession. Science showed that bees 
did not attack sound fruit, and be added that 
between honey and wine he felt no hesitation 
in pronouncing in favor of honey. Pres. Root, 
of New York, in responding, said that no State 
stood higher than Michigan as a producer of 
honey, and that no State, perhaps, ranked so 
high iu the influence exerted to extend practi¬ 
cal and scientific apiculture. 
Mr. Newman said the Bee-keepers’ Uuion is 
an organization acting under a constitution, 
which has for its object the defence of bee 
keepers in suits of law, where, upon thorough 
investigation, the complaint is unjust. In tbe 
sheep aud l>ee suit iu Wisconsin we have gain¬ 
ed a signal victory, We are prepared to carry 
the ease decided against the bees in California 
to the higher courts. Here the fruit growers 
are acting against their own interests in trying 
to drive away the bees and apiarists. Prof. 
Cook stated that it was uot bees versus fruits, 
it was bees and fruits versus ignorance. A 
committee of five was appointed, who reported 
iu favor of a union of the Bee-keepers' Uuion 
aud the North American Association. Owing 
to some opposition the whole matter was laid 
on the table. 
Mr. L. C. Root, in his annual address as 
President, referred to the importance of our 
industry. In the economy of Nature, bees are 
a necessity. Bees effect full fertilization of 
flowers, hence seed time and harvest depend 
upon them. They also give wealth to the natiou 
—create it. Low prices are the result of hard 
times. We can aid by working to increase the 
demand for houey. No one should ship honey 
to the large markets till tho maximum con¬ 
sumption had been secured at or uear home. 
This would keep the supply below tbe demand 
in our great marts, which really fix prices for 
the whole country. Mr. Muth said the uses of 
honey were constantly increasing and there was 
no real cause for discouragement. All kinds 
of business were now depressed. Mr. Jones 
said we were now far better off thau the farm¬ 
ers. Our capital was far less, our proceeds 
greater. Mr. Pettet said we are stimulating 
too many to go into the business. There is too 
great a teudency to paint our industry iu too 
glowing colors, 
G. M. Doolittle, iu a paper on comb honey, 
said there were four requisites to success. 1. 
We must have good queens. These cost some¬ 
thing. but are worth the cost. 2. We must 
have full colonies at the time of harvest. A 
few strong colonies are far better thau many 
weak ones. S. The apiarist must be skillful. 
Any bee-keeper can raise extracted honey 
but wisdom and experience arc absolutely 
necessary to secure large returns of comb 
honey. Lastly, a good hive is indispensable 
to the best results. 
Mr. Hutchinson said he succeeded best 
when he used full sheets of foundation— 
uot mere starters—in the sections. Mr. 
Boardman hives new colonies on starters, and 
as they make comb, he cuts it out and fills 
sections with it. If the combs were laid on 
grass 48 hours, the sun would kill eggs and 
whiteu the combs. 
Mr. Hall thought Mr. Boardman’s plan 
awkward. Full sheets of foundation were 
by far the best. He preferred thick founda¬ 
tion so that bees would have enough wax 
to complete combs. Said the fish bone was 
no trouble to consumers, only to the bee 
keepers. Hutchinson used only five frames at 
dawn of honey harvest, then he got more 
comb houey. llall preferred large hives so as 
to have plenty Of good houey for winter food 
for the bees. Emigh, a very successful bee- 
keqper of putario, said we jnust, have .full 
sheets of foundation. We get far nicer honey. 
Doolittle thinks that foundation does not 
pay in his locality. Taylor, Michigan, said 
that the foundation causes sectionsto be better 
filled aud more securely fastened, and so the 
combs are stronger, but not because it is 
thicker or less delicate. For shipping alone 
he should use full sheets, if for nothing else. 
Mr. Muth said that foundation gives strength, 
hut it is better to use thin foundation, uot 
thicker than eleven feet to the pound. Mr. 
Walker uses full sheets when honey comes 
slow, aud always in outside sections. This 
secured more speedy capping. He also found 
it a great advantage to invert all the sections. 
We should always be ready to put sections on 
the hive in time; delay often causes loss. 
a. J. c. 
(To be, continued.) 
Critomolofiical, 
THE ARSENITES. 
PROF. A. J. COOK. 
The surprise expressed by Prof. Budd, in a 
late Rural, that I did not recommend the use 
of common white arsenic, arsenious acid, as 
an insecticide, at the late meeting of the 
North Americau Pomological Society, is a 
worthy text for a brief article on the subject. 
Years ago, when the arsenites were first 
used to fight insects, we tried here at the Col¬ 
lege all the ai’senites now used, including 
white arsenic, aud fouud them all efficient iu 
the destruction of all our vegetable-eating in¬ 
sect jiests; but after much earnest, thoughtful 
consideration it was deemed unwise and un¬ 
safe to recommend white arsenic for common 
use as a specific against, our uoxious insects. 
A very little investigation will show that 
nearly, if not quite, all actual cases of poison¬ 
ing by use of the arsenites have come through 
waut of caution—usually reasonable caution. 
The only case which has conn* under my per¬ 
sonal observation was when a barrel or tub of 
Hour aud Paris-green was left in a pasture 
field adjoining a field of potatoes. The care¬ 
less farmer, as he came in the morning to ap¬ 
ply the balance of the poison, found he had 
lost, uot only his poison, but some of his best 
cattle. He has since been richer in experience 
if uot iu Paris-green and cattle. Now, had 
these cattle been people, the green color would 
have saved them. The same would be true in 
case of London-purple. In all our advice and 
recommendations for the public, we must con¬ 
sider the peculiarities of people, and must uot 
act as if all persons were cautious. We must 
also remember how terribly poisonous these 
arsenites are, and how awfully and irretriev- 
ably sad it is for a person to become the vic¬ 
tim of their improper use, eveu though care¬ 
lessness was at the root of the disaster. 
In nearly every case where people have died 
from arsenical poisons, it has been through mis¬ 
taking them for something else. How easy 
such mistakes with arsenic! Like soda, flour, 
etc., it is a white powder, and in case careless 
hands have left it in the pantry, what is to 
prevent a fatal mistake ? Not so with London- 
purple or Paris-green; their peculiar color, 
especially that of the latter, would prove the 
very best skull and cross-bones, as it could 
never be omitted. In eases where accidents 
are so terrible, no pains should be spared to 
prevent eveu exceptional risks. Thus it is that 
I have always refused to recommend common 
arsenic, and always protested against recom¬ 
mending it, I agree with Prof. Budd, that 
the danger of killing stock by their feeding 
on herbage under fruit trees treated with the 
arseuitos, is slight indeed, if the poison is 
rightly attenuated; but the greater danger, as 
referred to above, resulting from carelessness, 
makes it, 1 think, unwise and improper either 
to use or recommend arsenic as an insecticide. 
Again, l fear the Editor’s report of what I 
had said may mislead, although I am sure he 
did uot mean it should. While I said the dan¬ 
ger of stock eating grass under trees which 
had been sprayed with arsenites, immediately 
after the spraying, was not as great as many 
supposed, l urged most vehemently against 
such cropping of the grass by stock till after 
a heavy rain. I showed how little of the ar- 
senite was put on to au entire tree—no more 
than an even teaspoonful—and how but a very 
small fraction of that fell to the ground, and 
that after careful investigation, eveu with a 
microscope. I could find so little poison on the 
gl ass that 1 fed such gross to my horse. Y et 
1 said such might not always be the ease. 
Carelessness might put more on the tree; acci¬ 
dent might cause more to fall to the ground; 
and as the article is so deadly poisonous, and 
the result in ease of poisoning so serious, uo 
one should ever permit cattle or other stock to 
feed on the grass in an orchard for several 
daysafter the poison was applied, And 1 wish 
to emphasize the caution. 
Ag’l. Coll,, Lansing, Mich. 
[ Mr. Parnell generously contributes a con¬ 
siderable quantity of the seeds of this plant to 
our Free Seed Distribution.— Eds.] 
I consider this to be the most handsome 
and attractive of the solanums. and it is very 
valuable for decorative purposes during the 
Winter in the window garden, greenhouse, or 
any situation where an average temperature 
of .55 degrees is maintained, and it also forms 
a very pretty plant in the mixed flower border 
during the summer months. It may be des¬ 
cribed as being a tender perennial of spreading 
habit, growing from 12 to 18 inches in hight, 
the stems ami foliage being well covered with 
numerous straight, very shai-p prickles. In 
shape the leaves are oblong and irregularly 
lobed and of a bright green color. The flowers 
are small and not at. all showy, and are suc¬ 
ceeded by the fruit which at first is of a green¬ 
ish color, marked with dark green lines. As 
it ripens, it gradually becomes scarlet, and in 
this condition remains on the plant for 15 
months. The fruit or berries are about, an 
inch and a half in diameter, globular in shape, 
and wheu fully ripe of a bright scarlet red 
color, aud iu this condition very attractive. 
It is a plant easily grown. The seed should 
be sown as early iu the season as possible, and 
as soon as the young plants are strong enough 
to be handled, they should be transferred into 
three-inch pots, and when these are well filled 
with roots, the plants should be shifted into 
four-inch pom, and just before they ait* plung¬ 
ed outside (which should be done about the end 
of May), they should lie transferred into six- 
inch pots. The pots should be plunged in a 
sunny situation, and during the Summer they 
should be turned occasionally to prevent the 
plants from rooting outside. Water should be 
thoroughly and freely given, and on the ap¬ 
proach of cold weather, the plants should be 
taken up and brought inside. 
As soon as the weather becomes settled, 
these young plants can be planted out in a 
deep, well enriched border, and grown care¬ 
fully during the summer months, and taken up 
carefully and potted early in September. This 
is the best plan for the experienced plant cul¬ 
tivator; but amateurs had better adopt the 
former method. In potting, be sure to give 
good drainage, and use a compost composed of 
two-thirds of well rotted sods and one-third of 
well decayed manure. 
Occasionally outside the plant is attacked 
by the potato flea in such numbers as to severe¬ 
ly injure its fol iage. As a preventive, dust it 
occasionally with insect powder, soot, or to¬ 
bacco dust, and as it shows a tendency to grow 
rather straggling, ic should be supported by a 
neat stake, to which the young shoots should 
be tied from time to time, as circumstances 
may require. chas. e. parnell. 
Dec. 21st, 
SHORT PITHY PARAGRAPHS. 
E. J. BROWNELL. 
Keep ahead of your work during the whole 
season. Work is so much more pleasant in 
this way than to have it dragging two or three 
weeks behind. In order to accomplish this, 
make plans in advance for the season’s work, 
aud, so far as possible, work according to these 
plans. Then, during leisure time iu Winter 
see that all farm aud garden tools are ready 
for use when the busy season arrives. Keep 
all farm tools aud implements under shelter 
when not in act ual use. So far as possible keep 
all uoxious weeds from ripening seed. Remem¬ 
ber that one hour’s work in gardeu or field 
when weeds first start, is worth one-half day’s 
work later. 
If possible, have the kitchen garden 
so arranged as to use horse culture in both 
fruit aud vegetables, and thus save largely 
in time or labor. Pack garden vegetables, 
such as beets, carrots, turnips, etc., in boxes or 
barrels of sand iu Che cellar for winter use 
and so preserve them as fresh as when taken 
from the ground. Also put in a few parsnips 
in this way to use during the Winter. 
Evergreen boughs make a good mulch for 
the strawberry bed, and are free from foul 
weeds. 
Economize in feeding stock by utilizing 
everything grown upon the farm or gardeu 
that is suitable for food, but remember that it 
I is not economy to see how much stock can 
actually be kept alive on a giveu amount of 
