662 
With even half the mosquito curse cut out it is 
safe to say that the Summer shore population of the 
State would be doubled. This means a vast market 
for farmers, an increase of real estate values and 
more labor for working people. What is more, 
drainage will improve the marshes and in time make 
them productive. There are 296,289 acres of marsh. 
As we have seen from Dr. Lipman's analysis this 
marsh soil 30 inches deep contains more nitrogen 
than an equal quantity of manure. The figures show 
that to a depth of 30 inches an acre of this marsh 
contains nearly 49,000 pounds: of nitrogen. This 
means 150 tons of nitrate of soda or 45,443,350 tons 
for the entire marsh. Surely this wealth of comfort 
for its people and this vast store of plant food is 
well worth a battle on the part of the State. The 
small guard of mosquito fighters will do New Jersey 
more good than any soldiers she has equipped and 
sent forth. The best of Holland is represented by a 
redeemed salt marsh. Prof. Smith, who has been 
Ihcre, says that with the drained land and moving 
water there are very few mosquitoes. 
I he State fights the salt marsh mosquito because 
it travels all about the State. Other mosquitoes breed 
inland near our houses or in swamps and ponds. 
Those must be fought by the individual. I will try 
to tell how some of them may be held in check 
next week. h. w. c. 
MOVING THOSE EIGHT-YEAR-OLD TREES. 
We would consider a ball from five to six feet in 
diameter sufficient to carry a tree six inches in di¬ 
ameter, and would advise cutting back the last two 
years’ growth, as the tree would more than gain the 
wood lost by so doing in getting more quickly es¬ 
tablished. Apple trees arc loosely rooted, and espec¬ 
ially hard to move with earth if not frozen or with¬ 
out special machinery for doing it, and if one in¬ 
tends to transplant trees of this character we would 
prefer root pruning in the Spring, or even at the 
present time, and by Fall would have the tree well 
rooted with fibrous roots; it would move with more 
earth and do better than if not pruned. We have 
moved apple trees of this size, and have been success¬ 
ful in both pruned and unpruned roots, but we think 
that the trees do enough better to pay for the time 
of labor. By root pruning we would dig round the 
tree as if we were going to ta’. ; it up or ball it for 
moving, cutting all the roots we came in contact with, 
and refill with earth. The ball could be made smaller 
than at the time of moving, as the young roots will 
make some growth from where they were pruned. 
The time for transplanting, if the ground is not 
low, and free from water, would be either Fall or 
Spring, whether moved with a frozen ball or not, 
and we have found that they do as well at one time 
as another in this section. In taking up the tree to 
transplant we would dig round as above stated for 
pruning (keeping a little farther out so as not to 
cut the young growth), dig down and undermine 
the tree as far as possible all round, letting it stand on 
its center. To move with a frozen ball fill the 
trench or round the tree with mulch to keep the bot¬ 
tom of the ball from freezing, letting the top part 
freeze three inches, or enough to keep the ball from 
breaking; by wrapping the trunk near the crotch 
and tacking lath to this you can fasten to the tree 
without injury, and with tackle blocks and team 
break the ball off its small foundation and stand on 
end without breaking the ball if frozen sufficiently. 
It is now in a position so a stone sled or stone 
truck can be set close to it, and by letting up on the 
tackle can be easily righted as before, ready to 
fasten to draw out; this can be done with tackle if 
too heavy to pull otherwise. We have found this 
way quick and successful where tree lifter was not 
to be had or expense of same necessary for this size. 
To move with a ball not frozen is hard to do un¬ 
less you have special machinery for doing this work 
of lifting the tree, so that the weight and strain of 
pulling will not loosen the roots in the ball, for if 
bent or twisted at all, they will loosen, and the earth 
fall out. In this case, where facilities are not to be 
had, we have had very good success taking the tree 
after being undermined, and with a pick take out a 
foot of earth all round the tree, coming out in line 
with the roots, and being careful not to break the 
small fibers too much. This will lighten it, but will 
still leave the roots, and by fastening as above 
stated and getting a lifting pull will come up easily. 
To do this when one has not the equipment get a 
strong double-headed barrel, not too small, and by 
laying this on its side close up to the tree with a bag 
of straw between so it will not bark nor mar, by pull¬ 
ing with tackle tree will roll over on, and be held up 
by the barrel, as with a frozen ball, ready to receive 
sled as explained. This may look crude to other 
people, but it has worked well with us, and is suc¬ 
cessful. 
In planting, a hole plenty large enough for the 
TM EC RURAL NEVV-VORKER 
tree should be made, and deep enough so that good 
soil can be put in, say six inches; this gives a good 
bed for the tree. Care also should be taken not to 
plant too deep, but same as before taking up, and in 
filling in round the tree good earth should be used. 
If water is handy the earth should be worked in with 
it, and by rocking the tree in the four different di¬ 
rections the soft mud or earth will fill its way into 
all crevices. This is better than trying to get the 
earth under with a stick, as it jams the small roots, 
and is not done as well or vacuums filled. After tree 
is well puddled fill in with regular soil and tramp 
solid. Trees of this size should have care and be 
nursed until they get established and growing; culti¬ 
vate round the tree and keep the ground loose to 
create moisture; keep the tree healthy, and spray 
for scale whether it is infested or not; also with 
Bordeaux Mixture, as this is a great benefit to the 
foliage, for a tree which has been checked or in a 
weak condition is more subject to diseases than one 
of vigorous growth. Stephen hoyt’s sons co. 
HOW TO PREVENT SWARMING. 
W'liat can bo done to prevent Look swarming in July and 
August? When and how is tlie best way to transfer 1m»os 
from common round hives to modern ones? Will a swarm 
stay in hive and produce a queen when a frame of un¬ 
capped brood comb is put witli them? jt. n. s. 
The question of preventing swarming is one 
which has bothered beekeepers a long time, and is 
far from being settled yet. While many bee men 
have worked out plans that work in their bands, in 
their locality, they are often complete failures when 
tried in another locality by some one else. In fact 
this matter of location affects the habits of bees more 
than almost any* other condition, because of the 
different times when the honey flows are on. Bees 
are more apt to swarm during a slow honey flow 
than during a strong one, if it is quite long continued, 
although they may swarm at any time if crowded 
for room. I do not understand July and August 
swarming, as our swarming season here is May and 
June, but I take it you have some kind of a honey 
flow at that time. You do not state whether it is 
general or occasional; if general 1 would give plenty 
of room for storing honey, and plenty of ventilation 
at bottom of hive, and if that did not stop it 1 would 
draw two frames of sealed brood from each hive and 
put empty combs or full sheets of foundation in llieir 
place, using the brood taken for building new colonies 
or helping out weaker ones. This is all that is needed 
practically to prevent swarming here, as I do not have 
to exceed two per cent of swarms, but 1 cannot 
recommend any plan as sure in any other locality. 
1 will answer the last question here, as it seems to 
come next. If you draw a lot of combs of brood, and 
if the brood chamber is crowded with honey take 
some of that also, fill and empty hive with these 
combs, move a strong colony to a new location, and 
set the hive of combs on the stand vacated. The 
bees returning will raise a fairly good queen, and 
you will have a booming colony for business, but if 
you have a swarm without a queen in an empty hive 
and give a frame of unsealed brood they are apt to 
be in too great a hurry for a queen, and do not feed 
the larvae enough before sealing them up, so they are 
not well enough developed to amount to much. The 
queen is the mother of the colony and a poor queen 
makes a poor colony. The best way to handle such 
a case would be to introduce a queen, but if none is 
at hand give a good queen cell from some other hive 
if you have any. If these are not available the frame 
of brood will probably save the cojony,'but 1 would 
give, more than one frame if I had it to spare. 
The best time to transfer bees is conceded to be 
in the Spring at the beginning of fruit bloom as soon 
as they begin to store honey a little, as at this time 
the combs contain very little honey, and arc more 
easily handled and fastened in the new frames; al¬ 
though it can be done at any time by using a honey 
extractor on the full combs. I never transferred any 
from logs, or round hives, but have many times from 
box hives. I will tell how I manage, and you can 
adapt it to a log hive by making a large hole in a 
board and laying it on the bottom of hive, to set 
swarm box on. Have everything needed at hand, 
hammer, chisel, long-bladed butcher knife, wash dish 
of water, towel, ball of twine, a few strips of wood 
about three-sixtceenths of an inch square, and long 
enough to reach across a frame, and some brads to 
fasten them to the frames. The swarm box should 
be just large enough to set on the edge of the bottom 
of the hive and six inches deep or more. We also 
need a board or table to do our work on, and some 
say we should have a cloth or carpet over it, to lay 
the combs on, but T don’t like it because it soon 
gets daubed with honey and is more mussy than a 
baseboard, which can be wiped off. Take the hive 
to be transferred, give it a good smoking, turn it 
bottom side up, and adjust the swarm box on top of 
August 22, 
it so that no bees can gtt out, m w take a couple 
of sticks and drum on the sides of the hive for it) to 
20 minutes, and the bees will nearly all leave the 
combs and cluster in the swarm box much like a 
swarm. Set the swarm box to one side, in the shade, 
and go at the hive, cut or split off one side and get 
the combs out one at a time. Lay one of your frames 
over the comb and cut inside the frame, one or more 
pieces of comb to fit the frame. If large piece, wind 
a lot of twine around the frame to hold the comb 
from falling out. Set the new hive on the old stand 
and set the frames in place as fast as ready. When 
there arc small pieces of brood they may be saved by 
tacking some of the small strips of wood on one side 
of the frame, fitting them in and tacking more on 
the other side. Save all good brood possible, putting 
combs of brood side by side, and empty combs, if any, 
outside of the brood. When all is done close up the 
hive, spread something in front of the hive, a sheet 
is good, and dump the swarm from the box on to it 
the same as you would hive a swarm. The bees will 
soon patch up the combs and fasten them int the 
frames, and if we are careful to keep the edges in 
line the>' will make very good combs. It is a good 
plan to reject all drone comb, and use worker comb, 
nr comb foundation, t<> fill out the hive. The time re¬ 
quired for this operation will vary with the condition 
of the combs. If they are fairly straight it can be 
done in 20 minutes, and if very crooked, so as to 
need lots of piecing, it may take an hour. It is best 
to get at least one comb of brood into the hive as 
soon as possible to hold the Hying bees, as they are 
apt to go into other hives if they find their own home 
deserted or moved. 
Another method of transferring discovered by Mr. 
James Heddon, called the Ilcddon or short method, 
is to have a hive filled with foundation, remove the 
old hive and set the new one in its place, drum out 
the bees as in the other plan, and hive them in the 
new hive on the old stand, being sure to get the 
queen with them. Then set the old hive back of the 
new one, and turn the entrance at right angles to 
what it was before. Leave in this position for 21 
days, when the hrood should all be hatched, turn the 
hive over and drum out all the bees this time, and 
unite them with the new hive. While this method is 
a little less labor, it has to be done later than the 
others, so as to have a large force of bees to work the 
new hive. I get more surplus honey by the first 
method, but this way is much used in many places. Tt 
must be understood that these manipulations will be 
successful only when some honey is being gathered, 
otherwise the bees are apt to start a robbing spree, 
and will make anyone wish they had never seen a 
bee. It is well to be very careful about dropping or 
smearing any honey around where the bees can get at 
it, as that may start robbing, and they will soon use 
up your transferred swarm. Since writing the above 
I have seen an article which characterizes queens 
raised by queenless bees, as five-ccnt queens, but in 
a hive with a large force of bees, and some honey 
coming in. T would as soon have such as any of the 
untested queens that 1 can buy. An old beeman told 
me this Spring that a colony of bees transferred from 
a box hive always would take hold of business in a 
way unknown to a colony left in peace in a good 
hive. While I do not exactly agree with him in that, 
it will certainly pay big to transfer to frame hives, 
as then we have then in shape to get the surplus in 
marketable condition, and have the pleasure of know¬ 
ing that we can handle bees successfully. 
Wayne Co., N. Y. j. d. crane. 
INVEST IN THE FARM. A word to those who are 
seeking a place to invest money. There are two main 
points t tint borrowers are compelled to offer for money, 
safety and the readiness with which the money can he had 
again on demand. Here a good white farmer can borrow 
money at eiglii per eeni. The average negro must offer go 
to 25, and some are compelled to offer 50 to 100. Compare 
this with United States bonds. There is about as much 
real profit and lots more satisfaction in the eight per cent 
as in the 50 or 100. All advertising schemes offering big 
inducements cane bo put down at once as cither unsafe or 
dishonest. TVhat is the matter with investing more money 
where you have already made money? The farm that 
will not pay for more improvements must be very rare. 
We don't have lliem down tills way. m. 
Mississippi. 
ALFALFA IN OHIO.—When wo provide a soil that is 
well drained, that is friable and overlies a porous subsoil, a 
soil that is not sour and has a good supply of phosphorus, 
potash and lime, is free from weeds and grass, then, pro¬ 
vided we sow our seed at the right time and on a proper 
seed bed. may we expect success witli Alfalfa. Under such 
conditions artificial inoculation will not be necessary, for 
the Alfalfa bacteria will rapidly increase from the few 
that come in with the seed or otherwise, until'all the 
plants have their full quota. Under favorable conditions 
our other clovers are very successful .here, and when bet- 
ter treated I believe Alfalfa will he also. I have faith in 
Alfalfa, and believe it will have a large place in the farm¬ 
ing of the future, hut Alfalfa will require, for its success¬ 
ful growth, much better care than we usually accord red 
clover. w. k. p. 
Hillsboro, ft. 
