1883.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
111 
The Lenten Season. 
Elsewhere we have given our readers some idea of 
Easter and its customs, and described the methods 
of coloring and decorating Easter eggs. A few 
words concerning the Lenten season, or the forty 
days spring fast, will interest our readers. The 
word Lent is of uncertain origin, but is referred, 
with some reason, to the German word Lenz (spring), 
or to the word Leinen, to thaw. Lent is the forty 
days fast, but the season is really of forty-six days 
duration, the six Sundays of Lent, including Palm 
Sunday, not counting as fast days. The first day 
of Lent is determined by the date of Easter and is 
forty-six days before that date. Easter is deter¬ 
mined astronomically. It is the first Sunday after 
the full moon which happens upon or next after 
the 21st of March. If, however, the full moon hap¬ 
pens upon a Sunday, Easter is deferred until the 
. Sunday after. It will thus be seen that Easter is a 
very variable and movable holiday. During the 
last forty years, Easter has fallen three times on 
the 23d of March, (this year it is the 25th,) once on 
the 24th of April, twice on the 21st, and twice on the 
20th. Twice in the period named, Lent has begun 
on St. Valentine’s Day, and closed with the dawn 
of the first of April, just bridging the gap between 
two days of humorous holiday observance. The 
first day of Lent is known in religious calendars as 
Ash Wednesday, and falls this year on the 7th of 
.February, an early close of the “gay season.” 
yard 
Wetlyerd 
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Forestry Notes. 
The preservation of forests and the increase of 
forest and timber areas, are special subjects of 
study in Europe and in many 
of the English colonies, and 
form an important feature in 
the policy of governments. It 
is becoming a question of 
great concern in the United 
States, where such vast regions 
have been denuded of their 
tree growth, and where the 
lumbermen each year make 
such steady advances upon 
what remains of the wood 
land; too often unhappily 
aided by the conflagrations 
that devastate many square 
leagues of forest in the com¬ 
pass of a few days. A good 
deal of thought has been given 
to the renewal of our Ameri¬ 
can forests. Private enter¬ 
prise and organized Forestry 
Associations have imparted a 
stimulus to tree planting. 
Railroad companies have set 
out trees along their lines, and 
Congress and the legislatures 
in the older States, as well as 
the newer, have given boun¬ 
ties, or granted exemptions 
from taxes. This has encour¬ 
aged a practice that has in 
it the germs of profit in the 
future, both to the growers of 
trees and to the agricultural 
interest at large, which will be 
benefited by the conditions of 
climate that will accompany a 
practical recognition of the 
relations that wood lands and 
cultivated lands bear to each 
other. In Europe, govern¬ 
ment intervention is naturally 
expected and sought for. In 
the United States another sys¬ 
tem will prove quite as effective 
plantation of Mr. D. C. Schofield, of Elgin, Ill. 
Trees on his plantation grew in 12 years, from mere 
whips to be 30 feet high, and 12 inches in diameter 
at the base. The estimated income in 30 year6 
was, from three thinnings, $2,920, and at the end 
of that period there would be 300 trees on each 
acre, worth $6,000. Mr. Schofield is regarded as 
an “ enthusiast ” in his work. It would be well 
if his experience would stimulate something 
like the same enthusiasm in others. 
A few notes on matters pertaining to forestry 
will interest readers who comprehend the necessi¬ 
ties of immediate action, 
and are ready and willing to 
do what they can for the 
protection of Agriculture 
in this land. In South Aus¬ 
tralia a Forest Board was 
organized in 1875. They 
have formed 240,000 acres 
of Forest Reserves, at a 
cost of $175,000. Last year 
the increase of trees in 
these reserves was 212,000 
over the previous year. 
The Government offers a 
bonus of $10.00 per acre to * 
farmers who plant trees. It also distributes young 
trees without charge to those who will plant them. 
The pests of the plantations are rabbits, opossums, 
and kangaroos—from the last of which, “ground 
game,” American forests will not suffer, whatever 
may be their special enemies. 
In England, the American black walnut has 
proved a favorite in forest planting, and is regarded 
as a desirable tree in parks and on estates. It is 
likely to take the place of the common walnut. A 
6 mall plantation of this tree in Canada 6hows 
Plan of Sheep Barn. 
CLASS IV.—FIBS2 PRIZE BY DANIEL CURRIE, MINN. 
The main building in this plan is 24 by 40 feet, 
with 20-ft. posts, and is used for hay from the 
ground up, the hay being unloaded from the west 
end (outside), with a horse-fork and hay-carrier 
projecting outside four feet. There is a large door 
in the west end. The wings, 16 feet wide and 7 
feet high at the low side, extend around three 
sides of the main building, and are divided as 
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Fig. 2, 
First convince the 
owner of land that forests are really on the wane, 
and that tree planting will be a source of great 
profit within a very few years, and no other stimu¬ 
lus will be necessary. In the American Agricultur¬ 
ist for February, 1876, is a sketch of the larch 
GROUND PLAN OP SHEEP BARN, WITH YARDS. 
trunks two feet in circumference, 12 years from the 
seed. Close calculations made for many years 
show that in larch and chestnut plantations for 
hop-poles, the growth doubles in value every three 
years after it has reached fifteen years, and every 
five years after it has reached twenty-five. 
1.—EXTERIOR OP SHEEP HOUSE. 
shown in fig. 2. The merits claimed for this plan 
are : that the hay being built on the ground, saves 
expensive frame-work, posts, and floor to support 
jt when the sheep are in the lower part of 
the barn; besides, the greater the depth of hay, 
the more the building will hold in proportion to 
space. The hay being in the center, it is conven¬ 
ient to feed to sheep, in the different pens. It 
gives plenty of yard room on the different sides of 
the building. A room can be made for stor¬ 
ing grain, hay, and wool overhead in the sheep- 
sheds, if thought desirable. 
Estimate of Materials and Cost. 
Plates. 
Sills, Main Building. 
2 pieces, 6x6 in.x22 ft., 132 ft. 
2 pieces, 6x6 ln.x20 ft., 120 ft. 
4 pieces, 6x6 in.x24 ft., 288 ft. 
Sills for Sheds. 
3 pieces, 4x6 in.x30 ft., 180 ft. 
3 pieces. 4x6 in.x28 ft., 168 ft. 
7 pieces, 4x6 in.xl6 ft.,224 ft. 
Posts. 
8 pieces, 6x6 in.x20 ft., 480 ft. 
2 pieces, 6x6 in.xl6 ft., 96 ft. 
Beams. 
2 pieces, 6x6 in.x24 ft., 288 ft. 
• Girts. 
18 pieces, 4x4 m.xl4 ft., 336 ft. 
12 pieces, 4x4 in.xl2 ft., 192 ft. 
2 pieces, 4x6 in.x22 ft., 88 ft. 
2 pieces, 4x6 ln.x20 ft., 80 ft. 
Rafters. 
42 pieces, 2x6 in.xl6 ft., 672 ft. 
Studding for Sheep Sheds. 
40 pieces, 2x6 in.x7 ft., 280 ft. 
Girts and Plates. 
12 pieces, 2x6 ln.xl8 ft.,216 ft. 
6 pieces, 2x6 in.x20 ft., 120 ft. 
Rafters. 
67 pieces,2x6in.x20ft.,1,340 ft. 
Common Lumber for 
Partitions, etc. 600 ft. 
Total, 5,900 ft., @$15 per 1,000 ft.$ 88.50 
Roof Boards, 4,000 ft., @ 10 cents. 40.00 
Stock Boards, 4,100 ft., @ 20 cents. 82.00 
Battens, 700 ft., @ 25 cents. 17.50 
Shingles, 36,000, @ $3. 108.00 
Carpenter Work. 150.00 
Nails, Windows, and Trimmings. 50.00 
Painting. 50.00 
Stone Underpinning, 2 cords laid. 15.00 
Total Cost. $601.00 
There are no floors in either the main building 
or sheds. The barn is graded up a few inches with 
earth or gravel, which keeps it perfectly dry. It 
will accommodate from 175 to 200 sheep of the 
mutton breeds. 
Bee Notes for March. 
The following communication is in substance the 
contents of a letter from an apiarist in Texas : 
Horse Mint. 
This plant comes up iu autumn, and makes a 
small growth. During winter it is at a stand still. 
Late in March it pushes forth, and in May and 
June the bees go loaded to their hives with its rich 
nectar. The seed ripens in August, and falls at 
once to the earth, where it very soon germinates. 
[This is a mint (Monarda arislata), and is closely 
related to the wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) of 
the North.—E d.] 
The Bec>Moth. 
The larvae of the bee-moth never die for want of 
honey, pollen, or bees; they only need, for nour¬ 
ishment, the wax of the honey-comb. If the bees 
are healthy, no comb will be occupied by both the 
wax-larvae and the bees. Any comb containing 
these “wax-worms,” if put into a hive containing 
a healthy colony of bees, will be cleared of the 
