112 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
larvae in six hours. No good bee-keeper ever 
leaves unoccupied combs in the hive. Queens are 
always liable to impotency, aud bees die. We con¬ 
clude, then, that good queeus insure a condition 
that is wholly inimical to the bee-moth’s ravages. 
Habits of Queens. 
Our Texas correspondent says : I mean to quote 
your words, “That bees will become reconciled to 
a new queen just as quickly and surely when the 
old queen is left in the hive as when she is taken 
out,” or rather the new queen will become recon¬ 
ciled to her new home as quickly and surely with 
the old queen left in the hive as though she were 
taken out. A queen that deports herself well 
when liberated, will never suffer attack from her 
new subjects. Let her manifest fear or dissatis¬ 
faction, and she is doomed. If we take the old 
queen out or cage her, queen-cells will surely be 
built. The presence of queen-cells always excites 
the queen, whether she be old or new, unless the 
bees are under the swarming impulse.' By leaving 
the old queen in the hive when we insert the cage 
of the new queen, we escape these cells, and also 
retain a laying queen in the hive during the period 
of reconciliation. We are also saved the labor of 
hunting up queen-cells in a populous colony when 
we go to liberate the new queen. If it is desired 
to save the old queen, we can put her in the cage 
from which the new queen is set free. It is true 
beyond question that the worker bees would as 
soon have a dozen queens as one. I now have four 
queens stored in one hive where the old queen 
reigns supreme. The worker bees will never suffer 
a caged queen to starve, even though there be a 
“ baker’s dozen in the same hive, with the old one 
also in the hive,” laying her 1,500 eggs daily. 
Market Gardening in Japan. 
Market gardening is one of the most profitable 
branches of farming in Japan. The farmers who 
are situated in the vicinity of cities and towns de¬ 
vote their special attention and energy to the rais¬ 
ing of various root aud leaf crops for the consump¬ 
tion of their customers, and their labor is so well 
recompensed as to enable them to live comfortably. 
The market gardeners generally stand high among 
the farming community, and they are more intelli¬ 
gent and enterprising than the farmers are in the 
interior of the country. The latter are character¬ 
ized by honesty and simplicity, and the former by 
business shrewdness and sagacity. 
The Size of a Farm. —Japan has not come to a 
general use of teams and machines in the cultiva¬ 
tion of the soil, but rigidly adheres to modes of 
great antiquity. The soil is cultivated mostly by 
the diligent efforts and untiring labor of the hus¬ 
bandman with implements which are of the sim¬ 
plest possible mechanical construction. The facil¬ 
ity with which a farmer can avail himself of imple¬ 
ments of culture in any place and in any age, is one 
of the elements by which the size of a farm must 
be decided. This is exactly the case with the Jap¬ 
anese farmer. With no labor-saving machines of 
modern invention, he was content with cultivating a 
farm of small size. It has been especially so with 
market gardeners. Farms of from 2 to 5 acres 
are most common, but there are a number of mar¬ 
ket gardeners who cultivate even so small a farm 
as one acre. But the imeome of the farm is com¬ 
paratively large ; from $150 to $200 per acre is esti¬ 
mated to be a fair return. As such an income can 
be reasonably obtained, there is always a great de¬ 
mand for land in the vicinity of cities, and an offer 
of $500 or $600 per acre is not uncommon—while 
the capital thus invested brings a sure return. Be¬ 
sides assisting in gardening, the wives of gardeners 
often devote a portion of their time to silk cul¬ 
ture, which, after a few months, brings a remunera¬ 
tive income from the tender care bestowed upon 
this wonderful object of creation, and thus the 
whole family enjoy happiness and pleasure in the 
quiet suburbs of cities from the blessings of labor 
concentrated upon a small scale of farming. 
Crops liaised. —The crops raised in Japanese 
gardens are somewhat different from those com¬ 
mon in gardens in this country. The most common 
crops are cucumbers, egg-plants, radishes, peas, 
beans, carrots, leeks, turnips, beets and some leaf- 
plants, while such crops as cabbages, celery, Brus¬ 
sels sprouts,.parsnips, onions, asparagus, etc., are 
mostly raised on experimental farms and have not 
yet been brought into general cultivation. The 
culture of rice, which is the most important and 
most indispensable grain in Japan, is never neg¬ 
lected by gardeners, but they raise it principally 
for their own use. Among the garden crops, the 
cucumber is one of the great relishes at the Japa¬ 
nese table, and gardeners always aim to raise it as 
early as possible in spring. Radishes are the roots 
most universally eaten by the Japanese. The Jap¬ 
anese radish differs from the American in size, 
color and taste. It is usually from 1 to l‘/ 2 foot in 
length, and 5 or 6 inches in circumference, but in 
one of the southern islands it often reaches the 
enormous length of 5 or 6 feet and weighs several 
pounds ; the cblor is generally white and the taste 
is watery and sweet. It requires a deep soil and 
rich manuring for its growth. It is mostly planted 
in August and harvested in December, requiring 
sixty days for its growth, although there are vari¬ 
eties which can be planted even in spring or early 
summer. Every household uses this root at al¬ 
most every meal throughout the whole year. It is 
eaten either raw, boiled, or pickled, and may be 
considered as the great necessary auxiliary to the 
Japanese meal. Imported vegetables have been 
tried on experimental farms with good success. 
For onions, the Yellow Danvers, and Early Red 
Globe ; for cabbages, the Improved American Savoy 
and Fottler’s Drumhead; for carrots, the Yellow 
Danvers and Long Orange, are among the best va¬ 
rieties wdiich have been tried successfully on an ex¬ 
perimental farm connected with the Japanese Agri¬ 
cultural College, in Hokkaido, the island north of 
Nophon. The onions yielded the best crop in 
1881, the average yield per acre being 10 tons. Sev¬ 
eral acres were cultivated and their product found 
a ready market at Tokio, the capital of Japan, 
about 600 miles distant, for 5 cents per pound. 
This checked the importation of onions from for¬ 
eign markets to a certain extent, and awakened a 
new interest among foreign residents and home 
gardeners. Not only onions, but also all other 
vegetables which can be grown with great success 
and profit will soon come to be raised by the Japa¬ 
nese gardeners, together with their favorite cucum¬ 
bers and radishes, aud visitors from this country 
to Japan will be pleased to sec their relished roots 
and vegetables cultivated by tbese gardeners. 
Manures Used. —The Japanese make the most 
liberal applications of manures to their land. 
The most common manure is that from clos¬ 
ets. The liquid manure is never allowed to be 
thrown away, but is carefully utilized. The com¬ 
mercial fertilizers are seldom used; lime, bone meal 
and fish guano are employed to a certain extent. 
Implements of Culture.- The implements used by 
gardeners in cultivation are very few in number 
The most indispensable of all, is known as the 
kuna, which is only one form of a common hoe. It 
answers for a plow, for a cultivator and for a har¬ 
row, it makes rows and ridges, it digs roots and 
tubers; it cuts weeds and pulverizes the soil; it is 
everything to the Japanese farmer. To be a farmer 
in Japan, one must have the kuna as well as the 
land. But there are many kinds of rakes and 
spades somewhat similar in construction to the 
American tools, besides other hand implements. 
Marketing Crops. —This is the most active part of 
the business for gardeners. It seems to be custom¬ 
ary for most gardeners, located near great cities, 
like Tokio, to come to town early in the morning 
and find a market for their articles. Vegetable 
markets arc established in certain parts of the town 
and are held every day. Producers and consumers, 
and middlemen too, are crowded in markets to 
make bargains, and they all disperse by noon. 
Sometimes, the wives of gardeners come to town 
to dispose of their products. The little money 
which gardeners and their families obtain from 
sales in markets and elsewhere gradually accumu¬ 
lates to a large amount in the long run, and amply 
rewards the diligence and sagacity displayed in 
the work of gardening, and in the method of mar¬ 
keting, as well as the extra labor expended in fur¬ 
nishing early crops out of season, and thus is gar¬ 
dening made one of the most profitable and at¬ 
tractive branches of farming. S. Sato, 
Houghton Farm, N. Y. 
The Timber Interest in Congress. 
The “ Forestry Bulletins,” of which the last,, 
dated January 15th, has just come to hand, have 
done more to call attention to and give informa¬ 
tion concerning our supply of timber than several 
volumes of reports would have accomplished. 
Nearly every Bulletin has a map of a State or 
district, so colored as to show at a glance the area, 
still covered by standing pine (in the Southern 
States two or three kinds being indicated), the area 
from which the pine has been cut, and the exteut of 
the hard-wood forests. The Census, as a general 
thing, shows our increase during the last decade,, 
in population, manufactures, crops, etc. In all 
other departments the census shows how rich we 
are. The census of the forests shows how poor 
we are. The prospective supply of white pine, 
that being the most important kind of lumber, is 
seen to be so small, as compared with the inevita¬ 
ble demand, that it is not strange that these Bulle¬ 
tins have arrested the attention of those who have 
the material prosperity of the country at heart, for 
they show a condition of things more than sus¬ 
pected, but not before actually known, that may be 
regarded with solicitude if not alarm. The papers 
have discussed the matter, and it has come up in 
more than one form in Congress. The extent of a 
disease being known, the next step is to ascertain 
the remedy and apply it. Among the remedies 
proposed in Congress is that of a Commission of 
Forestry, to take charge of all the public domain 
yet covered by trees, with a view to their preserva¬ 
tion, and to regulate the felling of timber. That 
some measures for the preservation of the remain¬ 
ing forests will be adopted, we have reason to be¬ 
lieve. One aspect of the forestry question has 
come up with the revision of the tariff, and the dis¬ 
cussions over the duty upon lumber, have been 
lively, to say the least. Under the present tariff, 
there is a duty of $1 per 1,000 feet of hemlock, 
bass wood, white wood and sycamore lumber, and 
upon all other kinds, white pine included, $2 per 
1,000 feet. It has b'een proposed to admit the 
kinds now taxed $1 per 1,000, free, and retain the 
duty on the other. Those who have looked into 
the subject the most carefully, are confident that 
the interests of our own country require that all 
lumber be admitted free, and such a Bill has 
passed the Senate. Canada is the only coun¬ 
try from which we receive lumber, and it is held 
that every inducement should be given to the 
Canadians to cut down their forests to supply our 
consumption, while we preserve our own and al¬ 
low them to grow. The revenue derived from im¬ 
portations of lumber amounted, last year, to only 
$1,090,000. While purchasers of American lumber 
paid, on account of this duty, $22,000,000 more 
than they otherwise would have done, and for the 
benefit of a few manufacturers of lumber. Our 
point is: if the removal of the duty, or the levy¬ 
ing of an increased duty, will have the indirect 
effect to preserve our forests, let that be done 
which shall most readily diminish the consumption 
of home lumber and increase that of lumber from 
the forests of Canada. 
Soaking Seeds.—“W. C. G.,” New Jersey, asks 
if it is well to soak the seeds of early beets in order 
to hasten their germination. When the weather 
has been damp, we have gained several days by 
soaking the seeds and allowing them to sprout. But 
should such seed be sown when the soil is dry, and 
rain fails to fall, the young sprouts may be dried 
up and killed, and the seed lost. As a rule, it is 
better not to 6oak them. 
