1883.] 
AJMERIOAJN AGRICULTURIST. 
559 
December closes the year, and is an excellent 
time to review the work of the past season. 
EXHIBITIONS. 
He is dull, indeed, who sees no use in the great 
exhibitions of honey, bees, and apiarian implements 
recently made at Toronto, Detroit, Toledo, etc. At 
the mammoth exposition at Toronto, there were 
tons of honey arranged in a manner tp tempt the 
most fastidious; everything pertaining to the apiary 
was neatly displayed ; a large building was entirely 
filled with honey and bee-keeping implements; 
thousands of pounds of honey were sold with no 
detriment to the exposition, and thousands of per¬ 
sons looked daily upon the great exhibit. It was a 
surprise to bee-keepers themselves, and to the 
general public it served as a wonderful educator. 
Tiie exhibition at Detroit, at the Mich. State Fair, 
though not so large as that in Toronto, was as fine ; 
when we learn that over two thousand dollars’ 
worth of honey was exhibited, we may see that 
it was by no means small. So pleased were 
the authorities, that they promise an increase in 
the already generous premiums (one gentleman 
took eighty dollars in premiums, another fifty, and 
a third over thirty), and a large fine building, next 
year. Few things at the Detroit Fair, one of the 
most successful ever held in Michigan, were so 
universally praised as its large apiarian exhibit. 
LESSONS TO BE DRAWN. 
Every State must secure a live State Society, for 
results like those . described above can only 
come through thorough and united effort. 
Our second lesson is: The importance of making 
displays at our fairs. Let every State have a special 
building at the Fair, for honey, etc. Bee-keepers, 
through their State associations, must see that 
liberal premiums are offered. Then with the right 
granted to make sales of honey and apparatus dur¬ 
ing the fair, there will be an impulse given to these 
shows that will tend to advance the interest of bee¬ 
keepers. With such exhibitions, the excellence of 
honey, the value of extracted honey, and the im¬ 
portance of our art, with many valuable hints, 
will not be long in taking root in the public mind. 
SMALL SECTIONS. 
The experience of the past season makes it clear, 
that sections of less than four and one-half inches 
square—the one-pound sections, are not desirable. 
A piece of comb honey weighing less than this 
seems stingy, and is not popular. As honey in 
such small amounts as the one-half pound section, 
can only be secured at a greater expense to the 
bee-keeper, it seems very unwise to try to push 
them on an unwilling market. Bee-keepers may 
well adhere to the two popular sizes, the prize sec¬ 
tion, which is five and a quarter by six and a quar¬ 
ter inches, and the one-pound section mentioned 
above. Dealers and consumers like uniform sizes. 
SEPARATORS. 
The past season shows an increasing number who 
claim to get along without using separators. W. 
Z. Hutchinson, of Michigan, showed his eutire crop 
of comb honey at the State Fair. All of this was 
secured without any separators, and in considera¬ 
tion of the fact that it was not selected, it was a 
marvel of excellence. Although we failed to get 
as straight combs the past season when we omitted 
separators, as we did when they were used, yet 
we believe if “ foundation ” is used, and great care 
is taken to get it to hang exactly midway in the 
section, and sections only one and three-eighths to 
one and five-eighths deep are used, we shall get 
nice combs without using dividers. It seems quite 
probable that in the near future separators will not 
be much used. If they are to be used, it 
makes little difference whether they are of tin or 
wood. If we use wood, we must be sure and 
have that which will not warp and twist. 
CRATES OR BROOD FRAMES. 
Crates to hold sections, which are placed just 
above the frames, are rapidly superseding the brood 
frames. Many have two story hives made to tqke 
the brood frames which hold the sections in the up¬ 
per story. It will hardly pay such persons to throw 
away these frames ; but in making new hives, it 
will pay better to use crates, as they are much more 
convenient in working for comb honey, at least so 
we think after giving both methods a fair trial. 
THE SYRIAN BEES. 
Another season’s experience sustains the excel¬ 
lence of these bees. They are becoming quite as 
amiable as the Italians, while they are much more 
prolific, will breed better when there is no honey, 
have longer tongues, and also produce fine comb 
honey. We have secured a fine lot of this honey 
the past season, well capped, and very beautiful. 
THE CANADA THISTLE. 
Canadian bee-keepers have secured a great har¬ 
vest of fine honey from the dreaded Canada thistle, 
thus illustrating the adage that everything has its 
use. Some given us at Toronto was so like bass¬ 
wood honey in flavor, that we pronounced it Lin¬ 
den product. It is very ivhite and of pleasant flavor. 
REV. L. L. LANGSTROTH. 
This distinguished man, the inventor of the mov¬ 
able frame hive, and who with the lamented Quinby 
lias done so much for improved apiculture in this 
ciuntry, and placed it far in advance of Eu 
rope, after years of serious ailment, is again 
strong and well. He is now nearly fourscore. 
His presence at Toronto, and at Chicago, added 
greatly to the interest and value of those meetings. 
To see and hear him give some of his experiences 
in bee-keeping is a treat long to be remembered. 
Gas Lime for the Compost. 
Charles Kyan, of Marlboro, N. C., is one of a 
number who have inquired about gas lime. He 
asks us if it is as valuable as common lime to com¬ 
post with muck. Gas lime, as its name indicates, 
is a product of gas works. Quick lime is spread 
in large boxes called purifiers; the gas passes 
through these, and coming in contact with the 
lime is deprived of its impurities, especially the 
sulphur it contains. When the lime ceases to act, 
it is thrown out, and is replaced by a fresh supply. 
Gas lime smells strongly of sulphur, and contains 
the sulphides of ammonia and of lime. These arc 
fatal to plant life, and before it can be used as a 
fertilizer, the lime must be exposed to the air 
for some weeks. When unpleasant odors are no 
longer perceptible, the gas lime may be used in the 
same manner as ordinary lime. It still consists 
largely of quick lime, and contains more or less 
sulphate of lime (gypsum or plaster), formed by 
the conversion of the dangerous sulphide into sul¬ 
phate of lime. It may be used after exposure to 
mix with muck, but whether it can be used in its 
fresh state we have doubts. At any rate, it is an 
easy matter to expose it before adding it to the 
muck, and thus be on the safe side. We are un¬ 
able to give the relative cost of gas lime and com¬ 
mon lime, as in some places the gas makers are 
glad to have it removed without any pay. 
Killing Weevils in Seed Peas and Beans. 
Many store their seed peas and beans in tightly 
closed jars and other vessels, with a view of keep¬ 
ing out the weevil. It is not generally known that 
the egg which will ultimately produce the insect is 
laid upon the pod of the pea or bean when that is 
very young. The worm or maggot hatched from 
the egg makes its way into the forming seed, with¬ 
in which it feeds and grows, and finally transforms 
into a weevil. When the weevil appears, the mis¬ 
chief is done, and the only good that can result 
from killing it will be to stop its increase. The in¬ 
jury to the seed is due to the maggot or worm, 
which eats out a large.portion of its interior, and 
while it may germinate, the resulting plant will bo 
very weak. In order to save the seed, the maggot 
should be killed as soon as possible after gather¬ 
ing. Bisulphide of Carbon, now coming into use 
as an insecticide, may be employed to kill the wee¬ 
vils in peas and beans. A physician in Lancaster 
Co., Pa., gives us his method of using the bisul¬ 
phide. He places twenty drops or more in a small 
vial, the cork to which is partly cut away ; this, 
vial is placed at the bottom of a fruit jar, which is 
filled with the dry peas or beans, the cover screwed, 
on securely, and the jar kept in a dark cool place. 
Bisulphide of Carbon is a very volatile fluid, and 
the small quantity in the vial diffuses itself 
throughout the jar and destroys the insects. The 
liquid must be kept in securely stopped bottles,, 
and, as it is inflammable, it should not be handled 
near a fire or lamp for fear of accidents. 
Preparing for Spring in the Garden. 
Wherever a crop is taken off, it will be a great 
gain to manure and plow or spade the land, leaving 
it rough during the winter. All such work as mak¬ 
ing paths, laying drains, etc., is more advan-. 
tageously done now than when the press of spring 
work is at hand. If new frames are needed, or 
straw mats, or crates for marketing produce, or 
garden labels are required; if implements are to 
be made, repaired or bought—whatever can be done 
in the present months—will save much valuable 
time in spring. Now, and all through the winter, 
add everything to the manure pile that will decom¬ 
pose and increase its bulk and value. Among the 
preparations for spring is the pricking out into 
cold frames, the cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce 
plants from seeds. It is important to set the 
plants of cabbage and cauliflower down to the first 
leaf, so that the stem, the portion most readily in¬ 
jured by freezing, may be covered. The sashes 
should not be put over the plants until there is 
danger of severe freezing weather. Other frames 
should be made ready for very early lettuce. The 
soil is to be spaded and enriched and made ready 
for planting, and the frames then filled up with 
leaves. If there are shutters at hand to cover them, 
all the better. Earth is often wanted for hot-beds,, 
seed-boxes, etc., at a time when the ground is still 
frozen. Lay in a good supply of fine, rich soil, un¬ 
der a shed, or where it can be had when needed. 
-- 
Potato and Top Onions. 
Many of our friends appear to confound these 
quite different varieties of the onion. Though varie¬ 
ties of the same plant, they are multiplied in a 
very different manner. The variety generally called, 
in this country, the “ Potato Onion,” which is some¬ 
times known as the “English Multiplier,” propa¬ 
gates only by a subdivision of the bulb. If a large 
bulb of this variety is planted, it will produce a 
cluster of a dozen or more of small bulbs. If, 
next year, each of these bulbs be set out, it will 
grow and make a large onion, fit for use. So the 
alternation is kept up. Small bulbs are planted to 
produce large ones, and large bulbs to grow small 
ones. The cultivation of this variety, while often 
carried on in private gardens, is found in the vi¬ 
cinity of Richmond, Va., to be profitable on a 
commercial scale, and this is the variety chiefly 
grown in that locality for Northern markets. The 
“Top Onion” is a very different variety. In this 
the flower stem, instead of producing a cluster of 
flowers, followed by seed vessels, bears a cluster of 
small bulbs, each half an inch or less in diame¬ 
ter. When these bulbs are planted out, each grows 
and makes a fine, large onion. If this onion is 
kept through the winter and planted the next 
spring, it will throw up a stem crowned by a clus¬ 
ter of small bulbs, each of which, the next year, 
will produce a large onion, and in this manner the 
alternation will be kept up. Still different is the 
Welsh Onion, a specimen of which is sent by W. 
T. Mason, Malvern, Ark. This is so unlike all 
the varieties of the common onion, that we 
propose to illustrate it soon for our many readers- 
