How to Prevent Horses Kicking in Harness. Attach a stout piece of ash stick to the collar at the breast, fix it under the horse's chin so that he cannot bend his head towards his breast, and he cannot kick high enough to injure anything; if a good horse, and worth the trouble, a bit of bright steel may be fixed on his collar, with a claw to catch him under the chin; this will answer the purpose and look well. If a mare, part with her, or turn her to the stud; her foals may not kick when well brought up; if fillies, I fear, no matter what education they get, they will have the kick in them. Sometimes mares kick from ticklishness; it is a ticklish thing to deal with them, and I fear their daughters will be ticklish. Kicking, I am satisfied, is hereditary "in the female line." I had a mare that was dangerous to look at, she had such an ugly use of her hind legs, and by buckling a stick under her chin, fastened to the collar in the way I have described, I defied her. I defy any horse to kick so as to injure the vehicle or himself. This is certainly better than tying up one fore leg, as a horse could not trot upon three. I had two fillies out of this mare, and they were both kickers. I know many instances of kicking being hereditary-Iroquois Rep. Animals for Fattening. itude to fatten; and a bright, large, open eye vice versa.—Agricultural Gazette. MY THREE COW DAIRY.-A correspondent of the Country Gentleman says: At the beginning of 1862, I made up my mind I would know just what three cows would do in 365 days. Here is the result-695 pounds of butter, besides selling 200 quarts of milk and 11 quarts of cream, and using all the milk and cream we wanted in a family of three persons, and raising two calves. I have done it all myself-no Bridgets or Susans to help in the least. Been very regular in milking, and kept my cows in the stable every night the year round. HORSE TRADE OF CHICAGO.-This point has shown superior advantages for the collection thousand having been purchased here since of horses for army use-nearly one hundred the war commenced. The average price paid for these horses has been $120, making the aggregate of $12,000,000 paid to the producers of the Northwest, at this point alone. Since the first day of September last, Capt. Potter, U. S. A.. has purchased and shipped ten thousand five hundred cavalry horses. Five hundred of these horses were purchased at $119 75 per head and the balance at $120 per head, making an aggregate of $1,200,000 paid out in three months. Salt and Cold Water for Swine. It is not a common practice, we think, to give salt to swine occasionally, while every In my close identification with fat cattle farmer would consider it a prime duty to offer for several years, I have always found that it to his neat stock, horses and sheep, as often that the best animals have the most massive as once a week. To be sure, the swine get a heads, most capacious chests, and the strong-little compared with the amount given to othest spines. I have, therefore, evolved a few er animals. In proportion to their weight, rules to go by in the purchase of lean ones, why do they not need as much salt as the othand scarcely with one exception have I found er stock on the farm? We find an article them to be fully applicable. The head of any going the rounds of the papers upon the use of our bovine races ought to have the first of salt for fattening swine. The writer states consideration; this is the true index to the that he selected two pairs of barrow hogs vital acumen, and even bodily construction, weighing 200 each. One pair received, with and will be found to foreshadow all good or their daily allowance of food, two ounces of bad that may be accomplished. Thus, an salt; the other, similarly fed, none. In the animal possessed of a broad, full, capacious course of a week it was easily seen that the skull, with strong, evenly-bent deflective salted pair had a much stronger appetite than horns, will be found to have a thick neck at the others, and after a fortnight it was inthe base, wide thorax, and strong nervous creased to two ounces apiece. After four system; while one with long, narrow, con- months the weight of the salted hogs was 350 tracted skull, and puny, abruptly bent horns, pounds, while that of the unsalted, five weeks will be characterized by weakness, wildness, later, reached only 300 pounds. The experiand slowness to fatten. A small, dull, sunk-ment was repeated with almost precisely the en eye betokens hardness of touch and inapt- same results. THE BEE-KEEPER. Movable Comb Beehives. ing in the dark on the principles of successful culture. One fundamental principle is the fixed character of the honey bee, in common with all the animal race, which gives uniformity ED. FARMER:-Please allow a few words in defence of the improved system of bee-keeping, by one who has no interest in this direc-in habits and necessities, so that the provis. tion that requires the columns of your widely ions and treatment suitable in one case, are circulating journal for a puffing medium, yet applicable in others of a similar nature; has a great and increasing interest in this hence a familiarity with their habits renders important branch of productive industry; their culture simple indeed, compared with and, who with the interests of the FARMER 80 the superstitious notions which prevailed but much at heart, really deprecate the shut-down recently, if not still in vogue occasionally. so decidedly laid upon the advocates of the It is upon these important facts, of uniformdifferent styles of hive, in the last volume, ity of architecture and manner of breeding, in believing it full as seemly to tell of the merits accordance with fixed principles, that any of a particular beehive, as of a certain reap-system of guides or frames must be based, er, or blood of sheep or swine. failures. and the value of such guides must rest here. Let those who have pecuniary interests to All these devices must conform to this fixed advertise, pay for their advertising; but is it character, and it is evident that in the great not true that by inviting a free discussion. of diversity of frame-hives, there must be great the merits of new inventions, which the peo-inconsistency somewhere, and, so far, great ple of the country so freely invest in and experiment with, their intrinsic value is the sooner made known, and the public are thereby saved much costly experience in testing ten thousand worse than useless patent traps? Is not this, in part, the mission of our much valued FARMER? If in some frames the combs are built "crooked or serpentine, augur-shaped or crosswise," it argues truly against the character of the frames or the care of the apiarian, but no more against the system of movable comb hives, than an ill grown fruit tree against my favorite art of tree-growing. Be assured the wide-awake public will not hold you guiltless, if they find, at the close of Now, dear Editor, I trust you will open another honey season, that through truant your columns once more to a full discussion swarms, and worm-webbed stocks, their sup- of this subject, that such disconsolate experiply of sweet is but a tithe of a reasonable ex-menters as our friend at Dartford may get the pectation, and their stocks for another year light sought, and no longer go seeking, in a still further thinned by murderous suffocation multiplicity of patent hives, for some selffor the major part of what they do get; when running institution, "up to the theory of good by a free discussion of this subject, the light talking vendors." disseminated may do away with the hap-hazard, come-and-go-luck style of bee-keeping. It is high time that bee-keeping should take its rank among the sciences; and, as with other departments of stock-growing and domestic industry, be governed by established principles. Thanks to the labors of such men as Dzierzon, Huber, Langstroth, Quinby, and other devoted experimenters, the facts, in the nature, habits, and wants of the honey bee are too well established to warrant grop But about beehives-I really think there is no one branch of patent humbuggery in which there is so much innocent swindling, as in this direction, and for the simple reason that, with ew exceptions, both buyer and seller are profoundly ignorant of the true principles of bee culture, and their hives correspondingly unadapted and pernicious. Hence "blind lead the blind," and if both do not fall into the ditch together, it is because the vendor has taken wings with his spoil. I am happy to inform your readers in general, and Mr. S. in particular, that with a properly constructed hive, and a reasonable amount of intelligent manipulation, I have perfect control, so to speak, and have no difficulty in inducing the patient and industrious little workers to build "straight, uniform" combs, or sufficiently so for practical purposes. My success has been most satisfactory with the movable comb hives, and unless your regular corresponding bee-men will "fall in" and show up the practical utility of their favorite hives, in the light of the now well known nature and habits of the bee, one who claims to be nothing but an amateur apiarian will, at the risk of "parroting," make public some details of experience, with reasons therefor. J. C. PLUMB. LAKE SIDE NURSERIES, MADISON, Wis. MESSRS. EDITORS:-In your issue of the 26th of September, you copy an extract from the American Stock Journal, entitled "Bees," giving a remedy to stop them from robbing each other of their honey, all of which may be very good in the absence of a better method. But having positive knowledge of a much quicker and simpler plan, I beg to lay it before your readers: been left weak by too much swarming, or from Male birds are in their prime only down to the end of the second year, and should not be When it is discovered that two swarms of kept for propagation beyond that period of bees are at war with each other, by turning life. For ordinary breeding purposes a vigup the hive containing the attacking bees, orous young male bird will serve advantathrusting a stick up into the honey and frac-geously twelve or fifteen hens, the former turing the comb, you will at once stop all fur- number being preferable as a rule. ther aggression, and set the bees repairing the damage done to their own empire, instead of trying to conquer another.-G. B. Turrell, in Scientific American. In connection with the foregoing we give the article referred to by Mr. Turrell, as follows: In September and October, bees are very apt to rob each other, and many families of them have been destroyed in this way. The remedy is to lower the hives down and give but one passage way, and that not over two inches long, for the strongest families, and to be contracted, according to the strength of families, down to a compass that will only admit a few bees to pass in and out at the same time. This is the preventive remedy. The populous hives, well filled with honey, will require but little protection, but those hives that have The males should be changed every season from one flock of females to another, and no male bird should be permitted to run with the same hens during more than a single season under any circumstances. For the producing of eggs only no male bird is necessary to be kept with the laying hens; and during the season of moulting it will be found of advantage, decidedly, to separate the cocks from the pullets altogether. These hints are offered for the consideration of those who desire to breed fowls systematically and to the best advantage in moderate quantities. Where large numbers of birds are kept, it is not absolutely necessary that these recommendations be altogether observed; but for the purposes of comparatively "good breeding," making no pretention to simply keeping up a purity of race, but rather for the every-day purposes of the farmer, who is satisfied with fair profits, and who breeds for ordinary market, the hints proposed will be found generally advantageous. Ag. Report. The beautiful color, to which the Judge refers, is visible upon the white surface of the letter enclosing the seeds. This cactus is certainly worthy of attention, and we shall take Flowering Shrubs. FOOD FOR FATTENING POULTRY.-The cheap-care that the seeds so kindly forwarded have est and most advantageous food to use for fattening every description of poultry is ground a good opportunity to prove themselves. oats. These must not be confounded with oat meal, or with ordinary ground oats. The whole of the grain is ground to a fine powder; nothing of any kind is taken from it. When properly ground, one bushel of the meal will more effectually fatten poultry than a bushel and a half of any other meal. The greatest point in fattening poultry is to feed at daybreak.-Ex. There are so many ways by which a place may be cheaply adorned, and made to look as well, or even better, than some others in which a small fortune has been literally sunk -sunk to rise no more-- that it is hard to s lect one as being pre-eminent. But we desire in this article more particularly to call attention to one of them, viz.: the employment of Ornamental Shrubs. We have for a long time impressed on our friends the advantages of planting belts and borders of them thickly about their small CARE OF HENS IN WINTER.-Farmers as a general rule neglect their hens in winter. They are left to pick up what they can find about the barnyard; if they get sufficient food, well; if not, no matter. This is cruel and decidedly unprofitable. If it will not pay to keep them in good condition, it will not pay to keep them at all. They should have a warm and clean place to roost in, and the farmer should see that they never suffer for lack of food. A little light grain or buck-places--and it is amusing to listen to the arwheat, with a few boiled potatoes, turnips, guments persistently brought up in almost mangel wurzel, or other succulent food will generally be paid for by the eggs laid during every case against the proposition. winter and in the spring fourfold. Hens rhetoric has often succeeded where our logic starved during winter will not furnish many failed; and many who were not convinced eggs the coming spring.-Rural Annual. nevertheless allowed themselves to be persuaded into the experiment. Not in a single instance, that we remember, can any owners of such belts and masses of shrubbery be induced to break up the arrangement or abandon the idea. THE HORTICULTURIST. A. G. HANFORD, CORRESPONDING EDITOR. A Magnificent South American Cactus. We have just received a few seeds of a remarkable Cactus, found in New Grenada. They were forwarded by Hon. A. A. Burton, U. S. Minister to that Republic, who will please accept our thanks for this and other like favors. The following is Judge B.'s description of the fruit: Our The place looks larger; becomes more cheerful; affords blooming and fragrant flowers all the season through; and the "lawn "-that loved and cherished little green spot, for which, it would seem, alone, the proprietor and his family abandoned the conveniences PITAJAIE CACTUs-commonly called Pitaha- of city life-appears to be actually increased ya, (pronounced Pee-tah-i-yah.) in extent by the space the shrubbery has subtracted from it. Bears a beautiful and excellent fruit about the size of a Northern Spy. Pink without, and a perfect Solferino within. Has much juice, and can, perhaps, be used for dyeing We admire borders of herbaceous plants, filled with flowers of every form and hue, and edged with its prim, straight belt of box edging, privileged strips of ground, reserved It will require a temperature from 85° to from less refined uses to be the favored spot 95° Fahr., to mature its fruit. that difficult color. A. A BURTON. for hotbed-raised annuals, and plants which require other modes of yearly renewal,-geo Cultivation of Orchards. metrical forms and ribbon beds, embroidered in green-Nature's emblems of human gold-We find the following statement of experience filled with the choicest productions our green-going the rounds of the papers, and credited houses can furnish of the floral treasures of to the New England Farmer. It was evidently foreign climes, these, one and all, give to written by some correspondent who meant every place a charm of which we would not better than he knew: by any means seek to deprive it. But the "In the spring of 1853 I purchased a vilshrubbery is a permanent affair,-one of the lage lot on which were a few fine apple trees, "institutions,"-and not only a "once for all" some of them six or eight inches in diameter. operation, but one which, like money well in- for a few years, yet the trees were healthy The ground had not been very well cultivated vested, increases in value every day. From and productive. Wishing to make them grow early spring to late in the fall, or early win- rapidly and produce more abundantly, I spaded the ground under them thoroughly and ter, some one or other of them, if judiciously very carefully. They bore well that year. selected, will offer you its floral tribute, and The next spring I again tried spade culture, but I noticed that the earth under the trees for the single spike or branch presented you was literally bound together by fine rootlets, this season, it wil prepare a tenfold increase and that a great number of them were broken We know many persons who, per- at every shovelful that I turned up. I began to reflect on the utility of these fibrous root8. haps four years ago, paid their trifle for thought them analogous to the minute veins, Weigelia rosea, or Pyrus japonica with its hand-absorbents and capillaries of the human sysful of flowers, and who now could not be induced to part with them and their hundreds the next. of blossoms for ten times their cost. In planting shrubs in belts or masses, they should be set much thicker than they are intended to remain, in order to reap the advantage of an immediate effect. As they grow too thick, they can be easily transplanted to other places where they will be effective. A. G. H. in Gardener's Monthly. Rabbits Eating Fruit Trees. I tem, every one of which conveyed a certain portion of nutriment to the body or to some organ of it; hence I concluded that the process of cultivation must be injurious. "My fears were realized. In 1855, two of the best trees died; a great many trees died that year in various parts of the country, and the cause was attributed to the weather. I have no doubt that a severe winter hastened the decay, but in this region, the best cultivated orchards were most severely injured. I of my position, if necessary, but defer it for can mention many instances in further proof the present," Such cultivation as the writer of the above gave to his orchard should be expected to im surface culture are two different things. The one might ruin; the other is pretty sure to improve the health and vigor of the orchard. From the Valley Farmer we take the follow-peril the life of any fruit tree. Trench and ing: Kill a rabbit and cut it in two pieces, and rub the bark of each young tree with it. The rabbit will not trouble these trees any more that season. The flesh side of the hide of the opossum is equally as good to rub the trees with. I have tried it and have not had From Proceedings of Ohio Poinological Soc, at Columbus, a tree injured that was treated in this manner, while those that were left unrubbed were eaten by the rabbits. Blood is also a safe, effectual and easy remedy to prevent rabbits from eating the bark off of young trees. Take two or three quarts of blood, and thoroughly mix it with about six of water in a bucket; then, with a short-handled whitewash brush, put it on. One stroke on each side of the tree is sufficient. One application is enough, without heavy rains occur during the winter; in that case it would be better to go over them a second time. An active man will wash nearly one thousand in a day. O., Feb., 1863. FINK.-Specimens by A. B. Butler, Columbus, and Mr. Wood, of Jefferson Co.,-the latter along with specimens of the Tewksbury Winter Blush, showing considerable resemblance between the two, but not identity, as supposed when first presented to the Society. Mr. Bateham said there was more difference in the wood and growth of the trees than in the fruit. The Fink was the better grower, |