, 1861-03-08
Terms of Subscription:
Agricultural.
From the California Partner.
Remarkable Yield Of Honey.

keMarhaDl6 lltlu OF honey.
The following report by Rev. Hiram
Hamilton, Of Stockton, shows the results O
Bee-keeping in this State He says:
"Thirty-hve swarms Of bees did produce
during the past season, over twenty-thou
sand pounds of honey. am not surprised
that the truth of this should be questioned
for doubt if the world can furnish a par
6llel. Not that a hive producing 57I
pounds in one season cannot be found, bu
that thirty-fVe swarms should average tha
amount, is a great yield. But it is of nc
great good to the public to be told that {
great thing is done, unless they are inform
ed how it was done. This | will do in as
few words as possible. About the lst o.
February, 1860, left the vicinity of Stock
ton with thirty-6ve swarms of bees; twenty
five swarms in Langstroth,hives, containing
about I400 cubic inches, and 10 swarms in
another moVable-comb hive, containing
about 1000 cubic inches each. | took
these bees to the town of Santa Clara,
Santa Clara county, and kept them there
until the LIST of July, six months. man.
aged them on the system taught by Rev.
L. L. LaDgstroth in his work on the honey
bee. fed them nothing except the honey
that / took from them. BY the lst of july
the swarms had increased to 270. l re-
moved them at that time to the vicinity of
whence they started, and by the
lst Of October the swarms had increased
to 500. The large hives, ten in number,
have increased to seventy-6ve, containing
about sixty pounds Of honey each, or $500
pounds; the small hives, 25 in number,
have amounted to 425, containing about
lhirty-6Ve pounds each, or 14,S75; from
Ihe small hives, in September, about 100
pounds was taken, and they afterwards
illed 100 pounds, making for the whole the
great total Of 20,775 pounds. From the
lbove it will be seen that the small hives
nave been much the most profitable. Bees
10 but very little in Santa Clara after the
lst Of July, but in San Joaquin and Sacra-
nent valleys they do the most after the
lst Of July; Jolly, August, September and
October being the best months Of the year"
HOP CULTURE.-PrOf.t Brewer, in one Of
he Yale Agricultural Lectures, spoke thus
II the hop: In 1910. we raised ,23s, 600
'ouuds; 10 1850, 4,497, 900. lie traced
he history Of the plant, and showed that
IS general use can be dated only 800 years
Jack. England uses forty million pounds,
aging the government a duty of over
million dollars. If only the hop-howers are
aiken from the farm, the crop is not Of so
xhausting nature as tobacco; but still it
J very much so, after all. From tun of
ops, we may get ITO pounds of ash, of
Thich potash, lime, and ammonia, form
lrincipal ingredients. Liberal applications
4 manure are needed, and they do not
fleet the quality Of product, as is the case
With tobacco. Besides farm-yard dung,
Vool, hair, bones, plaster, lime, and ashes,
IRE all useful fertilizers. In England, the
Kent and Sussex hOp-growers calculate
lpon spending about fifty dollars an acre
or special manures, in addition to what of
he ordinary kind they may make on the
arm. With such care they have hop plan
,ations 800 years old. The ground must
DO trenched and worked deeply. About
1900 hills is the proper number for an acre,
md for each 200 hills there should be one
lill of male plants 1t is better to plant in
triangular form than square; that is to say,
Ihe bills of adjoining rows should alternate,
and not be set opposite each other When
picked, the hops should at once be dried,
and this is better done by passing a current
of hot air over them than in placing them
IN room where they get only the radiated
heat Of a stove. Liebig recommends ex-
posing hops to the fumes Of sulphur, as
thus the IuPWIiHe, or active principle, may
be preserved from one season TO another.
The practice is opposed by isome, but
adopted by many of the best Munich brew
ers. The hop crop varies from year to
year to such an extent that the price is
very fuctuating, and even in a single
season, month may make a difference Of
100 per cent.
CURRANTs s-There is probably none Of
the small garden fruits that is more nutri.
tiOus or more pleasant; none that will pay
better, either as a table fruit or for wine.
making, than the currant.
One of the best ways to prepare the
eurrrant for the desert, is to take full ripe
eurrants, and strip them from the stem
place them in layers in large dishes, and
sprinkle them over with crushed sugar; lei
this be done some six or ten hours before
they are eaten, They thus imbibe the
sugar, which neutralzes the acid of thC
eurrant, and makes delightful and health
fol dish.
Those who plant the currant should bea
IN mind, that the only way to make then
heavy bearers, is to grow them in tree
form, from one stem, and not as bush; b,
this plan you will have better fruit ant
more Of it.