The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-03-07

improbable to buy because they con-
tain elements which the soil does not
need along with those hhat are requir-
ed; but the farmer has to pay both
for what his soil demands and what is
worthless.
FRIDAYS SESSIONS.
Friday morning good audience as
sembled. The members of the board
previously mentioned were present,
with the exception Of DR.. Cutting
who had been called home by sickness
in his family.
E. r. Pember delivered an add ess
on Experience with Hill Farm "
He spoke, first, of the condition of the
hill farms in Vermont. The majority
of our farmers own aud try to occupy
more land than they can profitablv
nse. Land too poor for other use
should be allowed to grow up to for
ests. The farmer should throw aside
old methods when there are better
ones to be followed. He should also
have more practical education, ln-
teligence and skill are imperatively
demanded by the conditions under
which our farmers are compelled to
work. In conclusion the speaker not
ed improvements in Vermont farming.
If its success can be made certain our
commonwealth is sure to prosper, be-
ing, as it is, chiefly an agricultural
State.
Prof IL. NJ. Seely followed Mr.. Penn
Der and gave an exceptionally interest.
ing address. He coutrasled the old
style farm methods with those now in
use, and briefly spoke of several mat
ters relating to agriculture, such as the
necessity of watching and protecting all
our educational facilities, the need of
state protection in the purchase of
manures, encouragement to grow for
ests to protect our water-courses the
many reasons for the establishment of a
national agricultural department upon
a more extended scale than has been
attempted, to make experiments inves-
tigating diseases of stock without being
limited in expense, and the benefit to
be derived from a much further extern
sion of the signal service. 1t is of
course impossible in an abstract to do
justice to an essay covering so wide a
range of subjects.
j. f. Crane of MiddIebury spoke
upon the "Bee Industry" AS showing
how its importance had increased he
stated that in 1862 The value of honey
produced was 100000 aud in 1882 it
was S32 100000. lie contrasted the
old style of hives and method OF hand
ling bees with the present, and exhibit
ed little book, which was the first
book on Bookkeeping published in the
United States. 1t was printed at Mid
dlebury about fifty years ago. Now
there are dozen or more journals de-
voted to this interest. About 1850 the
movable frame hive was invented. 1t
has been the most valuable addition
to the facilities of the bee-keeper ever
produced, as it gives the keeper entire
control of the bees. In 1860 Mr.. Par
sons of Flushing, l.. L., imported the
first Italian bees, which have proved
very valuable. The Cyprian bee, the
Egyptian bee and the Palestine bee
have all been tried, but in the speakers
opinion none OF them was as good as
the Italian. In 1867 the honey extrac-
tor was brought out. BY its use the
honey is extracted and the comb re-
turned to the hive. This has largely
increased the honey product, as it costs
the bees as much labor to make the
comb as to make the honey. The pro-
cess of making comb from foundation
was patented in 1860, but not made
practicable till ten years later. BY this
process the foundation of the comb is
made for the bees and by them drawn
ont N fpnnl 81 tn X hnupC gaxrinfy N
much time which can then be given TO
gathering honey. Bees can be handled
perfectly by smoke so there is no dan
ger from sings. Among the applian-
ces of the apiary are bee cages for send
ing queens to a distance, and wax eX-
tractors which do away with all the
disagreeable features of making wax
by the old methods. Bee-keepers have
long looked for hive that would not
swarm, but as yet no one has ever sue
ceeded in planning such hive. Bee
Keeping, like every other business, has
its drawbacks, among which is that
known as "toul BROOD" disease
which kills the young bees before they
leave the cells, and, being contagious,
sometimes destroys whole apiaries.
hOout OilC year III hNc is IL lOldl failure,
the bees not gathering honey to live
upon and must be fed, and large num-
bers of them die. In Addison county
the business has rapidly grown for the
past fifteen years, and last year one
hundred thousand pounds of honey
were sold outside of the county. 1t
used to be thought the market would
be easily overstocked, but that is not
the case now. In 1860 the New York
market broke down with twenty thou
sand pounds. Last year nearly one
million pounds were sold in that mar
ket, and the demand everywhere is
constantly increasing.
The afternoon session opened with
the presentation of II paper by Mr.
Lane, on "Merino Sheep" There are,
he said, few points in breeding upon
which there is agreement; neverthe-
less he believed that breeding rested
upon principles. In the breeding of
Merinos as much care had been taken
as in any branch of husbandry. But
standards differ. What seemed ex-
CeDtiOns TO the general rules for bread :