THE WISCONSIN FARMER.



              lte rear Blight.

  MR. EDITOR:-I think the best response you
could make to the enquiries of H. W. Wolcott,
on Pear Blight, would be to publish the re-
marks of Chas. Downing, in Downing's new
edition of - Fruit Trees of America."
  Thr           - sto bh very imperfectly un-



derstood by most of our Western Horticultur-
ists, and a great deal has been written and
circulated in our Western agricultural papers
by men who have evidently noticed. but one
form of blight.
  Your correspondent's trees, probably, suffer-
ed from Frozen Sap Blight. It was very pre-
valent last season, owing, in a great measure,
to the wet summer. for I have known the sum-
mer pass without blighting at ill, when the
sapwood was quite as much injured from late
growth c' t1he previous fall ndl injury from the
previous Wv tner. s ojir p'ar trees were last
spring.
  rear t:ces plinacd ol high, dry land, where
the wool will ripen up early in the season, are
rarely affected, even in the worst seasons.
  I notice in the discussions of your Horticul-
tural Society that one of you recommends
plan:ing dwarf pears with the junction of pear
and qaince above ground. This is a danger-
ous practice, as the quince roots are liable lo
freeze, I may say sire to frrrze, and thousands
of dwarf pear trees have been lost to the West
for this sole reason.        R. DOUGLAS.
  WArREGAN. April 3. 1863.

  Too OLD TO PLAST TREES.-This is the com-
plaint of many a man in middle life, or when
rounding over the hill of his pilgrimage. lie
thinks he shall never live to eat their fruit, so
it will be of no use to plant. He's too old!
  What if you don't live, dear man, that is no
reason for not planting. Suppose your prede-
cessors had refused to plant, those orchards
from which you annually gather apples and
pears, what would have been your lot now?
Would you bless or curse their memories, for
their selfishness? If you indulge such a churl-
ish disposition, it is doubtful whether you will
live very long to enjoy anything: such a spirit
sucks the fountain of life dry quite early.
Each generation receives a dowry from the
preceding, and should hand over the inherit-
Lnoe, much enlarged. to the following.



I                       -



THE BEE-KEEPER.



         The c...

Many-elogeed, ounshine-loving,
Spriung.btkenoing bee!
Yell.w bee, ro niad fr love
Of owly4OeInEg flowven,
Till thy waxon can be full;
Vak fail thy work ad thee,
Bung round the sweetly smalling



         Gadn plym mu bowers.
            [From ithe Grek of Ntcisa, 289 B. C.

        Which is the beat luo-mive I

  Ha. EDITOR:-In the December No. of the
FARMER I find the Langstrotb hive highly re-
commended; but what I miss is the why 4
  You would very much oblige me and others
if you would be so kind as to give a descrip-
tion of the hive, and the reason why it is so
superior. I use Burlebs & Co.'s hives, which
cost me $5 eaoh, and if I could get better ones
for $1.50, I should be very thankful for the
opportunity.
  Please give us the answer as soon as possi.
ble, for now is the tinme to look for hives. When
the swarm is on thie tree it is a little too late.
  Which is the best work on Sheep-keeping?
I would like to buy me one, and don't know
which.                  DIoNIs SCHAEFER.
BSPAIGFIRLD, Feb. 15, 1863.
  ANswER.-We are not perfectly sure that
the Langstroth hive is absolutely the best,
though it is the choice of many good judges.
The chief argument in its favor is that it gives
better control of the bees and of their enemies.
  Youzatt's work on Sheep is probably the best.
Price not to exceed $1.-EDITOR.

      Improved Straw Hives-How Made.

  Having succeeded in constructing a hive of
straw, adapted to improved bee-culture, mak-
ing it take and retain a shape suitable for
movable frames and surplus honey boxes, I an-
nounced it in the Farmer some months since,
and at the same time an invitation was given
for some one to give us a better form, as I did
not suppose that I had the best one. Since
that time, two straw hives have been patented,
but whether they are sufficiently superior to
mine to pay patent expenses, is not for me to
say. Both of them have movable frames. One
patented by Mr. M. Stilwell, Manlius, N. Y.,
is very much like mine; the material difference
is in the manner of securing the straw. Mr.



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