second coat of gum arabic, and let it dry; and a third, and oftener, if you find that when dry it does not form a good body on the paper, at least to the thickness of a shilling; let it dry quite hard. When thus prepared, take the feathers off the bird as you use them, beginning at the tail and points of the wings, and working upwards to the head, observing to cover that part of your drawing with the feathers taken from the same part of the bird, letting them fall over one another in the natural order. Prepare your feathers by cutting off the downy parts about the stems, and the large feathers must have the insides of their shafts shaved off with a sharp knife or a piece of glass to make them lie flat; the quills of the wings must have their inner webs clipped off, so that in laying them the gum may hold them by their shafts. When you begin to lay them, take a pair of steel pliers to hold the feathers in, and have some thick gumwater, and a large pencil ready to moisten the ground-work by little and little, as you work it: then lay your feathers on the moistened parts, which must be just clammy, to hold the feathers. You must have prepared a great many small sugarloaf shaped leaden weights, which form by casting the lead into sand, in which shapes or moulds for it have been made by means of a pointed stick prodded all over the surface, having small holes to receive the melted lead. These weights will be necessary to set on the feathers when you have mercly laid them on, in order to press them into the gum till they are fixed. Be cautious lest the gum comes through the feathers. Do not have your coat of gum too moist. When you have wholly covered your bird with its feathers, with a little thick gum stick on a piece of paper, cut round, of the size of an eye, which colour the same as the eye of the bird if you cannot procure a glass bead of the kind. When the whole is dry, dress the feathers all round the outline and rectify defects: then lay on it a sheet of clean paper, and a heavy weight, such as a book, to press it; when dry preserve in a glass frame, such as used for pieces of shellwork, stuffed fish, &c. Bees.-Management of.-Select for your hives a sheltered part of the garden, screened from the north and east winds, but open to the southern aspect. Do not place the hives so that the sun strikes upon them too early, because bees must never be tempted to quit their hives in the heavy morning dew, which clogs their limbs and impedes their flight. Place them, if possible, near a running stream, as they delight in plenty of water; but if none is within their easy reach, place pans of fresh water near the hives, in which mix a little common. salt; and let small bits of stick float on the surface, to enable the bees to drink safely, instead of slipping down the smooth sides of the vessel, to perish. Never place hives under a roof: it heats them, and induces the bees to form combs outside the hives, instead of swarming. Let the space before the hives be perfectly clear of bushes and other impediments to their movement. Bees, returning heavy laden and wearied, are unable to bear up against any object, should they hit themselves and fall. Trees and bushes in the vicinity are, however, advisable, as they present convenient spots for swarms to settle, which might otherwise go beyond sight or reach. In November remove your hives upon their stools, into a cool, dry, and shady room, or outhouse, where they will be protected as well from the winter sun as from the frosts. Warm days in winter often tempt bees to quit their cells, and the chilling air numbs and destroys them. Let them remain thus until February or March, should the spring be late and cold. It is not sufficient to stop the mouth of the hive with clay; the bees will soon make their way through it. Bees are subject to a disease like dysentery in the spring. Before you place the hives in their summer quarters, turn up the hive, and notice the smell procceding from it. If the bees are healthy, it will smell like heated wax; but if diseased, like putrefaction. In this case, a little port wine, or brandy, mixed with their food, will restore them. In, the early spring feed them, and do the same when the flowers pass away in autumn, until they are taken into the house, then do not further disturb them. The proper food is beer and sugar, in the proportion of one pound to a quart; boil it for five minutes. In May, bees begin to swarm, if the weather be warm. New and dry hives must be prepared, without any doorway; the entrance must be cut in the stool. Sticks across the inside of the hives are of no use, and very inconvenient. Let, the hive be well washed with beer and sugar, before you shake the bees into it. After swarming, place it upon a cloth with one side raised upon a stone; shade it with boughs, and let it alone till quite dusk, then remove it to the stool where it is to stand. A practical writer thus describes the process of chloroforming Bees :-"The quantity of chloroform required for an ordinary hive is the sixth part of an ounce a very large hive may take nearly a quarter of an ounce. My mode of operation is as follows:-I set down a table opposite to, and about four feet distant from, the hive; on the table I spread a thick linen cloth; in the centre of the table I place a small shallow breakfast plate, which I cover with a piece of wire gauze, to prevent the bees from coming in immediate contact with the chloroform; and into this plate I pour the chloroform. I now quickly and cautiously lift the hive from the board on which it is standing, set it down on the top of the table, keeping the plate in the centre; cover the hive closely up with cloths, and in twenty minutes or so, the bees are not only sound asleep, but, contrary to what I have seen when they are suffocated with sulphur, not one is left among the combs; the whole of them are lying helpless on the table. You now remove what honey you think fit, replace the hive in its old stand, and the bees, as they recover, will re turn to their domicile. A bright, calm, sunny day is the best; and you should commence your operations early in the morning, before many of them are abroad.' Care must be taken that the dose is not too strong. Silkworms.-In this country silkworms are kept simply for amusement. The eggs which produce the worm are hatched in May or June, unless artificial heat brings them out at an earlier period. The eggs are about as large as mustard-seed; and the worms, when first hatched, are very small; but they feed on fresh lettuce and mulberry leaves so voraciously, that in six or seven weeks they grow to their full size. When growing they shed their coats several times, each time assuming more delicate colours. They have nine holes on each side, through which they breathe. The silk is spun from two small sacks on each side, filled with a gummy substance which becomes silky as it dries. The worm never breaks his thread as he spins, and it is said one ball contains entire silk enough to reach six miles. These balls are called cocoons. These answer the same purpose as the chrysalis of the butterfly; and if they were let alone, a delicate white moth would eat its way out of each of them: but the holes thus eaten would break the silk in pieces; therefore, in order to kill the moths, the cocoons are baked or scalded. Those that are reserved for eggs are laid aside in the dark on sheets of paper. As soon as the moth comes out of her cocoon, she lays her eggs and dies. A few minutes' attention each day, for six or seven weeks, is all that is necessary. One person can attend to fifty thousand. It takes two thousand worms to produce a pound of silk. Everything about them must be kept clean and sweet. They must have fresh mulberry leaves two or three times a day; and must neither be covered with dew nor dried in the hot sun. XII. DOMESTIC PESTS. Rats and Mice.-1. Mix a few grains of powdered nux vomica with oatmeal, and lay it in their haunts, observing proper precaution to prevent accidents. 2. Another method is to mix oatmeal with a little powdered phosphorus. 3. Dried sponge cut small, and dipped in oil of rhodium and honey, proves mortal to those that eat it, by distending their intestines. 4. Birdlime laid in the places which they frequent will adhere to their skins, and become so troublesome as to make them leave their old quarters. 5. Balls made of a mixture of malt dust and butter, with a little of the oil of aniseeds, or rhodium, will allure them into a trap, when other baits have failed. 6. Having kneaded some wheaten flour or malt meal into a paste, when it becomes sour mix with it fine iron filings, and form the whole into balls; then put them into the crevices or holes, and it will kill them. 7. Mix two or three grains of arsenic in a ball of dripping and flour, and strew several of these balls in the places most infested by the rats. 8. Another mode is to mix about a drachm of the poison in a dish with boiled potatoes, slices of bacon, &c. ; or to melt some cheese, and mix the arsenic with it. All these, however, have been known to fail, when arsenic, mixed with plain boiled potatoes, without any highly-flavoured food, has been effectual. When it is found that the rats, for a considerable length of time, avoid one kind of bait, another should be tried; and persons should not despair of their taking the poison eventually because they avoid it for several days together, as they will sometimes do this, and then in a single night devour all the bait. Notwithstanding the efficiency of these poisons, and the numbers caught ir traps, a good cat will do more ser vice in destroying and frightening away rats and mice than the whole list of poisons and all the traps that were ever made. In places where cats cannot safely be allowed—as cupboards, &c.—traps and poisons must, however, be employed, and of those given above the strongest and best-though very dan gerous—is strychnine, which is a very powerful preparation of nux vomica, mixed, a few grains nightly, with food. This is not easily detected by the rats or mice, and, if eaten, is instantaneously fatal. The greatest care must in all these cases be exercised, and servants or children should on no account be allowed to have anything to do with the preparation. It has been stated that vermin have a great aversion to the smell of garlic, and, if a clove or two of this vegetable be introduced into their holes, they will leave the place and seek some other haunt. Insects.-The Habits of Insects.— The butterfly which lives on honey, and did live on leaves, lays her eggs on a twig. She seems to feel that honey will not suit her young, and that the leaves will wither and fall before another spring comes round.— The gnat, which lives in the air, and feeds on blood, lays her eggs on the surface of water; and the sugar-loving house-fly knows that very different food is necessary for her young. -The nut-weevil chooses the embryo of the nut; the goat-moth the bark of the willow; the rhipiphora braves the dangers of the wasp's nest; the estrus lays on cattle; the ichneumon in caterpillars; the gall-fly in the still almost imperceptible bud; and some insects even in the eggs of others.-Generally the larvæ forage for themselves; but, in some cases, the mother supplies her young with food. Thus, the solitary |