434 



GLEANIN(!S IN HKE CULTUllK 



JtiIjY 1 



bees. We liavo had tluni only three years. 'I'lif 

 fir.st swarm caiiu' to us. We enjoy carinR for tliein, 

 and they truly reward us for our work, 

 tireen Cove Sprincs. Kla., .June 6. .J. E. Halu 



THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ST. CLOUD SETTLE- 

 MENT FOR THE OLD SOLDIERS 

 IN FLORIDA. 



We clip the following from the Rural 

 Neiu -Yorker : 



In my judgment the St. Cloud, Florida, proposi- 

 tion is one of the greatest outrages tliat has been 

 imposed upon the old soldier. I had heard a great 

 deal about it, and made a special trip to St. Cloud 

 to see it. Language could not express my disgust 

 and contempt for the parties who were working the 

 scheme. Neither could words express the pity and 

 sympathy for the old boys who were being worked. 

 I really think it is a proposition that tlie United 

 States government should investigate. 



Columbus, C. Thos. E. Knauss. 



I heartily agree with the Rural, that 

 working any class of people is bad enough; 

 but when it comes to working their schemes 

 on the few old soldiers now left among us, 

 it is time that the general government should 

 make an investigation. 



IS ANY PART OF FLORIDA " FKOST-PROOF " ? 



Dear Mr. Root: — 'Will you kindly tell me if there 

 is any land in Florida where there is no danger of 

 frost ? AVas there any at Bradentown where you 

 were tliat did any damage? And do you consider 

 it still more safe south of Bradentown toward Fort 

 Myers ? There are so numy contl.cting reports that 

 I should greatly appreciate your judgment in the 

 matter. Good parties tell nie that Manatee and De- 

 Soto counties are practically below the frost-line. 



Hudson, O., .Tune IH. T. B. Tekrv. 



Manatee ( 'Oiinty and many i)arts of De 

 Soto arc practically frost-proof. I^ast win- 

 ter a lot of stulT was killed on our grounds 

 about Christmas time, but all or nearly all 

 has started up from the ground, and this 

 frost, as I have explained in (Jleanings, 

 was the most severe for perhaps the i)ast 

 fifteen years. 



Now, there is still another i)oint to be 

 considered. There are many places in our 

 neighborhood where frost did more damage 

 than on my i)lace, and, at the same time, 

 there are other localities close to the bay 

 where there was practically no injury. Or- 

 anges were very little damaged in most lo- 

 calities. So far I know, there is no spot in 

 Florida, that is, no region of any considera- 

 ble extent, where there is never any dam- 

 age from frost. Even down at Miami, 

 tomatoes have a few times in the past ten 

 years been damaged quite a little. Fort 

 Myers is further south than Bradentown, 

 and would naturally be a little more secure 

 from injury; but there are places around 

 Ft. Myers, say where there is not sufficient 

 air drainage, or a dejiression in the lanil- 

 scai)e, for instance, wliere the cold air set- 

 tles a good deal as water settles in a valley 

 after a big rain. In these cold valleys frost 

 often does quite a little damage, while on 

 ground that has good air drainage there 

 will be no damage at all. 



Still another thing must be considered. 

 The islands out in the water are often en- 

 tirely free from any injury by frost when 

 the main land sutlers more or less. There 

 has never been a freeze, for instance, on the 



isjjind where I spent two winters, to injure 

 vegetation; but iliere liave been limes when 

 there was a cold north wind that blighted 

 the stutf (cucumbers, for instance) almost 

 but not quite so badly as the frost; so you 

 see there are many things to be consideretl 

 in asking for a locality or region entirely free 

 from frost. 



THE EUCALYFTU.S IN FLORIDA: MORE ABOUT IT. 



When we came here 21 months ago there was 

 growing in our front yard a young switch of euca- 

 lyptus. It has been growing without care, and is 

 now a nice tree about 15 ft. in height. Its stem 

 measures 1254 inches in circumference half a loot 

 above ground. 1 send you clippings which show 

 that these trees may be grown on a large .scale in 

 Lee County, in the near future. There is now a eu- 

 calyptus nursery owned by the K. U. Nurseries, 

 Kstero, Fla. I also take pleasure in sending you ad- 

 dress of Florida Ererahtdex Revieic. Chicago. 111. 

 That paper speaks of success with alfalfa and alslke 

 clover in South Florida. It seems to me that where 

 alfalfa and clover succeed, sweet clover also ought 

 to grow. 



Estero, Fla . .June i;?. Mrs. Therese Younger. 



I am very glad to know that there is a 

 prospect of some varieties of eucalyptus suc- 

 ceeding in Florida. Mr. Fveasoner, of the 

 Oneco nurseries, informed me last winter 

 that the eticalyptus usually grown in Cali- 

 fornia did notseem to succeed well in Flori- 

 da; but he saitl there were some new varie- 

 ties that gave promise of success. In regard 

 to alfalfa, alsike, and other clovers in South 

 Florida, I know they do sometimes succeed 

 for a while; but my imi)re.ssion is that the 

 hot wet summers generally use them up. 

 The Crenshaw Seed Co., of Tamjja, Fla., al- 

 though they advertise alfalfa seed, wrote me 

 recently that, if there was any i)laf e in Flor- 

 ida where alfalfa was a success, they would 

 be glad to know it. And, by the way, I 

 would suggest that a periodical printed in 

 Chicago does not usually give very correct 

 information as to what may be grown in 

 Florida. 



EUCALYPTUS AS A REMEDY FOR VERMIN ON CHICK- 

 ENS. 



On page 364, .June 1, is a letter from .J as. A. Nelson, 

 Escondido, Cal., headed "Vermin on Chickens Pre- 

 vented by EucalyiJtus-trees." 1 wish to state I gave 

 that remedy a thorough trial ten years ago. There 

 is notliing in it. I had chickens house-surrounded 

 by eucalyptus-trees; made roosts of eucalyptus 

 l)oles, and kept branches of trees in the houses; but 

 not a louse went away. 



Metz, Cal., .June 13. II. E. Thayer. 



The above is not a surprise to me; and, in 

 fact, many of the remedies proposed for 

 chickens and people are, 1 have reason to 

 believe, based on misconception or misun- 

 derstanding. The remedy is used, and the 

 chicken or person gets better and recovers, 

 when the recovery was really due to some 

 outside influence. Well, if the eucalyptus 

 is not a remedy for poultry vermin, discuss- 

 ing the tree has brought out good in anoth- 

 er way. I have several reports to the effect 

 that eucalyptus does sticceed in Florida, even 

 in our own town of IJradentown. See the 

 following: 



EUCALYPTUS IN .SOUTHWE.STERN FLORIDA. 



Friend Root: — 1 notice what you say, .June 1, page 

 3()4. about there being no eucalyptus-trees in Flori- 

 da. When 1 was in Bradentown in 1908 friend True- 



