GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Sept. 1 



fields and fewer poor ones; but not until we 

 got into Southern Ohio did I see acre after 

 acre and 77iUe afttr mile of corn that was all 

 good. 'Great heavy ears were bending over 

 and hanging down in field after field, and 

 one field was just like another — none poor 

 at all. This is the great corn region, where 

 there is rich V)lack soil and almost perfect 

 tile drainage, or at least open ditches. Inter- 

 sjjcrsed among the cornfields were fields of 

 red clover rank in full bloom. And this 

 clover rotation is the key to the great corn 

 crops. And, by the way, where these crops 

 are all good, aiid always good, you see fine 

 farm dwellings, telephone lines, and pros- 

 perous towns and cities. So far as I know, 

 it would pay the farmers in almost every 

 State in the Union to get a glimpse of the 

 rich farming lands in Southwestern Ohio. 



Now, do not understand that I am advis- 

 ing you to sell your farm and move to a 

 better locality. You will find the price of 

 such land away up in those localities. What 

 you want to do is to find out by careful ex- 

 periment how to grow some rank, thrifty, 

 high-pressure corn in ijour garden, say on a 

 few rods of ground. Now, when you find 

 out just what is wanted in your own locali- 

 ty, work early and late. First get a whole 

 acre to do the same, then another acre, and 

 so on, until you get your whole field up to 

 high-pressure corn-growing. It can be done, 

 and it will pay. 



Of course, the best place to raise corn on a 

 large scale is in the corn regions; but if you 

 are going through the motions needed to 

 get a crop, for heaven's .soA;e get your ground 

 in such condition that every motion, when 

 you do make it, will count. The same with 

 any crop; and if you do not know how or 

 what to do, hunt up some man in your 

 neighborhood who is already making a suc- 

 cess with some particular croji. If you 

 come and take a look at our cornfield to-day, 

 Aug. 2o, you would see that I do "practice 

 what I preach." See i)ages o62 and 4ol, 

 .lune 1st and .luly 1st issues. 



Notes of Travel 



By A. I. Root 



FLORIDA IN THE SUMMER TIME, CONTIN- 

 UED. 



In addition to what I told you in the last 

 issue, permit me to say that I greatly en- 

 joyed my trip of 25 days to Florida in .July 

 and August. A steady temi)erature of be- 

 tween 80 and 90 seemed to have the effect 

 on me of banishing all catarrh, grip, hay fe- 

 ver, and every thing of that kind, so my 

 throat and nostrils were clearer and cleaner 

 than they had been before for years. Of 

 course, my daily baths (in the air as well as 

 in water), with the massage mentioned on 

 another page, had much to do with it. 



I arrived home on the i;>th of August, and 

 am still enjoying excellent health. In re- 



gard to gardening and crops in the summer 

 time, there is something ])eculiar to Florida 

 that is hard to understand. There are quite 

 a good many crops that do not seem to 

 stand the steady hot temi)eratureand abun- 

 dant rain there, while there are other things 

 that grow nicely. When I first arrived, my 

 neighbor Rood called my attention to a plot 

 of rich ground on which beggarweed was 

 just coming up; and he said he wanted me 

 to take another look at it just before I went 

 back home. To my great surprise H was all 

 of two feet high, and some of it nearly a 

 yard; and so far as I know this wonderful 

 growth had all been made in thirty or forty 

 days. 



I was talking with a man on the cars who 

 grows oranges and grape fruit, and I asked 

 him why their orchards were permitted to 

 grow great tall weeds clear up close to the 

 tree. He said this big growth was needed 

 in Florida to turn under to furnish humus. 

 But he said that, while this beggarweed 

 was worth SI. ^'5 per lOn for hay, most peo- 

 ple thought they could not afford to turn it 

 all under, so they cut it and either sold the 

 hay or used it for feed, and then turned un- 

 der the sod. Now, just think of it! Mr. Rood 

 had already had two good paying crops on 

 that piece of ground before growing that 

 beggarweed for hay in thirty or forty days; 

 and yet notwithstanding the fact that he 

 was doing this kind of work year after year 

 there is land all around him that is produc- 

 ing absolutely nothing. A near neighbor 

 has a piece of five acres that I do not think 

 has ever produced a croji of any sort since 

 I have lived in that neighborhood. Mr. 

 Rood's ground is tile-drained. He has also 

 an artesian well for sub-irrigation, and he 

 uses fertilizers liberally on almost every crop. 

 When I wrote about the mango in our last 

 issue I had never tasted one of the large im- 

 proved varieties of the fruit. They have 

 been improved so much that they are free 

 from the cotton-like fiber. These large 

 fruits are sold in cities for 50 cts., and some- 

 times even 75 cts. each; and when I put the 

 first slice of them in my mouth I said it was 

 ahead of the most luscious peach I had ever 

 tasted. At present this new large improved 

 variety is not plentiful, and the fruit sells 

 at a high price; but the common mango, 

 aV)out as large as a goose egg, is very plenti- 

 ful in the market at only 15 cents a dozen, 

 and they are certainly a most luscious fruit. 

 The well-known scuppernong grapes were 

 just rii)ening when I left, and I do believe 

 they are, to my taste, more agreeable grapes 

 than we have here in the North, or even in 

 California. A single scu])i)ernong grapevine 

 with a trellis to support its great branches 

 will often jiroduce as many grajies in one 

 season as a good stout horse can draw. They 

 were retailing in the market, when I left, at 

 ten cents a quart. 



Now, then, about the disagreeable things 

 about Florida in summer. Mrs. Root re- 

 minds me that, in accordance with my nat- 

 ural disi>osition, I have given a better 

 glimi)se of the pleasant things than I have 



