744 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Nov. 15 



because it is a beller (juality of wheat than 

 we get at the feed stores down there, and it 

 is perfectly free from dirt and trash. The 

 book tells us that Daniel Boone in his cele- 

 brated exploring trip lived mostly on his 

 ground parched corn. The Spaniards in 

 the South have a similar article that they 

 call pinole (pe-no-lay). In the last para- 

 graph in the above, allusion is made to 

 "charqui." This is what the Indians call 

 jerked venison. It is something like our 

 dried beef. Now, Mrs. Root is so fond of a 

 nice article of dried beef that we have our 

 grocer here in Medina send it to us in Flori- 

 da by mail. It does not keep in that hot 

 and humid climate. Of course, they have 

 it in glass tumblers, but it is not as good, 

 and costs more than to have it sent by mail. 

 Yes, we do have to pay 16 cts. per lb. be- 

 cause of the absurd absence of parcels post 

 here in our own country. If we had such 

 mail privileges as all the rest of the world 

 enjoys, or such as the people of foreign 

 countries enjoy in sending any thing to the 

 United States, we could get a lot of concen- 

 trated foods by mail. May God help us. 

 Well, now this one chapter on emergency 

 foods in that book is worth more than the 

 price of the book; and it comes to us from a 

 source so little expected that the whole 

 book is one of my happy surprises, written 

 by a man who tramped for days, carried 

 his gun, provisions, and a blanket to sleep 

 on. I suspect there are many college pro- 

 fessors — yes, and city editors (as well as 

 some out in the country), who could "sit 

 at the feet "of our author and learn wisdom. 



There is one chapter on camp cookery 

 that makes me hungry every time I read it. 

 May God be praised that we have practical 

 men who give us a book containing so much 

 wisdom, and at the same time give it to us 

 in such a genial and comical way that ev- 

 erybody will read it. I am sure you will ex- 

 cuse me when I add that we have made ar- 

 rangements to furnish the book from this 

 office, and for saying it right here in these 

 reading-columns. 



Just one little illustration of the comical 

 things in this book. When out in the woods, 

 and short of stores, you have got to learn to 

 eat, sometimes, every thing that comes 

 along. He, therefore, opens the chapter on 

 the emergency foods with the following 

 couplet: 



But rats and mice, and such small deer. 

 Have been Tom's food for seven long year. 



FLORIDA LAND SPECULATOKS; SHIPPING 

 HONEY TO IRRESPONSIBLE PARTIES, ETC. 



The following from a recent number of 

 the Rural New - Yorker hits the readers of 

 Gleanings in several ways; in fact, it in- 

 dorses what I have been telling you again 

 and again: 



Some time ago I bought ten acres of land in Florida of the 

 Tampa Bay Land Co., Tampa. Fla.. on installments. After 

 paying Hve installments 1 did what I should have done in the 

 first place. I sent a good reliable man to .see the land. I in- 

 close the answer. I do not suppose 1 can get any thing out of 

 it, but would like to have others warned against buying waste 



land from these i-ompanies t' at have good land, hut sell the 

 poor to tools who do not tee it. 1 told tiiem 1 would send the 

 case to you ; but their answer was that you would be afraid to 

 do any thing— at least that Is the way I read It. C. J. H. 



The substance of the report on the above purchase 

 from a reliable man at Tampa is as foUoM's: 



This land is level, and is what is commonly known in Flori- 

 da as Hat-woods land. There are some pine-trees growing on 

 this land, and scrub palmettos The land is dry. and Is worth 

 about $15.00 or $20.00 per acre. You can buy land in any quan- 

 tity, from 1000 to 10,000 acres, as good as this land, and as con- 

 veniently located to Tampa, for $20.00 or Si.^.OO per acre. In 

 my opinion you can buy forty acres of land almost as cheap as 

 you can buy this ten acres, that would be just as go d for all 

 practical purposes as this property. I have no desire to in- 

 jure the parties selling this property. They have some good 

 land for trucking and gardening In their colonies; but in my 

 opinion this dry flat-woods land such as this, is not worth the 

 price you are paying for it. If you intend to come to Florida, 

 my advice is for you not to buy any thing till you reach here. 

 If you do not intend to come down, but are buying for specu- 

 lation, 1 advise you to invest your money in properiy differ- 

 ent from th's. This is my candid and honest opinion, and I do 

 not wish you to quote me in this matter. 



This again confirms what we have so often ad- 

 vised. Do not buy any lands from the real-estate 

 promoter for speculation or investment. If you 

 want to buy land to occupy, either visit the section 

 yourself or have some trusted disinterested person 

 investigate it for you. You will find in every case 

 that you can buy land, not controlled by the pro- 

 moters, in the same neighborhood, and as well or 

 better suited to your purposes, for a half or quarter 

 of the price you pay the promoters. 



It is not always safe to speculate on what The 

 Rural New-Yorker dare do. pur business is to get 

 information for our people, and then to give them 

 the benefit of it without regard to the consequence. 



On September 10, 1908, 1 shipped a bill of honey to Hodgson 

 ct Johnson, Washington. Pa., amounting to $65 00. and havd 

 been unable to get even a reply to my letter since then. I am 

 told that they are now located at McKeesport, Pa. If you 

 will try to get : he bill I will repay you. H. W. B. 



We located these parties at McKeesport, but were 

 unable to get so much as a word from them. We 

 then placed the account with our attorneys ; but 

 they were unable to get a settlement without suit. 

 We finally engaged an attorney to bring suit, and 

 the account was collected in that way; but it cost 

 the shipper 50 per cent of the claim. Some of our 

 publishing friends say it is not dignified for a paper 

 to tell such things. Perhaps not; but we should 

 like to have some of them give us a name for the 

 concern that beats a producer out of half his prod- 

 uct. We confess that It is hard to confine our- 

 selves to printable language in the telling of such 

 simple robberies. This is the class of people who 

 want to be let alone! 



KEY WEST CONNECTED WITH THE MAIN- 

 LAND BY RAIL. 



On Sept. 17, 1910, the first train of cars en- 

 tered Key West on the Oversea Railway, the 

 termination of the Florida East Coast Rail- 

 way. In the winter of 1902, when returning 

 from Cuba I was watching the islands as 

 our steamer passed one after another. I 

 soon got into conversation with a passenger, 

 and he informed me that he was making a 

 trip to report on the feasibility of building 

 a railway along those islands to Key West; 

 and I am afraid that I was speculating in 

 my mind whether he was an educated engi- 

 neer, or a man not quite sane. Since then 

 I have watched the progress of that wonder- 

 ful undertaking with unusual interest; and 

 now that the road is really completed, and 

 running as far as Key West, I for one feel 

 like rejoicing that our nation has been able 

 to furnish a man with the grit and persever- 

 ance to bridge the mighty sea thus far. It 

 is probably the longest stretch of dead-level 

 road ever constructed by man. 



