108 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



draped vvith the beautiful Spanish moss. Oc- 

 casionally, also, we got a glimpse of the pal- 

 metto, or T.initdiiiii. Cotton-Helds are every- 

 where; but. owing 1-0 the disastrous drouth of 

 last season, a good deal of it was hardly worth 

 gathering. Tiiis. in connection with the low 

 price of cotton, might well make our Southern 

 friends feel poor and discouraged. As we look 

 out of the car-winJow, beautiful little ever- 

 greens, less than a foot high, and from that up, 

 greet us at every turn; also a beautiful under- 

 growth, something in the line of rhododen- 

 drons or laurels. All these, with occasiona 

 glimpses of Th( 'liffcrent colored earth, make 

 up a view varieu . interesting. I asked the 

 porter if this red earth was not sometimes used 

 for making paint. 



"Oh. yes!" he replied; "and one could get 

 enough of it through Alabama and (Jeorgia to 

 ' paint red ' the whole wide world." 



In this region, cellars seem to be unknown. 

 The houses nre set up on blocks or brick piers, 

 so that the wind can blow clear through under- 

 neath. Well, perhaps they have no need of 

 cellars to keep things from freezing: but I am 

 sure I should want a cellar in which to keep 

 things cool, and to keep potatoes, apples, etc., 

 from wilting. Another thing, a cellar is perhaps 

 more convenient where room is scarce, and a 

 basement can be made without any expense for 

 roofing. Out in the country most of the build- 

 ings, especially the humble ones, are entirely 

 destitute of windows. The only way they have 

 of getting light is to leave the doors wide open; 

 and even on this 17th d-iy of January, in the 

 middle of the winter, the doors are open every- 

 where. May not this fact of abundant ventila- 

 tion account for the claim so often made, that, 

 in many parts of Alabama and Georgia, people 

 never die of consumption? that is, they never 

 have it unless they contract it somewhere else. 

 The chimneys are invariably built on the out- 

 side of the cheap houses in this country. 



For some time I was puzzled to know the 

 purpose of a small light ladder that stood near 

 the chimney. I finally decided that it was to 

 afford access to the loft. When it is time to 

 put the children to bed, all that you have to do 

 is to go outside and climb up the ladder, and 

 this gives more room inside. 



PLANTING ON HIM,S1DRS TO PREVENT 

 WASHING. 



I am delighted to find that the corn, cotton, 

 and almost every other crop, is planted on un- 

 even ground, so that the furrows curve (trimn<l 

 the hillside instead of straight up and down. 

 This is to prevent the terrible washing and 

 cutting that occurs when the water is allowed 

 to go straight down hill. The plan is exactly 

 that recommended by friend Day. in the toma- 

 to-book; and in some places we see. every little 

 way down the decline, a deeper furrow or ditch 

 to take away the surplus water before it can 

 accumulate and break over the furrows. 

 Where the crop is clear over the top of the hill, 

 the furrows circle right around the hill-top. 

 In fact, wherever the ground is at all rolling 

 we see these curved furrows left by the cultiva- 

 tor. Where this precaution is not taken, th(> 

 fields are cut up and ruined. Now, this running 

 the furrows across the hillsides has a value 

 aside from preventing washing. During sea- 

 sons of excessive wetness it takes the water off 

 before it can be detrimental to the growintr 

 crops. It also enables the ground to dry off 

 quickly, so that cultivatina may go on speedi- 

 ly, and even wh<!re clay soils have been most 

 thoroughly underdrained (the underdrains, of 

 course, running straight up and down the 

 hills), these surface- furrows have a great 

 value. 



THE KOSIN AND TURPENTINE FORESTS NEAR 



THE I.TNE 15ETWRKX ALABAMA AND 



GEORGIA. 



I should judge we must now be in the heart 

 of this industry, from the number of barked 

 trees. The bark has been scraped off to get the 

 rosin. As nearly as we can gather from look- 

 ing out of the car-window, the rosin oozes out 

 like gum from peach-trees where the bark has 

 been removed. When sufficient has accumu- 

 lated they evidently scrape it off by some 

 means. We have not seen thi-m doing it yet; 

 but we see barrels and barrels of ro<in at every 

 depot; and along at the houses the people are 

 boiling something out of doors in iron pots. 

 Now, we can't discover whether they are cook- 

 ing a dinner or boiling rosin. Will somebody 

 from this region tell us about it? In some of 

 the pine forests we see notches cut in the trees 

 so as to make cavities; and I judge they dip 

 the turpentine out of these cavities. Now, da- 

 both turpentine and rosin come from the same 

 kind of pines? Will somebody straighten us- 

 out in regard to this industry? There are 

 miles and miles of these scarified trees, the- 

 rosin on the trunks making them look white, 

 like some immense cemetery. 



All through Georgia we have been struck by 

 the beauty of the pine forests. In some places- 

 the trees are as straight as arrows, about as^ 

 close as they can grow, and of wonderful beau- 

 ty and regularity. No wonder Georgia has 

 been celebrated for its cypress and pine timber. 

 But it seems to me that a good deal of it is go- 

 ing to waste shamefully. The trees are girdled, 

 simply that they may plant corn and cotton be- 

 tween them, and then are allowed to stand 

 until they rot and tumble down— for the rea- 

 son, I suppose, that it is less trouble to let them 

 stand than to have them down in the way of 

 cultivation. If these beautiful trees are of no- 

 value now, they certainly will be in the near 

 future. Some of the finest timber we have 

 seen is in the vicinty of Bainbridge, on the- 

 Flint River. 



KIEFFER PEARS. 



Georgia has of late been coming to the front 

 grandly in the line of fruit-growing, especially 

 peaches and pears. All about Thomasville and 

 beyond we see acres of large pear-orchards, of 

 wonderful beauty and luxuriance. I judge- 

 them, by the looks, to be the Kieflfer. 



LETTER TO HUBER. 



We have just passed a station, Iluber, which- 

 is called "Dixie." You don't remember any 

 thing about the old war-time song called 

 "Dixie Land;" but 1 think mamma can tell 

 you something about it. Here is a verse: 



In Dixie Land, where I was born. 

 Early on one frosty morn, 

 Look away, look away. 

 Look away to Dixie Land! 



Den take me back to Dixie, 



Hooray! boor ay! 



In Dixie Land I'll take my stand 



To live and die in Dixie; 



Hoot ay! liooray! 



To live and die in Dixie. 



Well, Huber, what do you think of that? I do 

 not wonder the Southern people were so enthu- 

 siastic about Dixie Land, especially if it was as 

 heautiful then as it is now. I tell you, Dixie 

 jjand is just what you'd call "slick." The 

 rays of the afternoon sun, as they strike the 

 brilliantgreen of the pines, palmettoes, and live- 

 oaks, give a view that is grand indeed; and the 

 water along the side of the track makes a re- 

 flection like a great looking-glass. The water 

 is so clear a,nd dark and still, in fact, that the 



