370 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



ling of matters through his befogged intellect, 

 and about this time woke up enough to get 

 down on the street just drunk enough to boast 

 before everybody that John had sent for his 

 wife to come back because he had pointed a 

 loaded pistol at his head and told him to do so. 

 John became stubborn and ugly, and declared 

 he would never live with the woman again, 

 even if she came back, and telegraphed her not 

 to come, rie told me he had been so harrassed 

 and worn out from want of peace and rest that 

 he was about ready to commit suicide rather 

 than to undertake to live under the same roof 

 with that woman again. You see, Satan had 

 got matters well in hand by this time. When 

 he gets a man, or woman either, where they 

 say they would rather commit suicide than to 

 do some other thing, he is pretty nearly master. 

 If you want lo know how many suicides come 

 about in something this way, read the daily 

 papers. Sometimes it is divorce, desertion, and 

 suicide too. Years after these events John be- 

 came a Christian. He and I went over the 

 ground together. I suggested to him what a 

 Christian would have done under the circum- 

 stances, and we pretty nearly agreed on the 

 matter. 



Naw, friends, if in this little story I have 

 seemed to blame Mary, or if I have uncon- 

 sciously told how provoking and ugly a woman 

 can be if she has a mind to, I have made a mis- 

 take. If, however, I have succeeded in telling 

 you how provoking and ugly both men and 

 women can be — even husbands and wives, and 

 fathers and mothers, when Satan is allowed to 

 get a foothold in the family circle, then my 

 story has performed its mission. The inmates 

 of any home are to be pitied when Satan gets 

 the upper hand. They are to be pitied exactly 

 as if the smallpox had broken out in that house 

 and could not be stopped. If there were no 

 remedy, and no help for Satan's work, then in- 

 deed would this world be a sad place to live in. 

 But, dear friends, there is a remedy and a cure 

 for all troubles of this kind— even Christ Jesus 

 who came from heaven to earth to cast out Sa- 

 tan. If the dear Savior is not invited into your 

 home— if he is not one of you— be assured Satan 

 will come, and he comes without invitation. 

 Yes, even now he is going about as a roaring 

 lion, and we should be helpless indeed against 

 his wiles were it not for the Lamb of God that 

 taketh away the sin of the world. 



GARDENING UP TO MAY 1. 



When I got home from Florida I think I told 

 you our crimson clover was all right. So it 

 was; but the severe freezing and thawing, day 

 after day, through the latter part of March 

 and fore part of April, has, I fear, used it up. 

 When I saw it so green and well rooted in 

 March, I thought it was surely safe; but now 

 there is scarcely a root of it left, and it is much 

 the isame with our White Multiplier and 

 American Pearl onions. This time, however, 

 instead of putting them on the creek-bottom, 

 where I have for years past, we put them up 

 on the swamp in the black muck; but the muck 

 seems to be so loose that the roots could not get 

 hold enough. Perhaps half of our White Mul- 

 tiplier onions are all right, and these that 

 stood the freezing and thawing the best are on 

 a well-underdrained clay soil. They look pret- 

 ty sick even now as I write; but as the freezing 

 seems to be over, I think they will fetch up. I 



am going to try crimson clover again, and put 

 it in earlier. But I tell you it is a relief to take 

 a look at the lathyrus silvestris. Why, the 

 way that pea-looking plant sends its roots 

 down into the ground is just wonderful. Not a 

 single weak plant has been disturbed in the 

 least; and yet they stood in a very exposed sit- 

 uation without any sort of protection. They 

 were on our rich plant- beds, however, where 

 the ground was spaded down a foot or more. 

 A single tap root goes straight down. Now, if 

 this forage is relished by stock, what a wonder- 

 ful thing it will be to have such immense 

 quantities of feed year after year, without any 

 care nr attention except to keep cutting your 

 fodder when it is big enough! Our sacaline- 

 plants are taking hold and growing tremen- 

 dously. I do not think I ever saw a plant have 

 more vigor — no, not even a dock; but it does 

 not look to me as if it were going to be as valu- 

 able for feed as the lathyrus. The latter, you 

 know, is one of the plants that take nitrogen 

 from the air. By the way, we have a relative 

 of the man who introduced the lathyrus. here 

 in our own country — Mr. Carl Wagner, of Econ- 

 omy, Pa. He advertises the genuine lathyrus, 

 and says there are imitations. We have pur- 

 chased .500 to test beside our own. His di- 

 rections for cultivating are printed in English 

 and German. Here is the English translation 

 that came with our plants: 



TO CULTIVATE THE GROWTH OF WOOD CHICKLING 

 VETCH, LATHYRUS SILVESTRIS WAGNERI. 



This seed is to be sown during the month of April 

 in a well-cultivated growing garden, in rows, and 

 placed about 13 inches apart. The bottom ground 

 must tje well dug up and turned over, and the up- 

 per crust properly manured. Should this not be 

 the case, an artificial fertilizer may be used, so that 

 the outgrown lathyrus seed is penetrated by the 

 mineral gases, etc., and the many roots forced 

 through the sand, stone, or other rough bottom 

 containing mineral strength. In such cases the 

 seed is not alway successful in taking root, and is 

 mostly drawn by the aid of old or mother roots dur- 

 ing the first season. A growing garden, continu- 

 ously well dug up to a suflBcient depth, may serve 

 as a propagation-bed for at least ten years, without 

 remission. 



From the middle of October to the end of April 

 of the next year, provided the ground was not 

 frozen, these one-year plants may be transplanted 

 in all directions, about 13 to 14 inches apart. The 

 bottom of the field must be dug up and well turned 

 over, as the nutriment will then last 20 to 25 years; 

 whereas by ordinary plowing or turning over it 

 ma J' not do so well. The roots of tlie transplanted 

 seeds are cut smooth, and supported to a height of 

 S or 10 inches, so tliat. when the next row is dug, 

 the ground covers tlie one just passed. These seed- 

 lings thrive best when the head is imbeded about 

 two inches in the ground. If not set in deep 

 enough, and the heads with the neck of the roots 

 are exposed, the seedlings perish. Wet grounds or 

 soft soil containing stagnant water will kill, where 

 dry, deep, sandy stone soil is successful. It is not 

 meant to reject good soil, but it should be dry. See 

 item on chickling vetch in the New York Staatszeit- 

 nng, Feb. 11, 1893; June 10, July 16, Sept. 2, and Sept. 

 30' Carl Wagner. 



Economy, Pa. 



STRAWBERRIES UNDER GLASS. 



My Strawberries under glass did not succeed 

 during the past winter as they did the winter 

 before. When the terrible freezing weather 

 came on while I was in Florida, it was neces- 

 sary to let on so much steam to keep our dwell- 

 ing warm, the strawberries were pretty well 

 cooked; but if they attempted to ventilate, the 

 plants were cooked at the roots and scorch- 

 ed on their tops. If a little greenhouse were 

 built right over the underground passage for 

 exhaust steam, instead of the simple hot-bed 

 with sash, it would equalize the heat, and make 

 it possible to raise plants. 



COLD-FRAME ONION-PLANTS. 



This last winter we made a larger experiment 



