1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



461 



be perhaps a week later. We have a few 

 plants of the Rio. This is, perhaps, almost or 

 quite as early as the Michel's Early, and it 

 seems to be larger, and rather better in shape. 

 We have not plants enough to decide whether 

 it is as prolific as the Michel's i-.arly or not. 

 Every strawberry-patch should have at least a 

 few of these extra earlies. Both are perfect 

 blossoms. 



ONION-PLANTS. 



We are ju*t now getting ready to fill an order 

 for 200,000. The purchaser is satisfied to plant 

 them out almost as late as June 1, because he 

 did the same thing last year, and had excellent 

 success. He lost his first planting by frost; 

 but rather than lose the use of his ground, 

 which was nicely prepared and heavily manur- 

 ed, he is going to purchase this large number 

 of plants. In consideration of the quantity 

 ordered, and the lateness of the season, we let 

 him have them for .50 cts. per 1000. There is a 

 moral right here. After you have been to great 

 pains to get your ground fitted and heavily 

 manured or fertilized, do not let it go to waste. 

 Try to make it grow something of market value. 



SCARLET CLOVER ABOUT .JUNE 1. 



'jWhat do you think? Our first sowing of 

 scarlet clover was in among raspberries. It 

 was put in some time during the latter part of 

 September. It did not come uu very well, 

 however, and this spring there were so many 

 weeds and so little clover that we cultivated it 

 all up. Yes, it was pretty well cultivated 

 twice, and then the whole raspberry-patch was 

 thoroughly hoed out. Yesterday. however,while 

 I was going through the premises with our 

 friend Hugh Vankirk. of Washington, Pa., one 

 of the visitors suddenly stopped and remarked: 



"Why, what new sort of clover is that in 

 there among those raspberries? " 



I was a little way off, and told him I did not 

 know of any new clover: but come to get a lit- 

 tle nearer there were great stalks here and 

 there among the canes, from one to two feet 

 high, bursting out in great blooms of these 

 wonderful crimson strawberry - like heads. 

 Why, notwithstanding all our cultivating and 

 hoeing, there was in some places almost a fair 

 stand of crimson clover. Now, you see I am 

 going to try this thing again; and I do not 

 know but there would have been quite a stand 

 on the creek bottom, if I had not been in so 

 much haste to decide it was all killed, and plow 

 it under. This raspberry-patch was the only 

 place where the clover could have made a/Show, 

 for all the rest was plowed under fully ten 

 inches deep. 



WINTER OR EGYPTIAN ONIONS; SOME QUES- 

 TIONS. 



How early in the spring can you gather them 

 for market? How long do they remain tender 

 and in good condition for the table? Suppose 

 you plant the sets August 1st, in what condi- 

 tion are they the first of the following April? 

 To what extent (in numbers) do they multiply? 

 How many of those " long succulent stalks " 

 you mention does it require to make 1 lb.? 

 What do you mean by saying in your seed cat- 

 alog, that you '• plant them three to five inches 

 apart, in a drill, about as you would peas " ? Is 

 not that a long distance apart for planting 

 peas? How large is the average set that you 

 plant in the fall ? Timothy Hallett. 



Galena, 111., Apr. 2.5. 



We gather the onions for market as soon as 

 the frost is out in the spring; but they are 

 pretty small at first, and it takes a good many 

 of them to make abunch weighing fourounces; 

 but they commence rapid growth almost the 



first thing that starts. In order to have them 

 early, the rows should be well mulched with 

 coarse stable manure. This will keep the tops 

 from freezing, and it also serves to bleach the 

 long stalk, and keep it white and tender. We 

 use them right along every day until, say, 

 strawberry time. When strawberries are ripe 

 the Egyptian onions begin to send up seed- 

 stalks, and become rather tough and strong. So 

 we commence on the American Pearl onions, 

 which are now getting to be of the size of hens' 

 eggs or larger. The best onions (Egyptian) for 

 spring use are from the sets put out in July, 

 August, or September. They do not multiply 

 until they have produced sets. After that, 

 when the sets are gathered, and the big seed- 

 stalk is cut off, the original onion splits up into 

 a dozen or twenty little onions. In order to get 

 the best quality and best size, the ground needs 

 to be exceedingly rich. The number of stalks 

 required to make a pound depends upon the 

 season. If you plant large-sized sets as soon as 

 they can be gathered, say in July, in very rich 

 ground, along in May they may be so large 

 that four or five would make a bunch weighing 

 a pound. In saying that we simply sprinkle 

 the sets in a drill, and cover them up as we do 

 peas, I meant to show you how little trouble it 

 is to plant them, and not that we put the peas 

 as far apart as we do the onions. The sets from 

 these onions vary from the size of a grain of 

 corn to pretty nearly the size of a small hen's- 

 egg. The large sets make the biggest onions 

 in the spring: but it would be rather expensive 

 for seed, to plant only large ones. The best 

 onions for market are those from sets the sea- 

 son before; but if you do not use them all for 

 bunching, and let them stand to produce seed, 

 they will grow a crop of seed right straight 

 along, year after year; and you need not touch 

 a hoe or cultivator to them unless you choose. 

 You can keep all weeds down by heavy mulch- 

 ing with coarse stable manure, on the plan 

 Terry manages his currants, gooseberries, 

 blackberries, and raspberries. The old stalks, 

 one or more years old. may be used for bunch- 

 ing, but they are not nearly as tender, neither 

 do they have as much of an onion at the bot- 

 tom as those from sets planted only the sum- 

 mer before. They continue to split up each 

 season, however, as soon as the seed-stalks are 

 mature and pulled away, so that a single row 

 ultimately becomes a great mass of onions, 

 sometimes two feet across, the stalks being as 

 close together as they can stand. In such a 

 row you can get an enormous crop of sets, but 

 it needs constant and heavy manuring to main- 

 tain the size of these sets each year. In fact, 

 so easily are the sets raised that there is money 

 in them at a dollar a bushel. Permit me to 

 say again, that, to keep up the reputation of 

 these onions, you should use only those for 

 market which were planted the season before, 

 and grow them on strong rich soil. 



GRAPE JUICE AS A MEDICINE. 



On page 475 of last year's volume, after 

 speaking about the remedial qualities of pine- 

 apples, I said, "I am told that grape juice, 

 when properly canned up, just as expressed 

 from the ripe fruit, makes a most faf^althful 

 and nourishing beverage." The above was 

 called to mind by a present— I think it came in 

 a box of wax — two quart bottles of Niagara- 

 grape juice. It came from C. J. Baldridse. of 

 Kendaia, N. Y., and I want to tell you that the 

 juice is exactly the same as that from the Ni- 

 agara grapes themselves. Irs appearance in 

 the bottle is a beautiful transparent amber or 

 straw color: and it is about the most delicious 

 thing in the way of a beverage I ever got hold 



