1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



607 



tendency to fruit-bearinu. At one time when 

 Mr. Root came to see my berries he asked me if 

 I thought I had now learned about all there 

 was to know about their treatment. I answer- 

 ed emphatically, '"No," and added that I ex- 

 pected to learn a great many valuable lessons 

 from him after he had a few years of experi- 

 ence. I have already received many important 

 suggestions. They root ai the end of the cane; 

 and the time to tip them does not differ mate- 

 rially from that of other varieties of black caps. 

 Ruggles, O., June 20. W. C. Gault. 



Perhaps some may inquire what time of year 

 raspberry-tips are usually buried in order to 

 get plants. I think we commenced burying 

 the tips about the middle of September last 

 season; and as more came out we kept cover- 

 ing them up through the greater part of Octo- 

 ber. We then had about two rows of Gault 

 raspberries — about 50 plants in each row. One 

 row had the blossom-shoots picked off as direct- 

 ed above, and the others were allowed to do as 

 they pleased. Well, we did not discover very 

 much if any difference in the amount of plants 

 produced by the two rows. I think one reason 

 for this is, that very rich creek- bottom land 

 produces a great growth of wood and not very 

 much fruit. If my reasoning is correct, a rich 

 creek bottom is the best place to raise plants; 

 but upland ground, and land not quite so heav- 

 ily manured, would be a better place to raise 

 berries. This is true of strawberries also. The 

 creek bottom is the place to raise plants by the 

 thousand, but not the best place for nice berries. 

 We should be glad indeed to receive postal-card 

 reports in regard to how our friends have suc- 

 ceeded and are succeeding with the Gault rasp- 

 berry. 



FKTJIT-GROWING AT CRYSTAL SPRINGS, MISS.; 



J. W. DAY SENDS US SOME ABONDANCE 



PLUMS, AND A PICTURE OF HIS 



PLUM-ORCHARD. 



Friend A. I. Root: — To-day I express to you 

 a crate of the tinest plum? I have ever seen, 

 and hope you will receive them in good shape; 

 also one crate of tomatoe'^ and a crate of mag- 

 nolias and sweet- bay flowers, etc. They are 

 for Mrs. Root and daughters and daughters-in- 

 law. 



I also send you a picture of my plum-orchard, 

 taken last week. You will notice the three- 

 story rack made to hold 36 water-buckets to 

 the deck, or 108 in all. You will also notice the 

 heavy tarpaulin rolled forward, and the driver 

 sitting on it. It completely covers the frame 

 when loaded. We use the five-inch-tire Mich- 

 igan wagons. If you have a glass of the right 

 kind, by looking close you may see the plums 

 on the trees. They are all loaded. I have 

 tried (33 varieties of plums here, and pronounce 

 this one far in advance of them all. I guess it 

 Is the Abondance. or Sweet Botan. 



I also send a clipping from an old friend of 

 mine, written last week for his paper, the 

 Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, III. 



Crystal Springs, Miss., June 24. J. W. Day. 



Our friends who have read the Tomato 

 Book will recall the account of my visit to 

 Crystal Springs— what I said about their peach- 

 orchards, etc. If I recollect, friend Day showed 

 me a single row of plum-trees a mile long. 

 These plum-trees are now in full bearing. The 

 picture gives you an idea of these. The road- 

 way over the clean white sand in the fore- 

 ground looks very much like friend Day's 

 neighborhood. The plum - trees cover the 

 ground so completely that it is a hard matter to 

 distinguish the roads. The drooping branches, 



borne down by their weight of fruit, is very 

 suggestive, even though we do not clearly see 

 the plums. One wonders how that wagon with 

 its tier upon tier of buckets is ever going to get 

 through such a dense thicket of trees. The 

 buggy-top, a little ahead, suggests a roadway. 

 I can not quite make out whether the children 

 up among the tree-tops are picking plums, or 

 whether it is another loaded wagon coming 

 this way. I think I see a boy on foot with a 

 pailful of plums in his hand, right back of the 

 driver. 



About the fruit that was sent us: Well, the 

 plums were about the size of peaches, and cer- 

 tainly as luscious as any peaches I ever ate. 

 Mrs. Root said we must not eat any just before 

 going to bed, at the time the crate arrived. Btit 

 1 thought it would be almost uncourteous to 

 our good friend Day if I did not bite into just 

 one. Now. if any of you have ever tasted an 

 Abondance or Botan plum like the one I tasted 

 then, you will realize how utterly out of the 

 question it was to put any portion of that plum 

 away until morning. A little later I discovered 

 some that were so much bruised they would 

 probably spoil before morning. The more I 

 thought of it, the more I felt certain of it. So 

 I ate another and still another, and yet I did 

 not feel satisfied. Oh. yes! we divided them 

 around among the children and the ""children- 

 in-law," as friend Day had said. But if any 

 one got sick, I have not heard of it. Now. this 

 is indeed a great surprise to me. The Rural 

 New-Yorker has told us about the tremendous 

 quantities of plums that grow on one little 

 Abondance tree; but I did not suppose they 

 could be both so " abundant " and of such ex- 

 quisite quality. Why, almost anybody would 

 give a nickel for such a plum, just to show 

 around and see people raise up their hands and 

 make exclamations. We submit the following, 

 from the newspaper mentioned: 



Thej' are now shipping- 30 carloads a day. The to- 

 matoes (Acme variety) are large and very fine. J. W. 

 Day has the finest fruit-packing and shipping house 

 in the country. It is 425 feet long and 40 feet wide, 

 with a platform to the railroad track. In this 

 building was stored box stuff for the fruit crop now 

 arriving. Mr. Day has also put in an electric mo- 

 tor which propels fans over the packing-tables, 

 which makes it cool and pleasant for the large 

 number of packers employed. The tomatoes ar 

 carefully sorted, and packed with care. A carload 

 of tomatoes and plUms was shipped to Kansas City 

 Saturday. Mr. Day is " right in it " on peaches this 

 season. The 40()-acre peach-farm, planted with 

 great carf* by Parker Eurle and J. W. Day, is now in 

 bearing. Tlie trees are not crowded with fruit, but 

 there is enough for a good crop. Most of this fruit 

 will be marketed next month. Thirty carloads is a 

 conservative estimate of the crop. The tinest sight 

 upon this large f ruit-f;irm is the four-acre orchard 

 of Sweet Botan plums. Tlie trees are loaded to the 

 ground. Tliese phims are delicious, and sell well. 

 There will be 1000 busliels of them. Mr. Day hjis 

 al-^o a fine crop of tomatoes. Five hundred carloads 

 of tomatoes will be shipped from his sheds this 

 season. During the UcXt month 150 people will be 

 employed to handle his peach crop. There are 

 other orchards here, and the fruit shipments from 

 this station this season will be larger than ever be- 

 fore. 



To-dav was a big day for tomatoes, ~3 carloads 

 being shipped, and two left over for want of cars. 

 The streets were thronged with wagons drawn by 

 oxen, mules, and horses. The colored brother is go- 

 ing into the truck business largely, and it is feared 

 that his carelessly packed stuff will knock the bot- 

 tom out of the market. 



EGYPTIAN ONIONS GOING TO SEED; LATHYRUS 

 SILVESTltIS IN FLORIDA, ETC. 



Mr. Root:— Is it usual for Egyptian onions to 

 bear seed? I have some now in flower. In 

 reference to the lathyrus silvestris, I have 

 grown it for two seasons, and find nothing at 

 all in it to compensate for the great trouble of 



