752 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



to plant some smaller onions (same variety), 

 only about the size of a guinea egg. These 

 make three or four new onions only, but of 

 course they are larger; l)ut these are nice too; 

 or, as the Irishman says, to "imbellish" the 

 bunch. I will put in a f.'w of the medium-sized 

 ones, so you can try wiiich you like best; but 

 the medium take up room too fast, and don't 

 turn out fast enough. I find nothing pays me 

 better in gardening than to plant onions in the 

 fall, and have liiem in market in April. 



They are valuable, because', if onions are 

 plentiful (large ones in particular), and dull 

 sale, or if they start to grow, as onions some- 

 times do in warm winters, all you have to do is 

 to plant them, no matter if they have grown 

 4 or .5 inches. The result of vour planting will 

 be a lot of small onions that are often valuable; 

 if not valuable, plant again and get large ones. 

 I do this; and unless I can get 10 cts. per quart 

 I plant: and 10 cts. per quart means about 20 

 cts., because they are larger than sets usually 

 are, and fill up twice as fast. 



But this variety is valuable for another rea- 

 son: They, as a rule, do not sprout nearly as 

 readily as other onions, and are wonderfully 

 dormant until in the late spring. Just last 

 spring, onion-sets were 5 cts. per quart here; 

 and, owing to their keeping quality, I was able 

 to sell mine at 10 cts. JNow, the large ones 

 appear to sprout much more readily than the 

 small ones. They should also be called early, 

 because they come in a shorter time than other 

 varieties of onions do if planted in spring. 



Last spring I bought a bushel of those onions 

 brought to one of the groceries by a Mrs. Tay- 

 lor. They were not large, either. I planted 

 them in very rich ground alone, to test tlv. 

 result of the investment. Before pulling-lime I 

 noticed from 5 to 7 onions or a bunch like the 

 one I sent you by mail, apparently lying loose 

 on the bunch of larger oups. the large ones yet 

 green, and the small bunch ripe and ready to 

 pick up. as they were loose, and lay unattach- 

 ed. I took over a bushel of small ones, worth 

 three to four dollars; and when the rest were 

 ready to harvest I had over four bushels of 

 larger ones than I planted. 



Dr. F. M. Martin. 



Mercersburg, Pa., Sept. 17. 



oThe onions sent by friend Martin are remark- 

 ably solid and handsome. They look almost 

 like the White Multiplier, but are of a bluish 

 color. And, by the way. what is the real dif- 

 ference between Potato onions and White Mul- 

 tiplier onions, except that the Multiplier is 

 white, and the Potato onions are straw color, 

 or sometimes like what friend Martin calls the 

 Whittaker onion? At .?2 .50 per barrel, the 

 price we paid him for these, we think there 

 should be a large trade in them, if they are 

 good keepers; and the larger ones are nice 

 enough for anybody. His remarks in regard to 

 the right kind of mulch agree with my experi- 

 ence exactly. Onions won't stand any thing 

 that settles down flat and close, like stable 

 manure, or even rotted straw. Old tomato- 

 vines, and I should think bean-vines, where 

 the beans have been thrashed out: evergreen 

 boughs, or any thing that will stand up loose, 

 letting in plenty of air. and yet proving a par- 

 tial shade, is just about what we want for 

 onions and a good many other plants that are 

 almost winter- proof. 



GAtTLT BASPHEKBIES AND CRAIG SEKDIJNG PO- 

 TATOES 



The Gault raspberry-plant you sent me was 

 planted on the 30th of April. By the 1st of Aug. 

 it had put out 20 canes, measuring in all 54 



feet. Two other canes now have bloom and 

 berrios on. 



The Craig seedling potatoes you sent me ar- 

 rived at the postoiifice on the coldest Sunday of 

 last winter, and were not taken out until Mon- 

 day. They were frozen, all but six ounces. I 

 now have 16 hills of the plants, and (JO side- shoot 

 hills. 



Garden City, Mo., Aug. 6. G. J. Yodek. 



HUMBUGS AND SWINDLES. 



ELECTROPOISE. 



The latest circular sent out by the Electro- 

 poise people has on the outside of it, in large 

 plain type, so as to attract attention, " Minis- 

 ters of the Gospel." On looking closer you will 

 see it reads "what ministers of the gospel say 

 about it." Turning over the leaf we read the 

 following: 



The Electropoise is able to cure all diseases, no 

 matter liow various in character, because all dis- 

 eases can be traced to one and tlie same source — 

 weakness. 



Now, these people have a good many times 

 declared very positively that they never claim- 

 ed it would cure every thing. How does the 

 above sound? After my remarks on page .536 I 

 sent for the instrument that was used at the 

 time of the patient's death. It is one of the 

 latest make, and I suppose it includes all the 

 recent improvements (I). I used it faithfully 

 according to directions, off and on, for more 

 than two weeks, without being able to perceive 

 any effect whatever. Mrs. Root has always 

 been troubled for lack of sleep during hot 

 weather. She also used the instrument ac- 

 cording to directions; but instead of inducing 

 sleep it kept her awake. She said the very 

 idea of having something hitched to her ankle, 

 and connected to a block of ice, was enough to 

 keep a nervous person awake. Accompanying 

 each instrument is a very pretty little book — 

 leather-bound, gilt-edge, labeled on the out- 

 side, "Plain Directions for using the Electro- 

 poise." On page 8 we read : 



C Research and experiment through many years 

 have shown that hydrogen and other electrically 

 pii^itivr aasfs contained in the atraospliere, by their 

 absiii'iilidn. and ]iassaM'e tlirougli the sliin and un- 

 derlying tissues, ill undue proportion, become tlie 

 foundation of all tlie physical disturbances we call 

 disease. 



Now. will these ministers of the gospel, who 

 are assisting to push Electropoise. please calm- 

 ly consider the above statement? In the first 

 place, hydrogen is not a component part of the 

 atmosphere at all. It is found in water, but 

 never in air. The expression, "electrically 

 positive gases," does not mean any thing at 

 all. There is no sense to it whatever; the 

 same with the talk about "absorption." and 

 "passage through the skin," etc. It is just 

 jargon, humbug, and nonsense; and so on with 

 the whole contents of the little book of 2S4 

 pages. It is really appalling to think any man 

 of sense and judgment, or one who has any 

 education at all, could be induced to fill a whole 

 book with silly nonsense and unmeaning terms. 

 Let me quote once more, from page 12: 



It p'enerates no current wliich is discoverable to 

 tlie sensation of tlie patient. 



□ The proprietors of the concern actually come 

 out and declare that it produces no sensation 

 perceptible to the patient at all. Therefore 

 this thing without sense, science, or sensation, 

 is what they are selling for .?2r).00, and minis- 

 ters of the gospel are helping on the work. 

 Publishers of religious papers keep inserting 



