1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



:i3.'{ 



■canning-factory is as neat and tidy as any flrst-class 

 kitolieu ; and Mrs. Root says t liis must be tlie rea- 

 son wliy every tiling- lie puts up is so satisfactory. 



SUGAR-BEET AND MANGEL-WURZEI PLANTS, ETC. 



Last year we were surprised at the number of 

 farmers who wanted the above plants; and one of 

 the boys, ill my absence, said he got $1..")0 for the 

 thinnings (1U0() plants) of one row of mangel-wurzel. 

 He guessed that $1.50 would be about right; and it 

 was really a benefit to the row to have thesi' taken 

 out. Well, I nave just learned that, by putting out 

 plants very early, the mangels will grow all through 

 the season, and get to be as large as Hour-barrels 

 (sometimes a f;i7!e less); and this year we are going 

 to be prepared for them. To-day is the 13th of 

 March. The frost is very nearly if not quite out of 

 the ground, and the tops of the ridges where we 

 dug celery last year are dry enough to rake down 

 into a nice, smooth, tolerably dry bed. In this bed 

 we put two rows of peas, scattering them so thickly 

 in each row that they almost touch. The boys are 

 now preparing the ground for American Wonders. 

 Alaskas were in several days ago. When the Alas- 

 kas begin to climb, one strip of poultry netting one 

 foot wide, securely held up, will support the two 

 rows of peas. Well, we have put in Eclipse beets, 

 sugar beets, and mangel-wurzel in the samewaj'; 

 and if you want any plants the price will be 20 cts. 

 per 100, or ifl.50 per lOtKl. If wanted by mail, add a 

 half more to the above prices. 



THErpLANT BUSINESS AT THE PRESENT liATE, J 

 MARCH 10. 



: We can furnish asparagus-plants in any quantity 

 — in fact, they are going out every day. Of onion- 

 plants, \ve have the American Pearl and the Egyp- 

 tian, mentioned below. Of lettuce-plants, we have 

 the Grand Rapids. The above, I believe, are all 

 that are ready. We are sending out strawberry- 

 plants every day; also bas- wood-trees. 



IeGVPTIAN ONION-PLANTS.I 



When we gathered our sets last Augu.st we had 

 something like 30 or 4;) bush -is that were so much 

 disposed to heat that we spread them out in a dry 

 room; and before we knew it some got dry more 

 than we meant to have them. Several of our cus- 

 tomers were so sure these were good for nothing we 

 replaced them. Having found by experience, how- 

 ever, that it is a pretty hard matter to kill the 

 Egyptian onion in any shape, we sorted over our 

 sets and took the dried-up ones that seemed little 

 better than chatf (some of them) and planted them 

 Quite thicklj' in a bed in the greenhouse. As I 

 •expected, nearly every one of them grew, and now 

 we have some splendid plants with strong roots and 

 nice dark-green tops. We are furnishing these at 

 the same price as the cabbage-plants— ,5 cts. for 10; 

 40 cts. per 100. If wanted by mail, add 5 cts. for 10, 

 •OT' 20 CIS. per 100, for postage. 



CABBAGE- PLANTS. 



We have onlj' the Jersey Waketield ready, at the 

 usual price— 5 cts. lor 10; 40 cts. per 100; !f3.0(l per 

 1000; seedling plants, half the above prices. 



AMERICAN PEARL ONION-SETS. 



Those we planted last fail have wintered thus far 

 better than ever before: in fact, their bright green 

 tops show an almost perfect stand. I presume it is 

 owing to the abundant heavy snow that covered the 

 ground from the middle of December until into 

 March. Besides, they made a good growth last fall. 

 and senttheir roots away down into the rich mellow 

 -creek-bottom soil. Again, the land was under- 

 drained and suiface drained. 



PRIZETAKER ONIONS WINTERING OVER. 



Some time in July, having some seed left, we sow- 

 ed quite a lot of Prizetaker and White Victoria 

 <)nion seed, putting the .seed in quite thickly. It 

 came up and gi-ew, but did not make sets before 

 frost came. Some of them had bottoms large 

 •enough for sets; but instead of being a set it was a 

 stout green onion, owing, probably, to the lack of 

 warm dry weather at the time when they should 

 have made bulbs. As we did not know what to do 

 with them, we just let them stand; and at this date, 

 March 14, they have commenced to grow, and have 

 a splendid lot of white roots, although the tops are, 

 of course, more or less frosted. If we could depend 

 -on having them do this right along, it would be 



cheapei' than starting onion-plants in the green- 

 house and cold-frames; but my opinion is, that the 

 long steady winter, with a heavy covering of snow, 

 has had much to do with it, and we have just .sent 

 some of them to a friend in the South, to see wheth- 

 er they will make nice onions when planted out in 

 the open ground. Probably the trying time will be 

 during the alternate freezing and thawing for the 

 next two weeks. I have tried mulching; but after 

 onions are a little frosted they are so apt to rot, 

 unless they have plenty of sun and air, I have about 

 concluded to let them take their chances. 



THAT NEW GREENHOUSE. 



It would surprise you to see how fast things grow 

 there since we have plenty of sunshine, with hot 

 steam under the beds and hot water overhead, 

 whenever it is needed. One of those twenty-foot 

 beds has now growing on it perhaps .5J,0ii0 onion- 

 plants. To see what I could do, when onions were 

 well up I put a row of tomatoes just half way be- 

 tween the onions. The rows of onions were only 4 

 inches apart, remember. When they got so high 

 they were in danger of choking the tomatoes, 

 we trimmed the long tops off with a pair of shears. 

 The tomatoes came up and grew, right from the 

 word go. 1 do not know how many days it was, but 

 they had their second leaves out in an incredibly 

 short space of time, and now we are taking them up^ 

 and transplanting them to another bed. I do not 

 think this heavy cropping will hui't the onions at 

 all; but as fast as the tomatoes come out we pro- 

 pose to stir in some guano to make u'p for this dou- 

 ble draft on the soil. No one yet knows what may 

 be done on a single square yard, where we have 

 heat, light, water, and plant-food ad libitum. 



A NEW BOOK ON MANURES. 



W. Atlee Burpee & Co. have just sent out "Ma- 

 nures; how to Make and how to Use them." It is a 

 book of over 200 pages. Price 50 cts. Of cour.se, a 

 large part of it is devoted to chemical fertilizers; 

 and this is a matter that troubles me sorely. I said, 

 a short time ago, that we did not get any good re- 

 sults from chemical fertilizers. I then overlooked 

 the fact that we have had very good success on po- 

 tatoes with the Majies potato manure. But the 

 Mapes fertilizers all contain guano. In fact, we 

 have been puchasing guano of the Mapes people for 

 a number of years. Is it possible the guano does 

 the work, while the other ingredients are, for our 

 soils, of little or no value? This spring they told 

 me they could not spare any more guano, for they 

 wanted all of it for their different fertilizers; and I 

 am pretty well satisfied that nitrate of soda is of no 

 value on our land, and I do not believe that potash 

 is of much value either. Prof. Thorne, of our Ohio 

 Experiment Station, recently said that the soils of 

 Northern Ohio contain already much potash, and 

 that it was doubtful whether they needed any more. 

 Yet farmers are paying out great sums of money 

 for chemical fertilizers to put on their wheat. Is it 

 possible that they buy a good deal of something 

 they don't need, in order to get something they i/o 

 need? I greatly fear that such is the case; and this 

 new book most urgently recommends that every 

 farmer make .soit tests with the fertilizers, and sev- 

 eral chapters are devoted to instructing how this 

 should be done. When you have determined, by 

 actual fair tests, what your ground needs and 

 what it does ))<)t need, then you are readj' to invest 

 your money. A good part of the book is also about 

 farmyard manures. In fact, there is a discussion 

 in regard to the manurial value of all the by-prod- 

 ucts and waste-products that are likely to be found 

 in any town or city in our country. A good deal is 

 also said in regard to green manures, and i)lowing 

 under different crops; and I have been surprised to 

 learn that corn is a good deal used in this manner. 

 Two crops are plowed under in a season. After this 

 you are ready to raise something. The book maj' 

 be ordered of Burpee, or we can send it from here. 



CHENANGO VALLEY APIARY. 



If you want beautiful Golden Italian Queens, or 

 from Imported mothers, send in .\ our orders early. 

 Tested, in June, $1.50; untested, $1.(K). Strawberry- 

 plants of the latest an 1 best varieties cheap. Send 

 for circular. MRS. OLIVER COLE, 



Otfdb Sherburne, Chenango Co., N. Y. 



