493 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15. 



sell for ten cents, or, say, three for a quarter. 

 They were packed in some beartiful fine moss, 

 in a pasteboard box, the package setting them 

 off to excellent advantage. Will somebody tell 

 us the name of this beautiful peach, and some- 

 thing about its cultivation? and will the donor 

 please accept our thanks, even if we are so tar- 

 dy in mentioning it? 



STRAWBERBIES— LATER. 



One shipmpnt from Marietta failed. Michel's 

 Early did not yield enough to supply the de- 

 mand, and there was a "corner" in strawber- 

 ries. It was Monday afternoon. They were 

 all sold out in the lunch-room, and one of the 

 clerks asked if I could not get a few more, even 

 if they were not real ripe. The pickers had 

 been all over the grounds in the forenoon, and 

 had picked every thing they thought would do 

 to sell. I said I would go and get some that 

 were ripe on one side, and perhaps our custom- 

 ers would rather have these than none at all. 

 As I rode along the path on my wheel I got 

 glimpses of some bright-red berries through 

 the dark-green foliage of some young plants 

 that stood almost knee-high. Friend Terry 

 once spoke about having strawberry-leaves 

 large enough so a single one would cover the 

 top of a teacup. Well, we could show some 

 leaves this spring a good deal larger than that. 

 I sprang from the wheel and found a berry on 

 the very first fjlant in the row, that looked 

 more like a peach than it did a strawberry. 

 The plants were put out last fall, two feet 

 apart, and they made but few runners; but 

 each plant had in consequence got to be some- 

 thing immense. At the next plant I found an- 

 other like a small peach. Pretty soon my 

 hands were full. I called to a boy to bring me 

 some boxes; and while I filled them I began to 

 speculate as to what those plants were. Said I 

 to myself, '■ Why, this must be -the Edgar 

 Queen; and if this is the way it behaves I will 

 just go and plant acres of it." Then I felt 

 pretty certain that we did not put any of the 

 Edgar Queen on that part of the grounds. 

 What could that wonderful plant be? It was 

 not Parker Earle, because the latter is a late 

 berry, and this particular one was not more 

 than three or four days later than MicheFs 

 Early: it must be a wonderful acquisition. 

 Twenty rods ahead was a stake with a label, 

 but I could not read it so far off. I decided I 

 would pick berries until I reached the stake; 

 and as I filled box after box with the gi-eat 

 beauties, my enthusiasm ran up to fever heat. 

 Said I again, " Why, I never heard of any early 

 strawberry that gives such wonderful great 

 fruit as this, before. The Haverland, Jessie, 

 and other early varieties have hardly com- 

 menced to ripen. What can it be?" When I 

 reached the stake I said, " Why, you old stupid, 

 you miaht have known that the rich dark- 

 green color of these great broad leaves belongs 

 to no other plant in the world than to the 

 Bubach. Three cheers for the Bubach in its 

 perfection!" How does it come that we have 

 had Bubach all these years, and have not 

 found out before what it Cd,n do? Well, I will 

 tell you. Almost ever since we have had the 

 Bubach the weather has been overwet. They 

 rotted before thny got ripe, or were too soft and 

 watery in taste. Just now we are having a 

 little bit of drouth, and the Bubach has tor the 

 first time come to the, front. Another thing, 

 these plants were growing on a strip of creek- 

 bottom ground that has been dosed and dosed 

 with manure until everybody said I could never 

 get my money back. Let me tell you some- 

 thing. Strawberries were selling up town for 

 13 cts. a quart. Our own brought 15, because 

 they were pick<d only as fast as customers 



wanted them. I put these great big Bubachs 

 in pint boxes, and marked them 10 cts. a box, 

 and they were all gone in no time. Folks 

 bought them as curiosities to show to their 

 friends; and after they had taken a bite or two 

 out of one of those great big berries they found 

 the quality so delicious under the influence of 

 this clear hot sun from 4 in the morning till 7 

 in the afternoon (am I putting in too much sun- 

 shine?) that they just came back and wanted 

 more of that new kind of strawberry '" as big as 

 peaches;" and while I write this, we are pick- 

 ing and selling more like them at 10 cts. a pint. 

 We are now going in with more enthusiasm 

 than ever before to raise some Bubach plants 

 that will astonish some of our friends who get 

 them, as the berries astonished the Medina 

 folks. 



Moral — Old friends are sometimes equal to or 

 better than new ones, if you wait long enough 

 and give them a fair chance. 



We copy the following from the Practical 

 Farmer, of June 3: 



The Freeman stands at the head in the matter of 

 quality. As to size, it is owing to how you plant 

 them. 1 have grown tbem altogether too large, by 

 planting- one eye every 33 inclies each way, on rich 

 soil. Seed heavy, and they will average small. One- 

 eye pieces 12 incites by 32, last year, gave us a crop 

 of fair size. But this year we have planted about 

 16x32, and hope we have them about right. The 

 Freeman, and all other potatoes of the Snowflake 

 class that I have tried, produce a good many small, 

 unmerchantable tubers. This is the only fault I 

 have found with it. With thin seeding, however, 

 this trouble is greatly reduced. The complaint has 

 been made that they grow too wide-spread in the 

 hill. This is not the case with us. The Hoover dig- 

 ger gets them all; that is all I care. Some have 

 spoken of them as very early. With me they are 

 only medium early. The truth is good enough; no 

 need of claiming more for them than they will back 

 up. In shape, looks, and quality, they are perfect. 

 The vigor of growth and productiveness with me 

 for two years past has been such that I have plant- 

 ed nothing else tMs season, except a half-bushel of 

 a new variety. T. B. Terry. 



And the Lord said, Simon. Simon, behold, Satan hath desired 

 to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. — Luke 32: 31. 



See additional editorial on page 496. 



Many reports are now coming in, something 

 to this effect: " Every thing seems to indicate 

 a big honey crop this summer." 



• The only queen-breeder in this country who 

 has been holding on to the Punic bees, seems, 

 from present indications, to be rather getting 

 out of the business, and confining his attention 

 to more desirable race of bees. "Tis well. 



One conspicuous feature of the American 

 Apiculturist is the large amount of editorial 

 work in it. Taking the editorials as a whole, 

 they are good. It is true, they are a little tinc- 

 tured in the interest of his queen trade and 

 queen-trap; but we are all more or less culpa- 

 ble in a similar way. 



The British Bee Journal for May 3,5 is just 

 at hand, and says the long drouth has at length 

 come to an end, and that the parched ground in 

 all parts has been refreshed with welcome show- 



