1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



535 



rode faster than the wind, and that, too, with- 

 out very much trouble. 



Filially up behind my back came a thunder- 

 cloud. With the wind pushing me from behind, 

 I could almost run away from the storm; but it 

 finally drove me into the \\ oodshed of a spacious 

 farmhouse. The good lady, as soon as she saw 

 me rushing in on ray wheel, invited me to come 

 inside: but when I told her that I rather pre- 

 ferred the open air during tlie thunder-shower, 

 she brought an easy-chair for me to sit in. Did 

 you know, my friend, what lots of kind people 

 there are in this world, especially if one only 

 behaves himself even half way in a Christian- 

 like manner? Then there was an old-fashioned 

 well -curb, with its " old oaken bucket." Why. 

 if everybody liked water from the well and 

 spring as well as I do— that is, when I am rid- 

 ing a wheel — there certainly v/ould not be much 

 longing for wine, beer, oi' cider. 

 r As soon as the rain let up. I pushed on for 

 friend Terry's. The roads were somewhat 

 sticky, but his home was not far away, and you 

 know I have had considerable drill in running 

 a wheel over slippery places. My riding over 

 the ice and through the slush and snow all 

 winter long was not without its advantages. 

 Even though the wheels should slip and slue. I 

 have learned to keep my seat pretty well. 

 Another thing, the roads were all the while 

 drying off, so that, if I can manage to keep up 

 on the start, I pretty soon get along very well. 

 In this case, however, it had rained much 

 harder toward friend Terry's than at the point 

 where I started, so I was soon in real trouble. 

 There were no houses near, and the mud was 

 so soft that it was entirely out of the question. 

 I had nothing on my feet but thin cloth shoes. 

 I always prefer these for wheeling. I could 

 not walk in the mud. and I could not very well 

 walk in the grass; but after a little experi- 

 menting and considering I found I could run 

 the wheel in the grass where the ground was 

 decently level. It was a good deal like floun- 

 dering along, however, until I reached a point in 

 the road where friend Terry's farm commences. 

 You see. he has gone and fixed up the roadsides, 

 and made them like a lawn. Another thing, 

 he has graveled the road where it goes through 

 his farm, so while the mud began to fly from 

 the rubber tires I began to smile through my 

 wetness. The wet grass and rain together had 

 pretty thoroughly drenched my feet. I was 

 hoping I could get into the covered barnyard, 

 or somewhere out of sight, and slick up a little 

 before presenting myself to the women-folks. 

 Whom should I meet, however, just before I 

 got up to the gate, but one of the Misses Terry? 

 I was just beginning to feel embarrassed when 

 she took in the situation, and then she laughed 

 and I laughed; and when I concluded that it 

 was nothing but a laughing-matter I felt con- 

 siderably better. Pretty soon friend Terry in- 

 formed me that he had just put a letter in the 

 postofifice. requesting me to put off business and 

 come right out there as soon as possible. So 

 you see I had been specially invited, but did 

 not know it. I always enjoy being prompt; 

 but this time they said they thought I had out- 

 done even A. I. R. himself. 



Now, friend Terry's dooryard is always 

 pretty; and after the nice summer shower, I 

 expected it to look radiant; tnit I was not at all 

 prepared for the sight that met my eye as I 

 came through that front gati'. A group of rho- 

 dodendrons and azaleas was in the front yard 

 near the house, and the latti-r were just in full 

 bloom. They were clothed with flowers to such 

 an extent that the blossoms enveloped them 

 like a garment; and each blo.ssnm seemed to 

 '• blush at the praise of its own loveliness." I 

 do not claim that the latter is original; but no 



one could appreciate fully such a description 

 until he had seen that group of azaleas. Why, 

 I did not know that the whole wide world con- 

 tained any thing so bewitchingly beautiful. I 

 have visited fine residence- in the great cities 

 and on the I'acilic coast; I have seen green- 

 houses at their best, tilled with the rarest and 

 most costly plants the world affords; but I 

 never saw any thing that took hold of all there 

 is in me to appreciate and enjoy, as did that 

 sight. If Mrs. Moot were here she would say 

 as she did about the nice dinners and the nice 

 bedrooms, that the wheel, the perspiration, and 

 the flow of animal spirits, had colored up things. 

 Well, may be the wheel and my pleasant rides 

 had something to do with it; but, dear friends, 

 let us rejoice that it is not an unhealthy nor un- 

 natural exhilaration. Perhaps I have earned 

 it somewhat by giving so much of my life to 

 indoor work. 



In the back of the yard there was another 

 plant that got hold of me something like the 

 azaleas. The latter cost quite a lot of money. 

 They retail at .$1..50 to .fS.OO. By taking half a 

 dozen, the group I saw cost only .-?1.()0 each; 

 but when I asked friend Terry how much he 

 paid for that Vanhoutea spirea, what do you 

 think he said? Why, it cost only i-> cents. 

 His plants all came from the nursery of Storrs 

 & Harrison. He went there and picked them 

 out himself, instead of sending by mail or 

 express, or patronizing a tree-peddler. I think 

 there is a moral there too. If there is a nur- 

 seryman in your vicinity, go and visit him ; 

 get acquainted, and then pick out your stuff, 

 instead of sending a thousand miles away to 

 somebody who sends out gorgeous catalogues. 

 No offense is intended to the catalogue men; 

 they are all right when there is not somebody 

 in that line of business near your home. 



I declare! I believe I shall have to wait again, 

 until our next issue, before I tell you about 

 friend Terry's farm in the latter part of the 

 month of May. and what it was he was so anx- 

 ious to have your humble servant see at just 

 exactly that time. It was not azaleas, although 

 I would have cheerfully made such a trip to 

 see those alone. 



Contimied in our next. 



High-pressure Gardening. 



GARDENING IN .JUNE. 



Strawberries are now in their height, and we 

 are gathering ten or fifteen bushels a day. I 

 was once inclined to be skeptical about the 

 need of perfect blossoms among the imperfect, 

 to insure perfect fertilization; but 1 have got 

 all oyer it now. By some blunder we had a fine 

 row of Edgar Queens, with no perfect blossoms 

 within several rods of them; and although 

 there is a wonderful crop of magnificent berries 

 — that is. magnificent in size, almost everyone 

 is knotty, gnarly, and ill shaped; and, in fact, 

 there is a general difficulty with all of our 

 imperfect berries in this respect, this season, 

 unless they stand very close to a row of Jessies, 

 or some other berry that produces a profusion 

 of p-rfect blossoms. And, by the way. Michel's 

 Early is coming to the front nobly, not only as 

 an early berry but as a fertilizer: it has given 

 us our first berries, and quite a good many fine 

 large ones; and the one row that we had de- 

 cided to try just one more year before plowing 

 them up, has given us a good many bushels of 

 fine-looking berries, excellent in flavor and per- 

 fect in shape. We are going to plant the variety 



