1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUii;'. 



(HI 



crops; and I fully believe, with Terry, that it 

 is much better for the ground to have some 

 growing plant on it every month in the year. 

 Just think of seeing rye and clover looking 

 bright and green every time we have a warm 

 rain in fall, winter, and spring! If I could get 

 any thing like the old price for my rye I do not 

 know but it would pay almost as well as some 

 of my garden crops. 



Hold on! there is something more in regard 

 to this rye business. A part of it was on a 

 piece of ground where I plowed under red rasp- 

 berries after ripening their crop, say just about 

 one year ago. After the raspberries were 

 turned under we put on buckwheat and got at 

 the rate of 40 bushels per acre, as I have told 

 you. Now, inside of a year two crops of grain 

 have been grown on this ground — one crop of 

 40 bushels per acre, and a crop of rye of about 

 47 bushels per acre. Did I use any phosphate? 

 Not a particle: but I did put on some bonedust 

 with the buckwheat, and some more with the 

 rye — about 200 lbs. to the acre; but, more than 

 that, I put on at the rate of perhaps 25 loads of 

 manure to the acre, that came from a neigh - 

 boi''s barn near by. It had been piled up 

 against the barn so that it was rotting" out the 

 sills and the wv^ather-boarding of the barn, and 

 he finally let me have it for a dollar a load. 

 Mrs. Root feared that I was putting more dol- 

 lars on that poor piece of ground than the crop 

 would bring. The buckwheat has been sold 

 for about $1.00 a bushel, and the rye will bring 

 perhaps 75 cts. a bushel. It is very fine and 

 plump, and we shall sell the greater part of it 

 for seed. 



SOMETHING VALUABLE FKOM OUR OHIO EX- 

 PEKIMENT STATION. 



Friend Root: — The question asked by J. W. 

 Nicodemus, about how much hot-bed a ten- 

 horse-power engine would heat, I may be able 

 to help a little. Last winter we used suf h an 

 engine for underground heating in our green- 

 house, which was very much like a hot-bed. 

 The amount of space we heated was 13 feet 

 wide and about 85 feet long. This would 

 amount to over 10 rods of six-foot hot-bed. In 

 heating the amount of bed that we did, I do 

 not think we used over one-fourth of the steam 

 that was made by the boiler, the rest being 

 used for heating other parts of the hou>es. So 

 your estimate of a ten-horse boiler heating a 

 quarter of an acre is not far out of the way. 

 The difficulty we found was, that the steam 

 went into the ground at too high a pressure, 

 and would burn the plants; so. in getting all 

 there is in such a boiler there is some danger 

 where the steam is first let into the pipe. A 

 larger boiler at a lower pressure would be bet- 

 ter. The lettuce-plants that we grew over this 

 underground heat did far better than they 

 would without it. and so did the lettuce rot. 

 which at one time threatened to spoil the crop. 

 But I think that, for hot-beds during the 

 spring months, it will be a good thing. 



MUSHROOM SPAWN THAT DON't GROW — WHO IS 

 TO BLAME? 



In the matter of poor mushroom spawn, 

 Johnson & Stokes are not alone. We bought 

 our spawn of A. W. Livingston & Sons, of Co- 

 lumbus, and it was poor. The reason I know 

 this is because spawn obtained from Hender- 

 son, planted at the same time and under the 

 same conditions, produced a fairly good crop. 

 I do not think it best to blame the seedsman 

 too much for such things; but where it can be 

 proven that they have sent out poor stock they 

 should be willing to do something to make it 

 right, for their loss would not be so great as the 

 planter's. I would give as much to be able to 



tell good spawn, or for some way to test it in a 

 reasonable amoun; of time, as I would the 

 vitality of seeds. Can any of the readers of 

 Gleanings tell us how? E. C. Gkeen. 



Wooster, Ohio, July 14. 



heating hot-beds by steam; a home- 



AfADE ARRANGEMENT. 



I notice on page 536, July 1, inquiry is made 

 about a boiler to heat hot-beds. I have been 

 having some thoughts on that line myself, and 

 have been thinking why a large sap-evaporator 

 could not be covered tight with matched 

 boards, like your kettle for making steam for 

 melting wax, and produce a large amount of 

 steam in a cheap way. I suppose the evap- 

 orator could be fixed in some way to indicate 

 the stage of water in it, so as not to run dry. 

 I should also like to ask you how deep you 

 would lay tile in an asparagus-bed to put 

 steam through. G. W. Lawson. 



Centerville, O., July 10. 



[Yes, friend L., you could cover any sort of 

 large kettle, or even a maple-sap evaporator, 

 with wood so as to generate steam with suffi- 

 cient pressure to warm hot-beds; and if the 

 man who makes and owns the machine were to 

 run it himself, and not let anybody else touch 

 it, I think he might get excellent results from 

 it; but let the hired man take hold of it. and if 

 the steam be confined at all, he would be likely 

 to have a blow-up. or, at least, have the top 

 blown off. If he failed in that he would boil 

 all the water out; and, therefore, all things 

 considered. I think a second-hand steam-boiler 

 would be cheaper in the end; besides, it would 

 be much greater economy in point of fuel, 

 besides being much more convenient. Where 

 one has a large kettle, however, and has not the 

 money to buy a boiler, I think he might heat 

 his beds very well. A very little steam gives 

 all the heat required, and almost no pressure at 

 all is just as good as or better than an ordinary 

 boiler pressure. As asparagus goes down pretty 

 deep I think I would have the tile 2 or 2^-2 feet 

 below the surface of the bed. Asparagus, 

 rhubarb, and all such rank growers, respond 

 very quickly and readily to any gentle steam 

 heat.] 



A STRAWBERRY REPORT, ETC. 



I am now out of the bee-business entirely, 

 and have continued Gleanings only for the 

 strawberry talk. Please give us all you can of 

 it. I am now a full-fledged strawberry-crank, 

 for which Mr. Terry and A. I. Root are mainly 

 responsible. I must tell you about my Gandys. 

 One acre. 175 bushels, ^g assorted fancy, brought 

 me $4.00 per bushel straight : K, seconds, 

 brought 10 cts. per quart. I picked .54 bushels 

 one day, which sold for $200.00 Ordinary ber- 

 ries have no show when the Gandys come. 

 They were sold in the city of Jackson, IS miles 

 distant. All went by wagon. They had never 

 seen such berries, nor I either. The Haver- 

 lands are the heaviest bearer, and are a good 

 selling bei-ry; also the Warfield, whicli were as 

 large again as the Wilson, and the best canner 

 on the list. The Bubach is extra large and fine 

 this season. The Parker Earle did well. The 

 Michals were fine, and yielded quite well. I 

 have quite a number of new varieties, includ- 

 ing the Timbrel!, of whicli I bought 50. I left 

 one plant to fruit, and they have certainly a 

 fine flavor, and exceediniily firm. Where can I 

 get a good barometer, such as you sold a year 

 or two ago ? 



Leslie, Mich.. July 17. C. N. Flansburg. 



[Well, friend F., if your success was in con- 

 sequence of reading the strawberry book, I 



