1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



721 



us lots of high-pressure gardening, Home talks, 

 and other things of a like natui'e. 

 f-: I can make a reservoir to hold fiO.OOO barrels. 

 How much ground will that irrigate? How 

 large an outlet will it take to let the water on 

 the ground? 



My six-year-old bee-man wants to know if 

 that roaring in the apiary is bees snoring in 

 their sleep. J. T. Shumard. 



Golden, Mo., Sept. 4. 



[Friend S., 44 cts. for wheat is rather lower 

 than any price I have heard of yet. Now, if 

 other crops are cut off, wheat is certainly going 

 to be in better demand before long; and if it 

 can possibly be kept, I would not De in a hurry 

 to sell it. Thanks for your kind words. 



During a season like the present, I have esti- 

 mated that it needs a reservoir of about 3000 

 barrels for a quarter of an acre — that is, where 

 we depend upon a windmill; and if your pur- 

 pose is to store rain water when it comes, you 

 should have perhaps even more than that. 

 According to the above, your reservoir would 

 be sufficient for only about 15 acres ; but. of 

 course, all these figures must be very indefinite 

 with the various circumstances that will affect 

 each case. I should say the outlet would need 

 to be a pipe from one to two inches in diameter; 

 but here, again, much depends upon the head 

 of water, the porosity of the soil, the slope of 

 the land, etc. If you are going to run your 

 water in ditches through your ground, you 

 must let on water enough to go from one end of 

 the ditch to the other. If your stream is too 

 small it will all soak i.nto the ground before it 

 gets from one eud of the lot to tlie other. 



Your six-year-old bee-man is not so very far 

 out of the way, perhaps: but I would suggest 

 to him that, instead of snoring in their sleep, 

 they are simply purring like kittens, because 

 they are happy. After the bees have brought 

 in a great lot of honey during the day you will 

 hear this contented roar at the entrance of the 

 hives. It has been suggested that roaring is 

 caused by the effort they make to evaporate 

 tiie surplus moisture in the new honey. My 

 opinion is, however, that, inasmuch as bees 

 express themselves by the humming of their 

 wings, this peculiar sound you speak of is also a 

 note of contentment, as I said before: and who 

 can say that it is not a way they have to ex- 

 press thanksgiving and praise to the great 

 Father above, who gave them life and being? 

 Very likely they have no conception of God ; 

 but I think that they, in common with other 

 animals, have a way of expressing gratitude 

 and thanksgiving, nevertheless.] A. I. R. 



Our own has not started yet, but I am watch- 

 ing every day to see it do so. 



MUSHROOM SPAWN THAT WILL NOT GROW. 



On page 536 we published a letter complain- 

 ing of our mushroom spawn, and also acknowl- 

 edged that it came from .lohnson & Stokes. 

 Again, on page (111 E. C. (ireen, of our Ohio 

 Experiment Station, says Johnson <.*iL' Stokes are 

 not alone in the matter, etc. Weil, just now 

 here comes a later report from friend Kartow, 

 as follows: 



Mr. Root :—l take it all hack. Some of the mush- 

 rooms have grown. The flrst I gathered to-day 

 were ]ilanted as soon as I gathered them. 



Milan, O., Aug. 30. Ar.LEN B.\rtow. 



Friend B., I am exceedingly obliged to you 

 for letting us know so promptly that the fault 

 is not entirely in the spawn, after all. I have 

 seen this sam*^ thing so many times that I bd- 

 gin to suspect that, after one lias given up that 

 the plant will grow, it is pretty sure to come up 

 after all, providing temperature, moisture, and 

 other conditions happen to be just to its notion. 



" I.EE's FAVORITE " POTATOES. 



I have for the last 20 years experimented 

 more or less with potatoes, and in that time I 

 have tried all the new and popular varieties as 

 they came along, and I must say that, in all 

 my experience. I have never had a variety that 

 could come up to Lee's Favorite. This season I 

 planted Lee's Favorite, New Queen, Early Sun- 

 rise, Crown Jewel, Charles Downing, and a few 

 more varieties, and I shall abandon all. and 

 stick to Lee's Favorite. New Queen, and the 

 good old Early Rose. With these three sorts, 

 planting one or two eyes in a place, in drills 15 

 inches apart in the drill, level culture, and, in 

 dry weather, by keeping the cultivator run- 

 ning, I can raise lots of beautiful potatoes on a 

 small area of ground. The Rural New-Yorker 

 is the worst potato to rot, with me, of any I 

 have tried. Lee's Favorite is the least subject 

 to rot of all I have tried; in fact. I do not re- 

 member of ever seeing a rotten one of this va- 

 riety. N. F. BOOMHOWER. 



Gallupville, N. Y., Aug. 31. 



CONVENTION NOTICES. 



The Susquehanna Co. Bee-keepers' Association wiU meet at 

 Jiiy's Hotel, in New .Milford. on Thnisriav. Oct. 12, at 10 a.m. All 

 are cordially invited. H. M. Seblev, Harford, Pa. 



The North .\inerican Bee-keepers' .\ssoeiation will hold its 

 24th annual convention on the 11th. 12th. and 13th of October, 

 189.3. inChicafro, HI. 



Place of Meeting.— A hall for the use of the convention 

 has been secured in the " Louisiana Hotel," at the corner of 

 71st Street and Seipp .\ venue, only a few minutes' walk from 

 tlie south entrance to the World's Colnmliian Exposition. 'This 

 hall is larue, well litrhlcd. .-md in a quu't ]ilaee. 



Hotel Ai-ciim> .\ti>>ns The Louisiana Hotel itself will 



furnish conifoitalile ai'comniodations to a larg'e number of the 

 members, at very moderate prices. B'or a small room two 

 persons pay daily 75 ots. each Larger rooms occupied l)y two 

 at $1.(10 per perse*. Four persons occupying: a room having 

 two beds will pay .TO cts. eacli. Meals can be obtained in the 

 hotel at reasonable rate-, or at numerous restaurants in the 

 vicinity. It is best to engage rooms by letter luforclianil. The 

 proprietors of the Louisiana Hotel give us the use ut the hall 

 free, expecting that many of the membeis will take rooms 

 with them; and as the prices are moderate, and the rooms are 

 neat and convenient, it is but just for all who can well arrange 

 to stoji there to do so. For this purpose, address " Monager of 

 Louisiana Hotel, corner 71st Street and Seipp Ave., Chicago," 

 stating what priced room is wanted. 



Railway Tickets and Baggage.— Most of the railwa.ys ticket 

 to the Ex]iosition Depot, near which the Louisiana Hotel is lo- 

 cated; and bagK'ii;;'!' shmild l)e checked to that station, Ihus 

 avoiding extra rlKOLie-. .is if is about sevm :;;iles tioni the 

 city stations to the World's Fair groinids. liil.iiin.-Ui(in as to 

 rates of travel, time tickets are good. etc.. c.-in lie (■btatained 

 of all local ticket agents. From m.iiiy )ioints— especially from 

 cities having numerous competing llm-s- excursions will be 

 starting which will permit those win. <a]i take advantage of 

 them to go and return at the usual rate for one fare. 



Programme and .\ttevdani'E — The programme, of which 

 furtlier notice will be given, consists of interesting papers by 

 well-known s))ei-ialists, and discussions of topics which will 

 interest honev-prodtiec is. (lueen-breeedeis, maniifacturers of 

 apiarian supplii s, iiiilili-^lins .ind editors ..t bec-litcr.iture, and 

 dealers in hiniev :iiid w:i\. Viewing the v;i lioiis fi.ieign and 

 home exhibits in .iiiieultuie at llie Woild's Fair will fdiin an 

 attractivf and instructivr featuie ot llic im-i'tjng, and the 

 number of ajiiarists widely known here and abroad who will 

 be present .ind take p.-iii in the proceedings is of itsill a guar- 

 antee th.at this will be a highly interesting and intliu>Kist ic 

 meeting. Counting, tln-ri fore, upon a laige atteiidanee, the 

 Executive Committee id' the society li.as made arrangements 

 accordingly. Let every state in the I'nion send tlif strongest 

 possible delegation, an I let every branch of oui- industry be 

 represented at this great Colninlii.an g.itliej-ing. No other oc- 

 casion is likely to occur in our generation when so much of 

 interest can be seen and heard at the time of one of these 

 meetings; and it is earnestly lio|)ed that a much 1,-uger mini 

 ber of the bee keepers of North America than has ever nud at 

 any previous cimviiilioii will be able to avail tlieiiiselves of 

 this grand opportunity. A special invit:ition is extended to 

 the l>ee-keciiers of every foreign eountiy. 



Notice hi.' Atteni>-v.xi i'. oi; ok Phese.vtation ov Papers.— The 

 Seeretarv is desirous ol olitaining. as early as jiossible, the 

 names cit all who cioiteinplate being present KiniUy notify 

 him hv can! "i letter; a I -o any who may wi-li to present i)apers 

 the tiiles ol \s Inch have not yet been li;uideil in. ;iie requested 

 to send ti. tlie Secietarv at as early a dale as pus-ilde the exact 

 title and a vei \ l.i iel abstract of the article, which will enable 

 him to assign the topic its proper place in the pidgrainnie. 



FUAXK Bknton, 



Secretary North American Bee-keepers' .\s--ociation, 



V. S Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



