1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



789 



as to think they could grow crops where good 

 people had sunk money and made failures for 

 thirty or forty years past. The secret of their 

 success was in first getting an outlet for the 

 surplus water, and getting it under control; 

 next, discovering the precise kind of fertilizer 

 that was needed on this swampy muck. At 

 present they use mostly wood ashes, the greater 

 part being brought from Canada. Stable ma- 

 nure does excellently on celery. 



There are some parts of the swamp where 

 they are raising, during this very dry season, 

 magnificent crops of corn. Some of the ears 

 were about the largest that 1 ever saw; but 

 perhaiJS the quality of the corn is not quite 

 equal to that grown on upland. The same may 

 be said of their immense cabbages; but with the 

 present small crop on the uplands, people are 

 well satisfied with not only corn and cabbages, 

 but even potatoes, raised in the muck. 



How easily I made the ten or twelve miles 

 home on my wheel! Hy the way, I want to tell 

 you that not only health but strength is in- 

 creasing while I take these long rides every 

 week or ten days. Nature seems to be building 

 both bone and muscle, and reinforcing the 

 weak points: and. even though I am almost 

 fifty-four years old, I find myself growing more 

 able to climb high hills day by day. There 

 is something a little singular, and something 

 also most wonderfully inieresting about this. 

 For a time, when I had ridden a great many 

 miles, the first part that gave out seemed to be 

 my knees. There was hardly sul'ficient bone 

 and muscle to stand the strain in a certain 

 weak part; but even though I tasked this weak 

 part until it seemed sore and lame, it did no 

 harm. In a week or ten days there was a very 

 perceptible repairing and enlarging and build- 

 ing at just these points. Nature did not seem 

 to be displeased, nor inclined to protest at the 

 unusual and severe exercise. Under the in- 

 fluence of the tremendous appetite that came 

 with the hard exercise, a process seemed to be 

 going on much like that of young animals. 

 Other wheelmen have corroborated this very 

 point; and I feel like saying just now, that 

 not only do I consider the wheel one of the 

 greatest achievements of the present age, but I 

 am inclined to think that no such stride has 

 ever been made in preventing and throwing off 

 disease since the world began as has been 

 given us since the advent of the new safety 

 bicycle with pnuematic tires. In fact, while I 

 write I can not remember that I ever heard of 

 anybody who ever injured his health by riding 

 a wheel; neither have I ever heard of anybody 

 who once got started who did not begin to sur- 

 mount any sort of disease whatever. There 

 have been one or two reports of people who 

 have died from heart disease while riding a 

 wheel; but the disease was not contracted by 

 wheeling, neither was it clear that the wheel 

 had any thing to do with hastening their death. 

 Now, if any of you have had a different experi- 

 ence, or if I am exaggerating its benefit to 

 health, I shall be glad to be set right. 



High-pressure Gardening. 



BY A. I. ROOT. 



THAT VINEYAKD AI'IARY. 



It was ever so many years ago that I was full 

 of enthusiasm over the idea of training Concord 

 grapevines so as to shade bee-hives; but it was 

 not till this terribly dry season of 1893 that I 

 realized what my project might amount to in 

 the way of a crop of grapes. Let us see. I 

 have advocated this plan for shading the hives, 



and it has been sent out till 53,000 copies of the 

 ABC book are scattered over the world, and 

 yet I did not know what a good crop of grapes 

 really was. We are just now gathering our 

 grapes fi'om 400 or .500 vines, and these vines 

 have had no cultivation whatever, and no sort 

 of fertilizer for several years. The grass is cut 

 away with a sickle and lawn-mower. . Three or 

 four years ago we did give each vine a good 

 dose of ashes, with a quart of bonemeal — that 

 Is all. Well, they are now so loaded with 

 grapes that many have broken their fastenings 

 and gone down on to the ground. In fact, we 

 frequently get a half-bushel basket full of fruit 

 from a single vine. Of course, this is not much 

 for an average grapevine; but, remember these 

 are pruned down and cut back until they have 

 only a trellis about three feet wide and the 

 same in height. It is true, grapes are down to 

 a cent and a half a pound; yet 4000 or .5000 lbs. 

 at even this low figure make quite a little sum 

 of money from a fruit-garden that is no expense 

 whatever, except a little pruning, and tying up 

 the vines each year. What shall we do with so 

 many grapes while they are sold at such low 

 prices? Well, we are taking out the seeds and 

 canning the grapes for pies; and, I declare, 

 grape pies are about as nice as any pies in the 

 world. Ernest adds right here that grape jelly 

 is better; and just now they are running a new 

 machine down in the kitchen, that, by just turn- 

 ing a crank, the dry seeds, skins, and pulp go 

 into one pan while the pure juice drips into 

 another. The machine is called the Enterprise 

 fruit-press, and costs $3.00. Another thing, we 

 are going to have a good lot of unfermented 

 wine— communion wine I believe it is usually 

 called. It is simply grape juice and sugar can- 

 ned up, exactly as you can up fruit. When 

 anybody is sick it is a most delicious and re- 

 freshing drink; and I have seen some folks 

 who found it delicious and refreshing to drink 

 when they were not sick at all. It is true, we 

 can not have apples — at least, in our locality — 

 but when you can get a big paper bag full of 

 grapes for a cent and a half, how much would 

 it matter about the apples? 



A WONDERFUL NEW RASPBERRY. 



A few days ago a couple of friends were out 

 looking at my Timbrell strawberries. When I 

 went over and shook hands with them I found 

 they were visitors. One man was a bee-keeper, 

 but the other was not. I soon began to surmise 

 that the one who was not a bee-keeper had 

 something special on his mind. Pretty soon he 

 told me he had some raspberries in a basket, 

 which he wanted to have me look at. I was a 

 little surprised to hear him talk raspberries 

 during the last days of September; but when I 

 came to look into that basket and get in my 

 fingers a sprig containing the largest and finest- 

 looking black raspberries I ever saw in my life, 

 I too became enthusiastic. In the picture 

 below you have a life-size engraving of one of 

 the clusters that I found in that basket. Some 

 of the branches had not only a clusteron the tip 

 of the branch, but great luscious berries were 

 all the way down the stem; in fact, wherever a 

 leaf came out, there were berries. Said I: 



" My good friend, where do you live ? " 



He replied, " I live near the town of Ruggles, 

 some six or seven miles from New London, on 

 your new railroad. My home is in Ashland Co." 



"And have you some more berries like these, 

 now growing on your grounds? " 



He said he had, and in a few minutes more I 

 had planned making him a visit the very next 

 day. I would have made the whole trip on the 

 wheel, but I was just getting ready to go to the 

 convention at Chicago, and so my time was 

 precious. At 10 o'clock next morning I stepped 



