904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



mules are big enoug-h it is usually war to the deatli. 

 We will make the usual Ruarantee that poultry- 

 dealers are in the habit of making- on safe delivery. 



FREEMAN POTATOES AND MONROE SEEDLINGS. 



I presume it will prove to be too late to under- 

 take to send piitutoes by freight during the month 

 of Deceiiiber. Tliey can, however, be sent in small 

 quantities by mail or express with safety, so far as 

 our experience goes. Of course, there is danger of 

 freezing- them in getting them liome from the ex- 

 press or post office. The question has been asked, 

 whether, if tliey were paid lor now, we would keep 

 them until spring. We sliould be glad to do tliis 

 under the following conditions: We will weigli 

 them up, 6 I lbs. to ttie bushel, pack them in boxes 

 or barrels, with your address on them all ready to 

 ship, to be sent in the spring at such a time as you 

 may think proper, and at tlie prices whicli we have 

 recently given in tliese pages. So far as our ar- 

 rangements for keeping them are concerned, I 

 would siy that we have a very large and complete 

 cellar under our machiue-sliop. Potatoes very rare- 

 ly freeze in this cellar, even wiien tlie doors and 

 windows are left open. We have, however, just 

 been doing oflC an apartment for our potatoes for 

 seed. It is lined with tarred paper overhead, and 

 securely partitioned otf irom tlie rest of tlie cellar, 

 enabling us, by opening the windows nights, to keep 

 the potatoes just as cold as it is safe to keep them. 

 Each window has a sliutter, also covered with tarred 

 paper, so that tlie apartment may be made perfectly 

 dark. By keeping the temperature down near 

 freezing, we feel quite certain that tlie potatoes will 

 be changed very little if any by spring. Tliey may, 

 however, shrink SI me— 1 can not tell from experi- 

 ence how much. Vou will have to take thi- shrink- 

 age, and the possibility of an occasional rotten one 

 by spring. As we liave never had potatoes rot in 

 wintering, as we manage them, 1 am willing to guar- 

 antee there shall not be more than 10 per cent 

 spoiled. Aside from this they will be at your own 

 risk. Those not sold during winter will be assorted 

 and weighed again, jn tlie spring; but after we have 

 wintered them over, and thus sorted them, we shall, 

 of course, be obliged to charge something more for 

 them. Tne state-of the market will have something 

 to do with the price in the spring; but until further 

 notice you mny purchase as many as you choose, at 

 prices mentioned on page 8(W, Nov. 1, and just under 

 the table of contents in our issue for Nov. 1.5. 



The Monroe Seedling, as we have known it, is a 

 rather long potato; in fact, potatoes grown from the 

 seed we sent out last year are long, and some of 

 them a little scr;iggly ; butthe potatoes on the 9 acres 

 belonging to Wilbur Fenn are nearly all of a flat- 

 tened oval, so near like the Freeman potatoes that, 

 were it not for the different color, one mighi. almost 

 take them for Freemans. Now, here is something 

 else that 1 do not quite understand. The potatoes 

 raised by Terry and those raised by Fenn are 

 smoother and of better shape than most of the po- 

 tatoes we find raised elsewhere, especially those 

 raised on swampy or mucky ground. This matter 

 has been commi nted on before. For some time 

 past we have bt en using Freeman potatoes in otir 

 home; but when we gave Mrs. Root a box of the 

 Monroe Seedlings, taken from that carload, imagine 

 my surprise to hear her say she liked them a little 

 better than the Freemans— at least in one respect. 

 She says they do not boil to pieces quite so much. 

 In fact, they come on to the table about as nii-e and 

 mealy as any potatoes I ever saw. Aijd this reminds 

 me that, before closing this item. I must tell you 

 how Mrs. Root makes even inditterent potatoes dry 

 and mealy to put on the table. I suppose she boils 

 them very much as anybody else does. She always 

 pares them t)e fore boiling; but when they are all 

 done (not overdone), the water is quickly poured off; 

 then while they are hot and steaming she gives 

 them a gentle shaking and tossing in order to let as 

 much of the water as possible get out in the form of 

 steam. If you watch the process you will see the 

 potatoes becoming dry and mealj' under the treat- 

 ment, some of them breaking open if they, like the 

 Freemans, are very much disposed that way. If 

 she would take the same potatoes and let them 

 stand in the water they are boiled in, or even put 

 them Into a pan and let them stay until they are 

 quite cold, without any shaking, they would be 

 soggy and heavy — "waxy "as we sometimes term 

 it Perhaps the good woman who presides over 

 your household knows all about this already; but 

 I thought it might do no harm to mention it. 



Books by T. B. Terry and Others. 



The long winter evenings bring extra time for 

 reading. A ]K\ft of this time could not be more prof- 

 itably spent than in reading the following rural 

 hand-books which we send by mail at the uniform 

 111-ict' of 40c each. The new I'ditinn of the ARC of 

 Potato Culttire, rewritten this season by T. B. Terry, 

 will be completed in December. For 10c extra we 

 will send at once a copy of the old edition and the 

 new also when finished. 



The A B C of Potato Culture. 



Pai>er, :.':.'0 pages, 4x5. illustrated. This 



is T. B. Terry's tiist and most masterly 



work. The book has had a large sale, 



and has been reprinted in foreign lan- 



gu:igc.s. The second edition, reset and 



almost entirely i-cwritten, is just issued. 



When we are thmoughly conversant 



with friend Terry's system of i-aising 



potatoes, we shall be ready to handle almost any 



farm crop successfully. Price 40c. postpaid. 



The A B C of Strawberry 



Culture. Paper, 150 pages, fully Il- 

 lustrated. This is Terry's latest «»!((» 

 book, and has received some very high 

 words of praise. Who among rural 

 people does not have a little garden- 

 patch ? If you would learn to raise in 

 it that most luscious of all fruit, the 

 strawberry, with the best results, you 

 can not be without this little book. Even if you don't 

 grow strawberries you will be the better for i-eading it. 



Tile Drainage. By W. I. Cham- 

 berlain. This is a valuable companion 

 to oui- other rural books. It embraces 

 the e.x'perieiice of forty yeais of one of 

 our foremost jiractical agiiciilturists, 

 who has laid with his own hands over 

 15 miles of tile. Paper, 150 pages, il- 

 lustrated. Price 40c, postpaid. 



Winter Care of Horses and 



Cattle. This is friend Teriy's second 

 book in regard to farm matters; but it 

 is so intimately connected with his 

 potato book that it reads almost like a 

 sequel to it. If you have onl.v a horse 

 or a cow, I lliink it will pay you to in- 

 vest in the book. It has 44 pages, 7x10, 

 ustrated. Price 40c, postpaid. 



Maple Sugar and the Sugar= 



Bush. By A. J. Cook. Paper, 44 

 ]>ages, 7.Y10, illustrated. This is most 

 valual)le to all who are interested in the 

 idduct of our sugar maples.. No one 

 who makes maple sugar or syrup should 

 be without it. If you don't make maple 

 syrup you may want to know how it is 

 made, "and how to judge of a good ar- 

 ticle when you buy it. Price 40c, postpaid. 



Tomato Culture, in three parts. 

 By J. W. Day, D. Cummins, and A. I. 

 Root. Paper, 150 pages, illustrated. A 

 most valuable treatise embracing field 

 culture, forcing under glass, and rais- 

 ing plants for market. Valuable to 

 any one raising garden stuff of any 

 kind, aside from tomatoes. Price 40c, 

 postpaid. 



I f^^^^^-^ i A B C of Carp Culture, in pa- 

 per covers, illustrated. Tliis is a work 

 of 70 pages. 7.xlO, written by Geo. Finley 

 and A. I. Root, and tlie best authority 

 on the subject of carp culture yet in 

 luint. The rearing of carp is a pleasant 

 and profitable amusement. This book 

 will tell you all about it. Price 40c. 

 Any one of above books .sent free for one new sub- 

 scription with \our own renewal and $3.00, the new 

 subscriber to receive Gi^eaninos the rest of this 

 year and all of 1804. 



Terry's First Large-Sized Book. 

 We have ju.st received 100 copies of "Our Fsirniing," 

 from Wm. Henry Maule. Price, by mail, postpaid, 

 Sa.OO. If ordered by express or freight with other 

 goods, you ma^• deduct the postage, 15c. ; or we will 

 send the btiok by mail, postpaid, with Gleanings, 

 for $2.50. 





