32 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1. 



from G4 rods of ground. Nearly every one says 

 they were the best crop grown around here. 



We have about a dozen hives of bees. There 

 has been lots of foul brood around here; but 

 when Mr. McEvoy, the inspector, was here he 

 said ours were not bad, except three of them. 

 We did as he told us to do, and hope when he 

 comes back they will be found all right. 



Mrs. W. H. Westcott. 



Falkirk, Ont., Can., Dec. 3:^. 



Special Notices in the Line of Gardening, Etc. 



By A. I. Root. 



The Thoroug'hbred potatoes over io the green- 

 house are to-d;iy, Dec. iil, over a foot high. 



I now weigh 137 lbs.— only 3 lbs. short of my usual 

 weight. My digestion is just perfect so long as I 

 stick to lean meat and zwieback, and do not get in 

 too large a ration of baked apples. 



SEISD POTATOES THAT HAVii BEEN FROSTED. 



There has been considerable discussion as to 

 whether potatoes would grow or not if they have 

 been slightly Irosied. The best way to settle it, es- 

 pecially if they are valuable, is to put them in a 

 warm place, and see if they will s rout. Tlie way 

 we do it is to put them in a warm place in the 

 greenhouse, say under one of the beds. Put the 

 suspected potatoes close together, one layer deep. 

 Sift over them some flae earth. If they commence 

 to sprout, all right; but if they don't— why, they 

 are worth something for manure, and ilicy are right 

 where you can shovel them up, dirt aud all, any 

 time you want some fertilizer. We have repeatedly 

 raised some very tine potatoes where the seed 

 seemed so soft that it was apparently good for 

 nothing. 



.JAPANESE BUCKWHEAT FOR SEED. 



With the large crops raised during the past year, 

 we are able to give better figures than ever before; 

 viz., trial packet, ^ lb., by mail, .5 cts.; 1 lb. by 

 mail, 15 cts.; by freight or express, peck, 25 cts.; 

 V4 bushel, 50 cts.; bushel, 80 cts.; two-bushel bag, 

 $1.60; 10 or more bushels, purchaser paying tor 

 bngs, 65 cts. per bushel. Please remember it does 

 not pay as a rule to order buckwheat any distance 

 l)y express, as the charges will be much more thnu 

 the value of the seed. If you want only a small 

 quantity, better have it by mail. Half a bushel or 

 more can be sent safely by freight; but where the 

 distance is very great, it had better be ordered with 

 other goods, or even the freight may amount to 

 more than the value of the buckwheat. Our eight- 

 page buckwheat circular gives a vast amount of 

 Information in regard to buckwheat cultivation, 

 and will be mailed fr6ebf charge on application. 



OUR I.IST OP SEEDS FOR THE GARDEN, i'ARM, AND 

 GREENHOUSE 



This was crowded out of this issue, but will, with- 

 out doubt, appear in our next. If you send in an 

 order we will give you the advantage of the reduced 

 prices. 



Homes and Neighbors also seemed crowded out of 

 this issue, but I think the friends will find more or 

 less of both scattered through my talks and travels. 



THE FREE SAMPLE PACKAGE OF SANITARIUM 

 HEALTH FOODS. 



We have given away a hundred of these, and have 

 just received another liuiidred for free distribution. 

 The sample packages include one each of granose 

 and gfaiu)la, with directions for cooking; also a 

 small package of caram»il cereal, a substitute lor 

 cotfee that is not a stimulant, but, on the contrary, 

 aids digestion. These will be put in express t)rders 

 or freight orders, entirely I'ree of cluirge. Wliere 

 wanted by mail, send 10 cts. lor postage and pack- 

 ing. If you like the samples, you can order the ar- 

 ticles with other articles when you are making 

 orders here, or you can order direct from Battle 

 Creek, Mich. Asa rule it will not pay to oi der these 

 things by express; neither will it pay to order them 

 by freigiit unless neighbors club together so as to 

 buy 30 or 40 lbs. or more in one purchase. 



SEED POTATOES BY MAIL. 



We have special facilities for packing aud mail- 

 ing every thing of this sort; aud this, perhaps, en- 

 ables us to Send potatoes for planting, by mail, 

 cheaper than almost any other stedsman. If you 

 compare our prices with those quoted in most of the 

 seed catalogs you are now getting, you will see 

 how reasonably we are willing to work for you. I 

 believe that, as a rule, it pays better to send whole 

 medium->ized potatoes by mail than to undertake to 

 send eyes only, especially where they are to go long 

 disitances. We can furnish small potatoes whenever 

 they are wanted. You will get more eyes in a pound 

 of small potatoes, but they will not ordinarily make 

 as strong growth. We will send 1 lb., postpaid, for 

 13 cts., of any of the following varieties: State of 

 Maine; Beauty of Hebron; Rural New-Yorker No. 

 3; Monroe Seedling; Puritan; Early Ohio; Lee's Fa- 

 vorite. 



For 15 cts. per lb., or 3 lbs. for 35 cts., we will send 

 New Queen; Sir William; Freeman; Burpee's Extra 

 Early; Livingston's Banner State. 



For 3D cts. per lb., or 3 lbs. for 50 cts., we will send 

 Carman No. 1 or New Craig. 



Maule's Early Thoroughbred will be $1.50 per lb., 

 or 3 lbs for $3.0Q; but any one who is now a sub- 

 scriber to Gleanings may have 1 lb., postpaid by 

 mail, as a premium for getting us one new subscrib- 

 er, sending us, of course, $1.00 for the new subscrib- 

 er. For particulars in regard to this last offer, see 

 our potato circular. 



SEED POTATOES BY THE BUSHEL FOR -JAN. 1, 1896. 



State of Maine, 25 cts. per bushel; Beauty of 

 Hebron, 35 cts. per bushel; Rural New-Yorker No. 

 3 and Monroe Seedling, 40 cts. per bushel; Lee's 

 Favorite, 60 cts. per bushel; New Qiicea. Freeman, 

 Biirpee's Extra Early, 75cts. perbushel; Sir William, 

 $1.00 per bushel. The above figures do not include 

 package to ship in. Packages tor shipping will cost 

 as follows: Juue bags, holding 3 bushels, 10 cts. each. 

 These are not suitable lor cold weatner. Better 

 have tliem put in a barrel, for this will give room 

 around the potatoes so as to put in paper and pack- 

 ing enougli to make them pretty safe to go, even in 

 cold weatiier. Price of a barrel holding 11 pecks, 

 35 cts. We ship choice seed potatoes more or less 

 all winter long; and where they go toward the 

 South we seldom have any losses unless a terrible 

 freeze sets in such as we had during the latter part 

 of last winter. 1 do not rememoer that we ever had 

 any potatoes frozen when sent by^ express. But 

 that is expensive work unless it is for some choice 

 liigh-priced potatoes. If any of our friends wish us 

 to undertake to ship them in winter, we will do our 

 best to get them through safely. We can not, how- 

 ever, take all the responsibility of loss from freezing, 

 as a rule, until after April 1. 



For a full desciiplion of our seed potatoes, in- 

 cluding prices on the new Craig, see our special po- 

 tato circular, mailed free on application. 



NEW AND VALUABLE RURAL BOOKS. 



First we have a new edition of " Onion Raising," 

 by Gregory. The chapter on keeping onions and 

 onion-Sets over winter by freezing has been worth 

 to me much more than the price of the book. In 

 fact, 1 had been drifting toward the plan for several 

 years. It is, briefly, this: Place the onions on the 

 Darn floor to a depth of about 20 inches, having the 

 heap at least two or three feet from the side of the 

 building, the space being packed in with fine mead- 

 ow hay, and putting twenty inches or moie of hay 

 or straw over them. It is well to have boards around 

 the edge of the bed to keep the onions together. 

 They must not be handled in the spring before the 

 frost is entirely out, uncovering them in the spring 

 gradually so as to let the frost come out slowl.y. A 

 floor somewhat protected underneath would be bet- 

 ter- say a floor over the stables. Put the sets in open 

 crates, and let them freeze, and then cover them 

 with 18 inches or 2 feet of hay or straw. Pack it all 

 around them so well that they will not warm up and 

 sprout out at every mild spell during winter, and 

 just let them alone till time for planting Don't put 

 any blankets over them, nor any thing of that sort, 

 for it will make them sweat and sprout. Briefly, 

 freeze them up and then cover them so they will 

 keep frozen all winter; and do not suffocate therp 

 and make them heat and sprout. The price of the 

 book is 35 cts.; by mail, 30 cts. 



CELERY FOR PROFIT. 



This book I have mentioned in another column. 



