364 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



EXPLANATION OF DIAGRAM. 



Showing a home-made plow that has been used by 

 the writer for ten years; entirely practical to those 

 who believe in flat culture and love a clean, well- 

 kept garden. This weeder is designated by the fam- 

 ily as the " Prairie Grasshopper." On wejl-prepared 

 soil, witli this weeder one man can easily do the 

 work of seven men with a hoe. In corn and pota- 

 toes and other large plants ir. will cut a swath 13 

 inches wide as fast as one can walk oi' run. Having 

 an unused boy's wagon-wheel (iron) the outlay for 

 material was 6.5 cts.; work done by writer. 



FiG.2 



PORTER'S HOME-MADE WHEEL-HOE, OB CULTIVATOR. 



The parts b b are made of heavy band or wagon- 

 tire iron, lx»8 inch. Before bending, each piece 

 should be about 4 ft. long, 3 inches being allowed 

 for making a turn a little more than at right angle 

 at the top where it is fastened to the handle-bar, 1, 

 by a timber-screw. When fastened to the handle- 

 bars, the side pieces b b should be 13 inches apart, 

 and the ends of b b turned In instead of outward. 

 A four-inch hand-hold is left on each side of bars b 

 b. From handle, 2, to Fig. 6 (bend) it should meas- 

 ures ft. 314 inches; from 6 to 9, 18X inches; between 

 bolt-holes, a &, 41/2 inches. From a line drawn from 

 9 on to 6 (bend), and extended on as far as handle- 

 bar, from bottom of barb down to such line should 

 measure 1.5 inches. The wooden block c is made in 

 two pieces; or, rather, after having been made it is 

 sawed In two to admit of pressure on grooved post 

 7, when nuts on bolts 3 3 are tightened. Bolt-slots 

 in c are elongated for the purpose of adjusting the 

 cutter-blade 4. Block c is 6 inches in length, 3 in 

 depth, and 3 inches wide, or sliould be about the 

 same width as tne length of the hub on the wheel; 

 made of pine or basswood. No. 7 is of hard wood, 

 IXxDi inches, and 8 or 10 inches long The groove 

 in 7 should be just large enough to admit of blade- 

 bar .5 fitting snug, yet admit of its being moved up 

 or down; and, when just right to do the required 

 work, is fastened in place by set-screw 13, whi(>h 

 should be on the lower end, and the groove facing 

 the wheel, as shown more clearly by the shadow of 

 bar 5, placed in position on No. 4. Blade-bar No. 5 is 

 about lx% inch, pains being taken to so bend it 

 that, when riveted to blade at f f, the lower side 

 shall be parallel with the plane of tlie blade for 3 or 

 3 inches back; and the edge of the end where it 

 unites with the blade is brought down to a feather 

 edge, and should be about 6 inches long from the 

 bend to top. The blade may be of any length: but 

 a 13-inch blade suits me best. It shouldn't be over 

 an inch in width, or ixii, and just as high tempered 

 as possible, and yet permit It to be sharpened with 

 a file; and the thinner the better till a point is 

 reached where it would be too limber. Set to post so 

 that it will slant, say, one end about 3 inches in ad- 

 vance of the other, entering ground close under 

 wlieel. 

 Ponca, Neb. J. W. Porter. 



THE GAULT RASPBERRY. 



The plant I got from you last spring has done 

 nicely. It made some 13 sets. Do they run on the 

 ground ? Some of the sprouts grew 5 or 6 feet long. 

 Do they have to have a trellis to run on ? 



My bees are doing nicely. I lost none last winter. 



Towanda, 111., April 14. S. C. Ware. 



No, they do not exactly need a trellis— that 

 is, if they are cut back sufficiently; but where 

 you let them run In order to get tips, the fruit 

 is very apt to be down in the dirt unless you tie 

 to a wire or something similar. We have 

 plenty of reports from those who have succeed- 



ed in getting plants from the Gault raspberry; 

 but why does not somebody tell us about the 

 amount of fruit they get? Surely the berry 

 has been before the world long enough so that 

 some one should have a lot of great clusters of 

 nice berries as well as friend Gault and myself. 

 How is it? Does not the plant bear berries " at 

 your house"? 



IS IT THE WORK OF THE BEES ? — SEE PAGE 132. 



A few years ago Thought a package of Hender- 

 son's bush lima beans, tor which I paid 15c for a 

 package containing B beans. I planted them three 

 years before I had enough to use from them. The 

 third year I planted near them a few beans called 

 W. Zula. These were a purplish color, and a run- 

 ner. When picking a few shell beans from the 

 Henderson's bush lima, to my astonishment some of 

 them were speckled. I picked out all that were 

 marked, and destroyed them. I planted the fourth 

 year none but what were clear white. Last year I 

 noticed they put out a good many runners; and on 

 harvesting tliem I was astonished to find them all 

 like the sample I send you. 



The only colored beans I have raised in the gar- 

 den are the W. Zula, and the last year a few early 

 Valentine. Is not this the work of the bees ? 



Clintonville, Wis. Daniel Noble. 



The sample beans mailed of the above were 

 speckled Henderson bush lima. Some of them 

 were mottled, with reddish streaks splashed 

 with black. It is either fertilization by the 

 bees or else a sport. I am inclined to think the 

 former, for we have raised Henderson's bush 

 lima, 30 or 40 bushels in a single season, and 

 have never seen a streaked or speckled one. 



Health Notes. 



WHOLESOME BREAD, AND OTHER JIATTERS IN RE- 

 GARD TO DIET, ETC. FROM OUR OLD 

 FRIEND MRS. L. C. AXTELL. 



Dear Mr. RooL"— The way I make rusk is to make 

 my whole-wheat flour into bread after what is call- 

 ed potato-ball bread. I gave a description how to 

 make it some two or three years ago. 1 have tried 

 many ways to make good graham bread, but none 

 gave so good results, nor are so easily made, as the 

 potato-ball bread. The yeast is wholly of potato, 

 and does not sour so easily as other yeast or bread. 

 It rises more quickly, and keeps moist longer, in 

 bread; but all bread made of whole-wheat flour is 

 better the first two days alter being made. After 

 that I slice it down and crumble it up fine with my 

 hands, which is easily and quickly done, then pour 

 it into bread bakiug-pans and set it in the oven to 

 dry, being careful not 10 brown it much. If brown- 

 ed it gives it a more constipating nature. 



When thoroughly dry we put it into a dish, and 

 either eat it dry or slightly moistened with thin 

 cream or new milk for supper. We think it better 

 for us eaten dry. because it causes the saliva to flow 

 and moisten it, which aids digestion. If it is to be 

 cooked or softened before being eaten, then there is 

 no need of crumbling it, as a few minutes of soak- 

 ing the hard crusts after drying will render them 

 perfectly soft. We like to have the bread crumbled 

 before drying, because it is much easier done than 

 grinding afterward; and if not broken small be- 

 fore being put into the motith it is apt to injure our 

 gums, whether we have false teeth or not; but if 

 fine, the saliva softens it almost immediately. I 

 have been troubled by indigestion for years, and 

 find it the most easily digested of any food I have 

 ever tried, especially for supper. 



MASHED APPLE. 



Another equally valuable food is mellow apples 

 pared, sliced, and squeezed to a pulp by the hands. 

 Add a pinch of salt and a little sugar. The squeez- 

 ing or jamming (not chopping) should be done just 

 before each meal, as they turn dark so soon. Mr. 

 Axtell and I are very fond of them, and find them 

 better for our diet than if cooked or oaten raw be- 

 tween meals. Mashed apples and the dried crum- 

 bled bread go ivell together. The greatest trouble 

 about eating the mashed apple is tliat it tastes so 

 good one can hardly help eating too much of it, es- 



