764 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



We at once gathered specimens of the Queen 

 Anne on our own grounds, and also got some of 

 a neighbor that were a little diflereat, but 

 which he declared were the real Queen Anne, 

 and I mailed them as above. Below is their 

 reply: 



Mr. A. I. Roof .•—Replying- to your favor of Sept. 

 8, 1 would state that neither of the varieties sent as 

 Queen Anne is correctly named. Queen Anne is 

 the synonym of Lawell, a variety having a very oily 

 skin, and on that account is often called Greasy Pip- 

 pin. Again, Queen Anne is a synonym of Mother, 

 a variety having its season from November to Feb- 

 ruary. Neither your nor your neighbor's apples 

 resemble either the Lowell or Mother. 



Your apple is, I think, beyond doubt, Cocklin's 

 Favorite, an old Pennsylvania variety, far superior 

 to the Maiden's Blu^b. Your neighbor's apple is 

 Cooper's Early, formerly culled Cooper's Earlj' 

 White. This is a very superior apple, and I should 

 be pleased to have some scions next spring. 



S. B. Heiges. 



Sept. 13. PomiiUniist. 



Now, friends, it has given me much pleasure 

 to know that what I write in Gleanings has 

 interested >omebody at the great head of our 

 nation, and it also gives me more pleasure to 

 know thatHu expert pomoiogist has been em- 

 ployed by the government to straigh'en out our 

 varieties of beautiful apples, and especially to 

 remedy, so far as may be, the trouble of having 

 several names for the same apple, and several 

 apples for the same name. Just now I believe 

 I should pronounce the apple in our d^oryard 

 Cocklin's Favorite— the most luscious and re- 

 freshing apple, when perfectly ripe, of any 

 thing I have ever got hold of in the whole ap- 

 ple family. If you want the Pomological De- 

 partment at Washington to set you straight on 

 the names of the apples you grow, correspond 

 with them as above. By the way, our readers 

 may be pleased to know that the new Standard 

 Dictionary defines about 335 kinds of apples, 

 with a great many of the synonyms — that is, 

 the different names for the same varieties of 

 apples. And, by the way, this dictionary cor- 

 roborates what Prof. Heiges says; namely, that 

 the (^ueen Anne is only a synonym for the 

 Lowell. 



NOVELTIES IN FRUITS, ETC., PUT OUT BY OUR 



ENTERPRISING SEEDSMEN; THAT BBiAU- 



TIFUL NEW PLUM, THE " SLOE." 



Friend Boot:— In the last Gleanings you speak of 

 two of the novelties sent out by the seedsmen in the 

 past two or three years— the Rocky Mountain cher- 

 ry and high bush cranberry, but you do not speak 

 very highly of them. If I am not mistaken, 1 re- 

 ported to you that the Rocky Mountain cherry was 

 not fit to eat, last year, but was in hopes that it 

 might be better on other soils and trees. It came 

 well recommended from the West, but not so highly 

 as to give one the impression that it would take the 

 place of the common cherry; but some seedsmen, 

 without any con.science, try to make folks believe 

 it will. 



The tree cranberry belongs to, or, rather, is the 

 original form of, our common snowball-bush (Vr- 

 burmoii opiilus). The snowball has been cultivated 

 for its flowers until every one knows it: but the 

 tree cranberry, or high bush cranberry, had to wait 

 until the seedsmen got hold of it and introduced it 

 —certainly not a very high recommend. It may 

 have some good qualities, hut I am extremely 

 doubtful whether it can ever be compared with the 

 ordinai'y cranberry. 



I would suggest that you wait until cold weather, 

 when the frosts may improve its qualities. 



I think if you look into the matter you will find 

 that the experiment stations test the new varieties 

 of fruit as fast as they come out, or, at least, the 

 Ohio station does But the trouble is, you do not 

 give them time enough. Your tests are just hs 

 reliable; and I have noticed, when looking over 

 your gardens, that you are often ahead of them. 



The fruit you speak of seeing at Rerason Corners 

 is the sloe, and belongs to the same family as do our 



wild plums, but of a different species. Its botani- 

 cal name is Pnuiui^ fiiiiuom, while the wild plum 

 found in Oh\o is PnniUf: A)ncricaiia. My wife, who 

 has known the sloe since she was a little girl, says 

 it makes the best of preserves, and is good for 

 drying. 



I have been very much interested in the wild 

 plum lor several years, and this year I saw the 

 orchard in bearing set out on the State University 

 grounds; and su<'h loads of fruit as some trees were 

 carrying would surprise a person. The fruit of dif- 

 ferent varieties ripens from July to October, and 

 ranges from a golden yellow to dark red in color. 

 The trees are hardy and vigorous. The experiment 

 station at Wooster has an orchard of over one hun- 

 dred varieties, which will be worth going to see 

 when it comes into bearing. My brother in Granger 

 has quite a collection of young trees. 



Columbus, O., Sept. 2'^. E. C. Grhen. 



Thanks for your suggestions, friend G.; but 

 the frost can not improve the tree cranberry, 

 because they have ripened and rotted on the 

 bushes. It may be they have been premature- 

 ly early thi^ ^eason. because every thing else is 

 ahead of the usual time. We are glad of your 

 suggestion, however, and will wait another 

 year b fore deciding that they are absolutely 

 unfit for use as a fruit. Who can tell us more 

 about that sloe wild plum? and where can 

 trees be purchased ? 



THE GAULT RASPBERRY, ETC. 



You wonder if others who got plants of you 

 are having such big bunches of nice large rasp- 

 berries. Yes, you ought to have seen how full 

 my bushes were the first ripening. The most 

 wonderful thing about it is. I planted one row 

 of Cuthbert by the side of the Gault; and what 

 do you think is theresult? Why, they have the 

 same habit of giving a second crop of the nicest 

 and largest Cuthbert raspberries I ever saw. I 

 shall have Cuthbert raspberries till frost makes 

 an end of them. 



The Thoroughbred potatoes I got of you are 

 about as nice as any thing can be. 



Now a word about my bees. I had the worst 

 swarming-iime I ever saw. Of course. I man- 

 aged so they did not all cast swarms. On some 

 I put a Simplicity top with 10 frames on top of 

 the one-story chaff hive. Those did not swarm. 

 I had only about 31 that did swarm. Well, I 

 hived 64 swarms ; let some 9 or 10 go to the un- 

 known, and hived back whence they came out 

 about 10 or 12. 



A NOVEI> WAY OF SALTING BEES. 



I salted my bees well. I strewed the salt all 

 along under the eaves of the house. The bees 

 licked up the salt water like sheep. 



John Slaubaugh. 



Eglon, W. Va., Sept. 10, 1896. 



SECOND CROP thoroughbred POTATOES. 



I here comply with your request, and send you 

 my report of the secona crop of Maule's Thorough- 

 bred potatoes I received from you in July as pre- 

 mium. 1 received 73 eyes in 3 lbs. I dug the ground 

 with a spade, and cultivated by hand. The soil is 

 prairie loam, well fertilized previously, but I put no 

 fertilizer on this year. Ten hills came up in about 

 two weeks after planting; and from planting to 

 date 33 out of 53 hills planted have come up. The 

 last came the latter part of September, and is now 

 about 3 inches high. The flrst ten hills promise a 

 fair yield; and if the frost holds ofl" until December 

 I think the rest will bear potatoes, as they are grow- 

 ing vigorously. I do not write this to find fault, 

 but to say to you that, if the first crop produces a 

 second, they must be better ripened hefore plant- 

 ing. John E. Tawney. 



Cedar Bluffs, Neb., Oct. 3. 



We clip the following from the Practical Farmer: 

 I got one pound of Maule's Thoroughbred from 

 Mr. Root, and raised over a bushel of tubers. 

 Demorest, Ga. ■ A. M. M. 



