October, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



629 



in regard to its value as a fertilizer. Well, 

 these four hills of melons, two plants in a 

 hill, have now nine Netted Gem oantalou]) 

 melons, about the finest I ever "rew ; but 

 as they are not yet ripe, we have not tested 

 the quality. 



Just a susi'si'estion here: These tine hills 

 may not be altoaether the result of the pot- 

 ash. I think I have mentioned before, that, 

 unless I have some kind of exercise in the 

 siarden to start the perspiration every fore- 

 noon and afternoon, I do not feel " real 

 spry." Mrs. Root frequently scolds about 

 mj getting- mj' shirt and underwear so 

 badly soiled, even if I do have a sponge 

 bath evei'y night before I go to bed. Of 

 course, woi'king in the garden aceunudates 

 quite a little dust, especially during ex- 

 tremely hot weather, to go along with the 

 perspiration. 



Well, is it not likely that this same per- 

 spiration is valuable as a fertilizer? The 

 good Book says, " In the sweat of thy face 

 shalt thou eat bread;" and I have some- 

 times thought it fell on me rather heavily, 

 especially in my old age. The color of the 

 water in a tubful of soapsuds indicates that 

 there is more or less " fertility " in it of 

 some sort; and one of the morals of this 

 story today is that, instead of letting the 

 soa]isuds of washday go down into the 

 drain, you should put it on your melons 

 or some other garden stuff you want to get 

 under " high pressure." I believe the best 

 time to put on soapsuds is just about sun- 

 down or a little after; then when the 

 ground gets just dry enough, mellow it u]i 

 again with a hoe. 



By the way, I have sometimes mentioned 

 my fruit suppers which I enjoy so much. 

 Well, nice cantaloups and " baby water- 

 melons" seem to fit in very nicely in that 

 fruit supper; and T feel very mueli better 

 after a supper of fruit and melons, and 

 nothing else, than when I go to a ])icn"c 

 and eat all sorts of stuff so as not to appear 

 to be singular or different from other peo- 

 ple. 



A NEW VARIETY OF TALL WHITE SWKKT 

 CLOVER THAT FURNISHES HONEY 

 IN 90 DAYS. 



Some time about the last of April Prof. 

 H. D. Hughes of the Towa Agricultural 

 Station, Ames, la., sent me a few seeds 

 of a new white sweet clover that he thou'jhl 

 might do wonderful things, not only for 

 beekeepers but for stock-growers as Avell. 

 I planted a few seeds at once in a box. 

 gave them good care, and set them out in 

 the garden some time in May. Notwith- 

 standing the terrific heat and dr9"tli they 



began to bloom in about 00 days; and just 

 now, this 14th day of September, some of 

 them are as high as my head, and covered 

 with bees and bloom. On some of the 

 [dants the seeds are sufficiently matured so 

 they may be gathered and planted ; and if 

 any reader of Gleanincs will send me an 

 addressed and stamped envelojie, 1 will 

 mail liim a few seeds. If planted at once, 

 in most localities, in good, rich soil, I 

 think they will make enough growth to 

 stand the winter. A little mulching may 

 hel)) matters. 



And there shall in no wise enter into it anything 

 unclean, or that maketh an abomination and a lie. 

 — Rev. 21:27. 



Great victories are coming just now so 

 thick and fast that I begin to think I shall 

 have to stop astonishing the good friends 

 with temperance news; for before I can 

 get it before you in ])rint it is news no 

 longer, for eveiybody has heard of it and 

 more besides. 



Just a few days ago we were congratulat- 

 ing ourselves on having national prohibi- 

 tion by 1920 ; and with the progress being- 

 made it seemed as if it might come earlier 

 — possibly by July 1. Then a little was 

 said about May 1. Then the papers talked 

 about Jan. 1, and finallv in the Cleveland 

 Plain Dealer of Sept. 7 we read the an- 

 nouncement that on Dec. 1, 1918, the brew- 

 ers of the United States Avould shut up at 

 once, and during the war; and this victory 

 is not exactly like the one in regard to the 

 distilleries, for beer can not be made up 

 ahead, as it spoils in a little while. T am 

 ashamed to acknowledge that I know some- 

 thing about it "■ by experience." 



And now while we are rejoicing and 

 thanking God for Avha.t is going to hapi)en 

 Dec. 1. the different bt-eAveries thruout the 

 land are announcing that, as they have 

 got to quit any way. they might as well 

 commence to line up at once. I have since 

 run across another statement, I think to 

 the effect that over 5,000 saloons in the 

 city of New York have also concluded to 

 commence, at once, to wind up. A saloon 

 witho'it beer would be like Hamlet with- 

 o'lt Handet. 



May the Lord hv praised for the news 

 at hand this LMli «lav of Sei>leud)er; and 

 n<»body Unows just what great things mav 

 be done before your eyes rest on this print- 

 ed ])age. 



Is there a voter in the State of Ohio who 

 reads these Home papers who will not 

 strain every nerve to be on hand on the 

 coming election day, Nov. 5, and vote dry? 



