146 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Fek 



pocket, and uses it as friend Terry recom- 

 mends, can pretty soon get these poor cows 

 and other like stumbling-blocks out of the 

 way. 



J. M. S uith, whom I have before men- 

 tioned, was president of the association. It 

 was not my good fortune to hear him speak 

 very much ; but during the little social chat 

 I had with him in the moi ning at the hotel, 

 before other people were up, he told me that 

 he wonderful currant-patch (see page 649, 

 t889) of his actually averaged twelve quarts 

 to each bush, or stool of bushes, if you 

 choose. Said I : 



" Mr. Smith, those currants were of such 

 extra size and beauty they no doubt netted 

 you more than ordinary figures." 



" Yes," said he ; "I was a little surprised 

 at the price I received for them. They 

 averaged me ten cents a quart, right 

 through." 



Just think of it, friends— $1 20 for each 

 hill of currants ! There was certainly a 

 quarter of an acre of them. He told me how 

 many bushes there were, but I have forgot- 

 ten. I should say they were planted six 

 feet apart each way. At this rate there 

 would be about lloO bushes per acre ; and 

 $1.20 per bush would amount to the enor- 

 mous sum of $1380. I remember, while look- 

 ing at them he made a remark something 

 like this : 



" Mr. Root, you asked me a while ago if 

 the ground would not. in time, become ex- 

 hausted, or run out, by being cropped at 

 this tremendous rate year after year. Well, 

 for an answer I want to tell you that the 

 ground where these currant-bushes stand 

 was the acre I commenced with thirty or 

 forty years ago. It has never had any rest. 

 It has been cropped season after season, 

 just as close as the plants can stand. You 

 observe we have onions between our young 

 currants right over there. The men are 

 now pulling the onions, and putting celery 

 where the onions s ood. Thus we get cur- 

 rants, onions, and celery, from the same 

 ground during the same season. This one 

 acre that has been used continuously longer 

 than any of the rest of my ground, is per- 

 haps the best land I have. Don't the cur- 

 rants tell the story? " 



Please bear in mind, friends, that this 

 statement was not made before any conven- 

 tion or institute. Mr. Smith is an exceed- 

 ingly modest man, and very likely he would 

 not have mentioned it before the conven- 

 tion at all. nor even to me, had I not asked 

 him point blank in regard to the currants. 

 At the time I looked at them it seemed to 

 me that the sight of that little currant- 

 orchard paid me for my trip to Green Bay, 

 Wis. It paid me in this way: I saw with 

 my own eyes what had actually been done. 

 I have long had notions, as you know, in 

 regard to the possibilities on the acres that 

 lie spread out before us. I saw the bushes 

 bending with currants ; I picked them with 

 my own hands, and ate them, and came 

 home with new enthusiasm. What was 

 that care of land worth V Well, I did not 

 think to ask ; but I call an acre of my best 

 market-gardening ground worth a thousand 



dollars. Of course, land, to be worth such 

 a sum, must be reasonably near a market. 



Now, we all admit that Mr. Smith is a 

 great gardener. lie has perhaps done a lit- 

 tle more in that line than any other man in 

 Wisconsin, and possibly more than any oth- 

 er man in the United States. But let me 

 tell you, there were present at that horti- 

 cultural convention hundreds of men — yes, 

 comparatively young men, who had succeed- 

 ed in a similar way. Every one who spoke 

 was questioned after he had finished, and 

 these questions drew out a good many facts 

 that perhaps the speakers would not have 

 felt like giving otherwise. A good many of 

 them were bashful, and did not feel like 

 making statements that would look like 

 boasting. But very often their neighbors let 

 out what they had been doing on single 

 acres or small patches of ground. Their 

 wives and daughters were there too, and a 

 great many times it transpired that the 

 wives or daughters were the real fruit- 

 growers. During the most interesting part 

 of the meeting. Thursday forenoon, some- 

 body at my back startled me by announcing 

 that A. I. Root, of Medina. O., was present, 

 and that he could not only raise bees and 

 honey, but that he had a story to tell about 

 a peculiar way he had of raising strawber- 

 ries. I confess I shook in my shoes a little 

 at the thought of speaking to a great com- 

 pany like those present, and especially a 

 company so sharp and keen and wide-awake 

 as they seemed to be. Their pleasant looks, 

 however, and encouraging words, soon put 

 me at ease, and I believe I did pretty well 

 for me. A nice young lady near me was- 

 busy with pencil and paper, taking down 

 shorthand notes, including the questions and 

 answers, and the good-natured banters and 

 sallies of wit. She, too, gave me several en- 

 couraging smiles ; and if my talk gets into- 

 print, I may, perhaps, give it to you. 



Now, friends, I have not told you any 

 thing about the convention of bee-keepers 

 just yet, and I think I will reserve that un- 

 til another issue. But I want to say a few 

 words more in regard to these gatherings of 

 rural people, and those who love rural in- 

 dustries, at the great centers of our differ- 

 ent States. I never until recently compre- 

 hended the value of our great Statehouse 

 buildings, to be found in each of our capi- 

 tals. I confess that I have for years had a 

 little bit of feeling that there was a great 

 amount of money used in the construction 

 of our Statehouses that many a poor man 

 worked very hard to furnish. At Madison 

 the State building seemed to be utilized in a 

 way I had never dreamed of before. The 

 immense pile of buildings was filled with 

 people. They have an elevator like the one 

 in Lansing, that runs by water. There * 

 farmers came with their wives and daugh- 

 ters and sons, and all were taking a holiday 

 week in this great edifice. The array of 

 fruit would have graced any State fair. 

 Specimens of other thinars were in like man- 

 ner spread out in the different rooms. Beauti- 

 ful apartmente were furnished for institutes, 

 conventions, and areneral addresses on 

 every topic Then there were innumerable 

 cosy private rooms, with all convenient 



