1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



423 



working men, boys, and teams, until aft- 

 er sundown, we got in most of our eaily po- 

 tatoes. The groiiLd was so wet then that 

 our teamster protested all day. Ever since 

 then the ground has been almost like a 

 swamp. The underdrains and overdraius 

 are doing tiieir duty, but they are not ade- 

 quate. The only thing that can be worked 

 is our plant-beds, six feet wide, and raised 

 a foot or more above the paths by means of 

 boards up at the sides. These plant-beds 

 are worked without stepping on the soil at 

 all, and, of course, it is all hand-worked ; 

 but the ground Is manured and made soft 

 with peat and sand, so it is so light and soft 

 the garden-rake will give it all the cultiva- 

 tion needed. Just now I am seriously con- 

 templating half an acre raised up in this 

 way, to be worked entirely by hand. The 

 only trouble is, during severe drouths it is 

 hard to keep them wet enough so they do 

 not dry clear through from side to side. 

 Several times during the past week the 

 ground would do pretty well for planting by 

 hand, but it would not do for a horse to step 

 on it. I presume that the great quantity of 

 manure we have worked into it helps to 

 hold the water. We first cover the ground 

 with all the manure we can plow in ; then 

 we cover it again with a manure-spreader, 

 and work this in with a cut away harrow. 

 By the way, the cut away is the most useful 

 tool for working manure into the ground I 

 ever saw. When all other harrows would 

 clog up and scrape the manure into heaps, 

 the cuta-way just chopped the manure and 

 soil all up together, and turned It under in 

 a way that could not help make any cultiva- 

 tor of the soil smile. Well, as I was saying, 

 there have been several times during the 

 past Meek when we could have planted by 

 hand were the ground only marked. At 

 half-past four this morning, the teams could 

 have got along very well ; but none cf our 

 men were up, and the horses had not been 

 fed, or I should have got at it. By the time 

 they were fed and ready, another drenching 

 rain closed the business for the day, and to- 

 day is Saturday. Garden-stuff already com- 

 mands tremendous prices, just because of 

 this continued wet weather ; and I suppose 

 that those who have anv stuff to sell will 

 have their own price. But how can it be 

 done unless we make our gardens in raised 

 beds, as I have mentioned, and substitute 

 hand work for horse power ? 



To-day I have been considering putting 

 in some things by stretching a string. As a 

 rule, this does not pay. for we not onlv have 

 the labor of moving the string at each row, 

 but the digging must all be done by hand. 

 The furrower and marker, drawn by a team 

 of horses, is by all odds the cheapest and 

 best, even for small patches of ground ; and 

 for setting cabbage and celery plants, the 

 fine dirt thrown up by the furrower is just 

 what is wanted to put back around the 

 plant. For tomatoes, melons, sqnasnes, and 

 cucumbers, or any tiling that is to be put 

 from 6 to 9 feet apart, tlie labor of using the 

 string would not be so great ; and if we can, 

 by the use of it, secure a crop when nobody 

 else has any, it miglit pay exceedingly well. 

 One objection to using a siring, however, is 



the tramping on the groimd, necessitated 

 by boys tunning back and forth to move the 

 string, as well as in transplanting the 

 plants. I am getting every year more and 

 more averse to tramping over the ground — 

 not only by the horses, but by men and 

 boys, especially after it is worked up to a 

 very high degree of fertility. Raised beds 

 6 feet wide seems to be the most feasible 

 plan ; and I feel sure these will pay for 

 many products. They could be cropped 

 very closely, and the ground kept so light 

 and mellow that cultivation could be done 

 very quickly and thoroughly by using rakes 

 of different widths. 



Qn^ QaEg3Fi©i\[-B6;^, 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



AU querieB sent in for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or qu.estion8 should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked, "For Our Question-Box." 



QtJESTiON 161 — Jo?ies and Brown havehcen keeping 

 hem on shares. Jones is the owner. <nid Brown is the 

 apiarist. They agree to share equalhi in the profits and 

 in the expenses. During the following \rinter three- 

 fourths (if the hees die. Jones avers that thej/ icrre lost 

 tliroiigh carelessness on the pari of Bnnvn, and tliat he 

 (Brown) (lught t(i stand half the loss. Bnnvn denies 

 lack of atte)ition. and saiis that, as the bees helonged 

 to Jones, and no provision iras made in the contract 

 fin- stall an emergeney.the owner (Jones) must Stand 

 theloss. Btith parties, howeeer, agire to abide bu the 

 decision of a inajaritu of the respondents to the Ques- 

 tion-Box. ' Gentltmen, your advice is eagerly sought. 



Let him who loses no bees cast the first stone at 

 Brown. 

 New York. C. P. H. Elwood. 



Ordinarily a share ia the profile would imply a 

 share in the losses, there being no provision to the 

 contrary. 



Illinois. N. W. C. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Under the given state of facts, each must stand 

 half the loss, even if not occasioned by the careless- 

 ness of Brown. 



Wisconsin. S. W. Geo. Grimm. 



I say Jones, providing the bees were well cared 

 for, unless they agree, as would seem to me to be 

 wise, to share it equally. 



Michigan. C. A. J. Cook. 



If the above is a true statement of the case, 

 Jones must stand the loss. Such has been my ex- 

 perience, and 1 never knew an agreement to the 

 contrary. 



Ohio. N. w. A. B. Mason. 



Don't keep bees on shares. There is always a 

 chance for injured feelings. Belter buy a few col- 

 onies, then Brown will surely be interested in their 

 welfare, for they are his own. 



New York. C. G. M. Dooi-ittle. 



If through the carelessness of Brown, he should 

 share the loss, otherwise it is Jones's loss. If bees 

 were insurable, and Jones had had them insured, 

 would he give half the insurance money to Brown? 

 On the .other hand, if the insurance company 

 thought the loss was through carelessness, they 

 would not pay the loss. 



Louisiana. E. C. P. L. Viallon. 



