1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



533 



queens removed long ago ; but somehow 

 tbose old black fellows still live, and won't 

 die off, although their old queens were re- 

 moved something like two months ago. I 

 have felt several times as though I wanted 

 to paddle the whole boodle of them to 

 death, as described in our last issue, in this 

 department, under the head of '' cross 

 bees." 



CARNIOLAN.S. 



These bees are still doing well. The hive 

 is full, and running over with workers, and 

 we have been giving them empty combs to 

 give them room. Strange enough, these fel- 

 lows have not attempted to swarm yet. The 

 Carniolans we had last year would have 

 swarmed themselves out of existence with 

 half of these conditions of prosperity. 



SPECIAL DEPARTMENT FOR A. I. ROOT, AND HIS 

 FRIENDS WHO LOVE TO RAISE CROPS. 



That art on which a thousand millions of men are dependent 

 for their sustenance, and two hundred millions of men expend 

 their daily toil, must be the most important of all — the parent 

 and precursor of all other arts. In every country, then, and at 

 every period, the investigation of the principles on which the 

 rational practice of this art is founded ought to have command- 

 ed the principal attention of the greatest minds. 



James F. W. Johnston. 



GARDENING IN JULY. 



Isn't it fun ? I have just come in from 

 the fields, and I have so thoroughly enjoyed 

 the morning that I want to tell you some- 

 thing about it. Just about this time of 

 year, there is very often a scarcity of pota- 

 toes. Old ones are all gone, and the stock 

 of new ones is inadequate. Yesterday Mr. 

 Stevens said there was not a potato in town ; 

 and after people had been at all the grocer- 

 ies and found none, they came down to me. 

 Men, women, and hotel-keepers came with 

 long faces, to know whether I could possi- 

 bly give them some potatoes for dinner. 

 Now, you may think it is funny that I 

 should rejoice to see everybody in trouble. 

 Well, you know Uncle Amos did not mean 

 just that. I will tell you why I rejoiced. 

 Away liack in the spring we started a lot of 

 Early Puritans and a lot of Early Ohios in 

 the greenhouse. When they were so big 

 that they could not stay in the greenhouse 

 any longer (they were getting so " long leg- 

 ged ") they all laughed at me for turning my 

 potatoes out of their warm quarters into 

 the snow and storm and frost. There was 

 not a bit of ground dry enough to work, ex- 

 cept some ridges where celery had been 

 dug, that I have told you about. We split 

 the ridges with a plow, and made a pretense 

 of getting mellow dirt for my greenhouse 

 potato-plants. We set them out as best we 

 could, with many misgivings. Some fine 

 weather came on, however, and they turned 

 to a rich thrifty green, and began to do 

 nicely. Then came frosty nights, and we 

 fussed to lay them down and cover them 

 with fine dirt that could not well be found, 

 the ground was so wet ; but with a strong 

 plant growing out of a wiiole potato, 

 even if it does get nipped with frost it 

 soon starts out again. Well, on this 7th 

 day of July there were great masses of foli- 



age, and the hard ground that had never 

 been plowed to amount to any thing was 

 bursting open with the potatoes under- 

 neath. We dug them, such as they were, 

 and people went away happy, even if the 

 potatoes did cost 50 ds. a peck. I had a lit- 

 tle misgiving, for I feared they might not 

 be nice for cooking. r>ut my wife gave us 

 a sample of these for breakfast, that allay- 

 ed all my misgivings. Early Turitans are 

 just beautiful when cooked as Mrs. Hoot 

 knows how to cook them, even if they are 

 not fully grown. It takes about live hills to 

 make a peck at the present stage of growth. 

 But ten cents a hill (each hill representing 

 a single potato when planted) pays us very 

 well. Of course, we select the most mature- 

 looking hills to dig first. The only thing I 

 felt sorry about is that I did not start more 

 potatoes in the greenhouse, and plant them 

 in celery-ridges in just that way. At the 

 same time we planted the potatoes in the 

 greenhouse, we found a strip of ground that 

 would work very nicely by turning under 

 some rye that was about knee-high. We 

 put peas, kidney wax beans, and corn, in 

 this strip. I knew the peas would be all 

 right ; but it was so very early for corn and 

 wax beans, I thought I would try only four 

 rows of each. Well, the corn and beans 

 had so many ups and downs, and made such 

 a very poor growth for many weeks, that 1 

 thought 1 had wasted my time and pains ; 

 but just now they are yielding beautifully— 

 I mean the beans and peas. The corn will 

 be ready in about a week more. We get 

 50 cts. a peck for peas, and 10 cts. a pound 

 for wax beans ; and Mr. Stevens sajs that 

 he only w ishes he had four times as many. 

 We have been getting this price for the peas 

 for at least four weeks, and I should think 

 for over two weeks on the wax beans. Two 

 quite small boys pick all the peas, and two 

 more pick the wax beans. I have now got 

 these boys taught so they pick only peas 

 that are just right— none of them ''too 

 thin,"' neither do they let any get too hard. 

 I have also taught them so as, with my as- 

 sistance, to keep just enough ahead for the 

 demand, and no more, so our customers get 

 them just freshly picked. The wagon 

 leaves here at six in the morning, and then 

 comes around for a fresh supply again at 

 nine. So our small boys pick late in the 

 evening, just what is wanted to start out 

 with in the morning. Then early in the 

 morning, before it gets real hot, they get 

 just enough for the wagoTi when it gets 

 around at nine. About this time they are 

 tired enough to stop and rest, and by three 

 or four in the afternoon they are all ready 

 for work again. Our berries are picked in 

 much the same way. There is nothing like 

 being able to tell your customers that the 

 peas, beans, berries, etc.. have just been 

 picked within an hour, or two hours at the 

 furthest. We have a good careful man to 

 look after the boys, to see that they do not 

 get to playing, nor eating their berries, and 

 then I get around among them three or four 

 times a day. I tell you, I just enjoy gather- 

 ing up the stuff. Besides the trade on the 

 wagon, we sell quite a little stuff at a sort 

 of berry-stand between our lunch-room and 



