1H90 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



681 



plant live. Of c()uis(\ where we set out plants 

 as late as Oetob<'r. they are to be treated as 

 spring-set i)lants. The principal advantage will 

 be, that you can do it oftentimes when you have 

 more leisure. xVnother thing, there will then be 

 no difficulty about getting in your plants early 

 enough. We have i)ut out strawberry-plants 

 by taking up a lump of dirt with them, when 

 we could not go to work in the morning liecause 

 the ground was frozen. Toward noon it would 

 soften up enough so that we could dig so as to 

 put the plants in. These plants bore .some fruit 

 next year. I do not think we can too stiongly 

 emphasize the advice given, of starting small 

 and enlarging as you acquire experience. The 

 beginnei' will very soon know what he can do. 

 without asking anybody. He should, however, 

 avail himself as much as possible of the expeji- 

 ence of others around him. But as soils, local- 

 ities, and circumstances always differ, theie is 

 nothing like getting acquainted with youi' ow n 

 surroundings. The earnest worker will soon 

 get all these things under his tliumb, as it were. 

 We received :.*.iO() Haverlands about ten days 

 ago. Most of them \\ere put in our plant-beds, 

 about six inches apart. We shall not use them 

 to fill orders until they have made new roots 

 and new foliage, and are nice strong plants. 

 The most of the plants that we are selling and 

 putting ujj now are in lots of from 2r> to ,50. We 

 get a few orders for a hundred; but the great 

 bulk of our business in jjlants is for lots of ten — 

 sometimes only tive; that is. ten plants of each 

 kind of all we raise, nuiking forty in all. These, 

 of course, are for garden culture, and probably 

 few if any of our readei-s will make a failure in 

 this line. Next season they will have plants of 

 theii- o\\'n raising, to i)ut in the field if they like. 

 Later. — Since the above was written, our boys 

 have initout a strawberry-patch for my daugh- 

 ter, Mrs. Calvert, and another for my wife's 

 sister. Mrs. Harrington. They were i)iit out 

 Saturday. Sept. fi. As I was very busy I did 

 not superintend tiie work at all. The boys took 

 them out of our i)lant-beds, and carried them 

 across the road, and i)ut them in mellow soil 

 prepared according to my direction. Tlun' did 

 not even use the transplanting-tubes. To-day. 

 September 15, just nine days after, every plant 

 out of the 600 (they had 300 apiece) is growing, 

 and many of them are putting out runners. 

 They look as fresh and bright, apparently, as 

 those that have not been moved at all. Of 

 course, we have had a very wet rainy si)ell; but 

 such spells frequently happen in September. 

 Now, these two strawberry-patches are going 

 to bear a pretty good crop next season. I a)u 

 sure of it. because I have had berries from 

 plants set in September, more or less, every year 

 for the past five or six years. One n^ason why 

 we prefer to put out the plants in the fall is b<'- 

 cause we have much more time and ground to 

 spare, and bett<'r facilities for putting tiic 

 gi'ound in excellent trim. 



MOSS FIJO.M TIIK SWAMPS FOK WIXTKH PACKIXO, 



I send you a sample of moss. I have be(>n 

 using it for packing, over my b(>es for three win- 

 ters. I think it is a good material for that pur- 

 pose. It is to be found here in Northern Iowa 

 in (piitc large (iiiaiitities in the sloughs, or 

 ■'prairie ponds," and can be gathered in the 

 fall of tlie year when very dry. and the water is 

 all dried up from the poiids. " It is found lying 

 on the surface of the pond in a solid mat, I 

 should say from two to four inches thick, and it 

 can be gathered up with a pitelifork very easily. 

 Understand. I have none of this moss to s(>{|, 

 but I think it could be gathered and shipped to 

 dealers or to parties who wish to try it. This 

 sample I send you is just as it grew on the pond, 

 about two or three inches tihick. It does not 

 mold or mildew. I have some in my cellar, 

 which I hii\'e had for three years, just as bi'ight 

 as it e\'er was. IJees have done |)oorly in this 

 part of the country. I started this spring with 

 (5.5 colonies. I got two swarms, but no sui'plus 

 honey. It lias been very dry this summer, but 

 we have had plenty of rain of late. 



Ackley. la.. Sept. .">. N. YouNfj. 



Friend Y.. I feel sure the moss you send will 

 answei- sphMididly. It was sevcM'al years ago 

 mentioned as being >ised for i)acking chaff 

 hives. The sample you send is not exactly like 

 what we use for packing strawbiM-ry-plants. 

 but I think it would answer exactly foi' the jnir- 

 jjose. See what fi'iend '\\'elch has to say on the 

 Ijreceding i)age. 



THE BISII LIMA BEANS. ETC. 



At ijresent wc^ ai'e selling shelled beans on our 

 wagon as follows: White kidney. 5 cts. per pint : 

 bush linui. 10 cts. per i)int: and pole limas. 1.') 

 cts. |)er pint. There is not. however. c|uite so 

 much difference as tiiis in qimlity. The kidneys 

 were i)ut on the market long liefore the others. 

 and people had become a little tired of them 

 when the bush linias first came. Then they got 

 a little tired of the bush linuis. so that, when 

 the great whoppers— the King of the (Jaiden 

 limas — came they were a novelty: besides, their 

 enormous size made everybody want them. 

 The bush limas are fully two weeks earlier than 

 the pole limas. The Kumerle and Burpee's 

 bush linias are none of them yet large enough 

 for table use. I am inclined to think that the 

 large bush limas will always be later than the 

 pale limas (at least during a damp season, when 

 tliev need more sun), and this is going to be 

 ratlier against them. Our first bush linias 

 brought 1.5 cts. ])or pint, but it was a pretty hard 

 matter to s(>ll many at that price. The King of 

 the (iarden has been selling at this figure for a 

 week, all we could |)ick. and they never bring 

 any back on the wagon. Had the gi-ound not 

 been so exceedingly wet. oui' Kumerles and 

 Burpees would have been ijlanted rather earlier. 

 Last y<'ar the Kumei'les were planted rather 

 too eai'lv; but this year I fear I planted them 

 rather too late. Although we have iiuite a lit- 

 tle plot of Kumerles. I fear none of them will 

 be mature enough to ])lant unless we ])ull the 

 vines as we did last yeai-. and let them ripen in 

 the greenhouse. 



SEEDS THAT f'AX 15E PI-ANTED IN SEPTEMHEU 

 IN TIIE OPEN Gi:ol'NI>. 



First, cabbages, for setting in coiii-frames 

 latei': (irand Rapids and Boston Maiket lettuce 

 for the same purpose; winter onion-sets if you 

 iiave not befoi-e: the same with spinach. In 

 fact, it is a good plan to sow a lot of s()inach 

 once a week all through Sejitember. So much 

 dejiends on the winter it will l)e hard to tell just 

 wiiat sowing will winter liest. 



