720 



GLEANINCiS IN BEE CULTURE . 



Oct. 1. 



that was not liis fault: and he is I'cady and 

 quick to write your name down in tliat woiider- 

 fullv accurate tablet of his horse memory. You 

 can not apologize to a horse as you can to a 

 Duni ; and it will tak'e you a loiiii' while to wipe 

 out the nu'mory of some undeserved insult. 

 God gave you sense and reason and doiiiinioti ; 

 but he gave the noble horse, too, a kind of 

 sense and judgment and wisdom that often- 

 times comes very near the God-given intellect 

 of humanity. 



In closing, permit nu' to print again some- 

 thing that apijeared in Gleaxinos for Novem- 

 ber, issr.'. 



IVi.v f rienrl. are you and your horse good f riendsy 

 Do you love him, and does lie love :ioir? Does lie 

 know, whatever comes u]>. that you are his friend? 

 Do you know, whatever conies up. that he is ymo- 

 friend? Have you such a broad charity for him, 

 that, when lie makes a mistake, or doesn't under- 

 stand, you are kind and i)atient witii liim, instead of 

 calling him a fool, or saying he doesn't know any 

 thing? Has he such confidence in you, that, when 

 you make a mistake, and once in a great while (?) 

 speak cross, or " holler" at him, he will foi-give it 

 and not be stubborn and contrai'y? When .\"Ou work 

 together, ai'e your relations of a truly Iriendly na- 

 ture? Is the service a loving service on Itotli sides?. 

 Maybe your horse is old; maybe he is one of the 

 dull kind; may be he is lame or blind; it so, and you 

 are even a little bit of a Christian, you are all the 

 more bound to bear with him. Don't you think old 

 and broken-down horses can appreciate kindness? 

 The kindest man I ever saw to his hoi'se and cow is 

 Professor Cook. I don't know but the kindest horse 

 and cow I ever saw were Professor Cook's too. I 

 have som(>times wondei'cd whether they, too, with 

 the rest (if the Mii'liigan ix'ople, know tliat he is jiro- 

 fessor of hugs and insects, and feel a little bit proud 

 of their office of helping him along in his work in 

 the Agricultural College. 



If your horse is pool, I don't know how we can 

 make any e.vcuse for .vou; in fact. I don't know how 

 God can excuse you. Starving the ground may not 

 be a cruelty; but starving a horse, and then asking 

 him to work hard every day, is one of the worst 

 things I know of. If I wanted to pick out a Chris- 

 tian, I should look for somebody riding behind a 

 horse that was fat, sleek, and happy. I don't so 

 • much care if he does I'ide in an old ricketj' buggy, 

 for buggies don't get tired (only at the blacksmith 

 shop) and cro.s.s; but when you are weak, faint, and 

 hungry, how would you like to draw some stingfy old 

 curmudgeon through the mud? Onr .Jack is about 

 18 years old; but I have lately made the diseo\'ery. 

 that, when he is fed regularly and well, and is water- 

 ed at least three times a day. he marches out of his 

 stable, with head up, as much as to say, "Hurrah, 

 boys! come on with the buckwheat or rye you want 

 sown; and if you have any hard work to do, just 

 mind your whifflL'trees are .strong." 



You see, Jack has all his life been celebrated for 

 breaking whiffletrees ; and when a load doesn't 

 come, and he is urged the second or tliird time, he 

 will lie down to worlv with an air tliat says, "All 

 right, if you want .something to come," and some- 

 thing doea come too. Sometimes it is the whiffle- 

 tree, and sometimes it is the whole forward end of 

 the wagon; but to do this, he must have good food, 

 and plenty of it. Now. mind what T tell you: Neg- 

 lect oi' or unkindness to your horse will surely stand 

 in the way of your peace with God. and \dur highest 

 happiness here on earth. 



Poor faithful old Jackl After giving a life 

 of almost twenty years of faithful service to 

 our liunily. letting each new baby learn to 

 drive by holding his lines, and learn to ride by 

 trying to sit astride of his great broad back: 

 after carrying the whol(> family, singly or col- 

 lectively: after imlling boxes and packages 

 through the mud. for oiu- whole factory, almost, 

 and never tlinching. poor faithful old Jack lost 

 his life by the burning of our waiehonse, March 

 7. 18,S(). He was tlie especial property of my 

 wife, having been rai.sed by In-r father: and 

 now the only memento of this faithful old ser- 

 vant is a blackened horseshoe. May God help 

 us to remember these household treasures while 

 hey are with us I 



SPECIAL DEPARTMENT FOR A. I. ROOT, AND HIS 

 FRIENDS WHO LOVE TO RAISE CROPS. 



That art on which a thousand millionth of men are dependent 

 for their sustenance, and two hundred miUions of men expend 

 their daily toil. mu>t lie tlie mo^t imjiortant of all— the parent 

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

 every period, the investigation of the principles on which the 

 rational practice of this art is founded out; ht to have command- 

 ed the principal attention of the greatest minds. 



James F. W. Johnston. 



sti!Awbi<:p,i!y-i{unneks, and how to get the 



EITTI.E PEANTS EQl^AEEY SPACED AT 



THE LEAST EXPENSE. 



Terry, in his book, recommends letting the 

 runners go — that is, with some care and dii'ect- 

 ing, and tinally, late in the fall, to cut out with 

 a garden trowel, or similar implement, all sur- 

 plus plants so that no two ])lants stand nearer 

 than six inches apart. ]Mr. TieixM'. in the Ohio 

 Fanner, suggests that it is much cheaper to ac- 

 complish the same thing by spacing the run- 

 ners, putting the little iilant where it ought to 

 be, and holding it down with a piece of dirt. 

 We have for years practiced both ways, and 

 we have also practiced letting the runners 

 and plants follow their own fasliion. Now. I 

 am quite sure that very much may be gained in 

 quantity and in size of fruit by judicious sjiac- 

 ing; but at present I am unable to determine 

 which is the cheaper — probably a combination 

 of the two ways; and this is really the plan 

 which Terry recommends. We have been in 

 the habit of having boys take care of onr straw- 

 berries to a large extent: but oiu- Gaudies and 

 Bubachs, put out in July, have now set so many 

 lilants that it is getting to be a complicated 

 matter for a boy. First. I tell them the runners 

 must be swung around so as to be out of the 

 way of the cultivator, at the same time spacing 

 them so that none shall be nearer than 6 inches. 

 Second, sometimesthe runners cover the ground 

 thickly on one side, and few or none on the 

 other: therefore a part of them must be swung 

 around when the case demands it. Third, if 

 one plant sends out a great number of runners, 

 and its neighbor on the other side but few, then 

 the greater part of them should be swung 

 around so as to till up the space around the 

 feeble plant. You can teach a boy to remember 

 one thing pretty well: but when he has got to 

 keep in mind, all at once, three things— namely, 

 the path of the cultivator, keeping them G inch- 

 es apart, and filling the vacant spaces, it is too 

 much for him. A man or a jiretty good-sized 

 boy, and one who can kec]) his mind constantly 

 on his work, is demanded for it. Oftentimes 

 the plant has taken root before we get around; 

 and if it lias gone out at right angles, right in 

 the path of the cultivator, it had better be mov- 

 ed. Now. inilling them up is not a good way. 

 After a little plant has put out white roots, and 

 got a good hold on the soil, it seems to be dis- 

 couraged by jerking it out: and unless rain 

 follows, the roots will not take hold of the new 

 place. It is just as quick, and a good deal 

 neater, to remove a little ball of dirt with the 

 lilant, by means of a common garden trowel. 

 If. after all, the plants start too thick, and some 

 of them mi/s'f be taken out, do not do it by pull- 

 ing them out nor by digging them out. Friend 

 Terry has the credit of originating, if I am cor- 

 rect, "a much (juicker and sim|)ler way. Slice 

 off tlie to]) of the plant with a sharp garden 

 trowel, just below the crown. If you cut too low 

 you make unsightly holes in your strawberry- 

 rows. If you do not cut low enough, the 

 plant will start to grow again. With those 

 who have only a few jjlants in the garden, 

 there is no troi'ible about siiacing them where 

 you want them, as fast as they push out: but 

 for field culture, getting the plants .so as to 



