l88o 



GLEANINGS IN JiEE CULTUilE. 



167 



the lOtli f)f Muy. Thr'ir iiKiiinor of spawiiiiiy is as 

 follows: 



Mules and ft^iiuilos y,x;l tog'Othor in warm shallow 

 water; each emits its ova on the surface of the wa- 

 ter, and then by ti uttering ajritate the water, and thus 

 ijiix the ova of male and female; immediately after 

 cominj>- in contact, the egg: is formed, and is about 

 the size of a No. 8 shot. It is glutinous, and adheres 

 to anything it comes in contact with, such as weeds, 

 grass, or trash near the edge of the water. They 

 will not spawn in deep cold water, nor in a shady 

 place; and if compelled to do sd the spawn is lost. 

 The eggs will ordinarily hatch in from 8 to 11 days; 

 but if the temperature of the water be raised to 90 

 or 100° Fahr., they will hatch in from 48 to .56 hours. 



You ask Mr. Kaler to tell you how many can be 

 i-aised in a pond of stated dimensions. This is 

 simply a question of food and oxygen. Hundreds 

 can be i-aised in very small ponds, if well fed. O.vy- 

 gcn is usually supplied in sufficient quantity by the 

 atmosphere and wind to support them densely. 



It will make this letter too long to give detailed 

 plans for making ponds, construction of levees, 

 screens, etc. ; but if you desire. I may attempt in 

 another, as well as to give other and further hints 

 on carp culture in Texas. L. T. \Vhkki-ek. 



f 'orsicana, Texas, Feb. i:{, 188."i. 



Friend W.. it Inis for some time been con- 

 jeclured tiiat eiioi-mous results can be ob- 

 tJiined in warmei- climales tliaii ours by the 

 (Jermaii carp, and your r(^i)ort is exceeding- 

 ly valuable and interestiiitr. inasunich as it 

 \erilies these pirdictions. Our little book 

 on carp culture will be out in a few weeks ; 

 and after you have looked it over, we sliall 

 I»e very glad indeed to have you add what 

 vou can in ici^ard to the matter that is not 

 alreadv embrace d in tiie liook. 



(iI^OWLERY. 



DO not know where our moral patents 

 1 are goins to take us. At present it 

 i seems to me to have had the elTect of 

 stirring up the nsfly feelinj^s of human- 

 ity, perhaps even worse than politics. 

 When a man has worked bard at something 

 for many days, and passed sleepless nights 

 over it. as friend Ileddon mentions, it seems 

 to have become a sort of child of his : and 

 if you want to ffet into trouble, just abuse 

 somebody's cliild— say he isn't smart or 

 bright, or something of that kind. Wiien- 

 ever I pay something for an invention. I am 

 immediately Hooded with a great number of 

 devices for'dilTerent purposes. Of late, re- 

 versing devices have been beyond any thing 

 lu'retofore known. Well, 1 have been 

 pained, and made to feel sad. many times, 

 by tlie way in which my oi)inions have beeii 

 received. Somebody writes me he is sure he 

 has got just the thing; his device is the very 

 center of the whole system of devices; in 

 fact, the center of anything that can he in- 

 vented, for all time to come. Like the baby 

 of the household, it is the handsomest, 

 smartest, cutest baby that ever was known, 

 and other babies are smart and cute just in 

 proportion to their resemblance to said baby. 

 Some may l)e pretty nearly eqnal to it. but 

 none can b:- ahead, in the eves of the father 



and mother, and the rest of the family. 

 Xow. when one of these devices is submit- 

 ted to me. and I reply that, in my opinion. 

 I it is neither new, novel, nor useful, the 

 i chances are that the inventor writes back 

 I that my statements are false in every par- 

 ticnlar— that I want it myself, or it conflicts 

 I with some of my own plans, etc. Now read 

 j the following : 



\ Mr. A. I. RoDt, Medina, Ohio: 



\ Your postal card of the 26th of last mouth is re- 



i ceived, in which you say, first, that my device has 



j been submitted a good many times. Second, that 



j you don't think it substantial; and third, that it is 



' very expensive. In reply to your first subterfuge, 



I deny most emphatically that it has ever been sub- 



1 mitted to the beekeepers of America, and no doubt 



I your immense stock of charity will enable you to 



! excuse me for doubting if anybody besides myself 



I ever submitted the same device to A. I. Hoot. In 



' regard to its strength, I can inform you that 1 have 



tested an eight-frame hive with 216 pounds weight 



without springing the supports the least particle, 



and I wouldn't be afraid to wager my head they 



would stand double the above test. As to its ex- 



I pensiveness, I can furnish a machine and directions 



for making them lor $1.25, whereby any bee-keeper 



can make his own reversible-frame suiT])orts at the 



enormous cost of two cents per hive. Supi)osing 



he had 1(X) stands of l)ees, his entire cost would be 



j .^11.25. Now that I have answered your objections, 



, I desire to say a few words in regard to the reasons 



that |)rompted you to make them. 

 [ In Cle.vxinos of Feb. 1st you say, in your closing 

 ; remarks, " Wliatever you send me that I make us<' 

 of, 1 am willing to pay for;" and in order to avoid 

 so doing, you wipe me out of existence, b.v an- 

 nouncing on a postal card that my device is old, un- 

 sulistantial, and very expensive, and tlien go to 

 work and commence manufacturing my identical 

 1 invention, making it of wire instead of tin. Now, 

 I have the sujiports made both of wire and tin, but 

 I prefer the tin, unil therefore sent you the tin sup- 

 ports. 



I supposed when I sent you the model that I was 

 dealing with a Christian gentleman, and therefore 

 didn't expect you to take any undue advantage 

 of me. Feb. 1:.', 18S5. 



The invention above alluded to is simply a 

 projecting arm, hinged so it will turn down 

 out of the way. or tnrn up al right angles, so 

 as to liang on the rabbet. When reversible 

 frames lirst came before us. this device was 

 sent over and over; and. in fact, years ago. 

 when T otfered .Siil.Od for a certain sort of 

 chaff hive, the same thing came repeatedly. 

 It takes eight nails to attach the device to 

 any frame, and 1 should say the time re- 

 (luired to put them on each fraiTie. and drive 

 these eight nails. Avonld be an objection, if 

 the four arms recpiired for each frame were 

 furnished for nothing. Now. friends, these 

 j devices have been coming to me for ditferent 

 purposes, required in iiandling bees, for 

 j nearly twenty years. They are labeled and 

 [ dated, and placed in our attic, for future re- 

 ! ference, the inventor's name being on each. 

 ; When you get up something that you think 

 1 is ingenious and useful, and wish the bene- 

 fit of my D.xperience, or wish to know what 

 others have done in that line. I am glad to 

 ! give it freely, and I do not think I shall ever 



