178 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 



ADULTERATING HONEY. 



I AM quite sure that at least some of the friends 

 are a little too ready to "think evil " iu this matter. 

 Some little time ajjo a very nice specimen of bass- 

 wood honey was sent us, sayinjr a man had been 

 peddlinj,-- it around, and they were all sure it was 

 adulterated. Jt was candied white and solid, and of 

 a beautiful flavor. To-day a sample of very tine 

 California white-sage honey comes with a note, in- 

 quiring- if it is spurious. Very likely the friend 

 who sent it thought something was wrong because 

 it would not candy during our zero weather. The 

 real white-sage honey never candies, even if it gets 

 so cold you have to cut it with a knife. May be the 

 low price at which it is now furnished had also 

 something to do with it. Good nice honey is now 

 sold so low that it will hardly pay to go into the bus- 

 iness of making bogus honej'. 



Oflt NEW HVD150.METEK, AND THE SPECIFIC GKAVI- 

 TY OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF HONEY. 



I WAS a little surprised the other day, to find that 

 our California honey that is so very thick, and nev- 

 er candies, did not show as great a specific gravity 

 l)y the hydrometer as our common white -clover 

 honey that is not as thick as the other. It is quite 

 natural to presiuue that the thicker honey is, the 

 heavier it will be for a certain quantity; but it 

 seems the sage honey has something about it that 

 makes it thick so it runs slowly, without being as 

 heavy as the clover honey; that is, a quart of clover 

 honey weighs more than a quart of California hou- 

 ej', and yet the clover honey pours the easier, both 

 being at the same temperature. The hydrometer 

 sinks to 44 degrees in the clover honey, but to only 

 43 degrees in the other, and the latter is so thick 

 that, at a temperature of 60 degi-ecs, it takes quite a 

 spell for the hydrometer to get settled. 



LARGE PRICES FOR NOVELTIES 1 .\ THU WAY f)F 

 SEED.S, PLANTS, ETC. 



Many of the agricultural papers have taken up 

 the nuittfer of the continual increase of varieties 

 in seeds and plants, and have commented on the 

 sad fact that many of the novelties are only old 

 things brought up under a new name. The man- 

 agers of the E.xperimental Grounds at Columbus, 

 Ohio, have published the results of their test on 

 strawberries; and after making due allowance for 

 differences in soil, etc., the lamentable fact still re- 

 mains, that a good deal of the l)low and puff, accom- 

 panied witii gorgeous pictures, is only for the pur- 

 pose of getting people to invest at large prices. 

 Prof. Lazenby has just sent us a report in regard to 

 •2ii varieties of strawberries. Only of the 28 are 

 I'cported worthy of attention. "liig Bob" is 

 summed up briefly, " Unsatisfactory in every way." 



Then, again, think of the monoijoiy on new seeds, 

 new potatoes, and new plants, charging .50 cents for 

 a very few seeds of some improved cauliflower, and 

 half as much for a new sort of celery, etc. I One 

 who by years of pains works out an improvement, 

 ought to have his jiay; but, where is there any 

 need for so much pay? A great nuiny of us would 

 like a few plants to test these novelties, but we can 

 not afl'ord to pay 50 cents. 



At the time the breeze started up for seeds of 

 spider plant and flgwort, there was a chance for 

 making (juite a little sum of money by putting 

 them u)3 in high i)riced jiackages, especially for 

 seeds improved by cultivation. Uut we have, as 

 you know, always furnished seeds of bee-plants, in 



five-cent papers. When the article is new and 

 scarce, only a few seeds have been furnished— 

 sometimes, perhaps, not over half a dozen. But 

 half a dozen is, many times, as many as those with 

 small grounds care for. If they want more, of 

 course they can get a larger quantity than a flve- 

 cent paper. 



Now, I have had foi- sonu' Time a project of fur- 

 nishing novelties in the \v;\y of garden seeds at 5 

 cents a paper, giving ^ery few seeds where the va- 

 riety is scarce, and high in price. I think we can 

 nuxnage to put up potatoes in live-cent packages, 

 without ti'ouble; but when it comes to raspberries, 

 strawberries, grapes, etc., it might not be so easy to 

 manage. It would hardly be advisable to sell one 

 plant, befcause if it should die our customer would 

 be "out," and I never want anybody to pay me 

 money for any thing that does him no sort of good, 

 if it can be possibly avoided. Now, in regard to the 

 five-cent papers, even though cauliflower and cele- 

 ry seed should cost $5.00 an ounce, I think an ounce 

 can be divided into 100 parts, and then give a cus- 

 tomer enough to test the variety. Of course, I 

 should not do any thing of this kind in an under- 

 handed waj-. Henderson's Early Snowball cauli- 

 flower is now worth .^5.00 per ounce, or 50 cents for 

 a very small package. White - plume celery is 

 worth just half as much. The seeds are so small 

 that the one-hundredth part of an ounce would 

 answer very well for small seed-growers. 



We propose to issue a small catalogue of seeds at 

 5 cents per packet, in a few days, including seeds 

 of honey-plants as well, and the list we have for 

 years been selling for gai-dening and horticulture. 

 After having tested the seeds on our grounds, we 

 shall offer for sale as many varieties as we think 

 are worthy of notice by the average gardener of 

 small means; and if you want forty or fifty varie- 

 ties of pease, beans, and tomatoes, you can find 

 them in the regular seed catalogues— never in ours, 

 I hope. 



We have to-day, Feb. 26, 0311 subscribers, or 221 

 more than last month. Many thanks, dear friends 

 for your kind support. 



JmE^ M^ QOERIEg. 



G.\URA BIENNIS. 



fHE new honej--plant, Gaura liicnnls, is plenti- 

 ful in this part of Iowa. It is a weed of re- 

 cent introduction, having made its first ap- 

 pearance along the railroad eight or nine 

 years ago. It does not thrive on the uplands, 

 but grows to a height of from four to six ft. on the 

 rich alluvial bottom-lands. In the morning a drop 

 of nectar as large as a pinhead nuiy be found in 

 every flower; but by ten o'clock it is evaporated by 

 the heat of the sun. The bees apjjarently care but 

 little for it, evidently greatly preferring the golden- 

 )-od that blossoms at the same time. Farmers need 

 have no fear of the d'a ion, as it is easily extermi- 

 nated. Plentiful as it is here, I have never seen a 

 stalk of it in a cultivated field. Z. T. Hawk. 



Denison, Crawford Co., Iowa, Feb. T, 1885. 



how to M.^KE a filter IN A CISTERN. 



1 have seen a good deal in Gleanings lately on 

 how to filter a cistern. I will tell how my filter is 

 made. It is of brick, built in the cistern, laid up 

 with good water-liine c(!ment, Just as ycni would 



