Vol. XTII, 



3IA1 15, 1885. 



No. 10. 



10 or more, 75cts. each. Single Number, 

 lOeta. Adilitions to clubs maybe ma<le 

 at club rates. Above are ali to be went 

 to O.VK POrtTOFFICB. 



Sent postpaid, in the 

 ) U. S. and Canadas. To all other couti- 

 ; tries of the Universal Pos-tal Union, l«c 



A. I. ROOT, ^iEDiNA,oino. ifh^^if.v:'0'.:!;?cpi;;?i'are"^'t'ri'^^'°'' "' 



PUBLISHED SKMI-MONTHLY BY 



THE A B C OF POTATO CULTURE. 



A 'TALK," SUGGESTED BY I{K.AI1IN(; IT. 



fltlENJ) ROOT:— We had so tlioroufrlily enjoy- 

 ed the writings of Mr. Terry, in the ('(W?i/ny 

 Gentleman, that, the moment we saw that his 

 " potato-book " was " out " we sent for it. 

 It came hist evening. We found it so in- 

 teresting, that, when the little girls were asleep, 

 v>v " conimeneed over again," and read aloud to 

 Mrs. H. licloie retiring we had read it al.out half 

 through. After retiring we "talked" until Mi-s. IT. 

 said, "What is it keeping us awake? is it that pota- 

 to-bcMdiV" 



"I was .iust thinking the same thing." was the 

 reply. 



This morning we were up at da.\ litilit : the read- 

 ing is now finished, the book sent to Mr. Heddon, 

 with the request that, after reading it, he send it to 

 Prof. Cook. Friend Koot, you are perfectly safe 

 in offering to "trade back" with those who thinlc, 

 after reading the book, that they have not got tlie 

 worth of their money. What a wide-awake, f/(i»/i - 

 iiHi man is Mr. Terry ! What a bee-keeper he would 

 liave made! What an any thing he would have 

 made! Why can not each and every person in 

 this world find some work for wliich lie and his 

 surroundings are specially fitted, tlien sdc/i to tliis 

 one thing, and put their whole })ein<i into it? The 

 reading of this book has aroused us wonderfully. 

 What, to become a potato-grower? Oh, no; nothing 

 of the kind, but to try to become a better hcc-kccpcr. 

 We long ago adopted the same course as has Mr. 

 Terry; i. e,, we don't make our butter, nor keep 



pigs nor chickens, much to the wonderment and 

 against the advice of many neighbors. We can 

 raise our butter, eggs, chickens, meat, "potatoes," 

 etc., much more easily and cheaply in the apiary. 



We should not forget, however, that everybody is 

 not constituted alike. Vou, friend Koot, were once 

 "crazy" to keep bees, then to raise carp, then 

 strawberries; and after reading Mr. Terry's most 

 excellent little work upon potato culture you are 

 "crazy "to raise them; while the reading of it 

 makes i(« crazy only to do something to make of 

 bee-keeping a more safe and profitable business. 

 The wintering trouble is the one great obstacle at 

 present; when this is overcome (and we have full 

 faith that it will be), then will bee-keeping become 

 more of a siiecialty than ever. Features and fac- 

 tors that now pass unheeded will be most forci- 

 bly Itrought to our notice; as, for instance, the idea 

 put forth by Mr. Heddon; viz., " How shall we ex- 

 haust the field with the least expenditure of capital 

 and labor?" We shall learn to manipulate hives 

 instead of frames. The Heddon method of pr% 

 venting after-swarming is an illustration of our 

 meaning. Then we shall handle apiaries as we now 

 handle hives. Honey will be cheap? Of course, it 

 will; but the men who are then engaged in its 

 production will be more prosperous than at pres- 

 ent. They can afford the machinery, fixtures, and 

 appliances to handle several large apiaries, the 

 same as Mr. Terry can afford expensive potato- 

 raising machinery; and it will give them the same 

 advantage over the bee-keeper with a few colonies 

 that Mr. Terry has over the man who raises an acre 

 or two of potatoes. There is somcUimg in which each 

 one can excel; that, let him do. We sincerely hope, 



