426 



GLEANINGS IN UEE CULTUUE. 



June 



hope it will be a pood honey year. Grandpa has in 

 all ;U hives. The strawberries you speak of I 

 never saw. O. H. Baker, age 11. 



nium, Texas. April 28, 1886. 



Thank you, Oscar. I should really enjoy 

 seeing your cotton-plants grow. I suppose 

 if I come to see them with green leaves on I 

 should not be so apt to call them '" weeds." 



.lAMES HEl»OHT. 



A bee-nuin who has been all over the county says 

 there are less bees kept here than in any other part 

 of the county. Many have tried it in box hives, and 

 have failed, and are afiaid to try the new ways, for 

 fear of failing- again. We have one of your honey- 

 signs up, but our bees are kept by my aunt, three 

 miles olT. She took 90 lbs., mostly extracted, from 

 one colony last season, which she thought was a 

 good yield for the dry season, and the little atten- 

 tion they had, which was only to supply a plenty of 

 empty frames of comb. She is trying to start a 

 home market for her honey by leaving some at the 

 stores and some to us three boys who she thinks will 

 care to work with bees when we are older. 



We have a No. 1 yoke of steers one year old. We 

 work with them now, and it is fun for our visitors 

 to ride in our cart when they come to ?ec us. It 

 would be nice to visit your factory, and see how big 

 those boys ai-e who work for three cents an hour, 

 and how much they can do, and the older boys, and 

 other things your paper tells of. 



James E. Bkecke.nhidge, age 13. 



Watertown, Wash. Co., ()., Apr. 11, issr,. 



.Vnd so, friend .James. I suppose if I slioidd 

 come to see you I could ride in that call be- 

 hind those young steers, could I V 



BEES A.ND SII,KWOI!MS. 



1 will tell you about our bees. We had 38 last fall; 

 have i~ MOW. Tliey arc very slow in swarming. We 

 lost two. 1 think the moths killed them. I live 

 with my uncle, Mr. Hunt. 1 liave been with them 

 since I was a wee little baby. They have no 

 children, and I am their little girl. My mamma and 

 papa live near us. I have four brt)thers and two 

 sisters. 1 can feed the chickens, milk the cows, 

 wash dishes, and help about a great many things. 

 I also feed the silkworms, and can wind the silk 

 they spin, to knit my stockings, and to make my 

 little brothers fishing-lines. The kind of silk\*^orms 

 we have are easy to wind off. Mrs. Hunt reels it: 

 she has leeled a great deal for the people, and some 

 of them she r. eled for live up there where you do. 

 We are raising eggs for the market this year. 

 There are many wanting our breed of silkworm. 

 Tell Miss Blue Eyes I could t(^ach her how to wind 

 silk. If you think I d(!servo a book, please send me 

 your picture with that of Blue Eyes and Caddy. 



Lll.LlE MiTCHAM. 



White Sulphur Springs, Ga., May 12, 1885. 



Well, Lillie, it seems to me. although you 

 say you will tell us about the bees, that your 

 letter is mostly about silk and silkworms. 1 

 am glad to hear it, though, t^ecause you give 

 me some new ideas in regard to silk culture. 

 Some breeds of silkworms are better than 

 others, are theyV lint, Lillie, when we give 

 a picture we do not give a book, and when 

 we give a book we do not give a picture. 

 We decided to send you a picture where you 

 can see myself and Blue Eyes and Caddie. 

 That make's it all right, does it notV 



THE WAY SYLVESTER AND HIS MOTHER SOWED 

 ALSIKE CLOVER, ETC. 



I thought I would tell you how we sowed our al- 

 •sike clover. I grubbed up sod, and ma shook the 

 j dirt off and threw it away. AVe raked it all over, 

 and ma sowed the seed. There was a woman from 

 I Florida visiting ma, who said snake-feeders killed 

 ! bees thei-e. Sylvester Bauson, age 11. 



' Lower Salcni, Ohio. 



[ If we are to understand, friend Sylvester, 

 that you and your mollier threw tlie dirt 

 away that you shook off from the sods, it 

 seems to me you did just the wrong thing. 

 Sods are very valuable fertilizing material ; 

 and even the dirt that adheres to them is 

 good for almost any growing plant. Tiuu 

 your sods grass side down, and get some 

 Hne earth on top of them, enough to get 

 your clover to start, and you will be sure of 

 a good '• catch," as the farmers call it. 

 Greenhouse men buy sods in great (luanti- 

 ties. and stack them up luitil they rot, so as 

 j to get real nice dirt for potted plants. If 

 : the heap of soils is wetted with soapsuds on 

 I washdays they will rot all the (juicker. and 

 j it makes the iiicest dirt \(ui can get for pot- 

 ting stiawberries or sliirting lioney-plants. 

 I Some tine old stable mauuie mixed with 

 the rotted sods is cxcclkMit for ;iu addition. 



THE DRONES WHOSE OWNER EX1'E< IK.U THEM TO 

 lav IX THE SPRING. 



My I'atlu r has IT swarms of bees now. This spring 

 he had four (jueens and about four quarts of bees. 

 All of them have (jueens but one. There is an old 

 gentleman who lives about a mile from our house. 

 He has six swarms of bees. Three of them have 

 drones yet. He says they are going to commence 

 to lay early next spring. 1 have one pet; he is a 

 cat, about 7 jears old. If Annie ))icks him u|> he 

 will commence to growl. Little Huber must have 

 tough finger-nails to pull the corks out of the bot- 

 tles. 1 should like to see him. 



Cameron, Pa. Wilue Wykoef. 



Well, Willie, you knew better yourself, 

 than to think that drones would ever lay 

 eggs, didn't you?— It is not so much the 

 tough liuger-nails that Iluber has, as it is the 

 pertinacity with which he sticks to any thing 

 he undertakes. Yestciday I was startled by 

 seeing the Waterbury watches, that hang in 

 one of our store wiiidows. Hopping about as 

 if they were alive. I startetl in alarm to see 

 who could V)e swinging them aroimd so. 

 You see. it is warm weather now, and the 

 window Avas up. Iluber had climbed uj) on 

 the outside of the window ; and while he 

 sat on the window-shelf he was amusing 

 himself by taking down watches and hang- 

 ing them up again. I set him down on the 

 sidewalk; and while I was telling him how 

 naughty it was to meddle with tiie watches 

 without papa's leave, he grabbed hold of a 

 big head of lettuce that we had in a box for 

 a sample, and pulled off one of the nicest 

 leaves. Then I had to commence another 

 little sermon about meddling with things, 

 and pretty soon mamma came along with 

 his wagon. You see, when he runs away 

 she goes after him with a little wagon, be- 

 cause she can draw him home quicker than 

 she can lead him by the hand. 



