18S5 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



667 



is one of the few honey-plants that it is safe 

 to go into, and I should think that 20 acres 

 might go a good way tow aid giving a protit- 

 able crop of lioney, with the nnniber of col- 

 onies you ha\'e. When we get that book on 

 buckwheat, and the oUier on raspl)ei-iies, we 

 shall want a book on alsike clover. 



AN IMPROVEMENT IN HAND FOBCE- 

 PUMPS. 



THE JOHNSTON PUMP. 



fllE Smith pump that we have been sell- 

 ing for several years past gives won- 

 derful results, and costs only a small 

 amount of money ; but I have always 

 found it hard work to use it, because 

 Ihe power nuist all be applied directly to the 

 piston-rod, which in my hands wiggles about 

 in an unpleasant way when I am trying to 

 throw water a great distance. It also"throws 

 water only wliile you are forcing the piston 

 down. While in" New Orleans, in looking 

 over the " wildr^rness"' of pumps I came 

 across the little pump shown below, and, as a 

 matter of course, I took hold of the handle 

 to see how it worked compared with our own 

 Smith pumj). 



Von will notice that it has a handle like 

 ordinary cistern-pumps; and while this han- 

 dle guides the plunger, it also gives us a lever 

 purchase, which always seems to me to l)e 

 quite an advantage. Slill further, it throws 

 a continuous jet, or stream, and this stream 

 can be guided in any direction you wish, l)y 

 simply turning the rul)l)er hose. I was de- 

 lighted with it, and so was Ernest. 1 thiidv 

 the agent sold these ])umi)S at S'lM) or $2. .50. 

 I told him tliat I liad a hirge trade in our 

 dollar i)ump. ami that if I purchased 1 niusl 

 get them so I could sell them for an even dol- 

 lar, lie thought the price was wonderfully 



small for his pump; but when I told him 

 that 1 would give him so much money for a 

 very large number of pumps, he liiuilly ac- 

 cepted my otter, providing I would introduce 

 them far and wide. Tiie drawing (xphiins 

 the whole matter, although I might, perhaps, 

 add that there is an ail -chamber in the shape 

 of an extra barrel surrounding tlie tube that 

 carries the jet (the one to which the handle 

 is attached), and this air-cluunber makes the 

 jetcontinuoiis. The stream it throws issmall, 

 but you can easily make it laiger by reaming 

 out the oritice with an awl or pointed instru- 

 ment. The pump is nicely gotten up, and 

 works like a charm. The jiriccs. both whole- 

 sale and retail, will be the same as mentioned 

 in our price list; namely. 2 forSl.To; 3 for 

 S2.2o : or a case of 10 for Sd.OO. If wanted by 

 mail, the postage Avill be 00 cts. each. 



MRS. HARRISON TALKS TO US ABOUT 

 CONVENTIONS. 



AND ESPECIALLV OF THE CONVEJSTION OVER THE 

 WATER, WHERE FRANK BENTON RESIDES. 



J WAS laid aside lately lor repairs, and while iii- 

 ' disposed there was nothing- that I enjoyed more 

 than looking at the " migratory shadows" of 

 the member? o! the New Orleans and Syrian 

 conventions. While looking at the former, it 

 Ijronjrht many pleasant recoHection.s to mind, as I 

 scanned familiar faces wliich had gathered there 

 from the difTercnt sections of the continent. It was 

 a joyous time, and one long to be remembered. 



The "shadows" of the Syrian convention are all 

 stranjre, yet i)eculiarly interesting, from the fact 

 that eight different languages are represented by 

 the eleven composing the gronp. The peasant's 

 danghter, according to the custom of the country, 

 allows us to see but a small part of her face, and as 

 we gaze upon her we fervently hope that her labors 

 for bee keepers may be remunerative, and be the 

 means of elevating her mentally and socially. 



1 pity the poor bees that have to live in jugs and 

 cylinders.!! 1 don't believe the bees of our country 

 would stay in them; they would desert, and I'm 

 thankful that Mr. Benton is introducing a comfort- 

 able hive into'their country. The frame may be all 

 right, but it has a wonderfully long name. I've 

 guessed, and I've guessed, and guessed again, how 

 it is held in place, put on my specs, and peered down 

 into thehi^•e to discover something, but failed. Mr. 

 Root, don't you think the ends of the hive have tin 

 or zinc, like this t=r ? "TP <=; ? c?? li* And the hive is re- 

 versed by turning it over, is it not'/ 

 Peoria, 111. Miis. L. Harrison. 



I am as much at a loss as yourself, my 

 good friend, in determining how friend lien- 

 ton holds thos? frames, all alike all around, 

 just like a slate-frame. At the Ohio State 

 Fair our old friend Benedict had some hives 

 with similar frames, and they were held 

 bv bent wires like those yon mention. 

 But the strangest part of it all was, that al- 

 though friend B. has hives, HO or 40 of them, 

 in use, in which the frames could be used 

 just as well one side np as the other, he nev- 

 er reverses them at all. lie says he does 

 not believe in it. Aren't we human beings 

 '• funiiv."" anv wavV 



