lis 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



jironnd in.der the light of the electric lamps, 

 {lucl on one street, where it was not very 

 busv, a company of juveniles played '' train- 

 ing-day," and a great crowd of ragged little 

 ones, some no larger than lluber, followed a 

 life and drum. But no one was hurt, and 

 none were \incivil. I did not even hear bad 

 words. One Avoman was arrested for drunk- 

 enness ; and a great gaping crowd elbowed 

 and tiptoed for a little time to see what the 

 excitement was. The si;^ht of her besotted 

 face, however, soon satisfied them, as it did 

 myself, and she was taken away in cominir- 

 ative quietness. 



On Wall Street I saw the statue of the 

 father of our country, and with nncovered 

 head I stepped on the stone where he stood 

 when he took the oath of allegiance. A lit- 

 tle distance on, in rrinting-i louse S(iuare. I 

 saw the statue of Jtoijaniin Fianklin. 



With friend Hoot, of the Aiwrkan (Grocer, 

 1 visited the Xew-York I'ostofHee, and had 

 :i glimjise behind the scenes. It does seem 

 too bad that the clerks nnist do their work 

 in a dusty and smoky atuiosphere. lighted, 

 even in the day time, by electric lights. 



I crossed the great In'idge that spans the 

 lOast liiver, where the tallest-masted vessels 

 sail ujider iis innnensc arch, with plenty of 

 room. It took ns twenty minutes of fast 

 walking to go across. Friend Root told me 

 that it took fourteen years to build this 

 great wonder, if not the greatest wonder, of 

 the world : and for fourteeii years he 

 watched its progress as he went to and from 

 his place of business. You i)ay one cent to 

 go across on loot, or two cents to ride across. 

 drawn by an endless cable and a cable that 

 is always in motion. 1 told him. that in 

 spite of all that has been said about seeing 

 (iod through his works in the country, it 

 seemed to me that (Jod's linger was more 

 ]>lainly seen in the mighty works of the city 

 than even in the conntry. lie said he liad 

 often felt the same thing and agreed witli me. 



Xow, then, comes pretty nearly my last i 

 visit, and most important to me of all — or, 

 at least, the errand which called me to New i 

 Vork— the visit to Peter II eiiderson's green- j 

 houses and gronnds. The book-keet)er at 

 the seed-store gave me a ])retty card, with 

 f idl directions for reaching the greenhouses. 

 This is a pleasant aud convenient arrange- i 

 ment : for it indicates to any one who wishes j 

 to call, that tliey make a regular business of j 

 i-eceiving visitors. The greenhouses were 1 

 all that Henderson" s catalogue represents ' 

 them to be. and they do actually cover 8 ; 

 acres, lint I was a good deal disappointed 

 to lind that they are all used fur raising 

 flowers— nothing for vegetables and garden 

 stuffs, unless it be one greenhouse for test- 

 ing seeds. The grounds outdoors were also 

 all devoted to raising liowers— nothing to 

 gardening, unless it lie one small piece de- : 

 voted to strawberries and raising strawberry- i 

 plants, and a little patch of celery. Market i 

 gardens are all round about Ilenderson's . 

 grounds : but Peter Henderson, who has for ; 

 so many years been looked tipon as th(> most ; 

 progressive market gardener of the world, is 

 a. market gardener no longer. I suppose 

 flowers are ni ore profitable. i5y the way. 

 the oidy opportunity 1 had of seeing Peter 



I Henderson himself was at the rooms of the 

 I New-York Horticultural Institute, where a 

 I sale of orchids was going on. The young 



Mr. Henderson informed me tliat ovei 

 j S10,()0o worth of orchids was to be sold at 

 auction, and that his father was very much 

 , interested in them. Tlie display was Aveird 

 ; and wonderful, and the strange' blossoms 

 made one feel queer to look at them. How 

 did all tills come abontV and what purpose 

 has Dame Nature in sporting in such 

 ' strange, fantastic waysV While I stood 

 ^ there, a dried-up i»lan"t in a little bit of 

 llovser-pot was sold forSloo; and had anybody 

 offered it to me I would not have carried it 

 home for it. But, of course, all this was en- 

 tirely out of my line. The study of these 

 wonderful plants is certainly an innocent 

 pastime, and we have no right to lind fault 

 with those who invest so much money in 

 them, so long as the money is honestly their 

 own, and they can afford it. I suppose if 

 my wife and daughter had been with me as 

 ' I passed through these great greenhouses 

 they would have gone into ecstacies over the 

 great beds of roses. They were pretty, of 

 {course; but the sight of" a bed of lettuce 

 that I saw a little latei- was worth e\ev so 

 much more to me. In fact, one glimpse that 

 I caught out of the street-car Avindow. of a 

 celery - plantation. Avas Avortli to me the 

 Avhole trip to New York. There were about 

 lo acres in the lot. The rows Avere as 

 straight as a line. Each celery-plant Avas so 

 exactly like every other one, that there Avas 

 practically no difference anyAvhere in the 

 field of l.")" acres. Every ])laiit possessed that 

 Avonderful vivid green that indicates rank 

 growth, such as Ave Avant in celery; and if 

 there was a shriveled or wilted leaf in the 

 whole field, I did not see it, although it Avas 

 during quite a drought. The land on wliich 

 it greAV WHS A'alued at so high a figure that 

 : the oAvner informed me that he paid a year- 

 ly tax of SlOO an acre. He Avas a blunt, 

 rough specimen of an English gardener, but 

 a very successful one. so Henderson's i)eo- 

 ple told me. AVhen I first approached him 

 he did not seem inclined to give me much 

 attention, or to appear very civil. After I 

 had talked Avith him a little, however, he 

 dropped his work and jumped up Avith the 

 alacrity of a schoolboy. Six large green- 

 lunises" Avere in process of construction, and 

 nearly finished, solely for groAving vegeta- 

 bles. " "When he found that I was deeply in- 

 terested, and ])retty Avell posted, lie"Avas 

 exceedingly talkative, and told me some of 

 his troubles, because some of the men 

 wouldu"! push his Avork along as his oAvn 

 trained gardeners Avere in the hal)it of doing 

 things, lie used a string of oaths Avhile he 

 talked Avith me, but seemed good-natured 

 and friendly, even if he did. Time Avas too 

 valuable for me. and probably for him. to 

 enter into any discussion ; but I made up 

 my mind, that before i left I would try at 

 least some gentle reproof. I made some 

 suggestions in regard to his greenhouses, 

 Avhich Avere new to him, and he thanked me 

 profusely, and begged me to call again to 

 see how they Avorked Avhen they got them 

 filled Avith plants. I told him 'that I Avas 

 quite sure they Avould Avork. 



