1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



859 



WHAT TO DO, AND HOW TO BE HAPPY WHILE DOING IT. 



Coniimicd from Nov. 15. 

 CIIAPTEK IV. 



Get wisdom, g-et understauding.— Prov". 4: .">. 



In these former chapters I have gone over 

 many things in regard to heat, in order to 

 give you a general idea of the many ways by 

 whicli we may make use of the heat con- 

 tained in the immense storehouse in the 

 bowels of Mother Earth. Improvements are 

 constantly being made in this matter of 

 counteracting the frosts of winter, in some 

 of the ways mentioned above, or by a com- 

 bination of these different plans. Natural 

 caves offer very great advantages indeed ; 

 and where they are near large towns or | 

 cities, I should say they could be very prof- 

 itably utilized for furnishing constant sup- 

 plies of air, warm enough for the purpose of 

 growing many kinds of vegetables, or | 

 keeping domestic animals in comparative 1 

 comfort. ! 



There is still another plan, brought for- 

 ward recently, of utilizing the heat from,the 

 warm or hot springs that are found in many 

 parts of our country. Tin; warm water of 

 these springs can be conveyed in pipes under 

 ground, so as to give us the advantages of a 

 tropical climate, even in frosty regions. 

 AVhere a warm or hot spring is found near to 

 a large city or town, it ought to be very 

 valuable for such purposes. 



HEAT FROM TIIK CONSU3ri'TH.'N OF COAL 

 AXD WOOD. 



Most of US are so familiar with this kind 

 of heat for warming greenhouses and build- 

 ings, that I need not dwell on the matter 

 here. Besides, it will come up naturally as 

 we get further along. 



LIGHT. 



We have already pretty thoroughly con- 

 sidered the subject of light, in connection 

 with the heat from the sun's rays ; in fact, 

 the two are almost inseparable. In planning 

 to secure the direct rays of the sun, how- 

 ever, for raising plants, we need a little more 

 light than can be obtained from these direct 

 rays. For instance, we want our plants 

 close up to the glass, in order to get as much 

 light as possible on all sides of them. If 

 you were to permit the sun to shine into the 

 back part of a cave, you would get enough 

 heat, but not light suflicient. Even tJiough 

 the sun shone directly on to the plant, it 

 would commence at once to stretch and reach 

 forward, to " get out of the hole," as it were, 



indicating its desire to get close up to the 

 glass, or, if you choose, to get out Avhere 

 light would come to it from all sides. Our 

 first greenhouse was built with a solid, 

 opaque roof, on the north side. I did this, 

 thinking that, as no sunlight could come di- 

 rectly through it, there w^as no need of going 

 to the expense of glass. The result was, the 

 plants under this north roof, although right 

 in the sun, always leaned over to the south, 

 and I was obliged to put them in movable 

 boxes, which could be turned end for end 

 every few days. On this account we want 

 glass over the whole space above the plants, 

 although the north wall may be opaque, and 

 have double walls, with an air-space between 

 them. To get all the light possible on all 

 sides of our plants, we also paint every thing 

 wliite. You will be surprised to see how 

 much lighter a room becomes by whitewash- 

 ing or painting all the objects or furniture 

 white. Where plants are raised in the win- 

 dow, of course we have to turn them around 

 to keep them from growing one-sided, and 

 they do very well under this treatment, only 

 it is .somewiiat laborious, where there are 

 many l)oxes. flaking a little room about 

 the plants, and covering the walls with white 

 paper, gives us more and better light. Some- 

 times hanging up white sheets around the 

 plants will accomplish the same result. 



As an illustration of what may be done 

 with very cheap and common appliances, we 

 take the following from the Amcrkan Agri- 

 aiUurht for Jan.. 1885. You will notice, 

 also, that the friend who did it is occupied 

 with otlice work, so that it was all done dur- 

 ing odd spells that would probably have been 

 spent in some sort of amusement that would 

 have left no tangible result of any kind. It 

 was to him a pleasure and a pastime, like 

 building my monument. 



STARTING A VEGETABLE GARDEN. 



In the fall of 1883 I purchased some sec- 

 ond-hand -Ixfj-foot common window-sash, at 

 SI. 00 per sash, and built a lean-to structure 

 on the south side of the barn, using four of 

 the sash laid lengthwise for the roof, and 

 two for the front side. The ends were sided 

 up Avith matched inch stuff, allowing for a 

 door at one end. Notches were cut through 

 the cross-pieces of the top sash, to allow' the 

 water to escape. This gave a space inside 

 of about 7 by 12 feet, allowing 2^ feet for the 



