358 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



BLUE VITRIOL (SULPHATE OF COPPER) FOR SPRAYING. 



Some years ago I bought a barrel of the above chem- 

 ical at 4 cts. per lb., and offered it in our seed catalog 

 at a price away down below what we usually have to 

 pay for it at the drug stores. But it did not seem to 

 sell very well; Hiid even after the price went away up 

 at wholesale above, our retail price, our friends did not 

 seem even then to appreciate what I was trj ing to do 

 for them. S-o I took it out of the price list. Just now, 

 however quite a few begin to see what a chance they 

 had, and remons-trate because I dropped it, and I have 

 been induced to putchase another barrel but I can 

 can n< t sell it at old prices. In barrel lots I can barely 

 make it at an even 6 cts.; in 50-lb. lots, 6}^ cts.; less 

 than 50 lbs., 7 cts. 



THE NEW RUSSET SCAB PROOF POTATO. 



I fear our friends are not giving the New Russet 

 potato its just dues We have never had what might 

 be called a srabby potato on our ground, of this vari- 

 ety. There has never been one on Wilbur Fenn's 

 place, in Summit Co , and he grows them by the hun- 

 dreds of bushels. I was present last season in the 

 Traverse region when they were digging the Russets, 

 and I Uf ver .saw a scabby one wheie there were thou- 

 sands of bushels, although other varieties scabbed 

 badly. Now. this is certainly a most valuable acqui- 

 sition in this one respect: snd just now in the month 

 of April ihev are the best table potatoes we have got 

 among oui whole lot, not evt n excepting the Free- 

 man. They are not sprouted a particlf, and are sound 

 and firm, and vet we are offering them for 35 cts. a 

 peck; 60 cts. per half bushel; fl (0 per bushel, or S2.50 

 per barrel— the same price as the Early Ohios. Had 

 not yt u better plant a few ? We can ship them from 

 here or (by the barrel) from Traverse City, Michigan. 



FINE-POINTED LACE SCISSORS FOR CLIPPING QUEENS' 

 WINGS. 



In the recent discu'sirn in regard to clipping 

 queens' wings I was a good deal stirprised to see 

 some of the — I was going to say veterans, but I think 

 I shall .say "big lights" — talking about clipping a 

 a queen's wing with a jack-knife. Why not get a 

 spade or a crowbar, and be done with it? I have just 

 discovered that, when we dropped the counter-store 

 business, our fitie-pointed steel scissors were dropped 

 with it; yes, and the boys have dropped cant files for 

 filing circular saws (and the saws too. for that mat- 

 ter) But I am talking about scissors ju-t now. No 

 wonder that some of the women inqu red if fine point- 

 ed scissors would not be a better implement than a 

 jitk knife. Years ago I uS' d to buy these scissors 

 directiv from the manufacturers, grosses at a time, 

 and we have them in stock yet. and are having orders 

 for them, even thoueh our mailing clerk says they 

 have not been advertised for four years. Piice25cts.; 

 by mail, postpaid. 27 If vou find them handy for 

 any other purpose than clipping wings there is no 

 patent r'ght against using them that way. Hrnest 

 urges that a beekeeper always has a jack-knife in 

 his pocket, but rot a pair of scissors; but I think he 

 needs the scissors almost as much as he does a knife. 



MONEY IN POPCORN. 



We clip the following from American Agriculturist: 



Last year I plantefl 14 acre of popcorn, and husked from 

 it 3fi l)ushels, a yield of 114 bushels per acre. The corn sold 

 at $1 per bushel. The land on which it was grown is worth 

 $60 ptT acre, less than half the value of the corn. The land 

 had been in blackberries several years up to last year. The 

 corn required no more labor than common field corn. The 

 fodder was worth $2.— W. L. Anderson, Indiana. 



The above reminds me that, when I was a boy, I 

 grew popcorn for mv poultry. The grains were small 

 enrugh for little chickens when they could not eat big 

 corn. I remember I had a tremendous yield— more 

 than farmers grew of the big corn. Well, we have se- 

 cured some extra nice rice popcorn of Clark, the great 

 seed-corn grower, and we can furnish it at the very 

 low price of 10 cts. a quart; (50 cts. a peck, or 82 00 a 

 bushel. The above is beautiful, clean shelled corn. 

 It is worth the money to pop; and, by the way. it fur- 

 nishes an excellent ford for human beings If want- 

 ed by mail, add 12 cts. per quart for postage. 



SUBSTITUTE FOR BEEFSTEAK AND LEAN MEAT IN 

 GENERAL. 



For some time I have been carefully testine the new 

 products of the Sanitas Nut Food Co . Battle Creek, 

 Mich.; and I am now pretty well satisfied that their 

 protose, or vegetable meat, is as little liable to fer- 

 mentation in the digestive apparatus as beefsteak 

 and other lean meats. For many years I have had to 



be very careful about eating fruits or sweets in gen- 

 eral for my last meal of the day. Whenever I did so 

 from choice or force of circumstances I have invari- 

 ably had more or less distress during the night. 

 M hen my last meal is pure lean meat and bread and 

 butter. I keep in fairly good health. This matter has 

 been so thor )ughly discussed in Gleanings, and by 

 tests of thousands of persgns with poor digestion, 

 that the matter may be considered pretty well settled. 

 Well, so far as my own experience goes I believe pro- 

 tose will take the place of lean meat in a way that 

 no other vegetable food does. This protose looks 

 like meat and tastes like meat; and the fcod com- 

 pany claim it has the same con.stituents as lea" meat. 

 It looks and tastes a good deal li> e what we call beef 

 loaf or a loaf made from chopped or ground meat. 

 Well, now. this food company has lately brought out 

 somethii^g that I think would be a formidable rival to 

 honey and maple sugar Thev call it meltose, or 

 malted honey (it tastes a little like " malted " milk). 

 At present I think I rather prefer it to either maple 

 syrup or honey ; and, strange to tell (at least it was 

 strange to me), this sweet does not produce fermen- 

 tation like other sweets, e'-pecially when eaten at the 

 last meal of the day. I have eaten it repeatedly, and 

 in larker quantities than I should were it not for 

 expetiment, and it digests perfectly. 



The only objec ion to these two foods I have men- 

 tioned, at the pre-ent time, is their cost; but I do not 

 believe the protose is going to cost any more than 

 beefsteak for the same amount of nutriment. The 

 meltose at pres- nt is rather higher than honey or 

 maple syrup. I understand they are building a large 

 establishment purposely to manufacture these health 

 foods, and they hope to give us lower prices after a 

 while. And, by the way, suppose they do cost a little 

 more. With the protose there is a great saving in 

 v^ork for the good wife. I prefer it just as it comes 

 out rf the can, without anv cooking at all; and with 

 the meltose is it not worth something to be able to 

 keep well without the expense of drugs or doctors? 



At present, meltose costs $1.50 for a 1 gallon can; 

 80 cts. for half a gallon. A sample of either proto.se 

 or meltose will be sent to any one on receipt of two 

 2-cent .stamps. 



:^9S5^^*-» -55^5-3^-3 -S^-J^-2-3^^^ 5-5 -5 *^ 



: A FEW LEFT-ORDER QUICK ! 



We have only a few of those slightly damag- 

 ed bee-books left, so if you want one of them 

 you will have to order veiy soon. It will be 

 remembered that on January 1st there was a 

 severe fire in our building, burning out entire- 

 ly four floors above us. The water that was 

 thrown on the fire came down through our 

 floor damaging our stock of books, printing- 

 office, etc. Some of the books were wet slight- 

 ly, but enough so that they could hardly be 

 sent out as perfect. These are the ones that 

 we wish to offer. The reading pages of all are 

 perfect, only the covers being a little soiled. 

 Here they are, with prices postpaid : 



Prof Cook's " Bee-keeper's Guide," only 6oc. 

 DooHttle's Scientific Queen-rearing, only 50c. 

 Newman's " Bees and Honey," only 40c. 



They are all cloth bound, and latest editions 

 If you want a year's subscription to the old 

 Weekly American Bee Journal, with any of 

 the above books, add 75c to your order This 

 is a SPECIAI, OFFER, and will last only so 

 long as the slightly damaged books last. 

 Better order AT ONCE if you want a bargain. 

 Remember we are 



HEADQUARTERS FOR 



Bee-keepers' Supplies in Chicago. 



Catalog and sample copy of the 



American Bee Journal free. 



Ask for them. Address 



George W. York & Co., Chicago, Illinois. 



11114(i ERIE STREET 



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