528 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



GINSENG AND ITS CUI.TURE ; NOT SO DIFFI- 

 CULT AFTER ALL. 

 Oh dear me ! when shall I ever be old 

 enough to cease making blunders ? I felt so 

 sure my ginseng plants were all dead I did 

 not even mulch them last fall. After they 

 died in the latter part of the summer or early 

 fall, I left the slatted frame over them (to 

 give them the right amount of shade), and 

 paid no more attention to them all winter. 

 Well, on May 14, imagine my surprise to see 

 a good thrifty plant right over the spot where 

 every plant died last fall. In fact, I think 

 they will all live, with the exception of one 

 plant, which was thrown out, root and all, by 

 the frost. The fact is, my treatment was all 

 right, and my plants were all right ; but I was 

 not sufficiently acquainted with the " crittter " 

 to know that its habit was to cease growing 

 and die down s^ early. I think now I shall 

 have to apologize to the ginseng advertisers 

 so far as the plant being very difficult to grow 

 is concerned. I was almost as bad as the 

 Irishman who insisted that the mud-turtle 

 was dead after its head was cut off. When 

 they told him it was certainly alive because it 

 was crawling around, he replied, "The cray- 

 thur is dead, without any question, but he 

 does not, as yet, seem tobe^zwi/W^of thefact." 



COMPOST-HEAP FERTILIZER. 

 Year after year the most effective fertilizer 

 we ever got hold of (not even excepting stable 

 manure) is that from our compost-heap. We 

 have tried it on strawberries, squashes, pota- 

 toes — in fact, all sorts of crops ; and wherever 

 this compost-heap is put out and plowed un- 

 der we get the biggest crops. It is a heap of 

 trash not far from the kitchen. All weeds and 

 useless trash from the garden are piled on this 

 heap ; all slops from the kitchen are poured 

 on with the other stuff ; every thing that we 

 wish to get rid of that will decay is dumped 

 here. I sometimes almost have to quarrel to 

 get the boys to stop putting on broken glass, 

 crockery, brush, and the like. Well, this pile 

 is allowed to grow until it begins to give off 

 traces of unpleasant odor. Then we load it on 

 a wagon, spread it out on some piece that is to 

 be plowed, and turn it under. Several times I 

 have thought I had got hold of a new variety 

 of strawberries, potatoes, Hubbard squash, or 

 something of the sort ; but afterward I re- 

 membered that this plant with such wonderful 

 vigor grew where we turned under the com- 

 post-heap A great many times squashes, po- 

 tatoes, and other vegetables come up self- 

 sown where this heap is spread ; and they 

 have such remarkable vigor the boys hate to 

 kill them, and hence let them grow. Then we 

 have a great crop of something — a dozen big 

 squashes on a single vine, a great lot of large 

 potatoes as the product of a single sprout, and 

 such like things. By all means have a com- 

 post-heap, and you will find it like money in 



the bank, besides helping to keep things tidy 

 around the premises. 



THE RHODODENDRON. 



Something more than twenty years ago a 

 rhododendron was planted in our old cemete- 

 ry, and I confess that for years I had forgotten 

 it. But this morning, before breakfast, one of 

 our men who lives near the cemetery came to 

 the door with a most beautiful cluster of great 

 purple blossoms, much like the azalea I have 

 just been talking about, and asked me if I 

 could tell the name. I replied at once : 



" Why, Mr. K., you have got a most beau- 

 tiful cluster of blossoms of rhododendron. 

 Where in the world did you find it? " 



" It is growing over in the old cemetery. It 

 stands almost as high as your head, and I 

 think there must be toward a hundred clus- 

 ters of bloom, each one fully equal to this one 

 I have in my hand." 



You may be sure I got on my wheel, and in 

 a little time went down to see it. There were 

 52 clusters, by actual count. The plant is 

 worth going miles to see. We have one in our 

 front yard, on the north side of our house, so 

 as to be in the shade during the hottest part of 

 the day ; but it is not yet quite in bloom. 



There has been considerable discussion as to 

 whether a rhododendron is hardy enough to 

 be left outdoors unprotected. Storrs & Harri- 

 son informed me that, if placed in partial 

 shade, when once established they will live 

 for years. This one at the cemetery is shaded 

 during the hottest part of the day by some 

 large forest-trees on the south. It is true, 

 these beautiful growing plants cost quite a lit- 

 tle to start with. I think they are quoted in 

 the catalogs now at from 50 cents to $1.00. 

 When you get one established, so it will stand, 

 blooming every year for twenty years or more, 

 the cost per annum is almost insignificant. 

 They remain in bloom quite a long time. The 

 clusters and flowers are considerably larger 

 than those of the azalea ; and the foliage 

 makes it a very handsome plant, even when 

 not in bloom, for it is really a magnificent 

 flowering evergreen. 



AN IMPROVEMENT ON MY TRAP NEST. 



Mr. Root: — I inclose a plan or model for a trap nest 

 founded on the automatic nest you showed us on page 

 410. I think this catch would be an improvement 

 over the one you suggested. Yours is the best trap 

 nest I have seen, though I have plans for one that 

 cost me a dollar. One thing to be remembered about 

 your nest is, it must either be set under a platform or 

 a cover provided, or the hens will get on top of it and 

 close it. No cover is needed when used as an auto- 

 matic nest, as it will open as soon as they get off. 

 This catch, as you see, can be turned over on top of 

 the nest, and instantly changed from a self-operating 

 to a trap nest. R. C. Hinkle. 



Bellton, W. Va. 



I will explain the model as follows : In or- 

 der to make the nest so it will not rise up 

 and let the hen out when she steps out of the 

 nest, get a strip of wood say 2 feet long. 

 Hinge one end at the corner N(see page 410). 

 When used as an ordinary nest this strip lies 

 flat down on the top of the nest, say along the 

 line E. When you wish to trap the hen, throw 

 it over so the loose end will rest on the ground. 



