762 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15 



Has anybody else had an experience like that 

 of friend Z. ? 



THE EUROPEAN LINDEN AND ITS LATER 

 BLOOMING. 



The following is of exceeding importance to 

 beekeepers. See if you do not agree with 

 me. I extract it from a recent number of the 

 Fa^ni and Fireside, and it is from our friend 

 T. Greiner, La Salle, N. Y.: 



within a few rods from the house I have a European 

 linden, planted in 1889, U was full of bloom again 

 this year, and, as last year its blooming season was 

 fullj a week later than that of the American linden, 

 or basswood. My bees worked on this tree in full 

 force Ions after bees had ceased to work on any of 

 the native basswoods. Now I should like to know 

 whether thi.-. late-blooming habit is common with all 

 the European lindens or whether it is that of an indi- 

 vidual tiee. It seems to me of importance to the 

 interests of our bee-keeping friends to see clear on 

 this point, and then, if it he found that the basswood- 

 honey season mig'ht thus be prol< nged for a week, to 

 plant lindens with the native basswood ju'-t for that 

 purpose. Have any of our friends had experience 

 with the European linden ? Who will enlighten us ? 



When we planted our basswood orchard I 

 think I had a dozen or more European lin- 

 dens ; but the matter has been out of mind, I 

 am ashamed to say, so that I can not really 

 state at the present time in regard to later 

 blooming ; but I remember this was reported 

 to be the case when the orchard was planted. 

 If this thing is true, then somebody wants to 

 go to work immediately to grow European 

 lindens for us, not by the hundred or thou- 

 sand, but by the mil/ion. If my enthusiasm 

 does not abate I will try to start the thing go- 

 ing at once. By they way, if this reaches the 

 eye of any nurseryman who can tell us where 

 to find such trees by the thousand, I wish he 

 would write me at once. 



JAMAICA SORREL. 



lam always delighted to hear any thing Jamaican 

 well spoken of, and am not le^s so at the editor's good 

 opinion of Jamaica sorrel, page 484. In Jamaica the 

 sauce that he speaks of has not, so far as I know, 

 been made — at least not to any extent; but at Christ- 

 mastide there is hardly a home, high or low, but has a 

 plentiful supply of the delicious beverage known as 

 "Jamaica drink." Few drinks there are, made from 

 fruit, that can surpass this sorrel drink — so cool at'd 

 delicate, and of a rich ruby color, like the plant itself 

 when seeding, and it is considered to be to some 

 extent a blood-purifier. It is made from the " fleshy 

 husk," same as used for sauce. This husk is packed 

 in a vessel, and a sufficient amount of boiling water 

 (about four pai ts to one) poured on. Adding a few 

 pieces of ginger it is allowtd to steep for a day or 

 two, is then strained off and bottled, to keep it from 

 fermenting; and after it has settled it is fit for use 

 when five or six days old. Sugar must be added to 

 taste, but only to that quantity that can be used in 

 one or two days, as it will not keep any longer when 

 sweetened. 



The sorrel is an annual, and seeds in December. It 

 is certainly a grand sight to see even a small garden 

 of it at thht time. 



I shall endeavor to send you .some seeds, Mr. Editor, 

 next season, if all goes well, just to try it along with 

 those from Florida as I ftel quite suie that Jamaica is 

 the home of the Jamaica sorrel. 



Black River, Jamuica. Eric Forrest. 



We have at present about 40 plants growing 

 with great vij^or. Some of them are nearly a 

 foot high ; and therefore I feel quite confident 

 we can get " fruit " in our locality if started 

 under glass just as we start tomato-plants. 



THAT PUGNACIOUS PLYMOUTH ROCK ROOSTER. 



He is dead. He kept getting more and 

 more quarrelsome. He pitched into Mr. War- 

 dell when the latter was at work with the 

 bees in the apiary, and he commerced driving 

 people off the sidewalk. One day he went 

 over into a neighbor's yard, taking his hens 

 along with him. The neighbor's wife tinder- 

 took to drive the strange ponltry back to their 

 own home where they belonged ; but instead 

 of being driven away he drove the good wo- 

 man off her own premises. Not long after, he 

 was found in the road dead. I conjectured 

 he might have tackled a buggy-wheel with 

 his undaunted courage. It made me think of 

 Don Quixote fighting the windmill. Well, 

 he is gone, but he left 32 strong healthy- 

 chickens. Every one that hatched lived to 

 grow up. About half of the 32 are roosters. 

 One of them that we are to have for dinner 

 to-morrow weighs b]4 lbs. He was hatched 

 about the first of May, so he is now just about 

 four months old. My impression is that his 

 disposition showed vigor and vitality ; and 

 the way the chickens went through the wet 

 month of June, out in the rain, and a cold 

 rain at that a good part of the time, I am 

 inclined to think pugnacity does, at least to 

 some extent, indicate vigor and endurance. 

 Most of his progeny are a cross between the 

 White and the Barred Plymouth. You see I 

 am not working for pure blood. I want vigor 

 and strength without regard to color. 



Since the above was written, I notice the 

 Hope Farm man, in the Rural New -Yorker ^ 

 is getting on to the same track that I am on. 

 I have wondered several times whether he 

 was reading Gleanings. In a recent num- 

 ber he told us of paying $10 for a lot of choice 

 eggs to put in his incubator. He had a very 

 small hatch indeed, and what few chickens 

 did hatch had so little vitality that they kept 

 dying off until he had almost nothing left of 

 his $10. Then in disgust he tries the incu- 

 bator again, with some eggs from his own 

 poultry yard, and here is his report : 



Out of 172 fertile eggs, 154 hatched, and only four 

 have been lost in the same brooder which witnessed 

 the former wholesale slaughter. You never saw a 

 livelier lot of chickens. There is a sore place on my 

 leg which indic.-.tes to me the chief reason for this 

 lively crowd. It is where Don the Wyandotte rooster, 

 spurred me when I went to look at the egg record of 

 his family. The sons and daughters of a nine pound 

 bird that is willing to tackle a 175-pound man will not 

 fall down and die without a struggle at least The 

 fighting blood in that old chap does those chicks 

 more good than the lamp under the brooder ! What a 

 great privilege it is to have fight and kick in one's 

 pedigree, so that they may be turned to worthy ends ! 



Heigh-ho ! Since the above was put in type 

 one of the pullets from the fighting rooster 

 has laid several eggs — the first one. a day or 

 two before she was four months old. So we 

 have precocity in weight and precocity in egg- 

 laying from the tiger rooster. No doubt part 

 of this, at least, is accidental ; but I think we 

 are safe in saying it pays to save a vigorous, 

 intrepid, and courageous male. 



To make cows pav, use Sharpies Cream Separators. 

 Book " Business Dairying " & cat. 288 free. W. Chester. Pa. 



