184 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



Henderson's Bush lima bean, very little 

 different from ordinary white beans, with 

 the exception that they have a slight lima 

 taste, but not to be compared with the oth- 

 er two. Now, if, in a green state, they are 

 no better than when dry, our good friend 

 Landreth is not so very far out of the way 

 in saying they are not a lima bean at all. 

 But here comes a card from our good friend 

 W. J. Green, of the Ohio Experiment 

 Station : 



Friend Boot:— I see that you are disappointed in 

 the size of Henderson's dwarf lima bean, and no 

 doubt many others are also. Thorburn has what he 

 calls Kumorle's dwarf lima, the seeds of which are 

 quite large. I know nothing about it, however. 



Agric'l Exp't Sta., Columbus, O. W. J. Green. 



We have written to Thorburn, and will 

 report in our next. 



THAT EARLY YEI,L,OW PUMPKIN. 



Mr. Boot:— Inclosed find some pumpkin seeds of a 

 yellow pumpkin that is earlier than anything else 

 in the line of pumpkins I have ever seen. They are 

 very sweet and nice, though they are quite small, 

 growing to weigh only about 8 to 12 pounds. 



Wabbaseka, Ark. G. B. Lytle. 



We have got it already, friends — see? 

 And here is another : 



My wife Binds you some pumpkin seeds called 

 "Garden" pumpkin, as per Feb. 15th Gleanings. 

 They are " boss," small, but grow quickly. 



Mosiertown, Pa., Feb. 18, 1889. Geo. Spitler. 



There, friends, do you see how readily we 

 can get almost any thing we want by sub- 

 mitting it to the combined wisdom and ex- 

 perience of the readers of Gleanings? 

 and here is still another friend with his of- 

 fering : 



A. I. Root: -We notice you want an early variety 

 of pumpkins. We have an extra-early variety, but 

 it is in a tin can. Now, our people here never think 

 of cooking a pumpkin, as they think our canned 

 pumpkin is an improvement on what they can cooh; 

 besides it is ready for immediate use. Will not this 

 answer? D. Cummins. 



Conneaut, O., Feb. 22, 1889. 



You see, friend Cummins is in the can- 

 ning business, and his early pumpkin is cer- 

 tainly e;irly enough for anybody, for it is al- 

 ways ready for use, as we can testify from 

 personal experience, winter and summer; 

 and a whole can full, can and all, can be sold 

 at retail for only 10 cts. If you want a sin- 

 gle can for sample, when you are ordering 

 goods of us just mention it and we will put 

 one in at the above prices. If you want them 

 by the case of two dozen each, I presume 

 friend Cummins will be glad to fill your or- 

 ders. 



FRIEND MARCH'S CABBAGE SEED — ANOTHER RE- 

 PORT. 



The trial packet of March's seed we planted last 

 season gave the best of satisfaction. It was fully 

 as early as Etampes, and a better header. (Wife 

 says the above is not strong enough; the Wakefield 

 seed was sown two weeks later than Etampes, and 

 produced the first heads fitfor use.) S. P. Yoder. 



East Lewistown, O., Feb. 21, 1889. 



I wish to add to the above, that we have 

 for many years tested almost every new 



cabbage that has been recommended as be- 

 ing earlier than the Wakefield, to be found 

 in our catalogues, and so far we have not 

 found one of them that made a good solid 

 head. Last season we planted two long 

 rows of Johnson & Stokes' Wonderful ; but 

 our customers would not have them at any 

 price when they could get Jersey Wake- 

 field, as they were soft and loose ; and I 

 presume we lost a couple of dollars that 

 would have been saved had we planted 

 Jersey Wakefield. I am still going to keep 

 on testing early cabbage, but I shall not put 

 out over a dozen plants of any kind again 

 until I find something not only earlier, but 

 as hard and solid as the Wakefield. 



TRAINING TOMATOES ON BEAN-POLES. 



Set the plants three feet apart each way, and 

 rather deep in the ground; in fact, as far down as 

 the plant will admit, as the less plant above the 

 surface at the start, the shorter and more bulky the 

 vine will be, which is a very great advantage when 

 the fruit is large and abundant. Very tall and leg- 

 gy plants may be set out by making the hole 

 trough-like, as you would to set out grapevines, 

 and cover up the leggy part of the plant, and leave 

 only a small part of the top above ground, as the 

 stem of the plant will send out roots all the length 

 that is under ground. The next move will be to 

 drive down firmly by each plant a strong pole or 

 stick, not less than six feet above ground— hoop- 

 poles or sticks from lumber yards, such as are used 

 for " sticking" plank will do well. When the plant 

 is high enough to need tying to the stake it will 

 need pruning, and, most likely, before. Every 

 sucker must be taken off then, not one being allow- 

 ed to remain, and the vine will, of course, consist 

 of one single stalk, and must be kept so, to give 

 large perfect fruit, and late into the fall. The ty- 

 ing to the stake must not be neglected after being 

 begun, or the vine will fall over of its own weight, 

 and likely break off. In pruning do not take off 

 any of the leaves, as they are needed to shade the 

 fruit aud ground, and will grow just right to do it, 

 and are, in fact, the life of the plant. Some years 

 we are much troubled with cut-worms; and to go 

 out some fine morning and find about every third 

 plant lying over on its side, with no connection 

 with mother Earth, is very exasperating. I would 

 suggest, as a remedy, to wrap the stem of the plant 

 loosely with a small piece of tissue paper, al- 

 ways allowing the grain of the paper to run up 

 and down the plant instead of around it, so if you 

 forget to remove it after the worms have disap- 

 peared, the growing of the plant, with the aid of a 

 shower, will burst the paper. The fruit should be 

 gathered before it gets too ripe, especially if it is to 

 be shipped to market; and when it is gathered, put 

 it in the shade instead of the sun, as is frequently 

 done. Seed should be saved from the earliest and 

 best specimens, dried on paper, and the variety and 

 date put on the paper at the time. J. S. Reese. 

 Winchester, Ky., Feb. 4, 1889. 



Friend K., I think very likely your plan 

 would answer tiptop. I certainly think it 

 would be a great gain indeed to be able to 

 get our tomatoes away up above the ground, 

 where they would not get spattered with 

 muddy soil during heavy rains, and I do not 

 know but that this one thing alone would 

 pay for the expense of poles, and tying up. 



