1889 



GLEANltfGS IK BEE CULTURE. 



209 



from that variety, instead of having: been a simple 

 admixture in the seeds. Others, including E. S. 

 Golf, at the New York Experiment Station, had 

 similar results. It is to be hoped, therefore, that 

 seedsmen will not be tempted to secure the variety 

 until two or three years further selection give it 

 a thoroughly stable character. 



My successor, Professor Taft, makes the follow- 

 ing observation concerning my last plantation of 

 Ignotum: •' From our own experience, and the re- 

 ports of others who have tried it, I am inclined to 

 think that it deserves a front rank among the to- 

 matoes. With us, as compared with the Mikado, it 

 is larger, smoother, more solid, less subject to rot, 

 more productive, and is more desirable, both as an 

 early and as a late variety. We had several hun- 

 dred plants growing on a dry sandy knoll ; and al- 

 though it was a dry year with us, the plants gave a 

 very beavy crop, and continued ripening until the 

 frost destroyed the plants about the first of Octo- 

 ber." 



Mr. A. I. Root, to whom a few seed6 were sent, 

 makes the following statement in his Gleanings 

 in Bee Culture : " The first ripe tomatoes I picked 

 in the open ground were from a dozen vines of the 

 Ignotum. It is remarkably free from rot, ripens all 

 over alike, and each vine bears a great quantity of 

 tomatoes. I do not know that we have any tomato 

 in any respect superior, except the Mikado, and the 

 Mikado excels only in size. Perhaps this is owing, 

 however, to the fact that our Mikados of the past 

 season were all from the seed taken from a tomato 

 that weighed a pound and a half. The result of 

 this selection of the seed gave us extra large Mika- 

 dos, but it did not mend the awkward shape of a 

 great part of the tomatoes very much. To sum it 

 all up, then, the Ignotum tomato, in my estimation, 

 is ahead of any thing heretofore introduced." 



Four tomatoes have given us great satisfaction in 

 outdoor culture, in the order named: Ignotum, 

 Puritan (from Rawson), Potato Leaf (from Living 

 ston), and Mikado. Mikado is too irregular, and is 

 not uniform in size; but its great size and produc- 

 tiveness are merits which can not be overlooked. 



Ithaca, N. Y., Feb. 4. L. H. Bailey. 



You will notice from the above, that Prof. 

 Taft has found it even larger than the Mi- 

 kado. Professor Taft says that the plants 

 were on a dry sandy knoll. Now, friends, I 

 am beginning to think that a dry sandy 

 knoll, or a dry gravelly knoll, is a much bet- 

 ter place for tomatoes than the ordinary 

 rich grounds of our market gardens. Last 

 season we planted the bulk of our tomatoes 

 right over the best and richest ground ; and 

 while they made an enormous amount of fo- 

 liage, the tomatoes were later, and the 

 greater part of them did not get ripe at all. 

 If you want fruit very early, put it on 

 ground so poor that they will begin to pro- 

 duce fruit when less than a foot high. If 

 our friends who have received seeds of the 

 Iguotum will carefully save their seed from 

 the best tomatoes, there will be a good de- 

 mand for them another season ; and it is al- 

 together likely that no seedsman will ever 

 be able to sell a very few seeds at a big 

 price, as has been done with many of our 

 novelties when they first came out. 



MORE ABOUT BUSH LIMA BEANS. 



In response to our order mentioned in our 

 last issue, Thorburn & Co. did send us a 

 packet of lima beans ; and 25 of Thorburn 's 

 Bush lima beans weigh as much as 75 of Pe- 

 ter Henderson's Bush lima beans ; moreover, 

 the %5 beans, when cooked, were a lima bean, 

 and no mistake, and fully as rich and deli- 

 cious as the King of the Garden lima. 

 Thorburn said that their stock was so limit- 

 ed they could not furnish any except 25-cent 

 packets. We find printed on the envelope 

 the following : 



KUMERLE'S DWARF LIMA BEANS. 



A novelty of great merit. Originated at Newark, 

 New Jersey, Grows two feet high, branching out in 

 all directions; is very productive, and especially 

 desirable in small gardens, as it does not require 

 any poles. Plant in rows two feet apart and one 

 foot in the rows; one plant only should be allowed 

 to grow in a hill. Per packet of twenty-live seeds, 

 25 cents. 



We have asked Thorburn how many pack- 

 ets he will let us have at 25 cents each. If 

 anybody else on the face of the earth has 

 any of these Kumerle's Dwarf lima beans, 

 we should like to have them stand up and 

 tell us what they know — how many they 

 have, and what they will take for them. It 

 might be worth while to pay a big price for 

 what stock is to be had, even at one cent 

 per bean ; for whoever raises a crop of them 

 next season will probably get a good profit 

 on his investment. 



QUESTION 110 RECONSIDERED. 



SHALL WE SHIP OUR HONEY TO ONE COMMISSION 



HOUSE, OR DIVIDE IT UP AMONG SEVERAL? 



THE COMMISSION MAN A BENEFIT 



TO THE PURSUIT. 



T HAVE had no experience in marketing honey, 

 ||P as this season will be my first in bee culture; 

 W but as a gardener I have had twelve or thir- 

 ■*■ teen years of experience. I consider the mar- 

 keting of honey the same, with this difference: 

 Honey is not a perishable article, and does not have 

 to be sold in one day, or even two or three, as do 

 small fruits and garden truck. I do not think, but 

 Know by experience, that taking goods to two or 

 more commission merchants (according to the 

 amount) is a benefit to the shipper, and I believe it 

 the same with honey. Commission merchants have 

 chosen this occupation to accumulate wealth and 

 support, and it would be folly for them to cut down 

 the prices as some of the respondents tried to ar- 

 gue. Honey is something which does not require 

 immediate sale. The larger the price, the more 

 percentage they receive. One point I wish to men- 

 tion is, that nearly if not all commission merchants 

 have more or less enemies. I know about thirty 

 commission merchants in Buffalo, N. Y., and many 

 more I am not acquainted with. I believe there is 

 not one but that has some enemies, some more 

 than others. If we consign to two or more we have 

 that much benefit. And another great point I look 

 at in the honey line as well as gardening is the 

 amount; for instance, 1000 or 1500 lbs. of honey in 

 one commission house. It would seem a large 

 amount in the eyes of some, but divide it among 

 three or more and it would not be noticed; the same 

 with garden production. If three or four teams 

 came into market with very large loads, the people 

 would exclaim, "Oh my! the market will be away 

 down to-day." Take the same amount in one-horse 

 loads, and the tune will be changed to " A small 

 market to-day. Prices will be way up." Many here 

 have discovered that it is better to go to market 

 with two one-horse loads rather than make a very 

 large two-horse load. Therefore I believe honey 

 should be distributed among the commission 

 houses. As far as my experience goes, I find the 

 commission merchants try to keep a uniform price 

 as far as possible. If every shipper of honey would 

 be careful and sort his honey into two, three, or 

 even more grades, as the case may be, and if, too, 



