29S 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE* 



Apr. 



beans, all of them on trial, got to the top of the highest 

 poles. Somebody had "pinched back" the pole 

 lima to throw it into bush form, and sold, or tried 

 to sell, Mr. Elliott the product, because 1 believe he 

 was sharp enough not to bay for the seed until it 

 had been tested. Peter Henderson. 



New York, April, 1889. 



Many thanks, friend Henderson, for kind- 

 ly posting us in regard to this matter. I am 

 very glad indeed to see your offer for a Bush 

 lima that will furnish beans as large as our 

 pole lima beans. It seems to me that this 

 whole matter begins to look as if it might 

 usher in a new era. What I mean is this : 

 We have for years been breeding cattle, 

 horses, poultry, etc., to supply the demands 

 of the market; and almost as soon as it be- 

 gins to be evident that there is a demand 

 for a different animal from what we have 

 already on hand, straightway somebody 

 brings it out. 



Now, friend Henderson has, in the above, 

 told us just what he wants in the way of a 

 lima bean, aud I am exceedingly glad to 

 hear him say he is ready to pay one thou- 

 sand dollars for it. I am much better 

 pleased to have such an offer as this than I 

 should be if somebody would offer a thou- 

 sand dollars for the best newspaper story, 

 because I think there is much greater need 

 of having boys and girls out in the open air, 

 developing nature's treasures— yes, raising 

 beans if yon choose — than there is to have 

 them crowd our newspapers and periodicals 

 with rejected manuscript. The concluding 

 sentence from Beter Henderson reminds us 

 that swindlers are already in the business, 

 and that we should look out before we pay 

 out our money. And this brings us to a 

 consideration of the Kumerle lima bean, 

 offered by Thorburn. I do not believe that 

 this is a humbug, because Thorburn's name 

 itself is a sufficient guarantee, only I wish 

 he would tell us more about it. Has Thor- 

 burn himself ever grown the bean itself, or 

 seen it growing V 



Here is something in regard to Kumerle's 

 Dwarf lima bean, from another seedsman : 



Mr. Boot:— 1 am acquainted, in a business way, 

 with the originator of Kumerle's Dwarf lima bean, 

 who supplied Thorburn & Co. He says, " It is a 

 sport from Dreer's improved lima bean, possessing 

 all the fine qualities of the parent; grows two feet 

 high, branches out in all directions, and should be 

 planted in good soil, in rows tiiree feet apart. It 

 does not require any poles. It has been grown for 

 three years, and has shown no tendency to run." 

 He sold it this season only in packets containing 13 

 beans, at 25 cents. I have one packet. I have writ- 

 ten him, and asked him to set a price on 100, 500, or 

 1000 beans; and if they can be got I will get his per- 

 mission to send you some for trial. 



Isaac F. Tillinghast. 



La Plume, Pa., April 4, 1889. 



As we go to press we have nothing more 

 from friend Tillinghast, but hope to have 

 something favorable soon. 



Here is a report from the Henderson Bush 

 lima, right near where it originated: 



HENDERSON'S BUSH LIMA BEAN. 



For two seasons past 1 have cultivated the Bush 

 lima bean. Having a wet season last year we found 



it necessary to place brush close to the plants on 

 each side of the rows, to keep the pods from touch- 

 ing the wet earth, which speedily rotted them. The 

 beans are as large as the old Carolina or Sewee lima. 

 I obtained them of a party in Prince Edward Co., 

 Va., where it seems they have been known for sever- 

 al years. During t he last six years I have grown an 

 onion that corresponds exactly to the description 

 given in the catalogue, of the so-called New Egyp- 

 tian. To my certain knowledge it has been raised 

 in Virginia for the last 20 years. A. S. Martin. 

 Roanoke, Va., March 13, 1889. 



Thank you, friend M. We should be ex- 

 ceedingly obliged for any facts you can give 

 on the subject of the new lima beans. It is 

 quite likely that the onion you mention is 

 the New Egyptian. I have heard of it from 

 several localities, although it seems that 

 Gregory was the first to catalogue it and 

 bring it generally before the public. 



THE CATALPA; IS IT A DESIRABLE TREE FOR OR- 

 NAMENTAL PURPOSES? 



Some nuserymen are advertising the eatalpa as a 

 very hardy and desirable tree for ornamental plant- 

 ing. They state that plants the size of straws, 

 planted late in May, grow to be seven feet high, and 

 four or five inches in circumference, at the base. 

 Please tell us if it is grown in your locality; and if 

 so, with what success. Robt. H. Shipman. 



Cannington, Ont, Can., Feb. 18, 1889. 



Friend S., in California the eatalpa does 

 all you mention ; and I am inclined to think 

 that it does even more ; and, best of all, 

 when it is once started it will live right 

 through the long drouths, without any irri- 

 gation at all. It grows in our locality, and 

 makes a very rapid growth — 1 think not 

 much more rapid, however, than the soft 

 maples that adorn the streets of Medina, 

 and we think the maple the handsomer tree. 

 The eatalpa yields considerable honey some 

 seasons, but it comes exactly at the time of 

 the basswood flow, so that our bees seldom 

 pay much attention to it. 



KEEPING CELERY-PLANTS FROM RUNNING TO SEED 

 IN THE SEED-BED. 



If you don't want your celery-plants to go to 

 seed, don't let them ask twice for a drink, at any 

 stage of growth. M. Garrahan. 



Kingston, Pa., Feb. 24, 1889. 



I am well aware, friend G., that the 

 weather has a great deal to do with success- 

 ful celery culture ; but I hardly think that 

 lack of water explains all the difficulty. Al- 

 most every year when our celery-plants 

 stand in rows in the field, while cultivating 

 we find occasionally a stalk running up to 

 seed. These are pulled out as fast as notic- 

 ed. Aftfcr a certain stage we see no more of 

 it. It may be our Golden Dwarf celery that 

 started to run to seed in the seed-bed did so 

 on account of lack of moisture, at a critical 

 time. I am inclined to think that this is 

 the case, for at one time it seemed as if they 

 were all going to seed. After I pulled out 

 these and threw them away there was no 

 more of it during the season. Berhaps 

 the abundant rains accounted for the latter 

 fact. 



