1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



307 



saying that you can certainly raise as many 

 pounds of carp on an acre as you could of 

 chickens j and they are worth in the mar- 

 ket certainly as much for food. At present 

 I believe they bring a little more. The carp 

 will not require any thing like the amount 

 of care that chickens do ; and I think I am 

 correct in saying nothing like the amount of 

 food. They will not smother in winter from 

 ponds freezing over. We can not answer in 

 regard to catfish. — Japanese buckwheat 

 produces probably just as much honey, if 

 not more, than the common kind. You 

 must remember that all varieties of buck- 

 wheat, as well as every thing else, for that 

 matter, that yields honey, are liable, under 

 certain conditions, to give none at all, even 

 though the fields be white with bloom. 



RASPBERRIES AND POULTRY, IN CONNECTION WITH 

 BEE CULTURE. 



I send you a sample of ensilage from a kegful 

 that I packed for my poultry. I had been wanting 

 to save something of the kind for years for the long 

 winter season, so as to help make a variety for 

 them. The article I saw in Gleanings, about en- 

 silage, last summer, stimulated me so that I put 

 the idea in practice. I often wanted to save cut- 

 tings from a lawn, for they looked so sweet, and 

 are about the right size for a mouthful for a hen. 

 I shall try saving some next year. What I send 

 you is raspberry leaves stripped from the cuttings 

 of my bushes in the fall. They have a very sweet- 

 smelling flavor, and I hope there will be a little left 

 in the sample I inclose, after the journey, so that 

 you will know how sweet they are. I made only 

 one kegf ul for an experiment. It was a honey-keg 

 capable of holding 200 lbs. I stripped the leaves off 

 in the garden into a bushel basket. I must have 

 put fully 15 bushels into it. I kept a weight of 

 about 150 lbs. on them ;is I packed them. This 

 weight kept me filling up a little every day for a 

 few days, and they were pressed so tightly that 

 they excluded the air, which I believe is all that is 

 necessary for their preservation. Some of the 

 leaves were half dry with the sun, while others 

 were quite green. I was careful, however, not to 

 put any in while there was any rain or dew on them. 

 They were a little musty on top, but I believe that 

 the rest of the keg is as sweet and nice as the sam- 

 ple sent. I usually scald it, putting a handful or 

 two in the water that I boil or scald the ground feed 

 with. I do not know of any thing better that cau 

 be combined with poultry than bees and raspber- 

 ries. The best raspberries 1 ever had were picked 

 from bushes where poultry had been allowed to run 

 until the fruit was nearly ripe. They keep down the 

 suckers, and the strength seems to go all to fruit. 



Manistee, Mich., Jan. 12, 1889. Walter Harmer. 



The raspberry ensilage came to hand in 

 nice shape, and is just as you describe it. I 

 know that it is very important that poultry 

 have some sort of green feed in the winter 

 time ; and I do not know why your ensilage 

 will not fill the bill exactly. 



placing a layer of earth l / s inch or one-inch, as the 

 case may be, on the lower end, making ii smooth 

 and even; then lay a row of plants any desired dis- 

 tance apart on this, pressing them in with the left 

 thumb to make them stick; then another course of 

 earth, etc. At the last, begin at one side and bring 

 the single row across. I can spread the roots, put 

 them any depth desired, do it quicker, and I think 

 nicer, than with the dibber. 



ANOTHER WAY OF BANISHING THE "JUMPING 



• JACK." 



To prevent jumping jack from eating the first 

 leaves of cabbage, turnip, etc., put about a table- 

 spoonful of spirits of turpentine to 1 lb. of seed, 

 stirring it well so that all seeds come in contact 

 with it. As a farmer, who used it in turnip-grow- 

 ing, said, after they are up, pinch them between 

 the thumb and finger and they smell quite strong. 

 It seems quite reasonable, too, as the seed of this 

 forms the first pair of leaves. I have not tried it, 

 as it was too late last year when I heard of it. 



Minesing, Ont., Mar. 22, 1889. Thos. Stokks. 



The turpentine may answer, but I believe 

 I would rather take my chances by raking 

 into the soil a good lot of quicklime, as I 

 have already mentioned. 



THE IGNOTUM TOMATO, AGAIN. 



Your articles in regard to the Ignotum tomato, 1 

 read with great interest, as I have 4fio seeds of the 

 same kind. When our State fair was at Jackson 

 last fall I noticed a beautiful plate of fine tomatoes 

 in the exhibit of the Agricultural College. I was 

 informed by the manager of the exhibit that they 

 were originated at the State Farm; and, being 

 deeply interested in the different garden plants, 

 and especially in tomatoes, I asked the gentleman 

 for one so I could have about the first plants out- 

 side of the original ; but T see you have the start of 

 me, and I guess you and I are the only ones now 

 who have any seed direct from the stock grown at 

 the Farm. By the time this reaches you I shall 

 have part of mine planted for extra-early plants. 



A. I). D. WOOD. 



Rives, Jackson Co., Mich., Dec. 31, 188K. 



And so it transpires, friend W., that some- 

 body besides myself has the Ignotum. Well, 

 it will probably be pretty thoroughly intro- 

 duced another year, for we have "already 

 given away several thousand packages to 

 the readers of Gleanings. 



ANOTHER WAY OF PRICKING OUT CABBAGE-PLANTS, 

 ETC. 



My way of prioking out cabbage, tomato, and cel- 

 ery plants from the seed-boxes into others ;i little 

 apart, is to tilt the one end toward me on some 

 blook, at an apg).e of about 45°, and commence by 



SWEET POTATOES, LEVEL CULTURE. 



While the sweet-potato topic is up, 1 rise to state 

 that, on loose prairie soil, it is labor worse than 

 wasted to ridge up the ground for planting sweet 

 potatoes. Level culture for corn, Irish and sweet 

 potatoes, is the successful practice here, where hot 

 dry weather can be depended upon. The sweet po- 

 tatoes do not grow so long, but are larger, every 

 time. M. S. Benedict. 



Crete, Neb., April 6, 1889. 



I think the above depends both on the 

 soil and season. In our locality, especially 

 when we have as much rain as we have had 

 for the two past seasons, the hilling-up 

 seems to answer hetter for almost every 

 thing; that is, where the hill has a broad 

 top. This top th-n catches all the rain that 

 is needed, while the furrow lets the surplus 

 water off before our clay soil settles down 

 so hard that it bakes like a brick. 



