1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



597 



the furrows between the beds have carried 

 off the surplus water from our tremendous 

 heavy rains. Have others found the Jessie 

 superior as a late berry, as well as an early 

 one? I spoke of one exception ; this is the 

 Gaudy. The iirst ripe berry I found was in 

 July. They are of good shape, and it is in 

 every respect a good berry ; but the few 

 plants we have did not bear much fruit ; 

 and may be very late strawberries never do 

 yield as much as the early ones. It is also 

 very slow in putting out runners— so much 

 so that the price of plants ought to be pret- 

 ty high if they will behave as our Gandies do. 



EARLY ONIONS, TO I'.E SOLD IN BUNCHES. 



For a number of years we have sold great 

 quantities of bunch onions ; but I have 

 been in the habit of using good-sized sets 

 for the purpose. Years ago 1 bought quite 

 a lot of good-sized Yellow Danvers sets ; in 

 fact, they were onions too small to sell, tak- 

 en from those raised in the field. The 

 swamp garden was almost filled with these. 

 Well, like the celery, " every last onion" 

 put up a seed-stalk. We cut off the seed- 

 stalk, but that did not work very well. The 

 onions are tough, and it is a good deal of 

 work to peel them, so as to make them nice 

 and handsome. Now. one of the boys plant- 

 ed a single row of White Victoria, furnish- 

 ed by Burpee. These were planted ever so 

 much too thick, and we were too busy to 

 thin them out. One day our hotel wanted 

 some small onions, without bulbs, to put in 

 glasses. I suggested to the boys that they 

 thin out the White Victorias. These filled 

 the bill exactly, and went off readily at 5 

 cents a bunch. The bunches hardly weigh- 

 ed half a pound ; while of large coarse 

 onions we gave a whole pound for a nickel. 

 Well, these White Victorias do not have to 

 be peeled at all. Just pull them out of the 

 bed by the handful, and they are as white 

 as snow, a'ter we rinse the dirt off. Just 

 tie a string around a good handful, clip the 

 tops off so as to make them look even, slice 

 the long slim roots off with a knife, and 

 they are ready for the table. They are put 

 on the table in long glasses, the bottom part 

 uppermost. One could raise these onions 

 by the million, at very little expense; but, 

 like the peas and other things, we want to 

 sow a few at a time, and keep up the suc- 

 cession. By the way, the Silver King, 

 White Victoria, and the White Pearl on- 

 ions, are all of them greatly superior for 

 market-gardening ; but they must be pulled 

 and sold as soon as they are fit. If you try 

 to stow them away, or keep them, as you do 

 Yellow Danvers, Extra Early Red, or even 

 Silverskin, you will come to grief. They 

 will rot in spite of you, if you do not use 

 them when they are ready to be used. 



Now, it is a complicated matter, and re- 

 quires much judgment and care, to have 

 things e<>ine along in succession so as to be 

 just the proper age at the time wanted, at 

 the same time having enough and not very 

 much too many. But it is a pleasant exer- 

 cise for the mind and also for the body, and 

 I do believe that quite a large and profitable 

 business can be built up in almost any town 

 where one will go at it in the way I have 

 indicated. You may say your folks won't 



buy onions and lettuce in July and August ; 

 but I haven't a doubt but that I could show 

 you your mistake in short meter. The 

 goods must be presented to customers in 

 attractive shape. During this hot weather 

 we have wet cloths constantly over every 

 basket. If you let the sun shine right down 

 on your lettuce, onions, or even into the 

 potatoes, just a little while, it makes them 

 look unattractive, and they are not as nice 

 for the table. We are located within half a 

 mile of the center of our town ; therefore 

 the wagon seldom goes over a mile in any 

 direction ; and during berry time we have 

 found it much better to make frequent trips 

 back to the garden. We are now getting 

 raspberries at the rate of six or eight bush- 

 els a day. We get 8 cents for black ones, 

 and 13 for the red ones. By choosing the 

 right varieties these can be made to ripen 

 in succession so as to avoid having a great 

 lot on hand all at once. We have decided 

 to can them before we will sell them at a 

 less price than six cents a quart. We have 

 been obliged to can only 2 bushels yet, which 

 was Saturday night. It is an excellent idea 

 to be able to tell customers that you propose 

 canning before you will go below a certain 

 price. Thompson's Extra Early Red rasp- 

 berry ripened a little after the middle of the 

 strawberry yield. The Turner came next, 

 and now Cuthbert is beginning to ripen. 

 Shafer's Colossal ripens last, and holds on a 

 long while. The Doolittles are our first 

 black raspberry. The Gregg comes in just 

 after the Doolittle begins to fail. Then 

 come blackberries. The Early Harvest be- 

 gins to ripen before raspberries are gone. 

 The Snyder is the one we use for the great- 

 est crop. 



This year we keep accounts with our ber- 

 ry-pickers by means of a blackboard. It is 

 hung on one of the shutters used for our 

 cold-frames. When a child brings in a 

 basket of berries, the foreman gives him 

 credit on the blackboard, which is right be- 

 fore his eyes. If the foreman does not do it 

 right, the child makes his complaint then 

 and there, and it is clearly understood that, 

 if the picker assents to the figures on the 

 board, there is to be no more talk about 

 mistakes or omissions. Every picker brings 

 in 1 lis berries, and sees his credit put down, 

 lie also sees how many quarts his comrades 

 are getting, compared with his own. If he 

 is visiting or playing, instead of lt tending 

 to his knitting,'' the blackboard record 

 points the finger of reproof at him. Some- 

 times the foreman pleasantly explains to 

 the younger ones, "My young friend, the 

 reason why you do not make as good a rec- 

 ord as the others is because you have been 

 telling too many stories/' The foreman ex- 

 amines the work of every picker; sees that 

 he does not get green ones, leaves, etc., and 

 also insists on having the bushes picked 

 clean. The temptation to pick green ones 

 in order to get along fast is considerable ; 

 but once in a while a child has to be sent 

 home for the rest of the day, because he per- 

 sists in getting green berries. The black- 

 board is one of the kind that rolls up so it 

 can be unhooked from its nail, and carried 

 in at night, or when rain comes up. 



