1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTXJBE. 



907 



perior, I would drop the old one entirely. 

 So far as I know, the Japanese buckwheat 

 is an illustration in point. It is so much 

 ahead of all our old varieties in every re- 

 spect that there is no longer any need of sow- 

 ing or offering for sale any of the old kinds. 

 We are going to undertake this in our cata- 

 logue, for we can not have it cumbered with 

 a great number of varieties where one or 

 two answer every purpose for at least the 

 great mass of the people. 



AN INDESTRUCTIBLE LABEL FOR PLANTS 

 AND TREES. 



Simple as it may seem, it has long been a 

 difficult matter to get just what we want 

 for this purpose. In our book we have rec- 

 ommended having seed-packets printed on 

 stout water-proof paper, and tackirjg this 

 paper to a stout pine stake. Several times, 

 however, these stakes have been pulled over 

 by the harrow, and dragged in the dirt until 

 even after a careful washing the letters were 

 too much defaced to be read. In my experi- 

 ments with early pumpkins I had a good 

 deal of trouble in that way. We want a 

 label that can be washed off when it is soil- 

 ed. We want it to stand frost and rain and 

 mud. Well, our good friends Johnson & 

 Stokes, of Philadelphia, are bringing out 

 something this season that fills the bill. It 

 is made of very thin sheet copper— so thin 

 that you can write on it with any sort of a 

 pencil, and the writing will be indented so 

 as to be easily read. In fact, thin sheets of 

 copper, it seems to me, would answer for a 

 writing that blind people could read. The 

 slips of copper are about 3 inches long, and 

 an inch wide. One end of this is narrowed 

 down and split into two portions that can 

 be easily twisted around a limb or stake. 

 If this gets muddy it can be washed ; and if 

 you want to make it as clean as a new dol- 

 lar, just heat them hot and throw tbem into 

 water. The writing will still be perfectly 

 plain. The price is the principal objection. 

 They are worth $1.50 a gross. It seems to 

 me that they should be made for less than 

 half this amount, and probably will be soon 



IMPROVEMENTS IN OUR COMMON VEGET- 

 ABLES. 



We have the following from our Ohio Ag- 

 ricultural Experiment Station. Our friend 

 W. J. Green has given special attention to 

 testing every thing new offered in this line : 



We have an experiment in view, in which seed 

 grown in your locality will be useful to us. We 

 wish to secure seed of any or all of the following: 

 Beans, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, corn, 

 cucumber, lettuce, melons, onions, pumpkin, peas, 

 radish, squash, tomato, turnip, also grass, grain, or 

 flower seed of any kind. It is essential that we 

 know the locality where the seed is grown, also that 

 the varieties be correctly named. Only a small 

 quantity of seed is desired, about the same in quan- 

 tity as seedsmen usually send in packets. If we 

 can get no more than one variety from a locality it 

 will be useful to us. We should like to hear from 

 any one who has seed of any kind, of his own grow- 

 ing. W. J. Green. 



Columbus, Ohio. 



HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRIES BEAR IN AUGUST. 



In Gleanings, Oct. 15, you call on the Experimen- 



tal Stations to tell you some way to make the Jes- 

 sie or some strawberry bear in the fall, when, by 

 calling on your subscribers, I have no doubt you 

 could find plenty who could tell you the secret. If 

 you will select some thrifty plants next spring, and 

 pick out the fruit-stalks before they bloom, and 

 keep all runners cut, you will have the satisfaction 

 of seeing tbem bloom in August and mature fine 

 fruit. We have a gentleman near this place who 

 sold quite a number of plants because he could 

 raise berries and have them to sell in September. 



E. F. Busick. 

 Church Creek, Md., Oct. 23, 1889. 



Friend B., you give us something exceed- 

 ingly valuable. I have often thought of do- 

 ing as you say, but I could never before find 

 any record of anybody who had done it. 

 Next season we will make a good test of the 

 matter. 



HOW TO MAKE SOUR-KRAUT. 



In response to information wanted, " How to 

 make and keep sour-kraut, " I submit the follow- 

 ing very si mple way: Cut your cabbage up finely, 

 and put about half a bushel of the cut cabbage in 

 the barrel you intend your kraut to stay in; then 

 sprinkle over it as much salt as you can hold in 

 your hand; then with a wooden maul beat it down. 

 Next put in the same quantity of cabbage, using a 

 handful of salt to every half-bushel of cabbage, 

 beating the cabbage down every time you put it in. 

 It takes a good deal of beating. You can tell when 

 it is beaten sufficiently, by the brine rising near the 

 top. When you are done putting all your cabbage 

 in the beating, etc., cut some boards to fit inside 

 the barrel. Put boards on top of the cabbage, and 

 then put a heavy weight on top the boards. Next 

 morning the brine will stand on top. Put your bar- 

 rel in the cellar or some cool place, and in a few 

 days you will have kraut that will keep all winter 

 and spring. Freezing will not hurt it unless you 

 gouge down in the middle or on one side of the bar- 

 rel, thus allowing the brine to sink away from the 

 top. As you use your kraut, keep it level on top, 

 and the weight on. When you are making your 

 kraut, if you will peel your cabbage-stalks and 

 throw them into the barrel you will have some nice 

 pickles; and every time mamma goes to get a mess 

 of kraut for dinner, all the children will want a 

 stalk to eat. G. C. Hughes. 



Pipestem, W. Va. 



EGG PLANTS IN FLORIDA. 



I have already 3000 egg-plants out, and they are 

 looking finely. The plants are set out 4 feet each 

 way, and you will be surprised to know that my 

 patch of egg-plant will be good from 3 to 5 years 

 for fruiting, all because we have no killing frost. 



Narrows, Fla., Sept. 28, 1889. S. B. Dawson. 



LIMA BEANS WITH A VENGEANCE, ETC. 



We are now having the heaviest rains for October 

 that we have had in 38 years. It has now rained 

 over four inches, doing great injury to beans still 

 unthrashed. There are close on to 2000 tons of 

 limas still in the field. The season starts in good 

 for honey, but nearly all the bee-ranges were 

 burned over in Southern California last month, 

 which will give us a light crop of sage honey, as the 

 sages make no bloom the first year. 



S. M. W. Easley. 



San Buena Ventura, Cal., Oct. 23, 1889. 



