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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



t)EC. 



WANTED— A COAL-OIL STOVE FOR HEATING 

 GREENHOUSES. 



Mr. Boot:— I want a small coal-oil stove for heat- 

 ing a small greenhouse ; and as you have had expe- 

 rience in that line of business, and know the make 

 that would suit best, I come to you. My house is 

 quite small, and I want a stove to burn coal-oil in, 

 and one that will not injure the flowers. 



Kelleyville, Tex., Oct. 17, 1889. J. Bown. 



Friend B., I can not find by any of the 

 floral or gardening magazines that any such 

 thing is in the market. I have seen ac- 

 counts, however, of several home-made 

 ones. It has been found necessary, I be- 

 lieve, to have some sort of a chimney, or 

 small stovepipe, to carry off the gases and 

 smell. As steam-engines are now run by 

 coal-oil or gasoline, without question they 

 could many times be profitably employed 

 for warming greenhouses. Such a stove 

 ought to be run 24 to -48 hours without any 

 special attention. There are coal-oil stoves 

 made for heating dwellings, to be found at 

 most stove-dealers' establishments; but 

 they will probably need some modification 

 to fit them for a greenhouse, unless, indeed, 

 your greenhouse is so small that no pipes 

 for either steam or hot water are needed. 

 An ordinary coal-oil stove answers nicely to 

 keep the temperature of a cellar just above 

 the freezing-point; and I do not see why 

 they would not answer a similar purpose to 

 keep flowers from damage, especially in the 

 comparatively mild climate of Texas. 



THE "PLANET" TOOLS, FOR LADIES. 



Dear Sir:— Please be kind enough to tell me if 

 the "Planet Jr." double-wheel hoe and cultivator 

 (Figs. 10, 11, 12, 13, 11, and 15), illustrated in the cata- 

 logue you sent me, can be used by a lady ; or if it is 

 too heavy. Our soil is sandy and mellow; and as 

 help is scarce, I should like to find something to 

 help me work faster. Miss S. E. Rauchenstein. 



Whistler, Ala., Nov. 18, 1889. 



My good friend, unless you are very stout 

 and strong, I fear that you will find any of 

 the machines mentioned very fatiguing. 

 The amount of enthusiasm you have, will, 

 however, make a vast difference. You can 

 take off some of the teeth or cutters, so as 

 to make it run easier, but then it would not 

 work so fast. If you possess the strength 

 of an average woman, I think you will do 

 much more work, and do it better, with the 

 machines mentioned. I believe, however, 

 1 would first try the Firefly, Nos. 24 and 25. 

 You can work these without any trouble, 

 and they are easier than a common hoe, be- 

 cause the wheel enables you to go at exactly 

 a certain depth, and not deeper. Of course, 

 you must have nice mellow soil, or none of 

 these tools will be available. If you could 

 borrow one of some friend near you, before 

 investing, it would be quite an advantage. 

 A good deal depends on getting accustomed 

 to these tools, and knowing just how to use 

 them. Our average hired help do not get 

 along very well with them. The trouble is, 

 they do not understand it, and, worse still, 

 they have no enthusiasm in making it bring 

 out its best capabilities. Now, to me there 

 is nothing I enjov in the world more than 

 taking these tools into the garden, after a 



rain, when the soil is just dry enough, and 

 make them put the plants in nice order, 

 and do it rapidly. 



HOW TO TELL WHEN A WATERMELON IS RIPE. 



In my young days I was laughed at so much for 

 pulling green melons (for I could not decide when 

 ripe by thumping) that I put my wits to work to de- 

 cide in some other way; and after experimenting 

 for years I at last learned to tell very easily. My 

 plan is this: I draw my thumb-nail over the melon, 

 scraping off the thin green outer skin. If the edges 

 of the skin on each side of the scar are left ragged 

 or granulated, and the rind under the scar is 

 smooth, firm, and white, and has something of a 

 glossy appearance, the melon is ripe. But if the 

 edges of the scar are smooth and even, and the 

 thumb-nail has dug into the rind in places, and the 

 skin does not come off clean, then the melon is 

 green. I hope I have been explicit enough to make 

 it plain. You can easily learn by experimenting on 

 two melons, one ripe and the other green (after 

 they have been cut open), and noting the differ- 

 ence. J. J. Hardy. 



Lavonia, Ga., Oct. 31, 1889. 



Friend H., I have been in the habit of de- 

 ciding somewhat as you decide — by appear- 

 ance ; but I never thought of scraping the 

 melon with the thumb - nail. Since you 

 mention it, however, 1 am inclined to think 

 that your test is a good one, and we hereby 

 tender you our thanks. 



THE IGNOTUM TOMATO AND THE BEES. 



The packet of Ignotum tomato seed sent me last 

 spring by you gave me 25 plants, which yielded a 

 good crop of tomatoes. I set them alongside of 

 Livingston's Prolific. The Ignotum, with me, grew 

 smooth and nice, of good size, with only one fault; 

 and that is, in the blow end of the tomato there 

 seems to be a small scar left, or rusty spot. They 

 seemed to be wonderful bearers. 



As to the honey crop, that seems to be almost a 

 failure with me this year. I have 196 colonies of 

 bees, and only 1300 lbs. of honey, all told, extracted 

 and comb honey combined. I would lay the cause 

 here with me to the excessive rains through the 

 season for honey-gathering. 



Akin, N. Y. J. Lingenfelter. 



THE DELICIOUS VERSUS THE STRATAGEM PEAS. 



We have had the Stratagem pea for several years. 

 They are an excellent pea, but we have found 

 something decidedly better. It is called the Deli- 

 cious. It has larger vines, larger pods, and larger 

 peas, and they are decidedly more delicious. They 

 are a little later than the Stratagem ; but if you try 

 them once I think you will drop the Stratagem and 

 take these for your main crop. The first year they 

 did not seem to be quite so prolific as the Strata- 

 gems, but this year I think they were fully their 

 equal. E.Z.Green. 



Montague, Mich., Nov. 22, 1889. 



HENDERSON'S BUSH LIMA BEAN. 



With me, the Henderson lima bean is No. 1— no 

 sign of any tendency to run, and is two weeks 

 earlier than the pole small lima beans planted at 

 the same time, and it has the appearance of yielding 

 better than^the pole lima. Geo. Drew. 



Bunker Hill, July 20, 1889. 



We agree with you, friend D , except in 

 your last statement. The bean is certainly 



