354 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



" upper story " —from the most skilled g-rower, per- 

 hai)S, that we have; but in books and i)apers he 

 tells every one how to do it. There are no secrets. 

 Mr. Adams told me, that in a large way he had 

 raised, on an averagre, not less than 160 bushels per 

 acre, which brought $400, and this for a long term of 

 years. Just think of it ! he sold last summer, to one 

 restinirant in Madison, strawberries and cream to 

 the amount of $10011! 



Now, if I stir up any father to give the children a 

 chance. I shall be glad. Early in 3Iay will answer to 

 set out the plants; but the sooner the better. The 

 men you buy of will tell you how. Deal only with 

 honest home growers, and take their advice as to 

 varieties, etc. T. B. Terry. 



Hudson, O., April, 1><87. 



There, friend Teirv, you have written just 

 exactly tlie article I wanted you to write. I 

 have considered a good deal the thought 

 you have made ia many of your writings, 

 that it is not only cheaper, but that a man 

 enjoys liiinselt better to have his specialty. 

 1 have Jiad enough experience to understand 

 the full triith of what you say ab(nit i)repar- 

 ing yourself with proper tools, and studying 

 up your subject thoroughly, and then doing 

 the best that can be done with one specialty. 

 In my life I h ive taken up a great many dif- 

 ferent kinds of business, and I have eventu- 

 ally made a success with a good many of 

 these ventures, but it has always been a 

 slow process. When I felt that I wanted to 

 publish ;i bee-journal, I did not feel satistied 

 until I owned the type and the printing- 

 press, so tluit I could have every thing just 

 as I wanted it. The hands wiio were then 

 working for me were not printers ; but rather 

 than leave my employ they consented to go 

 to work and learn how, and I took the lead 

 for a while, by learning to set type myself. 

 In time we got out a pretty fdir bee-journal, 

 as some of the friends may remember; l)ut 

 / tell i/ou it took days and nights of hard, 

 earnest ivork, and wliile I was at the printing 

 other things received but little attention. 



Now, 1 know^ by experience that it is a 

 task for a farmer "to stop to plow even a lit- 

 tle patch of ground for a garden. While we 

 have been hauling manure this spring, sev- 

 eral have wanted just one load, and then a 

 few more particular friends wanted us to 

 take our big team and stop just long enough 

 to plow a garden ; but I do not believe it 

 would have paid us, even if we had been 

 offered tliree times the usual price for such 

 work, for the digression would have inter- 

 fered with our regular plans It would have 

 thrown some others out of work; and may 

 be the loss of just two sucli hours woidd 

 have prevented us from getting in a crop at 

 just the right time, and I can readily see 

 that a progressive, successful farmer could 

 by no means stop his work to fuss with a 

 strawl)erry-))atcli. before he could make 

 any of the large results you mention, he 

 must give the business a part of his brains 

 as well as of his acres of ground. If he loves 

 growing strawberries, however, and it is a 

 pleasure and recreation to him, this would 

 make another tiling of it altogether. But I 

 should expect, even then, if he succeeded 

 well with his fonrtli-acre of strawberries, he 

 would lose in his regular farmwork as much, 

 or more, for it would take some of his brains 



and energy from some of these things. The 

 moi-al to the above would be, be <'areful 

 about scattering your energies; concentrate 

 them upon one kind of work, and make that 

 work a success. Some one may suggest that 

 we hire somebody to take the necessary care, 

 pains, and responsibility to make the straw- 

 berries succeed, as well as regular farm 

 crops. All very well and good, providing he 

 can hire somebody who is competent to the 

 task. My experience has been, that one 

 who can make these big results on a small 

 piece of ground prefers to work for himself. 

 Suppose, however, it is i-iour own hoi/s and 

 gi7-ls who feel an enthusiasm to enter the 

 great business world, and try their skill in- 

 dependently of father and mother. This 

 makes another thing of it entirely. You can 

 afford to stop your team and lose a crop ; you 

 can afford to lose almost any thing ratliei' 

 than to lose an opportunity of teaching your 

 children how to help themselves. It is, in 

 my opinion, one of the grandest schools, for 

 aiiy young man or woman to go into some 

 sort "of business in just this way ; and the 

 results that have l)een attained from tliese 

 industries, small fruits, bees, pimltry, etc., 

 have proved beyond question that it inay be 

 done Let the young folks supply the need- 

 ed l)iainwork ;" the exercise will develop 

 their talents for business, and these outdoor 

 industries strengthen the body as well as 

 mind. Some writer has said, that, if you 

 get a man or w'oman full of enthusiasm in 

 these rural industries, they are almost proof 

 against disease ; and I believe that, a great 

 many times, this thing alone will make sick 

 people w^ell. The girls may get sunburned, 

 and perhaps tanned somewhat, by being out- 

 iloors so much ; but, judging from my own 

 experience, I tliink they will get repaid a 

 hundred times by the happiness and enjoy- 

 ment such work affords, especially if they 

 succeed in making some money. 



I hardly need suggest to you, friend Terry, 

 how much depends on having some ground 

 that is easy to work, and up to the highest 

 notch of fertility. One of the bee-friends 

 who lives in Barnesville, Ohio, paid us a 

 visit recently, and I questioned him a good 

 deal as to how they succeeded in raising the 

 great big strawberries that bring such fancy 

 piices. I have just received fifty of the 

 Jessie strawberry-plants from your neighbor 

 Matthew Crawl^ord ; and when I want to get 

 happy I go out and look at these plants, and 

 loosen the earth around them with my fin- 

 gers. A bright, thrifty, rapid - growing 

 strawberry-plant is one of the handsomest 

 products of the floral kingdom, to me. And 

 then the wonderful facility with which the 

 runners may be made to produce new plants 

 makes the business intensely interesting and 

 fascinating. Perhaps some of the friends 

 thought I had got over my strawberry craze, 

 but I tell you I haven't." It is the' plants 

 and vegetables that we love that make the 

 wonderful results ; and where your chiidren 

 have a natural taste for handling and study- 

 ing the habits ot any plant or animal, they 

 are the ones to make it do its best. May 

 God bless your girls in their woi'k, and may 

 he bless the boys and girls, too, in all these 

 homes scattered over our land! 



