502 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



tion would lead me to say that, if the red-clover 

 seed grew, the alsike would do the same. Still, there 

 is room for a doubt here. The one might be much 

 drier, possibly, than the other, and so be more tardy 

 in its development. 



In such a case as that between Messrs. Muth and 

 Cory, then, 1 should conclude either that Mr. Muth 

 was mistaken in the seed — the more likely supposi- 

 tion, it seems to me— or else that Mr. Cory was mis- 

 taken in his identification of the plants, which 

 seems hardly possible. It is barely possible that 

 very excellent land, with as excellent care and till- 

 age, might produce specimens that would deceive a 

 man of feebly developed observiii;;- powers. How- 

 ever, I should not expect this. No one who knows 

 them could doubt for a moment the honesty, either 

 of Mr. Root or of Mr. Muth; but it is quite possible 

 that, in their great hurry and press of bu.siness, a 

 lot of clover might he brought in that should escape 

 the usual close inspection, and pass out similarly 

 unscrutinized, and thus a sample of red clover go 

 forth as alsike. The fact of their large business 

 makes this all the more possible. True, special cir- 

 cumstances make this less probable in the case of 

 Mr. Muth; yet which one of us has not had experi- 

 ence that proves it is easy to be mistaken, even 

 when we are most sure? 



I have stated this case to Dr. Beal and to one oth- 

 er close-observing scientific gentleman, and both 

 agree with me in the conclusions as shown above. 

 Should I sow alsike (?) clover seed when no clover 

 had grown for years, and yet where the ground had 

 been cultivated, and red clover appeared, I should 

 not doubt for a moment that 1 had mistaken the 

 seed. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., .June, 1887. 



Why, my good friend Cook, I am afraid 

 you do not read Gleanings any better tlian 

 I read some other boolis and journals. Dr. 

 BeaFs work was noticed in quite a lengthy 

 editorial, and we do offer the book for sale. 

 — Your reasoning I should pronounce sound, 

 even if it reflected a little on nayself. There 

 is one other difflculty. however, in the mat- 

 ter of the clover seed I sent to friend Dema- 

 ree. At that time I had never dealt in any 

 sort of red-clover seed, and there was none 

 in oiu- establishment — or, at least, there was 

 none to my knowledge. Our alsike was put 

 all together in a large bin, and friend Dem- 

 aree was furnished'seed from this bin, with 

 all the rest of our customers. Had we been 

 dealing in red-clover seed, as we have been 

 of late years (peavine clover), I should have 

 at once "decided that the clerks had gone to 

 the wrong place. In Mutli's case, it is quite 

 a mj; stery ; for I agree with you, that both 

 parties seem to be honest and straightfor- 

 ward. 



THE "WATER WE DRINK. 



OUR WELLS AND CISTERNS; SANITARY DRAINAGE, 

 ETC. 



fRIEND ROOT:— Gleanings is just at hand. I, 

 too, was very much surprised at Heddon on 

 septic diseases. He has for years been giving 

 us what he considered the cause of bee-dis- 

 ease, and I think he may now with pleasure 

 and profit give his attention to some of the ills that 

 afflict the human family. It might be that his throat 



difticulties arise from some other cause than bee- 

 poison. I think your article upon the subject of 

 drainage and vaults will awaken inquiry. I have 

 not used a vault for over ;iO years. I use a box 

 Avhich rests upon two pieces of scantling. T often 

 scatter in some ashes, oi-, what is better, a little 

 dry earth; and when it is full I draw it out and 

 dumi) into the ash-pit, and in spring and fall I haul 

 to the garden and spade in. 



I have known of several eases of typhoid fever, 

 diphtheria, and death, from bad di-ainage and poison- 

 ed well-water. People will say it can not be their 

 well-water, for it is clear and sparkling; neverthe- 

 less, there is death in the cup. 



About six years ago I had the pleasure of hearing 

 a lecture upon this subject by Prof. Kedzie, while I 

 was in the Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Mich. I in- 

 close a scrap which is the substance of that lecture, 

 that I fortunately preserved. Use it as you think 

 best. I am deeply interested in the subject. I look 

 upon bad drainage and vaults as two of the greatest 

 curses that afflict the human family, and a disgrace 

 to our civilization. Geo. Thompson. 



Geneva, 111., June 18, 1887. 



The paper inclosed by friend T. seems to 

 be so very valuable, and striking as it does 

 right where the interest of many of our 

 readers has been centering for some months 

 back, we think it worth while to give the 

 article entire. 



The pi-esent age is (characterized by a thorough 

 and exhaustive examination of the relation of 

 causes to physical health and life. Every alleged 

 cause is also subjected to the cross-examination of 

 test-tube and crucible, balance and spectroscope. 

 Every witness must bear the tests of physical 

 science. Sanitary science now demands causes as 

 well as results, and has planted its feet on the solid 

 platform of positive physical science. 



Filth is the capital crime of physical existence. 

 Air and water are the great purifiers and prime 

 necessities of life. To breathe is the first and last 

 of life. The moments of our existence are but 

 pearls on a thread of air. The thread breads; life 

 is gone. Less obviously, but no less certainly, wa- 

 ter reaches from birth to burial. Air has no vital 

 action ni the absence of water. 



The oceans of air are too vast for human defile- 

 ment in mass. It can be defiled only in spots. Wa- 

 ter we deal with only in detail, and in small amounts 

 it is easily capable of defilement. The special office 

 of water is to purify; but in purifying it becomes 

 itself impure. It comes to be soiled, and therefore 

 is useless when soiled. It must be purified or got 

 rid of. To purify, it must be pure. If filthy it 

 becomes a source of danger. 



By soil-water is meant water which is in or drawn 

 from earth, water which has been freely in contact 

 with the soil by falling on it and percolating and 

 filtering through it and thus being connected with 

 materials in soil held in suspension and solution. 

 It is the water of wells and springs, not of lakes and 

 rivers, which is exposed to the oxidization of the 

 air and the effects of the agitation of currents. 

 The spring pumps itself all the while, but the well 

 is pumped at intervals, and so offensive materials 

 may be worse in wells. The power of dilution of 

 specific poisons like cholera or typhoid is not per- 

 fectly known; but the danger of non-specific poi^ 

 sons is diminished by dilution. 



Water may exist in soils in three forms: 



1. " Hygroscopic" water, which may exist in the 

 dryest soils, as shown by minute drops when heated 

 in a test-tube. 



2. "Capillary" water, which makes soil damp and 

 of darker color, but will not flow out by the action 

 of gravity. 



3. "Free" water, which flows in drains, springs, 

 and wells. With this the sanitarian has to deal. 



The water which will flow into a well may be re- 

 garded as drainage from surrounding pervious soil. 

 It will flow with a pressure in proportion to the 

 depth of the well, diminished by the friction of wa- 

 ter on the particles of soil. The distance irom 



