1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



57U 



WHAT TO DO, AND HOW TO BE HAPPY WHILE DOING IT. 



Continued from Feb. 15. 

 (IIIAPTEU XXXVII. 



Whilo tlio cai-di rciiuiiiiclh, seedtime and harvest, 

 atirt night shall not cease. — Gen. 8: 33. 



After writing the last chapter of my book | 

 1 decided tliat I wanted a little more experi- 

 ence in several line^ of the work before go- 

 ing further. Tlie principal point 1 liave 

 been trying to get before my readers is, that 

 those who are out of employment can find 

 plenty to do close by their homes, and tliat 

 they may, if they choose, also lind happiness 

 in doing it. My wife suggests, however, 

 that inasmuch as people do not all have 

 tastes alike, it is doubtless true that not 

 many men find the enjoyment and happiness 

 in market gardening that I do, and no doubt 

 she is correct; but it seems to me that al- 

 most any individual who has been for some 

 time witliout work, and especially if he lias 

 seen his family suffer for the necessaries 

 of life, may be pretty sure to enjoy that 

 which gives him something to do. It is 

 true, however, that one can not expect to at- 

 tain the greatest success in any work where 

 his heart is not in it. 



The past six months has been an excellent 

 time for every thing i)ertaining to the work 

 1 have been mapping ont in the former 

 pages of this book. The trouble about low 

 l)rices has seemed to vanish — at least in the 

 locality of Medina; and from the market 

 reports 1 judge it is to a certain extent true 

 throughont the country in general. Good 

 l»roducts command excellent prices every- 

 where, and I have not heard of a glut from 

 stagnation in any line of produce in the way 

 of \ egetables or small fruits. Even the 

 friends in the South, away down in Florida, 

 seem to be getting satisfactory prices for al- 

 most all they have to sell. The greatest 

 drawback, or hindrance, to the matter liere, 

 seems to be in being right up to the market, 

 iti crowding every product ahead as fast as 

 it can go — that is, in getting these things 

 ready just about the time people begin to 

 want tliem. J^ast spring was not nearly as 

 favorable here as it has been in former 

 years for early gardening. Severe freezes 

 came so much later than usual that much of 

 our stuff was spoiled in spite of the precau- 

 tions we look. A fierce wind, with a zero 

 freeze, made havoc with our sashes, mats, 

 cloth frames, etc.; and this is one great 

 trouble with the frames covered with cloth 

 instead of glass. Unless the frames are 



and cold and heat, and .suininer and winter, and day 



fastened down very securely, the wind takes 

 them and sometimes carries them long dis- 

 tances ; and when this occurs during a se- 

 vere freeze it is disastrous to the contents of 

 the cold frames. .Vt one time a cloth-cov- 

 ered frame was blown or whirled over on 

 the greenhonse, breaking qnite a little glass 

 there. It is true, we may have weeks and 

 months when they keep their places perfect- 

 ly, and every thing seems to be working 

 nicely ; but a windy time comes, and the 

 owner is almost tempted to wish he had 

 never heard of cheap cloth frames instead of 

 glass sash. (Jlass sash lie safely where you 

 put them, providing they are not left in such 

 a way that the wind gets under them and 

 throws them over. The cloth has, however, 

 so many advantages besides cheapness, that 

 I have been thinking it wotdd piiy to have 

 some arrangement to hold the frames in 

 place. Last spring we succeeded in having 

 an abundance of nice lettuce all through 

 February, March, April, May, and even 

 June; but just now, liuwever, toward the 

 latter part of -luly we find ourselves short. 

 Lettuce sells now in Medina pretty fairly 

 during eveiy moTith of the year. In Febru- 

 ary, March, and April, we find no (jilliculty 

 in getting JO cts. a pound. In May it went 

 down to lid cts.; in June, 10 cts.; and now in 

 July it sells at 5 cts. I suppose you know, 

 however, that it pays an excellent profit at 

 even 5 cts., if properly managed. 



During the winter months, when there 

 was but little to be carried on the wagon, 

 one of our enterprising boys decided there 

 was no use of having more than one peison 

 in charge of the wagon ; and he declared he 

 could sell almost as much stuff alone by 

 himself, without having even a boy along. 

 We have a big stout horse— one that is eciual 

 to any thing in the way of bad roads, but a 

 horse that will stand anywhere you leave 

 him, and as long as you want him to stand. 

 Such a horse is an acquisition for a market- 

 wagon. This young man also did all his 

 loading up and preparing his stuff, or pretty 

 nearly all, diu'ing the afternoon ; then he 

 was ready to stail out the next morning, 

 feeling sure that every thing was just as he 

 placed it the night l)efore; and where there 

 were two on the wagon this could not well 



