GLEA2IINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



thirty days it certainly seems to be a success 

 in Florida. 



DASHEENS TO DATE. 



There were so many calls for the tubers 

 in pound packages that we have just used 

 up our stock brought from Florida some 

 time ago. Since then we have been filling 

 orders direct; and when Wesley wrote his 

 letter they had three half-bushel baskets 

 ready to mail. If any of our readers still 

 want them, they can get them by sending 

 postage to C. L. Harrison, Bradentown, 

 Florida. 



In regard to shipping tubers to foreign 

 countries, we have just received a report 

 from A. R. Stachling, of Berri, South Aus- 

 tralia, which reads as follows: 



We have a package of forty tubers that came to 

 hand sound, with sprouts started on all except three. 



was toward a foot high; but a little later it 

 went away ahead of my expectations. 



RAINBOW CORN, ETC. 



Mr. Boot: — When I read the last Gleanings I 

 learned why my Rainbow corn didn't have any rain- 

 bows. I planted the grain you sent me, and they 

 all came up and are growing finely ; but with the 

 exception of a few leaves that have some little stripes 

 of white on one edge it is as green as any corn. 

 They have a joke on me now, as I gave it a con- 

 spicuous place in the front yard. 



Dade City, Fla., May 21. C. H. Tidd. 



My good friend, do not be discouraged. 

 I think when your corn gets a little taller 

 you can see the rainbow colors all right. I 

 remember when I first planted the rainbow 

 corn I was a good deal discouraged, as it 

 showed little or none of the colors until it 



" CORN-SCRATCHERS " FOR MAKING GREEN 

 CORN MORE DIGESTIBLE. 



Mr. Root : — I notice in Gleanings that you are 

 interested in corn-scratchers. I enclose a sample of 

 a home-made corn-cutter that I have made for 

 friends. To remove corn from the cob for cooking, 

 hold the ear of corn with one end resting in a dish. 

 Slide the cutter over the rows of corn till all is cut, 

 then reverse the cutter and scrape the pulp from the 

 cob. It can be used for preparing the corn for eat- 

 ing from the cob. Score a section; prepare, and eat 

 and repeat. The corn will almost faU in one's 

 mouth. Wanton D. Slocum. 



North Dartmouth, Mass., April 1. 



Since our remarks in regard to the above, 

 several communications have been sent in. 

 One of them describes a corn-scrateher 

 made of a piece of tin. The tin is first cut 

 out something like the shape of a spoon 

 flattened out; but the spoon part would, 

 perhaps, be a little larger. Now, with a 

 punch, V-shaped points are cut in the tin, 

 the points being bent outward, something 

 like a horseradish-grater. After these points 

 are punched out, the spoon part is bent in 

 a curve so as to fit the ear of corn. As 

 you take it by the handle and draw it 

 lengthwise over the corn, the sharp points 

 will rasp or tear open the hulls. Our good 

 friend, whose letter appears above, sent us 

 a couple of very neat seratchers made of 

 aluminum. I do not know whether he is 

 prepared to furnish them for sale or not. 

 You can find out by writing him. 



POULTEY DEPARTMENT 



STARTING EGGS UNDER HENS BEFORE PLACING 

 THEM IN THE INCUBATOR. 



I believe every one who has tried it is 

 satisfied that better hatches are secured by 

 giving eggs to sitting hens for the first three 

 or four days. To go still further, a sitting 

 hen will produce more fertile eggs than any 

 incubator. We have abundant evidence of 

 this. Our good friend Keyser, who is one 

 of the best authorities on poultry in the 

 world, said that he, some time ago, gave a 

 sitting hen some eggs that had been thrown 

 out of the incubator as being infertile ; that 

 is, the incubator had not succeeded in start- 

 ing any germs. He afterward forgot all 

 about it, and the hen succeeded in hatching 

 chickens from the biggest part of those 

 eggs that the incubator had declared to be 

 non-fertile. The manufacturers of incuba- 

 tors are a little slow about acknowledging 

 this— at least most of them are. If you 

 doubt it you can test it yourself. I have 



made several experiments along that line. 

 I do not mean to say a hen will produce 

 more good strong chickens from a given 

 number of eggs than any incubator. Below 

 is a letter along the same line : 



Mr. Root: — We have been told that when eggs are 

 placed a few days under a hen, and then transferred 

 to the incubator the hatches will average better than 

 if placed in the incubator in the beginning. It seems 

 to me if this is true the hen must wear the bloom 

 or mucilaginous substance off the egg so the embryo 

 can breathe better. If this theory is correct, why 

 not wash off this substance in water, then place 

 them in the machine with the assurance that we 

 shall get a better hatch? Please test this matter, 

 and report in Gleanings if there is anything to it. 

 If this idea has ever been presented in print I have 

 never seen it. 



Ozark, Mo., Jan. 30. S. S. Lawing. 



My good friend, I at one time had the 

 same thing in mind which you mention ; but 

 I believe most people who have used incu- 

 bators largely say they would rather not 

 have the eggs washed at all. I have ob- 



