1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



199 





Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man 

 that getteth understanding — Prov. S:13. 



It is now toward the latter part of Feb- 

 ruary ; and although I have not been away 

 from home a single day during this past 

 winter, and the weather has been cold and 

 wintry (since the first of January, any 

 way), I have been having an exceedingly 

 happy time. In fact, I do not know that I 

 ever enjoyed life more than I have during 

 this past winter. I am happy when I get 

 up in the morning, because it gives me a 

 chance to get at the work I love. To tell 

 the truth, it hard]3' is ivork, for to me it is 

 more like play. When it comes dinner time 

 I am happy again, because, although I had 

 almost forgotten it, I was so much taken up 

 with my work (or play) that I had actually 

 forgotten I was hungry. I can thank God 

 for my dinner, with honest sincerity, be- 

 cause I have an excellent appetite; and it 

 is the same way in the afternoon and the 

 same way at supper time. Of course, I 

 have my afternoon and forenoon naps when 

 I am tired; but so much interested have I 

 been in this winter occupation that of late 

 I have been sleeping only fifteen or twenty 

 minutes. I am happy again during the 

 evening because I have the latest books and 

 papers devoted to my favorite pursuit; and 

 I am happy again at bedtime because I go 

 to sleep instantly, and sleep soundly until 

 the electric lights flash upon us at a quar- 

 ter after five, admonishing us that it is time 

 to begin the day. Before breakfast I en- 

 joy my work again. 



Now, this work I am going to tell j^ou 

 about is not any thing particularly expen- 

 sive — that is, it need not be; and any of 

 you or every one of you can commence it 

 (on a small scale) right in your own homes. 

 Of course, you may have some difficulties 

 to surmount; but where there is a will there 

 is a way. 



Now, friends, if you did not know me you 

 would begin to be suspicious that I had 

 something to sell; but the thought of it 

 makes me feel happy again, for I can say, 

 "Thank God I have nothing to sell, and no 

 monopoly of the business." I have been 

 happy because I have been getting wisdom 

 and understanding; and, above iill, because 

 I have been diiily and hourlj' — yes, and al- 

 most every minute — in touch with the handi- 

 work of the great Father above. I have 

 felt his presence as I studied his works. 

 All my life I have enjoyed, as you may 

 know, learning the whys and wherefores 

 that I may control Dame Nature, and make 

 her do my bidding. 



Let me say briefly that this work I am 

 talking about is growing plants over in that 

 little greenhouse. You may say you h^lve 

 not all got a greenhouse. My dear brother 



or sister, with God's help you can get one 

 if you want it bad enough., if 3'ou are will- 

 ing to pay the price. You can commence 

 with just a window of your sitting-room or 

 kitchen; but before I tell you about it I wish 

 to diverge a little in order to get tlie point 

 clearly before you. 



Most of 3^ou have been studying the new 

 catalogs of seeds and plants; but I hardly 

 believe any one of you fully realizes the 

 amount of work that has been done to get 

 these new things that are delighting the 

 world. I regret that it is not all honest 

 work — that is, some of the pictures paraded 

 are to some extent not really new, but most 

 of them are. Now, read carefully the fol- 

 lowing, which I take from the last Rural 

 Neiv - } orker: 



AN ELUSIVE RADISH. 



Bei"g impressed with the scarcity of desirable sum.. 

 mer radishes, the writer beg n, about ten years ago, 

 breeding experiments looking toward the develop- 

 ment ot a type which w uld grow well during the 

 summer heat, remain in good eating condition a rea- 

 sonable time, and be of sightly appearance and mild 

 flavor. Beckert's Chartier came nearest the ideal in 

 mind at the time, but it requires about eight weeks to 

 develop; and though mild, crisp, and tender when at 

 its best, it so>n grows coarse and pithy. To impart 

 greater durability of texture, and restrain the tenden- 

 cy rapidly to run to seed, the Chartier was pollenized 

 with a hard white sumtner radish of local origin, and 

 the best of the resulting crosses, which were rather 

 too pungent in flavor, with an unintrodnced white 

 Chinese radish the succeeding year. This induced the 

 hybrids to "break" wildly, but a few roots retained 

 the form and some of the crim,son coloring of- Chartier, 

 though with hard texture and slow maturity. The 

 long early scarlet and a foicing round scarlet variety 

 were next successively introduced i i the strain, and 

 rigid selection began, after growing seedlings Irom 

 the last cross. There was not as much variation 

 among these later generations as might have been 

 expected, but the looked-for type was very slow in 

 developing vintil the eighth year, when it appeared at 

 a bound, all the seedlings being much alike, varying 

 onlj' in proportionate length. The newcomer was of 

 the Chartier type, pale rose shading to white in color, 

 tender, succulent, and well flavored. It developed 

 rapidly, but reta ned a small top, and was very slow 

 in running to seed, standing in good condition several 

 weeks in the hottest weather. Here, apparently, was 

 a good thing, planned and worked for, but ^ecu'-ed at 

 last. The next year as grown from seeds saved fiom 

 the most perfect specimens, they came so uniform 

 that the only remaining defect appeared to be the shy 

 seeding of the selected roots. '1 he next year the new 

 radish was planted with high hopes, but a grtat pro- 

 portion failed to " bottom -out, ' running at once to 

 seed likecharlock or wild mustard, bo complete was 

 the reversion that except for the white flowers the d. - 

 generat'- plants could scarcely be distinguished from 

 charlock. This was disappointing, but the best sptci- 

 mens of those showing no deterioration were isolated 

 bj' the removal of all others, and seeds again careful- 

 ly saved. The result of this last sowing revealed a 

 general stamped toward the primitive wild radish — 

 scarcely two per cent keeping to the improve'! type, 

 which had seemed at one time in a fair waj' to become 

 fixed and in this abrupt manner our ideal sumnitr 

 radish slipped out of existence. 



The uncertainties of breeding by hybridization spe- 

 cial types of such economic ai.d ornamental plants as 

 must commonly be propagated from steds, is thus de- 

 tailed at some length as explanatory of the tendency 

 of many high-bred strains, origi' ally produced by 

 crossbreeding, to fall away from the advertised stan- 

 dard Mendel's law of hybridization, based on long 

 and carefully conducted experiments, .seems to show 

 that the pollen and seed embryo cell of diverse plants 

 of the same specie s or genus invariably unite in a defi- 

 nite manner, and that, however various the associatioa 

 of the characteristics of the parents may be in the 

 progeny, the separate individualiiies are preserved, 

 though often dormant, for many generations, and 

 may at any time reappear w^ith startling suddenness 

 in individual plants. There will ever be much diffi- 

 culty in fixing and retaining types produced by cross- 



