256 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1919 



and sn I am giving jou herewith the list of main 

 cold spells of Ihe past 24 years: 



Dec. 27, 1894, coldest ever known here, 181/2 

 degrees; Feb. 8, 1895, (six weeks later, making a 

 double freeze), 20 degrees; Feb. 14, 1899, 20 de- 

 grees; Nov. 28, 1903, 26 degrees; Jan. 26, 1905, 21 

 degrees; Dec. 1, 1909, 23 degrees; Dec. 4, 1910, 28 

 degrees. 



Here follows six years of unprecedented freedom 

 from cold, the longest spell of open winters in mem- 

 ory of oldest inliabitant, includinij myself .' Tropi- 

 cal growth unhurt and tropical trees reached great 

 size. Feb. 4, 1917, 20% degrees; Dec. 10, 1917, 

 28 degrees; Jan. 4, 1918, 26 degrees. 



Bradentown temperatures were 1 to 2 degrees 

 warmer. Oneco is far from water protection, you 

 know. 



No serious December freeze in 1917, Dec. 10 only 

 28 degrees here. 



Yours truly, 



E. N. Reasoner. 



Oneco. Fla.. Jan. 3, 1919. 



In regard to the above, I happened to be 

 in Florida during the axofiil freeze first 

 mentioned. 1 got so tired of seeing frozen 

 oranges, I i^ushed on down until 1 came to 

 Bradentown. Here for the first time I 

 found the fruit unharmed, and I hapjjened 

 to visit the Koyal Palm nurseries when they 

 were working night and day to get steam 

 pijDes installed to save the valuable plants. 

 On Dee. 9, 1917, I found ice on the pans 

 of water for the poultry, and when I wrote 

 as I did I thought it was at tliat time, that 

 the neighbors and " the oldest inhabitant " 

 said it was " the coldest spell in 25 years." 

 Friend Reasoner's letter illustrates how we 

 forget. 



On receipt of the letter I wrote as fol- 

 lows : 



" 1 would be exceedingly glad if you 

 could give us something about protection 

 from frost. We have just tried throwing 

 a furrow of soil over some potatoes, and it 

 did harm rather than good. A covering of 

 burlap sacks, to hold the frost up off the 

 plants, has done most good for us. A wood- 

 en box is 0. K., but tin pails or jjans " no 

 good." Newspapers are good, but a little 

 soil must be put on the corners to jn-event 

 being blown away. A. I. Root.'' 



Below is his reply : 



Regarding cold last winter; the first light freeze 

 Dec. 10th, temperature 28 degrees for a short time, 

 would have made ice if water was shallow in open 

 air without any cover or protection. 



The Jan. 4th freeze, temperature 26 degrees, 

 made much more ice. 



In protecting plants it is necessary to provide a 

 slight air vent at the top of any covering, whether 

 paper, cloth or other material, so that air circula- 

 tion is possible; otherwise the plants inside will 

 freeze if the weather is at all cold. The more se- 

 vere the freeze, the more absolutely necessary be- 

 comes the air vent. We prefer to bank trees or any 

 perennial plants with soil, then stand branches of 

 pine or anything with the foliage on, around the 

 plant or tree, and tie or wire it steady ; wei stick 

 the branches down in the ground, using a crowbar 

 or piece of pipe to make the holes. 



The pine is best because the needles stay on all 



winter and thus form a permanent cover for sev- 

 eral weeks, and they are open enough so the warmth 

 of the ground can rise. 



We never use paper or burlap except over plants 

 for a slight protection. 



Egbert N. Rea.soner. 



Oneco, Fla.. Jan. 11. 



Today, Feb. 5, nothing has been harmed 

 this winter, except perhaps a few lima 

 beans and some very tender plants. Gar- 

 dens nearer the water not harmed at all. 



THE VOLUNTEER PLANTS OF THE SOY BEAN. 



I mentioned in our journal about the 

 work that my good friend Jacob McQueen, 

 Baltic, Ohio, had done in the way of de- 

 veloping nitrogen bacteria for legumes. 

 xVmong- other things I asked him if plants 



The soybean plant showing nitrogen-gathering 

 nodules on the right. 



grown on the same ground the next season 

 would show the nitrogen nodules without 

 any further introduction of bacteria. He 

 said it would last for years. Now, a year 

 ago last summer we had some very fine soy 

 beans growing in a particular part of our 

 garden. Last spring quite a few volunteer 

 shoots appeared, and they were allowed to 

 grow. When fair time came 1 pulled up 



