588 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



water in some places in order to get the wa- 

 ter to the spots that have not enough. Per- 

 haps a careful grading and a right slope of 

 land would remedy this somewhat. With 

 the overhead sprinkling, however, the water 

 can be put just where it is needed, and no- 

 where else; and, if I am correct, the amount 

 of water required is much less than where it 

 comes in the furrows. Where the soil is 

 very porous, as it is almost all over Florida, 

 quite a large portion of the water in the fur- 

 rows will go down below the wants of the 

 plants: whereas with the overhead sprinkling, 

 none of it, practically, soaks away whero it 

 is not wanted. The principal advantage of 

 the Skinner sprinkling system is, if I am cor- 

 rect, that the man who runs the engine can 

 direct the water to any point ana in any 

 amount; whereas with the furrow system it 

 requires several men to direct the water and 

 get it where it is needed most and not use 

 too much. The ground should be thorough- 

 ly underdrained with tiles with either sys- 

 tem, in order to get rid of the overplus of 

 water either from excessive rains or irriga- 

 tion. 



Considerable is done in some regions in 

 Florida in the way of sub-irrigation by run- 

 ning the water into tiles. Now, some of the 

 soils in Florida, especially in the drained 

 swamps that are so suitable for celery, some- 

 times break up in clods as the ground does 

 here in Ohio, and there is no way to break 

 up these clods and get the ground friable ex- 

 cept to wait for what we call a "summer 

 shower." With the sprinkler system these 

 clods can be moistened just enough to let 

 the harrow pulverize them thoroughly; and 

 in setting out plants you can have not only 

 the soil but the air also moistened up by the 

 sprinklers until the plants have taken root 

 and can stand the hot sun. 



I visited the Wyman plant several times. 

 There is, all together, about 35 acres under 

 this overhead irrigation; and I tell you it is 

 a wonderful sight to see a veritable summer 

 shower, cooling the air and refreshing the 

 plants at the close of a hot summer day. The 

 sprinkling is mostly done toward sundown, 

 and from that time on until midnight or later. 

 Where the water is limited, there is not 

 nearly so much loss by evaporation as when 

 the sprinkling is done in the daytime. When 

 you look off toward the work of the sprink- 

 lers, and see it at just the right angle, just as 

 the sun is going down, it is one of the most 

 beautiful sights I ever beheld. The pres- 

 sure is such from the engine that each tiny 

 stream of water goes up in the air perhaps 

 12 or 15 feet; and when the pipes are turned 

 to throw the water the greatest distance, the 

 course of the stream is something like that 

 of a rainbow; and the sight of ten thousand 

 streams of water (I think there must be pret- 

 ty nearly that number) curling up in the air 

 at regular distances, each tiny raindrop 

 flashing in the sunshine, was enough to make 

 me want to sail my hat up in the air and 

 and shout in regular boy fashion. 



Just one thing more that recommends the 

 sprinkling system. They claim that, when a 



frosty night comes, by turning on the water 

 they can largely obviate the danger and 

 damage from frost. This was tried once 

 during the winter; but at the time we had the 

 frost (at least in some localities) there was 

 an exceedingly cold north wind; and a cold 

 wind seems to hurt some tecder stuff almost 

 as much as a frost. I believe, however, that 

 the water made the damage to the growing 

 stuff much less than it would have been with- 

 out it. I feel quite certain that it may pro- 

 tect many plants from injury from frost, be- 

 cause I have seen the sprinklers at work 

 when they seemed to throw a spray that pro- 

 duced a tilmy mist that floated over the gar- 

 den like a cloud. Both farms were shipping 

 celery at the time I left, and, so far as I could 

 learn, the quality was first-class, without 

 any particular difference resultlDg from the 

 respective methods of irrigation. 



Temperance. 



TAKING COURAGE WHEN TOUR ENEMY TELLS 

 LIES ABOUT YOU. 



I have always admired the Stmday School 

 Times, but more than ever since they are 

 backing so strenuously the temperance wave 

 now sweeping over the land. I have for 

 some time noted the outrageous falsehoods 

 which the brewers and liquor-dealers are 

 using, and I was wondering if the people 

 generally would not soon begin to detect 

 the glaring untruth and refuse to be influ- 

 enced by their stories. Now see how the 

 Times presents the whole matter: 



WHY THE ENEMY GETS DESPERATE. 



When the Devil can use truth effectively he does so. 

 He is shrewd enough to resort to lies only as a desper- 

 ate measure; therefore when he begins lying, those on 

 the other side ought to feel much encouraged. There 

 is great cause for encouragement just now in the ranks 

 of the temperance workers. For example, the Associ- 

 ated Prohibition Press notes that on March 2 a special 

 despatch to the leading papers throughout the United 

 States stated that the United States Pure-food Expert 

 (Dr. H. W. Wiley) had declared in an address the eve- 

 ning before that the man who " never takes a drink of 

 whisky is a mollycoddle," and had advised young men 

 to drink. In a statement given out March ,5. Dr. Wiley 

 vigorously denies the words attributed to him, and re- 

 marks, " I believe the general effect of alcohol on man- 

 kind is wholly bad. 1 further said that I was in theo- 

 ry a prohibitionist ; but there were difficulties in the 

 way of prohibition, and that the better plan would be 

 to abolish the saloons. I did not suggest or advise our 

 young men to drink liquor of any bind, but said it was 

 very bad." Again, it is noted that on March 3 the Mil- 

 wauJcee 56n^jn«^ quoted the Rev. Henry Coleman, alead- 

 ing prohibition worker of Milwaukee, as saying, ' ' Pro- 

 hibition does not prohibit, and you will always find that 

 there is more liquor drunk in prohibition districts than 

 there was before prohibition was enforced." Upon the 

 basis of this alleged quotation the Sentinel preached a 

 sermon in favor of free whisky. The next day the Sen- 

 tinel published an absolute denial of the alleged state- 

 ment from the Re v. Mr. Coleman himself. These things 

 would not occur if the liquor interests were having an 

 easy time of it. 



Dr. Wiley has been the friend of bee-keep- 

 ers, and we are all deeply interested in see- 

 ing him quoted correctly before the people. 



