358 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



growth of mold and of injurious bacteria. 

 Have it so made that you can let in some 

 sunlight a part of the day, and then give it 

 a frequent sweeping or scrubbing two or 

 three times during a hatch. Now, if this is 

 good for the chickens, it is also good for hu- 

 manity; and the Master said, you know, 

 ' ' Ye are of more value than many sparrows. ' ' 

 For the sake of the dear ones who live in 

 the rooms above, and for the sake of pre- 

 venting epidemic and contagious diseases 

 that might harm your neighborhood, keep 

 your cellar as pure and wholesome as you do 

 your body and your dining-room. I am 

 sure the good wife will warmly second your 

 efforts. 



If apples or potatoes or other vegetables 

 are rotting in your cellar, overhaul them 

 and remove the decayed ones certainly once 

 a week. I sort over my eating apples every 

 48 hours; and late in the spring, when the 

 old apples begin to rot badly, I sort them 

 over every day, using every apple just as 

 soon as it shows the first symptom of decay. 

 In that way I always have nice ripe mellow 

 apples, and there is almost no loss; and 

 when apples are from 50 cts. to $1.00 a peck 

 it does not pay to let them spoil. 



Now let your wife read this little health 

 talk; and may be it would be a good idea to 

 show it to your neighbors. Tell them I am 

 starting out to be a hundred years old; and 

 I should like to have every (good) man and 

 woman who lives, and all fellowmen, join 

 in with the Century Band. At present our 

 good friend T. B. Terry will make a very 

 good leader. ^ 



HYDROPHOBIA, ETC. ^ 



Mr. A. I. Root.— I have just read your article, 

 p. 771, Dec. 15, on hydrophobia. I want to thank 

 you, and congratulate you for giving space and 

 publishing that timely article. I only hope that 

 every beekeeper and farmer, as well as dog-fancier, 

 could read your words on a subject that demands 

 our attention. I am going to do all I can here to 

 get the taxes raised on dogs, and a law to compel 

 dog-owners to muzzle their dogs. The loss of hu- 

 man life and valuable domestic farm animals can 

 never be balanced with a pack of worthless dogs. 



Just a few days ago I lost an animal in the way 

 of a fine mule— one that 8250 could not buy. The 

 mule, a faithful trusty servant of our household, 

 was bitten in the nostrils by a stray worthless cur 

 that was not worth the powder and lead that were 

 shot at him. Just 34 days from the time the mule 

 was bitten it died in convulsions. Its sufferings 

 were something terrible: and, to make it all the 

 more so, we could do nothing to relieve its suffer- 

 ing, as one convulsion followed another in rapid 

 succession until death relieved it. It suffered 

 somewhere near three hours before death came. 



Mr. Root, as soon as I read your article in Glean- 

 ings I simply had to write you this letter. 



Samuel M. Angel. 



Evansville, Ind., Dec. 26. 



THE OTTAWA "LUCKY STONE," ETC. 



I had fondly hoped that the days were 

 past when people would put their faith in 

 something carried in the pocket to bring 

 "good luck." But just now I am pained to 

 get a lot of printed matter with the heading 

 above. These lucky stones are for sale, of 

 course; and there is a lot of "testimonials" 

 to prove that, if yoa have this thing in your 

 pocket, all your investments and specula- 

 tions will turn out profitably. I suppose 



that, if you should buy a lottery ticket, it 

 would draw a prize every time, if you are a 

 possessor of that lucky stone. Now, it is a 

 disgrace to the present age, and a slur on 

 the postal department, to permit such things 

 to be carried in the mails, and I am going 

 to carry the matter to the Postoffice Depart- 

 ment authorities. In running over some of 

 the testimonials I was wondering what it 

 was that sounded so strangely familiar; and 

 then I recalled that the testimonials in re- 

 gard to Electropoise and Oxydonor were al- 

 most parallel. I wonder if the postal de- 

 partment will also decide that it is not their 

 province to interfere with using the mails 

 for traffic in these lucky stones. The ven- 

 ders even have the cheek to drag in the 

 names of Lincoln, Grant, Edison, Carnegie, 

 etc. 



.Just now the price is only the insignifi- 

 cant sum of 11.00; but owing to the "im- 

 mense demand" they say the price will 

 soon be boosted up to $10.00 each. 



BIG POTATOES, ETC. 



Mr. Root: — I want to ask you If the A B C of Pota- 

 to Culture says that all potatoes will be big enough 

 if they go only 40 to the bushel for the biggest ones. 

 If so, we got you beat a mile. We grow potatoes as 

 big .as 3 lbs., and don't think much about it, al- 

 though that would make only 20 potatoes to the 

 bushel. 



Comfrey, Minn., May 15. C. G. Gabrielson. 



My good friend, the potato book does not 

 make mention of potatoes larger than 40 to 

 a heaping bushel. No doubt we can grow 

 them larger if we undertake to do it. But 

 let me tell you of something that happened. 

 My neighbor, .lames Hilbert, in Northern 

 Michigan, grew, I think, about Jooo bushels 

 that he could not sell because they were so 

 large that nobody wanted them. They 

 were Carman No. 3. I told him, when he 

 planted them the usual distance on his ex- 

 tra-good ground, that he would have trouble 

 by having too many of his potatoes too 

 large for market; and I suggested that he 

 should plant them close, and use large pieces 

 for seed so as to make the potatoes small. I 

 think their usual rule up there is 3 ft. apart 

 both ways. The potato book recommends, 

 as you will notice, very much closer plant- 

 ing than this, in order to avoid getting po- 

 tatoes that weigh 3 Ids. I suppose this 

 present spring of 1912 big potatoes or little 

 potatoes or any other kind will sell without 

 any trouble, and bring a big price at that. 



FROM AN 85-YEAR-OLD FRIEND 



You did send me one of your catalogs, but I am 

 no more able to tend to bees. I am going on 85 

 years, but I appreciate very much your sending me 

 that. All I want to know Is if, A. I. Root is alive 

 yet. He was one of my best friends. I did deal for 

 many dollars' worth of goods with him. He was an 

 honest man. I am a veteran of the civil war. I 

 was raised in Ohio, In Stark county. I am a French- 

 man. Please take a little pains and let me know 

 about Mr. A. I. Root. 



Parkville. Mo, Ed Lanbelin. 



[My good friend, we are glad to tell you that A. I. 

 R. is just now very much alive, and, through God's 

 providence, he hopes to live to be as old as you are. 

 We send you some of our back numbers in order to 

 let you know how your old friend is busying him- 

 self during this year of 1912.] 



