568 



My Dear Brother Root: — I have been thinking 

 of you of late. In regard to the excellent work 

 you are performing for our Lord, I must admit 

 that I have been a poor Christian. I have been 

 a heavy smoker and chewer, and a light drinker. 

 I well remember being intoxicated once in my life. 

 About three years ago I happened to pick up one 

 of your Gleanings at a friend's house, and m 

 looking over its pages I noticed your excellent work 

 in bringing souls to God. Your notes at once took 

 such a hold on my heart that I began to pray to 

 our Lord, asking him to give me grace, and help 

 me to abstain from drink and tobacco. At once 

 I began to realize that I had heretofore been taking 

 the "wide path." Thanks to our heavenly Father 

 that I did visit this friend, for I have now no 

 desire for drink or tobacco; have not touched it 

 in three years, and, with the help of our Lord, I 

 never shall. When I told my better half of my 

 intentions she thought I would be back to my old 

 ways in a few days; but now she is delighted with 

 my reforming. 



We have five children — from thirteen to twenty- 

 five all in fine health, thank God. 



When I began this "reforming" I thought of our 

 Saviour, who fasted in the wilderness forty days 

 and nights. In other words, he was preparing for 

 the crucifixion, not because of notoriety-;-nay, it 

 was a spontaneous affair from start to finish. Yes, 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



it was the demonstration of genuine. Christlike 

 love, (hat all the world might have life, and hare 

 it "more abundantly." No man has ever chant- 

 pioned the rights of the people with such love 

 and sincerity as did our Lord. Likewise, no one 

 has ever had such a burden to bear ; and most 

 certainly the world has never had such a con- 

 queror, though as yet I fancy that we are failing 

 to practice the plain and simple teachings of our 

 Lord. Our false pride is robbing us of our daily 

 happiness. The sooner we can see each other as 

 members of the human family, entitled to all the 

 blessings of our heavenly Father, the sooner shall 

 we have heaven on earth. Jesus Christ is the 

 greatest asset that a man can have. This I have 

 experienced, thank God. 



How true the saying, for Jesus has said "With- 

 out me ye can do nothing 1" Behold, the light 

 of heaven is still shining, for "God is love." 



Yes, brother Root, I feel like a new man, and 

 am so happy because I know I am with Qod since 

 I have learned to love my Saviour. 



Now, brother Root, I feel that God inspired you 

 to perform this noble and holy work, to bring us 

 poor sinners to him. God bless you, brother Root. 

 I hope to see you some day in the near future, 

 hoping that our Lord will spare you many more 

 years. A. Sandees. 



Orange, N. J. 



High-pressure Gardenings 



TRANSPLANTING AND CULTIVATION OP 

 ALFALFA. 



With the present outlook in regard to 

 the importance of alfalfa on the farm, 

 and to poultrykeepers in general, it looks 

 as if every man, woman, and eliild who 

 has even a little bit of ground should learn 

 to grow alfalfa; and we might also say 

 the same thing in regard to its near cousin, 

 sweet clover. Alfalfa is now universally 

 acknowledged to be one of the most im- 

 portant legumes, if not the most, for all 

 kinds of farm stock, and great quantities 

 of alfalfa meal are bought and used by 

 poultrymen; and since it is being daily 

 demonstrated that alfalfa can be profit- 

 ably grown almost everywhere in the 

 United States, and, for that matter, all 

 over the world, it behooves us, each and 

 all, to find out by experiment just how 

 to grow it in our own locality. The 

 Dakota Farmer has given us a recent 

 article from the man who has been test- 

 ing different varieties of alfalfa. I think 

 the Department of AgTiculture sends him 

 out to collect seed of different varieties. We 

 have space to give only the following ex- 

 tracts from the article: 



We have been giving demonstrations of my 

 new method of handling alfalfa by transplanting 

 the one-year roots instead of sowing seed. May 

 2, 1912, we had a demonstration at the J. W. 

 Parmley farm, Ipswich, South Dakota, and set 

 plants at the rate of 100 per minute or 6000 per 

 hour. 



Demonstrations of this machine planting were 

 first made on April 23 at Brookings, then at 

 Redfield, Big Stone, Eureka, Mcintosh, Lemmon, 

 and Onida. I claim no originality for the method 

 except that this is the first time where a machine 

 has been used for transplanting alfalfa. In other 

 words, I have combined an old Oriental method 

 with an American machine. I took one of the 

 Standard transplanting machines, the Bemis, used 



for tobacco, cabbage, tomatoes, cauliflower, sweet 

 potatoes, and many other plants, using a nine- 

 inch shoe slightly widened at the back to allow 

 more space for the alfalfa roots. This was done 

 by a local blacksmith. Personally I have used 

 the method since the spring of 1907, with the 

 new alfalfas I brought from Russia and Siberia, 

 Being trained as a horticulturist, I knew it 

 would be the best way to make the most out of a 

 small quantity of seed. Some of the reasons 

 which occur to me at this time are: 



1. The present method of using twenty pounds 

 of seed per acre means fully one hundred seeds 

 per square foot. Instead of that, every plant 

 should have several square feet — the exact number 

 no one knows as yet. The distance probably de- 

 pends on the soil, elevation, and moisture con- 

 ditions. 



2. Alfalfa plants should be given full oppor- 

 tunity for maximum development. When set in 

 the garden two by four feet, we get plants with 

 over 500 shoots to the crown, and bearing as high 

 as three ounces of seed per plant the third year, 

 on plants transplanted the first year from seed. 

 This means 1029 pounds of seeds per acre. The 

 variety was the one secured in Russia, which I 

 liave named Cossack. From present prospects 

 they will yield much more the present season. 



3. The parasite vine known as "dodder" is a 

 very serious menace to the alfalfa industry in a 

 great many States in the West. It is extremely 

 difficult to separate it; and when in the field it 

 will soon ruin it. In Europe such fields are put 

 out of commission by the government. But plants 

 in hills could easily be kept clean. 



4. The present methods of overcrowding the 

 plants give an inadequate supply of moisture. 

 Such plants are much dwarfed and can not form 

 the long tap-root necessary to endure drouth. 



5. If the plants are raised in thoroughly inocu- 

 lated soil, every plant will be perfectly inoculated 

 before setting it. This is of itself a great ad- 

 vantage. A farmer can see the nitrogen-gather- 

 ing bacteria nodules with his own eyes. 



6. The present methods of disking are ex- 

 tremely injurious. Such plants quickly become 

 black-hearted, and the germs in the soil which 

 produce decay soon obtain entrance. This crown- 

 rot causes the plants to die early. I am fully 

 aware that this is contrary to the present teach- 

 ings of all the experiment stations, farm papers, 

 and farmers' institute lectures; but I am satisfied 

 that a careful examination of plants will show the 

 truth of this statement. Alfalfa spike-toothed 

 "renovators" would no doubt cause similar in 

 Juries. Alfalfa fields in the Orient are shown 

 four hundred years old; but the Orientals do 

 not mutilate their plants as we do. The heart 



