GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



less, are mostly soft water, as they are fed 

 usuallj" by the abundant rains, which pass 

 very freely tlu'oug'h the sandy soil. • Some 

 of these surface wells are only five or six 

 feet deep, and seldom fail to furnish water, 

 but in limited quantities. Many people 

 have spoiled their soft-water Avells hj go- 

 ing deeper. Of course they get a more 

 abundant flow by going lower, but the 

 water usually becomes hard. On this ac- 

 count we decided to have a Avindmill with 

 tank above. The well Avas made by putting 

 down three pieces of sewerpipe, 24 inches 

 in diameter, each piece being 30 inches in 

 length, and so far we have had plenty of 

 water that makes a suds of soap fully as 

 good as rain Avater. In fact, Mrs. Root 

 saA's it takes less soap Avith the Avell Avater 

 than Avitli the rain Avater; but this does 

 not mean that the Avater is absolutely pure. 

 It seems to contain some mineral that acts 

 something like soda or borax, really help- 

 ing the soap to dissolve and cleanse. This 

 surface Avater, hoAvever, I feel sure, is not 

 safe for drinking, although the people gen- 

 erally, I believe, drink it Avithout any hesi- 

 tation. I have ahvays used rain Avater 

 right from the clouds. If I could not get 

 this I would boil Avell water before drink- 

 ing it. I am pretty sure I am right in 

 taking this stand, for there is Cjuite a little 

 typhoid fever at some seasons of the year 

 in that region. 



The Avindmill shoAvn is 40 feet liigh, just 

 a little above the pine trees, as you Avill 

 notice. The ten-barrel tank is twenty feet 

 from the ground. The Avhole apjjaratus, 

 from Sears, Roebuck & Co., cost, I think, 

 about $85.00 ; but as I had a self -oiling at- 

 tachment, and also an automatic arrange- 

 ment to stop and start the tank Avhen 

 nearly full of Avater, the expense Avas a 

 little over $100. This latter arrangement 

 makes the mill stop of itself Avhen the 

 water is Avithin a feAv inches of the top 

 of the tank. When the water is draAvn off, 

 the mill starts of its OAvn accord, thus 

 keeping the tank ahvays full A\dthout super- 

 vision, but never running over. The self- 

 oiling arrangement enables one to oil every 

 part of the mill by simply pulling a Avire; 

 and the mill can be stopped at any time 

 so that it Avill stand perfectly still. I in- 

 sisted on this, because I Avas not Avilling 

 to submit to a squealing and screeching 

 windmill to annoy my neighbors. Wesley 

 and myself put the tower and mill to- 

 gether; and Avith the aid of a pulley and 

 tackle, and a couple of other colored men, 

 we raised the toAver and got it up quite 

 easily. The anchor at each of the four 

 corners Avas made of a common barrel sunk 

 in the ground, and filled Avith concrete. 



The bolts that hold each of the four cor- 

 ners go doAvn into the ground four feet, 

 with a plate of iron at the bottom anchored 

 also in concrete. A pipe connected AAdth 

 this elevated tank goes through all of our 

 poultry-yards, and furnishes drinking 

 water, as I have explained. The ornamental 

 wire fence of Avhich you get a glimpse runs 

 in front of our home on the street. 



BUCKWHEAT IN FLORIDA. 



The strip of cleared land forming a sort 

 of lane that you see in the picture Avas 

 13ut around our first acre in order to pre- 

 vent forest fires, during a dry spell, from 

 encroaching on our home. This buckAvheat 

 wliich you see groAvs Avithout any fertilizer 

 except the droppings from the poultry, 

 and there is not very much of that. The 

 plants in the foreground are the Japanese 

 buclvAvheat ; further doAvn, the silverhuU. 

 In our Florida saiid the Japanese comes 

 up first, and Avas very much ahead of the 

 silverhull all through the season. 



The jiicture also gives you a glimpse of 

 the Avay Ave make our fences to restrair 

 the i^oultry. The lower strip is one-incl: 

 mesh and Iavo feet Avide, and goes doAvr 

 into the ground so as to pi'event Avilc 

 animals from digging under. We did nol 

 get it doAvn quite deep enough, hoAvever 

 for Ave found holes Avhere thej' got througl: 

 in several places. I think that, if the net- 

 ting Avere to go as much as six inches be- 

 loAV the surface, there Avould be very littU 

 danger of animals digging under. For th« 

 protection of the foAvls at night on thei: 

 roost I Avould, hoAvever, go a little deeper 

 or, perhaps, better still, turn the loAvei 

 edge out horizontally about six inches. Yoi 

 Avill notice the barbed Avire Avhere the incl 

 netting and the tAvo-inch meet. There is 

 also a barbed-Avire strip along on top oi 

 the post. This barbed Avire prevents un- 

 ruly cows from making their Avay througl 

 the netting. DoAvn along the creek Ave hav( 

 anotlier barbed Avire midAvay between th( 

 upper and loAver strands. 



In regard to groAving buckAvheat foi 

 grain as Avell as food for bees, the objec- 

 tion is that, Avhere you get the ground suf 

 ficiently fertile to groAV a crop, you car 

 groAV other tilings that Avill bring muci 

 more money than buckAvheat, such as pota- 

 toes, celery, etc. 



SOME GLIAIPSES OF NEIGHBOR ROOD'S CELERY 

 GROWING. 



I have said so much about Mr. Rood's 

 success Avith celery in past numbers thai 

 I shall need to explain only briefly the pic 

 tures. 



On one of the roAvs you get a glimps( 

 of the heavy i^aper that is doav used to ti« 

 the plants u^j for bleaching. The colorec 



