18!»4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURP:. 



was carrit'd on almost a dead lovcl. It, dropped 

 just a little, because the waltu- in the cisiern 

 was constantly falling v(M'y slowly as they let 

 it ofT into th(^ ditch. In order to go through 

 the highest land, they had to cut in some places 

 four or live feet deep. This line of tih^ was car- 

 ried through a neighbor's land until I reached 

 my own ground again not far from the big 

 windmill. When on the corner of my lot I 

 made another small cistern by setting in the 

 ground (on end) two lengths of 18-inch sewer- 

 pip(\ The tile from the swamp emptied into 

 this sewer-pipe about a foot above the bottom. 

 On the opposite side of the sew(>r-pipe. and ti 

 inches lower, a 3-inch iron pipe with a strainer 

 over the end was put in. This was the outlet. 

 With old discarded boiler-llues that had been 

 accumulating for years. I piped this water clear 

 down to our steam-boilers, and obtained head 

 enough so it would deliver the water into an 

 iron tank located just above the boilers. Well, 

 for two months past, the water from the swamj) 

 garden has furnished our boilers, using from 100 

 to 200 barrels per day. When I explain to you 

 that heretofore we have been pumping water 

 from Champion Krook, 700 feet away, and about 

 18 feet hchnr the boilers, you can understand 

 somethingwhat a saving my swampspeculation 

 is making. Another thing, the water from our 

 wells is so hard that it destroys our boiler-tlues 

 in a comparatively short period of tiTiie. The 

 water from Champion Brook is quite a little 

 better: but still a scale, more or less, is always 

 forming on the flues. The water from the 

 swamp proves to be almost pure soft water; and 

 the saving in flues will pay a big interest on the 

 whole investment. Besides this there is a great 

 saving of coal that was formerly used in pump- 

 ing water from Champion Brook. The boys 

 and all the rest of the family are, of course, 

 thoroughly converted now to the wisdom of my 

 speculation in the swamp. Another thing, I 

 have got thorough control of the water, so I 

 can make it stand at any depth I wish for my 

 celery, onions, or other crops. 



Do you want to know what there is to help 

 you in this? Why.it shows you that, with a 

 reservoir to catch the water from your under- 

 drains located higher up. you may have a nice 

 little home-made waterworks, and often get 

 fall enough to cary the water into your barn, 

 stables, and perhaps all through your house, 

 without very much expense either. Where you 

 want to carry the water on a dead level through 

 impervious clay soil, common tiles will do al- 

 most as well as any thing. When, however, 

 the fall commences, in order to get a pressure 

 or head on your waterworks you will be com- 

 pelled to use iron pipe. Old discarded flues or 

 second-hand pipes will often answer an excel- 

 lent purpose for many years. My flues were all 

 dipped in liquid asphaltum after they were all 

 fitted ready to put together. The consequence 

 is, the water looks and tastes like pure spring 

 water. The underdraining will probably be a 

 good investment any way; and having nice 

 water all over your premises, without any 

 pumping, is a tremendouHhi good investment 

 for any home. 



A NKW SOKT OF CKP;.SS FOK WINTEK USK. 



Among some of the seed we sowed in the 

 greenhouse last winter, three or four stalks of 

 nasturtiums sprang up. As it seemed a rank 

 grower, and was rather pretty, I let them run; 

 and when the greenhouse was closed up at the 

 approach of winter (almost a year later), there 

 were the plants still growing. When the sash 

 were put on, it seemed to take on new life; and 

 I told the boys to tie up some of the tender 

 green shoots and let them run. To my surprise 

 the plant acted as if it might occupy the whole 



greenhouse by sending out long slender vines 

 and tendrils; and it s(>enu'd as if some of them 

 grew two or three inches in a night. 'I'hi' short 

 days, and the rich comijost together, pioduced 

 a rank growth of light color, soniei.hing like a 

 potato-shoot growing in ilie dark. As these 

 t(Midrils got in my way, I got a fa-^hion of snap- 

 l)ing them otf and putting tln-m into my mouth. 

 Finally, when tliey were encroaciiing on tln^ 

 lettuce I directed one of the boys to trim otf a 

 lot of that exuberant foliage. .lust as I started 

 away a thought struck me, and I said: "Look 

 here. Frank, take those shoots into the lunch- 

 room and tell them to cut them up and serve 

 them for dinner, with peppt.r, salt, and vine- 

 gar." Everybody who got a taste of it, I guess, 

 wanted more: and one of the boardi^rs asked 

 me afterward where I got water cress in the 

 month of .lanuary. Now. then, if sturtion 

 shoots and leaves would sell for the price of 

 lettuce, or even a little less, what a picnic we 

 shall have in growing it for the markets! After 

 the idea was suggested to me I thought it had 

 a taste remarkably like water-cress. Acting 

 on the suggestion. I had all the little sturtion- 

 plants picked up from among the lettuce, and 

 set in rows by themselves: and who knows but 

 I shall develop a new industry in the way of 

 winter salads? By the way. did any of you 

 ever before hear of serving" up sturtions as a 

 table dish? 



HEELING IN STHA ABRHKIES. RASPBEKHIES, 



ETC., IN EAKl.Y WINTKK. TO HE PI.ANTKI) 



OUT IN THE SPKING. 



Mr. Root: — Will you please give me your 

 opinion and experience on taking up strawber- 

 ry and raspberry plants now and heeling them 

 in to be set out in spring? I want to move in 

 spring, and take plants with me. I have pulled 

 some and put them in a pit, but I should like to 

 hear from you before 1 pull more. 



.1. E. Henderson. 



Valley Grove, W. Va., Dec. lit. 



[Friend H., I have had no very great experi- 

 ence in this line; but what I have had is 

 againsi it. While I have at times succeeded 

 in giving the plants as good a place to win- 

 ter as where they grew originally, most of the 

 time I have failed. They would either be too 

 warm or toolcold; or if put into a pit, very likely 

 too damp. In your case I would get the priv- 

 ilege of removing the stuff in the spring. I 

 know that nurserymen recommend this way of 

 doing, and practice it to a great extent; but I 

 shall never buy any more stulf of a nursej-yman. 

 if I can help it, that he has wintered over in the 

 cellar so that he can get at it early in the 

 spring. Last spring a firm sent out tremendous 

 advertisements, and gave photographs of great 

 crowds of men putting up trees and plants to 

 ship. These people talked so much about their 

 extra facilities for keeping plants during winter 

 in their nice cellars that I gave them a trial 

 order. We got gooseberries, blackberries, cur- 

 rants, and other hardy pla)its that are usually 

 almost sure to grow. The shippers were liber- 

 al enough to throw in quite a lot of extras; but 

 not half of the plants ever made any start to 

 grow; and they were so feeble, those that did 

 start. I am afraid that scarcely a thing got 

 growth enough during the whole season so as 

 to be ready to take hold and grow next spring.] 



TKANSPLANTING - TUHKS — A CHEAP WAY OK 

 GETTING THEM. 



In towns of only a few thousand inhabitants 

 they often have to hire a team to draw off emi>- 

 ty fruit-cans, and dump them, perhaps, down 

 some bank or in some unfrequented place. Not 

 long ago I saw a place where these tin cans 



