I'M 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1. 



however, answer nicely for spinach, but I have 

 not tried them very nuich. When I was down 

 at Newcomerstowii my friends Ward well and 

 Nicodemus told me that beautiful lettuce had 

 been raised in their locality, with no covering 

 except cloth, and I think we could do the same 

 thing here if the cloth were covered with shut- 

 ters, straw mats, or something of that sort, 

 when the temperature is down to, say, '> or 10 

 above zero. 



Now, just as we get to this cloth-covered 

 frame you will notice another streak of bare 

 ground running down to some sashes at the 

 left side of the picture. After I got my steam- 

 heating apparatus nicely at work I noticed 

 there was an accumulation of water at this 

 point — that is, water in the tiles; and as there 

 was a slight depression right where it accumu- 

 lated, so as to interfere with the passage of the 

 steam, I was obliged to lay a line of tile to carry 

 oflf this condensed steam; and. without think- 

 ing about it, I had another hot piece of ground 

 ovre this tile, and where it discharged into the 

 open air I soon found we had a hot spring 

 rivaling some of the hot springs of California. 

 I made a little reservoir of this hot water, and 

 set a frame over it to hold sashes. The hot 

 water was carried in tiles all around the bed, 

 making sub-irrigation, and regulating temper- 

 ature with hot water besides. Well, this work- 

 ed beautifully daring the month of January, 

 and I invited our friends at the experiment 

 station to come and see my combination of hot- 

 water heating and sub-irrigation. With the 

 severe weather mentioned, however, my Prize- 

 taker onion-plants began to look a little sick. 

 You see. the beds are covered with the slatted 

 glass I have mentioned before; and the onion- 

 plants were thriving to such an extent that 

 they actually stuck through the spaces between 

 the glass; but a zero temperature shriveled up 

 their tops, and shriveled up the bottoms of 

 some of them also. Hot water at the bottom of 

 an onion, and zero around its top, did not work 

 first rate. Notwithstanding, we have a pretty 

 good stand of onions in that bed, and it comes 

 as near being an automatic hot-bed as any 

 thing I ever saw. 



There are various other plats on our grounds, 

 not shown in the picture, where the exhaust 

 steam has been crawling off into our drain- 

 tiles where we least expected it. Beyond the 

 evergreens up near to our house we have been 

 planning to have some hot- beds for flowers; 

 but it has not yet materialized, unless the nice 

 bed of dandelions, with bees buzzing all over 

 them, might be called a floral display. The 

 exhaust steam, after going all around und r 

 the floor, as I have heretofore explained, m.ik- 

 ing so many twists and turns you might think 

 all the heat would be tortured out of it — the 

 surplus, after doing all this, finally comes out 

 of the center chimney near the little observa- 

 tory with a fence around it, on the peak of the 

 house. The artist who did the half-toning 

 made a mistake in retouching, and put in some 

 steam coining out of the north chimney. 



Right above the poultry- house is seen the 

 residence of Mr. J. T. Calvert, our son-in-law, 

 and business numager of the establishm(;nt. 

 Th(i building next to the east belongs to Neigh- 

 bor II., who married Mrs. Root's sister. The 

 artist has bcf-n trying to give it some " re- 

 touches," but I for one do not very much ad- 

 mire them. Ernest's home, still further to the 

 right, does not show in the picture; but it is an 

 almost exact counterpart of Mr. Calvert's, both 

 being built after the same plan. Perhaps I 

 should add that the row of hot- beds in the 

 center of the picture runs east and west. lie- 

 yond the evergreens is a street separating our 

 home from the rest of Rootville across the way. 



CHEMICAL FEKTILIZEKS VS. STABLE MANURE 

 ETC. 



A. I. Root: — On page 3.51 of Gleanings for 

 March 1.5 I find the following note concerning a 

 little notice in the Rural, about Mr. T. B. Ter- 

 ry's new book: 



Now, I believe every word tlie Rural says; but] 

 ai)] a little surprised to see they g-ive such extrava 

 gant pruise to a book that does not agrree with tlietr 

 at all in the use of rhemical fertilizers. In fact, ^ 

 sometimes feel troubled to see the Rural, week «f tei 

 week, g-ive such tremendous puffs to these things 

 and perhaps T might confess tliat I also feel trou 

 bled to see the results of Terry's experiments, yeai 

 after j'ear, indicate so clearly that every chemica 

 fertilizer he undertakes to use does just no good ai 

 all. I really wish we could put Terry on some sori 

 of soil where fertilizers ivoukl avail. But I an 

 afraid that, even then, he would get such tremen 

 dous crops of clover that the fertilizer would b( 

 tlirown into the sh;ide oi- into nothingness. Anc 

 then tlie thing tluit troubles me again is, lie wouk 

 not use any sort of fertilizer to get the clover start 

 ed. Now, T. B. Terry is certainly a great teacher 

 and the Riudl New-Yorkei- is also another grea 

 teacher. How in the world can it be that theii 

 teachings, or, rather, their experiences, should dif 

 f er so trememlously 'i 



I am somewhat surprised that you shoulc 

 infer that the Rural might not speak well o 

 a work that appeared to upset some of its owr 

 experience. We are not bigoted in the east 

 It gives us pleasure to record any honest sue 

 cess, and we care not whether that success i 

 reached through our advice or against it. Thi 

 is a great big country. Soils, climate, and con 

 ditious, difl'er. When Mr. Terry makes hi 

 little farm pay without the use of fertilizers 

 we rejoice at it, and are thankful that he ha 

 not only the ability to do so, but the power t( 

 tell others about it. Permit me to say that mj 

 experience has shown me that fertilizer farmer 

 are more charitable toward those who stil 

 cling to the " old way " of manuring than ou 

 "stable-manure" farmers are toward thos( 

 who use phosphate. 



Our reports of fertilizer farms are true — a 

 true as Mr. Terry's story. Our experience is 

 that nine tenths of those who begin to us< 

 fertilizers are " convinced against their will.' 

 We can, if you like, show you dozens of mei 

 who, by the use of fertilizers, are raising large 

 crops, and making more money than Mr. Terry 

 and every one of them fought hard against thi 

 first use of fertilizer — in fact, few of them couk 

 see any benefit from the first few applications 

 Please don't be troubled about our fertilize) 

 tall- Terry will come to fertilizers before th( 

 Rural goes back on them. When you see i 

 report of a big yield on fertilizers printed in th( 

 Rural, please remciuiber that it is not a fairy 

 tale but a fact. 



In 1890, *34.038,45'3 worth of fertilizers wen 

 manufactured in the United States. Some o 

 this was undoubtedly wasted, for the reason 

 chiefly, that farmers did not understand theii 

 use. Is it not perfectly legitimate for us to at 

 tempt to try to educate farmers in this line'. 

 Will you not be kind enough to say that a good 

 part of our fertilizer talk (as on page 1(58) is Ir 

 the line of crtuc«tio?i. and not a "* tremendous 



puff "? H. W. COLLINOWOOD, 



Managing Editor of the Rural New-Yorker. 

 New York, March 11). 



[Many thanks, good friends of the Rural. 

 I confess it will be one of my " happy surprises '■ 

 when I find I can make chemical fertilizers take 

 the place of stable numure. For instance, a||[ 

 great many times valuable crops in our plant 

 beds are not pushing ahead as we should like 

 to have them do; or at some stage of their 

 growth they begin to slacken. I can not cover 

 them with stable manure — or, at least, not very 



