920 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



that they took hold of the glaziers' tools and 

 finished the whole house themselves, when it 

 was too cold for anybody else to work. It is 

 now a thing of joy to at least three people, for it 

 does not leak a drop. Fred and Frank learned 

 the trade of setting glass, and got a present 

 from their employer as a recognition of their 

 skill and endurance. 



"And they straightway left their nets, and 

 followed him." Did they make a mistake in so 

 doing? and are you ready to do as much? Let 

 me whisper to ijon. the words that have been 

 ringing in my ears ever since that evening— 

 the words of that sweet-voiced woman who 

 whispered so gently to me, '• Dear brother, have 

 you ever given your heart to Christ Jesus?" 



LETTUCE-GROWING IN GKEENHOUSES. 



Now is the time to begin to push things in 

 growing lettuce under glass. I am satisfied 

 that the very best manure is fresh horse ma- 

 nure, with all the coarse straw sifted out. 

 Break it up fine with a lath or strip of board, 

 or, better still, pour it down on the ground and 

 let the chickens scratch it over and pick out 

 the seeds and undigested grains. Of course, 

 they will spread it over a good deal of ground 

 in a little while; but if you give them a nice 

 clean place you can soon sweep it up again 

 Now make up your beds, spading (or, rather, 

 forking) clear down to the bottom; or if in a 

 greenhouse right on the ground, spade down to 

 the yellow earth. Chop it up fine with a rake; 

 then sift, so as to get the coarser particles at 

 the bottom, and finally spread your manure 

 over the surface of the beds an inch or more in 

 depth. Now chop it in thoroughly, so as to 

 mix it completely with the fine sifted soil. 

 Water it just enough; put on your bottom heat, 

 If you have any, and then wait until every 

 weed seed has germinated before you put in 

 your lettuce-plants or sow any seeds. In this 

 way you will save a big lot of finger-weeding. 

 When the seeds and grains in the manure have 

 all germinated, chop it all over once more with 

 your sharp steel rake, then rub the surface 

 smooth with a strip of board, killing the weeds 

 and fining the soil; and then cover the surface 

 of the beds once more with half an inch of to- 

 bacco dust. Now put in your lettuce-plants, 7 

 inches apart from center to center, and you will 

 have little if any trouble with weeds, because 

 the lettuce will soon fill the ground, and the 

 tobacco dust will effectually cut off all bother 

 and trouble from the green fly. snails, and any 

 other enemies of this kind. This fresh rank 

 stable manure is worth more for rank foliage 

 in nriy opinion, than anv other fertilizer in the 

 world. Real old-fashioned guano might be a 

 help, but I don't believe any thing else is worth 

 bothering with. 



HIGH-PRESSURE GARDENING IN CALIFORNIA. 



Mr. -Root;— When I read your article, " High- 

 pressure Gardening during dry Weather," I 

 had to smile (audibly). Well, it was in regard 

 to that remarkable peach-orchard, where you 

 said that "some of the young growth had 

 grown 18 inches or 2 feet." Said I to my wife, 

 as I leaned back from the table. " We can beat 

 that all hollow out here." So with tape-line 

 and ten-foot pole in hand I went out into the 

 orchard to measure a peach-tree which was set 

 out in the spring of 189.^. I don't remember the 



time, but perhaps it was in March. I put out •! 

 several at the same time, and they are all near- ''■> 

 ly the same size now. They were all dormant 

 buds when set out, and, of course, have grown 

 from the ground. The one I measured was 

 exactly <i feet and 8 inches high, and the 

 branches were 8 feet and 6 inches across. The 

 circumference of the trunk 4 inches from the 

 ground was a little over 10 inches. In July, 

 about 1() months from planting, this tree ripen- 

 ed 14 as nice Early Crawford peaches as I ever 

 saw. measuring from 7 to 9 inches. You no 

 doubt will say this is a California story; but I 

 can assure you it is no uncommon thing to 

 have Salway peaches from 9 to 11 inches. 



And now since I am telling California stories 

 (true all the same) I want to speak about some 

 pumpkins I raised last year near the roadside 

 (without irrigation), which attracted much at- 

 tention and comment. One evening, when 

 three men were passing I told them I would 

 give either of them the largest one in the 

 patch if he would load it on his cart without 

 help. So the first man, whom we will call No. 

 1, after vainly trying several times, gave it up. 

 lou see. it is not so much the weight as the 

 shape. No. 2 approached with much confidence 

 and kneeled beside the monster, and. after 

 many efforts, finally succeeded in rolling it up 

 into his lap, and from there to his shoulder- 

 but when he tried to rise with it he also failed, 

 and let it roll off. amid the laugh and jeers of 

 those around. Now up comes No. 3, wi'tb face 

 beaming with radiance and expectation, and, 

 after getting his second hold on it, he succeed- 

 ed in picking it up and carrying it some 30 feet, 

 and landed it successfully in his cart and drove 

 up town and ascertained its weight to be 140 lbs. 

 These men were all large and stout. I had one 

 in another patch which tipped the beam at 168 

 lbs.— from the seed of one that weighed 173 lbs. 

 the year before. I also raised, last year, with- 

 out irrigation, some very large sweet potatoes, 

 one hill producing 35 lbs., and one potato which 

 weighed J.5 lbs., and was smooth and perfect in 

 shape. It was sent to the Midwinter Fair at 

 San Francisco, but there were others there still 

 larger. 



Yes, the way we do it is by thorough cultiva- 

 tion and very little water, and often none from 

 the time the seed is put in the ground until har- 

 vest. This year is an exceedingly dry one, and 

 we have had to irrigate more than usual. Last 

 winter's rainfall was less than 8 inches— none 

 falling since December— yet there is plenty of 

 corn which will make from 30 to 60 bushels to 

 the acre, with only two irrigations. 



Fruit of all kinds has been a good crop and of 

 No. 1. quality. 



One more, and I will quit. I raised Muscat 

 grapes 3 inches in circumference, from vines 

 set last year— the same variety we make raisins 

 from. T. L. Hoi.i.oway. 



Whittier, Gal., Oct. 1. 



[Very good, friend H. I am prepared to be- 

 lieve all you say, for I saw similar results in 

 favored localities; but I saw also a great deal 

 of poor, shiftless slipshod farming in California. 

 In fact, I am inclined to think that such crops 

 as yours are the exception. You did not tell 

 how much those big pumpkins and sweet pota- 

 toes were worth for cooking. The boys were 

 just telling me that they are having difficulty 

 in selling the large sweet potatoes we get from 

 Baltimore. They say customers keep picking 

 out the smaller ones. We can not equal you in 

 peaches and peach-trees, it is true; but a friend 

 of mine— a brother of the one who has the 

 peach-orchard I told you about— said he had 

 just sold some Salway peaches, raised on his 

 own Medina clay soil, that brought readily 

 II. '.'.5 per half-bushel basket ; and that, too, 



