1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUJ/PURE. 



735 



WHAT TO DO, AND HOW TO BE HAPPY WHILE DOING IT, 



Onitiimcd from Aug. l'>. 

 CHAPTER XXIII. 



and the Ici'ks 



We remeniher . . . the eueumbers, iiinl the melon 

 which we did eat in E^yi>t freely.— Num. 11: .5. 



and the onions, and the f>arlic, 



Continuing tlie conversiition which was 

 interrupted by our last cliapter, 1 letnaiked: 



'' Then, my friend, this wonderful corn has 

 been brought up to its present perfection by 

 your own efforts, has it V " 



"■ Well, somewhat ; but it was a very good 

 corn when 1 lirst began growing it." 



'■'• What do you call it V " 



'■• It is the Crosby Early sugar corn.'' 



We talked about a good many other 

 things; and as I bade him good-day I 

 thanked him for the important facts he 

 had furnished me. He in turn thanked me 

 for the pleasant chat I had given him. I 

 started off at a rapid rate, for my time in 

 Arlington was worth to me— how much '? 

 Well, something like five or ten dollars an 

 hour ; that is, I had paid out an amount of 

 cash to come so far that would make every 

 hour of my stay cost me something like live 

 or ten dollars, and therefore even the min- 

 utes were precious. I had not gone far, 

 however, before I thought I heard some- 

 body behind me. It was our old friend. As 

 he came up he remarked, '' If you will write 

 your name and address on a paper I will send 

 you some of the seed of that corn by mail 

 when it gets ripe." 



" Why, my good friend, I am much oblig- 

 ed to ijou; and if you will give me your 

 name also. I will with pleasure send you our 

 bee-journal for a year, that 1 was talking to 

 you about." 



He said he was getting to be so old he 

 could not read very much ; but he said he 

 would be very glad to look at it, especially 

 since I told him it contained more or less 

 pictures every month. AVhen I came to 

 write his name in my memorandum -bock, 

 what do you think it was V Why, this : Jo- 

 duh Crod){j. I looked up in astonishment as 

 I put out my hand again to him. 



"Why, my friend, is it true that 1 have 

 been talking this morning with the origina- 

 tor of the Crosby Early sugar corn V " He 

 bowed and smiled. 



Now, dear friends, I warn you, l)efore you 

 send to friend Crosby for some of his sweet 

 com to plant, that unless you have the Ar- 

 lington soil, or soil as they manure it, your 

 corn will turn out like that which we have 

 already, pretty much- 

 I noticed on friend Crosby's plaeu they 



wt're pidling up cabl)age-stiunps, and draw- 

 ing them off ill carts to a compost heap. I 

 noticed afterward, also, that, when com- 

 posted Willi manure, they gave a decidedly 

 rich smell. I asked Mr. Crosby if they nev- 

 er fed them to stock ; but he said there was 

 not stock euougli to consume the hundredth 

 part of them. They are composted, and 

 worked back into the ground again. I ask- 

 ed him if he had ever been able to make 

 any estimate^ of tlieir pro])able value for 

 compost. He said lie tliought a ton of cab- 

 bage-stumps was worth pretty nearly if not 

 quite as much as a ton of night-soil, which 

 is largely used in the gardens of Arlington. 

 Their plan of using night-soil is to make 

 heaps of stable manure in the fields, and 

 then hollow out the center so as to make a 

 cavity. The night-soil is now drawn in 

 carts and dumped into this cavity. The 

 manure is now thrown over it, and the whole 

 heap is forked over from time to time until 

 it becomes a dark homogeneous mass, ready 

 to be spread and plowed under. 



Dandelions are a favorite crop in Arling- 

 ton. Sometimes we found half an acre of 

 them, and they told me that they found 

 them to be a veiy profitable crop. In early 

 spring the dandelions bring ijU.OO a barrel, 

 for early greens. It takes two years to get 

 a crop; that is, the seed is sown in the 

 spring, and the plants are cut for market 

 the next spring. These cultivated dande- 

 lions are very much larger than our wild 

 ones growing in the fields. The plant is cut 

 for market just before it begins to blossom. 



ItAISING tUCUMUEUS IN GUEENIKJUSES, FOR 

 THE 150ST0N MARKET. 



Mr. W. AV. Rawsou is the great cucum- 

 ber-man of Arlington. He has seven green- 

 houses devoted exclusively to raising cu- 

 cumbers. These seven greenhouses contain 

 over 1000 hills. The vines are trained on a 

 trellis running about a foot below the sash- 

 es. .My attendant told me they picked one 

 day 2000 cucumbers which were sold in the 

 winter at SO cts. each, or ^VM) for (me day's 

 picking. They warm the houses by steam. 

 It has generally been thought a ditficult mat- 

 ter to raise cucumbers under glass ; but my 

 attendant said there was not any trouble 

 ■At all. I suppose there is no trouble, because 



