1884 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTUHE. 



ordered, and what the price was. Very true, I did 

 see the price in some advertisement; but the adver- 

 tisement is now lost, and our g-ardener could not 

 tell whether the order was filled correctly or not, for 

 no invoice came; therefore before we can credit our 

 friend we have got to go out into the field and 

 count the plants, tell the names of each kind, then 

 ffo bacls to old files of agricultural papers, and hunt 

 the price, before we can credit him on the ledger. \ 

 do not know how it is with you, my friends, but I 

 feel like saying I would pay moi'e money to some- 

 body who has "get-up" enough to say on a postal 

 card, " I have mailed you two dozen strawberry- 

 plants, at 63 cts. a dozen— $1.30." It is always a re- 

 lief to me to SCO the amount I am to pay, or the 

 credit to be given, carried out in plain figures, with 

 the dollar-sign mark by the figures, so the clerks 

 can not make any mistake. Some raspberry-plants 

 from friend Martin, who advertises in this number, 

 are in the same predicament. They came, and were 

 handed right over to the gardener, to plant them 

 out quickly; but we have waited and waited for a 

 postal card, and now the book-keepers are pester- 

 ing me to know how much they shall ci-edit Mr. 

 Martin for his raspberry-plants, that they saw me 

 have. I do not even know how many there were. 

 If I did, I do not know what they are worth, without 

 hunting it up. Do your business in a businesslike 

 way, and wind it up by telling how much money 

 you want, sharp and clear. 



at all. If she does, I will tell you what she says to 

 it, and give her the book before Christmas. 



ANOTHEIt VALUABLE NEW BOOK. 



I AM always glad to see any of the children at our 

 home show a special liking or talent in any given 

 direction. I am glad to see them take up some sub- 

 ject tor a hobbj'; and if I do not find them develop- 

 ing ability and taste for some branch, I feel worried 

 about it. You know how I have been watching 

 Blue Eyes all these years. She does not like bees, 

 and sometimes I feared she did not like any thing 

 that requires very much work. Now she begins to 

 show where her forte lies. What do j^ou suppose it 

 is? Why, it is teaching school. Whenever she has 

 a holiday her first work is to gather up a class of 

 pupils. It does not matter where she gets them; 

 she just gathers them up wherever they can be 

 found handiest. It does not matter very much 

 whether they can read or not, she soon drills them 

 so that they will go thi-ough the motions very cn^d- 

 itably. The pleasant part of it is, that it is not only 

 herself that enjoys the work, but the children al- 

 ways seem to be glad to play school. Well, you 

 know this is pretty near time to be thinking about 

 (^"hristmas presents; and so yesterday, when a book 

 was laid on my table, entitled " Teaching and Teach- 

 ers," I thought of her straightway; and imagine 

 the surprise and pleasure I felt when I discovered 

 the book was by our old friend H. Clay Trumbull, 

 ciV.Xaroi the Sunday-School Times. The book is so 

 interesting, that, no matter where you open it, you 

 find it hard work to lay it down. It is full of sketch- 

 es and stories, all of them in that bright, vivid fash- 

 ion that only Dr. Trumbull knows how to employ. 

 The price of the book is $I.5;1; but any of you who 

 want it for a Christmas present, or any other pur- 

 pose, may have it for $1.35. It is a book of 377 

 pages, with marginal notes. Perhaps you would 

 like to know how it it is that I have put it into print 

 here about Blue Eyes' Christmas present. To tell 

 the truth, she never reads Gleanings, and so rare- 

 ly the Juvenile that I have no idea she will see it 



OUR NEW CARP-PONU. 



We are just now enjoying ourselves, quite a num- 

 ber of us, making a carp-pond, on the latest and 

 most approved principles. It is about .50 by 100 feet, 

 and a man who makes carp-raising and pond-build- 

 \ ing his business, is here superintending it. I asked 

 j him so many questions about carp last evening, 

 that he was clear tired out and had to go to bed, and 

 I do not believe it was 9 o'clock either. Do you 

 want to know about carp? Well, they are a new- 

 kind of fish that come from Germany. They won't 

 live in lakes and rivers, because they are so quiet 

 and inoffensive (and so good to eat) that the other 

 fish won't let them grow. Well, in a little private 

 pond by themselves they lay their eggs in May; and 

 if it is a warm sunny place, about October the little 

 fishes will be from four to six inches long. During 

 the winter they lie pretty much dormant, and ne.xt 

 spring they commence to grow again, and the sec- 

 ond season thej' will weigh from one pound to a 

 j pound and a half. They are then fit for food. The 

 third year they will perhaps double in weight, and 

 so on for many years. A good female can lay from 

 a quarter to half a million eggs in a season, when 

 every thing works right, you can raise carp as fast 

 as bees, or faster. At present, these little one-year- 

 old chaps are worth about 8 to 10 dollars a hundred; 

 two-year-old ones are scarce at from 8 to 10 dollars 

 per dozen. So you see carp-raising pays at present 

 prices. They can be easily shipped by express in 

 iron-jacket cans, properly ventilated— that is, the 

 little fellows- can; but those two years old are some- 

 what risky. Just think of it! You pay $8.00 for a 

 hundred fish, keep them a year, and they are worth 

 I .f 80.03 a hundred, or more. A pond .50 by 103 feet 

 [ in size will pasture from 203 to 300 fish. When they 

 get old enough to weigh a pound apiece, you must 

 j take up some and sell them, or have them for break- 

 ! fast. Although thousands of ponds are scattered 

 I all over the United States, no carp has ever yet 

 been thrown on the market for food, that I know 

 of. The reason Is, there are so many inquisitive 

 Yankees that the fish are bought up to stock new 

 ponds with, as fast as they grow. 



There, now, little friends, if I haven't told the 

 truth about carp, you write and tell me what you 

 know about it. If you give me some valuable facts 

 in regard to the new industry, I will pay you for 

 your letters. 



THE WORLD'S EXPOSITION AT NEW 

 ORLEANS. 



PUE.MIU.M LIST ON APIARIAN SUPPLIES, ET( . 



TNCLOSED please find a letter which explains it- 

 |l[ self. Will you please insert it in the next issue 

 ^i of Gleanings, and state that I will mail a 

 '"*' premium list to all those who wi-ite to me for 

 it? P. L. Viallon. 



Bayo\i Goulu, La., Nov. 8, 18.S4. 



V. L. r(((//(U(;-V()iirs of ;.'sth ult.,vla New Orleans, 

 justri'CfivtMl. Hf|)lyiiij;-, 1 Ikivi' caused to lie sent you 

 200 copies Prem. List of tliis division for <-irc'ulati()ii 

 among the class intere.ste<l in ai)iar.\-, and .'?2.00 to 

 cover postage. You cau say tliat ample provisions 

 will be made lor all apiarian exiiiliits; that a prop- 

 er locality will be selected to permit |)ro|)ei-exei-cise 

 for bees, and a suitable i)erson appointed to take 

 chai-ge. All needed infornnition as to character of 

 e.vhibits and display of implements can be found on 

 p. 62 and 63 of Prem. last. G. C. Brackett, Supt. 



