92 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



seek diligently, in the language of ouv text. 

 People just now begin to believe that the 

 promise, "Seek, and ye shall find; knock, 

 and it shall be opened unto you,'' is trne. 

 Not only that, they begin to comprehend 

 what we might have but have not at present 

 got. At our farmers' institute, in speaking 

 of this matter, I turned to an expert in the 

 line of berries and small tniits.. Said I, 



" Mr. Longnecker, how much would fruit- 

 growers give now for a strawberry that com- 

 bines all valuable qualities V " 



" I could not say, Mr. Root ; but for such 

 a strawberry as the present times demand 

 and are longing for, a very large sum of 

 money would be given.'' 



" I think I can safely say that a purchaser 

 could be found who would pay a thousand 

 dollars or more for a couple of plants. Am I 

 not right, friend L. V '' 



lie nodded his head. Well, friends, straw- 

 berries are only an illustration. The same 

 matter is coming up, not only in small 

 fruits and in vegetables, but earnest, faith- 

 ful, hopeful men — ay. and women too — are 

 at work in many lines of animal and vege- 

 table life. At our State fairs you will see 

 small light horses, specially for speed. They 

 have evidently been bred — or, if you choose, 

 made to order— for speed, leaving out every 

 thing else. A little further along yon will 

 find in the stables, horses specially for the 

 heaviest kind of team work— great massive 

 frames, and legs and feet that are simply 

 wonderful. They are gotten up — in fact, 

 they are the work of years— with the special 

 point in view of bearing great burdens and 

 doing it easily. The mayor of the city of 

 East Saginaw, Mich., invited the members 

 of the horticultural society, and the bee-con- 

 convention as well (as they were held at one 

 and the same time), to see the sights of the 

 city. Well, one sight that impressed me 

 was their immense powerful horses , employed 

 in paving the streets. Why, when one of 

 these great fellows set down his toot it was 

 almost equal to rolling the car of Juggei-uaut 

 over the paving-stones, to settle them down 

 solidly into their places. These great fel- 

 lows not only possessed enormous strength, 

 but they were gentle and docile, and seemed 

 to enjoy life just as much as the lleet, trim, 

 neat little horses enjoy their work of making 

 the best speed. These different animals 

 were the reward of seeking earnestly in this 

 line for what God has in his infinite wisdom 

 placed in store for us. Think of what has been 

 done in the line of tomatoes (since they were 

 first discovered within the memory of most 



of us, to be fit for human food). We have 

 been made happy by the great luscious 

 Mikado that I spoke to you about at the 

 close of Chapter XLII. While we are about 

 it I might mention that there has been a 

 great deal of trouble with the rot in toma- 

 toes. Prof. Bailey, of the Agricultural Col- 

 lege, Michigan, made the remark, that the 

 small pear and plum tomatoes never rot. I 

 instantly suggested that somebody set to 

 work to enlarge the pear tomatoes. He 

 said it had been done, and that the tomato 

 was named the King Humbert. It was not 

 full size , for the work is yet only half done. We 

 last year raised quite a crop of the King Hum- 

 bert, and discovered, as he said, that the 

 tomato was hardly half size as yet ; we f oxmd, 

 also, that the genius who had been at work 

 at it, in his eagerness to get size had ignored 

 the matter of shape and color ; so the pres- 

 ent King Humbert is very awkward and un- 

 prepossessing. Very likely, however, some 

 of you may tell me, as soon as these words 

 meet your eye, that some brother (he may 

 be across the ocean), has been at work to ob- 

 viate this defect, and that we now have a 

 good-sized tomato with good shape and color 

 that has been produced from the pear toma- 

 to. We do not begin to know what is going 

 on in this world ; but our conventions and 

 horticultural societies, farmers' institutes, 

 etc., are doing much to let us know what is 

 going on, and who are the faithful, earnest 

 workers. I am now ready to get back to my 

 subject. 



Before me stood a young man, perhaps 

 thirty-five years old, who had been at work 

 all by himself for fifteen long years in im- 

 proving lettuce. He started with the Black- 

 seeded Simpson, and the new plant very much 

 resembles the Black- seeded Simpson now. 

 He not only wanted lettuce that wouldn't 

 rot, but he wanted rapid growth, light-col- 

 ored, handsome in appearance, crisp and 

 tender, excellent in fiavor, and lettuce that 

 could be kept for ten days or more without 

 hurting, so as to become unsalable ; and, in 

 short, just such a lettuce as the large hotels 

 in our great cities demand. At the bee- 

 keepers' convention, held in Chicago, Nov. 17, 

 I saw lettuce on the bill of fare. As it was 

 early in the season, I asked the waiter to 

 bring me some lettuce, and he brought me 

 a plant, beautiful and crisp, that looked as 

 if it had just been taken from the green- 

 house. It was tender as well as handsome. 

 This hotel charges $2.50 a day for board and 

 lodging, yet crowds of people throng its 

 tables, mainly, perhaps, because they are 



