1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



9R 



sure of having something nice and appetizing 

 at each meal. Of course, they have money 

 to spare for such things ; and while great 

 crowds of people have money they like to 

 pay out in this way, is it not commendable 

 to work hard to please them, especially if 

 they are willing to pay us for it ? I might 

 mention right here, that I did not tind any 

 honey at this place ; but at a hotel in Grand 

 Rapids, where their prices were still higher, 

 I found beautiful-looking honey on the bill 

 of fare, with beautiful tender hot cakes 

 brought you just as fast as you took the last 

 one from a little plate. Seventy-flve cents 

 was the price for supper ; but it was a beau- 

 tiful and a delicious supper. The point I am 

 coming to is this: I'eople who are out of 

 work can surely find something to do in sup- 

 plying the wants of those who frequent our 

 expensive hotels ; and if they workdiligent- 

 ty to produce a delicacy or luxury not here- 

 tofore known or generally found, they shall 

 surely have good pay. 



While we were examining the lettuce in 

 that greenhouse, I was very curious about 

 the manner in which he produced the new 

 variety by selection ; and he explained some- 

 thing as follows : 



" Mr. Root, to your eyes these plants are 

 all exactly alike. You see no odd ones, or 

 'sports,' as we call them; but my friend 

 Smith, who has been in the business, can, 

 without question, pick out plants here and 

 there that are not true; that is, that are 

 something else." 



Mr. Smith took hold of one at once, and 

 asked if that really came from the same 

 seed, or whether it was another seed that 

 got in the ground in some way. Mr. Davis 

 replied : 



•' I do not think any other seed was in the 

 ground, nor do I think any seed was dropped. 

 The truth is. when we get in the habit of 

 scrutinizing every plant closely, we find 

 sports showing themselves more or less 

 marked in every lot of lettuce we raise, no 

 matter where the seed came from ; and the 

 same is true, to a greater or less extent, with 

 other vegetables. To develop this variety 

 I have taken the utmost care to secure such 

 plants as show the marked peculiarities I 

 wish to perpetuate ; and the seed I have, 

 would, no doubt, run down and go back in a 

 very few years, in the liands of a careless or 

 indifferent person." 



Ilis remarks were, perhaps, not exactly as 

 I have given above, but were the same thing 

 in substance. I could hardly bear to leave 

 that greenhouse. The sight that met my 



gaze as I turned back for one last look was 

 worth to me my whole trip to Michigan. 

 But I had no excuse for taking the time of 

 my good friends, nor for keeping them wait- 

 ing longer. 



Our friend Davis is in the habit, I am 

 told, of supplying all the greenhouses round 

 about Grand Rapids with plants or seed for 

 this new Grand Rapids lettuce. He has 

 made an arrangement with the proprietors 

 to keep the seed in his own hands, and so 

 far he has succeeded in keeping it out of the 

 hands of the seedsmen. Now, I wanted some 

 seed, and I felt a pleasure in paying our 

 young friend a good price ; in fact, it seemed 

 to me that it was right and proper to reward 

 him for what he had done in his specialty. As 

 an encouragement in the work for others, 

 I have decided to mention here that I 

 paid him fiftji dollars for half a pound of seed, 

 and 1 told him, too, he was at perfect liberty, 

 so far as I was concerned, to sell it to other 

 seedsmen if he chose. I don't want any mo- 

 nopoly myself. Our engraver lias tried to 

 give you a piclure of the new Gran-l Rapids 

 lettuce. 



"GliAND KAl'IDS*' LETTTCE, ORIOINATED 

 15 Y 51 R. EUGENE DAVIS. 



Now, I was very well aware when I paid 

 our friend at the rate of one hundred dol- 

 lars a pound for tlie seed, it by no means fol- 

 lowed that any of us could raise such lettuce 

 as he does, witliout the wonderful skill which 

 he has acquired during all these years. I 

 therefore offered him still more money to 

 tell me all about raising it. He replied at 



