630 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug, 



self until he gets ready. By the way, I 

 wonder if he is going to get a crop of honey 

 this year. Our irrepressible neighbor Shane 

 brought us yesterday a sample case, and 

 coolly informed us that he has about 2000 

 lbs. But we liave not got through with the 

 picture yet. Just beneath friend Doolittle 

 we see a colony fixed for hibernation. I 

 guess it must be under a strawstack. Our 

 good friend W. F. Clarke, however, does 

 not seem (juite satisfied to " let 'em hiber- 

 nate '' after nature's fashion, for he has re- 

 moved his plug hat, and our artist has tak- 

 en him in the act of poking his head into 

 the strawstack, to see how things are going. 

 Very likely it is all tranciuil. The Rambler, 

 tired out by the adventures of the day, is 

 sleeping the sleep of the just. We know it 

 is the Rambler himself, for he has put his 

 hat on the foot of the bed, and deposited his 

 documents inside of it. 



"WHAT CAN WE DO DURING THE LAT- 

 TER PART OF AUGUST? 



OTHER WORDS, IF NO HONEY IS 

 WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO? 



TN the first place, August is the great 

 M month for putting out strawberries, 

 ^l and I never before knew of so beautiful 

 -■' an August for putting out strawberry- 

 plants as the one we are now having. 

 In our locality we have abundant rains 

 right straight along, as often as once in 

 three or four days, and a good deal of the 

 time much oftener. I need not go into de- 

 tails aboiit setting strawberries, for friend 

 Terry and others have told us all about it. 

 Briefly, work up your ground fine and mel- 

 low, putting on all the manure you can rake 

 and scrape. Fit the ground, in fact, just as 

 you would for a good crop of corn, and then 

 get your plants of your neighbors, if you are 

 not prepared to get them from your own 

 grounds. The transplanting-tubes work 

 most beautifully. The young plants grow 

 exactly as well out in a field of mellow 

 ground as they do in the bed before they 

 were moved ; and runners that were started 

 on the little plant when it was taken up 

 keep right on growing after it is set out in 

 the field. We have hundreds doing just 

 that very thing now. If you want a big 

 crop of fruit, liowever, cut off every runner. 

 Keep out the weeds, and cultivate the plants 

 just as you would any other choice crop. 

 One great expense of strawberry culture is 

 weeding out the old beds. Well, if you get 

 a good strong growth in the fall, you will 

 get a good crop of fruit next season ; and 

 after the fruit is taken off, you can (if you 

 choose) plow your bed under, and plant 

 more strawberries or some other crop. This 

 is Peter Henderson's method of raising 

 strawberries, so as to dispense with the 

 enormous expense of labor in weeding them 

 through the fall. Raspberries can also be 

 planted in August when we have plenty of 

 rain. There is usually spare time during 

 this month so we can afford to do the work 

 extra well ; and having the work extra well 

 done is what gives great crops of all kinds 

 of V)erries. Asparagus - beds can also be 

 made in the fall, and it is much better to 



put them in early so as to have them make a 

 start, on account of the danger of being 

 thrown out by the frost. Wax beans, if 

 planted at once, will give a fair crop, unless 

 we have very early frosts. A great many 

 times they bring a good price, especially 

 when they come into market at a season 

 when they are comparatively a novelty. A 

 good many people use them for pickles, 

 when they are brought on late. Early beets 

 sown now will make a very good size for ta- 

 ble use, if the season is favorable ; the same 

 way with carrots. If you can find large 

 strong plants, a very good crop of celeiy 

 may be obtained by setting them out during 

 the last of August. A few days ago we set 

 out some plants that were so large they 

 would have done very well for the table had 

 they been bleached. To my great surprise, 

 these great big plants stood up and started 

 to grow, a good deal better than the small 

 plants. And I have invariably succeeded 

 best with very large celery-plants, say those 

 that stand up a foot or more high, and 

 are as big around as your wrist, just above 

 the roots. Crosby's extra-early corn, in fa- 

 vorable localities, if planted at once, will 

 probably give roasting-ears. We have been 

 much surprised this season to find Crosby's 

 Early not only the earliest corn by about 

 ten days, but the ears are large, well filled, 

 and, best of all, the quality is nearly if not 

 quite equal to any of the later kinds. Per- 

 haps the abundant rains and the extra rich 

 soil have had something to do with it. Al- 

 most every season a lot of people are want- 

 ing pickles after tlie frost has killed them 

 off. Well, sow some seeds now in your 

 cold-frames, and put on your sash when 

 frost comes, and you will have a nice lot of 

 pickles for tliose who are always a little too 

 late in their wants. Now is the time to 

 raise lettuce for fall use. See page 306. 

 Friend Terrell got :J^10.80 for the lettuce that 

 grew in a cold-frame only 12 feet square. 

 Your nearest large town would probably 

 take it off at equally good prices, unless too 

 many others undertake to supply the fall 

 market. Now is the time to pull your 

 Egyptian, or winter onion.';. Separate them 

 and plant them in rows a foot apart, and six 

 inches apart in the row. Wlien cold weath- 

 er comes they will be just right to move 

 into the greenhouse. See page 176. 



American Wonder peas, if planted now in 

 good soil, will furuish green peas when no- 

 body else thinks of having them. Last sea- 

 son we had quite a brisk trade in radishes 

 sown the last of August. iV butcher-shop 

 belonging to a neighboring town used to 

 send out to us once a week for celery, and 

 they used large quantities of radishes in Oc- 

 tober. Now is tlie time to sow winter rad- 

 ishes. Spinach sown now in good ground 

 will make a good crop for use during No- 

 vember and December ; and in many locali- 

 ties it may be cut any time during winter 

 when there is a thaw. We had some very 

 handsome spinach last December, and even 

 into .January, and it sold at good prices. 

 We expected to have it winter over, and 

 therefore used it sparingly; but the freez- 

 ing and thawing in March spoiled it all. al- 

 though we tried mulching it light and 



