6?2 



GLEANINGS IN BE^ CULTUEE. 



Sept. 



through the black gum and tulip honey-flow, and 

 start for uiiter den linden in Wisconsin by June 1st, 

 next; and if Mrs. Chaddock will have her bees 

 ready and out to the road, and will go along with us, 

 we will warrant that she will get her pitcher full at 

 least. M. A. Gill. 



Fountainhead, Tenn., Aug. 30, 1888. 



Why, friend G., I had no idea that you 

 had been rambling around at this rate, and 

 I supposed you were a fixture where we 

 used to hear from you. But one is excusa- 

 ble in doing almost any thing when health 

 fails. — We are very much obliged for the 

 additional light you give us in regard to 

 that Arkadelphia matter. I think that city 

 council ought to pay him damages.— May I 

 take the liberty of suggesting a caution in 

 regard to your project of moving bees to 

 catch the honey-flow? The operation is 

 necessarily an expensive one, and I believe 

 that most who have undertaken it have so 

 far lost money. I should be very glad to 

 have you help Mrs. Chaddock get that 

 pitcher filled with honey ; but please do not 

 get her ''out of the frying-pan into the fire," 

 as the old adage runs 



BUG OR BEETLE? PROF. COOK PLAIN- 

 LY EXPLAINS. 



DOES SYMPATHY FOR A FRIEND HELP HIM ANY ? 



fRIEND ROOT:— You ask for the difference be- 

 tween a beetle and a bug. I assure you, I 

 am glad to give it. 1 was lecturing a few 

 years ago in a city of this State, when I had 

 occasion to mention the potato-beetle. A 

 good minister in the room rose to ask a question. 

 He said, "Professor, you say potato-beetie; we say, 

 potato-bttfl. Now, I wish to know which of us are 

 correct." " I am right," said I, and proceeded to 

 explain how that a beetle has strong jaws which 

 move sidewise, as seen in the large pinching (bug) 

 beetle. Thus such insects can nip and eat the fo- 

 liage from herb and tree. " Bugs, on the other 

 hand," said I, " have a strong beak, which, sword- 

 like, they thrust into the plant or animal, where 

 they can suck the juice or blood." 



"Oh, yes! " said the reverend gentleman, "I un- 

 derstand perfectly now. We had those fellows, 

 down in the army." 



This is also a matter of practical importance. 

 Beetles eat; and so we may hope to poison them by 

 dusting the foliage which they infest, with poisons. 

 A bug would thrust its beak safely through the 

 poison, suck the juice of the plant, and care not for 

 our remedy. Thus we can poison beetles with 

 Paris green, but not bugs. 



FLEA-BEETLES. 



Friend Root, you are not wrong. The cabbage 

 flea-beetle is much like the grape flea-beetle, as its 

 common and scientific names both show. The 

 grape-beetle is Haltica clmlybea, while the cabbage, 

 or radish flea-beetle, is Haltica striatata. This last 

 is so named because of the yellowish wavy stripes 

 along its wing-covers. Both beetles can hop like 

 fleas. Nearly all insects that hop for long dis- 

 tances have enlarged femora. These show very 

 plainly in the legs of our common locusts or grass- 

 hoppers. 



I have very rarely to call President Mason to 

 order; and even now, as I think what a large man 



he is, I do it with no slight hesitation. Justice, 

 however, demands that I speak. He says that Mr. 

 Cutting and I have worked up the Interest in fairs 

 in Michigan. Let me say that Mr. Cutting should 

 have all the credit. I aided very little aside from 

 a great big lot of sympathy, which he always had. 

 So much as I like to be classed with my friend Cutr 

 ting, I must object in this case. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., Aug. 4, 1888. 



• Friend Cook, I for one am very much 

 obliged for this explanation of the differ- 

 ence between a bug and a beetle. Every 

 thing that eats the foliage is a beetle ; and 

 these fellows that run their bills down into 

 the leaf are bugs. Well, now, I always 

 supposed that the flea-beetles were of the 

 latter class. At any rate, we do not suc- 

 ceed in poisoning them with arsenites, as 

 we do the potato-beetles. The flea-beetles 

 eat the foliage, I know, but they dig holes 

 dt)wn into it ; and they are such hard-shell- 

 ed little pests that they do not die worth a 

 cent, no matter what you do to them. — In 

 regard to your last paragraph, I think I 

 should side in with l)rother Mason ; for if I 

 were sure of agr<';it big lot of your sympa- 

 thy in somethiuii' I was at work at, it would 

 help me a very great deal indeed. And 

 now, dear brethleu, we come right on to the 

 ground of the benefit of prayer. When we 

 pray for anybody in real earnest, our sym- 

 pathy goes with the prayer. These prayers 

 help. When we pray for an enemy, the act 

 helps both parties away from earth, and 

 certainly a step or two, heavenward. 



THE GIVEN PRESS. 



HOW A NEW ZEALANDER OPERATES IT. 



JT^ EAR SIR:— I have read with much interest the 

 xl ol various articles on the Given press. I im- 

 |IkI ported one of them In 1885, and have thus 

 "*^ had three years' experience with it. The 

 directions were to wire the top and bottom 

 of the frame, make the foundation in the partly 

 finished frame, and afterward fit in the ends. I 

 found this process very cumbersome and quite un- 

 necessary. I have all my frames full-sized Lang- 

 stroth, wired and ready in the winter months, and 

 the sheets are dipiied and pressed just before 

 swarming. Diagonal wires are quite unnecessary. 

 To make a very sure job, T lay a sheet on the press; 

 over that the wired frame, another sheet on top, 

 and press them all together. But to fit up a hive 

 of 10 frames, this requires 20 sheets of wax; and as 

 I have never succeeded in dipping sheets to run 

 more than 10 to the pound, this takes two pounds a 

 hive, which is too heavy. 1 therefore cut a number 

 of sheets into strips about an inch wide, and lay 

 two strips on each frame, which imbeds the wire 

 firmly at top and bottom. By keeping the die well 

 lubricated with pearl ash I have no trouble in lift- 

 ing off the frames; and I agree with Dr. Mason, that 

 I would not exchange my press for the best roller 

 mill. 



I read in Gleanings of wax sheets, 14 to the 

 pound. How is it done? Dipping sheets is always 

 a ti-ouble to me. They are thicker at one end than 

 the other; and often, after coming out apparently 

 al! right, they crack in an unaccountable manner. 

 A few directions on the subject would, I am sure. 



