776 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



most insignificant cost. I am quite sure 

 your experiment would sliow the difference 

 between rain water and hard well water. 

 It would also test the quantity of vinegar in 

 maple sap, to say nothing of the specihc 

 gravity of different kinds of honey. If we 

 could only have a standard scale of density 

 of honey, so that our advertisers could 

 by figures indicate the specific gravity, it 

 would be worth a good deal. It is on the 

 same principle as testing the strength of 

 vinegar, brine, etc., by putting in an egg; 

 but as all eggs are not of one specific gravi- 

 ty, there is very little accuracy by tlie egg 

 method. The figures you give us "in the al- 

 sike-clover experiment illustrate how much 

 of the seed is wasted because of our imper- 

 fect method in getting it evenly distributed. 

 One plant to every square inch. I am sure, 

 would be altogether too close. I should say 

 that each plant should be at least two inches 

 from its neighbor, in every direction. What 

 is the opinion of our clover-men in regard 

 to this matter? 



SMALL GREENHOUSES FOR START- 

 ING VEGETABLE-PLANTS, ETC. 



now CHEAP CAN ONE BE GOTTEN DP, SO AS TO BE 

 AN AID TO MARKET-GARDENING? 



fRlEND ROOT:— Since bee-keeping has been 

 with us a complete failure for two successive 

 seasons, it becomes necessary for bee-keep- 

 ers to look for Stomething- else. Market-gar- 

 dening, as recommended by you, costs little 

 to start with, brings immediate returns, and can 

 be dropped without much loss at any time. But a 

 gardener without a greenhouse is like a lame horse 

 in the ring— always behind and therefore never 

 wins a prize. In your talk, " What to Do," etc., you 

 give a brief description of your greenhouse, but 

 you say it cost from S150 to $200. Very few bee- 

 keepers, especially after two bad seasons, are able 

 to invest that much in a greenhouse, and I am one 

 of the number; but in Chapter XLVI., page 207, 

 you come to speak of a greenhouse 12 x l."> feet, 

 which could be built for $.5.00. This suited my 

 pocket-book exactly. I could build a shanty 

 against the south end of my shop, put a glass roof 

 on, and have a greenhouse according to how far I 

 extend the shanty. With paper and pencil in hand 

 I began to figure the cost at once; but, lol here 

 comes the rub. I have, of course, never had reason 

 to doubt the word of A. I Root, but I am much in- 

 clined to think he has made a mistake. 1 would, of 

 course, have my house double-walled, packed in 

 with sawdust. That will make it frost-proof, and 

 save fuel; but 700 to 800 feet of common lumber 

 at #10.00 per M. would go a good ways. But how 

 about the glass roofV The sash aZojie, if 1 should 

 have them made to order here in the factory, would 

 cost me nearer $10.00 than $5.00, to say nothing 

 about the glass; so, according to my figures, before 

 1 got a greenhouse ready for business, as described 

 aliove, it will cost 125.00 to $:!0.00, even if I do all 

 work myself and count nothing. Now, friend, you 

 can do me, and very likely a good many others, a 

 favor by describing how such a small greenhouse, 

 as you speak of in above-named chapter can be 

 built at the lowest possible figures, and where the 

 necessary material can be had. If it can be had of 



A. I. himself, it may be all the better, for we know 

 then just exactly what we are to get. 



Julius Johannsen. 

 Port Clinton, Ohio, Aug. 10. 1888. 



Friend J., I think you are a little hasty in 

 deciding that your friend A. I. Eoot is mis- 

 taken. If you will turn to the chapter you 

 mention, you will find that, in the fore part, 

 I describe a house for raising celery, perhaps 

 12x15 feet, and at the close of the same chap- 

 ter I mention the little greenhouse I saw 

 that day, that did not cost over .fo.OO. Now, 

 if you do not wish to invest over five or ten 

 dollars in a greenhouse, I will tell you how 

 to make it. It should by all means be a 

 lean-to, and should be on the south side of 

 some good substantial building. One with 

 a cellar under it is preferred. A wing on 

 the west side, but not so wide as to cut off" 

 too much of the sun in the afternoon, would 

 also be an advantage. If you have not got 

 the wing, put up some old boards; pile up 

 some boxes or barrels, or take your spade 

 and throw up an embankment of dirt and 

 sods. It is very bad policy to have the door 

 of a small greenhouse open directly into the 

 open air. A d^^or is also expensive. If you 

 can remove a cellar window, and cut it 

 down so as to be deep enough to walk 

 through, and fit some kind of a door to it 

 yourself, it will give you the best sort of an 

 entrance ; and during very severe weather 

 you can open the door and make your little 

 greenhouse a part of the cellar, if there is 

 danger of your cellar freezing by so doing, 

 cover your sash with mats, carpets, or 

 even old boards, while the weather is in- 

 tense. Make the east and west walls of 

 some cheap old boards which you can pick 

 up ; then make them warm " by banking 

 coarse stable manure in the corners thus 

 formed by these cheap walls, and the main 

 building. ^Vlmost all I have mentioned can 

 be done with little if any cash outlay. You 

 will probably have to take some money to 

 buy the sash. 



in Chapter IV. of the book '^ What to 

 Do," etc., I mention a cheap greenhouse 

 which the owner made of some second-hand 

 4x6 window-sash, and which he bought for 

 one dollar per sash, glass and all ; and such 

 second-hand glass can be bought in almost 

 every neighborhood, if you hunt them up. 

 If you can not find second-hand sash, make 

 some rafters similar to those figured on page 

 176 of the book above mentioned, and put in 

 the glass youi'self. Use second-hand glass 

 if you can find it ; if you can not, piuchase 

 new ; and as glass is always worth some- 

 thing after the greenhouse Is torn away, it 

 can never in any case be cash entirely lost. 

 You can find an old stove in almost any 

 neighborhood, as suggested in my book. 

 Several sucli greenhouses have been built 

 right over the usual cellarway. I would 

 not advise this, liowever, asyour greenhouse 

 must be torn down wlienever you want to 

 get things out and in tlirough'the outside 

 doorway. 



SPECIAL m)TWES. 



ONION-SETS— PRICE REDUCED. 



Any time during this mouth of October is the time 

 to plant these (see directions, page 695), and we have 



