794 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



my mark. My mother tried various remedies, but 

 they proved to be of little or no benefit, until a 

 friend told us of a rcmedj* which she had used in 

 her family with excellent results. Then with the 

 hope that it might give some relief we gave it a 

 trial, and it proved to be really efficacious. Since 

 that I have ascertained that it is often used by bar- 

 bers for shampooing. Here is the 



RECIPE, WITH DIRECTIONS FOR USE. 



PuriQed carbonate of potash— commonly called 

 salts of tartar,! oz.; rain water, one qnart; mix 

 thoroughly, and it is ready for use. Apply a few 

 spoonfuls to the head, rubbing and working it in 

 thoroughly; then with clean soft water, and a cloth 

 or sponge, wash the head thoroughly, dry well with 

 a towel, and apply a little pure oil to supply the 

 natural oil which has been washed out. Use once 

 or twice a week until there is a noticeable improve- 

 ment in the condition of the scalp, then do not use 

 it quite so often. It is very much better to get 

 some person to apply this mixture, and shampoo 

 the head, than for any one to try to do it himself. 

 It is very strong, and one must be careful that 

 it does not get in the eyes. 



The carbonate of potash sells for five cents ayi 

 ounce; and as water is free, any one can try this 

 recipe by investing one whole nickel. I have been 

 told that a barber would do at least five dollars' 

 worth of shampooing out of this five cents' worth 

 of material; and if it relieves others from the an- 

 noyance and discomfort of dandruff as it did me, 

 they will certainly consider this prescription worth 

 dollars in the comfort it affords. 



Ipava, Ills., Sept., 1888. Anna B. Quillin. 



Many thanks, friend Anna. Your sug- 

 gestions may help a good many of us, and 

 may be it will relieve our mothers (may be 

 wives) from brushing up after us. I have 

 for years been using powdered borax in the 

 Avay )0Li suggest, but 1 will at once try car- 

 bonate of potash. I know by experience 

 tliat many of our druggists will say they 

 haven't any ; but if you ask for salts of tar- 

 tar they will say, " Oh, yes ! " at once. 



FOLDING SECTIONS. 



HOW MANY CAN WE FOLD PER HOUR ? 



fRIEND ROOT:- In your answer to J. H. Lar- 

 rabee, p. 092, you say that your girls consid- 

 er it no difficult task to fold 1000 one-piece 

 sections per hou7\ If it were not for your 

 well-known and undoubted veracity, I should 

 call this a very tall piece of boasting. But per- 

 haps it can be done, when the sections are fresh 

 from the saw, while the wood is still comparatively 

 green and soft, and requires no moistening. I 

 have, however, found a very different rate in my 

 case. If you have memoranda of my orders for 

 several years past, you will see that I have bought 

 thousands of sections from you, and I have folded 

 most of them myself. In the first place, each sec- 

 tion has to be gone over, and the fuzzy edge scrap- 

 ed off with a piece of coarse sandpaper tacked to a 

 stick. This, in itself, takes considerable time, and 

 is a very tedious and annoying job, where many 

 thousand pieces have to be handled. Next, it 

 sometimes is several months before I commence 

 folding sections; and to be sure that I have enough, 



I generally have several crates to carry over to 

 next year. While they are lying unfolded, they be- 

 come so dry that they require moistening at least 

 twice, sometimes three times, to prevent breaking. 

 Even then, a large proportion will break, no mat- 

 ter how careful I may be. The last year's supply 

 was even worse in this regard than previous lots, 

 the wood being much harder than formerly, which 

 was also evidenced by the increased difficulty with 

 which the i wire nails were pushed into the broken 

 joint, and was clearly proved by the difference be- 

 tween these sections and a lot of 2000 left over from 

 the previous year, although these latter were over 

 a year old when they were folded. Of last year's 

 sections, in many cases from 25 to 50 per cent of the 

 blanks in a crate would break. Men whom I have 

 hired to fold sections for me have quit in disgust, 

 because they could make no headway with the 

 frequent breakage. Besides this, the sections sel- 

 dom come out of the section-former square. They 

 have to be squared up by forcing them cornerwise 

 (often causing a break) and dried until they will 

 stay square. If not done now, while the corners 

 are soft, no earthly power can make them square 

 to remain so afterward, as Dr. Miller said not very 

 long ago. 



In moistening the sections it will not do to pour 

 water through the crate, as you once recommend- 

 ed, for this would swell the inside of the V-grooves 

 and make matters still worse. Neither will it do to 

 pile the strips on top of each other, for each must 

 be moistened at least twice. I lay about 20 side by 

 side; and after folding half of them 1 draw the rest 

 up close to the section-former and put 10 new ones 

 in their place, moistening the whole lot each time. 

 In this way all are moistened twice. Before moist- 

 ening I stamp them. If done afterward, the stamp 

 is apt to be blurred, as the water often will spread 

 considerably, especially when the surface is rough. 

 I have considered myself an expert at folding sec- 

 tions; but the best I could do (without considering 

 the preparatory scraping of the edge) at stamping, 

 moistening, folding, squaring, and mending broken 

 sections (as they happen to break), would be 100 per 

 hour. Hence your statement, when I read it. al- 

 most took my breath away. Have you considered 

 all the difficulties— all the ifn and huts, under which 

 probably many of your customers as well as ray- 

 self are doing this work? Why, if you can do the 

 work at the rate stated, and furnish the sections 

 with a clean, smooth edge, and perfectly square, it 

 would almost pay to order them from you ready 

 made up, even if they had to be shipped around 

 the globe. But, joking aside, I should be glad if I 

 could accomplish one half of your rate, aud should 

 feel thankful if you could tell me how to do it. 



Another thing I wish you to look into is this: 

 Many of the sections are not dovetailed deep 

 enough; consequently the joint does not lock to- 

 gether properly, and is more or less projecting, 

 which makes trouble, both in the wide frame and in 

 the shipping-case. There might also be more 

 uniformity in the thickness of the sections. While 

 I appreciate the progress that has been made in 

 the manufacture of sections, still I think there is 

 considerable room for improvement; and as I ex- 

 pect to use thousands of them each year, I hope 

 the improvement may come while I, and not some 

 future generation, am able to benefit by it. 



Wm. MUTH-ttASMUSSEN. 



Independence, Cal., Sept. 28, 1888. 



