870 



(^LEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Nov. 



squash bug, chinch bug, and tarnished-plant bug, 

 do immense damage. 



A WILD BEE. 



The wild bee in its tough cell, received from A. 

 Hund, Casco, Mich., came headless and legless, so 1 

 can not say what it is. It looks like one of the ge- 

 nus ?iomada, one of the cuckoo bees. The mothei- 

 bee in ihis case steals into the nest of some other 

 bee, often andrena. the small black bees so com- 

 mon about sap in spring, and sometimes seen steal- 

 ing honey from the honey-be-, and lays its eggs on 

 the pollen gathered by the andrena. Thus the 

 mother andrena feeds its own young and that of 

 the nomada. I am verj' sorry this bee is so broken. 

 I should have valued it if it had been intact. 



Will all please remember that frail pasteboard 

 boxes are not sufficiently strong to send in the 

 mail? A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 



THE IGNOTUM TOMATO. 



PROF. TAFT, OF THE MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL 

 COLLEGE, GIVE.S THEIR REPORT ON IT FOR 



R. ROOT:— I am glad to hear so favorable a 

 report from you. From our own experi- 

 ence, and the reports of others who have 

 tried it, I am inclined to think that it de- 

 serves a front rank among the tomatoes. 

 With us, as compared with Mikado, it is larger, 

 smoother, more solid, less subject to rot, more pro- 

 ductive, and is more desirable, both as an early and 

 as a late variety. 



We had several hundred plants growing on a dry 

 sandy knoll; and although it was a dry year with 

 us, the plants gave a very heavy crop, and contin- 

 ued ripening until the frost destroyed the plants 

 about the first of October. 



The Ignotum seems to be a sport from Eiformige 

 (eye-shaped) Dauer, and does not seem quite fixed 

 as yet, some of the plants reverting to the original. 

 On this account I had not intended to disseminate 

 it next year, preferring to wait until the plants 

 would come true. 1 have saved seeds from careful- 

 ly selected fruits (both early and late), and hope to 

 establish it in another year. 



So far as our records show, seeds have been sent 

 to only about a dozen, none of whom are seedsmen. 

 Next spring I shall send seeds to about 20 of our 

 sub-stations, but shall not place any of them on the 

 market. If you desire to use the seed you have 

 saved, in the manner indicated, T shall have no ob- 

 jection, provided you impi-CfS ui)on the purchaser 

 the fact that they are merely distributed for the 

 purpose of being tested. L. R. Taft. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 



In regard to the type not being quite fixed 

 as yet, with the exception of what I wrote 

 on page 8.5(i, last issue, it has given the most 

 uniform results of any tomato we ever grew. 

 I cheerfully assent to the request made 

 above ; and in view of this we will send to 

 every one of our subscribers, who renews 

 for 1889, a small packet of the seed, with the 

 understanding that they accept the seed as 

 only a new variety being tested. See page 

 910 of premium list. Remember, the seed is 

 not for sale. It is simply given away to those 

 who subscribe for Gleanings. 



TO THE BLACK SAGE. 



THE HONEY-PLANT OF CALIFORNIA. 



dark-green shrub! I love thee well! 

 Thy worth no human tongue can tell; 

 There may be flowers of sweet perfume 

 That stand unrivaled in their bloom. 

 And they may look and be more fair. 

 And scent, like thee, the summer air; 

 But thou alone, in all creation's plan. 

 Wast made the sweetest comforter of man. 

 On stony hill or mountain-side. 



Or in the deep sequestered glen. 



Or on some rocky ridge to ride. 



Afar from haunts of men. 



This is thy home. But thou art seen, 



Thy bosom scenting all the air. 



Amidst the jungle's deepest green. 



The proudest form that blossoms there. 



1 see thee, up on the mountain crag. 

 Where thou alone, and the daring stag, 

 May look on the blooming vale below. 

 Which thou hast covered with purple snow. 

 But, dearer still, a thousand fold, 



Above the snow is a storm of gold; 



And the song comes up, both deep and clear, 



Oh ! fade not away for another year! 



I rest me here, on this jutting stone 



On the mountain-side, but not alone. 



Millions of friends are round me here. 



Armed cap-a-pie with sword or spear. 



They soar aloft to the mountain high. 



To hear, alone, your latest sigh, 



And drink, as you look on the fading sky, 



With the last fond look of a dying eye— 



The sweetest tear that you ever shed, 



And the latest one, ere life has fled. 



Full many a sailor yet shall keep 



His silent watch along the deep, 



But many a gallaut fleet shall brave 



The wild Atlantic's stormy wave, 



Or sail along this peaceful sea 



All laden down with sweets from thee. 



They bear thy name to Northern land. 



Or south to "India's golden strand." 



But, no 1 thy fairer sister at thy side, 



Decked in purple, like a royal bride. 



So tall and slender, and so wondrous fair, 



And proud, she bows with hauteur to the air, 



Wher'er the starry banner is unfurled 



On distant sea or land, throughout the world. 



Thy fairer sister's fame has gone before, 



A robber* on the sea and on the shore. 



Were truth believed, and common justice done, 



This fame were thine; and it is fairly won. 



Nine-tenths of all the sweets that sweep the sea 



-Are tears, all tears, that have been shed by thee; 



And yet thine eyes are always bright and clear. 



And look as though you never wept a tear. 



But they were tears of happiness, and man 



Has got them by the box and by the can. 



J. P. Israel. 

 Olivenhain, San Diego Co., Cal. 



* Note.~The black sage gives fully three-fourths 

 of our crop of white honey, before the white sage 

 comes into bloom. It is all branded " White-sage 

 honey." The black sage produces the whitest and 

 most beautiful honey. J. P. I. 



