383 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



to be said or done to the bees fi'om November 

 till April?] 



SPECIAL DEPARTMENT FOR A. I. ROOT, AND HIS 

 FRIENDS WHO LOVE TO RAISE CROPS. 



SPINACH IN Al'ini.. 



Everybody has been calling for spinach. A 

 few days ago our wagon folks wanted to know 

 whether they could not send to Cleveland and 

 get some. I told them that it was away up, 

 and that we could not even think of it. A little 

 later they wanted to know what I meant by 

 •' away up."' 



" Why,'' said I, " it will cost at least 10 cents 

 ii i)ound, and no one in ^Medina, hardly, would 

 give that, especially as the freight must be 

 added to the 10 cents." 



" Well, Mr. Root, if you will get us a barrel I 

 think we can show you that Medina folks will 

 pay 15 cents." 



" All I'ight; I will risk the i)rice of a barrel, 

 to try the experiment. I>ut you will see that 

 we shall have it all to use up in the lunch- 

 room." 



Now, how do you suppose it tuined out? 

 Why. they sold the barrel right off in one day; 

 and as the people were not satisfied we pulled a 

 lot of small beets out of the greenhouse, that 

 were crowding, and they took them all off at 15 

 cents a pound. As we did not have our usual 

 supply of lettuce, in conM'(iuence of nu)ving our 

 greenhouses last fall, we have been sending to 

 Eugene Davis, the originator of the Giand 

 Rapids lettuce, and it has been going oft' barrel 

 after barrel at :.'.5 cents p(>r lb. retail. Pie-plant 

 is still bringing 10 cents per lb.; asparagus 40 

 cents, and other things in proportion. Why, it 

 is astounding. I am sure spiiuich could be 

 raised at a prolit at 3 cents per lb. With us it 

 usually winters in the open air without any 

 trouble until some time in February. The 

 heavy freezes in Febnuiry and March, without 

 snow, use it up. We have tried mulching, but 

 somehow this does not work, or w<' do not have 

 the right kind of mulching. I see evergreen 

 boughs have been recommended. I presume 

 they would do it to a dot where one has them. 

 It is a mystery to me why somebody does not 

 make a big thing on spimich. Last- fall we put 

 in a great lot of it. but it happened to be near 

 th^ barn, and the poultry took a great fancy to 

 it. I supposed they would, but I thought I had 

 planted enough forthe poultry and our luarket- 

 garden also. But I tell you. a flock of Brahmas 

 can get away with an astonishing amount of 

 spinach. I still believe it would be prolitable 

 to i)lant spinacli for poultry. If the ground is 

 ricii and in good order, it can be put in after 

 l)Otatoes. sweet corn, or almost any other crop. 

 We succeed best by sowing it early enough to 

 get it just as lai'ge as it can lie without running 

 n\) to seed before frost. In that condition it 

 will stand like kale all through the winter; and 

 so far we have succeded better without mulcli- 

 ing than we have with. Tiic mulch seems to 

 make it rot. Perhaps the way to make a real 

 sure thing of it is to put it in a cool greenhouse, 

 as described in the new book. " How to Make 

 the Garden Pay." Grand Rapids lettuce may 

 be grown in the same way. Either of these 

 plants maybe kept all through the winter in 

 our locality, without heat. [)rovided the glass 

 can be shiit up tight, and the beds be a little 

 below the surface of the ground. A windbreak 

 of buildings or evergreens, so arranged as not 

 to interfere with the sun, will be a great help. 



OUR HOT-BEDS HEATED BY STEAM. 



I should be glad to report that they have done 



as well during April as they did through March. 

 Aliout the middle of March we left on the ex- 

 haust steam until they became too hot, and 

 many of the plants were injured; and since 

 that they have got sort o' contrary. In fact, 

 they have not done nearly as well as the green- 

 house, where we could go inside and regulate 

 the temperature: and I am now coming strong- 

 ly to the conclusion that I want all my glass 

 structures so I can go inside, under the glass, 

 and regulate the temperature. During the 

 past month every thing has grown so beauti- 

 fully in the greenhouse, that I am somewhat 

 losing my faith in the advantage of stripping 

 the sash clear oft': at least, our recent experi- 

 ence indicates that there is no particular need 

 of removing the sash until, say, the first of 

 April. Every thing in the greenhouse is doing 

 just beautifully. Mr. Weed suggests that it is 

 largely due to the fact that the xnil in the beds 

 in the greenhouse is old and thoroughly rotted 

 compost. Every thing we put into it just 

 climbs: while all that in our hot-beds, outside, 

 was made u|j in the fall, winter, and spring. 

 The manure and most of the materials are com- 

 pai'atively new. 



LIMA BEANS. 



It b(>gins to be time to begin to thfnk about 

 linui b(»ans. Shall we give up the i)ol<' limas, 

 or will it still pay to provide poles? In our last 

 issue I talked about growing turndtocs on poles; 

 and I rather suspect it will pav us to have poles 

 for lima beans. The bush limas on our soil — 

 that is. Burpee's and the Kumerle. have, on our 

 rich soil, made such a mass of vines that we 

 liave been greatly troubled with rot and mil- 

 dew, and in getting the beans to ripen sul'ti- 

 ciently for st'ed. A good friend of mine has 

 been talking about the Challenger, and even 

 sent me a pint by mail, so as to be sure I would 

 give them a trial. Here is what he says about 

 them : 



My family are all great lovers of lima lieaiis. and 

 I yearly i)ut in 2i)(l poles for our own use, selling- tlie 

 surplus in the city of Newark (pop. 1S.^.000, two 

 miles away), with whatever other farm prodvicts we 

 may have. For the past two years I iiave .grown 

 Challen.iier beans, and they have sold nuicli higlier 

 than Pratt's or Dreor's, wlileh I liave heretofore 

 had. I have sold over $40.00 worth each year, hcsidcs 

 u'/faf Mv, K.scd (11//. sc^ix','*, and should have st)ld much 

 more bu foi- uiy mistakes in g-rowing- them. I 

 planted three lo each pole, four feet aiiart, l)ut tins 

 was too close: there was such a wealtli of vines 

 that bushels of beans mildewed and never ripened. 

 I shall grow doul)le the number of poles this year, 

 placing- tlie poles five feet apart, with two vines to a 

 pole. This bean tlu-ows out more riuniers than any 

 other Ihat I know of, and requires far more careful 

 handling, as the vines are exceedingly tendei-. My 

 l)eans were sold at one price— thirtjj ccids per half- 

 peck, iin!<htUcd. while an abundance t)f other limas 

 were selling- at 15 to :iO cts. for the same (luantity. 

 1 never had nearly enough of mine 



Lyons Farms, N. J., Apr. 31. Wm. Ghumm.^n. 



You will notice, also, that he touches on this 

 matter of having them rot and mildew. That 

 has been on(^ of our troubles, and I believe he is 

 right in recommending poles to be not less than 

 live feet aijart. and not more than two vines to 

 a pole, [iy the way, the lima beans can be 

 transplanted without very miu-li trouble, if you 

 take a good lump of dirt along with the bean. 

 After we have gone to the trouble of putting up 

 poles, we can not aft'oi-d to have any poles with- 

 out beans on theiu: neither can we afford, for 

 the reasons above given, to have more than two 

 good plants to a pole. 



STBAWBERKIES. 



We never before had our strawberri<'S looking 

 so well at this season. Just as soon as the 

 weeds showed themselves a careful man went 

 all over them, and took out every weed at the 



