isyi 



(iLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



435 



than ill ali otlifr skill cuinbiiit'Cl. The ideal lioiise 

 for lettuce and caiiiatioiis should be built with jier- 

 niaueiit rails for glass to the noil h, one third iiitch, 

 and all framed sashes to the south, ready at a mo- 

 ment's notiee to slide otf easily. In this way no 

 whitewash would be needed, as an abundanee of air 

 could always be had. and the sun's rays would not be 

 too hot thVoujah the glass for the north bench. 

 Whitewashing the glass should be delayed always as 

 long as possible, as the darkness and moisture invite 

 that dreaded enemy, the aphis. Sun and air are 

 death to the g-reen Hy, and life to itlants. 



THE QUESTION DISCUSSED. 



The subject was open, and maiij- questions were 

 asked and answered by those who had had experi- 

 ence. It seemed to be f he prevailing idea by those 

 not accustomed to glass that it is something wrap- 

 ped in a mystery. This is not so. Any one who has 

 common sense can manage a g-reenliouse, and the 

 secretary was sorry to see so few hoitit'ultural 

 .structures in Grand Rapids. Mr. Smith, when asked 

 how he kept up the fertility of the soil, replied that 

 he used ground bone and otiier fertilizers. Tobacco 

 smoke was used to destroj' the green tiy, but a decoc- 

 tion of tobacco-water was generally used, as it last- 

 ed longer than a smoke, which was mafk' often too 

 strong- for the plants for so short a time to kill the 

 fly. Pjrethrum in water will kill the aphis, but is an 

 e.vpensive method. Mr. Smith was asked which size 

 glass he preferred, and replied that 1S.\~'0 was his 

 choice, and some houses he had erected when he be- 

 g-aii would be pulled down during the coming- sum- 

 mer and rebuilt with larg-e panes. Replying to the 

 extra hazard on account of hail for the larger panes 

 of gflass, Mr. Smith said the Floi-ists' Association 

 liave an insurance clause for hail. 



ONIOX.S FOK FALIi PLANTING. 



For a good many years Landreth's people 

 have advertised an onion which tliey call the 

 Bloomsdale Pearl; but in their catalogues they 

 always say they are suitable only in the ex- 

 treme South, for fall planting. In reading the 

 accounts of this immense onion, the sets of 

 which are planted in the fall, I have for years 

 been longing for something similar tiiat could 

 remain out all wintei' in our climate. I have 

 before remarked, that we succeeded in getting 

 beautiful onions of this same variety by start- 

 ing them in the greenhouse. Well, last fall, in 

 Johnson & Stokes' quarterly price list they 

 gave a picture on the back cover, of an immen.se 

 onion called the American Extra Early Pearl. 

 Their description is as follows: 



This remai'kable onion Is the earliest and best ot 

 all the white varieties, far surpassing- Silver King-, 

 White Tripoli, aild other sorts in g-reat size, thick- 

 ness, rapid growth, bottoming-, and keeping- quali- 

 ties. It grows to enormous size, of pearly-white col- 

 or, the outer skin liaving- a mo.st showy, waxy ap- 

 pearance, flesh of a pure snow white, and flavor so 

 mild that it can be eaten like an apple. It g-rows 

 with wonderful rapidity, reaching- the tirst season a 

 flue lai-ge size from seed; and if sets are iilanted out 

 in the fall, either in the North or South, they will 

 reach the enormous size of six to seven inches diam- 

 eter, frequently weighing three to four pounds each, 

 long- before onions of any other variety reach suffi- 

 cient size for market. Hundreds of market -garden- 

 el's to whom we siuijily sets evei->' fall completel.v 

 control the early m.uket's with this iirottlable varie- 

 ty. A splendid keeper, succeeding- everywhere. 

 ()ur seed and sets of this wonderful variety are 

 Philadelpliia-grown. 



Now, the thing in the above description that 

 attracted my attention particularly is this; ■■' If 

 sets are plaiited out in the fall, they will, in the 

 North or South, reach the enormous size of six or 

 seven inches in diameter." They were advertised 

 for September and October planting. On the 

 strength of the above I sent at once for a peck 

 of sets. They were carefully planted on good 

 ground, came up at once, and made a fine 

 growth. At present writing I can not discover 

 that a single one of them suffered overwinter, 

 although they were entirely unprotected. Of 

 course, last winter was unusually mild; but tl'f' 

 weather this spring has been veiy trying to 

 strawberries and spinach, and othei- things of a 



similar nature that were wintered over out- 

 doors. The onions, at present writing, May 7, 

 are nearly the size of hens' eggs, and growing 

 nicely. VVhat astonishes me is, that Johnson 

 ct Stokes do not make more of a fuss about it. 

 if they have really got a large onion that will 

 keep over winter in the ground noHh or .s-o?(f/i. 

 If it really succeeds, as it seerns to bid fair to 

 do, it will give just as good results, or better, 

 than the "new onion culture" of which so 

 much has been said; and the work can all be 

 done in September and October, when time is 

 not usually worth so much to the market-gar- 

 dener as it is in the spring. By the way, there 

 is something exceedingly interesting about this 

 wonderful hardy vegetable, the onion. New 

 things are coming up so constantly that quite a 

 little book might be written, giving the full 

 history and peculiarities of the different mem- 

 bers of the onion family. Another thing that 

 makes it '/ou7>?i/ interesting is. that Bermuda 

 onions ai-e to-day quoted at $2.75 per crate. 

 The crate does not hold a bushel, and the on- 

 ions are comparatively poor things at that. I 

 said to our boys on the wagon, "Why, you can 

 never sell such onions, and get your money 

 back, in the world." But they replied, " Yes, 

 we can. VV(> know they are not vei-y attractive 

 looking, but people must have dry onions of 

 some kind." Now, just think of it! At these 

 enormous prices, and the market not fully sup- 

 plied, we have sets of beautiful white onions 

 that may be planted in the fall, and will give 

 onions very early next season, ste or seven inch- 

 eft in diameter — at least, so Johnson & Stokes 

 say; and our own, out in the field, look very 

 much as if it were, at least to .some extent, true. 



BUItLAI' COVEK FOR GREENHOUSE. 



Send the burlap immediately, as I need it to 

 covei" my greenhouse. J. Dai.i,as. 



Sharpsville, Pa., Dec. .3. 



[Thanks for the idea, friend D. Burlap is 

 cheap, and would doubtless keep out a good 

 deal of frost.] 



0a^ pejiE^. 



Give, and it shall be given unto you.— Luke 6: 38. 



I have long wanted to talk more on this mat- 

 ter of giving: but I confess my faith has been 

 somewhat small that it would be received in 

 the right spirit, especially when there has been 

 so much discouragement, and, in many cases, 

 absolute poverty, among bee-keepers. I feared 

 many of the brethren would say, " Brother 

 Root, it may be all very well for you to ijivc: 

 but how are we, who have hardly the means to 

 get along, going to give to others, or to missions, 

 or other foreign work?" Then I thought of 

 telling yon that one great reason why your re- 

 sources were so cramped was because you did 

 not heUeve nor heed the little text I have started 

 out with. While I had the matter in mind, our 

 good pastor. :Mr. Norman Plass, gave us a ser- 

 mon containing so many of the right texts and 

 so much exhoi-tation in just the line I wanted 

 to talk on. that I have decided to give it to you 

 entire. The text he has chosen is not exactly 

 the same as my own: but it is, nevertheless, in 

 the same line, as yon will notice. 



Remembei- the words of the Lord Je.sus, how he 

 said. It is more blessed to give than to receive.— Acts 

 3l):3.5. 



"the words of the lord JESUS.' 



We often wish that we had a more complete 

 record of tiie words ami deeds of Chi-ist. What 



