1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



543 



not use simply a crate and dovetailed cover, the 

 same as any hive ? 



We are having the worst di'outh we have had 

 in 30 years — no rain to speak of since April 15. 

 Evei'y thing is all burned up. We do not expect 

 any honey li'om white clover, as there is very 

 little left. It is very discouraging. Prospects 

 never were better for a large yield until the 

 drouth came. 



I wish you could see my strawberries. They 

 were set May 1st, right in the dry weather: but 

 they were strong plants, and came from M. 

 Crawford. I put on coarse manure at the rate 

 of 80 loads (all two large horses could draw) 

 per acre. It makes a tirst-class mulch, and all 

 the plants on such ground are growing nicely 

 in spite of the dry weather, while a few that I 

 tried on ground without manure all died. 



Lester Judson. 



East Sidney, N. Y., June 1.5. 



[You are right. We have come to the con- 

 clusion that a closed-end frame in a tight-tit- 

 ting or closely fitting case or hive is not a prac- 

 tical success, and so we are going to take that 

 frame out of our price list. They may answer 

 for a shallow frame like the Heddon, but will 

 hardly do in a deep one. We do not make the 

 Quinby hive. You will have to talk to those 

 who use it, in regard to the covtn'.J E. R. 



[A mulch of coarse manure is certainly a 

 splendid thing, not only for strawberries, but 

 for currants, raspberries, and blackberries. 

 Where you can get it for a dollar a load or less. 

 I believe it is the best and cheapest way to 

 manage these iruits. If the weeds come up 

 through the manure they must be pulled out as 

 fast as they make their appearance.] A. I. R. 



GETTING DILATORY AND BAD MEN TO PAY 

 UP. 



WHAT OUIt BEE-.IOVRXAT.S CAN DO IN THE 

 MATTER. 



The kind word below suggests the title to this 

 article: 



Friend Rout: — I received to-djij- a letter from . 



witli remittance to balance account. Bankers and 

 attoi-neys could do nothing with him; but a word 

 from you brouglit him to accoiuit. If you are not a 

 popular man, there never was one. Inclosed And a 

 dollar fc)r your ti'ouble. Seth Winquist. 



KusselUnlle, Oregon, June 4. 



My good friend W., we are very glad indeed 

 that we were able to assist you in getting your 

 pay: but we wish you and all others to distinct- 

 ly "understand that we are not in the business 

 of collecting bad debts— at least, we do not take 

 pdtj for u'hat collecting we do, therefore we 

 place the ?<1.00 to your credit, thanking you all 

 the same. I may explain to our readers, that 

 the man alluded to ordered several dollars' 

 worth of the Oregon Evei-bearing strawbei'ry- 

 plants, but he would neither pay for them nor 

 make any reply. We wrote him, and Hnally 

 succeeded in getting an answer. What do you 

 suppose his excuse was for not paying for the 

 goods he ordered ? As a fair sample of the 

 way in which people ti'y to excuse themselves 

 under similai' ciicumstances, we give that part 

 of it here, of course omitting the name: 



Mr. Rddt:— After receiving the plants I made up 

 my mind that they were either the old Me.\ican Ev- 

 erbeaiing lenamed, or seedlings from it. I now 

 think tham tlie Mexican renamed. If you can tind 

 any party who has ii'ied tliem. and will give you one 

 good point in their favor, I will sui)mit. 



Now, even though it be true that the Ever- 

 bearing strawberry is of little use or no use here 

 in Ohio, our friend certainly did not know such 



to be the case when he received the plants, 

 any more than when he ordered them. 

 When we order new and untried things, and 

 receive them in good order, of course we should 

 pay the bill. If the amount we invest is consid- 

 ei'able, and the goods prove a failure, it were 

 no more than fair to ask the introducer foi' a 

 rebate. If he grants it, well and good; if not, 

 well and good. Very likely our bee-journals 

 may accomplish many things that bankers and 

 attorneys can not do; for if a man has a spark 

 of honor left, he will keep his name out of the 

 papers. If friend W. were to see the letters we 

 frequently get, from those whom we have suc- 

 ceeded in bringing to time, he would decide 

 that we are, at least with some people, most de- 

 cidedly \ini>oi)ul((r. 



FRIEND TERRY GIVES US A LITTLE SERMON. 



HE ALSO TELI.S US WHERE TO BUY OUR 

 PLANTS. 



My Detir Mr. Root: — I want to say a little 

 more about the souls of great corporations iw. 

 those of individuals. I suppose most bee-keep- 

 ers have homes, and are interested in making 

 their grounds beautiful. So far as I have no- 

 ticed, they are more interested in this direction 

 than we common farmers. You will remember 

 that, last fall, a landscape gardener wanted to 

 fix up your grounds and mine; also that we 

 both decided to do tin? work for ourselves. We 

 had the general outline and foundation laid, 

 with a few beautiful evergreens, shrubs, trees, 

 vines, etc., that we had scrimped ourselves to 

 buy, years back when money was scarce. Last 

 year we felt that we were in shape financially 

 to .■^pend quite a litth' in beautifying our home 

 suri-oundings. We could afford to hire more 

 help, if necessary, to take caie of things. We 

 all love flowers and shruljs and climbing vines, 

 howevei'. and are willing to work a littTe extra 

 to take good care of them. It isn't work, though, 

 but reci-eation. 



Well, instead of hiring our horticultural 

 friend at a large price to arrange things for us, 

 and furnish them, and set them out, we S])ent 

 some days at odd times in studying over where 

 flower-beds would look best, and where shrubs, 

 and what would be best for this position and 

 what for that. Then I drew a rough plan of 

 the grounds, with the beds, etc., located, and the 

 height of plants or shrubs that we should pre- 

 fer in each place— that is, the height when they 

 had attained their growth. That was as far 

 as we could go, certainly, as it was hard to de- 

 cide on every thing fi'om catalogue descriptions. 

 With this plan I went to a large nursery, and 

 at the oftice they kindly placed a pleasant 

 young man at my disposal, who told me all 

 about every tree, shrub, or plant, and advised 

 about which would do best or look best in cer- 

 tain locations. In half a day we picked out 171 

 shrubs, plants, and bulbs, and I learned briefly 

 any thing that it was necessary to know about 

 setting them out. and after-culture. While 

 picking out the plants the price was never ask- 

 ed of a single thing. I wanted the best that I 

 could get, and was willing to pay for it. But 

 when I went to the office with the list, and they 

 handed me the bill, I was greatly surprised. It 

 was for ^21. .30 only, and in the list were four 

 grafted rhododendrons, and the same number 

 of azaleas, which are high-priced plants. Not 

 one word was said about price. They charged 

 me regular rates, that any one buying as large- 

 ly could get, and would get without the asking. 



'• But." you ask, '" have you forgotten the 

 text you started out with?" Not at all. I 

 have just got around to it. While I was in that 



