544 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1. 



office a woman came in. an agent, not employ- 

 ed by the firm, but one who buys and sells, or, 

 rather, sells and then buys. She had just got 

 her order filled, and it was somewhat larger 

 than mine. Had she paid her bill and kept her 

 own counsel, the cloven foot would have re- 

 mained hidden. Butsliehad been figuring up 

 what she was to receive for the stuff, and. I 

 was going to say, woman-like, slip couldn't resist 

 the temptation to show how smai't she was. and 

 so she held her memorandum-book over to the 

 book-keeper who was waiting on her. and said. 

 "There is what that bill of goods brings me." 

 It was about $127. 



He said: "'I congratulate you, madam;" and. 

 being a Christian gentl(>man, as I should judge, 

 I do not see how he kept from saying. "But 

 how about the people who have ti'usted you. 

 and whom you are cheating so outrageously ?" 

 After this woman had gone out (I can not call 

 her a lady, although she was well dressed), a 

 member of the firm said to me. "Those cost her 

 just about the $27. Why will ppople pay such 

 prices instead of dealing directly with the nur- 

 series'?" Now. which soul looks the whiter — 

 that of this great and wealthy corporation, 

 that employs an army of men. and by fair deal- 

 ing and doing a great business on a small mar- 

 gin of profit has grown to vast pi-opoi'tions, or 

 that of this individual, quite poor, perhaps, 

 who was taking a mean advantage of the ig- 

 norance of others? I am .s'o sori'y it was a wo- 

 man! But I am reporting facts. 



Now a more pleasant theme. You will re- 

 luember our landscape gardener (a man this 

 time, not a woman) excused himself partly for 

 the exorbitant price put on his work, by saying 

 that many of the plants would die, and have to 

 be replaced. Well, with careless treatment I 

 presume they would. But I have to report 

 that every one of the 171 we set out. green at 

 the business as we wei-e. is growing nicely. 

 This shows again that the great corporation 

 had a soul. The plants came in perfect condi- 

 tion. I will tell you just what we did to insure 

 their gi-owiug. Where a shrub was to be set 

 we cut a circular hole a foot deep and four feet 

 across, in the turf, and drew away the dii't and 

 drew back choice soil from the richest part of 

 our clover-field that we were just about to 

 plow for potatoes. With a sharp spade we 

 shaved off the clover-plants and took the soil 

 witli clover-roots in it. We took out a strip, 

 say two feet wide, and then left two feet so as 

 not to spoil the soil in the field. The dii't 

 bi'ought from the lawns was put into the holes 

 in the clover-lot. Flower-beds were dug out, 

 and filled with clover soil in the same way. 

 We did this early in the spring when we were 

 not busy. Then, after carefully setting, we 

 have kept the surface constantly mellow by us- 

 ing a potato-hook, such as was formerly used 

 for digging potatoes. Wife and I delight to do 

 this. No manure was used. Myl hoiv things 

 do grow with such care! Of course, out of this 

 long list there will be some things we shall dis- 

 card after trial. We will keep what pleases us 

 best and does best on our soil. Abedofheli- 

 anthus multiflorus plenus is a delight to me 

 just now, from their luxuriant gi'owth. I look 

 at them more times a day than I do the [xitato- 

 field. and that is saying a good deal. By the 

 way, friend Root, have you any rhodolendrons? 

 If not. you must get a few. I never in my life 

 saw flowers that seemed so perfectly exquisite 

 as our pink and crimson and lilac colored rho- 

 dodendrons. The girls tliought ev(>ry thing of 

 th(> white one; but they did not seem so per- 

 fectly lovely to me as' the other coloi's. We 

 tried to use. so far as i)ossible, shrubs and hardy 

 perennial plants to oi'nament our grounds, so as 

 to save the (^xi)ense and tioublr of fussing with 



many annuals. We should like them too; but 

 we are farmei's, and can not spare a great deal 

 of time for such work, and want to make all 

 that is possible out of what time we can put in. 

 Hudson, O., June 20. T. B. Terry. 



[Friend Terry, I want to say, "May the Lord 

 be praised for putting it into your heart to 

 write the above at just this crisis." The sad 

 part of the story is what you tell us about that 

 woman who is agent. But it only illustrates 

 the way in which the greater part of agents, 

 both men and women, get tlieir pay for travel- 

 ing fi'om house to house, and taking orders. 

 Perhaps this woman, if she could see this arti- 

 cle, might excuse herself on the ground of 

 " traveling expenses." If she delivers her 

 plants she must make two trips to every home. 

 But even if this be true, I think it is a tremen- 

 dous argument in favor of going to the nearest 

 nursery youi'self and picking out what you 

 want. A very good friend of mine — infacl.it 

 is none other than the father of W. J. Green, of 

 the Ohio Experiment Station. Columbus — has a 

 beautiful nursery right in our own county; and 

 I have l],eard him lament, again and again, that 

 people living comparatively near his nursery 

 would persist in i)aylng ti'aveling agents three 

 or four times the proper price foi' certain things, 

 and then get poor stock besides. Woi'se still, 

 they are persuaded into buying something that 

 is totally unfit for tlreir locality; whereas, if 

 they had gone to the nurseryman he could have 

 given them intelligent advice in the matter, 

 and would not, under any circumstances, have 

 urged them to take sometliing which he knew 

 would disappoint them. You may say, all nur- 

 sery men ai'e not like those mentioned by Mr. 

 Terry. My fi'iend. I l)elieve that those who 

 build up a great business are. as a I'ule. con- 

 scientious and honest. The I'eal cheats are 

 those who travel about without name, home, or 

 reputation. 



I felt like smiling when you told about going 

 to the clover-field for good soil. I have thought 

 of doing the same thing, but I could hardly 

 bear to spoil my nice fields by "robbing Peter 

 to pay Paul." if that is a fair illustiation. We 

 make our stuff grow by mulching the ground 

 with manure, or l)y digging manure into the 

 ground; and this process will in time make nice 

 soil for any kind of plants, if you work in ma- 

 nure enough. 



The fiist rhododendron that I ever saw came 

 from one of the great nurseries. It was shipped 

 in full bloom; and when I unpacked it and 

 stood it up I could think of nothing but the 

 Iviug as he stood in mute astonishment when 

 Cleopatra was unrolled and placed on her feet 

 before him. Oui- folks here have good reason 

 to know, I think, about rhododendrons and 

 azaleas. Some years ago. when I saw a beauti- 

 ful plant in full bloom in the window of a florist 

 in Utica. N. Y., right in the depth of winter, I fell 

 in love with it to such an extent that I carried 

 it to our bee-keepers' convention, where it grac- 

 ed the table right by the president, until the 

 close of the meeting. Theti I brought it all the 

 way home, and displayed it tiiumphantly in 

 the office, just liefore noon service; and then 

 we kept it in our home for more than two 

 weeks, where it was a thing of beauty and a 

 joy for — a good many days. Advising people to 

 go to plant-dealers near their own homes would 

 cut off our own business in sending plants by mail 

 and express, I am aware. But. never mind if it 

 does. If somebody near your home makes a busi- 

 ness of raising plants, by all means go and get 

 them of your neighbor, and thus encoui'age home 

 industry; and finally,dearfriends. please remem- 

 ber that all great firms and corporations have 

 prfi})(thhj earned their money by honest Indus- 



