966 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15. 



let the full light of day into every shop and 

 store, and tell to the passerby, as plainly as 

 possible, all the propnetor has for sale. 



Good-night, dear reader. I am going to pray 

 for you: yes, for every one who cares to read 

 these words I am writing. The waters of the 

 artesian well are hissing and babbling and bub- 

 bling near my window; and would it be strange 

 if I dreamed of this new and great gift, right 

 from the Father's hand ? 



Nov. 25.— I have just visited the farm of C. E. 

 Hinds, 1>2 miles from Woonsocket. On the 

 highest point of his land he has a three-inch 

 well that gives .500 gallons of water per minute. 

 Around the well is a resei-voir holding a million 

 of gallons. His men and teams did it at odd 

 spells, at a cost not exceeding $80.00. A series 

 of ditches and flumes, when needed, take the 

 water to every part of his farm. A man ap- 

 pointed by the government visited him, and 

 gave him instruction in managing the water. 

 He secured about 2.50 bushels per acre of pota- 

 toes, by running water between the rows, 

 and 60 bushels of oats per acre. He is full of 

 enthusiasm, and is pi-eparing for wheat next 

 season. Only spring wheat is raised here. 



Quite early in the morning I was down by the 

 outlet of the fiouring-mill. The water was 

 steaming at such a rate I knelt down and put 

 my hand in it. I then procured a thermometer, 

 and found it 61 degrees. I told the people that 

 if this water were led around their rooms in 

 coils of pipe, it would warm them enough for 

 all ordinary work; but no one had any faith in 

 it. It would cool off. they said. I looked over 

 the town a little; and as the sun came up and 

 it began to thaw, I pointed triumphantly to 

 where the snow was all thawed off from the 

 black ground, wherever a water-pipe ran, and 

 these pipes are as much as a foot under ground 

 in places. Our readers will remember that wa- 

 ter is always running in these, and so no pro- 

 tection from frost is needed. As the water is 

 always running, one of the problems is to get 

 rid of the surplus. The mill men have been 

 obliged to construct over three miles of ditch to 

 get the water into the river; and at one time 

 the artesian wells came very near flooding the 

 town. When the well was first opened it threw 

 out 40 or 50 carloads of sand and stones. This 

 sand was carried away by the townspeople and 

 railroad folks for building purposes. It throws 

 sand and stones now whenever the pipe is open- 

 ed full width; thei'efore they do not like to do 

 it. lest the stones should injure the water-mo- 

 tor. If this surplus water were run in pipes 

 under the beds of greenhouses and cold-frames 

 it would warm them up enough for lettuce, 

 radish, spinach, onions, and a great variety of 

 hardy vegetables. For poultry-houses I be- 

 lieve 60 degrees would bo better for the fowls 

 than a warmer temperature. What a field for 

 the egg business I 



While investigating the matter of the tem- 

 perature of the water I must have become 

 somewhat enthusiastic. I found I could not 

 get the thermometer down into the steaming, 

 rushing water, where it came from the mill, 

 without getting down on my knees. A light 

 snow was on the ground, but I felt sure it would 

 brush off readily. Imagine myconfusion, when 

 I had passed clear thiough the town, to hear 

 Mr. Hinds, the banker, say: 



" Mr. Root, I think you must have been down 

 on your knees somewhere this morning." And 

 when I looked down, thei'e was a great patch of 

 snow and grass on each knee. 



Nobody knows just how many artesian wells 

 there are now in this region — certainly more 

 than 100 deep wells, with high pressure, and 

 more being drilled every day. After the well is 

 once drilled, no power on earth can compete 



with them for cheapness and regularity of 

 speed. Speed-testers show that the rate is al- 

 most exactly the same, day after day: and for 

 flouring-mills this is a very important feature. 

 All through Dakota, at the hotels and rail- 

 road ticket-offices, I found very pretty framed 

 notices of the various Sunday services, and also 

 pi'ayer or Endeavor meetings, during the week. 

 This is of very great convenience to the travel- 

 er, as I know by experience, for he may inquire 

 of many individuals, and then not find what he 

 wants. Dakota people are very loyal to their 

 State, and quite sensitive in regard to any 

 thing reflecting on their climate, resources, 

 people, or intelligence. They don't like to talk 

 about the blizzard of some years ago; but when 

 a storm or cyclone does damage in the East, 

 they comment quite freely on the fact that the 

 older States are really more unsafe than new 

 Dakota. A disastrous storm has just been re- 

 ported over many of the Eastern States, and 

 special damage is reported in New York city. 

 While in Woonsocket on the evening of the 33, 

 I heard some one going about and inquiring the 

 name of the mayor of New York. I, with the 

 rest, pleaded ignorance; but the next day I 

 found the following in a Dakota daily: 



TO AID SUFFERERS. 

 woonsocket's mayor tenders sympathy of a 

 practical nature to storm sufferers. 

 Special to The Daily Presn. 



Woonsocket, Nov. 24.— The mayor of Woonsock- 

 et 1ms wired tlie mayor of the city of New ^ork as 

 follows: 



"The council luis vott'd J^IOOO for tlie aid of storm 

 sufferers. Indian summer out here." 



The magnitude of this joke becomes more ap- 

 parent when we remember that Woonsocket is 

 only a little village, comparatively. That about 

 the Indian summer is put in because Eastern 

 papers have so much to say about the intense 

 cold and great winds of the west. 



SIOUX FALLS — THE CITY OF JASPER. 



Thanli.'^Uiving Jy(i/.— While waiting for a 

 train I visited Col. Drake's springs, where two 

 millions of gallons of the brightest, purest, 

 clean soft water flow from the jasper rock 

 every 24 hours. At some former time a good 

 deal of money was expended here; but just now 

 the place shows much evidence of decay and 

 neglect. A large circular stone reservoir is 

 around tht^ iron pipe, and the water stands per- 

 haps a foot above it; yet it is so clear the pipe 

 is plainly visible while its volumes of crystal 

 coolness gush forth. In many parts of Dakota, 

 even out on the prairies, great rocks are seen of 

 jasper. This is a very hard reddish stone, 

 much like the carnelian that was so fashiona- 

 ble for finger-rings years ago. At Sioux Falls 

 the river flows over these jasper rocks, and has, 

 in ages past, worn them down in many wonder- 

 ful shapes. The falls is a succession of irregu- 

 lar steps, 90 feet in all; and the flinty quarry 

 furnishes the most beautiful building-stone 

 without limit. Many fine buildings (including 

 the magnificent new court-house) ornament the 

 city, made entirely of jasper. The Illinois Cen- 

 tral R. R. depot is such a gem of stone architec- 

 ture, all of jasper, that I took it with my Ko- 

 dak. It will appear in a future issue. Right 

 near the falls an immense flouring-mill, all of 

 jasper (as well as the milldam too), startles 

 the passerby. The flume that carries the water 

 to the wheel is of boiler iron, and large enough 

 to drive a horse through. The capacity is 

 something like 500 barrels of flour a day; and 

 yet, after this abundant harvest it is standing 

 idlel When I inquired why this was, the an- 

 swer came, liUgaUon! Does any one know 

 what sin costs us as a people, in )Kird c.ashf 



Very few farmers make any use of manure in 



