196 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 15. 



floating in tiic air; but they can in no case give 

 rise to their growth. All scientific authorities, 

 as well as practical experience in the apiary, 

 vouch for this. 



We give our friend W. L. Coggshall the credit 

 of being one of the brightest and most success- 

 ful bee-keepers of York State, yet we fear he 

 has been misled in his ob.servations respecting 

 foul brood. It has been quite conclusively 

 proven that the disease can not start without 

 germs. He is quite correct in regard to bare- 

 headed brood.] 



RAMBLE NO. 55. 



IN NAPA VATXEY: A Tf:XI)EKFOOT S HLUXDERK 

 AND MISTAKES IN CALIFORNIA. 



John Chinaman is something of a factor' on 

 this coast. There ai'e several thousand in Sac- 

 ramento, and a visit, to Chinatown is always a 

 place of interest. We seem to be suddenly 

 transported to a diiferent clime, where we find 

 people with an entirely different dress, lan- 

 guage, and ways of doing business. The ('hi- 

 nese have almost complete control of the laun- 

 dry business. Many are also employed as 

 servants in private families, and many work on 

 ranches, or rent ground for gardening purposes, 

 at which they are adepts, not only at produc- 

 ing, but also in marketing, and their wagons 

 are seen on the streets at all hours of the day. 

 If they can not afford a wagon, a hand -cart is 

 employed. They are very faithful, and not 

 quarrelsome. But in our first experience with 

 a Chinaman we found an exception. Our 

 cousin's wife employed a Chinaman to cut the 

 grass on the little lawn in front of the house for 

 four bits (.50 cts.). When he had cut about two- 

 thirds of it he struck for higher wages, and 



ME MUf'HEE TIKEl). 



wanted four bits more before he would finish 

 the job. His actions while he fiourished his 

 sickle frightened the ladies. ;ind the Raiubler 

 Wcis called around to regulate the Chinaman. 

 But, no; he still fiourished his sickle, and 

 shouted. "Melican man makee Chinaman 

 workee too muchce. Me lelhow muchee tired. 

 Me blely empty; tne muchee hungly: me workee 

 no more for fou)' l)its; me fightee Melic.m wo- 

 man, Melican man." Our regulation was a 

 failure except to prevent an attack upon the 

 Melican woman. He was paid the four bits, 

 and he went off muttering about Melican wo- 

 man. Melican tenderfootee no sabe (understand) 



poor Chinaman. The Rambler procured a 

 sickle and soon finished the job. 



Chinamen, though adepts to learn American 

 trades, have, fortunately, not taken to bee- 

 keeping. About the extent of their work in 

 this line is to put up boxes and catch abscond- 

 ing swarms, and sell them to some apiarist for 

 from four to six bits. If they were expert bee- 

 keepers we are not sure but they would mo- 

 nopolize the business in this State. 



Being recognized as a tenderfoot by a China- 

 man, a kind old lady, many years a resident of 

 California, sought to pour oil on our wounded 

 feelings by giving me lessons in Califoi'nia cus- 

 toms. 



"Whyl laws-a-mel" said she, ''me and my 

 old man made no end of blunders when we first 

 came here. The first grocer's bill we received 

 had 'spuds* charged to us in several places. 

 Says I, "William, I never ordered a spud — not 

 one. Why, a spud is a sort of a round blunt 

 stick to transplant beets with. The idee of 

 putting spuds on a grocer's bill! it's outrageous. 

 That grocer is a barefaced cheat;' and 1 got so 

 excited that I posted right oft' to the grocer's, 

 fully determined to give him a piece of ray 

 mind. I sailed through the door kinder lofty, 

 and, says I. 'You sell spuds, do you'.'" 'Yes, 

 m'am,' he says, kinder pert; 'will you have 

 another sack — some fresh ones just in'?' 'Spudsl' 

 says I: 'spuds! Why.' says I. -them's taters.' 

 'Why. yes.' said he. 'that's what tenderfeet call 

 them', but they are spuds here.' I jest went 

 right home a humbler and wiser person, and 

 me'n William wouldn't have said a blamed 

 word after that, if we'd been charged with 

 beau-poles and a whole picket fence on our 

 bills. 



"And then I made another wretched mistake. 

 I called upon a neighboring lady. I thought 

 she appeared very sad. Finally she said her 

 husband was in the corral; and, says I. just as 

 sympathizing as I could, "Poor man! what did 

 he steal?' Steal!' said she, with flashing 

 eyes. 'Why. yes,' said I; 'ain't a corral a jail'." 

 Her anger changed to laughter. Said she. 

 'Anybody'd know you're a tenderfoot. A cor- 

 ral is where we herd our horses and cattle.' 

 • Well,' says I. 'why can't they call it a cowyard 

 then, and not rack the dictionary for hard 

 names'.'" I felt much humbled, and William 

 made no end of fun of me; and when he discov- 

 ered that I lay awake half of the night resolv- 

 ing things, he said I would get to be as bad as 

 the woman (I guess it was a man) who was so 

 humble she had to wake uj) in the night to rest 

 her face." 



After this series of lessons I went forth again 

 with renewed confidence and rambled to Napa 

 Valley, which is well over in the Coast Range 

 of mountains, about 70 miles west of Sacra- 

 tnento. 



Again orchards of various kinds of fruits, and 

 extensive vineyards, were encountered in the 

 valley, while the hilltops were brown and dry. 

 Raisin vineyards were quite numerous, and 

 trays about two feet square were distributed 

 between the rows, upon which the grapes were 

 drying; after the sun had performed its work, 

 the grapes wer(> put into boxes and piled one on 

 the other for the sweating process, after which 

 they were sorted and layered into boxes ready 

 for market. The products of many vineyards 

 are used for wine-making, and the grapes were 

 being •■ packed in '' from the mountains. The 

 ternt pack is used here altogether for the word 

 '• carry." " Pack in that board," '-pack a swarm 

 of bees from the canyon." etc.. are often heard. 

 As nearly all articles in early days were packed 

 on mules, and are now in remote places, this 

 teriri is therefore still used. Loads of fruit and 

 other materials were met that would make a 



