204 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 15. 



[There are some kinds of fixed distances that 

 are positively intolerable, and such a kind as 

 you describe is one of that sort, as we know 

 from a brief expei'ience : but there are other 

 kinds that are positively delightful.] 



High-pressure Gardening. 



THE TOMATO INDUSTRY OF CRYSTAL 

 SPRINGS, MISS. 



CLOTH INSTEAD OF GLASS FOR COLD-FHAXIfr> 



On the morning of Feb. 27. 1892. I opened my 

 eyes in a pleasant room in the hospitable home 

 of J. \V. Day. the author of the hook on tomato 

 culture in the South. Brother Day soon came 

 in with an armful of long pine kindling, and 

 proceeded to build such a nice big fire in the 

 spacious fireplace that I commenced a remon- 

 strance at the waste of so much nice fuel, solely 

 for me to dress by. But he I'eplied he liad more 

 than he wanted or could get rid of; and, to tell 

 the truth, he has pine timber by the /i(/?i(7ref7 

 (teres. Breakfast for a family of eight children 

 was, like the fuel, in great (iljiindaiice and of 

 excellent (iKdlitij. I never ale any canned 

 peaches before equal to friend Day's: and when 

 I found he had 400 acres of young peach-trees, I 

 felt in a hurry to get out to see them as well as 

 the tomatoes. In coming into Crystal Springs 

 the day before, I noted the long canvas-covered 

 cold-frames that began to dot the fields with 

 their long strips of white, even when we were 

 miles away from Crystal Springs. The exceed- 

 ing wiiiteness of the cloth is explained by the 

 fact that a great part of them are covered with 

 /(e(r white cloth, for it is only since friend Day's 

 venture has proved a success that almost every 

 one around him has decided to go into it more 

 or less. It is exactly like the lettuce business 

 around friend Davis' at Grand Rapids. Mich. 

 Well, we are having a great lot of pictures 

 made, illustrating this new industry: but as 

 they will make my description too late for this 

 season I am going to tell you in advance how to 

 make a cloth cold-frame to protect tomato and 

 other plants aftcM- they are transplanted the 

 first time from the seed-bed. 



The cloth, which is rather thick stout cotton, 

 is used in the place of glass; but as there was 

 quite a frost on the morning I have described, 

 the beds had all been covered the night before 

 with pine straw and forest-leaves spread evenly 

 over the canvas cover. Friend Day has over a 

 mile in length, altogether, of these beds, and 

 each one is douhle width, taking cloth 2^i 

 yards wide on each side. Such frames hav(^ 

 i)een in use moie or less for some yeai's back in 

 diffei'ent localities: but. if I am correct, friend 

 D. first used the pole to roll the cloth on. I saw 

 one of his men roll up the canvas alone, on a 

 bed l')(> feet hnnj. 



I need not tell yon of the iinmensc saving of 

 time and strfugtli. compared with handling 

 glazed sash. It is ti'ue. cloth does not give the 

 protection nor the lieat that sash does; but by 

 taking a little more; time one can start seeds of 

 even tomatoi'S and egg and iirpper plants under 

 cloth. Friend Day has perhaps a liundred 

 glazed sash in use. side by side with glass, so he 

 knows all about it. All the heat used in start- 

 ing the seeds, in Ihc vicinity of Crystal Springs, 

 is obtained by fines under gi-ound,"and Imrning 

 woofl. A simple trench, or two trenches, are 

 dug in the ground, and the seed-bed made over 

 tiiem. Of course, tlie trench is made on an in- 



cline, one foot ri.se in 2(J feet length. The trench 

 is covered with brick, flat stones, or large tile 

 may be used. Pine wood furnishes the heat: 

 and after firing all day. the ground gets so hot 

 (and retains the heat) that your plants are 

 secure fiom harm diu'iugeven the coldest night, 

 without any firing during the night-time. 

 Where the liriug is done, the opening may be Hi 

 inches across; but it is gradiuilly contracted 

 until it reaches tlie bottom of the chimney, 

 when it is only about 8 inches across. The 

 chimney is only a square wooden box. say 8 x 10 

 inches inside, and 8 or lu feet long. Such a 

 tlue will give heat for a bed 40 or .50 feet long. 

 The earth over the flue is 2 feet deep at the 

 furiKicc end. but only (i inches deep at the 

 rltlmiiey end. In making the flue, if you arch 

 over with brick, use something similar to a 

 nail-keg to arch over on, sliding it along as you 

 proceed. You can use glass oi' cloth over this 

 lied as you choose. Of course, glass will give 

 more heat from the sun. and will keep out more 

 frost; but if you commence a little earlier you 

 can get just as good plants by using cloth. I 

 saw plants raised under glass and under cloth, 

 and the latter were every bit as good. Of 

 course, you will have to take more pains in 

 covering the cloth with leaves oi' straw during 

 very cold spells. Cloth frames have more slant 

 than glass usually does, for the cloth cover is 

 expected to cany ofi' all the rain. 



One of the strong points in friend Day's 

 management is to keep the ground dry. I could 

 hardly believe he was right until I saw beauti- 

 ful plants in all stages that had never been 

 watered <tt all. You see. the cloth holds the 

 moisture that rises up through the mellow soil, 

 and at the same time it does not permit the sun 

 to heat up and scorch as the glass does. Friend 

 D. never gives his [ilants more than one water- 

 ing if he can help it: and that one is in the 

 cfihl-fninies, a week or ten days before they go 

 out to the field. Then they are watered until 

 the ground is soaked. If a I'ain comes about 

 this time, he prefeis it to any artificial water- 

 ing. Only the seed-beds or /lof-beds require 

 fines for heat. Now for 



THE CLOTH COLD-FKAAIES. 



This is the great feature of this paper. .It is, 

 in my opinion, one of the great inventions of 

 the age. It may be single width or douhle 

 width, as I have stated; but the slant in either 

 ca.se should be so as to have a pitch or about l}4 

 feet in a bed 6 feet wide. The cloth is securely 

 fastened at the upper edge, and the pole on 

 which it is lolled is securely attached to the 

 lower edge. This pole hangs over th(^ lower 

 edge, and holds the cloth down tight to the 

 edge of the one-foot plank that is put ai'ound 

 the bed. Strips 1x3 inches are put in like raf- 

 lei'S every six feet to hold up the cloth. I)ut ihey 

 ar(^ Hiovable. so as to take them out of the way 

 when desir( d. To keep out frost, the whole lied 

 must be air-tight, or as near as may be. and the 

 gable ends are therefore held tight by tempo- 

 rary strips, or by strings sewed in at intervals, 

 and fastened to nails diiven partly in. To 

 keep out w ater. make a ditch with outlet, clear 

 around tlie whole t)Uiside. In order that the 

 gi'ound may be cheaply and thoroughly fined 

 up before a crop is put into th(^ bed. the gable 

 ends may be removable, so tlie horse and culti- 

 vator may be luu back and forth uniil all is 

 fine and mellow. Now. here is a bright ideia I 

 did not gel hold of at first. As every jjlant is 

 to be lifted from the cold-frame with a square 

 of dirt adhering to its roots, and thus carried to 

 tlie field, we can not afford to have the field a 

 great way off: thei-efore the bed itself \» located 

 in the middle of the field where the tomatoes 

 are to be set. The plants are spaced accurately 



