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(;LKAMN(iS IN HKK I I l/rURK. 



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KtiVITIA.V. t'K WINIKU ONK'N. 



Ydii may n'liicmhcr tliat I incntioiii'd hist 

 season that some of nm lOLryplian sets on our 

 vtTv rii'li inarUet-traiiicn jjhoiiihI jjivw to he 

 ahiiost thi' si/.e of hens" ojtgs. Of codisi-. wc 

 .■oulil not sell siioli sots; and as I didn't Unou 

 w hal else to do with tluMii. wc phmtrd tlicin in 

 ;i row alxiut si\ inoiics apart. What do yon 

 thinl< iliov ilid? Why.thfv st i aisilil way split 

 tiu'insolvfs up into little hnll)s JiUi' potato 

 onions: and now wc have a wonderful firowtli 

 of larirc ffiven tops and beautiful hiineh onit)ns 

 from si\ to twelve in a hundi. One of these 

 large sets proihu-ed 14 fair-sized onions. This 

 Kgvptian onion is perhaps the hardiest vege- 

 tahle we liave any thiii^ to do with. It will 

 sjrow. and look green and hrigiit. at a tempera- 

 tiiri' lietween 40 and "lU. In fact, they have 

 already made a wondeifnl growth this spring 

 while scarcely any thing else has made a start. 

 The demand for sets has been beyond the snp- 

 plv again: and. by the way. this onion may l)e 

 divided and planted at aiiy titnc of the y<'ar 

 wIkmi the ground is not frozen. In fact, you 

 can pull sets from the toi)S of the onions at 

 almost any stag(> of growth, and i)nt them in 

 the ground and they will send out roots, and 

 grow. There is something wonderful about 

 this onion-plant and its many divisions and 

 subdivisions. Von know I have beiMi talking 

 about writing an onion-book. Well, w iiat 1 

 liave learned about onions alri'ady would inake 

 a very fair-siz<'d book: but th<' more I study it. 

 the more I liogin to think that what I <hiii't 

 know about oniijns would make a still bigger 

 book. To one who loves to study (lod through 

 his works, this subject of getting thoroughly 

 ac<|uainted with and following out tlie iieculiar- 

 ilies and possibilities of even a single [jiinlcii 

 Vi'ijctniilc is. at least to me. exceedingly fasci- 

 nating. >Iore than that, a rich reward in dol- 

 lars and cents is pretty sure to pay the one who 

 gels thoro\ighly ae(iuainted with any line of 

 plants so as to undei-stand what they may be 

 made to do. 



l'I,.\N'r-HKI)S WtrU S.\SH. .SHTTTEI5S. A.Mt COT- 

 TON CLOTH. 



On page 784. Oct. ]. 1891, I described an ar- 

 rangement of a series of hot-beds with places 

 to put the sash at eithei- end. I want to say 

 that wc find it in our work now a fierfcv-t suc- 

 cess. U'e have just had iiuite a little freeze. 

 and every tiling in the way of sash was scraped 

 up to cover the i)lants. After the sash was 

 exhausted we used all the wooden shutters, 

 even dilapidated and broken ones. Then we 

 took cotton cloth for the hardier plants in place 

 of either sash or shutters. The cloth was held 

 fast at the upper or northern side by a pole, 

 and then another pole was put on the south or 

 lower edge to roll it up on, exactly as friend 

 Day does it with his tomato - beds. It has 

 answered nicely: and although we have had 

 some tremendous winds, a heavy rain, and an 

 inch or two of snow, the cloth has answered 

 the purpose perfectly. My opinion is now. that 

 •• high-pressure gardening'" is to be done large- 

 ly in these beds. Not only can vegetable- 

 plants be raised at a protit, hut last season we 

 raised extra early corn, early potatot^s. snap 

 beans, cabbages, and a great variety of other 

 crops not usually put in cold-frames, and we 

 got prices that paid expen.ses txjo. Some of you 

 may be inclined to laugh about growing corn 

 in a hot-bed or cold - frame. The corn was 

 planted the last of February, the kernels being 

 put in just ten inches apart. Glass was used 

 over them at first: but when the stalks got so 

 they crowded against the glass ihey were pro- 

 t<vted by shutters or cloth. Every stalk gave 

 an ear — sometimes two — even though planted 



so close, foi- the ground was very rich, mind 

 you. We started it al ".!.') cents jx-r dozen ears, 

 thinking that wa> all our people would piiy, but 

 corn grown in the open air a few weeks after 

 that itisii brought '.'.■> cents. becaus<' the people 

 had got a little edui'aled to paying that price. 

 Now. I am not sure but th<'y would have given 

 .">0 cents a dozen for at least quite a little of it. 

 because it was quite a novelty from the fact 

 that it was started under glass". There is a big 

 tiehl for work here, friends, if you really love 

 the business and enjoy lighting the frost, ice, 

 and piercing winds. The lighting is to be dom- 

 l)y th(>se same plant-beds, with glass, shutters, 

 and cloth. 



The testimony of the Lord is sui e mailing- wise the simple.— 

 I'sAI.M 19:7. 



SixcK we have had so many testimonies in 

 favor of sealed covers we have had quite a 

 number of lettei's for upward ventilation and 

 absorbing cushions. In our next issue we will 

 publish a few of them. \N'e hope that none of 

 our friends will imagine that a scaled-cover is 

 so near and dear to our heai't that we can not 

 listen to arguments against it. 



Wk have long needed a I'liited States law for 

 the suppression of adulteration of foods. There 

 is now a pure-food bill befor*^ Congress, with a 

 probability of its p;issing. ^Ve understand it 

 has alreadv p issed the Senate, and we hope its 

 friends, including Mr. Taddock who introduced 

 ir. w ill be successful in having it become a law. 

 The main feature of tiie bill is to pi'event the 

 sale of adulterated foods in otiier States than 

 those in which they are niixi'd. This, we think; 

 will be tjuite a chi'ck upon tlii' nefarious busi- 

 ness, and we hope every subscriber will write to 

 liis representative, urging tlH> importance of the 

 liassage of this good law. .lust at this time 

 iieekeei^ers need it. 



Dk. Millkh asks, in Stray Straws, how we 

 succeeded in imbedding the wires in founda- 

 tion by means of electricity, the electricitv 

 heating the wire from end to end, so that it wifl 

 melt into the wax. We were not quite ready 

 yet to reiiort, but perhaps we might say this: 

 We succeeded partially, and are certain that, 

 with the proper battery power, we could imbed 

 and make a nice job. We do not feel so positive, 

 however, that it w ill |)ay. Matteries — at least 

 the direct-current or primary type — are expen- 

 sive, and require to be renew(>d often. Storage 

 lor secondary) batteries will answer nicely, but 

 they are still more expensive, and require to be 

 stored up with the invisible fluid from some 

 ((lectric-power station. For the average bee- 

 keeper these are not available. It remains for 

 us now to prove whether Matn be done: and if 

 so, whether it can be done profitably. 



In response; to our call for reports as to how 

 bees are wint«Ming throughout the country, 

 about 200 bee-keepers have, up to date. Apr. 1:3, 

 responded. The reports show that bees, with 

 very few exceptions, have wintered exception- 

 ally well. About a third of the number report 

 no loss, and the remaining two-thirds show 

 from 9.T to 98 per cent as the number that have 

 wintered. Tnere are only three or four who 

 report below (50 per cent. The losses, where 

 they have occurred, have been principally in 



