1892 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



473 



bt'irit's aiv of fair sizo ami Rood flavor; but 

 soiut' way thorc an> not t(i«(»<!//i of tlH'tii. Not- 

 witlistaiidiiiij tlic fai't that it is almost a wcok 

 earlirr than any otlicr siraw lu-rry, I do not 

 thinlv we shall Rive it aiuiiln'r trial". For tlnvo 

 seasons it has blossomed fairly: but when it 

 comes to frniting. only a tcw blossoms seem to 

 produce any thing. The llaverlands. right ad- 

 joining it. are loaded so that the stems are 

 really sprawling into tiie paths, with great 

 bundles of green fruit: and at the same lime 

 it is not more than four nr tivc ihiijs l)ehind 

 Michel's Early. The Jessie, while it is loaded 

 witli fruit as usual, is going to be a little later 

 this season, as it does not stand frosty weather 

 as well as most oilier varieties. A plant called 

 ]{eeder Wood has at present more green berries 

 ilian any thing else 1 tiiiiik I ever saw in the 

 line of strawberries; and. what is strange about 

 it. is. that the berries are all held aloft above 

 the foliage, right up in the sun. As I have 

 never yei lieard this peculiarity mentioned in 

 regard" to this variety. I am inclined to think 

 it is the effect of the season. If the plant suc- 

 ceeds iu ripening all the green berries that 

 stand up in sight it will certainly be a wonder. 

 I have thought of giving it a dose of guano to 

 "kind o" brace it up " for the tremendous task 

 it has ahead of it. So far there has been quite 

 a trouble on account of rot — a kind of rot that 

 commences before the berries are perfectly ripe. 

 We presume it is caused by the unusual amount 

 of dampness, and lack of sunshine. When these 

 defective berries are picked they do not seem to 

 show it; but after only a few hours they be- 

 come so soft they have to be thrown out. With 

 more sunshine, the prospect with us is good for 

 a wonderful crop of fine berries. A good many, 

 however, are greatly damaged if not entirely 

 spoiled by being under water; and this will, 

 perhaps, be a trouble more or less general. 



MURE AISOUt' the AMEIUCAX PEARL ONION, 

 AND HARDY ONIONS THAT WILL WIN- 

 TER OVEH. 



We have been expecting some more and some 

 better reports from the American Pearl onion, 

 for we sold altogether nearly ten bushels of 

 sets. The onions down in our lot are now larger 

 than hen's-eggs. and are a nice thing to have, I 

 tell you. I can hardly understand why we 

 should succeed, while so many others fail. Here 

 are a couple of letters that may throw some 

 light on the subject: 



WINTERING OVER POTATO ONIONS. 



On pages 339 and 340, Mr. A. F. Ames, of Ten- 

 nessee, speaks of wintering potato onions; and 

 it seems a surprise to you that they, being plant- 

 ed a month later than other varieties, wintered 

 well. Perhaps if friend Ames had planted the 

 others at tlie same time, they might have win- 

 tered as well. I do not know any thing abo+it 

 those: but we have grown potato onions for the 

 last 'M years with success, and but very little 

 loss, with the exception of two or three years 

 when we had over two-thirds of a crop. We 

 always calculate to plant about the 10th of Octo- 

 ber: iu a warmer climate I should think better 

 a little later, so the (mioii would get well rooted 

 before it freezes up, not putting on your mulch 

 until the ground is well frozen, so you can wheel 

 your manure on with a wheelbarrow. This 

 mulch will then keep the ground from thawing 

 and freezing, which rots the onion. That is 

 how we had our losses. It would freeze a trifle, 

 and then thaw. Perhaps Mr. Ames put on his 

 mulch before the ground was frozen, and they 

 were kept too warm, and smothered. You 

 might get some information on this subject 

 from T. W. (iriner, of La Salle, N. Y., who has 

 tried to winter several kinds. I was there in 

 March. They were coming up then ; but how 



well he succeeded I do not know, as I haven't 

 heard from him. H. F. Gkks.sman. 



Hamburg, N. Y.. .May 9. 



SWAMP .MICK FOR A Mt'IXH. 



I noticed with interest what was said in iMay 

 1st (Ji.i;ANi.\<is in regard to (ini(>ns wintei'ing 

 when planted in the fall. There are a great 

 many of the potato onions raised here (ov mar- 

 ket. We aim to plant them as late in the fall as 

 the ground can be worked, some as late as Dec. 

 1. The later they are plaiiteii, tlie iK'tter they 

 winter. The best mulch I have found is muck 

 from a mai'sh near l)y. It protects the onion 

 perfectly, can be left on. and keeps the ground 

 I'rom getting dry and hard in the spring. Hay 

 or fodder, or straw manure, is apt to rot them. 



Ada, O., May 11. Jac. Giisinglv. 



I got half a peck of the American Pearl onion 

 of you last fall, and planted part of them Sept. 

 1. the rest Sept. 'JO. Many of tlw earlier planted 

 ones sent up seed-stalks, which the later ones 

 did not. The larger sets were first planted. 

 I now have onions 2^ inches in diameter, sweet 

 and tender. I do not believe a single one failed 

 to winter. L. C. Smallwood. 



Russellville, Ark., May 9. 



[Friend S., it is nothing at all strange that 

 they wintered all right witli you in your south- 

 ern locality, even if you did put them out so 

 late as Sept. 20. This year we have had much 

 the best success with those planted early.] 



REPUDIATING HONEST DEBTS. 



is THERE DANGER THAT SICH A COURSE MAY 

 GET TO BE FASHIONARLE ? 



The above headings were suggested by some 

 recent articles in our agricultural papers, par- 

 ticularly the Rural New -Yorhcr. Now, please 

 remember that I am a staunch friend of the 

 Rural, and I do not believe that it would ever 

 knowingly teach or give place to any thing that 

 might be unsound; yet I feel that there is dan- 

 ger in giving people space who seem to claim 

 that affairs in our country are at present in such 

 a shape as to partly if not entirely excuse a man 

 for repudiation. I was recently met with a re- 

 mark something like this: 



" Is it a man's duty to work himself to death, 

 even if his debts do go unpaid ? " 



The reply I made was something like this: 



" My friend, 1 should rather die from over- 

 work than to die with the consciousness in my 

 heart that I had been living on other people's 

 hard earnings." 



The talk in this line has, perhaps, started 

 along with the conflict between capital and la- 

 bor. People who have money to let, or who 

 make their living by lending money, are called 

 usurers and extortioners; and the laboring class- 

 es — at least some of them — complain that these 

 money-lenders go around with good clothes on, 

 and do not work at all, and yet grow rich, while 

 the laboring classes grow poor. My friend, our 

 country is so free that anybody may make his 

 money by loaning if he wislies to. Of course, he 

 must have some to start with; but very many 

 of the capitalists — perhaps the greater part of 

 them — tarned their money fairly and squarely 

 to start with. There are millions of people 

 wanting to borrow money: and I am sorry to 

 say that there are -a great many who would 

 borrow money if they could, with very little 

 prospect of their ever being able to pay it back. 

 You all know this. There are such people all 

 about you. If they can. by hook or crook, get 

 somebody to make them a loan without securi- 

 ty, as soon as the money is in their possession 



