1S97 



CLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



221 



that GF,EANiN(iS may bo introduced into some fam- 

 ily or nolfiliboilidod where it lias not g-o'ie liefore. 

 Wfcan not send you tlie potat(,es if you simply 

 have (ii.KAMNOS sent to some other niembir of 

 your own family. It should go to some postoffice 

 where it is not already lakfu. If you want some 

 other \ ariety of poiatues t han the New Queen, each 

 new name sent us will cnli* le you to a dollar's wortli 

 of Thoroughbreds or 50 cents' worth of any of the 

 otlier viirieties in the list. For iistof other varieties, 

 see our issue of Feb. l.i, page 134. 



OUTDOOR GARDENING FOR MARCH 1.5. 



Just as soon as you can get a piei-e of ground so it 

 will work either with the spacing fork or plow, get 

 in some Alaska peas and spinach. If you liMveroom 

 to put in some American Wonders beside the Alas- 

 kas they will come in aliout a week later. Don't 

 forget spinach. It is as hardy as the peas, and I 

 have never yet seen any market overs ocked with 

 good spinach. To produce a nice article, however, 

 the gr.iund must be e.xceedingly rich. In fact, you 

 can not make it too rich. Spinach is now quoted iu 

 the city markets at about 75 cents a bushel. We 

 usually get as much for it as for lettuce (say 15c per 

 lb.) earl> iu the spring; but to get this big price it 

 must be started under glass. Fou want the ground 

 ricli enough so the h aves will be thick and heavy, 

 and of that dark ri. h coh.r which indicates extra 

 good s<jil. We prefer the Bloomsdale Extra Curled, 

 and can make the following low prices on the seed: 

 1 lb., 15 cts. ; 5 lbs., 60 cts. ; 10 pounds or over, 10 cts. 

 per lb. Our own grf)Ui d is just plowed. 



GOLDEN SEl.t-JtiLA.NCHlNG CELERY. 



Ever since this came out it has been a favorite 

 and staple vaiiety, and there has been considerable 

 said about getting a strain of seed equal to that 

 first sent out by the originator. We have taken 

 considerable pains in the matter, and have (jblained 

 a limited quantity of seed from Vilmorin, Andrieux 

 & Co., the origlnatois of the variety. Now, we can 

 not tell whether this is greatly or any supeiiorto 

 the best Americ-an grown; but we would naturally 

 suppose that the originator would h;ivj the very 

 best strain in his possession. We offer the best 

 American grown for 20 cts per ounce, or $3.00 per 

 lb. The seed mentioned above, imported direct 

 from France, can not be sold for less than 30 cts. 

 per ounce or $3.00 per lb. Of course, we furnish 

 five cent packages of each kind, but there are not 

 so many seeds in the high-prit-ed strain as in the 

 other. We are making careful tests of both kinds, 

 and will report in due time. If you order the high- 

 priced, please state that you want the "Vilmorin" 

 strain. 



VEGETABLE-PLANTS READY MARCH 15. 



We have a very nice stock of palmetto asparagus 

 roots, one and two years old: plenty of nice horse- 

 radish roots; WakeUeld cabbage-plants once and 

 twice transplanted. We have no cold-frame cab- 

 bage-plants, but we offer the twice tram-planted at 

 tl e same price. They are out in cold-frames, and I 

 think they are fully equal to cold-frame plants. 

 We also have a nice lot of cauliflower-plants and 

 Grand Ittipids lettuce-plants. We have no onion- 

 plants ready to send out except winter, or Egyptian. 

 These have been outJoors all winter without any 

 protection, and can be planted now anywhi re where 

 the ground is not frozen, and will g-r.)w an abun- 

 dtince ot onions for next spring. Price 15c per 100; 

 $100 per 1000; 87.50 per 10 000. We can also ship 

 promptly all the various kinds of strawberries we 

 advertise. We have also a very nice lot of Victoria 

 rhubarb roots at 10 cts. each; 60c for 10; 83.50 per 

 100. Small roots can be sent bj' mail postpaid at 

 the above prices. Large ones should go by freight 

 or express. The rhubarb is very hardy, and if they 

 should be a month on the way it would not hurt 

 them any. 



THE AMERICAN COFFEE-BERRY. 



Tt seems there are several varieties of this new 

 plant. Gregory in his catalog describes four kinds 

 of soja beans. The coff. e berry is one of the four, 

 and he gives it a very high Recommend for coffee. 

 Breck & Sons also describe it. and gi\e a picture of 

 tlie plant full of pods, with a coffi e not standing 

 beside it ; and. by the way, this coffee-pot picture is 

 exactly the same one used tiy Cole, of Buckner, Mo. ; 

 but we are not sure that Cole's American coffee- 

 berry is the same as Breck's. The coffee-berry rec- 



ommerded by Gregory is dark-colored, and the 

 beans are flatish. Cole's are round, and of a bright 

 cream color. One may be just as good as the other; 

 but ours ripens its crop easily in our locality before 

 frost, and I think it is going to be a very valuable 

 variety of soja bean, let alone its value for coffee. 

 We have bought a liirger lot of the same stock we 

 had last season, and can now offer it, besides the 

 five cent packages as follows: 'o pint, 1.5c; pint, 

 25c; quart, 4(ic. If wanted by mail, add 15c per 

 quart lor postage We hope enoujih will be raised 

 during the coming year so that the present high 

 prices may no longer exist. 



^ 



JN'-FCT E\1LI MLN \l()lt 



At this present wiiiinv M.ik h 15 we have still an- 

 other powder-dusting bellows called the Insict Ex- 

 terminator Till.- machine, whKl. Cvnsist.-^of al.>ng- 

 handled bellows, so made as to get the powder all 

 down on the giound, and away from the operator, 

 promises to distribute Paris green, hellebore, or any 

 other iiiS: cticiJe. almost as well as the Leggett and 

 Hotchkiss machines, while the price is only $1. Of 

 course, we h n e not given it a practical test in the 

 field; but in experimenting with it on common Hour 

 ir throw-, the material in a little dusty cloud, and 

 seems to be proof against clogging or stopping up, 

 which has been the great fault of all the low-priced 

 machines. Sent by mail for 25c extra. 



THE TONGAN BEANS. 



Our own vines grown in the gieenhouse spread 

 and covered a large area, and ripened quite a quan- 

 tity of the beans, though not enough to test them 

 for cooking purposes. At the time I introduced 

 them a year ago I supposed there were none others 

 like it in America. Since then, Mr. Geo. E. Hailes, 

 box 1147, San Antonio, Te.xas, has sent me samples 

 of beans that so exactly resemble the Tongan I c-ou- 

 eluded they could not be a diff'treut variety. They 

 ate grown in the South solely as an ornamental 

 pla'it, and are there called "jack beans." Although 

 1 hey may be gooo for table u>e, they have never 

 used them there in that way. From what I have 

 seen of them I have no doubt that a single plant 

 will produce a tnishel of beatis. but they would have 

 to be grown in some locality where they would not 

 be killed by frost during winter. 1 think friend W. 

 S. Hart, of Hawks Park, Fla., has some plants that 

 have wintered over. We can still furnish seeds at 5 

 cents per packet to those who want to try them. 

 They can be grown here in the North so as to ripen 

 seed before frost if they are startid under glass. 

 We have succeeded in doing so without any trouble. 



THE BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY, AND THE KIND OF 

 SEED REQUIRED TO RAISE BEETS. 



There is one special strain of beet seed not kept 

 for sale by any seedsman in the United States, so 

 far as I know, but it can be obtained only by im- 

 porting it from Germany. You CHU all remember 

 the name without any trouble, for it is "Kleinwanz- 

 lebener." We have none in stock, but have made 

 arrangements .so that we expect to have it in about 

 ten days or two weeks. We can furnish it for trial 

 in five-cent packages, or 30 or 40 cts per lb. ; we can 

 not tell exactly until we know what the expense of 

 shippingwill be. The people at our experiment sta- 

 tion, Wooster, O., rC' ommend the Kleinwanzlebener 

 (this is a special strain, and is "stock seed "mbove 

 all others for the production of sugar— t.nat is, 

 where beets are grown for a sugar-beet factory. 

 The Lane's Imperial sugar beet, which we ha\ e sold 

 so many years, is also recommended by our station, 

 and for feeding stock. This we offer at the very low 

 price of 15 cts. |ier lb. ; 5 lb<., 60 cts.; 10 lbs. or more, 

 10 cts. per lb. By the way, we are told that good 

 beets, suitable for making sugar, can be grown aU 

 over Ohio, and probably in adjoining States. 



THE UNITED STATES WEATHER BUREAU AT THE 

 PRESENT TIME. 



The weather people have been doing some excel- 

 lent work of late. Since the first of March they 



