254 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apb. 1. 



potatoes have not been grown for a year or two. 

 In spraying-, six ounces of Paris green stiould be 

 used lo a bari-el of Bordeaux mixture 



Thorough • ultivation is important, so as to pre- 

 vent the wjiste of moisture, and to keep up a vigor- 

 ous growth, as a means of rendering- the plants 

 somewliat res-i^tant to blight. 



The most promising- of the new early varieties 

 are. Burr's No. 1. Ri)vee, Early Michigan, Early 

 Thoroug-hbred, and VanOrmans No. 99. 



The most piomising of the new late varieties are, 

 Carmiin No. 3, Country Gentleman. Enormous, Fla- 

 gle, Livingston, Table King, Uncle Sam, and Wise. 

 While Early Ohio, Pride of the South, and White 

 Bliss' Triumph are valuable for certain sections 

 and for sjjeciai purposes, but not for general culti- 

 vation. 



American Wonder, Carman Nos. 1 and 3, Early 

 Norther, Early Harvest, Rural New-Y(jrker No. a. 

 Sir William, aud Wise, have been tested sufficiently 

 to warrant recommending them for general culti- 

 vation. 



Superphosphate has increased the potato crop, in 

 our experiments, to a profitable extent, the cost 

 per bushel of increase being five to si cents. 



There does not appear to be much difference in 

 the efficiency of di>soived bone black and acid phos- 

 phate, but slug phospiiate has given lower average 

 results than the other forms. 



Wheat bran has given better results than linseed 

 meal. 



Nitrate of soda and muriate of potash, when used 

 singly, have not given much increase. 



Superphospliate, nitrate of soda, and muriate of 

 potash in combination have given better results 

 than eitlier alone, and the crop increase has been 

 nearly in proportion to the quantity used, up to 

 llUO pounds per acre. 



In regard to the var'eties in addition to what 

 appears In the above summary, they give 

 Manum's Enormous a very excellent report; 

 also Maule's Thoroughbred. I am a little sur- 

 prised that they do not give the White Bliss 

 Tritimph a better report, both In regard to 

 earliness and large yield. 



Perhaps many of our readers have noticed 

 the tremendous claims made by Halser in re- 

 gard to his wonderful potatoes. The experi- 

 ment station expresses the same opinion as last 

 year— that Salser's Earliest is the well known 

 Red Bliss Triumph that is sold all over the 

 country as the standard early potato shipped 

 in from the South. His Harvest King they 

 can not distinguish from the Rural New York- 

 er; and the King of the Earliest, so far as they 

 can tell, is identical with the old Early Ohio, 

 and so on. This puffing well-known varieties 

 under a new name in order to get extravagant 

 prices should be vigorously shown up wherever 

 it occurs. The Sir William receives again the 

 hearty commendation that it received a year 

 ago. 



MEADOW-MICE GIRDLING THE TREES. 



We have been in the habit of mulching the 

 ground around our apple-trees so as to keep 

 down grass, with all sorts of trash that has 

 accurhulated from the earden. I have, how- 

 ever, often cautioned the men about placing 

 the stuff close up to the trunk of the tree in 

 winter time. One man disobeyed my orders, 

 and the result was that the finest Gravenstein 

 tree in my orchard was completely girdled for 

 more than a foot. The mice burrowed down 

 into the ground, and even girdled the roots 

 wher(> they started out. Several other trees 

 were injured more or less. Where completely 

 girdled we inserted cions that reached from 

 the hark on the roots up to the bark above, 

 putting twenty of these in the Gravenstein tree. 

 Why, I would hardly spare that tree for a five- 

 dollar bill. After the cions were put in, every 

 thing was well covered with graftinpr-wax, and 

 we are watching anxiously to see the buds start 

 out. I know it was meadow-mice that did the 

 business, for we found four of them right at it. 



They were dug out and killed. Now, please 

 remember that, while mulching is a splendid 

 thing around young trees, it is dangerous busi- 

 ness to put it right up against the tree. 



APPLE-TREE BORERS, ETC. 



Perhaps the worst enemy to fruit-growing we 

 have here in Northern Ohio is the borer. In 

 our own orchard it had killed several trees and 

 just riddled others befoi'e I woke up to know 

 what was going on For the past two or three 

 years I have been scanning the agricultural 

 papeis. and books on pomology, to learn if there 

 were a better remedy than digging them out of 

 their holes, but there seems to be no help. 

 Putting strong ashes around the trees, and 

 washing the irunK and exposed roots with 

 strong soapsuds may do very well, but you 

 ought to dig them out, even if you do this. 

 There are several substances that will kill the 

 borer, but they will also kill the tree. In some 

 recent investigations I found I could push a 

 slender copper wire into their channels half 

 way through the body of the tree, and some- 

 times to the depth of three or four inches. 

 With a little practice you can tell when the 

 point of the wire touches the borer. Of course, 

 you are to punch him up until he is unfit for 

 further mischief. Mr. E. C. Green, formerly of 

 the Ohio Experiment Station, was talking with 

 me about it, and we thought of bisulphide of 

 carbon; but he said he would not dare to u"-- ii^ 

 without first getting Prof. Webster's opinion in 

 regard to it. I wrote him, and here is his !•■ ply: 



In regard to the use of bisulphide of carbon for 

 borers, I would say that there might be some dan- 

 ger in injecting the fluid into the chambers made 

 by the borers; but if cotton were saturated, and 

 this placed in the cavities, so that only the fumes 

 would spread, I think no ill effects would follow. 

 Any other substance that would prevent the fluid 

 from running into the wood would be efl'ective, as 

 the fumes are as deadly as the fluid itself. 



Wooster, O , Mar. 18. F. M. Webster. 



Now, if anybody else knows any thing about 

 the use of bisulphide of carbon for this busi- 

 ness, will he please tell us about it? It may 

 not do harm to inject it into the holes made by 

 the borer; but to fill a cavity that extends into 

 the heart of the tree, and runs downward sev- 

 eral inches, might kill the tree; that is, the 

 liquid might do so, but I am sure the fumes 

 applied on cotton, as above, would not. Bear 

 in mind, the fumes of this liquid are so much 

 heavier than air that they will run down almost 

 like water. 



This same borer, or at least a similar one, has 

 blocked all my attempts thus far at growing 

 peaches. Where they dig in close to the root 

 of a peach-tree, great quantities of peach-gum 

 ooze out, and the tree is soon used up. 



THE LOGAN BERRY. OR RASPBERRY-BLACK- 

 BERRY. 



In answer to my request in our last issue, we 

 have the following from friend Gault: 



I must say that they have fully come up to my 

 expectation. The clusters were not as large as 

 shown in the catalogs; but the berries were large 

 and of good flavor. 



I am exceedingly glad to receive this good re- 

 port; but I wish that friend Gault had taken a 

 little more space to tell how long he had had 

 the Logan berry before it fruited. Mv impres- 

 sion is, he procured one of the first offered for 

 sale as I did: and his experience with the cele- 

 brated Gault raspberry probably enabled him 

 to secure a better result. This beautiful 

 weather the latter part of March has started 

 the buds on my own plants, so that we have 

 some hopes of getting some fruit this year. 



Since receiving the above we have had a 



