1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



placos; and when word cainc to me along in 

 iho afiornoon that they had got tho soft water, 

 I remember disiiiiotly of feeling a little asham- 

 ed of myself bvciiiii<c 1 did not thank (Jod more 

 earnestly in my heart for having brought us 

 safely through our troubles, and enabled us to 

 secure the coveted soft water once more. 1 di- 

 rected, however, that they should drill five or 

 ten feet deeper in order that the sediment might 

 settle below the point where we expected to 



Elace the pump. Well, after we had drilled 

 ve or six feet the water was hard. I did not 

 examine the water myself, or at least not very 

 thoroughly, when they told, me they had soft 

 water. It was now louiucstioiiahly hard. We 



Eut down the pump and worked it for several 

 ours. There were great quantities of water, 

 but it was unfit to put into the great tank be- 

 side the windmill. It would spoil all of our 

 good water. I was a good deal disappointed. I 

 feel ashamed to acknowledge it, but I am afraid 

 I began to be just a little doubtful in regard to 

 those strange answers to my prayers at the 

 different times I have spoken of. I am afraid I 

 was forgetting one of my good old father's texts 

 —"Though he slay rae, yet will I trust in him." 

 Please, friends, do not pass judgment on my 

 Home talk in this issue until you hear what 

 further I have to say on the same matter; and 

 do not. let me beg of you. lose your faith in the 

 great God above, even if he does not give you 

 just what you ask for, in just the way you e.v- 

 pected it to come. 



HOW TO TEI.L WHEN-THERE IS GOING TO BE A 

 FROST. 



Candidly, I don't know; but I do know from 

 experience something about it. On the night 

 of May 20 we had a big rain. Before the rain 

 the thermometer stood between 70 and 80. The 

 next morning it was down to .50; and I knew, 

 before the Weather Bureau said so, that the 

 conditions were going to be favorable for a 

 frost that night— that is, if it cleared off. So 

 you may be sure I watched both the thermom- 

 eter and the barometer all day long. About a 

 week ago the indications were so strong for a 

 frost that we spent a couple of dollars in get- 

 ting our sashes on, and covering tomatoes, 

 strawberries (that had been grovpn under glass), 

 etc., for three nights. We came very near 

 frost, but there was not any to do any damage. 

 All our fuss in carrying things, and the attend- 

 ant litter, was time wasted. A year or two 

 ago, however, one night when I decided to take 

 the chances, we had lots of nice tomatoes badly 

 damaged after I had carried them through 

 March, April, and a part of May. Well, last 

 evening I felt very much averse to getting out 

 our sashes again. They were nicely put away 

 for the season, with the big boxes that sit over 

 them inclosing and protecting each pile. It is 

 heavy business lifting off those large boxes, 

 and we almost always have more or less broker 

 glass in handling our 1.50 sashes. I was watch- 

 ing the barometer and thermometer, watching 

 the wind, and watching the clouds. The boys 

 were quite willing to go to work and make 

 every thing safe, but I told them I would take 

 the chances. 



By the way, just across the street from where 

 I write there are some of the Earliest in the 



World tomatoes trained upon poles. Some of 

 them are three feet high already; and I tell 

 you it is a job to blanket them. We did it, 

 however, last Saturday night, and the struc- 

 ture looked so queer that passersby began to 

 banter me about fixing for a variety show. On 

 Sunday morning, before I got my cotton sheet- 

 ing and other "'drapery " off from the plants a 

 horse got frightened at the unusual spectacle. 

 Well, in thinking this all over I decided to take 

 my chances, even though the barometer was 

 hitching up a little for a clear night, and the 

 thermometer was down to just about .^O at sun- 

 down. (One of our rules has been that there is 

 never much danger of frost while the mercury 

 stands above 50° at sundown.) Besides, it was 

 a little cloudy in the west, and I told the boys 

 they might all go home. Just as the sun was 

 disappearing, however, it met a streak of clear 

 sky under the clouds; and by nine o'clock we 

 had a clear starry night. The thermometer, 

 however, stood a little above 40. I got up at 

 midnight, and the mercury was down to 38°. I 

 told Mrs. Root I was going to have a " picnic " 

 about the first glimpse of dawn; for I had no- 

 ticed several times that the coldest period was 

 between dawn and sunrise. In fact, I have 

 seen plants frozen after sunrise that were not 

 hurt a bit until that time. At half-past three 

 it was light enough to see, and the theroaome- 

 ter stood at 30, The frost was white and thick 

 on the roofs of buildings, sidewalks, and every 

 piece of exposed timber. At first I thought the 

 tomato-leaves were frosted; but a little more 

 daylight showed they were simply loaded with 

 a very heavy dew. 



Wnen the thermometer got down to 35K I be- 

 gan to think I should have to call up Huber to 

 help me cover up the stuff, even to protect it 

 for a single hour. I walked all over the gar- 

 den, watched Nature's performances, and then 

 held my breath (so as not to breathe on the 

 bulb) while I watched the thermometer again. 

 It would not budge a bit from 3.5J^. About four 

 o'clock, however, it was perceptibly rising, and 

 I began to rejoice. At half-past four it went 

 down again all it had risen, and a little more. 

 I climbed up to the highest point accessible, 

 and watched for the sun. I would have hur- 

 ried old Sol up a little, but I did not know how. 

 When his rays began to. touch the top of the 

 windmill tower the thermometer deigned to 

 hitch up a little. I kept fingering the tomato- 

 leaves, and saw they were all right. When the 

 sun was clear up above the horizon, and his 

 rays burst forth in all their glory over the to- 

 mato-plants and every thing else, then I re- 

 joiced. Not a sash had been moved, not a 

 sheet or blanket carried out, and my whole 

 garden was unharmed. Out in the apiary a 

 few sweet-potato plants had theirfoliage black- 

 ened a little— that was all. 



I have gone into all these details, dear read- 

 ers, bpcause it is exceedingly important that 

 the gardener should learn to judge with con- 

 siderable accuracy, that he may not waste 

 money in handling sashes needlessly, and, on 

 the other hand, that he may not take risks 

 recklessly, and do a worse thing. Now, if you 

 know of any better way of steering clear of 

 both these extremes I should be very glad in- 

 deed to get hints on the subject. 



!tHEC" earliest;" nSTKAWBERRY. 



These berries are now ripe, but there are not 

 very many of them. Thompson's Sons, of Rio 

 Vista. Va., say that it will be more productive 

 in two or three year-old beds. This I can read- 

 ily understand, if the runners are pulled off. 

 In fact, by the way it commences to send out 

 runners as soon as blossom-buds are visible I 



