464 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15. 



ginning to ripen in the beds where they had a 

 little protection. You can hurry strawberries 

 along very much indeed by covering them dur- 

 ing severe weather; and a covering of cloth, 

 while it protects the blossoms from frost, will 

 also do quite a little toward making the straw- 

 berries ripen earlier. 



CKIMSON^CLOVER ATOTHISQDATE, JUNE 5. 



Just before decoration day, people were stop- 

 ping their teams to inquire in regard to the 

 beautiful new plant that decked the field by 

 the roadside; and when it came time to prepare 

 bouquets for our national day, great crowds 

 were begging permission to gather some of the 

 heads. In this way it was paraded and shown 

 and admired all over our county, and people 

 have been coming constantly to see it. It is 

 now a miniature sea of crimson, and it is cer- 

 tainly as heavy as any clover of any sort ever 

 grown on our premises. In one of the agricul- 

 tural papers I saw a criticism to the effect that 

 It did not produce any such stand as the com- 

 mon red clover. Now, I don't think I ever saw 

 any more clover of any kind on a piece of 

 ground, unless it was at T. B. Terry's; and if 

 he were to grow the crimson 1 do not know but 

 he would make it come fully up to his red clo- 

 ver. But, dear friends, suppose the crimson 

 clover does not give as large a stand as red clo- 

 ver. Please consider it is a catch crop, or a 

 stolen crop, if you choose. The seed was sown 

 after taking off that heavy crop of potatoes. 

 The ground was not plowed at all— simply har- 

 rowed over hurriedly. The cost of the seed and 

 fitting the ground was not more than Sl.-'SO per 

 acre (say 75 cents for seed); and nothing more 

 has been done to it till the present time. We 

 are letting it mature seed in order that we may 

 have not only home-grown but northern-grown 

 seed to offer for sale. 



There is plenty of time yet to plow it under, 

 either for corn or potatoes. If the farmer 

 should be short of feed, there is an immense lot 

 of it that is equal to any clover known. It oc- 

 cupies the ground when the latter would other- 

 wise be barren and useless. I believe, with the 

 Rural New -Yorker, that, even if it winter-kills, 

 it furnishes enough fertility to pay all the cost 

 of seed and putting it in. To get it in after po- 

 tatoes. I presume an early variety should be 

 selected and planted earlv. Where our clover 

 now stands we planted New Queen potatoes 

 last year the 10th of May. They were dug 

 somewhere between the 1st and 15th of Septem- 

 ber, and the clover was sown just as fast as 

 we could get a strip through the field wide 

 enough to cultivate. The potato tops were 

 used to mulch strawberries near by. Some of 

 them were afterward scattered evenly over the 

 crimson clover. We managed this without very 

 much labor by throwing the vines off to one 

 side, and, as soon as the clover was sown, 

 throwing the same vines back again, taking 

 pains to spread them over the ground evenly. 

 Most of the clover has fallen over, or partially 

 so, in consequence of its heavy growth. The 

 bees are, of course, making a constant roar over 

 the whole field. Two or three swarms have 

 come out while the clover has been in bloom; 

 and as it comes in just after apple-blossoms are 

 gone, it hits the needs of the bee-keeper to a 

 dot. If the clover is saved for seed it will fur- 

 nish honey all through the -'ntf^rval between 

 fruit-blossoms and white ciuver. 



A NEW^PLUM— THE PRIDE OF FLORIDA. 



I send you to-day by mail a sample of a new plum. 

 Pride of Florida. I send it to you because you are a 

 lover of fine fruit, and because I hope to advertise 

 it in Gleanings next fail, and wish you to know 



that the claims I make for it are true. It is a seed- 

 ling- of the Kelsey plum, the earliest shiioping plum, 

 and a good bearer. The plums I send are from one- 

 year-old trees, and have suffered in size from the 

 long dry weather. Aug. Leyvraz. 



Francis, Fla., May 23. 



Every one of the plums reached us in perfect 

 condition; and just as soon as I tasted one it 

 brought back old memories of finding plum- 

 trees in the woods in my boyhood days. I 

 showed one to Mr. Green; and before ho tasted 

 it he said. "This is an American plum, and it 

 will grow just as well here in Ohio as in Flor- 

 ida." Of course, they are not very large, but 

 they are perfect in shape and color; and in 

 flavor I should put them ahead of many of the 

 very large plums. They have something of the 

 appearance of the sloe, but are considerably 

 larger. 1 presume our friend means the trees 

 bear fruit one year after being planted from the 

 nursery. This seems to be, however, a good 

 deal owing to the Florida climate. We should 

 be satisfied if we got plums in two years. 



THE NEW STRAWBERRY "EARLIEST." 



Friend Root:— I cotice you mention the Earliest 

 strawberry in your May 15th issue as showing very 

 early blossoms. Well, Mr. B. C. Green may be right. 

 It may be all runners and no fruit in Ohio, but here 

 during the past season It gave a fine lot of berries 

 that (because of its earliness) sold at 15 to 20 cents 

 per quart, while large fine berries a little later sold 

 down to 50, 75, and $1.00 per 32-qt. cases, and some of 

 our gi-owers could not sell them at all after paying 

 picking. Our Earliest, we can say, for dollars and 

 cents, has brought more money than any thing else, 

 per acre. It is not the best berry, nor is it the most 

 productive; but it is productive enough to pay well 

 here. Don't let the i)lant8 stand too thickly. Give 

 them a chance. It will (or does with us) do better 

 the second year than the first. We shall be pleased 

 to hear how it does with you, this year, any way. 

 The Carrie has done nobly here this year. We shall 

 just about cease picking Friday. 

 L Rio Vista, Va., May 27. M. T. Thompson. 



All together this new berry pleases us so well 

 that wo have decided to put down runners and 

 offer plants for sale. We can, perhaps, furnish 

 a limited number by mail, say about the first of 

 July. Some of the plants have furnished a 

 pretty good lot of berries. The shape is perfect; 

 the color is perfect also, but it is rather light. 

 In flavor it is one of the very finest of the tart 

 berries. The plant is a rampant grower. Those 

 set out last fall have now a mass of foliage as 

 large as a bushel basket. As I have said be- 

 fore, I think it will be a very nice thing to plant 

 to a limited extent on account of its extreme 

 earliness. With us it has been at least two 

 weeks, in time of ripening, ahead of Michel's 

 Early. 



THE BELMONT OR GATEdAPPLE. 



1 hope you will follow it up and see if they are 

 surely the same. I believe the genuine Golden 

 Gate has smoky blotches on the skin. 1 consider 

 the genuine old-fashioned Golden Gate one of the 

 best apples on earth. I have been tiying to get a 

 tree to plant in my lot, but failed. Storrs, Harrison 

 & Co. could not furnish it. I understood it did not 

 grow well in nursery rows, and the best way to get 

 it is to top-graft another apple-tree. I hope you 

 will do all you can to revive this and the Rambo. 

 Fruits of great merit should not be allowed to die 

 out through neglect or inattentiou caused by newer 

 things not so good. iJgjjPHiLO S. Dilworth. G 



Ingram, Pa., May 22. 



A r.^tional remedy^forSthe apple-tree borer. 

 I have protected my trees completely for 30 years 

 from the apple-tree borer by wrapping the base of 

 the trunk with any old cloth or carpet, or old feed- 

 sacks, or cloth of any kind, putting them about 18 

 inches high, not too tight. They are held in place 

 with strings. This does not hurt the trees, as about 

 the second year the string bursts, and the rags, or 



