1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



897 



j^ound where it has been turned under by the 

 plow. Just twist off the root and toss it into 

 the basket. When the soil is just rij^ht, car- 

 rots can be j^rown so thickly that they almost 

 crowd each other out of the ground. Horses, 

 cattle, and almost all stock, are not only very 

 fond of them, but a moderate use of carrots 

 along with the grain is beneficial, both to 

 horses and cattle. 



Ai'i'LES. 



The Department of Agriculture has just 

 issued a catalog of fruits recommended for 

 the United States. It is entitled Bulletin No. 

 (■>. About four pages are devoted to apples. 

 On these four pages '2'^9 kinds are described, 

 besides 17 kinds of crabs. By a very ingen- 

 ious table they give size, form, color, flavor, 

 quality, season, use, and tell where the variety 

 originated, as nearly as possible. The size is 

 from 1 to 10; quality 1 to 10, 10 being the 

 largest and 10 the best. I looked over it with 

 very much interest to see how their rating 

 would agree with ni\- own. They rate the 

 Baldwin in size as 7 to 8; quality 5 to 6. In 

 our locality we should have put the quality a 

 little higher. But perhaps we are not acquaint- 

 ed with all the new kinds. Belmont is put 9 

 in quality — next to the head. This would 

 agree wnth me exactly; and Ben Davis — now. 

 reader, where would yon have put Be>/ Dai'is f 

 They have it 4. I think I should have put it 

 a little higher; but people generally here in 

 the North would agree, perhaps, with them. 

 Benoni is 7. I tried to think of the poorest 

 apple I knew, and turned to Fallawater. They 

 have it 10 in size but 4 in quality. When ap- 

 ples are scarce, and people can not get any 

 other, or they are not acquiinted with the 

 Fallawater, they buy it very well. One great 

 objection is, it is not good to cook. Fall Jen- 

 neting is put '.\ to 4; and I think that is about 

 as low as they mark any thing in quality. 

 Fall Pippin is 10 in size and lO in quality. 

 Whenever I think of the big apple-tree that 

 Mrs. Root's father used to have right near the 

 house, I make up my mind that 10 is about 

 right, both for size and quality. Now, were 

 I sure that Mrs. Root would never see this I 

 think I would say I used to think farmer's 

 daughter was 10 also (the very highest mark, 

 you know). The Russian Gravenstein is 

 marked 8 in size and 9 in quality. The Lady 

 apple is 1 to "J in size, ti to 7 in quality. Maid- 

 en's Blush is 5 to I) in size, 4 to in quality. 

 I should have put the quality a little higher. 

 Newtown Spitzenburg is 10 in quality, so is 

 Summer Pearmain; Winesap is (1 to 7. Yel- 

 low Newtown, or rather, Albemarle Pippin, is 

 marked 10. 



I presume this bulletin will be mailed to any 

 one free on application. It is put out by the 

 American Pomological vSociet3% and is revised 

 by T. T. Lyon. I rejoice to see such a bulle- 

 tin, because it is authority on matters that 

 have been so mixed up. By its aid, almost 

 any apple-grower can decide whether he has 

 got the names of his apples correct or not. 

 Judges at fairs can also decide pretty correctly 

 as to whether the apples on exhibition are cor- 

 rectly named. As the bulletin discusses in 



the same way almost every other fruit we 

 grow, north or south, it will certainly prove to 

 be of great value. Yesterday a carload of ap- 

 ples came to Medina. The ])rice was about 

 ^.'i.OO per barrel, wholesale. I told the owner 

 I would take ten barrels if he could furnish 

 them all dilTerent. I think they came from 

 Missouri. There are .several new kinds I did 

 not find in the list mentioned, and among 

 them are some equal to any I ever saw or tast- 

 ed. I would especially mention the Wabash 

 Sweet and Stark . 



Our Homes. 



Abstain from all appearance of evil. — r. Thes. 5:22. 

 The text above was brought to mind just a 

 few minutes ago. A letter was handed to me 

 from a good friend whose feelings had been 

 very much wounded, and he was greatly stir- 

 red up by the way we had treated him. For 

 a time nobody could imagine what it was that 

 made him feel so hurt. He alluded to a let- 

 ter written to him on the 18th of November; 

 but the clerks all stoutly declared that no one 

 had written to him a word at that time. Af- 

 ter a good deal of time spent in investigation 

 I found a printed letter had been sent him 

 from the subscription department. He had 

 had hard times, and was in arrears ; but, not- 

 withstanding, he had been sending us a dol- 

 lar about once a year pretty regularly of late. 

 This money had been carried to the ledger, 

 and credited on his otd account ; and in this 

 way his subscription account showed that he 

 was in arrears two or three years. I found, 

 in the middle of the printed letter, this : 



Up to date we have heard nothing from you in re- 

 gard to the letter we .sent you in reference to your 

 subscription, and have therefore dropped your name 

 from our sub.scription lis , leaving amount due us on 

 arrears as per statement below. 



Now, the statement in the printed letter 

 was not true, for he sent us a dollar a year 

 ago, and another dollar recently, and he, not 

 notieing that the letter was a printed one, 

 and not written on a typewriter, thought we 

 were ignoring the amounts he had been send- 

 ing us. I hardly need tell you that, since 

 typewriters have come in vogue, it has be- 

 come quite customary for business men to 

 have letters printed so as to look so much like 

 a letter written on a typewriter that people are 

 deceived. They think a business firm lias ta- 

 ken the trouble to write them a personal let- 

 ter, when it is only a printed one, such as is 

 sent out to thousands. The reason for this is 

 that most people will pay more attention to a 

 personal letter than to a printed circular. 



But I protest against this whole business, 

 and have been protesting for years past. I 

 have refused to subscribe to mission work, 

 and have thrown the letters into the waste- 

 basket, because it was very skillfully managed 

 for the express purpose of deceiving or delud- 

 ing the person who received it. 



May I take the liberty of changing just a 

 little the beautiful text at the head of this ? 

 I would say, " Abstain from all appearance of 



