1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



27 



the Weather Bureau, and the results accom- 

 plished, can go ahead and make his business 

 calculations dependent on the Weather Bureau 

 predictions, and rarely have a mishap. 



One strange thing in regard to weather pre- 

 dictions is that many people, and perhaps 

 most of them, will regard a Hicks or Venner 

 as infalli!)le for a whole year ahead if he hap- 

 pens to make a prediction that seems to be 

 even partially fulfilled, and j-et fails on every 

 other occasion ; while if the Weather Bureau 

 seems to make a mistake in one locality, on 

 one occasion, one day, it is held up as being 

 wholly unreliable every daj^ in the year. The 

 Weather Bureau does not pretend to tell what 

 "the weather is going to be." It simplv tells 

 what it actually is at certain points, and what 

 it probably wll be at other points when exist- 

 ing and moving conditions reach such points. 



SUBSOILING. 

 Since writing on page 895, last issue, it has 

 occurred to me to mention that, in our beds 

 made on the plan of the new agriculture de- 

 scribed in our little book, " What to Do,'' we 

 have for many years grown squash and pump- 

 kin vines of enormous vigor and productive- 

 ness; and while making our potato-cellar we 

 were obliged to go down to the bottom of one 

 of these reservoirs for water, and there we 

 found pumpkin and squash vines three and 

 even four feet deep, with a lot of fibrous roots 

 drinking up the water that remained there 

 during a severe drouth. These vines during 

 the hottest and dryest weather were growing 

 like Jack's beanstalk, climbing over every 

 thing, and making squashes and pumpkins at 

 an enormous rate. 



GINSENG CULTURE. 

 Here is what Greiner says about it in the 

 last issue of the Practical Farmer, and I feel 

 sure he is about right. If you want to try a 

 few plants on a small scale, go ahead, but do 

 not put much time or money in it just yet. 



Ginseng culture lias not yet passed the experimen- 

 tal stage. Thus far only those who propagate ginseng 

 for seed and roots (to sell for planting) are tlie ones 

 who recommenr' it as profitable. Perhaps they find it 

 so as long as they have sale for the mentioned prod- 

 ucts. 



GROWING RHUBARB IN FLORIDA, FROM ROOTS 

 SHIPPED FROM THE NORTH. 



On page 396 of Gleanings, where you are speaking 

 of a " Book on Rhubarb Culture," I find the following: 

 "One thing I was plea.sed to learn was to find that, 

 like asparagus, rhubarb must be frozen first, and then 

 thawed out by an artificial sprine, or a real one, be- 

 fore it will grow successfully. This tells us why so 

 many failures have been reported in regard to grow- 

 ing rhubarb in Florida. It can be done .'uccessfuUy, 

 however, by shipping roots south after they have been 

 once frozen up." 



With your permission, Mr. Editor, I will give my 

 experience in taking rhubarb-roots from the North 

 after they had been frozen, and planting them in 

 Florida. Three years ago, about the last of Decem- 

 ber, as I was about starting for Florida a friend came 

 in, saying, " I want to make a contribution for Flori- 

 da; here is a basket of rhubarb-roots, and I wtiit you 

 to take them with you and plant them there." I said, 

 " My baggage is all gone, and it is only twenty min- 

 utes to train time, and I don't see how I can take 

 them." Seeing an empty shoe-box I filled it with 

 the roots, taking them with me. 



While stopping at Pen.sacola, waiting for a boat to 

 cross the Gulf of Mexico, I .said to my landlady, " This 

 box contains rhubarb-roots that a friend brought me 

 after my things were packed." She said, "Oh! give 



me one — just one root. I want to see if it will grow 

 here. Whe^' I lived at St. Andrews, I planted rhubarb 

 a dozen times, and they grew nicelv. Always, about 

 the time when I contemplated making a pie, I would 

 notice the leaves falling over upon the ground. Dig- 

 ging down, I never could find any root, and I want to 

 see if it will be the .same way here." 



On my arrival at my winter home I planted my rhu- 

 barb-roots in this way. In order to outwit the moles 

 or .salamaders from eating the roots, I dug holes and 

 lined them carefully with broken window gla.ss; filled 

 them with rich compost, and planted them, covering 

 the surface with oyster-shells, with a little space open 

 above the crowns. The weather was warm and damp, 

 and in a short time the leaves appeared, growing fine- 

 ly. I watched them with much interest, and one 

 morning saw the leaves Iving flat upon the ground. 

 I could not discover the cause; there was no evidence 

 of either worms or moles; the roots had disappeared. 

 The ground where the rhubarb was planted was for- 

 merly hammock, covered with scrub oak and saw- 

 palmetto. It .seems to me I was told that rhubarb 

 would live on ti-ti land, but I am not sure of it. I've 

 never seen any of it growing. 



My experience with asparagus in Florida has not 

 been flattering. I fertilized heavily, and cultivated 

 carefully; and when the stalks appeared they were 

 small and spindling. It may do well on ti-ti land, or 

 where the ground is wet b}' tide. 



Peoria, 111. Mrs. X,. Harrison. 



This seems very strange indeed. My im- 

 pression was that our good friend Mrs. H. had 

 got at the truth of the matter in suspecting 

 t;hat some Florida animal had eaten off the 

 roots; but her last experiment would indicate 

 that they just rot. Now, why they should 

 rot down after they have commenced in the 

 South is very queer. My impression is that 

 several parties to whom we have shipped bar- 

 rels of roots have made at least a tolerable suc- 

 cess with the undertaking. 



THE BOVEE POTATO COMPARED WITH THE 

 NEW OUEEN, ETC. 



Some little time ago the Rural Nca'- Yoi'kcr 

 suggested that the above two potatoes were 

 quite similar. I wrote our Experiment Sta- 

 tion in regard to it, and they replied as below: 



Mr. Root : — I wish to call attention lo one fact con- 

 cerning the Bovee potatoes which we .sent you. As 

 you probably know, t hey were grown from seed plant- 

 ed about July l.st. I find that late-grown potatoes have 

 a different appearance from those of the same variety 

 grown early in the season. Wherever there is the 

 least tint of red on the skin it is always deepened in 

 the late-grown potatoes. The B )vee is not quite white, 

 and you will find tho.se sent you are nearly rost color. 

 I mention this because you may hear from some of 

 your customers who doubt the genuineness of the 

 seed. 



Regarding the similarity of the Bovee and the New 

 Queen. I think that the New Queen is longer than the 

 Bovee : and if you have a chance to compare the two 

 I hope that you will note this point. It is not always 

 safe, however, to compare potatoes grown on different 

 soils, and I will get 'onie New Queen next season so 

 as to grow the two alongside. 



In our trials of jadooand muck alongside there is no 

 es.sential difference in the growth of plants in the two. 

 If there is any difference, 'he plants in the muck are 

 a little ahead. We are not through yet, however. 



W. J. Green. 



Experiment Station. Wooster, O., Dec. 20. 



I myself have noticed that potatoes planted 

 in July have often given a crop that looks 

 quite different from the spring-planted ; but, 

 so far as I have experimented, the late-grown 

 potatoes are, as a rule, superior. The New 

 Queens are generally somewhat longer than 

 the Bovee, especially if spring-planted ; and I 

 still insist, as I have all along, that the New 

 Queen as an extra-early potato has not as yet 

 been recognized as it deserves. It has a sad 



