1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



63 



GARDENING FOR JANUARY. 



Of course, in the North all gardening must 

 be under glass. The sun is now day by day 

 stepping northward, and it is a real enjoy- 

 ment for me to watch the spot where it goes 

 down every night when we have a clear sun- 

 set, and note the daily progress toward sum- 

 mer time. We are now using 135 sashes with 

 whole glass, and about 25 made of glass slats. 

 The slats are about 2 inches wide, and are 

 placed from /,; to 'i inch apart. These small 

 openings are completely closed when the 

 weather is frosty. As soon as we have a thaw 

 they are open, which gives the plants air, and 

 such sashes work all right without any han- 

 dling for very hardy stuff such as strawberries, 

 spinach, cold-frame cabbage-plants, onions, 

 etc. It does not answer so well with lettuce, 

 unless some additional covering is put on 

 when we have very severe weather. Just now 

 we have arranged our beds so that everv fourth 

 or fifth sash is slatted, and it works beauti- 

 fully, especially while the sun is so far to the 

 south. The sashes are never moved at all 

 unless it is to give them water when we have 

 a summer rain. The greater part of our beds 

 are cold; but where we have steam heat under- 

 neath, as I have many times es plained, every 

 thing moves on splendidly. Our Earliest and 

 Darling strawberries are already budded to 

 blossom. 



We did not have very much sunshine this 

 winter till the new year came in ; but since 

 then we have had almost as many bright days 

 as cloudy ones, and every thing begins to 

 respond accordingly. One of our hotbeds is 

 shaded from the wnter blasts by evergreens ; 

 and when there is a bright sunshine over in 

 this protected nook, I enjoy working among 

 the strawberries, right iti the month of Janu- 

 ary, as much as I ever enjoyed gardening in 

 April or May. Of course, things have to be 

 watched, and they must be lovingly kept in 

 mind. I have sometimes thought it made 

 things grow just to look at them often, espe- 

 cially when these loving looks are coupled 

 with thanks from the heart to the great God 

 above, from whom all blessings flow. These 

 new potatoes in the greenhouse are now, some 

 of them, six inches high, and we are thinking 

 about making cuttings of some of them. 



I,ATE-PLANTED POTATOES BETTER FOR SEED 

 THAN THOSE PLANTED EARI^Y — WHY ? 

 We clip the following from a recent number 

 of the Field, Farm, and Fireside ; 



Repeated observation shows that a tuber that has 

 not reached full maturity will retain its moisture, and 

 for many months continue as firm and as solid as 

 when dug, under conditions where a ripe one will not. 

 Such a potato often, on being cut for seed, will crack 

 ahead of the knife, it is so brittle, and the juice will 

 run from it as from a newly dug tuber. It is in just 

 the condition to give its sprouts the necessary amount 

 of moisture to start a strong, thrifty plant, "suited to 

 produce a bountiful crop. 



The fully ripened tuber, on the other hand, ha.s 

 already passed the prime of life, and is on the decline, 

 as soon as wilted. Its sprouts have not the nece.ssary 

 vitality to give them a proper start in life, any more 

 than have the offspring of aged animals, or tl e buds 

 of a shrunken currant-cutting. 



It is a well-e.stablished fact in animal husbandry, 

 that the offspring of animals that have onlv reached 

 the full flushof maturity are much thriftier than those 

 of animals that have begun to go down the decline of 

 life. 



Our experiments for years past have satis- 

 fied us that, at least in our localit}-, late-plant- 

 ed potatoes produce better seed than those 

 planted so early that they come to full matu- 

 rity. Yes, where the tops are, many of them, 

 killed by the frost, such potatoes when dug 

 will keep in the spring without sprouting, 

 much better than the early grown, or potatoes 

 that reach full size and maturity. Our crop of 

 seed potatoes in our cellar is nearly all the 

 product of potatoes planted the last of June or 

 the fore part of July. For prices, see our new 

 catalog. 



SOME OF THE SMALL FRUITS RECENTLY ADVERTISED. 



Mr. Root: — I am interested in new fruit >, and have 

 been trying .some. I have had the strawberry-rasp- 

 berry for two years. It will soon spread all over the 

 garden. It co'mmenced to blossom about the finst of 

 July, and blossomed till frost came. I never .saw a 

 berry of any kind on it. We had all kinds of weather 

 in that time — plenty of rain, hot weather, and dr>' 

 weather. The Mayberry won't even stand the first 

 fro.st. The Logan berry had two or three berries on 

 this year. I think if it would .stand the winters it 

 might raise a few berries. The wiueberrv I have had 

 three years, and last winter I covered it all, root and 

 branch. A few canes lived over winter. They bios- 

 .somed; and when the blo.ssrms fell off i hey closed up 

 in a wine-colored burr. I waited a good while to see 

 them open, but not a berry did I see. I dug in to see 

 what was in the burr, audit looked just the same as 

 when it closed up. The Rocky Mountain cherry is 

 not what it is advertised to be. 'it is worse than what 

 we call our choke-cherries here. 



The Bismarck aople is advertised a great deal in 

 cataloes. Now, I should like to know if vou know 

 any thing about it — whether it is like the other new 

 fruits or not. I have another new fruit which they 

 call the evergreen blackbern,-. It was brought from 

 Germany some years ago, andplanted in Oregon, and 

 is now .sold by the Des Moines Nursery Co., Iowa. I 

 paid S'2.50 for one plant. I have not had many berries 

 yet. It doesn't .seem to be hardv. Thev commenced 

 to ripen about the lOth of Augu'st, and 'kept up ripe 

 berries and blo.s.soms till frost. If you know anv thing 

 about this berry I should like to hear from voul 



Wakefield, Neb., Nov. 26, 1897. R'. Chinn. 



Why, friend C, your report is a discourag- 

 ing one indeed. Are you sure your locality is 

 favorable for stnall fruits in general ? Do you 

 get good crops of the ordinary raspberries and 

 blackberries ? We have had a few strawberry- 

 raspberries ; and the Login berry has also 

 given us some nice luscious berries. We have 

 had enough wineberries for a taste ; but it has 

 ttirned out a good deal as I have described 

 them. You probably know of my report on 

 the Rock)^ Mountain cherry. W^e received a 

 box by mail, however, that were very much 

 better than otir own. In the absence of other 

 fruit they might have been ver^- fair for cook- 

 ing, but certainly they would not compare 

 with cherries that grow on trees, for eating 

 out of the hand. We have one of the Bis- 

 marck apple-trees, and it blossomed and began 

 to bear fruit when it was only about two feet 

 high. The blight struck it, however, an \ 

 killed it almo.st to the ground. But this could 

 hardly be called a fault of the tree. I have 



