1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



113 



^Sr ^ PECIAb^NOT,! c Es 



CARLOAD SHIPMENTS. 



At this time la.st year we were loading the fourth 

 car of bee-keepers' supplies for the .sea.'^on of 1897. We 

 have already shipped ten cars so far this vear, and, as 

 we go to press, are loading two more, and have orders 

 booked for eight more cars which should be shipped 

 promptly. We expect to ship the.se and four or five 

 more we are looking for during this month. Since 

 our last report we have shipped our first car for the 

 season to Jos. Nysewander, Des Moines, Iowa, and the 

 first to W. .S Pouder, Indianapolis, Ind. We have also 

 shipped a large carload of lumber for special English 

 hives for Jas. Lee & .Son, London, Eng., besides a car 

 of bicycle-crates and another car of health-food boxes. 

 We are loading the first car for John Nebel & Son, 

 High Hill Mo., and the second car for D. M. Edwards, 

 Uvalde, Te.xas. These will be followed by a car to 

 each of our brancli houses, one to Vickery Bros., 

 Evansville, Ind., and to Geo. E. Hilton, Fremont, 

 Michigan. 



BUSINESS AT THIS DATE. 



Judging from the orders and inquiries we have been 

 and are receiving, the trade in bee-keepers' supplies 

 this sea.son bids fair to exceed any former record. We 

 have been working steadily ten hours a day ever since 

 the close of last season, stopping only for the neces- 

 sary repairs. We have a large stock of many kinds of 

 goods accumulated, and are at least a month ahead of 

 la.st year in suppljing outside points. Many people 

 are more forehanded than they have been in former 

 years, so that we are having plenty to do, and, .so far 

 as we can learn, other manufacturers are busy with 

 orders. We have mailed catalogs to our Gleanings 

 readers, and will get around to our other names as 

 .soon as possible. We have a ho printed our wholesale 

 li.sts, and mailed to the dealers on our list. 



In view of the present crowd of orders, and the pros- 

 pects ahead, we advise all bee-keepeis to make up 

 their list of requirements early, and get in their or- 

 ders, and avoid the rush and possible delav and disap- 

 pointment later on. 



PLAIN SECTION-HOLDERS ONLY IT'^ INCHES LONG. 



Some questions have been raised as to why we did 

 not make the plain .section-holders the .same length as 

 the old ones, IS'/g inches, instead of 17'2 as we do make 

 them. .Some have objected to the change because the 

 old and new section he Iders can not be u.sed inter 

 changeably in the same supers without either nailing 

 in or removing the beveled cleats. Others have 

 questioned the wisdom of leaving a space between end 

 of super and end of section-holders. We did not adopt 

 the change without weigliing all the evidence c re- 

 fullv. We have .studied for some time to find a way to 

 avoid p\itting so much wood into the ends of section- 

 holders, and we had decided on a change before the 

 matter of plain sections and fences arose. We were 

 going to make bottoms the .same length, and grooved 

 on the sides similar to the old all-wood top-bars, ju.st 

 right for ^'-iuch ends, the bottoms projecting five-six- 

 teenths inch beyond to rest on the tin strip. When 

 the matter of plain sections and fences came up we 

 decided that, in.stead of projeciing the bottom, we 

 would use the beveled cleat .so as to shorten the st pa- 

 rator. If we made the section-holder ends nine-six- 

 teenths thick for plain sections the end cleats on the 

 fences would have to be % wide instead of V2, as now, 

 and it seemed to us that all this extra woo''' on both 

 section-holders and fences w^as worse than useless. An 

 air-space between the super and section-holder ends 

 is better protection than wood. Bees will not propo- 

 lize here to any extent, as the space is too much iso- 

 lated for them to work in. The extra space affords 

 better opportunity to handle the fences and section- 

 holders. There is really no occasion for using the two 

 kinds of section-holders interchangeably in the same 

 supers, because they are so radically different. Be- 

 cause of this very fact, in connection with other 

 reasons, we thought it the best time to make the 

 change in length. The old supers and section-holders 

 can, without much work, be changed to the new length 

 by adding the beveled cleats and shortening the sec- 

 tion-holders at each end. 



Special Notices by A. I. Root. 



ONION-SETS. 



We just learned from the Landreths that their great 

 crop of Danvers onion-sets is already all .sold out, and 

 there is such a call for onion-.sets in general that prices 

 in the East have advanced to three or four dollars a 

 bushel. The western people have either not " caught 

 on " to the advance or else they do not ask so big a 

 price anyhow, because their .sets are grown on cheaper 

 land. For immediate orders we can sh'p promptly at 

 prices given in our abbreviated .seed list, on page 7(). 

 But we can not agree to hold to these prices except for 

 immediate orders. 



EGYPTIAN ONION-SETS AND PLANTS. 



I<ast fall the price was so low on these that we did 

 not gather them all, and quite a few dropped off and 

 fell on the ground, and took root as soon as the rains 

 came, and now they are nicely sprouted, and have nice 

 bushy roots. As onion-sets can not usually be fur- 

 nished of this variety at this time of the year, we have 

 decided to furnish plants. We can send you very nice 

 ones at the rate ot" !,'> cts. per 100, or ^1.00 per 1000. As 

 they are so much larger than the common onion- 

 plants, the price will be 10 cts. per 100 extra for po.st- 

 age ifwanted by mail. 



FORTY YEARS' EXPERIENCE WITH SV\'EET POTATOES. 



The above is the title of a little pamphlet by Waldo 

 F. Brown. Friend B.'s well-known ability, not onlj' 

 as an agricultural writer but as one of our best live 

 workers in our farmers' in.stitutes, is a sufficient guar- 

 antee of the value of the book It has been heretofore 

 sold at 20 cts.; but we will mail the pamphlet for 10 

 cents, postpaid; or it will be presented to every cu.s- 

 tonier who buys of us sweet potatoes to the amount of 

 iQ cts. or over. The information it contains is worth 

 far more than it costs to anyone who rai.sesonly a few 

 in his garden. Not only does it tell al about making; 

 the beds to raise plants, and that without the use of 

 glass, but it tells how to keep potatoes over winter, 

 how to cook them, etc. 



PRICES OF CLOVERS REDUCED. 



In place of prices given in our seed catalog sent out 

 in the fall, read: Medium clover and mammoth, or 

 peavine, either one, bushel, :?-1.00; V2 bu.shel, $2.2.5; 

 peck, SI 25; pound, 10 cts. Ifwanted by mail, add 10 

 cts. per lb. for postage and packing. 



Alsike clover will be S5.00 per bushel; M bushel, 

 12 75; peck, Sl.;50; pound, 15 cts. If wanted by mail, 

 add 10 cts. per lb. for postage and packing. This in- 

 cludes good .seed carefully cleaned. We have had 

 some experience with clover seed-;, and we have one 

 of the very best mills for recleaning. .Seeds mixed 

 with the seeds of dangerou- weeds, and other trash, 

 may be offered a trifle lower than the above prices. 



Also a decline iu alfalfa to $4.50 per bushel; $2. ,50 per 

 Yz bushel; peck, $1,30; pound, 10 cts. By mail, 10 cts. 

 per lb. extra. 



OUR PUGET SOUND WAKEFIELD CABB.-%.GE SEED AND 

 CLOVER SEED. 



For prices of the.se .see our abbreviated list of seeds 

 on page 7(i. .See also the following from H. A. March 

 in regard to our cauliflower seed for this year: 



A. I. ROOT:— I seiiil, as ordered. 10 lbs. of " stocdc seed" Earl.y 

 Jeisey WakeHel L; also 1 lb. of Early Snowball cauliHowerfeed, 

 l'nM;et Sound >tiain. I have worked this strain for 14 . years, 

 ;-avinj» eaoh year the ino.-t perteet heads lor stock seed, and I 

 feel 'afe in >ayin}r that this stiain of oaulirtoiver "ill yrivea 

 laryer percent of pkufkit heads than an.y oti er >tiainof 

 caulitiow er on the market in the world to day. Tiiis is a strong' 

 as eiticm ; hut 1 have the reports of 22 e.\)]erinient stations to 

 bark iiic and more promised. I send a couple, one from .vour 

 O" n Oliio >tafion. 



■ Mii. Map:i H: Both varieties of cauliflower leed leceived 

 from yovi la t sjiring were eiitirel.y vati faetoiy- Tne seed 

 hada hitrh j.'erminative power, and the plants are leniaika- 

 bly uniform and true to t.vpe. I consider your caulitlower 

 seed as eqiiultotlie very best in the maiket I haiete ted 

 ne;irl.y all of tlie best varieties and stiains; and it there is 

 any better than yours, I don't know who has it. 



'• W. J. Gkkem, Horticulturist. 



"Agricultural E.Npeiiment Station, Wootter, Ohio." 



Fidalg-o, Wash. H. A. March. 



Catalog Free. A.I. Root Co.'s Goods 



for Missouri and other points, to be had from 

 JNO. NEBEL & SON, HIGH HILL, MO. 



