GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



sometimes start a little but soon die. Before 

 winter we expect to clean out all the beds, 

 and put in new soil. Well, my big potato 

 was cut up into 48 or 50 pieces, and planted 

 in this ground. I managed to secure half a 

 peck of potatoes from the one planted, but 

 they are mostly quite small. Then we had 

 another trouble in getting them to sprout as 

 potatoes do that are wintered in the cellar. 

 They may start later on, as there is time yet 

 to get a crop; but I do not think I shall get 

 quite 100 bushels from one potato in one year. 



FRUIT-TREE BORERS. 



Of late there seems to be unusual interest 

 in the matter ; and, judging from our own 

 orchard of a hundred or more trees, I think 

 there ought to be. Three or four j^ears ago I 

 was wondering why so many of our fruit- 

 trees seemed to be dying when they had good 

 rich ground, cultivation, etc., but was greatly 

 alarmed when I found there were from one to 

 a dozen borers around the roots of almost 

 every tree. Some of the trees were girdled, 

 and there were holes made so that a slender 

 wire could be pushed in, even beyond the 

 heart of the tree. We dug them out, and 

 have kept them out by hand work since then, 

 using a slender wire and a sharp-pointed pen- 

 knife. Others have had a like experience. 

 Well, within the past year, and perhaps I 

 might say within the past few months, there 

 have been a great number of paints and 

 washes recommended as sure death to the 

 borers. Our experiment stations, however, 

 have come in very opportunely, and warned 

 us that many of these patent-right preparations 

 are not only sure death to the borers, but sure 

 death to the trees also. A wonderfully entic- 

 ing circular came to hand a few days ago, 

 urging everybody to act as agent for a new 

 kind of tree-paint. I forwarded this to our 

 good friends of the Rural New -Yorker, who 

 have promptly exposed so many fakes along 

 this line, and below is their reply : 



Mr. A. I. Root: — I am sorry that I can not tell you 

 any thing definite about the inclosed circular. I only 

 know that so many of these so-called tree paints have 

 been put on the market that I must say we fight very 

 shy of them. Our be.st entomologists are very doubt- 

 ful as to the real value of any such paint. When den- 

 drolene was introduced last year we all thought we 

 had a very good thing; but it killed .so many young 

 trees that now no one thinks of using it at all; hut we 

 are promptly receiving recipes of home-made tree- 

 paints or mixtures, and they have been used by our 

 readers with good results, and probably c ne of the 

 best is the inclosed. I think it likely that this home- 

 made mixture will give you about as good results as 

 any of the .so-called tree-paints which are advertised 

 for .sale; and, for my part, I would not use any of the 

 latter until advised to do so by our State entomologist. 



New York, July 21. H. W. Collingwood, 



Managing Editor. 



The following is the recipe alluded to by 

 Mr. Collingwood : 



A PAINT FOR PEACH-TREES. 



I have for several years past used the following 

 wash : Slake lime to the consi.stency of good mixed 

 paint, and, to each pailful of about two gallons, add 

 one quart of raw linseed oil, which will thoroughly 

 mix by a few minutes' stirring. With this, paint the 

 trees where there is danger of borers entering. For 

 applying I use a painters' round dust-brush. I gen- 

 erally apply the paint about June 1, and it will remain 

 a perfect coating until heavy rains in October or No- 

 vember. I always examine the trees for borers before 

 applying ; but in 1896 le.ss than half a dozen borers 



were found, and they had done no harm. In 1897 only 

 two borers were found, and they had not done any 

 harm. My orchard contains nearly .500 peach-trees. 

 I formerly used washes made with .soap, ashes, 

 potash, etc., but the trouble was they would not 

 adhere long enough to protect through the season. 

 This wash will, and will wash off during winter, leav- 

 ing the bark smooth. 



The name of the writer is not given in the 

 above; but I presume the same preparation 

 will be all right for apple and other trees as 

 well as for peach. I feel so certain this paint 

 can not do any harm to the trees that I think 

 our friends may all apply it at once, without 

 fear ; and it probably is just as cheap as or a 

 great deal cheaper than the patent-medicine 

 preparations that you have got to send away 

 off for. 



EVERBEARING STRAWBERRIES. 



Quite a number of these have been brought 

 forward, but none of them have proved to be 

 much of a success — that is, in the Eastern 

 States. But when we say this we must bear 

 in mind that strawberries are grown in the 

 East in the fall, and put on the markets and 

 sold at good prices ; but so far they seem to 

 be from well-known sorts, and the fall crop 

 seems to be the result of conditions rather than 

 varieties. The Jessie, where it grows with 

 thinft and vigor, will frequently bear quite a 

 lot of nice fruit in the fall from new runners 

 that started early. Last season the Louis Gau- 

 tier was advertised quite extensively as a sec- 

 ond-crop berry. We did not succeed, howev- 

 er, in getting any last season, but I rather 

 think now it was owing to faulty manage- 

 ment. At present writing, July 25, I am hap- 

 py to say that our young plants of the Louis 

 Gautier are budding and blossoming quite 

 freely, and we have quite a few green berries 

 of fair size But it is still a question of rain 

 or irrigation. I am rejoiced to say that the 

 plant certainly has a remarkable tendency to 

 put out blossoms and fruit as soon as the new 

 plants are sufficiently established. 



APPLYING MANURE WHERE YOU WANT TO 

 GROW THRIFTY PLANTS. 



On that plat worked on the hill system I 

 have said so much about, we applied at one 

 side some old well-rotted manure quite liber- 

 ally. This was done, I think, some time in 

 May. It had the effect of making larger and 

 nicer fruit, as I expected it would, and now it 

 shows such a marked improvement in the way 

 of getting strong thrifty plants that we are 

 hauling more manure and depositing it along 

 close to the berries on the up-hill side. We 

 place it thus, because, if there should be a 

 heavy rain, the strength of the manure is 

 washed down on the strawberries and on the 

 land. For this purpose you want old black 

 well composted manure. This is not so apt to 

 contain weed-seeds, and it seems to hit the 

 right spot the very first rain that comes. At 

 first you may think the bed looks very un- 

 sightly ; that those great heavy clods will nev- 

 er get worked down. But just keep working 

 them up with a hoe after a heavy rain, and 

 you can soon have your bed nice and smooth 

 again. And then what fun it is to see the 

 great strong thrifty gteen leaves, when, with- 



