1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



633 



They are not able to make a great swarm, but are 

 liable to make another swarm soon. Sometimes the 

 first-separated swarm separates again during the year. 



The bbdv is a little smaller than an Italian, and its 

 abdomen is gray. The liives are not made especially, 

 but some empty barrels are used, and they are put 

 under the eaves of a hou.se. 



■ These bee-keepers are almost ignorant as to how to 

 make a new swarm, and think it is good luck. There 

 is a proverb, .saying tliat " when one's hives go to in- 

 crease, one will be a millionaire " 



Prof Tamari, of our Imperial University, has a rep- 

 utation that has spread all over the apicultural world. 

 He was a pupil of Prof. Cook, and was very much 

 inspired by this interesting indu.stry: and after he left 

 America he practiced it and wrote a work devoted to 

 that line, and taught people the way to feed bees. 

 This book was so much welcomed that it soon reached 

 the third edition. 



We have hives now, and are trying to gain Western 

 knowledge of them. 



We publish a monthly magazine called The Popular 

 Agricultutist, devoted to agriculture, and we should 

 like to give some remarks in it on bee culture. If you 

 -will teach us any thing in that line we shall be very 

 much obliged. 



Some scholars say that Japan has progres.sed lately. 

 If that is true, it came from an American named Com- 

 modore Perry. He opened our .seaport, and taught us 

 to introduce We.stei n knowledge. 



Now, in another way Prof. Cook gave us light 

 through Prof. Tamari. We owe very much to you 

 Americans. lyong live America ! J. Ikkd.\. 



Tokyo, Japan, June 27. 



The book on apiculture contains a picture 

 of our apiars^ here at the Home of the Honey- 

 bees — or, at least, it was a picture before our 

 buildings encroached on the boundaries of the 

 apiary. The book contains 170 pages. It has 

 sotne excellent plates in the back part, of all 

 things pertaining to bee culture. The letters 

 are Japanese from beginning to end; and un- 

 less I look at the pictures I can not tell wheth- 

 er the book is right or wrong side up, nor can 

 I tell the right side from the left. The char- 

 acters are all Japanese. There is not even an 

 English figure. The presswork is excellent. 

 The cuts show remarkable skill and ingenuity. 

 The book on agrictilttire contains excellent 

 cuts of most of our well-known vegetables, 

 with a comical picture of a market scene in 

 the back part, with a radish so big they are 

 almost holding a picnic on top of it. 



Let me say to ottr brother, in answer to his 

 closing words, "Long live America," "Long 

 live Japan;" and may the time speedily come 

 when we shall not only unite in the pursuit of 

 bees and agriculture, but in bringing right- 

 eousness, temperarce, and purity instead of 

 iniquity, over the face of the whole wide world. 



GREENHOUSE-BUILDING. 



A. I. Root. — Some time ago j^ou spoke of making 

 sash for a greenhouse by putting the glass in a saw- 

 kerf. Have you tried it enough to know if the plan is 

 a success ? I am going to build a small greenhouse, 

 and should be thankful for any hints, as I am a new 

 liand, and have but a small capital. What is the 

 cheapest reliable way of heating? What size of glass 

 ■would you recommend? F. W. Humphrey. 



Oronoque, Conn., May 25. 



By all means, butt the glass instead of lap- 

 ping it over. If I am correct, glass for green- 

 houses, sashes, and almost every purpose, is 

 now almost universally butted. Lapping is 

 the old-fashioned out-of-date style. For many 

 purposes, greenhouse men prefer that joints 

 between the sheets of glass be not absolutely 

 air-tight. If, however, you do want them air- 

 tight, be sure the glass is cut sqtiare enough 

 to make the ends fit ; then dip the edges in 



thick paint, and you have a water-tight joint 

 with very much less shade than when they are 

 lapped. 



The cheapest way of heating is by a flue, as 

 described in the tomato-book. But a much 

 more satisfactory way is by the use of steam. 

 Hot water costs a little more than steam, but 

 has some advantages. The larger the glass, 

 the less shade you have. But larger sheets 

 cost more per square foot than small ones. In 

 covering our greenhouse recently with a per- 

 manent sash roof, instead of sashes we used 

 glass 12x15, and that is a very good size. And, 

 by the way, don't use sashes at all on your 

 greenhouse, but slide your glass right into 

 grooves cut in the rafters. We think it will pay 

 you to have some of our books on greenhouse 

 construction, even if you are going to build 

 ever so small. I would recommend especially 

 " Greenhouse Construction," by Prof. Taft. 

 The price of the book is ,?1.25. It would pay 

 you to have a knowledge of all the recent im- 

 provements, even if you do not invest more 

 than $2-5 in the way of a greenhouse ; for a 

 good many times it is cJieaper to build right 

 than it is to build wrong. 



TOBACCO STEMS AND TOBACCO DUST — THEIR VALUE 

 AS A FERTILIZER. 



Mr. Root: — Look in the April SOth issue of Rural 

 .\ccv- Yoikcr, page 321. Prof. E. B. Voorhees says that 

 tobacco stems are worth flO to ^8^12 per ton for ma- 

 nure, and that agrees very nearly with the analysis 

 made by the chemist of tlie Massachusetts Agricultu- 

 ral College. The insecticide property may, at a higher 

 price, make them valuable. 



Bozrahville, Ct., June 7. Wm. H. Allen & Son. 



Thanks for your suggestions, friend A. If 

 I am correct, our question to the people at our 

 Experiment Station was in regard to the to- 

 bacco dust. The tobacco dust we use and 

 sell, I think must be of considerably more-val- 

 ue than the stems, as the stems are compos- 

 ed to so great an extent of woody matter. 

 The dust, when it decays, resembles the leaf- 

 mold we find in the woods. The stems would 

 be more like brush. I shottld be glad to have 

 some of our Experiment Station people give 

 us further facts in regard to the matter. 



.\ HINT for good health AND LONG LIFE. 



It can not but be surprising to any one who will 

 give the subject a moment's consideration of the fact 

 that, when we remember that our lives are so entirely 

 dependent on the air we breathe, that our health mu.st 

 very largely depend on the same element, and on the 

 manner we u.se it in our daily lives : and in view of 

 this, how seldom is the fact mentioned or considered, 

 or any means proposed by which we shall be the 

 better prepared to use it to the best advantage ! 



Will you allow me to suggest a hint for the regular 

 practice of a way that will not be a task, but an abso- 

 lute enjoyment of that which will both enlarge our 

 capacity for using this life-giving element, and, with- 

 out a doubt, do much toward improving our health ; 

 and, if it does not prolong our lives, it will give great- 

 er enjoyment while we live. 



My plan is to combine some pleasant singing with 

 the regular task of expanding the lungs by deep 

 breathing. Select a time when you can be at leisure 



