326 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aprii, 15. 



produced. When equally well preserved from sprout- 

 ing, our own seed potatoes have given as good results 

 as those from either north or south. Cold storage 

 Ohio seed potatoes have given as good crops as those 

 from Maine or North Carolina. 



Cold storage is not convenient for all, however, and 

 means must be adopted to obviate the necessity of it. 

 The easiest plan is to grow seed potatoes late in the 

 season by planting about the first of July. 



To carry out this plan, preparations need to be be- 

 gun as early as the first of May. Ordinarily, potatoes 

 will not keep in condition for planting until the first 

 of July; but if they are taken from the cellar before 

 they have begun to sprout, or when the sprouts are 

 just starting, and spread out on the barn floor, or loft, 

 or some place where they will receive a little light, 

 they will throw out short stubby, green sprouts, about 

 half an inch in length, and then remain in that con- 

 dition for months. 



The potatoes must be only one layer deep, and, pref- 

 erably, seed end up. All of the eyes will not throw 

 out sprouts ; and in cutting, the pieces should be larg- 

 er than for spring planting. 



When planted, these potatoes will come up quickly 

 and make their growth in a short time, and almost 

 surely give a good crop. 



In 1897 the Bovee gave, with the treatment above de- 

 scribed, at the Station. 200 bushels per acre, and in 

 1898 the Enormous yielded 300 bushels per acre, which 

 was better than the early crop. Late varieties do as 

 well by this method of treatment as early sorts ; but 

 usually the yield is less than from early planting. 



The object of this method of growing potatoes is to 

 secure seed that will keep in a common cellar without 

 sprouting, and for this purpose it is far superior to 

 seed grown in the ordinary manner. 



It may be said, also, that potatoes grown from 

 sprouted" seed are le-s scabby than those grown from 

 seed taken from the cellar and planted at once. Late- 

 planted potatoes are less liable to blight than early- 

 planted, although not exempt from that disease. 



Permit me to add that all the points made 

 above agree exac.ly with my own experience 

 and experiments. And now, friends, if our 

 station, which is located on rather poor clay 

 soil, can make such yields as those mentioned 

 above, what in the world is the reason you and 

 I can not do the same if we avail ourselves of 

 information that is ours if we just reach out 

 and take hold of it ? 



cow peas; how to make a stack so the 



PEAS WILL CURE AND KEEP SAFELY. 



I wish to add something to what Abbott L Swinson 

 says on page 240 in regard to making hav from cow 

 peas. The speckled (or Whippoorwill) variety has 

 the peculiarity of maturing most of its pods before the 

 leaves begin to drop, and then it has a more erect hab- 

 it; hence its great popularity for making hay. The 

 curing is best done in open stacks made around poles 

 set in the ground, and prepared thus: Get a piece of 

 scantling 1(5 or 18 ft. long and 3x3 to 4x1. Cut some 

 pieces from stuff 3x1, and from 18 to 24 in. long, in this 

 shape — that is, sawn across at an 



s -y angle. Now nail the^e pieces on 



/ / the pole about a foot apart from 



the ground, going round in a spiral, 

 and 1 aving the outer ends higher 

 than the center. If the vines be stacked around 

 these, either when just cut or afterward, they will dry 

 out, and at the same time be well protected from rain. 



Paris, Tenn. W. H. Greer. 



As I understand it, the vines are to be hung 

 on these projecting sharp points in such a 

 way that the roots are up and the tops hang 

 down. In this way the leaves will naturally 

 assume the best shape to shed rain, and the 

 pole and the projecting sticks will let air 

 enough through the stack so there is no dan- 

 ger of heating. It strikes me that such an ap- 

 paratus would be an excellent thing to stack 

 common 'beans when grown for seed, especial- 

 ly when we have damp rainy weather making 

 it difficult to dry them properly to thrash. 



I am very glad to see the cow pea get a fair share of 

 attention in Gleanings. I Con't think it could prop- 

 erly be discussed among the bee and honey interests, 

 but in the department devoted to home interests I 

 think it is very appropriate. The cow peas were one 

 of the great factors in enabling me to have a home. 

 Some years ago I came by some land that was consid- 

 ered worthless, and it was so unproductive that it was 

 abandoned. Ordinary grain and grass absolutely re- 

 fused to grow on it, and the only plant I could start on 

 it was the cow pea. After considerable woik I pre- 

 pared a shallow seed bed and applied a little dissolved 

 S. C. rock and muriate of potash, about 200 lbs of the 

 former and 25 lbs. of the latter to the acre at a cost of 

 SI. 50 per acre, not including the labor. A large mass of 

 vegetation developed on that field, all of which I turn- 

 ed under and started that soil on a career of useful- 

 ness from which I have annually taken a crop ever 

 since, and paaying crops too, as, for example, two years 

 ago 320 bushels of wheat from the 11 acres, and last 

 year about 28 tons of the finest clover hay, red and al- 

 sike mixed, from the same field. Only after seeing 

 what the cow pea will do for our worn or apparently 

 worn-out soil can we begin to appreciate its value. 



Asa soiling crop, as a silage crop, as a hay crop, it 

 is grand; but as a soil-renovating crop it stands second 

 to but one, and has the advantage of being able to 

 thrive on such barren soil where its peer, red clover, 

 can not grow. 



If any of the readers of Gleanings have light worn- 

 out soil that will not take kindly to clover, and fail to 

 produce profitable crops, feed it one good crop of cow 

 peas, stimulate lightly with potash and phosphoric 

 acid, and, my word for it, you will be astonished at 

 the future results. Don't be afraid of being too far 

 north, as the cow pea will grow during the warm sea- 

 son, but may not ripen seed. It will not thrive on wet, 

 cold, undramed soil. L- W. Eighty. 



East Berlin, Pa. 



ENGLISH RAPE AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



What do you know about English rape for bee for- 

 age ? I came across' some on my second trip to Mich- 

 igan last fall, that was showing well. I called on Dr. 

 L- N. Higbee, near Elsie, an intelligent bee-keeper 

 having about 60 colonies of bees. He had about % 

 acre in bloom ; and although the weather was quite 

 cool the bees were pouring in from it in a way that re- 

 minded me of the basswood flow earlier in the season. 

 They were bringing in mostly pollen, which was an 

 unusual sight so late in the season (October). Dr. H. 

 reported a flow of honey in August, a few years ago, 

 from 4 acres, that to me was almost past beliet. 



East Townseud, O. H. R. Boardman. 



We are glad to get a favorable report from 

 rape as a honey-plant, once more. Some 

 years ago there was considerable of a stir 

 about it. Some very large yields were report- 

 ed, especially in localities where the seed was 

 largely grown for oil. The seed was advertis- 

 ed in the bee-journals, and, in fact, we have it 

 in our seed list {English rape is worth 20 cts. 

 per pound) among the honey-plants. There 

 seem to be several varieties, and one kind that 

 would winter over in mild climates This lat- 

 ter was used largely for feed, and within a few 

 years past the Dwarf Essex rape has eclipsed 

 every other variety as a feed for sheep. This, 

 however, is seldom grown as a honey-plant. 

 Of course, where it is managed for growing 

 the seed it would yield honey; but I have not 

 yet learned where the seed of this latter vari- 

 ety is grown — probably somewhere in the 

 South. Who can tell us more about it? And, 

 friend B., will you please tell us whether the 

 patches you mention were grown for any oth- 

 er purpose than as a honey-piant? And, by 

 the way, old friend, I am glad to know you 

 are getting enjoyment, and something profit- 

 able also, from your wheelrides. While read- 

 ing your account of them I felt a great desire 

 to go along with you, if I knew when jou are 

 going to start out again on a ride. By the 



