478 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15. 



I was obliged to make my stay short, how- 

 ever, for I had lest the greater part of the 

 day by that little bit of carelessness about the 

 address. Another thing, a thunder-cloud was 

 looming up and muttering. Yes, I got caught 

 in the rain, and tcok refuge in a dainty little 

 station built for the trolly-car passengers. 

 But they have good roads in Washington, and 

 so I was off again on my wheel almost before 

 the drops of rain had stopped falling. I 

 thought when I came to the asphalt pavement 

 I should be lucky ; but the rain water that 

 had been soaking into the graveled roads 

 just stood on top of the asphalt ; and before I 

 knew it I had sprinkled my back, and my 

 Sunday pants pretty well in front, with muddy 

 water. By the time I reached the city, how- 

 ever, it was dry enough so that a colored boy 

 brushed me up and polished my shoes so I 

 looked pretty well by the time I was ready to 

 take the Norfolk boat. 



Where was our good friend Danzenbaker? 

 Why, I omitted to take his addre-s also, and 

 by the time I reached his dwelling he too had 

 gone out of the city. I had a delightful ride 

 over the Potomac during the night ; and early 

 the next morning, while I was taking in the 

 wonderful sights of sailing vessels and every 

 other kind, going in every direction, I espied 

 a great big steamer that looked as if it had 

 just risen out of the depths of the ocean. In 

 fact, I said to somebody that I wondered what 

 they were going to do with that old " rusty- 

 looking teakettle" of a steamer. What do 

 you suppose it was ? Why, it was nothing 

 but the Reina Mercedes that was standing off 

 the coast of Newport News. People were 

 very curious about it, and wanted to explore 

 it ; but the sentinel stationed on the boat gave 

 orders that nobody be allowed to set foot on 

 it, no matter how curious he might be. 



At the boatdanding my good friend J. W. 

 Stebbins, who had given me a kind invitation 

 to make them a visit, was there ready to re- 

 ceive me ; but there were so many hackmen, 

 and they were so determined to get hold of 

 my valise, or catch me by main strength, that 

 I pushed along, trying to make them believe 

 I kneiu where I wanted to go. But I didn't, 

 after all. I should have waited at the landing 

 until my friend had decided who A. I. Root 

 was, and made those fellows let me alone. 

 That was mistake No. 4. This was not a bad 

 one, however, for by the time I reached my 

 friend's office he was right behind me. When 

 I told him I had only 24 hours to spare to see 

 the truck -gardening of Norfolk, he seemed a 

 little dissatisfied ; but as his horse was already 

 hitched up he said we would get off and make 

 the best of the day before us. 



each. The largest berry had been picked nearly 18 

 hours ; had been handled by many, and had bled 

 some, or it would have smashed the English record of 

 four ounces, which it tied. This berry could have 

 hung on at least a day longer, as it had a green spot 

 on its side as large as a copper penny, and would have 

 gained some. I had to pick it because some of the 

 rest were overripe and losing weight. This 4-ounce 

 berry measured 10J4 inches in circumference. It was 

 photographed for the department. Weighing and 

 measuring were witnessed by four gentlemen con- 

 nected with the Division of Pomology, all of whom 

 signed a paper to the statement I have made. 

 Washington, D. C. A. T. Goldsborough. 



Very soon I began to discover one of the 

 reasons that induced market gardeners to 

 gather at that point. There are salt-water 

 bays and inlets running away up into the land 

 in every direction, so that the produce from 

 gardens can be easily loaded on boats so as to 

 be shipped by water anywhere it is wanted. 

 I was pleased to see a mule, hitched to a large- 

 wheeled cart, walk right down into the water 

 with a load of truck, and back it up so the 

 contents could be easily lifted into a boat. 

 You see the large wheels of the cart raise the 

 body up considerably out of the water. This 

 little boat then runs up alongside of the 

 steamer. The large truckmen have also a 

 platform or landing beside the track, so as to 

 load the stuff on the cars. A side track runs 

 out through the gardens, and little spurs go 

 out still further right beside almost every large 

 farm. 



Almost the first thing that greeted my eyes 

 were great fields of early potatoes. These are 

 planted in rows as straight as one can draw a 

 line. The stand of vines is all even and regu- 

 lar. There are no very poor spots nor extra 

 good ones. This is in marked contrast with 

 out potato fields and grain-fields here in Ohio; 

 and, most surprising of all, there are absolute- 

 ly no weeds. There are hundreds of acres 

 where I did not succeed in finding a weed of 

 any sort, big or little. These potatoes are 

 grown for the early market in the north, and 

 the men who own them are experts. They 

 have decided by long experience that they 

 can not afford to buy expensive fertilizers (nor 

 even stable manure) to turnish weeds fertility 

 to grow on. This even stand of crops is si- 

 cured by careful attention to several impor- 

 tant details. In the first place, the ground is 

 thoroughly underdrained. Most farmers 

 would think such a porous soil would not 

 need any tiling. Not so with the Norfolk 

 truckers. 



One of the most successful and largest gar- 

 deners is Mr. E. E. Trotman, of Churchland, 

 Va. Just to give you an idea, I will mention 

 that he buys 500 tons or more of chemical 

 fertilizers in a year. The farms are divided 

 up into lots of several acres each, with road- 

 ways running at right angles. Where the 

 roads cross each other I noticed what I took 

 to be small-sized wells walled up with brick. 

 They are, perhaps, a yard across. On looking 

 down into one of these wells I found they 

 were silt-basins with tiles opening into them 

 from different directions. In order that the 

 tiles may not be so very close together, there 

 are many of them down to a depth of '&% or 

 4 feet, and sometimes more than this. To 

 show you what an amount of water some of 

 these tiles are expected to deliver, I will men- 

 tion that one of the outlet tiles was 14 inches 

 across. Mr. Trotman savs he wants these 

 wells so he can look in when it rains, and see 

 if every line of tiles is doing its duty. If it is 

 not delivering the quantity of water it ought 

 to carry, then the m?tter is looked into. Now, 

 there is a good point, friends. Have your 

 tiles so you can tell from the outlet whether 

 they are doing their duty. 



I learned during the conversation that Mr. 



