516 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1. 



tasted them, and that was surprise No. 2. I 

 thought then they were more delicious than 

 strawberries, or berries of any kind. I called 

 Mrs. Root, and she was equally astonished. 

 She hadn't time to eat very many; but I really 

 could not get away from that tree until I had 

 for the first time in my life had just all the 

 w/e/-berries I wanted. After I was pretty well 

 satisfied, I noticed our Minorca rooster was 

 walking around the tree with his followers, 

 and saying something that I understood to be 

 dissatisfaction about something or other. 

 When I looked down at my feet I understood 

 what he said — at least I thought I did. He 

 was saying something like this : " Look here, 

 old fellow ; my hens and I have been com- 

 ing here every morning to gather up the mul- 

 berries that lie on the ground at your feet, 

 and we have been wondering for a quarter of 

 an hour past if you were ever going to get 

 enough, and go away so that we could have 

 our share." Then I stooped down and saw 

 the closely mown lawn was also pretty well 

 dotted with mulberries so ripe that the storm 

 of the night before had knocked them off. 

 They really were sweeter than those on the 

 tree. And then I ate a lot more, because it 

 seemed a pity to feed chickens on such deli- 

 cious fruit. Pretty soon I was admonished 

 by several robins on neighboring trees that 

 they too found my presence somewhat of a 

 hindrance according to their ideas of things. 

 And then Mrs. Root said she had been scar- 

 ing the robins away for several days, but she 

 supposed the berries were not yet ripe. 



Now, that tree is really worth a five dollar 

 bill. It is worth every cent it cost, and ever 

 so much more. There are new shoots on the 

 tree that have grown already this season fully 

 two feet in length ; and the only reason why 

 we did not have mulberries years ago is be- 

 cause we did not " feed " the tree. Perhaps I 

 should say that our lawn — in fact, the whole 

 dooryard — was made on yellow barren sub- 

 soil When we graded around the house we 

 scraped off the sod in order to lower that por- 

 tion of the yard where we wanted it. In con- 

 sequence some places were made very rich 

 and others' very poor. You may remember I 

 gave our Early Harvest apple-tree a heavy 

 manuring before we could get any good apples. 



Now, my friends, if you haven't a mulberrv- 

 tree in your dooryard you had better get one, 

 and be sure you make the ground rich so the 

 tree will grow. Mulberries need a great deal 

 of water ; therefore they ought to have some 

 sort of irrigation, or else the ground should 

 be kept cultivated according to the modern 

 method of growing apples, peaches, and al- 

 most every thing else. Stir the soil after 

 every rain, or else have it mulched with some- 

 thing that will keep down weeds and hold the 

 moisture from one rain to another. 



BEES FOR FERTILIZING CUCUMBERS IN A GREEN - 

 HOUSE, ETC. 



Did you ever have any experience with bees in cu- 

 cumber-greenhouses? I have furnished one man six 

 colonies for the last three falls, but before spring they 

 would dwindle and die out so he would have to put in 

 two or three more colonies in the spring. They will 

 not work with plenty of honey in the hive, so I take 



away the most of the honey and then they feed syrup 

 in open feeders in the greenhouse. This gets them to 

 work on the blossoms the best. The ventilators are 

 all screened. The greenhouse is 450 ft. long by 40 

 wide, heated by steam from cider-mill boilers. 



Our town is on a boom this spring, as we are build- 

 ing a cement factory here capable of turning out 15,000 

 bbls. of marl cement per day. The building, when 

 completed, will cover 7 acres of ground, with marl 

 enough to last 200 years. The mile of side track will 

 be completed inside of a week. Several carloads of 

 heavy machinery are here now: brick and tile, no end 

 to it, as well as lime and cement. 



Just tell A. I. Root to call up this fall and see how 

 Southern Michigan locks. He will find fair bicycle- 

 tracks on the old Chicago road. 



Quincy, Mich., May 13. J. S. Cleaveland. 



I always fertilize my Irish potatoes with cotton 

 seed, not meal, and have never seen a hug on them. I 

 have been very successful in getting large yields, on a 

 small scale, with little labor. Cotton seed is a great 

 fertilizer for this soil. No kind of seed will germinate 

 in the meal, but t he meal maybe applied after the 

 seeds have come up. J. T. Etheredge. 



Delray, Tex., June 8. 



KEEPING FLIES OFF FROM CATTLE WITH THE FAULT- 

 LESS SPRAYER. 



I have found out that coal oil alone has no effect on 

 our Southern flies. I now use with great success 2 

 pints coal oil, 7 pints raw linseed oil, 54 gill crude 

 carbolic acid (less of pure white acid). 



Cesser, I«a., June 9. Jas. I. Burns. 



FAULTLESS SPRAYER FOR FLIES. 



I think if A. A. Harrison, page 32S, will investigate 

 a little more closely he will find the spray does not 

 kill the flies, even if it rf(«kinck them down. He 

 will find that most if not all of them, after rubHng 

 the oil out of their eyes, "come around to be killed 

 again." It's a good thing nevertheless. I like it most 

 for cleansing poultry-houses. 



Union Valley, N. Y., May 1. Emmet B. Kibbe. 



Humbugs and Swindles. 



ANOTHER COMPLAINT AGAINST H. P. ROBIE. 



Mr. A. I. Root: — Some time ago you published a let- 

 ter from a bee-keeper stating that he had shipped 

 honey to H. P. Robie, of Sioux Falls, S. D.. and he 

 had refused to pay and would not answer letters. A 

 year ago last February I . hipped four cases (about 100 

 lbs.) to the same party, and got a letter stating the 

 honey had arrived in good condition. Since then I 

 can get no answer from him. It looks as if he did not 

 intend to pay me. I think the names of those who 

 rob bee-keepers of their hard earnings ought to be 

 published for the benefit of others. 



Dona Ana, N. M., May 30. W. C. Gathright. 



ONE EXPLANATION OF THE SUCCESS OF FAKE REM- 

 EDIES. 



Mi. Root: — Fully indorsing your recent Home-talk 

 articles on the numerous swindling quacks and '"sci- 

 entists" who, for personal gain, aie assuming to cure 

 diseases that so far have baffled the skill of eminent 

 doctors the world over, 1 want to tell you of a fake I ran 

 across while in Cincinnati last fall. Seeing advertised 

 and displayed in several show-windows in the busi- 

 ness portion of the town a large box of rings labeled 

 " Magnetic German Rings," I noticed some iron (pol- 

 ished) finger ring*, worth at cost about one cent apiece. 

 A placard showed they were sold at $5.00 apiece, and 

 were guaranteed to "care rheumatism in jo days or 

 you} money refunded." Now, common sense taught 

 me that a simple finger ring would not cure an organic 

 disease, so I was puzzled to know how the dealer 

 could expect to do business with such frauds. It made 

 quite an impression on my " gray matter ;" so, next 

 day in conversation with a prominent man of the 

 town, a confidential friend. I mentioned the matter 

 and inquired wheie the "fake" part came in. He 

 was posted, fortunately, and solved the riddle. Said 

 he. "The dealer sells the ring and pockets the 35 00, 

 while the deluded victim goes off with a 30 day return 

 certificate. The dealer has three chances to keep the 



