588 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



ready for a broken-stone covering. To the 

 great surprise of many, the farmers turned 

 out in such crowds that a big enthusiasm was 

 started. Business men, and people from miles 

 away, who did not wish to be outdone, fur- 

 nished men, money, and horses. The " Burn- 

 ham Flats ' ' were finished in good style before 

 we knew it, and it did not cost the county a 

 cent. We are now doing the same thing past 

 our own home. Six teams and a large crowd 

 of men are at work to-day, July 26. Nobody 

 can grumble or find fault, because each one 

 does what he pleases, of his own free will.* 

 May the Lord be praised that good things are 

 contagious as well as evil things ! Enthusi- 

 asm is spreading in every direction, and stone 

 roads will soon be started out of our town in 

 four different directions ; and it looks as if 

 there were going to be strife to see which road 

 will be carried the most miles out into the 

 country. Now, if the work that is being done 

 to-day had been done forty years ago it would 

 have saved in horse flesh, wear and tear of ve- 

 hicles, etc., who can compute how many times 

 the cost of the whole improvement ? Farmers 

 and everybody else have taken days to move 

 their stuff when hours would have accom- 

 plished it with the new roads ; and last, but 

 not least, our boys and girls can have their 

 wheelrides every month in the year, whether 

 it rains or shines. But a few months ago our 

 people arose in their might and formed a law- 

 and-order committee to stop the illegal sale of 

 strong drink in this town of Medina ; and is 

 it any thing wonderful that the crusade against 

 intemperance was almost immediately follow- 

 ed by a like crusade for good roads? 



I have thought best to give the above in 

 order that the people in other localities where 

 Gleanings goes may go to work in like man- 

 ner to establish good roads ; and before I drop 

 the matter, I wish to offer two more sugges- 

 tions. The first one belongs to Mrs. Root ; 

 but she would "scold" if she knew I was 

 going to give her the credit here in print. It 

 is simply this : When you start out with the 

 men and t°ams to do heavv work during the 

 hot months of July and August, provide 

 plenty of good drinking water for the horses 

 as well as for the men. I have just been out 

 to tell the teamsters that they drive, say, a 

 quarter of a mile to our watering-trough, and 

 water the horses about three in the afternoon. 

 They all agreed that it would be an excellent 

 idea, but they said it would take a little time 

 to do it. Mrs. Root is always thinking about 

 the horses in such a time as this, and I pre- 

 sume there are other women who feel just as 

 she does about it — at least I hope so. 



* The only objection to this voluntary work in the 

 way of doing business is that there are always some 

 who are abundantly able, but who will not do any 

 thing if they can avoid it. Such people must be 

 brought into line by personal exhortation. I_et the 

 neighbors, a lot of them, go to these objecting neigh- 

 bors, and in a neighborly sort of way present the im- 

 portance of the undertaking. If you do it in the right 

 spirit you will get something, at least, from everybody 

 along the route or in the neighborhood. I have just 

 been doing that sort of work, and I have succeeded 

 beyond my expectations. We have become better ac- 

 quainted with each other, and we are as a neighbor- 

 hood more united than we have been for years past. 



The second thing is, to be sure your scrapers, 

 plows, doubletrees, clevises, chains, and every 

 thing, are all on hand in good order before 

 you start in with half a dozen or more teams. 

 A new scraper was just unloaded from the 

 cars. When we came to put it together we 

 found the holes were a little too small for two 

 of the most important bolts. Several teams 

 and men had to stand still while somebody 

 went away for a large round file. If the man- 

 ufacturer had been on hand while the men 

 fussed to get those bolts in place, I hope he 

 would have formed a mighty resolution never 

 to send such a machine to farmers again with- 

 out knowing that the bolts would a\\go where 

 they belong. Half a dozen teams will do a 

 tremendous amount of work in a day, provided 

 somebody takes the responsibility of seeing 

 that the tools are all in perfect order, so there 

 can be no hitch and a consequent " sitting in 

 the shade ' ' while waiting for things to be fixed. 



Special Notices by A. I. Root. 



THE L. A. W. MEET IN BOSTON. 



No preventing providence, I expect to spend a week 

 or ten days in Boston and vicinity somewhere between 

 the loth and 25th of the present month. If any of the 

 friends would care to see me I might make them a 

 brief visit, if other engagements will permit. I shall 

 probablv visit our good friend Manum, of Bristol. Vt. 



STRAWBERRY-PLANTS. 



We have a very nice stock of potted plants ready to 

 ship at 3 cts. each, by express; 4 cts. each by mail. 

 Nick Ohmer will be double above prices. Please re- 

 member our potted plants are sent either by mail or 

 express with jadoo fiber on the roots. Layer plants 

 will probably be ready Aug. 15. It depends consider- 

 ably on the amount of rain we have, as to whether 

 we can furnish layer plants at the above date at usual 

 layer prices as per our seed catalog. 



ONION-SETS. 



We are now harvesting our winter onion-sets, and 

 also our Acorn-top onion-sets. Price of the winter, 10 

 cts. per quart; 50 cts. per peck; $1.50 per bushel. Price 

 of the Acorn-top onion sets, just double the above 

 prices. If wanted by mail, add 10 cts. per quart for 

 postage and packing. There has been some discus- 

 sion about large sets or small ones. If you get small 

 sets, of course there will be ever so many more in a 

 bushel, and they are less liable to run up to seed. 

 Some of our customers, however, prefer the large 

 sets; and we have some winter onion-sets grown on 

 very rich ground that are almost as large as a small 

 hen's-egg. You can have either kind at the same 

 prices. We are short on American Pearl onion-sets to 

 be planted out in September; but we are trying to 

 make arrangements to purchase some of the Philadel- 

 phia growers. Prices will be given later. We have a 

 limited supply of Prizetaker onion-sets. Prices will 

 be the same as for the Acorn-top. 



SOWING BUCKWHEAT AND CRIMSON CLOVER IN 



AUGUST. 



The best crop I ever grew was sown August 15. Of 

 course, when sown as late as this there is danger of 

 getting caught by frost; but as buckwheat is a cool- 

 weather plant, it does very much better if sown so as 

 to just escape the frost. Another thing, if you do not 

 get a crop of ripened seed you will have a lot of bloom 

 for the bees, and it is worth all it costs to turn under 

 to enrich the land. If frost kills it, plow under at 

 once and sow it to rye, and plow under the rye in the 

 spring, and put in corn or potatoes or whatever you 

 choose. We still have a surplus of nice buckwheat for 

 seed at $2.00 for a two-bushel bag, bag included. Put 

 in crimson clover with your buckwheat; and when 

 the frost kills the buckwheat the clover will be nicely 

 mulched to enable it to stand the winter; and if put in 



