946 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



in the least out of the way. But what does 

 this wild element do abcut it? The crowd that 

 exalted a man to the skies one day, found 

 fault with him north, south, east, and west the 

 next ; and this same crowd (am I not right?) 

 right away after, tortured a poor negro worse 

 than any savages ever tortured a prisoner of 

 war, instead of letting the laws of the land 

 and the laws of God decide what was right ! 



I have been thinking lately of a trip to 

 Florida during the coming winter. On ac- 

 count of poor health I usually travel in Pull- 

 man cars; but just now I can't bear the thought 

 of a Pullman car. Let me describe one little 

 scene in a dining-car, and it is a scene I see 

 enacted over and over with variations every 

 time I go into such a car. A finely dressed 

 aristocratic-appearing man sat opposite me at 

 the table. The porter no doubt recognized 

 him as a different sort of man from myself. I 

 do not feel at all bad about this. It is every- 

 body's privilege to find comfort and enjoy- 

 ment after his own fashion — that is, within 

 certain limits. The porter, with many bows, 

 brought first a dainty little bottle of some 

 kind of strong liquor. I saw the names and 

 the price on the bill of fare. This liquor he 

 poured into a glass containing a bit of ice ; 

 then it was filled up with some effervescing 

 mineral water. The porter was very skillful 

 and dextrous in handling the cut glass and 

 burnished silver appliances for concocting the 

 various kinds of drinks. The man ordered 

 very little in the way of food, but it was most- 

 ly expensive wines, brandies, and things of 

 that sort. He finally threw out a silver 

 dollar, and the waiter, with more bows, 

 brought back the change — some dimes and 

 nickels; but the great man, with a flourish of 

 his hand, indicated to the porter that the 

 dimes and nickels were of no consequence — 

 that he should keep them himself. Then the 

 rorter bowed very low while he expressed his 

 thanks ; and the whole performance might 

 have done very nicely for a tableaux at a 

 theater. Now, I do not know where this man 

 got his money to buy these expensive drinks, 

 and give away the rest of the dollar because 

 he did not need it ; but I do know from what 

 I have seen of the class of people who drink 

 in this way, that it is quite likely this money 

 was wrung from some poor hard-working 

 man, or perhaps was accumulated by robbing 

 — well, let us say sick people. There are laws 

 to prevent robbing, but it is the fashion to let 

 this class of gilt-edged gentry get off scot free 

 if they treat the policeman — well, say about 

 as that man treated the porter. 



Now, I am not getting to be pessimistic. 

 There are good people in this world — lots of 

 them. When I went about to-day among my 

 good friends, and thanked God that there is 

 not one on our premises who would not spring 

 in an instant, or risk his life, perhaps, to save 

 our property, I laughed at the absurdity of 

 the dream while I thanked God it was only 

 a dream. The greater part of our American 

 people are temperate. We can beat the rob- 

 bers (standing in high places) ten to one, and 

 ivill beat them if our laws are enforced ; but 

 if things are going to be allowed to drift in 



the way I have outlined, or, rather, in which 

 that dream presented it, we are coming to 

 ruin as in the language of our text, and there 

 will surely be weeping and gnashing of teeth, 

 as there ought to be. 



GARDENING UNDER GLASS. 



After the years of experimenting I have had 

 in making glass structures and in visiting 

 greenhouses and market gardens, I think I 

 can make some suggestions that will be of 

 benefit to those who are going into the busi- 

 ness of gardening under glats. But my re- 

 marks will be mainly for those who have not 

 very much capital, and wish to make the glass 

 go as far as it will. 



For several years I have been watching the 

 sun very attentively during the dark months 

 of the year — say November, December, and 

 January. During these months we want all 

 the benefit of whatever sunshine "comes our 

 way." Our plants will suffer from a lack of 

 sunlight more or less, even if we do our best. 

 Glass is also high-priced just now, and that is 

 one reason why we should study to make a 

 little glass go as far as possible. 



Let me remind our readers first, that a given 

 amount of material for fencing will inclose 

 more land if the fence is made in the shape of 

 a circle than in any other possible way ; but if 

 our lot must be rectangular, then it will take 

 less fencing to inclose a given area if it is a 

 perfect square than any other shape. The 

 longer and narrower you make the lot, the 

 more will the fence cost to inclose a given 

 number of acres. Now, in making a green- 

 house you could inclose more space at the 

 least expense by having it round than in any 

 other way. But as a general rule we want the 

 house longer from east to west. In that case 

 it should be egg-shaped, or oval — that is, if 

 the egg were alike at both ends. As it is some- 

 what more expensive, however, to make walls 

 on a curve, I would have the ground plan ob- 

 long, and with the corners taken off, like the 

 following, for instance : 



/ 



Now, reasoning 



as above, the way 



S to cover cheapest 



I this greenhouse 



| would be to have 



/ it a half-oblong 



sphere, like the 



diagrams shown 



herewith ; that is, with an arrangement like 



Ground Plan for a Greenhouse. 



y 



End view 



r ~ ~\ 



Side view. 



2 and 3 the same amount of glass would cover 

 a given amount of space cheaper than in any 

 other way. But in the first place we can not 

 very well make a half-oblong sphere. It is 



