98 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



whole day on this clover, and it is the best hay I ever 

 fed, almost entirely free from dust, nearly as green in 

 color as the day it was cut, and the sterns are so fine 

 and branchy that there is no refuse left. Every stem is 

 eaten. E. F. 



A great many are all the while asking if 

 alsike, red clover, etc., will succeed if sown in 

 the fall. I have always discouraged such ex- 

 periments as being almost sure to fail. The 

 above valuable report indicates, however, that 

 alsike medium red, as well as crimson clover, 

 may all be sown in July, and perhaps in many 

 localities in August, with a fair chance of get- 

 ting a good stand. 



PLANT-GROWTH. 

 I am still studying p:ant-growth. Almost 

 every plant that I have tried in pols puts out 

 these same white fibrous roots covered veith 

 tiny hairlike fibrous " feelers," I feel like call- 

 ing them, pushing out in every direction for 

 food and moisture. The tiny seed sends out 

 these same kinds of roots, also the cutting ; 

 and I have just succeeded in getting roots 

 from a piece of a coleus leaf. By the use of 

 the pots, commencing with the smallest thumb- 

 pot, and then increasing in size gradually, we 

 can see this root growth from its start. When 

 the plant is in full vigor, and the soil just suits 

 it, the temperature and moisture just right, 

 these roots push out with wonderful rapidity. 

 I have seen them run clear around the pot, not 

 only once but twice, when it seemed as if it 

 •could not have been more than two days since 

 I examined them. In the forcing-bed, where 

 we keep a temperature of between 70 and 80, 

 with the air full of moisture, these roots push 

 out into the open air, and crawl over the sides 

 of the pot, so you can almost see them move ; 

 and when this root growth is rampant, then 

 the plant is at its best. The lady florist at the 

 Wisconsin institute suggested an idea that is 

 to me of exceeding value, and I am sure she 

 is right. She said if you put your plant into 

 a pot that is too large, the soil not permeated 

 by the roots is apt to become sour, especially 

 under the influence of too much moisture and 

 high temperature.* Now, if the pot is small 



* This souring of the soil, of course, takes place only 

 where plants are kept indoors or in a greenhouse. 

 Where earth is out in the open air. nature looks out 

 for keeping it sweet. Now, if you have a sick plant 

 that stands still, and does not grow, first remove the 

 pot and wash it thoroughly ; then dip it in boiling 

 water to remove all germs of disease. Now shake 

 most of the dirt off the roots of the plant and put it 

 into the smallest pot possible ; then pack it firmly 

 with good fresh soil. We have the best succe.«s with 

 jadoo and sand of anv thing we ever tried. Now dip 

 the whole thing in so'ft warm water, then place it in 

 some place where the temperature is even, and do not 

 water it any more until the plant .starts to grow and 

 needs water. If there is any .such thing as revivify- 

 ing it. this treatment will start the roots I have been 

 speaking of. Do not be afraid of hurting it by taking 

 it out of the pot every day to see how it progresses. 

 Letting in some air vvill do it good If you do not 

 know how to get a plant out of a pot, you must learn 

 how. Put your fingersaround the stem, upagainst the 

 soil, so as to hold it. Now invert it and strike the edge 

 of the pot on something .solid, say on the edge of a 

 stone crock or the metal of your spade. If it does not 

 start readily, turn the pot around and strike it first on 

 one side and then on the other; then look out for the 

 little roots. When you see just one white root coming 

 out between the pot and the soil, your plant is on the 

 road to health. Do not water any more until the soil 

 becomes quite dry, and then give it another soaking. 



enough so the roots can go all through it, these 

 little roots can keep it from spoiling, and puri- 

 fy it and make it sweet. Now, please notice 

 in bee culture we put our empty combs for safe 

 keeping in with the bees. If the cluster of 

 bees is large enough they will not only keep 

 everv thing pure and sweet, but they will 

 cleanse old moldy combs, utilizing every bit 

 that is good, and carrying out the bad. I have 

 told you in the ABC book how it seems al- 

 most miraculous the way in which they will 

 restore and renovate an old moldy comb in 

 just a few hours. Well, plant life is akin to 

 insect life ; and finally the life of the living 

 animal is along in the same line. When any 

 wound or disease attacks the living tissue, na- 

 ture, by a simple process, builds up anew, not 

 only skin, but even muscle and bone ; rejects- 

 decay and disease, and keeps out mortification, 

 etc. 



I have been more than ever impressed with 

 the fact that plants want air as well as moist- 

 ure. My potting soil is jadco, or jadoo and 

 sand. For small pots we put in the pots a lit- 

 tle sphagnum moss. Now, the hole in the 

 bottom of the pot must be kept open ; and if 

 the pots are plunged in the beds in the green- 

 house up to their rims, be sure this drainage- 

 hole does not get stopped up. When every 

 thing is right, these little white roots will go 

 all through the sphagnum moss, as well as 

 around the sides of the pot. Then they will 

 crawl out of the hole for drainage. It makes 

 me think of a lot of chickens pushing their 

 explorations over into their neighbors' prem- 

 ises for " something good." I believe farm 

 crops often suffer, especially during a wet 

 time, from a lack of air for lhe.se little feeding- 

 roots. How great is the importance, then, of 

 thorough underdraining ! 



My little salvia that grew in a thumb-pot 

 with perhaps a teaspoonful of jadoo and as 

 much more of sand, is in the same little pot 

 still, and is budded to blossom. The pot is 

 just filled with a mass of roots, and I have 

 been keeping it there to see how large a plant 

 can be grown in a small amount of soil, if the 

 air and moisture were kept just right. I ex- 

 pect to give you a picture of these in our next 

 issue. 



When I gave a picture of my little green- 

 house in our issue for Jan. 1, I did not mean 

 to recommend it for large growers who have 

 houses 200 or 300 feet long. One of our most 

 skillful growers of Grand Rapids lettuce has 

 offered a very pleasant criticism, which will 

 appear in our next issue ; and he also sug- 

 gests quite a new departure in the way of 

 greenhouse-building for Grand Rapids let- 

 tuce, and, in fact, for almost any other pur- 

 pose in northern regions where snow and frost 

 prevail. 



Miscellaneous Questions. 



1 have been told that if you take five drops of chlo- 

 roform on sugar, swallowed before it evaporates, it is 

 a sure cure for sea-sickness. 



If trees are whitewa.shed with lime and copperas, 

 mice will not eat the bark off them. 



It is .said that if you put fresh pine sawdust in hens' 

 nests, lice will not stay on them. R. Hislop. 



Strasburg, Ont., Dec. 20. 



