1900 



GI.EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



157 



Well, a few days ago I was reminded of this speech by 

 looking at the little machine pictured below. 



THE UNIVERSAL SH ARPENING-MACHINE. 



A Student from Oberlin College had it in charge, 

 and he sharpened our knives all around, then told us 

 to get a pine stick and " whittle." Now, the knife 

 not only whittled beautifully, but it kept its edge 

 much better than a knife sharpened on a grindstone 

 or whetstone. The reason of this is, that the little 

 carborundum wheels grind both sides of the knife at 

 once, and leave them in the shape that is called " hol- 

 low ground," After I got a machine of my own I 

 discovered one would have to learn the trade to use it; 

 and then to make it cut as well as the agent did, you 

 must put on your specs and hold your knife up before 

 the light, and keep grinding until you get all the nicks 

 and dull portions ground out. It does not take very 

 long when you get the hang of it ; but when it is done 

 right, your knife will cut paper or any thing else, 

 just like a razor. The chap who had the machine 

 sa d it would not grind shears ; but I gathered up all 

 the old shears in the house, and some that never had 

 cut, and " never would cut," so Mrs. Root said, and I 

 made them cut most beautifully; but I had to grind 

 one blade on one wheel at a time. Yes, and I took a 

 butcher-knife that Mrs. Root said never was " any 

 good," and by working it down into proper shape I 

 made that too just cut beautifully. Any one can use 

 the machine if he will follow the directions or after 

 he has been shown until he knows how. The price is 

 S2.50, packed in a neat little box with a book of direc- 

 tions. We have made arrangements so we can furnish 

 the machines, including Gleanings for one year, for 

 S2.2.5. If you have paid for Gleanings one year al- 

 ready, you may have a machine for $2.00. 



THE LAST AND FINAL REPORT OF THE LITTLE GOLD- 

 EN-LEAVED salvia in its thumb pot. 



Well, I actually kept it in that pot until it sent out a 

 great number of blooms. Notwithstanding its lilli- 

 putian size and its small amount of jadoo, it sends out 

 one of those long scarlet tongues in just two or three 

 hours, and some of them measure an inch and a quar- 

 ter in length. They usually drop off after about 24 

 hours. But now here is one more astonishing thing: 

 The salvia is one of the mint family, as you know, and 

 it is a honey-bearing plant. Well, these long tubes, 

 after they drop off, contain quite a drop of honey. 

 How can this little plant do such stupendous work, 

 and secrete a lot of nectar in the little blossoms be- 

 sides? Well, it could not do it, probably, if I had not 

 fed it with jadoo liquid. 



Perhaps you think I am making a lot of fuss and 

 telling a long story just about a little plant: but look 

 here, friends : In studying this matter of plant roots 

 I have found out that I can tell almost within 24 hours 



what liquid fertilizer' (or, if you choose, chemical 

 manure) is appropriated by and is of value to the 

 plant. I read somewhere that soot was a valuable 

 fertilizer. Well, in cleaning out a chimney we got 

 two or three pailfuls. This chimney belongs to the 

 cooking stove, and nothing has ever been burned in it 

 but hard wood — mostly beech and maple. Well, I 

 sifted out the finer portions of the soot and mixed it 

 with jadoo and sand — say a pint of soot to a bushel of 

 the potting soil. Then I used the coarser particles of 

 soot for the drainage in the bottom of the pots. It 

 has a strong smell of creosote, and I was afraid it 

 might be injurious ; but the geraniums and other 

 plants sent their little white roots down all through 

 the cinders of soot, and said to me in plain English (?) 

 that that stuff was just what they liked. Now, ;tside 

 from proving itself a valuable fertilizer, its strong 

 odor is very efficacious in keeping away worms and 

 insects that infest our plant-beds. If you will make a 

 study of growing plants in pots as I have been doing, 

 you can test all the chemicals and other kinds of fer- 

 tilizers that are offered for sale in the market ; and 

 you can do it in just a few hours. The little salvia has 

 now been shifted to a larger-sized pot, as it has finish- 

 ed its task. Mrs. Root suggested that it seemed al- 

 most like " cruelty to animals " to make it do so much 

 work with so little room for its roots and rootlets. 



THE COFFEE-BERRY AS A FOOD BEAN, AND ALSO ITS- 

 HEALTHFUL PROPERTIES. 



A few years ago we sent to you for a small package 

 of coffee-bean, about half a teacupful. We planted it 

 out in the field. It grew finely, but the rabbits kept it 

 eaten off. Only two plants that were hidden in high 

 weeds grew, and yielded about -, of a teacupful, which 

 we planted next year near the house. They yielded 80 

 lbs. We like it very much as a substitute for coffee, if 

 not browned too much. We generalh' put in % or J^ 

 of sale coffee with it ; but cooked as beans we feel they 

 are a real God-send. We like them very much ; we 

 like the taste of them, and then they are so beneficial 

 to our health. They seem to be nvitritious and very 

 laxative. Until using them Mr. A. had to use cathar- 

 tics nearly every dav; now, scarcely any. 



Roseville, 111., Jan". 19. Mrs. Z,. C. Axtell. 



[We are very glad to get the above report from so 

 good an authority as our old friend Mrs Axtell. Sev- 

 eral have before suggested that the coffee berry was 

 a very nutritious food bean; but no one has told 

 us before that it is a good substitifte for physic. By 

 all means let us use the various foods that God has 

 provided in such variety, in place of drugs which so 

 often do harm ] 



KIND WORDS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. 



This is the second year I have taken Gleanings ; 

 and allow me to say I think it better this year than 

 last. W. T. Sherman. 



Millard, Wis., Dec. 4, 1899. 



I notice what A. I. R. has to say in Nov. 15th Glean- 

 ings about robbing bee-keepers. I desire to say that 

 the queen-breeder in question does feel grateful, not 

 on account of the few dollars involved, but it does me 

 good to see the way Gleanings handles rogues. 



Parkertown, O., Dec. 4, 1998. H. G. Quirin. 



As regards Gleanings and also your new edition of 

 the A B C, I can only say that they are excellent, and 

 better than ever before ; and as you already know this 

 well enough, it will be unnecessary for me to say more 

 about it. IvOUis Scholl. 



Hunter, Texas, Dec. 27, 1899. 



GLEANINGS AS AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM. 



My first customer was from mj' adv't in Gleanings, 

 who still orders every season ; and I have never lost a 

 cent through a customer secured through Gleanings. 

 It is a good journal to have about the house, also to ad- 

 vertise in. H. H. Aultfather. 



Minerva, Ohio, Jan. 10. 



[Well, friend A., the above seems to be compliment- 

 ary all around; and I should not wonder if it is indeed 

 true that the people who care for Gleanings, and 

 pay for it and read it, are, as a rule, those who pay as 

 they go. Of course, there are quite a few who object 

 to the stand we take on temperance and other moral 

 issues; but this class is not composed of those wha 

 keep square with the world, as a rule.] 



