318 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aprii. 15. 



humbugs and frauds ; but, sadder still, many 

 of them were from people who imagined they 

 had been cured. Ox} donor was an imitation 

 of Electropoise, and this new Oxygenor is an 

 imitation of the Oxydonor — fraud infringing 

 on fraud. The principal reason why I publish 

 this letter is because these things from the 

 start made their capital by a shameful pretense 

 of Christianity and godliness. The letter tells 

 in detail how the Oxygenor not only saves the 

 bod}', but they make a pretense to the effect 

 that it saved a soul. The advertising has been 

 done principally through religious papers, and 

 ministers of the gospel have helped to push it, 

 even recommending it to members of their 

 own church. A man whose education is not 

 sufficient to enable him to detect a bare-faced 

 fraud like this should never be editor of any 

 paper, and certainly not a minister in any par- 

 ish. I have quoted again and again the deci- 

 sion of the United States Chemist, but they 

 tell me the chemist is not up to the times. 

 Why don't these fellows prosecute me for 

 slander ? They have threatened it many times. 

 Because the proprietors know very well what 

 the result would be if the humbug trap were 

 taken before the courts. I hardly need assure 

 our readers that the government never in- 

 dorses any medicine or trap, much less a fraud 

 like this ; and the whole quoted sentence of 

 the government indorsement is an ingeniously 

 gotten up fraud and humbug. It is hard to be- 

 lieve that Mr. Boothroyd himself things it is 

 genuine. 



Just as I finished the last sentence the fol- 

 lowing hearty indorsement from our good 

 friend Cook, of Claremont, C^tl., was handed 

 tne. I wonder if the Electropoise folks will 

 say Prof. Cook is not up with the times in new 

 discoveries. 



I was especially glad to read wliat you said on the 

 "water-witch." lam surprised that auy one shovild 

 be humbugged by these water-witch men. Yet I find 

 in Southern California not a few of our most intelli- 

 gent men giving heed and often big money to these 

 men of the willow wand. In Southern California 

 there is a great reservoir of water under nearly all 

 our valleys, and it does not take a very wise water- 

 witch to predict rightly the presence of water. I my- 

 self have taken a stick a number of times, though 

 without the least of faith, and in every case the wand 

 refused to turn. We had a fine in.stitute at Redlands 

 last year. It was a farmers' club institute, and so we 

 had delegates from all parts of Southern California. 

 There was present in the audience one Jonathan 

 Biggs, who was bold enough to assert that he could al- 

 ways tell of the presence of water and the depth re- 

 quired to reach it. He said he could even tell if the 

 water was in a tub under the floor During recess a 

 tub of water was placed under the floor of the audience 

 room. Mr. Biggs made an utter failure in trying to 

 find it. One would naturally suppose that this would 

 have been embarrassing, yet most men who deal in 

 such matters know no embarrassment. So it was that 

 Mr. Biggs, although receiving the ridicule of all pres- 

 ent, was himself entirely unabashed. 



I was especially glad to see your editorial on this 

 matter, because there is an immense amount of this 

 fraud being perpetrated upon our people, and a good- 

 ly nuratier of our most intelligent citizens give it full 

 credence, else how could we explain the '■ Christian 

 Science " and faith-cure craze? We see the same in- 

 credulity suggested in the millions of dollars paid 

 each year in advertising patent medicines. I think it 

 is safe to say that the great majority of these nostrums 

 are not only valueless but positively harmful. Dr. 

 Oliver Wendell Holmes knew what he was talking 

 about when he said, "If all the medicine of the 

 world" — mind vou he did not say patent medicine — 

 " were thrown into the sea it would be a blessing to 

 the people ; but," he added humorously, " it would tse 

 awful on the fish." 



Among the other good things that you have done as 

 an editor has been your most commendable efTort to 

 expose these humbugs. When we notice that many 

 of our cultured college bred men are misled by such 

 frauds, it certainly shows that the time is ripe for just 

 such editorials as you are so frequently penning 

 against these pernicious mis epresentation.s. 



Claremont, Cat. A. J.Cook. 



The Scientific A)iierican, iu a recent issue, 

 while commenting on the fact that the direct- 

 ors of the Paris Exposition invite water- 

 witches to come and make an exhibit, winds 

 up with the following : 



The whole business is akin to that of fortune-teller, 

 the spiritualist, or any other charlatan, and it is 

 strange that the exponents of such systems are allow- 

 ed to pursue openly their avocations undisturbed by 

 fear of prosecution. At present the victims are the 

 only ones punished. 



It is refreshing indeed to have such an au- 

 thority as the above back me up in what I 

 have been trying to teach. 



DEATH OF J. W. WINDER, OF NEW ORLEANS. 



The veteran readers of Gleanings will re- 

 member, without doubt, ' friend Winder. 

 About the time father Langstroth got out his 

 first honey-extractor. Gray & Winder made a 

 revolving-frame extractor, which was mention- 

 ed on page 57. Mr. Winder was originally a 

 photographer. He soon became an enthusias- 

 tic bee-keeper, attended all the conventions 

 for years, was one of the first to rear queens 

 and advertise them ; and to the day of his 

 death he made bees and honey his principal 

 occupation. He died April 8, aged 71 years. 

 I have mentioned Mr. Winder in my visits to 

 New Orleans, and the courteous way in which 

 he gave his entire time to piloting me around 

 through the different portions of the city. He 

 held his health remarkably. Even when near- 

 ly 70 years old he would walk a dozen miles a 

 day, and almost without fatigue. We are in- 

 formed by his son, A. T. Winder, of Alpine, 

 Texas, that bronchitis was the cause of his 

 death. One more of the old veterans has 

 passed away. 



MORE ABOUT GROWING AND SHIPPING GRAND RAP- 

 IDS LETTUCE ; POTTING-EaRTH, OR POTTiNG-SOIL. 



The standard formula of the newspapers is leaf- 

 mold mixed with various other things too numerous 

 to mention — different mixtures for different plants. 

 In practice, very few people get the leaf-mold. The 

 various mixtures I think just as unnecessary for the 

 ordinarj' flower and vegetable plants as are tJie many 

 brands of fertilizers for different crops. They simply 

 mistify and confuse amateurs ; experts siuile, perhaps 

 audibU', at them, and each goes his own way. 



Our practice, which we find to answer ver}' well, is, 

 one-third rotted sods, one-third rotted manure, one- 

 third coarse sharp sand. 



We usually plow as much headland as necessary, to 

 give us what .sod we need for the year, early in the 

 summer, and pile them in alternate layers with fresh 

 or rotted horse manure, whichever is handier. With 

 us it usually is manure from mu.shroom-beds, of which 

 we generally have a quantity, and which is highly 

 prized by us for any fertilizing purposes. Watering 

 the heap, if it gets too dry, and turning a couple of 

 times, brings it to good condition by fall. It is then 

 shoveled and pounded through a six-foot screen, one- 

 inch mesh, and mixed with sharp lake or washed 



