320 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



ApriIv 15. 



snapped up at 20 cts. a box less than firsts by a certain 

 class of trade. Tnis gives the best trade, who seldom 

 see any of the culls, an idea that you grow good stuff 

 only, and stiffens pric-s a good deal. 



These directions may seem rather unnecessary; but 

 if you have much 'well g>07vn Grand Rapids lettuce to 

 pack in a hurry you will soon find out where they 

 come in Well-grown lettuce is very brittle, and 

 must be handled as carefully as eggs 



We are not "lightning operators," like the Cogg- 

 shall brothers, but our record is three minutes to a 

 box for three hours. Four minutes is the regular 

 thing, as cirrful sorting and handling are necessary, 

 and one lives longer by not hu crying too much. 



Waterloo, P. Q. " Thos. Slack. 



I am sure the above will be read with inter- 

 est by thousands of gardeners and greenhouse 

 men who do not grow Grand Rapids lettuce. 

 In regard to potting-soil, 1 believe friend 

 Slack is about right, and I think our largest 

 greenhouse men have only one kind of pot- 

 tingsoil for all their work, or nearly all of it. 

 Ours is chiefly jadoo, especially of late ; but 

 as there is quite a saving by mixing it with 

 sand or ordinary potting-soil, we shall keep a 

 supply on hand made as friend Slack directs. 

 For seedlings, and filling the little boxes, I 

 would have half or more jadoo, as it holds 

 water so much better, and it is away ahead 

 for growing any kind of seedlings, so far as 

 my experience goes. You can afford to pay 

 the extra price, I think, in order to grow our 

 Grand Rapids lettuce seed in pure jadoo, or 

 pretty nearly pure. I presume friend Slack 

 has never tried it, as he does not mention it. 

 The box he describes is longer and narrower 

 than the one we use. I have had an engrav- 

 ing made of our own, so our readers can see 

 just how it is put together. See the dimen- 

 sions on page 186, March 1. Since using 

 them I have concluded a shallower box would 

 be better ; and the suggestion of having the 

 ends narrower so the lath goes down below 

 the bottom is, I think, a very good one. 



PIvANT-BOX MADE OF LATH. 



For our work in the greenhouse, the split 

 laths are quite heavy enough ; but as we al- 

 ways have a lot of remnants in our saw-room 

 — enough to make all the boxes we need — we 

 make them of that material. Basswood is 

 stouter than the lath, even if made thinner. 

 We find these boxes very convenient for han- 

 dling thumb pots, and, in fact, potted plants 

 of all sizes smaller than 3 inches. When the 

 pots need water we dip the whole box in wa- 

 ter. Where it is desirable to keep the water 

 oflF from the foliage a lot of plants can be wa- 

 tered very quickly and very thoroughly. One 

 of our boxes holds 12 two inch pots ; a larger 

 number of thumb pots, but a smaller number 

 of 2 or 3 inch pots. 



Since the above article was sent us, friend 

 Slack is inquiring for some extra select stock 

 seed of Grand Rapids lettuce. He says he 

 will pay a dollar an ounce (and I will do the 

 same) for "pedigree" seed if that is the 

 proper name for it. But before making a pur- 

 chase I stiggest that we have a sample, say a 

 little pinch, to try in the greenhouse. A hun- 

 dred seeds ought to tell if it is what we want. 

 We can be making tests now ; and when an- 

 other winter comes we shall have some seed 

 that is just right. If any of our readers have 

 some seed they are willing to submit to the 

 test, let us hear from them. If they have not, 

 let some expert go to work and furnish it. 

 Bro. Slack is proposing to grow his own seed, 

 as he wants the best to start with. 



GROWING VEGETABLE-PLANTS FOR SALE, ETC. 



My experience during the winter with the 

 forcing-bed has taught me some useful lessons. 

 During the month of April, when we have 

 cold winds and sometimes eold drying' winds, 

 we have had much trouble with our vegetable- 

 plants before they were hardened off so as to 

 stand both wind and sun. When a plant is 

 first starting it should be surrounded by a 

 damp stilt atmosphere of the proper tempera- 

 ture. The sash is all right to protect it from 

 frost, and to allow the sun to warm up the 

 soil and air underneath the sash. But an 

 April sun, in the middle of the day, is too hot 

 for any thing under glass. The books tell us 

 to tilt the sash or move it part way off when it 

 gets too hot inside ; but this lets the sun pour 

 down just the same, and dries out the air, so 

 that the plants, especially newly transplanted 

 ones, are sure to wilt. If you pull the sash off 

 entirely when the wind is in the north you 

 will lose more or less of them. Taking them 

 up with some of the soil adhering to the roots, 

 when transplanting, helps the matter. But 

 we have a new plan that will grow plants with- 

 out any roots at all, if need be. In fact, we 

 make our hot-bed or cold-frame into a cutting- 

 bed. 



The plan is very simple. Have your bed 

 tight, and have your sash tight and close 

 Just as soon as it begins to get too hot inside 

 of the bed, instead of ventilating, cover the 

 sash with cotton cloth. In order to prevent 

 the wind from blowing off the cloth, have a 

 pole fastened at both the north and south sides, 

 like the plan for using cloth-covered frames 

 in the tomato-book. Let the cloth be wide 

 enough to lap clear over the sash on each side. 

 For this purpose we want cotton sheeting made 

 1% yards wide, or what is called nine-fourths. 

 The strip of cloth should be as long as your 

 bed. We have them of different lengths. 

 One is 50 feet long. When you have severe 

 freezing nights, let the sheet rest over the 

 glass as an additional protection from frost. 

 As soon as the sun strikes the bed in the morn- 

 ing, roll up one of the poles so the sun may 

 have a full chance on all the glass. 



Whenever it gets so hot inside that the plants 

 show a tendency to wilt, then wwro// your cloth 

 sheet, and the plants will have plenty of light 

 but not too much heat. By three or four 

 o'clock in the afternoon you can roll up the 



