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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



We s?nt to you for 16 lbs. of spinach sef d in the first 

 lot, but we found we were not going to have enough, 

 and then sent for 8 lbs. later. We did not expect to 

 receive that in time to sow with the first lot ; but the 

 weather did not become favorable until we had re- 

 ceived the second lot, so we sowed about 4 lbs. of the 

 first, and then could not sow again under four days; 

 then we sowed the rest of the first seeds, and finished 

 out our field with the second lot. It is all in one field, 

 nearly square and level. The same fertilizers were 

 used over the whole field. All was sowed by hand. 

 Now, can you tell me the cause of the first lot not 

 coming up, even that sowed the same day as the last 

 lot of seeds? Neither of the first seeds sprouted, and 

 the last lot of seeds was nearly up, and that lot is now 

 coming up nicely. My neighbor's seeds were from 

 the first lot, and sown the same day the last of mine 

 were. His was not sprouted, but sown with a drill. 

 We opened seeds, and they looked white, hard, and 

 mealy, the same as slacked lime after it has baked 

 and is broken apart. I will try to send you some of 

 the seeds if I can get them. Mine were all sown, but 

 my neighbor had some left, I think. 



Water Valley, N. Y., Apr. 2.5. Elmer Gressman. 



It turns out, as you see, that the last 8 lbs. 

 of seed was certainly unlike the first 16 lbs. ; 

 and this would indicate that of the two lots we 

 bought last fall one was good and the other 

 bad ; but we felt sure we had tested both kinds, 

 and both germinated all right. I find I wrote 

 as follows : 



Dear Sir: — Yours of April 25 makes it a little easier 

 for us to get at the trouble. Last fall, when spinach 

 seed was very scarce, we bought 2.5 lbs. of a man we 

 have never bought spinach seed of before, and the 

 sowing we made last fall we suppose came from this 

 25 pounds, but it is possible we made a mistake. Later 

 we got another lot of California grown, of .50 lbs., and 

 I think your last 8 lbs. must have come from this lot. 

 I am vers' glad to know that at least one lot came up 

 nicely. Will you please tell me if it is really a fact 

 that none of the bad lot has come up at all ? Is there 

 not any p.irt of the field or any part where it has come 

 up partly? Also please send me some of the seed by 

 mail if it is a possible thing. The strangest part of it 

 is we have never had a complaint from anybody else, 

 but we may get one later. It is remarkable to have 

 spinach seed that won't grow at all, for it is very har- 

 dy, and ought to come up. even if it is .several years 

 old. And now. friend Gressman, I wish you and your 

 neighbor would get together and figure out what your 

 loss is by this bad spinach seed. I am afraid from the 

 present outlook it will have to come out of my own 

 pocket, for at present I could not take oath as to which 

 of the two growers it came from. If somebody else 

 reports bad seed, perhaps I can get at it, but I am the 

 responsible party, any way, and I want it to be ray 

 loss instead of yours. Please tell me what I shall do 

 to make both of you satisfied, and I will try to fix it 

 up some way. It won't do for a seedsman to adver- 

 tise that he will make good all blunders, because he 

 might get imposed upon ; but I know you are telling 

 the straight truth about this whole unfortunate trans- 

 action. A. I. Root. 



He replies to this last, sending us a sample 

 of the bad seeds, which we planted at once in 

 the greenhouse. Market-gardeners will read- 

 ily understand that the above statement is by 

 no means exaggerated. I have known not on- 

 ly the loss of one day, but the loss of only two 

 or three hours, to make a difference of several 

 dollars in the value of a crop. Sometimes 

 somebody has borrowed our tools, may be 

 without getting permission ; and just when 

 every thing is ready to plant, the seed-drill is 

 gone. Sometimes we are interrupted by the 

 weather, or, more perplexing- still, by some- 

 body's stupidity or half-heartedness. Nobody 

 thinks of what the little trifle cost till we come 

 to harvest the crop 



There is something very strange about the 

 way things sometimes turn out. The man 

 who is abreast of his work, and is ready to 

 take advanta^;e of a little spell of good weath- 



er or any thing else that comes along, makes 

 a profit where his unfortunate neighbor makes 

 a sad failure. Later, friend G. writes : 



Sirs : — Yours of Apr. 27 is at hand. If you have not 

 received the seeds I will send you more. Only a small 

 percentage of them came — not half enough to war- 

 rant a stand. If half or even less came, we could 

 have left it. I do not think over 10 per cent came. As 

 to the damage, the price of seeds and extra trouble, I 

 care nothing about. It is to get the first in market. 

 We ate a few days earlier than those near and around 

 Buffalo in preparing the soil. We made extra calcu- 

 lations, and partly prepared the soil last fall in expec- 

 tation of having an early crop. If it had been seeds 

 of some other sort, where a few days does not make 

 so much difference, it wouldn't have mattered any. 

 That is why I was so disappointed, as spinach requires 

 a very short time to grow. I should have tested those 

 seeds ; but as you have so many times stated in Glean- 

 ings that you tested your seeds and know what they 

 are, etc., that is why we did not test them, having so 

 much confidence in you, for you claim that has been 

 the secret of your success in business, by gaining the 

 confidence of the people. Now, this is no blunder of 

 ours, but it is on your side of the house. It is really 

 neglect and carelessness, and neglect in not living up 

 to what j'ou preach or advocate to the world, so it 

 seems we ought not to be the losers ; still, I have ask- 

 ed nothing, and do not know that I shall. It seems to 

 me I can not feel satisfied to take any thing, because I 

 believe it was not intentional on your part to get good 

 money for a poor article. If such was the case I could 

 have the heart to take all I could get. 



I have written as I have because of what I read in 

 Gleanings from time to time in reference to your 

 seeds. 



The damage could not be estimated until after mar- 

 keting, so we could not make out a bill as you request- 

 ed. I am going to leave the whole matter to you. 



Water Valley, N. Y., May ■^. Elmer Gressman. 



But please notice what a very kind and 

 friendly letter this last one is. I should like 

 to have such a man for a neighbor, even if he 

 does bear down hard when things go wrong. 

 He has never told me he is a Christian, but 

 yet I think I see the spirit of Christ in his let- 

 ters, even if he did go away on Sunday to get 

 some good seed to help his neighbor out of 

 trouble. If he is not offended when he sees 

 his letters in print I hope he will tell me what 

 he had to pay for the good spinach seed. The 

 following is a copy of the last letter I wrote 

 him : 



Friend Gressnian : — I thank you for your frank out- 

 spoken letter in regard to that spinach seed. We did 

 make a te.st of the seed when we first got it, or at 

 least we supposed we did ; but we are now forced to 

 conclude the seeds we used for test came from another 

 lot grown in California. This lot was all right, and 

 was the same we sent you last. It was either as above 

 or else the seed was good last fall, and deteriorated 

 during the winter, which we can hardly believe. I 

 am sorry you and j'our friend do not agree on what 

 amount would make up for your loss. You see it is 

 next to impossible for me to guess at what the amount 

 ought to be. I will write the man who sold us the 

 seeds, and .see if I can get him to help me stand the 

 damage; and when you market your crop I wish you 

 would tell me how much you are probably out. It is 

 my blunder — that i=, so far as I can see now, I admit, 

 and I will try to shoulder it. After this I will try to 

 see with my'own eyes to the testing of every lot of 

 seeds we buv. We are sowing spinach every little 

 while, in both fall and spring, and sometimes in win- 

 ter, for we grow it in the g'cenhouse, and transplant 

 it, so I felt sure when I said so that we had given the 

 seed sent you a test. A. I. Root. 



Now, several days after this letter had gone, 

 sotnething else unexpectedly turned up. 

 When I so-wed the seed I did not suppose it 

 would come up at all ; but after my lust letter 

 had been written, and after a little longer time 

 than it usually takes spinach seed to germi- 



