454 



GIvEANINGS IN BEE CUIvTURE. 



June 1. 



come too warm than letting it become too 

 cold. 



Yes, indeed, it is hard to explain on paper 

 the secret of growing lettuce under glass. 



Some of us have recently discovered there 

 is such a thing as good tobacco dust and poor 

 tobacco dust. You can test the quality very 

 easily by taking a handful out of the bag and 

 holding it up to your nose. 



I shouldn't wonder if that 16-year-old boy 

 deserves considerable credit. His long arms 

 (and legs) will help amazingly toward reach- 

 ing in the middle of that 8 foot bed ; and I 

 shouldn't wonder if the two girls could help 

 "right smart" in an emergency, in the han- 

 dling of lettuce-plants. 



Well, friends, this little home picture did 

 me lots of good, and I presume it will do you 

 lots of good. During the disagreeable stormy 

 weather of winter, how nice it is to get in- 

 doors to work in a comfortable greenhouse 

 after having been out in the storm to take 

 care of property that requires a certain 

 amount of outdoor work ! 



TRUE GRAND RAPIDS LETTVCE; WHAT SHOULD IT 



BE I.IKE? 



lam testing Grand Rapids lettuce f re m various 

 seedsmen and am sending for some of that lot that 

 you got fiom California to test. I should like to see 

 an article in n«xt Gleanings giving the characteris- 

 tics that identify that Ifitiice from other varieties of 

 the plant, such s black-deeded Simpson, from which 

 Grand Rapic s is said to have o'iginated. You or Mr. 

 Thomas Slack might describe the f'^rand Rapids that 

 he would consider worth an extra price. 



I,eavenworth, Kan., Apr liS. D. C. Coleman. 



We at once forwarded the above to friend 

 Slack and Eugene Davis. Mr Slack replies 

 as follows : 



A. I. Root : — I can pick out a good strain of Grand 

 Rapids lettuce a good deal better when I see it grow- 

 ing than I can describe it on paper For forcing in a 

 greenhouse, the most imnortant difference between 

 Grand Rapids lettuce and blnck->;eeded Simpson is 

 that the latter is not good f ^r that purpose, as i' will 

 sometimes r^t 1h fare it gets to its full growtfi, nnd 

 ripen, as we call it — that is, 'bleach white and crisp by 

 "being so crowded that the light is excluded 



In color. Grand Rapids is a bright j^ellowish green, 

 and thin leaf. Black -seeded Simpson is of a much 

 darker green, and coarser. A sport is much more no- 

 ticeable in the Grand Rapids on this account, and, so 

 far as I have had any experience, are a good deal 

 morf frequent. The leaves of Grand Rapids are more 

 rough or blistered and frilled or fluted at the edges 

 than black seeded Simpson, and never try to make a 

 head, as the latter dots occasionally without any mark- 

 ed success. 



Looking down on a lot of black-seeded Simpson 

 •when well grown, each plant looks to me a good deal 

 in shape more like a rose than Grand Rapids, as the 

 leaves seem to cling together as if trying to make a 

 Tiead. and yet roll back or outward at the tips. The 

 Californ'a seed you have makes a very pretty \<^i of 

 Ifttuce, almost perfect in color and shTpe. with very 

 few sports, most of which can be seen and removed 

 from the small plants before setting in the bed ; but I 

 am a little afraid of it yet. and hope [ may be mistak- 

 en in thinking that the quality for forcing can not be 

 "kept up, grown in that climate Ours has sunburned 

 a good deal, b>it it may be from too much bright sun, 

 or perhaps a little carelessness in letting the tempera- 

 ture run too high after a fewcloudj' davs. m Segane's 

 house, which I visited on the 3d, with the house white- 

 washed it was all right. Thos. Slack. 



Waterloo, P. Q., May 7. 



for the canker worm, or " measuring worm," 

 as they are commonly called. From 4 to 6 

 ounces of Paris green mixed with 4 to 6 lbs. 

 of slacked lime in 50 gallons of water, applied 

 with a spray-pump, winds them up complete- 

 ly — that is, if jou use the poison promptly 

 while the worms are small. If you wait till 

 they get to be full grown it takes a much 

 larger lot of poison to do the work. If they 

 get so large the Paris green may not kill them. 

 There is another remedy described as fol- 

 lows in the station report: 



At this .stage, however, it may be destroyed by 

 spraying with Swift's arsenate of lead, Bowker's ar- 

 senic lead or Bowker's disparine, using three ounces 

 of the preparation to fifty gallons of water. These 

 mixtures will not injure the foliage. When fully pre- 

 pared they have a milky-white appearance, and, being 

 nearly as thin as water, they spray readily, and they 

 adhere for several weeks, thereby avoiding the 

 necessity for more than a single application. 

 They may be obtained of Swift & Co., or Bowker 

 Chemical Co.. both of Boston, Mass. 



If treatment is neglected, the worms will increase 

 in numbers, and by another season will probably kill 

 the trees. 



The canker worm is worse this season, prob- 

 ably, because of the prolonged drouth in May. 



THE CANKER WORM, AND ITS RAVAGES IN 

 OHIO. 



Our Ohio Experiment Station has sent out a 

 press bulletin advising everbody to look out 



TOBACCO, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON HEALTH. 



I do not know but some of my good friends 

 think I am a little cranky on the subject of 

 tobacco ; and I confess that, when I see how 

 universal is the use of it, I sometimes wonder 

 whether it is just right and proper to wage 

 such unceasing warfare against it as I do ; but 

 the following letter, which has just been put 

 in my hand, will, I think, present the matter 

 from a standpoint that will convince you I am 

 largely if not altogether in the right : 



Friend A. I. Root : — It has been just two months 

 since I have read any thing in Gleanings. I will 

 tell you something about it. I have been a user of to- 

 bacco for -10 years. Finally, about two months ago, I 

 got .so I coulcl not see to read any thing in the papers ; 

 so I went to Saginaw to see a specialist, and he told 

 me unless I quit using tobacco I would be stone blind 

 in six months. Well. I quit using it, and have not 

 used any since. I can now begin to see a little again. 

 You can imagine how good it is to read a little in 

 Gleanings once more. Wm. Craig. 



Luce, Mich., May 18. 



Some of you may say this is a solitary in- 

 stance, comparatively ; and you may urge that 

 the man probably used tobacco in great ex- 

 cess. Permit me to say we have had one case 

 almost exactly like the ?-bove here in our coun- 

 ty. A man discovered he was losing his sight, 

 and oneda3% while out in the fields, he became 

 blind to such an extent he could hardly see to 

 get home. It kept getting worse, until some- 

 body suggested he stop using tobacco. The 

 trouble ceased almost at once ; but of course 

 he had a fierce conflict with the old craving 

 appetite. After the blind spells had disap- 

 peared entirely he ventured to try a little to- 

 bacco once more ; but his blindness came back 

 promptly, and it was a question of darkness 

 with tobacco or from "darkness into light" 



