1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



F45 



center of the rapids, paddling for all we were worth, 

 and going at a terrific speed. It is a very peculiar and 

 rather pleasant feeling, just as one enters the quick 

 water. The canoe seems fairly to leap through the 

 water. It is just dangerous enough to make it excit- 

 ing. The great point is to avoid sunken rocks, where 

 the jagged edges come nearly to the surface ; al.so to 

 keep the canoe from getting sidewise. I do not know 

 of any thing that is as much like it as tobogganing 

 down a steep hill. My ! how we wished our friend 

 A. I. could have enjoyed that little trip through the 

 boiling surging waters. As we got through safely, 

 we were, of course, glad we had not carried our canoe 

 over the rocks. A paddle of about an hour brought 

 us to the works, which we found much more extensive 

 than we had expected. The ragged rapids are much 

 more picturesque than Nos. Ihnd2 The banks of 

 the river at this point are very high and steep, and a 

 great deal of hard work was done before the dam was 

 made and the water brought under control. The ar- 

 rangements for conducting the water to the wheels 

 that drive the dynamo are very similar to those on 

 the Canadian side of the river at Niagara. We found 

 a grtat many excursionists down there, among them 

 a party of about twenty Americans. We noticed some 

 of them wore the uniform of the United States army. 

 There were also several ladies who appeared to be 

 very much interested in watching the men on the op- 

 posite side of the river making preparations for blast- 

 ing the rock. After a good look at the works we de- 

 cided to go back to rapids No. 2, have our lunch, and 

 try for some fish. There was a strong west wind 

 blowing, and with the help of the sail we were .soon 

 back to our favorite fishing ground. Tommy gave me 

 both lines to look after while he made a fire and some 

 coffee. The water in the river was so warm we did 

 not seem able to get enough of it to quench our thirst, 

 and we were looking forward with a great deal of 

 pleasure to having our lunch under the shade of a tree, 

 with a big can of coffee, which was now just about 

 ready. I sugge.sted that Tommy put the can partly in 

 the water to cool it q\iicker. That proved to be a very 

 unfortunate .suggestion. I saw Tommy start for the 

 river-bank, with the steaming coffee in his hand. The 

 next time I looked he was gazing at the empty can. 

 I said, " What's the matter ? " He said nothing, look- 

 ed at the pail, then looked at me I .said, "Well, 

 ■what are you going to do about it?" but he just look- 

 ed at the pail, and looked at me. I don't know that 

 I ever wanted coffee as badly as I did then ; and to see 

 all that beautiful coffee dumped in the river was tan- 

 talizing in the extreme. Tommy, in going to the riv- 

 er, slipped, dropped the coffee — that was all. 



Friday- — To-day ended our holiday. From this time 

 on it was 7uork. We had six large sacks to fill with 

 sphagnum moss, so we got our breakfast over early 

 and prepared for work. With our sail set, and a good 

 wind, we were soon skipping over the water toward 

 the sphagnum swamp. After a little searching we 

 found the patch, and got a fine lot gathered and car- 

 ried out on to the rocks. It was hard work, and hot, 

 and by night we were just about played out ; and, oh 

 tny ! so thirsty, for we could not drink the water in 

 the swamp. To get back to camp we had to go 

 through or past rapids No. 1, which are considered 

 more dangerous than No. 2. It was late, we were 

 tired, and we knew that others had shot these rapids 

 latelj', so we decided to try it. We let the boat partly 

 down, however, with rope, and threw in our lines for 

 some fish. After catching a few we got into the canoe 

 and started down the rapids. We went pretty lively 

 for a time ; and just as I had decided we were out of 

 danger, and had stopped paddling, a sudden under- 

 current caught the front of the cnoe and gave it a 

 terrible jerk sidewise, nearly shooting me out over 

 the front, and all but up.setting us into the river. We 

 got through all right, however, and felt very thankful 

 indeed that we had not been spilled into the rapids. 

 So far as I know, the two hoys from Buffalo and our- 

 selves are the only parties who have shot rapids No. 1, 

 this season. 



Saturday ynorning. — Up at 4:30 a m. packing up pre- 

 paring to 'move our camp. In some respects we were 

 not sorry to leave, for our neighbors, the wasps, 

 snakes, beetles, etc., were becoming almost too famil- 

 iar, and we were forced to come to the conclusion that 

 even this paradise was not exactly perfect, any more 

 than was Adam's ; for, although he had Eve c taxing 

 him to eat forbidden fruit, he probably did not have 

 flies, wasps, and mosquitoes, in such large numbers to 

 bother him. We were commencing to think that it 

 would be very nice if we could have two of Eve's 

 daughters, whom we might mention, along, with all 

 their faults { ".sour apples" and all), if only to have 



one decent meal, cooked right, and leady for us when 

 we came home tired after work. After all, it is ttot 

 good for man to live alone — that is, not for very 

 long. 



We stitched up our sacks of sphagnum, ready for 

 shipment, and paddled away down the lake to the 

 steamer's wharf, but could not induce the captain to 

 go down the river for our moss. By this time the 

 wind had risen and the lake was very rough. We had 

 all our things in the canoe, a rather heavy load, and 

 it was all we could do to make Monahan's Point, on 

 the river, where we decided to camp for the night. 

 We were so tired when we reached the shore that we 

 just piled our things on the bank of the river, got our 

 blankets, laid down under the shade of a large ma- 

 ple-tree, and were soon fast asleep. After some time 

 had passed I awoke to find that the weather had 

 changed. It had turned cooler, and a thunderstorm 

 was coming across the lake. I aroused Tommy, and 

 we started in a great hurry to put up our tent ; but 

 before we could get it up the storm struck us. The 

 wind was terrific, and the rain fairly poured down. 

 We got our tent partly fixed, when a sudden squall 

 struck it, and down it came with a crash. By this 

 time we were soaking wet I happened to think of 

 my blanket, and covered that up, so that I could have 

 a dry bed. We got the teot up at last ; put our things 

 under shelter, then pioceeded to make a fire, stretch 

 a rope around it, and hang up our wet things to dry. 

 For a time it looked very much like washing-day ; 

 but in a little while, with the aid of the wind and the 

 fire, our things were dry. There were three other 

 camps, near ours, and we soon made the acquaint- 

 ance of our neighbors, who proved to be very friend- 

 ly, and helped us very much. There were four ladies 

 in the party, and very agreeable company they prov- 

 ed to be too. 



We were up bright and early in the morning, and 

 took a look around the point This is a very beauti- 

 ful place, and a favorite spot with campers. There 

 are no mosquitoes, wa.sps, snakes, or other troublesome 

 companions here. The only objection to this place is 

 that it is too far away from the good fishing grounds. 

 I noticed a change come over Tommy when he found 

 there were ladies in the neighboring tents. He com- 

 menced at once to "slick up," first by shaving and 

 then putting on his clean clothe.-;, and fixing things 

 up generally. After a long searching scrutiny of 

 himself in the glass, or, rather, as much of his face as 

 he could see in the small one we had with us he 

 grabbed a pail, and said he was going to the farmer's 

 to see if he could get some milk. I noticed, however, 

 the sudden move was made just after one of the 

 young ladies from camp No. 4 started with a pail on a 

 similar errand. .Strange to .say, they returned to- 

 gether, chatting like old acquaintances. By this time 

 all the campers had become well acquainted, and 

 commenced exchanging notes, f tc. We told the ladies 

 our difficulties with the pancakes, for, try as we 

 would, we could not get them right. When they 

 were burnt on the out.side they were dough in the 

 middle. They very kindly offered to help us out, un- 

 der one condition — namely, that we make enough 

 pancakes for the entire party, and come and dine 

 with them. Of course, we consented, and the pan- 

 cakes were started. They proved a real success We 

 had a most enjoyable time together. Camp No. 2 had 

 two lady visitors from Orillia. relatives of the Post- 

 master General. They brought with them several 

 little delicacies — cake, watermelon, etc., which were 

 very nmch appreciated. We spent a very enjoyable 

 evening, with music and stories around the campfire, 

 until a late hour, then retired. 



We were up bright and early in the morning, and 

 after a hard paddle succeeded in getting our six bales 

 of sphagnum to the wharf; then a brief and reluctant 

 farewell, a hurried packing up, and we were off down 

 the river to the railway station. Late in the evening 

 we landed in busv bustling Toronto again. 



Toronto, Aug. 23. E Grainger. 



EXPERIMENT-STATION WORK. 



T.'-e above is the title of Farmer's Bulletin 

 No. 119, from the Department of Agriculture. 

 It treats of storing apples without ice ; cold 

 storage on the farm ; mechanical cold storage 

 for fruit ; keeping qualities of apples ; im- 

 provement of blueberries ; transplanting musk- 

 melons ; banana flour ; purslane, etc. It will 



