192 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



with a hatchet. They seemed almost like 

 oak knots. And these Hubbard squashes 

 were superior to any thing we ever got hold 

 of before or since. They were not onlj' dry 

 and mealj', but, under the influence of the 

 heat, every piece of squash opened out like 

 popcorn, and had a rich nutty sweetness. I 

 have scmetimes thought we do not have any 

 more Hubbard squashes such as Gregory 

 gave the world when I was a boy. I think 

 we tested these potatoes three times for 

 eating — twice baked and once boiled — and 

 there is about half a peck of them left. The 

 originator who grew them from the seed 

 told me he had given them up because they 

 were all hollow. Why didn't he say some- 

 thing about the quality? or was the quality 

 on his ground nothing remarkable? By the 

 wa3', I might as well own up that mj? Mich- 

 igan grown potatoes for the last season 

 were mostly pcor in quality for table use, 

 probably owing to the blight; but these red 

 potatoes, right in the m'ddle of the field 

 among the rest, showed this wonderful su- 

 peritrit\'. 



1 have now got to the climax cf my stor}'. 

 Is there any man, woman, or child, who 

 reads Gleanincs, who can breed out the 

 hollowness of my roasted chestnut potato? 

 I presume that experts in this line cf work 

 would tell us we must make the potato bear 

 seme seed- balls, then we may get from these 

 seed balls a potato of the same quality 

 without being hollow. A gocd many of the 

 potatoes I grew up in Michigan produced 

 immense seed- balls two years ago. Last 

 season I did not notice any— perhaps owing 

 to the blight. I do not know exactlj' what 

 to do with my half peck. I want some of 

 cur expert potato men to give me their opin- 

 ion in regard to the probability that these 

 potatoes might be grown without hollows, 

 on some different soil. Perhaps we should 

 then lose the quality. One season the New 

 Craig potato showed many hollow ones. As 

 an experiment we planted these hollow po- 

 tatoes, but the crop was entirely sound. 



On page 199, 1902, I gave an article from 

 the Rural New-Yorker, entitled " An Elu- 

 sive Radish." After several years cf ex- 

 perimenting, the writer tells us how he 

 succeeded in getting exactly the radish he 

 wanted; but just as he was shouting " Eu- 

 reka!'''' over his success his radish slipped 

 out of his grasp. Will this be likely to be 

 the case with my potato? I shall continue 

 to grow them for the quality — that is, if the 

 qualit}- keeps up in different soils, even if 

 they are hollow. But if we can get rid of 

 the hollow, I think some cf cur prominent 

 seedMTien would pay a large price for the 

 potato. 



Mrs. Root objects to the potato because it 

 is too hard to pare; but we can get around 

 this objection by baking them, or boiling- 

 thein with the "jackets" on. But who 

 wants a potato, baked or boiled, with a dirty 

 black hollow inside cf every one of them? 



PCAPU TDCPQ One year from bud, 2 to 4 cents each. 

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 Circular free. E. S. JOHxNSTON, Box 43, Stockley, Del. 



GRAND 

 RAPIDS 



LETTUCE 



Introduced by Mr. A. I. Rcot in 1888, 

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A SINGLE STALK WEIGHING 14 OUNCES, 



grown at the Ohio Agr. Exp. Station. 



For the home garden it has no peer; 

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Per package, 5 cts.; ounce, 8 cts.; J^ lb., 

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(Successors to A. I. Root, seed dept ), 



MEDINA, OHIO. 



