154 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mab. 1 



did not look as though another tick could find a 

 place to get hold. I would give all such horses a 

 big dose of sulphur, and blanket well tor two nights. 

 The ticks would then disappear. 

 Caldwell, Ida. J. E. Miller. 



"stick-tight fleas," "sand flies," etc. 



I note your attack on so-called " sticktight fleas." 

 We have a few here on our young biddies, but I 

 raise about 200 every year, and all I do is to grease 

 the old hen well under the wings, and the biddies 

 will get grease on their heads, and that will run 

 them off. We crackers call them "jiggers," or 

 " chicken fleas," and the old crackers say th« Yan- 

 kees brought them here from the North. 



But speaking of gnats as a biting insect caps the 

 climate, ^^'e have gnats here, but I never heard of 

 their biting even a Yankee. You are mistaken. 

 Your so-called gnat is a "sand-fly" that breeds in 

 the sand along the coast. Oh! but they do bite, and 

 will go through any cheese-cloth and in your hair; 

 but we have none in the Lake region. Gnats are 

 troublesome at certain times of the year. They are 

 particularly fond of your eyes, ears, and nose, but 

 will not bite. Well, friend R., I have a formula 

 that will drive away all gnats and sand-flies, but I 

 scarcely know whether or not to give it to you, as 

 you might form a liad habit. I never tried it, but 

 have seen it tried by the old crackers further south. 

 Take a stick, say three inches long. If your mus- 

 tach is not too long, put a small piece of well-dried 

 cow-chip on one end; set fire to it, and go about 

 your daily avocation. Hold the stick in your 

 mouth. 



Winter Haven, Fla. A. B. Keetder. 



Health Notes 



By A. I. Root 



CONTROIiLING THE SEX. 



Here is still another testimonial, and it 

 comes from a State entomologist and from 

 an exjieriment station of national celebrity. 

 You will notice at the close the author says 

 he prefers not to have his name published. 



State of Minnesota," 

 Entomologist's Office, 

 Agricultural Experiment Station. 



Mr. A. 1. Root:— I note in your October 15th issue 

 an experience that both you and a Mr. Blair had 

 with certain matlngs of fowls. It may interest you 

 to know that, several years ago, in Oregon, I had a 

 large Barred Plymouth Kock hen, very heavy, and 

 a prolific layer. I mated her with a Silver-lace Wy- 

 andotte rooster, carefully preserving the eggs. 

 From these eggs I obtained a goodly proportion of 

 hens, as I remember it, and every hen was a jet 

 black with a metallic luster and blackish legs, fair- 

 ly heavy, and an excellent layer. The roosters from 

 these eggs were all marked like Plymouth Rocks — 

 that is, like their mother. 



If you make use of this information, kindly do 

 not make use of my name. 



St. Anthony Park, Oct. 2(5. 



You will see from the above that both pul- 

 lets and roosters all take after the mother. 

 I confess this whole thing is a puzzle to me. 

 Suppose we have a Barred Plymouth Rock 

 male with Wyandotte pullets. In that 

 case would the chicks, pullets, and roosters 

 all take after their mother? Will those 

 among our readers who have had experience 

 in this line tell us about it? 



A GOOD WORD FOR BURBANK AND THE WONDER- 

 BERRY. 



Mr. Root:— In Dec. 15th Gleanings the wonder- 

 berry is referred to again in not very complimen- 

 tary terms, therefore I take up my pen in its de- 

 fense. We raised quite a patch this season, and 

 canned some twenty quarts when they got ripe, 

 and yesterday we had wonderberry pie for Sunday 

 dinner, and the whole family pronounced it deli- 

 cious; and 1 think future generations will rise up 

 and bless the name of Luther Burbank. You are 

 right in regard to the size of the garden huckleber- 

 ry; but if it were as large again I would call it 

 worthless. 



Greenfield, 111., Dec. 19. W. G. Secor. 



curing our troubles with drugs and 

 medicines; how much credit be- 

 longs TO THE MEDICINE? 



For a long time I have felt that I have 

 had something to say on this subject; and 

 my good friend Keck, at the close of his ar- 

 ticle (see page 709, Nov. 1, 1910) , seems to 

 call forth just now what I have long had 

 in mind. I am sure you will excuse me for 

 intruding some of my personal afflictions, 

 especially if you have patience to follow me 

 through. 



Twenty years ago or more I noticed a 

 queer spot on my back. At first I thought 

 it was a form of eczema; but it grew so slow- 

 ly, and resembled a wart so much, that I let 

 it pass until I discovered of late that it was 

 increasing in size and had got to be abo:H 

 as large as a silver half-dollar. Noticing 

 what the Cuticura people say about their 

 salve for eczema I commenced using it ev- 

 ery time I took a bath, say once a week or 

 oftener. This was about two years ago. I 

 used it faithfully for about a year, but it 

 seemed to do no good. In fact, I felt that 

 the spot kept getting larger; but in noticing 

 on their circulars that some things of that 

 kind need an application every day, I com- 

 menced putting on Cuticura daily. After 

 about a month of this treatment 1 was sat- 

 isfied that the trouble was disappearing. 

 By another three months it was almost en- 

 tirely gone, and at the end of the year there 

 was hardly a scar to show where it had been. 



Now, the above, if I were to stop here, 

 would make a splendid testimonial for the 

 Cuticura people who charge 50 cts. for a lit- 

 tle tin box of their salve containing scarcely 

 more than a teaspoonful. While this was 

 going on I was also fighting stick-tight fleas 

 on our own chickens. I greased their heads 

 with a salve that cost 25 cts. a box, and a 

 very small box at that. Somebody suggest- 

 ed in a poultry-journal that vaseline is just 

 as good as the high-priced salves; and car- 

 bolized vaseline, that costs only five cents a 

 box, is still better; and my brother, a drug- 

 gist, ventured the suggestion that any kind 

 of grease, say chicken oil, would be just as 

 good as the high-priced salves. And then 

 it occurred to me that simply greasing the 

 spot on my back every day with any kind 

 of oil or grease might have accomplished 

 the same result. Now, friends, who is right 

 and who is wrong about it? With my busy 

 life I can not well make tests that should 

 settle the matter. Our experiment stations, 

 equipped by our different States, or hospi- 

 tals, perhaps, should make the test and in- 

 form people. When I protest against the 

 enormous price, 50 cts., for a little bit of box 

 of Cuticura, I am told by friends that the 

 manufacturers must have an enormous prof- 

 it to pay for advertising, and that without 

 this enormous and expensive advertising 



