200 



GLKANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



eorms used. The shoots are cut close to the corm, 

 and, as far as practicable, before the leaves begin to 

 expand. They will then usually be 8 to 16 inches 

 Ions. 



After the corms become exhausted, which is indi- 

 cated by the weak growth of the shoots, they are 

 discarded. 



Out of doors in a warm region, as in Florida, the 

 corms may be planted in rows in sandy soil, and the 

 shoots blanched by ridging up the soil as growth 

 progresses. Instead of ridging the soil, boards may 

 be used, as in blanching celery, but the shoots must 

 not at any stage of their growth be exposed to light 

 for any considerable length of time. 



Our readers of last year will recall that 

 these bleached shoots were frequently men- 

 tioned. Well, in digging our dasheens in 

 November it was rather difficult to get out 

 every small tuber, and, as a consequence, 

 they are all the time coming up here and 

 there. As the garden was spaded pretty 

 deep, many of these " volunteers " have 

 long- bleached shoots before they get up to 

 daylight, so we have the " asparagus dash- 

 een " for just digging them out. 



About two weeks ago neighbor Rood said 

 some stable manure would help my stufE on 

 the new ground, and I bought a load 

 ($3.00). Well, after it was well worked in 

 with a hand cultivator we had a very heavy 

 rain, and this manure, in addition to the 

 commercial fertilizer, just " hit " the buried 

 dasheen tubers, and their ivory-white shoots 

 are now sticking out all over the garden. 



NORTHERN-GROWN SEED POTATOES FOR THE 

 FLORIDA TRADE. 



In order to give you just a little glimpse 

 of the traffic in growing seed jDotatoes for 

 the Florida truckers I clip the concluding 

 j^aragraph from a letter from a very good 

 friend of mine. 



Florida is planting an immense acreage to pota- 

 toes this season. Our potato sales into Florida for 

 planting alone must exceed 50,000 bags of 150 lbs. 

 each, since Nov. 1, 1913. I am keeping my eye on 

 the dasheen, and expect to be selling them (southern 

 grown, of course) within two years at least. Our 

 seed-potato trade includes Texas, Florida, Louisi- 

 ana, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, 

 Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware. 



Maiden, Mass., Feb. 6. Edwin E. Harrington. 



One of the first things we did when we got 

 here in November was to plant some pota- 

 toes in the garden, and we have been plant- 

 ing more and more as fast as the ground 

 was ready ; and if you could call on us now 

 (February 10) I would show you the finest- 

 looking potatoes I ever saw, and the new 

 ones we are now digging are as fine as they 

 look. 



FROM PRODUCER TO CONSUMER. 



The following hits so many nails square- 

 ly on their respective heads, we clip it en- 

 tire from Farm and Fireside of Nov. 22 : 



SKLLl.XU I1:G.1 CLASS HONEi' 



By K. E. Hawkins 



" George, I'll give you fifteen cents for all the 

 honey you'll bring me this year," remarked the 

 groceryman to a steady farmer customer. 



" Not on your life," was the ready reply. " Why 

 should I sell it to you for fifteen cents when I can 

 get twenty for all I have, and more too? " 



There is the rub with the farmer beekeeper. The 

 storekeeper, the commission man, and a dozen others 

 fleece him out of half he might make in the honey 

 line, and it's usually his own fault. This man sells 

 his honey to private customers, getting the best retail 

 price foa- it, instead of turning it over to the store- 

 keeper at five cents less a pound. True it means a 

 little more work, but work brings its reward. 



PURE HONEV HAS A DEMAND. 



When your honey crop is ready ask your wife to 

 put a case or two in the buggy when she goes to 

 those private customers with the butter and eggs. 

 They are always glad to get honey the purity of 

 which is assured. Then, too, they always pay top- 

 notch prices, as they do for the good butter. I know 

 one farmer's wife in Illinois who makes one trip to 

 .Toliet every week of her life with butter and eggs. 

 Her husband has nine swarms of bees, and this very 

 year the product of the bees has been over one thou- 

 sand sections of marketable honey. Nearly every 

 private customei', and they have many, in .Joliet, has 

 ordered a case of honey from the sample she showed 

 along with the butter and eggs. Nearly every cus- 

 tomer had a neighbor or two who bought some of the 

 product when they saw it, and were told about it 

 by their friend. 



" After I got home last night wife made hot bis- 

 cuits, and we had some of that honey you gave us. 

 Say, it was good. Can't you send us twenty pounds 

 by parcel post?" might well be the text of a letter 

 to a farmer from a friend. The new rate would 

 allow the sending of twenty pounds for fifteen cents 

 within 150 miles from the farmer's postoifice. Every 

 farmer has many relatives and friends he can drop 

 a line to, and sell a great deal of honey this way. 

 In fact, I know of an Iowa farmer who has already 

 shipped some five hundred pounds this way, solely 

 on orders got from letters written to friends who 

 knew by experience the value of his products. 



WHERE THE MAN HIMSELr IS IMPORTANT. 



The whole thing is marketing it yourself, saving 

 the middleman's and several other betwixt men's 

 profits on your owti goods. Get a small rubber 

 stamp, and stamp your name and address on each 

 section. You will be surprised at the number of 

 orders it will bring. Be sure your honey is clean, 

 and that the surface of the sections is cleaned. Ap- 

 pearance forms an important price in grading, and 

 grading makes the price. Don't sell combs which 

 are broken and leaky. Poor honey on the market 

 lowers the price of all other honey there. Most 

 people will buy any thing because it is cheaper . 

 Poor honey is always put out at a lower price. 



I am pleased to note there seems to be 

 just now an unusual movement to get pro- 

 ducer in touch with consumers. Even the 

 manufacturers of poultry-netting and fenc- 

 ing are offering to send fencing direct to 

 farmers, and, more still, no pay until 30 

 days' trial. The Kitselman Fence Co. (see 

 advertisement) send their fencing anywhere, 

 and if not satisfactoiy in price and in every 

 other respect they pay the freight back 

 again. Send to Muncie, Ind., for their 

 elaborate catalog. 



" TERRY AND TEMPERANCE." 



Friend Root: — I shall be 77 years old next Febru- 

 ary, and have practiced Terry's methods for years, 

 and do almost as much work now as I did 40 years 

 ago. 



Doesn't it do you good to see how the drys are 

 gaining? We have a real President at Washington 

 now. 



BelleviUe, 111., Jan. 26. E. T. Flanagan. 



