1180 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



You may be sure that you are getting absolutely pure 

 honey when you buy it in the comb. 



" In extracted honey there is, of course, a chance 

 for adulteration, and while it may be as pure as 

 couib honey it lacks just a little of the exquisite 

 flower flavor of comb honey. 



" Comb honey is more expensive because it takes 

 the bees a long time to make the comb. It is a very 

 expensive product of the bees. They don't like to 

 fill the small frames which we give them, but we 

 have a process by which they are compelled to do so 

 before they pass on to the large permanent combs 

 which they not only fill with honey but in which they 

 raise their families. These large permanent combs 

 are used again and again. When one is filled, a 

 knife made for the purpose slices off the thin sealing 

 of the cells, the comb is put into a machine which 

 whirls it rapidly, and every bit of juice is extracted. 

 Tlii-n this comb is returned to the hive. 



'■ People seem to think all honey is a luxury," he 

 went on. " Bulk for bulk, it may be more of a lux- 

 ury than sugar; but considering how much richer, 

 sweeter, and more digestible it is than sugar or any 

 of the cane syrups, I should say that it would not 

 be found more expensive. It should be used more in 

 cooking. Remember, it's the purest and finest of 

 direct nature products. I should say that of all 

 other natural products it is equaled only in its many 

 virtues by milk. 



" Honey is one of the few sweets that is digested 

 the moment it is taken into the stomach. It never 

 sours on the stomach, never causes indigestion. You 

 might say it is really a predigested food. It contains 

 far more energy than sugar. It is an ideal food 

 for old people and children. Our own children have 

 never been given any sweets except honey. They 

 have had free access to it always. The result is 

 that our children have no bad stomachs, no unpleas- 

 ant breath, and no decayed teeth as the result of 

 eating too much of indigestible sweets. 



" Did you ever try honey and milk on your cereal 

 for breakfast?" he asked. "Now, sugar and cream 

 combined may make an acid in the stomach. Honey 

 and cream never do that. Take just about half as 

 much honey as you would take sugar, on your morn- 

 ing cereal; pour over as much milk as you wish, and 

 it's the surest cure I know for that morning grouch ! 



" Use honey in place of sugar on all fruits served 

 v\'ith cream and sugar, and you'll think life is one 

 long poem." 



" Could a woman keep bees in a city back yard?" 

 I asked. " I could establish an apiary on the top 

 of the Leader-News building and the bees would 

 travel two and three miles to find the honey to bring 

 home," he answered. " It might be rather dark- 

 looking honey, because of all the smoke in Cleveland 

 air, but it would be honey!" 



Copyright, 1916, by E. K. Wooley. 



;:iii:iii!iiii;i:iiii:iiiiih<:iii:i: 



HIGH-PRESSURE GARDENING 



GRAND RAPIDS LETTUCE GROWN UNDER GLASS; 

 AND WHAT HAS COME OF IT. 



During the years since Gleanings was 

 started I have exploited so many different 

 things in the line of gardening, etc., that 

 didn't " i^an out " I have sometimes wonder- 

 ed why my good friends did not throw it 

 up to rae that my hobbies as a rule were, too 

 many of them, " air castles " — German carp, 

 the Gault raspberry, then some great black- 

 berry of which I cannot remember the name, 

 etc. Well, it often transpires that, while 

 these things are a success in some particular 

 locality, they do not succeed everywhere. 

 I can thank the Lord, however, that many 

 of the things I started have resulted in great 

 and important industries. I want to tell 

 you about one of them : 



Almost thirty years ago I got a glimpse 

 of the Grand Rapids lettuce grown in Grand 

 Rapids, Mich. It was not called " Grand 

 Rapids " lettuce then, for the world knew 

 nothing about it. Some of our older read- 

 ers will remember that, after I got just one 

 glimpse of the Eugene Davis lettuce-green- 

 house, I began bartering for half a pound 

 of the seed which he said he had. First I 

 offered liim ten dollars. He shook his head. 

 Then I went on to twenty, thirty, forty, and 

 finally fifty dollars. You see I made up 

 my mind that I was going to have that half- 

 pound of seed, even if it cost a liundred dol- 

 lars. He finally said that, if I was deter- 



mined to have it, he hadn't the heart to 

 charge more than at the rate of a hundred 

 dollars a pound. t)o some of j'ou remember 

 what I did with it? I gave each subscriber 

 of Gleanings a little pinch, and went to 

 gTov.'ing it in my own greenhouse and writ- 

 ing it up with my characteristic enthusiasm. 

 Grand Rapids lettuce is now cataloged by 

 almost every seedsman in the world. 



Several times recently I have had inti- 

 mations from different sources to the effect 

 that there was one particular locality in 

 Ohio where Grand Rapids lettuce-green- 

 houses covered literally acres of land ; and 

 on the 13th of November it was my pleasure 

 to get a glimpse of something like fifty or 

 sixty acres, covered with glass, expressly 

 for* grov/ing Grand Rapids lettuce. One 

 man had about seventeen acres mostly de- 

 voted to this industry; but he begged me 

 not to use his name nor locality more than 

 to say Ohio. It would take a book, almost, 

 to tell you what I saw and learned on that 

 visit of two or three hours. 



When I first got a glimpse by lantern- 

 light of Eugene Davis' greenhouse filled 

 with luxuriant lettuce I thought it was one 

 of the brightest and most thrilling sights 1 

 ever beheld; and what I saw on this day 

 brought back the old fever and enthusiasm. 

 Oh how 1 did wish I could get down on my 

 knees and help the boys transplant lettuce! 

 I suppose, however, my enthusiasm would 



