February, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



145 



knows of but one Bible in the camp, so he prizes 

 his booklet. 



The liquor interests have named their present 

 eflfort " here-a-way " (Home) Rule. They have 

 organized what they call Home Rule League for 

 Michigan against statewide prohibition. "The Lord 

 can provide in his own time and way." He does 

 hear and answer prayer. 



Later {Aug. 11). — I am almost out of "How to 

 be Happy," etc. I think it certainly will be a real 

 peacemaker in small villages where they have 

 "eruptions" in their "aid societies." Oh I why do 

 they ? What is wanted is more spiritual power. 

 Will more macliinery and more hurrah get it? 

 Not ever more within that hive. 



Rhoda C. W. Derbyshire. 



Ypsilanti, Mich., Aug. 11. 



My good friend, you have given me an 

 idea that I never had before— that is, a 

 drinking-plaee " by the side of the road." 

 as an opportunity or a medium for the 



distribution of tracts. Thruout a large 

 part of Michigan, and especially where 

 there is sandy soil, the water is beautifully 

 clear, soft, and pure, as a rule; and driiik- 

 ing-places for both man and beast are quite 

 common by tlie side of the road. Your quo- 

 tation from Sam Walter Foss about living 

 " by the side of the road, and being a friend 

 to man," comes in vei'y nicely. And when 

 the saloons are done away with, may God 

 help us to realize the importance of having 

 good pure water, easy of access everywhere, 

 nor only for horses and men, but for auto- 

 mobiles also, as you suggest. 



Your mention of aid societies makes me 

 think of Pollyana and her " ladies' aid " as 

 she called it. 



HIGH - PRESSURE GARDENING 



Whatsoever a man sowcth (or planteth), that 

 shall he also reap (or dig). — Gal. 6:7. 



He that soweth to his flesli, shall * * * reap cor- 

 ruption. — Gal. 6:8. 



OUR FLORIDA GARDEN. 



We are just n w almost at the close of 

 1916, having most beautiful growing weath- 

 er, altho we had quite a smart frost about 

 the middle of the month. However (much 

 to our surprise), it did almost no damage on 

 our grounds. Today, Dec. 28, the temper- 

 ature is close to 80, the wind in the south, 

 and the little summer shower in the night 

 makes everything most beautiful this morn- 

 ing. 



For nearly 75 years I have been curious 

 as to how i3lants grow. Do they grow by 

 jumps and jerks, or just gradually? This 

 morning for the first time I have nearly 

 " caught them at it." Some radish seed 

 liad been sown in a cold-frame, and it was 

 time for them to come up. At 8 a.m. the 

 crust over the seeds was unbroken. An 

 hour later it was heaved up and cracked 

 open, showing it had moved upward a 

 quarter or nearly half an inch. Did it come 

 up gradually, or all at once? Well, I am 

 not quite satisfied; but my impression is, 

 the gi'owing plant kept pushing and gath- 

 ering strength until the soil above gave way, 

 and then the ground may have lifted up 

 almost at once.* 



* A chick in an incubator may pip the shell and 

 then do nothing more for 24 or even 48 hours; 

 but all this time it is growing and gathering 

 strength for the final grand climax, when it bursts 

 its brittle shackles and kicks its way out into the 

 new world. Is it not, to some extent at least, the 

 way with plants? 



Do you ask why one wants a hot-bed or 

 cold-frame down in Florida ? Well, we had 

 a couple of weeks in November and Decem- 

 ber when a cold-frame with glass to cover 

 was a big help. Listen ! I wanted sprout- 

 ed potatoes to plant at the very earliest 

 possible moment. I spread them out in the 

 sun, covered them with wet sacks, etc., 

 but nothing worked like the glass-covered 

 bed. We had terribly cold north winds 

 about the time of the zero weather in the 

 North. By managing the sashes we got the 

 ground inside warmed up, and by blanket- 

 ing at night we kept it warm ; and when it 

 came fit weather to plant outside we had 

 " potato sets " with not only green leaves 

 but with a mass of roots, some of them 

 bigger than your hand. The small space 

 inside the frame was made very rich with 

 poultry droppings and fertilizer, and each 

 piece of potato with its mass of roots car- 

 ried a lot of rich soil with it, so the potatoes 

 were really " up and growing " the very day 

 they were planted. Now, here is a lesson 

 for the good people up north while potatoes 

 are close to a dollar a peck. Use hot-beds, 

 cold-frames, or greenhouses in the way I 

 have indicated ; and when the weather and 

 soil are ready for potatoes outdoors you can 

 have you crop almost half gi'own. 



Here is another advantage : I just paid 

 $7.00 for a sack of 10 pecks of Maine-grown 

 Red Triumphs for seed. Some of these were 

 quite large. We spread them all out in the 

 cold-frame and covered them with an inch 

 or more of rich sifted soil. In a little 

 time the big potatoes with the rest sent up 



