OCTOBKR, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



803 



Every fanntn- could, ns o;i.sil.v as not, have his 5 

 or 10 hives of bees, and have from 500 to 1000 

 pounds of honey laid by in the pantry to be iised 

 in a great variety of vi-ays instead of laying out the 

 same amount of hard cash for sugar. 



Honey can t.ake the place of sugar in making ice- 

 cream, and is superior. It is excellent in making 

 wedding cakes, etc., keeping them moist and free 

 from mould and mustiness; and here is a hint to 

 those sending cookery to the boys in France: If 

 you substitute honey for sugar, and use half the 

 eggs and milk your recipe calls for, you may rest 

 satisfied that it will neither mould nor dry out in 

 transit. We have had very satisfactory reports of 

 honey cookery sent to friends in the trenches. We 

 prefer soda and cream of tartar to baking-powder 

 in honey cookery. If you use a baking-powder 

 recipe, add a pinch of soda. Forty years ago honey 

 sold at 40 cents per pound, and butter at 10; but 

 now honey sells at 15 cents per pound, and butter 

 at 50 ; so it doesn't require much argument to 

 prove which is cheaper. 



Once a year we are taught by government experts 

 that the better part of the potato lies next to the 

 skin, so that those who take off a thick peeling throw 

 to the pigs or on the garbage-heap the better part 

 of the potato. Is it any wonder the human family 

 has poor bones, poor teeth, poor health, and a poor 

 pocketbook? Carlyle well said that "only one per- 

 son in five thousand thinks." 



The women of Ontario, Canada, were granted 

 their franchise on Feb. 14, 1917. 



James M. Munro. 



Slate River Valley, Ontario, March 3, 1917. 



It seems to me that every family — espe- 

 cially families of moderate means — should 

 have some sort of little mill (a coffee-mill 

 if they cannot do any better) and grind 

 their own wheat. A recent government bul- 

 letin declared that some of the wheat 

 preparations we buy at the groceries cost 

 as high as 48 cents per pound ; and I greatly 

 fear it is oftentimes poor hard-working peo- 

 ple wlio pay this enormous price when they 

 could by grinding their own wheat get it 

 for less than four cents a pound. Just think 

 of it! You are paying twelve times as 

 much for your "daily bread" as you would 

 have to pay if you ground the wheat in your 

 own home. Better still, have a little patch 

 and grow your own wheat. Have it nice 

 and fresh. At present prices I do believe 

 it would i^ay to have a little patch of wheat 

 in the back yard, cared for with a little 

 liand cultivator as you raise other garden 

 stuff. You get a nicer, plumper wheat, and 

 have it "fresh from the garden." 



TWEXTY-FIVE DOLLARS A DAY ON YOUR FARM. 



Mind you, dear friends, I do not say you 

 can make that right along, but T do think 

 that many of you might make it for a day 

 or half a day if you get right at it in se- 

 lecting your seed corn for next year. See 

 the clipping below from the Practical 

 Farmer: 



$25 PER D.\Y CAN YOU EARN MORE ? 



If you would like to earn from twenty-five to fifty 

 dollars a day, it cannot be done easier at this time 



of the year than by going into your cornfield and 

 selecting seed for next year's crop. By practicing 

 this method of seed-corn selection it is possible to 

 increase your acre yield the following year five 

 bushels over your average; so it can be readily seen, 

 with corn at its present price, time could not be 

 better spent. The great advantage in this practice 

 is that the grower is able to get seed that he knows 

 has matured in his normal growing season. 



For several years past 1 have gone out 

 into our cornfield in Sei)tember and selected 

 nice ears, as T have i)reviously described, 

 from the first that were fully matured. As 

 a result we have corn that has escaped frost 

 when most of the corn in this region is often 

 badly caught. Another thing, by making a 

 germination test of each ear, there ai^e .so 

 feAV stalks missing this season that we did 

 not " plant over " at all. Almost every 

 kernel planted grew. 



THE CHAYOTE IN MEXICO*, SOMETHING FUR- 

 THER IN REGARD TO IT. 



We give the following kind letter just 

 about as our good friend wrote it. I am 

 sure it will be read with great interest, 

 not only because of what the writer says 

 about the cliayote, but because of the 

 quaint way in which one not familiar with 

 our language expresses himself. It does 

 me a lot of good to get such letters, be- 

 cause it brings so vividly to mind the time 

 I made that bicycle trip down in Cuba, 

 when I spoke only English, and the different 

 friends, beekeepers and all, spoke only 

 Spanish. 



Dear Mr. Root: — Four months ago I took a 

 trial subscription at Gleanings. I am much 

 pleased with the same, and am in search of a 

 paper dollar to send to you in order to secure an 

 annual subscription from October first. We have 

 not yet postoflfice money orders, and the " dollars " 

 here are very scarce ; but I think to find one if I 

 search for it. 



On page 641, Gleanings for August, I read what 

 you say about the chayote, a very common vegetable 

 in central and south Mexico. Here the chayote is 

 found in every house, and in many gardens there 

 are a great number of them. They have flowers 

 in September and October, and the fruits are 

 ready in December and January. 



All that you say about the chayote is true and 

 good, but you must add the following: 



1. The flowers of the chayote are melliferous. 

 I have seen many bees in the plantations near the 

 Experimental Apiary in Mexico City, and here in 

 the state of Michoacan. A good crop in my apiary 

 is secured by the same. 



There is also here a very melliferous plant named 

 " chayotille," but this plant is a nuisance because 

 it gives no fruit and kills the plants near by. 



2. The roots of the chayote may be eaten also. 

 Here after the second year of production the gar- 

 deners take out the roots in the following manner: 

 A meter or so is taken from plant No. 1. Then 

 they make an excavation in No. 2 in search of 

 the roots, which are very capricious in form, 

 and of a weight from 6 to 12 pounds. The second 

 half. No. n. is for the next year, and I must add 

 that these tuberous roots are not necessary for the 



