JLLV, 1 !••_■■_• 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



471 



BUILDING A WINDMILL TOWER, RATHER THAN 

 RAISING IT. 



In this description of the above operation I wish 

 to make it plain that this tower was built in place, 

 rather than put together lying on the ground and 

 raised into place, as is usually done. 



In the first place, the entire tower was cut or 

 sawed out, according to plan as shown by the blue- 

 print. Each piece, or rather group of pieces, Buch 

 as the cross and girder braces, were carefully laid 

 in separate piles so that they could be easily found 

 when the actual building of the tower was begun. 

 The four corner posts, made up of two 6 x 6 x 24- 

 foot timbers each, were cut to length and the splice 

 at the center carefully fitted and bolted together. 

 These were then unbolted and taken apart and 

 marked in such way that no difficulty would be 

 experienced in getting them together again as they 

 originally were when erecting them. 



The process of erection was then undertaken as 

 follows : 



Two of the lower halves of corner posts were 

 bolted to two of the anchor irons, the posts lying 

 on the ground in such a manner that the cross and 

 girder braces for one side of the tower could be 

 nailed to them. Only one bolt was used in each 

 post so that, after the braces had been nailed on, 

 these two posts could be raised into their approxi- 

 mate position, using the bolts thru the anchor irons 

 as hinges upon which to swing them. Having 

 raised these two posts into position, the other two 

 bolts thru the anchor irons were put in, and the 

 frame thus formed was securely braced in position 

 as a matter of safety. 



In a similar manner, the other two lower halves 

 of the corner posts were bolted to their anchors, 

 their braces nailed on and the whole swung up into 

 position and temporarily braced. It required the 

 help of four or five extra men, recruited for the 

 purpose for the few minutes that it took to raise 

 these two frames, and this was really the only 

 part of the whole job that required anything more 

 than two men. It was a simple matter to nail on 

 the remaining braces on the other two sides of 

 these two frames and thus complete the entire lower 

 half of the tower. 



The raising of the upper half was accomplished 

 with the aid of a good block and tackle as follows: 

 One of the upper half corner posts was passed 

 up thru the center of the tower and made fast in its 

 position by using the longer of the cross braces not 

 yet put on as cross-pieces to reach across the cen- 

 ter of the tower, thus forming a support for the 

 bottom of this center post and also a secure fasten- 

 ing further up to hold it in its vertical position. 

 This central post was placed so that it extended 

 about 15 feet above the top of the lower half of the 

 tower and was used as a jim-pole with which to 

 raise the other three top corner posts. By means 

 of the block and tackle fastened to the top of this 

 jim-pole, the other three top halves of the corner 

 posts were swung into place and securely bolted at 

 the splices. The side braces for two sides of the 

 tower could then be nailed in place on the upper 

 half. With these braces in place the upper half of 

 the tower became reasonably rigid, and it was then 

 possible to take down the post in the center and, 

 with the block and tackle fastened at the top of one 

 of the three posts already in place, swing it up into 

 its position. This last post was then bolted at the 

 splice and the remaining side braces nailed on. 



It remained then only to make the ladder, nail 

 it in place, and, using it to ascend and descend the 

 tower, complete the entire structure with the aid of 

 a hand line and "Wesley at the lower end of it. 



It .<:hould be evident that, with this method of 

 erection, there is no need for anv scaffold'ng or 

 extra bracing material whatever. The unused cross- 

 braces furnish all that is needed of this material 

 and may be used for what little of such braces as 

 are needed. It will be found that, as the work pro- 

 gresses, such as may have been used of these braces 

 for such purposes will be released in plenty of time 

 so that they can be pint in their permanent places as 

 needed. 



irr. Rood's colored boy remained with vnr- until 

 the tower was entirely completed. It was when we 

 wanted him to help put the wmdmill itself in place 

 that he "resigned." Then Mr. Kaiser helped us 

 out by comins out a few mornings when he was off 

 duty, until we had the wheel in place. 



I might add that I am not raising apples here 

 in Minnesota as you seem to think. The only red 

 things we raise are Rhode Island Red chickens and 

 Red Jersey Duroc hogs. In other words, we are 

 doing a general farming business in hogs, cattle, 

 and sheep, and the full line of diversified crops. 

 The apples you have in mind are raised on my 

 brother-in-law's ranch at Hood River, Oregon. 



Late. — I have just now by accident learn- 

 ed that my expert friend Clipfell was for 

 ten years instructor in the State School of 

 Science of North Dakota, and also a gradu- 

 ate engineer from the University of Min- 

 nesota. 



Blueberries in New Jersey and Blueberries 

 in Florida. 



Last August I wrote up my visit to Jer- 

 sey to see the improved blueberries, or 

 "liuekleberries, " as they are often called; 

 and I told you I received two plants that 

 cost me $5.00 each, as the result of many 

 years ' selection and cross-fertilization. 

 Well, today, June 12, each plant has many 

 clusters of great beautiful berries; but, of 

 course, they are not yet ripe. But they bid 

 fair to be fully equal to the large beautiful 

 delicious berries I found at Whitesboro, 

 N. J. Now for the Florida blueberries: 



Two different concerns at Tampa, Fla., or 

 near there, are sending out catalogs describ- 

 ing half a dozen or more blueberries; but 

 they want a dollar or more each for their 

 plants; and I took it from their advertise- 

 ment that these were nursery-grown plants. 

 Sometime in March I saw the following ad- 

 vertisement: 



BLUEBERRY TREES prepaid 30 cts. each in 

 small lots. 100 $15 f. o. b. W. C. Carver, 

 Route 1, Crestview, Pla. 



I at once inclosed a dollor for a sample, 

 stipulating that I wanted transplanted nur- 

 sery plants, and that if they were just 

 plants taken from the forest they were to 

 return the mone3^ Imagine my surprise at 

 receiving the following: 



Your order received. I am very sorry to say 

 my trees are all forest-grown, but they- are the 

 same kind as those that are being cultivated in 

 the South. There is no "improved kind" in the 

 South. The cultivation makes the berries larger 

 and some advertisers misrepresent these bushes or 

 trees. Every tree that is sold in south Florida 

 comes from " here, and 95 per cent are forest- 

 grown stuff. There are over 200 acres in berry trees 

 in this county, and all come from the forest. There 

 are trees here that bear as high as 40 quarts of 

 berries in one season. We call these berries the 

 "Rabbitseye." They are about the size of a rab- 

 bit's eye, so you can judge for yourself about 

 whether they are like your kind or not. I want 

 to be honest about this. Enclosed you will find 

 your money. I am sending a sample of trees by 

 parcel* post. Yours truly, 



W. C. Carver. 



Rt. 1, Crestview, Fla., Mar. 2, 1922. 



Now, I was considerably surprised to have 

 Mr. Carver tell me that Mr. Sapp has found 

 by years of experiment that plants or trees 

 taken directly from the forest give even 

 hrtler results than transplanted nursery 

 plants. See August Gleanings for a con- 

 tinuation of this matter. 



