60 



GLEANIXGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



Eeb. 



Now is the timo for parties interested in the cane 

 Industry to make arran^fements for next season's 

 operations. All who are intending to manufacture 

 syrup next season should have machinf ry on the 

 ground in the spring-, or have it ordered at least so 

 that your neighbors will feel safe in pLmting- the 

 cane. In reg-ard to mills for crushing the cane, I have 

 used three different makes. One was rigid, and one 

 was arranged with rubber springs. But the one 

 that I now use is the Adjustable Mill, made by the 

 Madison Mfg. Co., Madison, Wis. 



This is adjusted by weights and levers. They will 

 dj one-third more work with the same power than 

 any mill I have ever seen in operation. The weights 

 and levers are to the mill what the safety valve is to 

 the steam-engine. 



The Early-Amber variety of cane is the best. The 

 producer should be careful to select pure seed, and 

 that which has the greatest vitality, as the seed has 

 a great deal to do with the strength of the plant. 

 Seed should be thoroughly tested before planting, 

 by placing the seed in some favored location, and by 

 laying a piece of thin cloth next to the seed. You 

 can then at any time inspect the seed, and you can 

 more accurately tell the result. 



Soil. Cane gives the best results on a sandy upland 

 soil; a clay soil gives a good quality, but not so large 

 a yield. Generally speaking, cane will do well on 

 any good wheat or corn land. W. P. Clement. 



Monticello, Wis., January, 1881. 



We have now for sale, syrup from the 

 Early Amber that is as thick as houey, and 

 nearly as white, and our children, on seeing 

 some of it brought home, thought of course 

 it was honey. We retail it at 75c per gallon . 

 or 7cts. per lb.— just half the price of honey. 

 We have also in stock Early- Amber sugar 

 that we sell at 74c per lb. at retail, or 7c by 

 the barrel. There may be a difference in 

 taste in regard to this sugar ; but for myself, 

 I greatly prefer it to the Southern cane sugar 

 for puddings, pies, or anyplace where yellow 

 or brown sugars are used. That sugar can 

 be raised at the Xorth is now proven be- 

 yond question ; and this sugar can doubtless 

 be used for feeding bees, just as well as any 

 sugar. As I have never seen any refined in- 

 to the white coffee or granulated sugars, I 

 presume a different process of refining is 

 needed ; but it will be done, Avithout ques- 

 tion, before another season passes. The 

 taste of it is rather more like maple sugar 

 than the sugars from the South. 



MR, MERRYB.^NKS AIVD HIS NEIGH- 

 BOR. 



FRIEND MERRYBANKS INVENTS A HIVE. 



TOLD you last month, that John set the 

 hive down on the swill-pail Avhen the 

 ' bees started off. Well, the pail was over 

 by the fence, near the pig-pen ; and now I 

 think I will tell you just how it came to be 

 on that precise spot. They had just finished 

 their dinner, and John's father sat down to 

 smoke a pipe before going out to his work 

 again. .While he smoked, he read in his bee 

 journal ; and, although lie knew it was past 

 the time he should be at his work, he yielded 

 to the temptation to sit a little longer, in 

 spite of the suggestion from his good wife, 



that he might be needed, until he began to 

 feel decidedly uncomfortable, and just in a 

 mood for finding fatilt with somebody. As 

 he stepped out of the door he passed John, 

 who was rigging up a box for bee-hunting. 



"John, have you fed those pigs tliis noonV" 



Xow, .John was a very well-meaning boy, 

 and would jump and run in a minute when 

 his father or mother asked him to do any 

 thing for them ; but he had one very sad 

 fault : he could never remember any thing 

 very along ahead, lie always would forget 

 to feed those pigs, and it made very little 

 difference whether they squealed loud enough 

 to raise the roof from their pen or not, John 

 never heard them, and rarely remembered to 

 go and feed them, unless told each morning, 

 night, and noon. Perhaps one reason was, 

 that they were almost always squealing any- 

 how, and he had got used to it. W^ell, when 

 his father asked the question, he was so 

 used to saying, " Oh! I declare, father, I for- 

 got it,"" that he said so this time, as a mat- 

 ter of course. 



His father was a little out of tune, as you 

 know, and, under the impulse of the mo- 

 ment, he gave him a cut with a halter-strap 

 he had in his hand, saying, — 



" There I take that, and learn to remember 

 what you are told.-' 



John went crying after the pail, but it 

 could not be found. Come to think of it, he 

 did feed the pigs, after all. promptly, just 

 before dinner, and there stood the pail over 

 near the pen, just where he had left it. So 

 he came back to his father, rubbing his eyes, 

 with the humiliating confession that he was 

 not derelict in duty, but forgot to mention 

 the circumstance, in time to avert the clip 

 with the halter-strap. As John looked up 

 at his father, and his father looked down at 

 John, the situation was a little embarrassing 

 for both parties. .John loved and respected 

 his father, in spite of his sometimes harsh 

 ways, and always enjoyed being with him 

 in any work or play. The father also loved 

 his boy, in his way ; and as he stood there 

 with the traces of tears on his cheeks, he re- 

 called to mind how very dutiful and obedient 

 he had always been. In fact, there Avasn"t a 

 better boy anywhere round about than his 

 boy John, as he had often said, if it were 

 not for his awful propensity to forget every 

 commission, seemingly, that anybody en- 

 trusted to his care. Scolding did not" seem 

 to help the matter any, for he forgot again, 

 almost before the words were out of his ears. 

 I am a little inclined to think the father was 

 then remembering how he used to forget, 

 too, when a boy. and how earnest, kind 

 words seemed to lift him up and make him 

 strong, more than any amount of scolding. 

 Should he confess to his boy that he had 

 been hasty ? and would he not think less of 

 a father who should so humble himself V Is 

 it really well to " own up " to your boy when 

 you have done wrong V As the father medi- 

 tated upon the consequences of weakening 

 the boy's confidence in liis wisdom and fit- 

 ness to stand in the position of father, he al- 

 so thought within himself, " Oh that I could 

 learn to be more careful, and to have perfect 

 command over that temper of mine!'' He 

 did not think, " God be merciful to me a 



