1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



839 



Special Notices by A. I. Root. 



FIRST NATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY 

 (THE CASH BUYERS' UNION). 



We clip the following from the Rural 



New- Yorker: 



"The plausible scheme of the Cash Buyers' Union of 

 Chicago was to sell small lots of their stock to farmers 

 in order to make them partners in the company. These 

 stockholders were to have 10 per cent discount on every 

 thing they bought, and big dividends on the stock. This 

 was called the co-operative plan. The farmers of the 

 Middle and Western States bought and paid for over a 

 million dollars' worth of stock, and bought several 

 hundred thousand dollars' worth of goods from the con- 

 cern. Now it has failed, and there is about $40 in the 

 treasury and not enough assets to pay the debts of the 

 concern. The farmers lose their million. Other co- 

 operative concerns are now springing up on the same 

 basis. The plan seems to appeal to some promoters. 

 The result of the farmers' experience with the Chicago 

 concern should be your guide." 



Mr. Calvert informs me that some of our 

 subscribers have lost money by investing in 

 this same Cash Buyers' Union; and he says 

 further that, while no one has complained in 

 a way that would seem to attach blame to us, 

 several have said they probably would not 

 have invested had they not seen their adver- 

 tisement in Gleanings. For some time 

 we accepted their advertisements and bought 

 most of our groceries of them, which were 

 quite satisfactory. Later on I felt uneasy 

 about them, and finally objected to their 

 methods of wanting to sell stock, etc. 

 They repeatedly tried to get large advertise- 

 ments in Gleanings. At one time they 

 wanted 20 pages. The matter was referred 

 tome, and I replied in substance, " We do 

 not want 20 pages of advertising from any- 

 body in our juurnal, no matter how good the 

 parties are, and no matter how much money 

 they offer." Our advertising pages, as well 

 as every other page in our journal, are for the 

 benefit of our subscribers. We consider 

 them our neighbors— every one of them, and 

 we not only individually, but as a firm, try to 

 "love our neighbors as ourselves." At the 

 time we did the advertising for them they 

 were quoted well, and little or no complaint 

 was made in regard to their methods of do- 

 ing business. "Their groceries were of good 

 quality, prices unusually low, and there was 

 no good reason for refusing their advertise- 

 ment until they began to urge farmers and 

 others to go in with them and ''get rich 

 quick," etc. Since this matter has come up 

 I have gone over our advertising pages very 

 thoroughly for the past year; and I am glad 

 to see such a clean lot of people offering on- 

 ly such goods as (with very few exceptions) 

 bee-keepers naturally want t j buy. 



Here is something more which the Rural 

 New-Yorker quotes from a western paper: 



*' On February 26, Judge Bethea, of the United States 

 Supreme Court, appointed Edwin C. Day receiver for 

 Cash Buyers' Union First National Co-operative Socie- 

 ty, Chicago, on the charge that $1,000,000 in stock has 

 been sold to farmers throughout the country, and that 

 there is a cash balance of only $100 on hand. PostofRce 

 inspectors state that the company owes $250 000 on 

 merchandise accounts, and that there was no credit on 

 hand, and nothing coming in." 



The Rural adds: 



The farm papers which helped this concern sell 

 $1,000,000 of its stocks to their readers by carrying its 

 advertisements will not be likely to publish notice of 

 the failure. The Rural New - Yorker has persistently 

 refused the advertising, and, while we could not get 

 definite information about them to justify us in pub- 

 lishing them as frauds, the schemes were such that no 

 one familiar with them could be in doubt of the ulti- 

 mate result. vVe had several private inquiries about 

 the concern during the past year from farmers who be- 

 lieve in looking into things before parting with their 

 money, and in all such cases we advised leaving them 

 alone. 



JAPANESE, SILVERHULL, OR COMMON GRAY BUCKWHEAT 

 —-WHICH IS BEST? 



In our last issue, the paragraph below from the Cor- 

 nell station was omitted for wa nt of room: 



"Each of these varieties has produced the largest yield 

 in certain tests It seems that there is adaptation of 

 variety to -soil or climate, or, perhaps, to weather condi- 

 tions, that has not yet been worked out, that produces 

 these contradictory results However, the yielding ' 

 quality of the Japanese variety is usually conceded to 

 be superior to that of the others " 



The above explains why it is that some buckwheat- 

 growers put the Japanese away above the older kinds, 

 while others claim it is inferior, both for honey and 

 flour, to the silverhull or even the common buckwheat. 

 Like many other things.certain kinds seem to be partic- 

 ularly suited for certain localities. Therefore it be- 

 hooves every buckwheat-grower to try all three kinds 

 on his lands; and so with almost any other grain, fruits, 

 etc. Decide which is best for yourself by practical 

 test of the different varieties. 



BUCKWHEAT FOR SOWING, BOTH JAPANESE AND SILVER- 

 HULL. 



Just now we have a very good stock on hand of both 

 the above kinds. The silverhull has, of late, given the 

 best results in our locality. As mentioned elsewhere, I 

 think it would be a very good plan for you to try both 

 kinds. Every bee-keeper who does general farming 

 ought to grow buckwheat, because he thus kills two 

 birds with one stone— yes, sometimes three of them. 

 He gets some honey, more or less grain, and clears his 

 ground of foul weeds. 



The present prices of either kind are, two-bushel bag, 

 $2.25; bushel, $1 25; half bushel, 65 cts.; peck, 35. 



Be careful about ordering buckwheat to go long dis- 

 tances by express, as the charges that way are fre- 

 quently more than its value. Better get it by freight, 

 and order a Utile while before you need it. Better still, 

 have it come with other goods to save transportation. 

 Pound, by mail, prepaid, 15 cts.; trial package (4 oz.) by 

 mail, 5 cents. 



In Northern Michigan buckwheat is sown in June; 

 but here in Ohio it is mostly put in in July. Some very 

 good crops have been secured when sown the first of 

 August. Where sown so late you may get blossoms for 

 honey, but you will be liable to lose your grain by frost. 



"our farming," by t. b. terry. 

 We have been having for years a big call for this ex- 

 cellent book, and of late the demand seems to be in- 

 creasing. Well, just now the publishers have gotten 

 out an edition in paper covers that we will let you have 

 for 40 cents. If wanted by mail, add 6 cents for postage. 

 The cloth- bound book is 75 cents; postage 10 cents ex- 

 tra. Besides the above books there is a new book by 

 Terry, just out, which is a collection of his most valua- 

 ble articles for several years past, taken from the Phil- 

 adelpnia Practical Farmer. I do not know of any bet- 

 ter book lor rural people, and I might almost say any- 

 body else, for the price, than this, entitled " What I Do, 

 See, and Hear." In a hasty looking through its pages, 

 almost every item is of intense interest to me. In fact, 

 1 hate to lay it down. Very likely some allowance 

 should be made because T. B. Terry is a particular 

 friend of mine; but I do think he has a remarkable 

 faculty for making every sentence he writes of real 

 practical value to every man, woman, and child. The 

 book (320 pages) contains his health notes as well as 

 items about farming, gardening, fruit-growing, and al- 

 most every thing around or about the home. I should 

 be very glad to see the book have a large sale, because 1 

 am sure it will do a world of good. Price in cloth covers, 

 40 cents. Postage extra, 8 cents. 



