48 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



root's automatic reversible honey-extractor. 



We have got it at last. What? An automatic reversi- 

 ble honey-extractor that will reverse the pockets while 

 in motion by simply pressing- on a lever. The extractors 

 are no larger than the Cowans, and reverse without 

 bang or slam, providing the directions are followed. 

 They are equipped with street-car band-brake, noiseless 

 gearing, gearing on top of the reel out of the honey, and 

 out of the way of putting in and removing the combs. 

 We have the four-frame size all ready for delivery. 

 Six-frame, eight-frame, and two-frame sizes will be 

 ready shortly. Price will be only $2.00 above the regular 

 price for two, four, six, and eight frame Cowan extrac- 

 tors respectively. 



This is the invention of Mr. Frank Marbach, the foi-e- 

 man of our machine-shop, and is so far ahead of anything 

 ■else that has ever been devised that we think it will 

 crowd everything else out of the market in the near fu- 

 ture. 



Special Notices by A. I. Root. 



automobiles and their future. 

 The Balthnore Mamtfacturers' Recordis credited with 

 the following statement: "During the last twelve 

 months our automobile output exceeded in value all the 

 locomotives built in America by $20,000,000, and the in- 

 dustry is scarcely out of its infancy." And yet the 

 Philadelphia Farm Journal continues to urge farmers 

 to fight its advance and progress. 



our cereals in AMERICA. 



The above is the title of a most valuable new book 

 published by the O. Judd Co.. by Prof. Thomas F. Hunt, 

 of Cornell University, New York. It is a volume of .500 

 pages, with over 100 new and original illustrations. The 

 greater part of the book is devoted to wheat, as a matter 

 of course. A large part of the remainder of the book is 

 devoted to corn; but oats, barley, rice, and sorghum 

 (Kafir corn) are also treated. The most interesting 

 chapter to bee-keepers is probably the short one on 

 buckwheat. The only reference covering buckwheat 

 for honey is the following: "It is highly prized for 

 bees, buckwheat honey having a recognized place in the 

 market." The whole chapter on buckwheat contains 

 only eleven pages. The price of the book is $1.75 by 

 mail, or we can supply it from this office. 



tuberculosis in THE UNITED STATES. 



McClure's Magazine for January contains a most able 

 article on the above disease that I wish might be read 

 by every man, woman, and child in the United States— 

 and in the whole world for that matter. The disease is 

 not only preventable, but curable if taken before it is 

 too late; and the whole secret, as with typhoid fever and 

 a long list of other diseases, is in the line of sanitary 

 cleanliness. The patient does not need to go to another 

 part of the world. The whole matter centers in the 

 homes we live in, especially our sleeping-rooms. Either 

 sleep outdoors or with your windows open to such an 

 extent that it is almost equivalent to being outdoors. 

 And above all do not spit on the floors and sidewalks. 

 Consumption is not contagious if the above points are 

 heeded. 



By the way, there is another article in that same mag- 

 azine on lynching in America that everybody ought to 

 read. Perhaps I should apologize somewhat for my 

 severe censure on McClure's Magazine a few weeks ago, 

 and perhaps a little indirectly on our good pastor for 

 •quoting from the above magazine in his sermon. In- 

 stead of banishing the magazines from the home that 

 contain things objectionable, a little protest frpm a good 

 many people might enable us to hold fast to the good 

 and banish the evil. By the latter I mean stories that 

 .seem to encourage intemperance, profanity, etc. Mc- 

 Clure's Magazine has given us some of the best up-to- 



date articles on health and sanitation, including respect 

 for the enforcement of law, that have ever been given to 

 the world. 



"how to make dollars out of wind." 

 I very much enjoy looking over circulars from manu- 

 facturers of different things, especially farm machinery. 

 I like to hear what an energetic, up-to-date man has to 

 say in defense of the wares he makes or sells. When I 

 saw the above heading on a circular I supposed it meant 

 they had a windmill for sale. Not so. It is a fanning- 

 mill. And then they go on to tell the importance of 

 planting not only clean seed, free from weed seeds and 

 everything else, but the importance of planting the 

 largest and best grains. This last is a wonderful item 

 in getting big crops. I have no doubt it will pay the 

 farmer well to hand-pick all the grains he plants or 

 sows— that is, if there is no better way. Our experi- 

 ment stations have again and again demonstrated that 

 the crop can be largely increased by planting only the 

 largest and best seeds; and in the matter of getting rid 

 of weed seeds, T. B. Terry tells us of spending stormy 

 days with hired help in picking over his seed wheat. Of 

 course, he did every thing with the fanning-mill that he 

 could first. Then he hand-picked it to be sure he did 

 not introduce on his premises any new and pernicious 

 weeds; and Terry is not only a model farmer, but he 

 makes money in his farming. Get the fanning-mill 

 first, and one of the best up-to-date machines; then if 

 you want to beat everybody else on a crop, spend the 

 stormy days of winter and the long evenings in sorting 

 out the best seeds to plant. This is taking it for grant- 

 ed that you do not leave the other things undone, such 

 as underdraining. getting out stumps, leveling your 

 land, turning under green ciops, etc. 



my flying-machine story. 

 For 32 years I have been ransacking the world — that 

 is, so far as I could consistently— watching periodicals 

 of almost every sort, and leaving no stone untui-ned to 

 furnish information of interest and value to the readers 

 of Gleanings. I have especially tried to have our own 

 journal up to date in scientific matters; and until the 

 past summer I have made haste to present at once to our 

 readers every bit of information I could get hold of. In 

 short, I have had no secrets whatever that I have with- 

 held. But for the first time in my life, during the past 

 summer I have been under a promise of secrecy. When 

 the Wright brothers kindly permitted me to be present 

 while they were making preliminary experiments they 

 especially desired I should keep to myself, at least for 

 the time being, what I saw. I recognized the justice of 

 it, and of course assented. But it was a very hard task 

 for me to keep my tongue— or pen— still when I knew 

 the great outside world knew so little (or nothing) of 

 what was going on. Scarcely a dozen people in this 

 whole universe knew what / knew, but I could not tell 

 it. I have thrown out some hints, you may remember, 

 of what was going on. But one of the brothers sug- 

 gested " the best way to keep a secret is to avoid letting 

 anybody know you ha.ve a secret to keep." We are told 

 it is hard for women to keep a secret, and I think I must 

 be to some extent feminine in my make-up. Well, just 

 before Christmas my heart was made glad by a letter 

 informing me that, as the experiments for 1904 were 

 probably ended, I might tell the world what I knew 

 about the flying-machine, and therefore I have been 

 made happy. Yes, to-day, Dec 26, I am not only enjoy- 

 ing a happy Christmas but I feel just like saying "A 

 merry and a happy Christmas to you all." I hope you 

 will enjoy my story about the flying-machine— as much 

 as I enjoyed being out in that big field with the Wright 

 brothers many times during the past summer and fall, 

 watching that wonderful creation of the hand and brain 

 of those two men, while it "learned to fly," very much 

 as a young bird just out of the nest learns by practice 

 to use its wings. A picture of the flying-machine up in 

 the air will appear in our next issue, nothing prevent- 

 ing. We could not get it ready for this one. 



the genuine MANN APPLE, 



The Mann apple is a large dark-green apple, very 

 solid, and is not fit for use until April or May; then it is 

 golden in color and well flavored. Often spots of rot de- 

 velop before the apple is fit to eat, and they have to be 

 sorted oyer often. J. H. Fitch. 



Bedford, Iowa. 



[If the above is correct, what we have is not the Mann 

 apple at all, and the little white apple we all prize so 

 much seems to be an apple without a name.] 



