348 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



least so I was told; and I also heard that 

 three crops of corn can be grown, one after 

 the other, in one 3'ear. Somebody told me 

 this was possible, but that it was rarely 

 done. They do not get the yield of corn per 

 acre, however, that we do in the North; and 

 I believe they grow only a peculiar kind of 

 corn adapted to warm climates — something 

 like the corn in Florida. A large part of 

 the corn, however, is used to feed green — 

 corn fodder, as we call it. This is drawn 

 into the city in loads; and a single mule 

 will carry on its back what often looks like 

 a pretty good wagonload of corn fodder. 



I have said already that oxen are the 

 principal beasts of burden in Cuba. One 

 reason is, there is always plenty of feed for 

 oxen. When a man stops work he lets the 

 oxen go out and pick grass; and if he 

 gives them a nooning of two or three hours 

 they do not require any thing else. In 

 fact, they will not eat any thing else. Our 

 good friend Hochstein was very anxious to 

 teach his oxen to eat grain so they would 

 not need such a long nooning. Somebody 

 told me it had been his hobby for two or 

 three years; but he had not got 3'et to 

 where his oxen will eat dry corn, Indian 

 meal, nor even wheat bran. They will eat 

 corn fodder at any stage of growth; they 

 will eat the ears of corn off the fodder when 

 they are small and green; but just as soon 

 as the corn began to be the least bit hard 

 they would eat only stalks, and leave the 

 corn. The Cuban oxen seem to have got it 

 into their heads that dry corn is not made 

 for oxen to eat. Somebodj- said the teeth 

 of the Cuban oxen are different from those 

 here in the North. As very little of the 

 ground in Cuba is fenced at all, when a 

 man wants to feed his oxen he simply lets 

 them loose wherever he happens to be. His 

 neighbor returns the compliment, and so on. 



Kvery little while somebody undertakes 

 to farm with northern tools and northern 

 methods; but he always "gets left," so I 

 am told. Of course, there is room for won- 

 derful improvement in Cuban methods in 

 many things ; but after one works with them 

 and by their side he will discover they are 

 not so dull after all. I made a great fuss 

 because they ground their corn meal a few 

 handfuls at a time, just as they wanted it ; 

 but when we get a bag of corn meal in the 

 good old style, as we have things in Ohio, 

 we find there are insects in Cuba we had 

 not figured on. A great many times the 

 Cubans will try to explain to the Amer- 

 icans why it is that their new-fangled 

 notions will not work ; and I have seen 

 Americans that laughed at the idea that a 

 Cuban could teach them any thing. A 

 great many times I have seen a look of 

 pain on the face of the good-natured Cuban 

 when his friendlj' suggestions were rudely 

 ignored ; but after a little more experience, 

 and when I had discovered the Cuban was 

 right and the American wrong, I began to 

 think it would be better all around if we 

 new comers would get down off from our 

 high ideas of "superior learning," and sit 



at the feet of those who have spent their 

 lives in that tropical land. 



Now, friends, this talk is not altogther 

 high-pressure gardening; but I have some- 

 thing to wind up with that I think will hit 

 the spot. Mr. Fraser, the missionary, went 

 with me to see that improved sugar-mill 

 near Mariel. Our path took us through 

 one of the most beautiful and fertile valleys 

 in Cuba. The calzada runs down a long 

 hill into the valley and up on the other side, 

 clear up over the spur of the mountains ; 

 and, by the way, some of the finest fields 

 of sugar cane I ever saw are over these 

 great hills. Well, right where the calzada 

 runs over about the highest point, we found 

 a little nursery for orange-trees, belonging 

 to Mr. Thos. R. Towne, of Quiebra Hacha. 

 It was just wonderful to see the rank lux- 

 uriance with which those young orange- 

 trees grew, right on the highest point. Of 

 course, they were budded trees, and after 

 the bud is set the tree is cut partly off and 

 tipped over just above the bud. This 

 throws the growth into the new bud that 

 has just been set ; and in just a few months 

 these buds had developed and shot up canes 

 or shoots higher than one's head. I think I 

 found there the finest growth of young 

 orange-trees I ever saw. Bro. Phraser urged 

 that we had to get back to meet the train, 

 and that we could not very well stay any 

 longer. Mr. T. replied, " Oh ! but look 

 here : there is something yet you have got 

 to see ;" and over on the northern slope he 

 showed us rows of beds containing orange- 

 seedlings just about as regular and hand- 

 some-looking as any thing could be. I 

 said, "Look here, Bro. T., I have written 

 a book, or a part of a book, on 'How to 

 Support a family on a Quarter of an Acre.' 

 Now, if I am not mistaken we have got a 

 pretty good demonstration right before our 

 e3'es. Will you please tell me what these 

 thousands of young orange-seedlings are 

 probably worth?" Now, I can not remem- 

 ber exactly, but I think he said he would 

 not want to take less than $2000 for what 

 was growing on that little plot. There 

 was a perfect stand; the ground was clean; 

 every particle of it was stirred in the most 

 approved way, and the little seedlings had 

 nothing to do but to grow . 



Down at the foot of the slope, in the cor- 

 ner of the field, several men were at work 

 at something in a lot of barrels. "Friend 

 T.,what are those men doing down there?" 



"Why, they are taking the seeds out of 

 the native sour oranges to plant in beds to 

 grow more orange-trees." 



I asked the price of one of the nicest little 

 trees, about as high as my head, and one 

 that was already budded to bear fruit. The 

 replj'^ was, "Well, that is one of the latest 

 improved thornless (as you see), and seed- 

 less oranges." He gave me the name, but 

 I have forgotten it. You see, they have not 

 only got so they can grow orange-trees 

 without thorns, but they grow them without 

 seeds by the budding process. I think such 

 a tree is worth about a dollar ; but ordi- 



