1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



8i: 



ed, and many claim they are permanently 

 cured. Man3' saj' they get relief here, aft- 

 er haviucr tried, with little or no benefit, 

 the other hot sprinpi's of the world. For my 

 part, I think I never felt so clean before in 

 my life as I do now as I sit here and write 

 at a temperature of 110° at 2 p. m. Instead 

 of feelinj;- depressed I feel just like work. I 

 wear only the very lightest clothing. At 

 night we wear only a very thin nightgown; 

 and as m^- brother and I are up before the 

 rest of the neighborhood, we often go about 

 in our nightgowns, lifting them up in "ori- 

 ental ' fashion when we want to walk. 



I am much interested in our " iceless re- 

 frigerator." They are manufactured and 

 kept for sale in this region. It looks like a 

 common refrigerator, but the sides are of 

 slats, like window-blinds. Inside the slats 

 are sheets of burlap kept constantly wet by 

 a tank on top that lets water drop on each 

 of the four cloth sides. The dr\' air of this 

 region keeps up an evaporation that re- 

 duces the temperature so that butter, milk, 

 etc., keep in verj' good condition. 



The fact that our government holds three 

 of the best springs for the free use of the 

 public gives me confidence in them. All 

 but these three are owned b}' the hotel, and 

 the usual price is 25 cents for the use of the 

 houses built over them. Many come here 

 wilh troublesome sores,* and the drinking 

 and bathing certainly seem to have a bene- 

 ficial effect that may well entitle the springs 

 to be called the fountains of " healing wa- 

 ters." A monument of stones stands on 

 the mountain just back of us, built by a 

 lad}' with her own hands, as a memorial of 

 her cure from rheumatism. She was so 

 perfectly cured that she not only climbed 

 the mountain but carried the stones and 

 piled them up. 



Lest I be accused again of mentioning 

 only the roses and not the thorns, I will 

 add that the place as it is now is not invit- 

 ing. Tin cans, left by campers, are scattered 

 about everywhere. The principal owner of 

 the place is at present expending consider- 

 able moneN' in various improvements. One 

 naturally expects shade-trees and flowers 

 in the vicinity of springs; but they are 

 lacking here. One reason given is. the wa- 

 ter is too hot for any thing to grow; but 

 there are a few kinds of wild flowers 

 blooming along the banks of the hot-water 

 streams. There are no cold-water springs, 

 such as we have in the East; but there are 

 sprini^s where the flow is very small, with 



*Of course, the question will arise. " Is it fafe to 

 bathe where so many come with maladies thai can 

 hardly be named in print? Is there no danger of con- 

 tracting something worse than what you have al 

 ready, especially if you bathe in springs owned by the 

 government, antl free to all ? " I have looked this mat- 

 ter all over, making careful inquiry. With the great 

 volume of water flowing through these bath-houses, 

 every thing is washed out very quicVly. By throwing 

 twigs on the wattr you can see how quickly every 

 thing goes out and down the stream. People who live 

 below for several miles, however are careful not to 

 drink the water from the springs, unless carried from 

 the head in barrels. The houses where admittance i."^ 

 charged, are, of course, used very much less than the 

 " free " ones. 



a temperature nearly normal. The strong- 

 er the flow, the higher the temperature, as 

 a rule. 



We are told the Indians used these hot 

 springs for the cure of disease, before the 

 white man came; and from the fact that 

 our government endorses and extends its 

 protection over them I think we may thank 

 God for these " healing waters " that come 

 so directl}' and so freely from his own lov- 

 ing hand. 



WINTEK OR SAND VETCH — MORE ABOUT IT. 



On page 689, Aug. 1, I mentioned sending 

 some of the plants and roots to our Ohio 

 Experimeat Station. Below is what they 

 say in regard to it: 



A/r. Jfooi:— Yours with plant is just at hand. The 

 plant IS, as you suppose, the sand vetch, more com- 

 monly known as haiiy vetch It is a very ustful plant 

 in some localities, especially rn sandy soil, it seems 

 to me that, if the soil could be kept covered with it 

 during the winter, and plowed under in the spring, it 

 would help to keep up the soil fertility ; at least it has 

 been used that way in many localities. It does better 

 further north than it does here ; but we have been 

 growing it for some time 1 believe it can be used as 

 a cover crop in orchards. We are trying it for that 

 purpose. It is somewhat difficult to cut for hay, be- 

 cause It lies very flat on the grouad ; but when "sown 

 with r^ e ihe two can be cut quite earU' in the season. 

 The rye supports the vetch, and makes it po sible to 

 make hay out it. It is valuable for hay. It should be 

 sown early in the fall. W. J. Green. 



W'ooster, Ohio, July 3. 



We also add a couple of letters: 



Mr. Root— \ou ask if any reader knows any thing 

 about wild sweet peas. One year ag > I traveled over 

 the Canadian Northwest Tprritoiy, and in many placts 

 I saw this pea and the seed ripe, and I, like you, 

 thought it might be useful, so I put forty or iifiy seeds 

 in my jjocket and brought them home. i,ast April I 

 took them with others out to plant; but being c.illed 

 away I : et them down in a tin, and f, rgot them, 

 bnovv came and 1 could not fanJ them for about three 

 days; tht n they were soaked and pounded .^s l sowed 

 them, b t not one grew: but a few grains of oats and 

 wheat grew that were with them. 1 think that, wheie 

 they groA wild, children could gather the seed very 

 tasily, as the pods grow in bunches ; and I saw them 

 growing plentifully on prairie among weeds, bushes, 

 etc. In ujy opinion this pea has been the natural food 

 of the prairie-chickens in winter, as it holds its pods 

 above the snow. J aMes R. Bki^lamy. 



Black Bank, Ont., Can , Aug. 5 



I was not satisfied with the rec mmendations of this 

 plant given bj' seed firms. 1 sent to the Department 

 of Agriculture and received promptly their c rcular on 

 sand vetch, which I inclose. I sent to a seed company 

 and bought some sand-vetch seed and .sowed a row 250 

 fett long in m\' experiment grounds, where I sowed a 

 few cow peas and soy btans, all on the same day — 

 June 2(j, 1902. The vetch made a luxuriant growth un- 

 til winter .'Ct it, when it siopped growing until April 

 last, when it started growing again ; and by the mid- 

 dle of May it made as thrifty growih as the plant in 

 your patch. The vetch dried up about the middle of 

 July. The hot sun dried up the bloom almost loo fast, 

 and it grew very few seeds. I sowed a quarter of an 

 acre this spring, which is just b;ginuing to l)loom. 



Ogden, ill., Aug. 3. B D Il.vi.:,. 



With the above, friend Hall incloses a 

 circular from the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, published in October, 1895. 

 It gives a very full accotint of the plant, di- 

 rections for cultivation, etc. The name 

 given is hairy vetch, sand vetch, or Russian 

 vetch — Viciavillosa. The remarkable thing 

 to me about this plant is that such a valua- 

 ble forage- plant should be found growing 

 wild in the woods and fields over such a 

 large extent of territory. 



