190"; 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



IIB 



make the skifE skim the waves as she did. 

 The two fishing-boats made a quick movement 

 around the fish so as to encircle the school. 

 This done they took a net of larger mesh and 

 made another circle inside the outer one. 

 Before this was acciomplished, however, the 

 great fishes, weighing 3 or 3 lbs. each, dis- 

 covered they were caught and commenced a 

 desperate and determined effort to jump over 

 the net by springing up in the air. Many of 

 them did get over; but when they found still 

 another net right before them they evidently 

 liecame exhausted and discouraged. The 

 thrashing and splashing was beyond any 

 thing in the fishing line 1 had ever witnessed. 

 After we had, by thrashing in the water, and 

 stamping on the boat, scared them into the 

 meshes of the net as much as possible, the 

 two men began hauling in the nets In less 

 than half an hour we took over a ton of fish. 

 The inside net, with lai'ger mesh, takes the 

 big ones, letting the small ones through, to 

 be caught in the second outside net. These 

 fish are nearly all mullets, that are purchased 

 as soon as caught, by the "ice boat," at IJ 

 cts. per lb., live weight. Bluefish bring 3 cts. 

 per lb., and " sheepshead " 3 cts. Of course, 

 fishing is very good business when you can 

 strike a school; but there are so many days 

 (and even weeks) of waiting that the fisher- 

 man usually has some other occupation that 

 he can work at meanwhile. 



Poultry are very fond of fish; but I am told 

 raw fish should not be fed to laying hens, or 

 to chickens intended for table use, as too 

 much of svich food will give both a "fishy" 

 rtavor. When cooked or simply roasted 

 whole on a fire outdoors, this objection is 

 entirely removed, and it pi'oves a very cheap 

 and wholesome way of providing animal 

 food. 



TBAVELS IN SOUTH DAKOTA, CONTINUED. 



When we reached Rapid City the hotel 

 was full; but it was so late that I did not rel- 

 ish hunting up another one. So I asked them 

 if they had not some kind of place they could 

 give me somewhere. The landloi'd said there 

 was a very small room that I could look at 

 and see if it would suit me. I said it would 

 do all right. Now, there was not very much 

 style about that little room; but the bed was 

 neat and clean, and the pillow was right on 

 a level with a wide-open window. Here is 

 what I wrote home to Mrs. Root about it: 



Last night I was in an upper room of the hotel, and 

 my pillow was so close to a window it was partly on 

 the window-sill. I fastened the door a little open so 

 the resinous hreeze from the mountains blew strong- 



right in my face, and I never enjoyed any thing more. 

 I woke again and again, and drew in the delicious air, 

 and thanked God for it. It seems as if I could stand 

 any amount of " breeze " now. I want such a window 

 at home. Pure air with a, push to it is life. 

 Rapid City, Aug. 29. A. I. R. 



After my refreshing sleep I began to in- 

 quire for people who took Gleanings at 

 Rapid City. Nobody seemed to know much 

 about them, as the town is pretty well scat- 

 tered over the prairie. Finally I went around 

 to the groceries to see if they had any honey 

 for sale. I found some that was not very 

 nice-looking, in several places. None of the 

 proprietors knew who it was that brought in 

 the honey. Well, none of this honey was 

 exactly up to date. It was put in sections 

 evidently without separators, was left on the 

 hive until it was travel-stained, and it was 

 not nicely crated up at that. Finally at one 

 grocery 1 saw some sections that were about 

 as nice as any I ever saw anywhere. The 

 proprietor said it was his impression it was 

 brought in by a couple of young ladies who 

 kept bees up on the side of the mountain. 

 After considerable inquiry I found the place 

 — a beautiful little cottage on the side-hill, 

 with vines over the porch, and flowers and 

 fruits all around. Of course, the ladies were 

 glad to find one of the editors of their favor- 

 ite journal had got away off among the Black 

 Hills. Their apiary was only a small one, 

 for they had just commenced; but every thing 

 was in apple-pie order, just as you might 

 know women-folks would have it any way. 

 Finally I said, "Why, my good friends, how 

 does in happen that you are the only people 

 in this region who have up-to-date appliances, 

 and are securing a crop of honey that would 

 be a credit to the most advanced bee-keep- 

 ers ? ' ' 



The answer was something like this: 



"Why, Mr. Root, we got interested in 

 bees; and in looking over Montgomery Ward 

 & Co.'s catalog we saw what they had to ad- 

 vertise for kee-keepers. We sent there and 

 got our hives and sections, and then found 

 out about you folks, and that is how we 

 came to be bee-keepers." 



After a very pleasant visit I went to a liv- 

 ery-stable and got a rig to go out into the 

 country. By the way. Rapid City is where 

 two great railroads are going to strike, com- 

 ing in from the east. These railroads will 

 make a short cut toward Chicago and other 

 large cities, without going away around 

 horseshoe fashion to Omaha. For fully ten 

 miles I saw teams and scrapers and plows 

 busily moving the dirt for the new railroads. 

 My friends out in the country were keeping 

 bees a good deal in the old-fashioned way. 

 I found an old gentleman and his wife out 

 under an apple-tree folding up sections and 

 putting in foundation. The bees were roll- 

 ing in the honey from alfalfa, and they were 

 in a hurry to give them room to work: but 

 their sections and appliances for doing the 

 work were crude, and much behind the times. 

 I attempted to explain to them a better way: 

 but as they did not take Gleanings, and 

 knew nothing about it, they were suspicious 

 of a stranger. Perhaps they thought I had 



