840 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE, 



June 15 



last crop we put on it was potatoes under 

 straw. The whole orchard was mulched 

 heavily with wheat straw. As the season 

 was very wet, the potato crop was partly a 

 failure; but the straw rotted all over the 

 ground. Mrs. Root said if it would only kill 

 all the dandelions it would be a good invest- 

 ment. Well, the straw killed evei'y thing 

 but the dandelions. They pushed up through, 

 and I doubt if anybody ever saw a better 

 "stand" of dandelions. This spring, when 

 the cow was bawling in the stable to get out, 

 the dandelions were up and dressed, and just 

 began to show their yellow blossoms Now, 

 here is where my happy surprise came in. 



Perhaps I am stupid, and behind the times; 

 but I did not know that a cow would eat 

 dandelions. She was tied to a stake by 

 means of a rope only a rod or two long, 

 and put out to pasture. She soon gave us to 

 understand that dandelions were the correct 

 thing so far as she was concerned. Every bud 

 and blossom was gathered up, and when the 

 boys were bragging about more milk than 

 would go into the t)iggest-sized tin pail (14- 

 qt.) I said 1 could not believe that the milk 

 could be good. But I am glad to tell you 

 that the milk suits me in exactly the same 

 way the dandelion-blossoms seemed to suit 

 the cow, and we have more than a pailful of 



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DANDELIONS IN FULL BLOOM. 



[The above is a glimpse of a four-acre lot on which I grew 375 bushels of potatoes per acre on the whole 

 field. It illustrates what may be done with tile laid only two rods apart, and a heavy application of stable ma- 

 nure. "When I spoke to our teamster about plowing it up and seeding it over again to get rid of the dandelions 

 he said if I did it would spoil his best field for timothy hay, and he did not seem to think the dandelions early 

 in the spring were much of a detriment to timothy that came on after the dandelions were all gone and out of 

 sight. I wish our experiment stations would tell us what they think about this. Are not the dandelions worth 

 for milch cows all they subtract from a growth of timothy that comes on later?— A. I. R.] 



