1883 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



•ris 



tse: chittuti-tree:. 



A NBW HONEY-PRODUCING TREE. 



iiHEN I wrote to you for June Juvenile, I 

 promised you another letter. I shall now 

 try to fulfill that promise by giving a de- 

 scription of another honey-producing tree, which 

 papa says yields honey as bountifully as the famous 

 liaden, and lasts about three weeks. This tree is 

 called here " chittim." For aught I know it may be 

 the same kind of timber the ark of the covenant 

 was made of. The wood when green is soft as bass- 

 wood, and white nearly to the heart; but when 

 seasoned it becomes quite hard. The barK is rough 

 like that on thrifty ash-trees, but darker in color; 

 the bark on the limbs is smooth like the ash, but 

 much darker. The tree attains a diameter of 18 in. 

 to 2 ft., and perhaps larger, and grows about as tall 

 as the other trees in the river bottoms. It grows on 

 the uplands some, but I have not seen trees of it there. 

 The leaves are of a deep green color, and are shaped 

 like the leaves of the cherry, except that the broad- 

 est part is about three- fourths of the way to the 

 point, or free end; they are about iVi to 2 inches 

 long; are about one inch broad. Make a section 

 through the long way of a hard-boiled egg; look at 

 the cut surface, and you have a fair representation 

 of chittim leaves, the stem being at the little end, 

 the edge of the leaf is perfectly smooth, non-ser- 

 rated, and are thicker than cherry leaves; and when 

 chewed, have a waxy feel between the teeth. The 

 snowy-white flowers grow in clusters like apple-tree 

 blossoms, and are rather smaller than mustard 

 flowers. 



I do not know any thing about stamens and pistils, 

 nor calyx and corolla, etc., so I can't tell you any 

 thing about them. The berries are now green, and 

 about the size of, and taste something like, the 

 berries on the spicewood bushes that grow in 

 Indiana. They have one seed, or stone, to the berry. 



Chittim blossoms about the last of June and first 

 of July. Oh how the bees do go for them! How 

 your kind old eyes would sparkle for joy, if you 

 could be perched upon a limb in the deep shade, in 

 the Trinity-River bottom on a hot July day, and 

 hear the roar like a swarm, and see the bees fill up, 

 and rush home and back in a perfect whirlwind of 

 delight. 



Papa got, on an average, 60 lbs. of chittim honey 

 per colony. One Holy-Land swarm that came off the 

 last of June filled up and gave TO lbs. comb honey 

 from chittim; two swarms gave 100 lbs. extracted 

 honey each — one a hybrid, Italian and black, 

 the other Italian and Holy -Land crossed. The 

 nearest chittim is about a mile and a half from our 

 apiary. 



Horsemint failed to produce any honey here this 

 year. Cotton yielded some, but the extremely dry 

 weather nearly stopped its blooming, earlj' in Aug. 

 If ever a cotton-planter visits you, show him Prof. 

 Cook's picture of the cotton-plant, and see if a broad 

 grin doesn't spread over his face when you tell him 

 that is a picture of the cotton plant, leaf, flower, 

 and boll. I don't think he would recognize it as an 

 old acquaintance. I think he would say the name is 

 familiar, but it's the face of a stranger. We have 

 the pepperwood - tree here. Bee« a»-e said to be 

 very fond of it, but I have not seen it, so can not uow 

 describe. If I should ever see it in bloom, and think 

 It deserves to be classed as a honey-prodycing tree, 

 I will try to describe it for yon. 



Bees are working strongly for an hour or two of 

 mornings on a weed called stinkweed, and also on 

 an annual vine called love-puff. 



EUGEJfE D. Arwine. 



Bedford, Tex., Sept. U, 1883. 



Thank you, Eugene. We have a ?ood 

 many descriptions of trees that bees work on, 

 but no one seems to know, or can readily 

 tell, whether they obtain any considerable 

 amount of honey. This chittim - tree is 

 worthy of notice, because you give positive 

 proof that it furnishes honey, and furnishes 

 honey largely. The yield which your father 

 says he got would place it pretty nearly on 

 an average with basswood. I should infer 

 that the tree is quite a common one in your 

 locality. If I am correct, you did not tell 

 how many hives of bees your father keeps. 

 This would be quite an important item in 

 determining the value of the chittim-tree. I 

 do not know that we have had any mention 

 of it before. Have we, friends V— In regard 

 to the picture of the cotton-plant, I presume 

 Prof. Cook did the best he could at the time 

 he looked the matter up ; and if our South- 

 ern friends see he has not made a good pic- 

 ture, I feel pretty sure some of them will 

 furnish him one ; or if you could express 

 him a whole plant, our artists and engravers 

 could readily make a correct picture. 



FREDDIE'S DESCRIPTION OF THE LOU- 

 ISVIIiLE EXPOSITION. 



A JUVENILE ASSOCIATION SUGGESTED. 



^T has been a long time since I have written to 

 you, and I will now try to write a long one, and 

 tell you about the Louisville Exposition and the 

 Kentucky bee-keepers' meeting. We live 35 miles 

 from Louisville,'"Ky., and took the early morning 

 train, and got there at 8 a. m., Aug. 39. My ma and 

 brother Edgar went with me. On entering the build- 

 ing, the sight was grand, and I can not give many of 

 the particulars. The largest thing is the 600 horse- 

 power Corliss engine moving so much machinery. 

 The show is too big for a boy like me to describe. 

 Nearly all the Southern States hid fine exhibits 

 there of timber, staves, cotton, and fruits. The 

 finest show of pictures that ever was together is 

 here. I took a'ride around the park on the electric 

 railroad. This is a new way to run cars. The track 

 is Vi mile long. We stayed two days and one night. 

 The electric light beats daylight. I can not tell you 

 much about it all, as it is too big, ana you will have 

 to come and see for yourself. 



I was going to tell you something about the bee- 

 meeting and the honey show. The honey show was 

 nice, and the bees fine. I met my pa at the bee and 

 honey department. Pa and Dr. Allen, of Smith's 

 Grove, Ky., have bees and honey together ; they 

 got the first preqaium of f25 on fine bees and queens, 

 and the second premium of $20 on honey. There 

 was 3000 or 4000 lbs. of the finest honey I ever saw on 

 the table. There was a crowd around all the time, 

 and such questions as were asked about the honey 

 would make you'laugh till you were tired ; such as, 

 i' Do drones lay the eggs ? do they sting ? are all 

 those queens ? how many queens are there ?" and 

 all such questions. 

 The convention met lo tbe directors' room; Mr. 



