324 



i'llK BKk-KEEPERS' HKVIEW. 



safe living in a special way that will, I be- 

 lieve, be available to nearly every bee-keep- 

 er ; and to tell what I am going to do my- 

 self, what my experience has led me to believe 

 will enable me to safely and surely supply 

 my wants, is the best advice I can give to 

 others. 



I have long believed that nearly the entire 

 food for a comfortable living for a family 

 of several persons, could be raised on one 

 acre of land, and I am now going to try the 

 experiment, not necessarily for my own sup- 

 port, but as a means of the highest pleasure 

 from day to day. I cannot explain all I ex- 

 pect to do on this acre, but will say that 

 I expect to put a large amount of work upon 

 it. Horace Greeley used to say that the man 



blackberries, raspberries, currants and 

 gooseberries. I shall plant half a dozen 

 apple trees along the north border and some 

 trees of plum, pear, cherry, and other trees 

 on the border east and west, but nothing on 

 the south 'o make shade from that direction, 

 but strawberries 'ill be the main fruit. I 

 shall plan'j choice kinds, that do best here, 

 in rows four feet apart, plants 16 inches 

 apart in the rows. Will clip all runners and 

 keep the plants in hills. Will plant a new 

 bed each spring, cultivate in the highest 

 manner, pinching off all blossoms the first 

 year, mulch with clean old straw that con- 

 tains no foul seeds. In the spring I will pull 

 the mulch from the plants into the spaces 

 between the rows, cover against late frosts 



APIARY AND WORKSHOP OF B. TAYLOR, FOBESTVILLE, MINN. 



who owned one acre of land need never be 

 idle for want of profitable work, there being 

 no end to the possibilities on even so small 

 a piece of ground. My acre is very rich clay, 

 and I shall keep the fertility up to the high- 

 est standard by the yearly application of 

 suitable fertilizers. A suitable part of it 

 will be planted to a variety of the food sup- 

 plying vegetables, potatoes, sweet and Irish, 

 corn, beans, squashes, salsify, mellons, peas, 

 beets, and other vegetables of the useful or ■ 

 der, but no space will be allowed to other 

 than strength giving foods. The fruit de- 

 partment will consist of all the finer fruits 

 that flourish in this climate ; strawberries, 



if need be, and thus, by the aid of artificial 

 watering, raise a great crop of enormous 

 berries almost as certain as the seasons 

 come. After supplying our own table with 

 all the fine berries we can eat the remainder 

 will be sold at a big price to friends who will 

 gladly pay for them. In this way I will pay 

 for flour and other bread stuffs and, with 

 plenty of honey, the choice fruits and vege- 

 tables, milk and butter from the Jersey cow 

 and eggs and poultry from the small but 

 choice flock of black Spanish or Leghorn 

 hens, O my, how we will feast ! Just think 

 of a dinner of roasted chicken, baked sweet 

 potatoes or hubbard squash, hot graham 



