The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
that line interferes with other important problems 
that must be solved first.” 
Prof. Banta of Massachusetts is also inclined to 
think this late molt in the male may mean some¬ 
thing : 
“From what is known, I might say that a late 
molt appears to he desirable in the male, but wheth¬ 
er or not this characteristic is as essential as in a 
female remains to be demonstrated. From a prac¬ 
tical breeding standpoint it seems preferable to em¬ 
phasize desired characteristics through accumula¬ 
tions of superior factors from both sides of the 
house. Accordingly, other things being equal, late 
molt in the male would tend to elevate his probable 
worth, provided other qualifications wore present.” 
On the whole, the verdict seems to he "nobody 
knows!” We think Iho chances are that the late 
molting male is desirable. We can easily remember 
the time when we asked the experts what they 
thought about lighting «the houses at night. With 
one accord they said there was “nothing to it,” or 
words to that effect. 
Death from a Bee’s Sting 
Enclosed please find clipping. Please publish same; 
by so doing you may save many lives of people who do 
not know these facts about bees. W. Jr. 
New Jersey, 
T HI-! clipping refers to the ease of Harry Col- 
lerd of Pine Brook, X. .T., who was stung on the 
right temple by a honey bee. Collerd stumbled home 
and his wife tells the story; 
"He dropped into a chair," site sain, “and as I ran 
across to his side asking him what was the matter, lie 
pointed to his right temple, which was badly swollen. 
He told me he had been stung by a bee. He could 
hardly talk because his throat was swelling rapidly. I 
had trouble in understanding what he said. 
“I saw he was becoming unconscious, .lust before 
he lost bis senses lie asked me if I could see the bee’s 
stinger in his temple. I examined the wound and lo¬ 
cated the {stinger. I pulled it out. By that time Har¬ 
ry's throat was so badly swollen lie could scarcely 
breathe. lie slipped from the ohair be had been sitting 
on. We sent for two doctors, but they came too late, 
lie never regained consciousness,-” 
Drs. <*. E. Binlsal! and Alexander Dallas said C'ol- 
lord’s death bad been caused by the bee sting in the 
temple. Both physicians are authority for the state¬ 
ment that a bee sting In the temple or on either knee 
results fatally nine times out of JO. 
One of the physicians yesterday recalled that, about 
a year ago. he was summoned in Pine Brook to attend 
a young woman who had been stung by bees on both 
knees. By the prompt administration of stimulants 
and subsequent heroic treatment, the physician said, the 
young woman's life was saved. 
Joseph Cook, an authority on bees, who conducts a 
beekeepers' supply house in this city, last evening said 
be had known instances where horses had died of a bee 
sting. Among bee dealers, he said, the belief was com¬ 
mon that the sting of a bee on the temple or on the 
knee often Was fatal. 
Coroner Thomas J. Lewis, who issued a certificate of 
death in the Collerd case, said he thought the farmer 
died of apoplexy “caused by the shock of the insect’s 
sting, and a weak heart.” 
COMMENT BY E. ft. BOOT 
Tile coroner is undoubtedly right. The opinions 
of the two doctors in the matter are widely at vari¬ 
ance with known facts. If there were a scintilla of 
truth in such nonsense there would not he a bee¬ 
keeper alive in (lie United Stales today. Amateur 
and professional beekeepers frequently get stung 
around the knees and on the head, with no serious 
A Rose Arbor of Cedar Post*. Fig. 29o 
results. Of course, there will b*e a local sharp pain 
for the time being, and a certain amount of swelling 
in tlie case of beginners. After one has kept bees 
for a while his system becomes immune, and there 
is little or no swelling or irritation. lie will always 
have, however, the same sharp pain at the moment 
o.t receiving the sting. 
Stings should be removed as soon as possible, and, 
if the person is not used to stings, and his heart is 
weak, he should remain very quiet. It is evident 
that Mr. Collerd had a weak heart. The walk from 
A /Shock- of IJand-groivn Cora. Fig. 21)6 
the woodlot overheated him. and this, in connection 
with Hie condition of his heart, might have caused 
just what took place—death. 
As a matter of fact, deaths from stings are ex¬ 
ceedingly rare; and even then it occurs only when a 
person is very susceptible to the effects of poison or 
who has a weak heart. Even in such cases, if the 
sting can be removed immediately, and the patient 
can he kept quiet, no bad results will follow. Un¬ 
der such circumstances there should be no exertion, 
and the patient should be placed in a cool room and. 
if possible, in front of an electric fan. If the body 
of the patient breaks out in blotches, hot and cold 
wet cloths should be applied in alternation, and a 
physician should be called to administer a heart 
stimulant. 
In a word, the notion that a sting received on the 
temple or about the knees "results fatally nine times 
out of 10" is utter nonsense. Any reputable phy¬ 
sician should be careful about making such whole¬ 
sale statements without knowing what he is talking 
about 
Corn Grown by Hand 
S OME mouths ago we had a picture of a cornfield 
where the crop was cultivated by band. For 
good meaure we give another picture of this remark¬ 
able performance. Mr. A. Rickert has a small place 
and a herd of cows—no horse. Corn is about the 
best crop to give a heavy weight of fodder on a 
small acreage. The ground was plowed with one 
horse. Then the planting and all cultivating was 
done with a hand wheel hoe. You see the result in 
the picture. The corn stood 12 to 12 ft. high and 
gave a tremendous crop of fodder. It may seem like 
a great job to cultivate five to eight acres of corn 
with a wheel hoe. but if a man knows just how to 
do it. and takes the job in time, he will make it 
quite easy. Nothing ever beat a hoe for making 
plants grow. 
Cedar Posts for Rose Arbor 
NK of the cheapest, yet most durable and sat¬ 
isfactory rose arbors can be made from cedar 
trees, as shown in Fig. 25)5. The trees used are <> in. 
in diameter and are cut 10 ft. long. The side limbs 
arc left about a foot long, to give support for the 
twining canes which are tied into place. We set the 
posts 2ft. in the ground, so the arbor is 714 ft- 
high. After setting the four corner posts the cross¬ 
pieces are laid over the top and wired into place. 
For single plants a separate post can be set. as 
shown in Fig. 207. Ill some rose gardens an entire 
side is lined with cellar posts, a climbing variety 
being planted at the base of each. 
715 
In this section of Madison Co., N. Y., it is neces¬ 
sary to cover I lie canes in the Fall to prevent injury 
during the severe Winter. The bushes are mulched 
at the crown with strawy manure, as shown in Fig. 
205, and the canes are wrapped with burlap to pre¬ 
vent alternate freezing and thawing. By taking 
these precautions the hardier climbing varieties 
can be grown successfully, even in sections where 
the Winters are extreme. t. h. t- 
The Litmus Paper Soil Test 
O N page 555 is an inquiry about the effect of soil 
on litmus paper. I would be a little dubious 
of this test. I have repeatedly tried litmus paper 
with very unsatisfactory results, and in the soils 
department at Cornell they tell us that the plain 
litmus paper test is unreliable. It can be made 
very satisfactory, however, by the use of a sensi¬ 
tizer. 
The lime in the soil is in the form of the car¬ 
bonate or. in other words, limestone. This has prac¬ 
tically no effect on litmus paper. Also, the soil acids 
are very weak, and they do not give a very decoded 
reaction with the litmus. Likewise there may be 
simply a condition of lack of lime without any acid 
being present. To offset these conditions we use a 
sensitizer, and the one recommended at Cornell is a 
solution of saltpeter. Take an ounce of pure salt¬ 
peter and dissolve it in a pint of distilled water in 
clean bottle. In New York State the college will 
furnish sensitive litmus paper to anyone who is com¬ 
petent to use it. This is neutral, and is lavender in 
color, between blue and red. Take a sample of soil, 
getting it from both the lower and upper portions of 
the furrow slice, and after mixing it take a thimble¬ 
ful or so and moisten it with the saltpeter solution. 
After a minute apply the litmus strip to the sur¬ 
face so as to leave half of it free from the soil. If 
the soil is very acid the paper will turn brick red 
instantly. If less so. it will turn more slowly. If 
nearly neutral it will not turn very red. anil will 
take five minutes or so. If entirely neutral, there 
will be no change. If the soil is well supplied with 
lime, there will Do a change to blue. 
The principle on which this works is as follows: 
The saltpeter is a combination of potash lye and 
nitric acid. These are both strong. If there is lime 
in the soil the lime will take up sumo of the uitrie 
acid, and that will set free a little of the potash lye. 
which affects the litmus strongly. If the soil is acid, 
the soil acid will be taken up by the potash, and this 
will set free a little of the nitric acid, which turns 
the litmus red. As these are both so strong, only a 
very little is required to turn the litmus, so that 
we make the test very sensitive. 
Even if there is no free acid in the soil, the soil 
will itself seize the potash and give an acid reac¬ 
tion. so that soil which needs lime, but which can¬ 
not otherwise give an acid reaction, will turn the 
litmus red. If distilled water is not to be had, clean 
rain water freshly caught is just as good. 
New York. a. ir. de gkaff. 
Cedar Post for u Climbing Rose. Rig. 29 7 
