1902 
BEES IN THE HOTHOUSE. 
As is pretty well known, gardeners who 
grow tomatoes and cucumbers under 
glass use bees to fertilize the blooms. 
Formerly this work was done by men 
who went from flower to flower with 
brushes—spreading the pollen. It was 
found that the bees do this work cheaper 
and more effectively. We are asked 
whether bees obtain iheir full living from 
the vegetables or must they be fed. 
Bees are used to do the work inside 
the same as they do it outside. They 
do have to be fed, and do not produce 
enough honey to keep themselves either 
Summer or Winter, but they are very 
necessary in a house of cucumbers. 
Arlington, Mass. w. w. rawson. 
A customer came to me last year in a 
hurry, saying his bees had died, and that 
he was a hundred dollars out of pocket 
on account of his cucumbers not setting. 
He had to keep a man in the house all 
day long to rub the blossoms, and it was 
very expensive business, and then not 
half done. He has nearly an acre of 
glass. A short time after he told me 
that the first two days they came into 
the houses by the hundred, but they 
could not find their way out again. The 
third day they “caught on” to the open 
windows, and now he says he has no 
further trouble. w. r. taunton. 
I always advise buyers to feed the 
bees until they are able to get honey 
from outdoors, as they cannot get a liv¬ 
ing and raise a brood from the cucum¬ 
ber blossoms. Bees die off very fast if 
they cannot get outdoors. I always ad¬ 
vise placing the hive part in the house 
and part out, with an opening in each 
end of the hive, keeping the outside 
opening closed until warm weather, and 
then open it, when the bees will raise a 
brood and keep strong in numbers, and 
often have a surplus, which they never 
do if not able to fly outside, but die off 
and lose the swarm. r. l. macey. 
It could hardly be expected that bees 
in a greenhouse would get their full sup¬ 
ply of food from the flowers under glass, 
unless the area were extensive, and but 
one hive, or at most two hives, were 
placed inside. Even then it is not like¬ 
ly they would, since their activity and 
the warmth incline them to start the 
rearing of brood. They may be fed with 
sugar syrup placed, preferably, in the 
top of the hive. A better plan, however, 
and the one usually followed, is to select 
a colony which has abundant stores. 
The attention of the bees is not then dis¬ 
tracted from the blossoms by the effort 
to make accessions to their stores from 
other sources. Even under the most fa¬ 
vorable circumstances many of the bees 
worry themselves to death against the 
glass, or, becoming exhausted, fall into 
the dust and are smothered by it. In 
order, therefore, not to ruin the colony 
altogether, it should be exchanged from 
time to time for a fresh one. 
FRANK BENTON. 
I keep a hive of bees in each house 
in which cucumbers are grown, and 
would not like to do without them. I 
have generally had the common native 
black bee, buying four to five stands 
each Spring. I put about $100 in a stock 
of Carniolan bees, and put my two high- 
school boys in charge, giving them one- 
third of all they could make. We use 
the best movable-frame hive we could 
get; built in a window for each hive 
used in houses, with a platform in win¬ 
dow so that hive could be either just 
inside or just outside the window; when 
it was warm enough to have window 
open all day, would push hive outside, 
i'hose bees that had found cucumber 
blossoms would still come in to work 
on them. They work cucumbers early 
in the day; in afternoon work outside. 
By using windows as described and put¬ 
ting in a comb of brood from one of the 
strong outside hives whenever a green¬ 
house hive showed signs of weakness, 
We 6 °t through the year with the loss 
of only one colony, instead of losing all, 
as I had done for some years past. For 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
4i7 
awhile last year before I got in new 
stock of bees I had to try to pollenize 
by hand with camel’s-hair brush, but it 
was tedious, and nothing like so suc¬ 
cessful as the work done by the bees. I 
do not see any difference in the work 
done by blacks or Carniolans. 
B. BRYAN. 
NITROGEN ON ASPARAGUS CROP. 
Will It Keep Off Rust? 
I have never had much rust. I have 
always tried to force the growth all I 
can in Summer, as I think the Spring 
crop is made at the expense of material 
stored in roots tne season previous. To 
accomplish this result I give a good 
dressing of nitrate of soda after cutting 
stops, June 15 to 20. It may be that my 
practice has tended to save me from 
damage by rust. m. morse. 
Massachusetts. 
We have seen no signs of the Aspara¬ 
gus rust yet this season, because we 
have no young “grass” on which we let 
the top come out in leaf. Of course we 
have some rust on what we cut for mar¬ 
ket, especially on the sandy knolls, but 
this rust we have always had, and do 
not think it the same thing that has 
been killing the tops since 1896. Our 
experience with extra feeding of nitro¬ 
genous fertilizers has seemed beneficial, 
probably because it has made the plant 
stronger and better able to withstand 
the rust. w. b. conover. 
New Jersey. 
So far this season I have not noticed 
nearly as many stems that showed the 
rust as at this date last year. I believe 
liberal manuring has a tendency to 
check the rust. We have been putting 
on 200 pounds nitrate of soda and 200 
pounds muriate of potash per acre for 
three years, besides one car city horse 
manure and 1,600 pounds of bone meal 
per acre this Spring. In 1899 and 1900 
we mowed and burned the tops early in 
the Fall, but in 1900 left a strip seven 
or eight feet wide along the east side to 
stop any bunches that might roll with 
the wind; this strip was not mowed. It 
drifted full of snow, while very little 
snow stayed on the rest of the field, and 
last Fall that strip staid green about 10 
days longer than the rest. Am I right 
in supposing that the nitrogen from that 
snow helped the asparagus? l. j. b. 
Crown Point, Ind. 
R. N.-Y.—While snow washes some 
nitrogen out of the air we doubt whether 
it would contain enough to make the 
difference—especially on land so well 
fertilized as yours. 
It is a fact that our asparagus fields 
no longer form a beautiful landscape 
feature when the late frosts come. In¬ 
stead of the heavy yellow foliage the 
stalks are bare and dry. In the old days 
asparagus was cut above ground 
(green); the plants were spaced three to 
to four by six feet, and were given three 
years of grace. There were no Aspara¬ 
gus beetles. I believe part of our trou¬ 
ble is caused by the close setting, the too 
early cutting, and cutting too long. 
When cutting has ceased the beetles be¬ 
gin their work, and the whole plant,' 
root and top, suffers. I cannot suggest 
a specific, but my experience tells me 
that our fields would be better if we 
could correct some of these evils. I 
would set one-year-old plants, space 
them wider in the row, spray them to 
kill the beetles, pinch the top of shoots 
after the branching out has commenced 
(to induce a strong growth and prevent 
the wind from breaking down the tops 
in Summer) and finally do but little cut¬ 
ting until the third year, following this 
plan with thorough cultivation. I would 
expect freedom from most of the trou¬ 
bles that arise from weakened plant 
growth. 1 would try Bordeaux Mixture 
for any trace of rust, I think, w. s. b. 
Red Bank, N. J. 
apple called “Middle,” that originated 
by division or middle fence between two 
farms in Herkimer County, New York, 
previous to 1850. It may be this one 
that is growing in your vicinity. It is 
of medium size, pale green in color, of 
good quality and ripens in Winter. 
H. E. V. D. 
The Careful Farmers. 
If farmers fully appreciated the value 
of Conservo the careful ones would 
keep a barrel of it on hand all the time. 
A Second Crop of Fruit Buds. 
C. S., Syracuse, N. Y .—May 9 and 10 we 
hoed and cultivated our yearling black 
x-aspberries, and the same nights the 
gi-ound fx-oze one Inch and killed all the 
fruit buds. The week of May 12 the wind 
blew vex-y hard and cold. On May 19 we 
had a half day of warm rain; then the 
leaves on the branches for 10 or 12 inches 
were all black and dried up. The fruit 
stems, on opening them, are black and 
soft. On May 23 we started to hoe them 
the second time. At night we had an extra 
heavy warm rain. The following day was 
warm and muggy; new leaves started out, 
and in most places two and three fruit 
buds. Two days later those leaves were 
one to two inches long. We have seven 
acres in this plantation. Do you think 
new fruit buds will bear any fruit? The 
oldest persons around here claim they 
never saw anything like it. We shall have 
about half crop of strawberries. The larg¬ 
er varieties seem to have frozen more than 
the smaller ones. We shall have a full 
There is not a fence, post, shed, sill or 
stick of timber on the place whose life 
will not be made longer by it. Its work 
doesn’t show in a day, or a year, but if 
the fence posts you are now renewing 
had been treated with it when they 
were set they would be good posts yet; 
and the cost would have been about two 
cents a post! Five cents’ worth on the 
plow or harrow frame, a quarter’s worth 
on the cart body, and so on, would tell 
the same story. It gets into the wood, 
and stops wet or dry rot. The man who 
thinks of to-morrow uses Conservo. An 
investment of a few cents that will save 
a dollar in a year or two is as good as 
one that will make a dollar. 
Lumber 
crop of blackberries. 
Ans. —There would appear to be a 
chance that the new buds would produce 
fruit if the conditions continue. The 
action of frost on the bramble fruits is 
very variable. Strong, well-ripened 
canes, stored with energy from a preced¬ 
ing favorable season, are quite resist¬ 
ant, but under the circumstances only a 
scattering crop of late and irregularly 
ripening fruit can be looked for. 
Grafting Questions. 
O. S. O., Newport, N. Y. —1. I sometimes 
And that after grafting on apple stock 
the scions die and the stock does so 
partly. Sometimes the latter is affected 
only on one side, extending down about 
six inches and the bark is shriveled as 
though burned. I notice this most fre¬ 
quently In the case of water sprouts on 
lai'ge seedlings that have grown up 
through the tree to the top. By reason 
of being smooth they are desirable stocks 
to graft, yet prove inferior. What is the 
matter in such cases? Is it defective cir¬ 
culation, or is there anything in the vege¬ 
table woi-ld corresponding to gangrene in 
the human body? The latter seems to 
me to be the most like it. 2. There is an 
apple here known locally as the “Middle” 
apple. What is its correct name, if you 
recognize the synonym? I never saw it 
and can’t descx-ibe it. 
AT 
Extremely 
Low Prices 
We purchased the Pan-Ameri¬ 
can Exposition at Buffalo, and 
have 33,000,000 feet of fine sea¬ 
soned lumber to offer. It consists 
of joists, timbers, flooring, sheath¬ 
ing, patent lath, and, in fact, 
anything and everything in the 
lumber line. 
If YOU ARE ABOUT TO BUILD 
Send UsYour Lumber Bill 
FOR OUR ESTIMATE. 
We issue a catalogue. Address 
as follows : 
Chicago House Wrecking Co., 
Pan-American Exposition, Dept. 62, 
BUFFALO, N. Y. 
Ans. —1. So far as I know there is no 
specific disease that works upon the 
abraded tissues that are necessary in 
grafting. It might be that the germs of 
Pear blight could occasionally get in 
through the cut surfaces, but this would 
rarely occur. It is more likely that the 
laying bare of the parts of branches, 
which were formerly shaded by foliage, 
is too great a change and causes the in¬ 
jury. The tenderer and thinner the bark 
and the denser the shade has been the 
more cause for injury. My plan is to 
leave some branches standing to make 
shade the first year after grafting and 
afterwards cut them off. 2. There is an 
THE FENCE THAT 
everybody likes for hard iiauge Is The PAGE. 
PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., ADRIAN,MICH. 
AIDE 
MACHINERY 
Best and cheapest 
Send for catalogue 
BOOMER & BOSCHERT 
PRESS CO., 
WaterStreet, 
N. s. 
SYRACUSE, 
PARACRENE 
Is better, cheaper and bulkier than PARIS GREEN. 
“Have used Faragrene on iny farm for potato 
hugs. It was perfectly satisfactory. L. H. BAILEY, 
Prof, of Horticulture, Cornell University. Write for 
sample. FEED. L. LAVANBURG, New York. 
SLUG SHOT 
Kills Currant Worms, Potato Bugs, Cabbage 
Worms and other Insects that destroy Flowers, etc. 
Sold by the Seed Dealers. 
For Pamphlet on Bugs and Blights address 
B. Hammond, FlshkiU-on-Hndson, New York. 
“Boxal” kills bugs and blight. 
An Insecticide and Fungicide in One:- A“Double Header.” 
INCREASES YIELD 20 TO 30% because it keeps the vines growing three to four weeks longer 
while the potatoes are maturing and growing larger. All ready to use by adding water. Adheres to vines through 
heavy rams, lienee more effective and cheaper than other poisons or fungicides. Enough to spray an acre Five 
times as much $ 4 . 25 . Illustrated circular and testimonials free. 
BOWKER INSECTICIDE CO., 43 Chatham St., Boston, Mass. 
