1847 
The Stayman Winesap Apple 
Profitable in Southern Illinois 
T HERE are two things in The R. N.-Y. which I 
never miss reading; one is the Publisher’s Desk, 
the other is L. R. Johnson’s fruit reports from 
Southern Missouri. His unfavorable report, Oct. 18, 
of the Stayman apple surprised me very much, know¬ 
ing that there is not much difference in climate be¬ 
tween Southern Missouri and Southern Illinois. 
After reading this unfavorable report I made up my 
mind to send you six fruits of this variety, and you 
can judge yourself about the merits of this apple. 
I admit it does crack some seasons, but if you watch 
your orchard, picking them in time, there is not much 
loss from cracking. I also admit it does not color 
well in the shade, but there are a good many apples 
that have the same fault, but the proof of the pud¬ 
ding is in eating, and the proof of this apple is does 
it sell? Yes, it sells in any local market where its 
good qualities are once known, and I risk my repu¬ 
tation as fruit grower of 80 years’ standing that 
there is no better seller i#i a local market when the 
cautious consumer has tasted it once. Indeed, the 
truth is he will buy no other apple as long as he can 
procure the Stayman Winesap, even if lie has to 
pay $3 per bushel, which is t'*' ilce this season. In 
my coming reminiscences, “Thirty Years a Fruit 
Grower,” I shall have more to say about the Stayman 
Winesap; how I got hold of it, and I will then put 
in some good words for the introducer, Dr. Stayman. 
Illinois. HENRY C. ECKERT. 
R. N.-Y.—The apples came, and are all Mr. Eckert 
claims for them. A fair-sized specimen is shown at 
Fig. GOT. The color of these specimens was ex¬ 
cellent and the quality good. Surely such fruit 
would sell well anywhere. Stayman does fairly well 
with us in New Jersey, but is inclined to be small, 
and is not as profitable as McIntosh, Baldwin or 
Delaware Red Winter. Evidently this ques¬ 
tion of variety depends on locality and soil. 
Mr. Eckert promises to give us a story of his 
experience as a fruit grower soon. 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
the employ of the shareholder. In case the share¬ 
holder should neglect furnishing the required labor 
an article should be inserted in the constitution of 
the company allowing the president to employ at the 
owner’s expense the agreed amount of labor. 
Distribution involves the decision of Avhen and for 
what period the house shall be open to the customers 
each week. A man should be hired to weigh out the 
ice to each customer and furnish an exact record 
to the officers of the company concerning the amount 
consumed by each patron. At the end of the business 
season each shareholder as well as all outsiders pay 
for the ice according to the record. The shareholders 
are charged at one rate and the outside customers 
at another rate, these rates being fixed at the begin¬ 
ning of the selling season by a stockholders’ meet¬ 
ing. the price in each case being based on the cost 
of storing and harvesting. 
When all money due is received an assessment of 
about one dollar should be made against each share 
to pay for repairs on the house and equipment and 
to provide packing material for the next harvest. 
All money then remaining is paid to the stockholders 
as a dividend on their share. This method solves 
the problem of an equable distribution of the pro¬ 
ducts of the business as well as expenses. In many 
cases the price paid by outside customers will fur¬ 
nish the stockholders their ice for nothing. One 
instance of such an organization even paid a divi¬ 
dend for many of the shareholders in addition to 
supplying the luxury of ice during the Summer 
mouths without expense. Arthur w. cole. 
Making a Start With Bees 
T HERE are several ways to start beekeeping. 
The simplest is to buy Italian bees in good con¬ 
dition in modern hives from some nearby progressive 
beekeeper, or if this is not possible, to buy the same 
A Community Ice Company 
A S the Winter months advance and the 
stress of Summer work becomes less for 
the country dweller, his thought might well 
turn to preparations for the comforts of the 
coming Summer season. Ice at the present 
time is a luxury to all if they have to obtain 
it by paying the present high prices, but 
nature, in the cold days of Winter, places at 
our disposal an abundant supply of natural 
ice which if stored will add to our comfort 
and pleasure during the hot days of Summer. 
Wherever there is a swamp which over¬ 
flows with the Winter rains, or a pond, the 
organization of a community ice company 
will fill a need both socially and commer¬ 
cially. First, the selling of shares to a few 
neighbors at a nominal price to finance the 
building of a house and the purchase of a 
site. Then the election of officers and the 
selection of the site would immediately 
follow. 
The building of the storehouse would 
in general be a simple matter. If pos¬ 
sible dig into the bank of the pond or 
stream, wall up the excavation with 
cobblestones laid in cement, and roof 
the whole over above the ground with 
a pitch roof with a provision for venti¬ 
lation by raising the saddle board. A 
door the entire height of the house on 
the pond side will furnish an easy 
means of filling, while a smaller door 
in the gable of the roof on the hill side 
will furnish a means of delivering the 
product to the customers and at’the 
same time admit a minimum of warm 
air to the stored ice. ■*- 
As for equipment, but little is needed 
for this crop. Skids, rope and blocks 
are needed to get the crop from the 
pond to the house. On the pond ice 
markers, saws and chisels would be 
needed in amounts corresponding to the 
size of the organization. Horses* for 
the heavy work are easily obtainable 
from the shareholders. 
The labor for the harvest must be 
furnished by the shareholders. An ar¬ 
rangement can be made whereby each 
shareholder will furnish one day of 
labor during the ice harvest. This of 
course can be personal or some ‘me in 
Stannum Winesap from Southern Illinois. Fig. 607 
jfl 8 
Jtt L 5 ‘ ‘ 
Freezing Rhubarb Roots for Forcing. Fig. 60S 
from dealers who make a regular business of de¬ 
veloping colonies for sale. Another method now 
being used successfully is to buy bees by the pound, 
with the queen bees separate in their mailing and 
introducing cages. These are now regularly adver¬ 
tised in the beekeepers’ magazines. The 2-lb. pack¬ 
ages are better than the 1-lb. for starting strong 
colonies. Hives are prepared in advance in early 
Summer, and as soon as the bees arrive a queen in 
her introducing cage with a candy stopper only is 
« 
placed between the frames of the hive, and the pack¬ 
age of bees, which may contain 5.000 to 10.000, is 
opened and shaken into this same hive. These 
worker bees will within a day or two eat the candy 
stopper from the queen-cage and release the queen. 
It is well to place a queen trap at the hive entrance 
for the first two or three days, and to feed the little 
colony for the first two or three weeks with dilute 
sugar syrup in order to help them build up quickly. 
Many beekeepers have got their start by fiudiug 
and hiving clustered swarms. The method of hiving 
a swarm is very simple. It is best of course to hive 
the swarm directly into a modern movable, frame 
hive with combs or full sheets of foundation if such 
is at hand, but in case it is not. then it is good prac¬ 
tice to hive them temporarily in an ordinary box 
and transfer them later to a modern frame hive. 
The swarm is transferred to its new home by simply 
cutting off the branch with the cluster of bees, hold¬ 
ing this over the box or movable frame hive, and 
vigorously shaking off the bees into the same. One 
need have little fear of stings when hiving a newly 
emerged swarm, because just before swarming bees 
so fill themselves up with honey that they have little 
disposition to sting for several hours. As an insur¬ 
ance. however, and to lend added confidence, the 
novice will do well to wear a black mosquito netting 
or wire veil. 
Still another way to. make a start with bees is to 
obtain one or more swarms in the old-fash¬ 
ioned box hives, and to transfer these to 
movable frame hives. This method is not as 
safe as those already described, for one can 
never be sure from outside appearances that 
colonies in box hives are free from the “brood 
diseases”—the diseases which affect the par¬ 
tially developed young bees—and in many 
sections of the United States such colonies 
are likely to be diseased. 
Dense shade and windy locations are ex¬ 
tremely bad for bees, and so in general hives 
should be placed in the open sunshine in 
well-sheltered situations. Partial shade in 
very hot weather is an advantage, and this 
can be given by rough shade boards placed 
over the hives for the time being.' 
The beginner in beekeeping will do well to 
secure one cr two good books on modern bee 
culture, and will find it a great advantage 
if he can visit some experienced beekeeper 
who as a rule will be only too glad to ini¬ 
tiate him into the art of handling bees. 
From him he will learn how best to open 
hives, make an examination of the condition 
of the colony-and perform the other neces¬ 
sary operations. 
Fruit growers should keep bees and 
encourage those who make a business 
of keeping them, for while beekeeping 
is profitable for liouey production which 
ranges all the way from 35 lbs. to 100 
lbs. or more per colony, the chief value 
of bees lies in the work they do in blos¬ 
som pollination, and the setting of all 
kinds of fruit and some vegetables, as 
cucumbers and squash. There is no 
surer way to secure big crops of apples, 
pears, plums and berries than to keep 
bees in or near the fruit plantation. 
Fruit growers should always take care 
to see that the bees are not killed off by 
spraying the trees while they are in 
bloom: modern spraying never calls for 
such a practice. w. tt. wolff. 
New Hampshire. 
/’o ultra in a New England Back pa rd. Fig. 600 
New England Garden Notes 
Forced Rhubarb. —It may be that the 
scarcity of sugar will interfere somewhat 
with the sale of forced rhubarb this Win¬ 
ter. Still, sugar was short last year, and 
yet rhubarb sold remarkably well. Some 
of the vegetables growers force rhubarb 
in quite a large way. using lean-to houses 
for the purpose. I know of one farmer 
who has made some money by forcing the 
rhubarb in his cellar and selling it to a 
nearby trade. There is no reason why 
it should not be forced freely for home 
use. Old roots are needed, but it is not 
necessary to take the whole root ,as it 
