The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1897-09-02
KNEW MORE THAN he SHOWED.
A somers Man Tells of One of His Early Ex-
periences.

A S0meIS Man tells OF UuS Oh 14S 6d141 La
periences.
OneSeptember day, along somewhere
in the sos, / was called from my work
to show stranger about the farm. |
was told by ny brother that he was
preacher from Philadelphia, who had
recently moved into the village (Ox-
ford, o., near which our farm was
situated.
| found pleasant looking middle
aged gentleman, who said he should be
glad to walk over the farm and see the
crops. As we went through the fields
he asked number of questions about
the methods of cultivation and the yield
per acre of the different kinds of grain.
Surprising him to be an ignoramus
concerning all matters connected with
farming, | took pains to enlighten him
by describing at some length the way
in which we managed our crops. He
listened attentively, and l fancied l
was impressing him with the fact that
was an intelligent young man, who
used his brains as we'll as his muscles
l soon found, however, that the city
preacher knew some things of which |
was ignorant.
AS we passed field of broom corn
he noticed that some of the heads were
infested by small wood louise and he
told me some interesting facts about
their habits. Coming to patch of
watermelons, he called my attention TO
the fact that some of the hills appeared
to be affected by blight, and asked
me the cause of it. | confessed ignor-
ance, when he remarked that possibly
it was the work of an aphis or wood
louise akin to those upon the broom
corn, and plucking off leaf, he exam
ined it by means of small microscope,
which he carried in his pocket; then
handing me the glass and the leaf, he
pointed out some things in which the
two species differed from each other
Passing on, we came to a patch of
Hubbard squashes, and he asked: " Do
you keep your seed pure?" replied,
"No! we send to Gregory at Marble
head every spring for new seed"
"There is no need of that" said he.
I" You have, no doubt, observed that
the pistillate flowers, from which the
squashes are formed, remain in blossom
for only day, while the stominate
flowers continue for several days. AS
the bees are the principal agents in
mixing different species, by carrying
the pollen of one flower to another, if
you would keep your squashes pure, get
up before it is fairly light (for the bees
are early risers), take sSaminate
blossom, shake the pollen into pistil-
late blossom, then tie it up with a
piece of thread, put down a stake to
mark it, and there you will have a
squash true to kind"
In walking through the orchard, |
found my companion knew all about
the different varieties of fruit, under
stood budding and grating, was posted
in the best methods of fighting the
curculo and other insect pests; and /,
who expected to play therole of teacher,
was very glad to take the place OF
pupil.
Minis man, whom | had taken for a
greenhorn, was Rev. L. L. Langstroth,
the inventor of the movable frame bee
hive, the author of an exhaustive treat
Use on beekeeping, and one of the most
prominent apiarists in the country. A
few years later the National Associa-
ton of Beekeepers raised the sum of
$4,000 and presented to Mr.. Langs-
worth as token of their appreciation
of the value of his labors in improving
the culture and management of bees.
Two things were impressed upon my
mind by Mr.. Langstroth's visit. First,
a preacher may have practical knowl-
edge of things outside his profession;
second, the necessity of keeping ones
eyes open to the wonderful things that
nature is doing all about him. H.L.B.