Page i8 



BETTER FRUIT 



December 



Farmers, Fruit Growers and Home Owners 

 ATTENTION ! 



Write for our big descriptive catalogue and prices for trees delivered to your 

 nearest railway station, freight paid. 



PEARS PAY. Chester Ferguson, of Yakima, Washington, realized an average 

 of $2,016 per acre for pears this year, 1918. PLANT PEARS. 



Agents wanted to represent us in each locality. Address 



OREGON NURSERY COMPANY 



ORENCO, OREGON 



bullcr.s, jellies, marmalades, pickles, 

 etc. It is profusely illustrated, con- 

 taining 101 engravings, and is full of 

 information that will be valuable and 

 instructive to every fruit grower. It is 

 IHiblished by Henry Carey Baird & Co., 

 110 Nassau Street, New York, who will 

 send circulars on receipt of request. 



Pittsburgh Perfect Cement 



^Qg[|]gQ N^lilS are of the highest standard 



The Heads don't come off. Given Preference by Largest Pacific Coast Packers 

 MANUFACTURED EXCLUSIVELY BY 



PITTSBURGH STEEL COMPANY, Pittiburgh, Pa. 



A. C. RULOFSON COMPANY, Pacific Coast Agents 

 359 Monadnock Building, San Francisco, California 



The Cripple in Fruit Growing 



We have given freely to all the var- 

 ious activities that keep up the efTiciency 

 and morale of our soldiers and sailors, 

 but there is still another duty which 

 we owe these men who are sacrificing 

 so much for us. It former times the 

 disabled or crippled soldier was often 

 compelled to eke out his pension with 

 the doles of charity. Our allies and 

 ourselves are trying to prevent this 

 condition by re-educating the crippled 

 soldier. 



The Vocational Rehabilitation Act re- 

 cently passed by Congress provides for 

 the re-education of disabled soldiers 

 and sailors, under the joint authority 

 of the Surgeon-General of the Army and 

 the Federal Board for Vocational Edu- 

 cation. After a man has been restored 

 to health there are open to him courses 

 in various trades and occupations. 

 These courses are very thorough, and 

 in making his choice he has the help of 

 vocational experts and is guided to what 

 is the most favorable vocation. 



We can best help the disabled man by 

 enabling him to secure a position and 

 become a self-respecting, useful citizen. 

 There is no reason why he should not 

 be able to fill any position as efTiciently 

 as a normal man, after he has received 

 the proper training and has been fitted 

 with suitable artificial limbs. Of the 

 many industries open to the cripple, 

 fruit growing may be counted on to give 

 employment to a countless number of 

 men. 



Men who need outdoor work can do 

 the shipping, packing and marketing of 

 fruits. The French have shown them- 

 selves remarkably ingenious in provid- 

 ing artificial aids for the mutile. A man 

 with one arm can do pruning, grafting, 

 budding, digging, setting out trees and 

 other horticultural and agricultural 

 work. There is really almost no end to 



the opportunities open to the man who 

 has been bereft of arm or leg. 



Even before the re-education of the 

 war cripple was considered on a large 

 scale by scientific medical men, the idea 

 was constantly cropping out in every- 

 day life. In a Soldiers' Home in the 

 Middle West there was an old fellow 

 with a peg leg who dozed in the sun all 

 day long when the weather permitted 

 and hugged comfortable fires in win- 

 ter. He was really too feeble to attempt 

 much of anything, but idleness is never 

 satisfying, so he became fretful. One 

 day an attendant who was spraying a 

 hose on a flower bed was called from 

 his work. He espied the old man and 

 said: 



"Hey, gran'pap, hold this hose for me 

 a minute!" 



Gran'pap held the hose. When the 

 attendant returned the old fellow asked 

 for a sprinkling can and watered some 

 flowers farther away. It was something 

 to do and he liked it. Gradually he 

 worked himself into the task of caring 

 for a certain section of the grounds and 

 in a short time he was a much improved 

 man because of the fresh air and a con- 

 genial occupation. He lived on for a 

 decade, happy in his work, which he 

 extended to light tasks during the win- 

 ter. There are almost innumerable in- 

 stances of seemingly useless cripples 

 getting back into industry. The carry- 

 ing out of the idea to cover thousands 

 of war cripples is only an elaboration 

 of what Gran'pap did for himself many 

 years ago. 



"A Practical Treatise on the Manu- 

 facture of Vinegar" is the title of a pub- 

 lication by William T. Brannt. This 

 work deals not only with the manufac- 

 ture of vinegar, but it also contains very 

 valuable information on the preserving 

 of fruits and vegetables by canning and 

 evaporation, the preparation of fruit 



Feeding Prevents Bee Starvation 



This country will need all the surplus 

 honey that the bees can possibly store 

 during the next few years. In view of 

 the sugar .shortage, it is important that 

 every colony of bees be encouraged to 

 produce a maximum of honey. Each 

 colony represents a potent plant for the 

 manufacture of sugar substitute. The 

 beekeeper who, through neglect, does 

 not utilize each colony, is contributing 

 to the food shortage just as much as if 

 he destroyed existing supplies. 



According to L. Haseman of the Uni- 

 versity of Missouri College of Agricul- 

 ture, the period from the latter part of 

 February to the middle of April is one 

 of the most critical of the year for bees 

 in states in the latitude of Missouri. 

 Between the last of February and apple 

 blossom lime the weather is usually 

 changeable, and it may become very 

 cold. Normally, the remaining winter 

 stores, together with the nectar col- 

 lected from the various spring flowers 

 and fruit blossoms, will provide abun- 

 dant food for building the colony to 

 full strength by the time white clover 

 opens. However, the winter store of 

 honey is shorter than usual, and should 

 the spring supply of nectar be cut short, 

 the beekeeper should ascertain whether 

 any of his colonies are in danger of 

 starvation. Strong as well as weak 

 colonies may be in danger, for the 

 strong ones rear large numbers of 

 brood or young bees, which consume 

 the stores rapidly. A shortage of food 

 encourages robbing, so that the en- 

 trances should be restricted, and if 

 feeding becomes necessary, robbing 

 must be guarded against. 



An experienced beekeeper may sim^ 

 ply lift the hive to determine if it has 

 adequate stores, but a better way is to 

 select a warm day when the bees are 

 active, go through the brood chamber 

 carefully, determine the amount of 

 stores on hand and the extent to which 

 brood rearing has progressed. Those 

 stands which are short of stores should 

 be fed. Honey is the best food for bees, 

 so that if it is possible to take some 

 from colonies which have an excess, 

 exchanging comb, all stands may be 

 properly supplied. Some beekeepers 

 save a few supers of honey for feeding 

 in case of an unfavorable spring. 



If honey is not available, sugar syrup 

 should be used. Equal parts by weight 

 of boiling water and pure granulated 

 sugar makes a good honey substitute if 

 it is fed warm. The government, real- 

 izing the importance of honey as a 

 human food and the desirability of get- 

 ting the largest possible crop of honey 

 this year, has approved the use of sugar 

 as food for bees, where they actually 

 need food. However, one must con- 

 sider what he is feeding for and the 

 effect feeding will have on stimulating 



