86 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



some day during an unusually dry time the conditions become so unfavor- 

 able that the top dies, and the tree is fairly started ou the downward 

 course at a time that it should be in its prime. 



Perhaps enough has been said to establish my thesis that the woodlot 

 needs better care and a more extended discussion of its ills, such as 

 injury by fire and by insects, the presence of weed trees and of "wolf" 

 trees, etc., together with the remedial measures that may be practiced 

 must be deferred till another time. 



BEEKEEPING AND HORTICULTURE. 



Friday Forenoon. 



The sessions of Friday forenoon and afternoon were joint meetings 

 with the Michigan Beekeepers' Association and the State Horticultural 

 Society. The morning session was called to order by W. Z, Hutchinson, 

 Flint, president of the Michigan Beekeepers' Association, who, after brief 

 introductory remarks regarding the interdependence of beekeepers and 

 fruit growers, called C. E. Hadsell, of Troy, vice president of the State 

 Horticultural Society, to the chair and then read the following paper : 



SPECIALTY VERSUS MIXED BEEKEEPING. 



BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON^ FLINT, MICH. 



Time was when many of the industries were represented in one family. 

 Flax and wool were grown, spun and made into cloth and worked up into 

 clothing. Cows were kept and cheese as well as butter made for home 

 use. Poultry and a few stocks of bees added to the comforts of the house- 

 hold. But there is no need of going into detail ; everyone knows how 

 people lived 100 years ago. Cheap and rapid transportation has encour- 

 aged the invention of machinery, the building of factories, and the classi- 

 fication of labor. This has brought about specialties. No one disputes 

 that this condition of things is better. By it our comforts are more than 

 trebled. Some industries branch out as specialties much sooner than 

 others. Beekeeping was among the later ones. At last, however, it has 

 become recognized as an industry itself. 



At present, however, there are farmers who are keeping a few bees, 

 perhaps a good many bees and apiarists who are managing small 

 farms, perhaps large ones ; there are men engaged in some other occupa- 

 tion who are thinking of taking up beekeeping, or may have already done 



