504 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Aug. 1 



acconiin}; lo his own notion. .Judicious 

 l)runing |)revenls dead limbs, breaking 

 down, overbearing, and a host of other 

 evils. 



After leaving Traverse City we went to 

 Frankfort. This is wliere is located the 

 Chautautjua grounds of tiie Northern Mich- 

 igan Congregational Assenil)ly. The assem- 

 bly grounds are about two miles from the 

 station, surrounding a beautiful little lake, 

 or, rather, it is between Crystal Lake an(i 

 Lake Michigan, where there are cottages, 

 something like a hundred in number, and 

 where the Congregational i)eoi)le from all 

 over the Cnited States meet each year tlur- 

 iug the month of August. Well, as my 

 brother-in-law, .). (i. (iray, was suiierintenii- 

 ing the buikling of a cottage there for our 

 pastor here in Medina, Leland and I took a 

 trip over to the grounds. I have told you a 

 good deal about the beauty of the Michigan 

 woods; but this sjxjt on the shores of Lake 

 Michigan, where these cottages are located, 

 contains more attractive wild vegetation 

 than any other spot 1 have ever touched. 

 Not even the tangled tropical vegetation of 

 Florida can ecjual it. There are i)ine-trees in 

 those Frankfort woods that looked to me 

 exactly like the celel)rated pines of the 

 Jilack Hills of South Dakota. There are 

 more beautiful evergreens growing out 

 there in the wilderness than any you can 

 find in our city parks, and they were trained 

 and fostered by the hand of the Almighty 

 ami nothing else. There are berries 1 never 

 heard of before, and very good and whole- 

 some, as we i)roved. 



Many of these cottages are located on a 

 l)luif that droi)s abruptly down to the waters 

 of Lake Michigan. Well, along this beau- 

 tiful white clean sand, esi)ecially where the 

 waters keep it wet, there is a nice clean 

 l)athway for miles where you can run a 

 bicycle and automobile, or any thing else 

 to perfection. In climbing down the bank, 

 right in the pure white sand 1 saw a species 

 of vetch with blossoms that rivaled any of 

 the sweet i)eas of cultivation. Now, this 

 l)lant, besides its beauty, must be a valn- 

 al)le legume. I did not think to offer it to 

 the horse we got at the livery stable; but I 

 am sure he wovild eat it. Now, would this 

 l)lant whatever it is, grow under cultivation 

 with as rank luxuriance as it does here in 

 clean sand, almost white? 



A\'hen we got back to Frankfort my 

 brother-in-law said I must not go away lie- 

 fore 1 had seen a certain beautiful fruit- 

 orchard. As it was only over a little over a 

 mile away from the hotel, I walked out. 

 There I saw the beautiful black Tartarian 

 cherries I have described before, besides the 

 greatest variety of fruit you can iniagiiie, 

 all under the highest state of cultivation. 

 Heretofore when I talked with the farmers 

 of Northern Michigan about chemical fertil- 

 izers I could not learn that they had ever 

 been tried; Init Mr. C. H. Chapman has 

 been making a success by the use of what 

 he calls BulTalo fertilizer. Notwithstanding 

 the excessive drouth, he had acres of rasp- 



loerries, blackberries, and almost every other 

 fruit showing wonderful luxuriance anil evi- 

 dence of great crops. While thinning his 

 l)eaches he had little girls emjjloyed only 

 ten or twelve years old. Of course they had 

 a foreman to watch and instruct them. 

 But these girls would climb all over the 

 trees without bruising or injuring the limbs, 

 l^erhaps better than anybody else in the 

 world. 



When I saw more peaches on the grouml 

 than were left on the trees, it seemed as if 

 it could hanlly be the thing to do; but Mr. 

 Chajiman has had such wonderful success 

 that I presume he knows what he is alxiut. 

 There was a rejjort that he had been olfered 

 $oO,000 for his forty-acre tract. Thirty acres 

 of the forty contained fruit of different 

 kinds, now in full bearing. By standing 

 on his i)orch he can not only see every train 

 that comes into the depot, but he can see 

 every steamer out on Lake Michigan; and 

 it is so desirable to get the fruit quickly 

 from the trees to the railroad station that 

 he makes a practice of keeping a lookout on 

 his porch, and starting his wagon so as to 

 ha\e them reach the train or steamer that 

 is already in sight. I do not know but this 

 almost beats wireless telegraphy. 



Now, here is another exam])le of what an 

 intelligent man can do with land that some 

 peoi)le might say is not worth taking as a 

 gift; and he gets his crops of fruit, too, 

 when things with ordinary management 

 are dried u\) and ruined by drouth. Of 

 course, Mr. C'hapman will lose a ])art of his 

 cro)) of strawberries; l)ut the rasjiberries 

 and blackberries, i)lums, and peaches seem 

 to be but little alfected as yet. 



Before closing I wish to add that C. D. 

 Sheldon, author of "In His Steps," besides 

 a host of other great speakers, is to be pres- 

 ent at that Frankfort assembly during 

 August. 



.lust as I finished dictating the above I 

 was informed by the Pere Marquette Rail- 

 way Co. that on Tuesday, Aug. 16, they 

 will have an excursion from Toledo to all 

 Northern Michigan points for the small 

 sum of $5.()0 for the b5-day round trij). I 

 presume likely that on that date your sta- 

 tion agent will make you a like low rate 

 from your own station to points in Northern 

 Michigan. 



Poultry Department 



Hy A. 1. liuoT 



A HEN THAT LAYS 200 EGGS OR MORE IN A 



YEAR ; HOW AND WHERE SHALL 



WE GET HER? 



I suppose it is generally recognized that 

 the South Australian tests for egg-laying 

 are not only at the head of the world, but 

 as the tests were managed V)y disinterested 

 committees they are probably authentic. 

 From an article by I). F. Laurie, of Ade- 

 laide. South Australia, publishetl in the 



