782 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



grain is in the "dough" state, and Is raked 

 into winrows as fast as it is cut. A day or two 

 later it is cocked. Some farmers let it remain 

 a couple of weeks in the cocK and then stack 

 it. where it may remain several weeks ere it is 

 baled. Other farmers do not stack it, but 

 carry it direct to the hay-press, and bale it 

 without sweating it in the stack. Oat hay 

 brings about $12 a ton. 



We have a fine hay that is used mostly as a 

 fodder for neat cattle, but seldom for horses. 

 It is a native oat. In the early days of our 

 history it was nothing to ride for days through 

 our valleys and rolling hills through the wild 

 oats, the tops of the grass being above the tips 

 of the horses' ears. Strange as it may seem, 

 this native oat vanished before the foot of the 

 new comers. It is seldom that a person meets 

 with a field of this grass nowadays. Still, there 

 are some places where it is grown extensively. 

 Where it is raised, the farmer does not have to 

 sow the ground with its seed, as it is self- 

 seeding. 



There is another sort of hay we have, and 

 one that is largely grown, and profitable alike 

 to the farmer, stock-raiser, and the bee-keeper. 

 It is alfalfa. As you are aware, several crops 

 are harvested a year. It is grown almost en- 

 tirely upon irrigated land — the great alfalfa 

 districts being in Kern and Tulare Counties, in 

 the upper San Joaquin Valley. I am sure there 

 is a great deal more alfalfa hay raised than 

 there is barley hay, and yet you have got the 

 Idea that the latter is our chief feed for horses 

 and cattle. 



It seems to me that in one of your interesting 

 "Notes of Travel," published some few years 

 ago, you spoke of the coarseness of our "hay. 

 True, we have some hay that is coarse at times; 

 but the most of the oat or wheat hay that one 

 sees in our hay markets is not so coarse. It is 

 not as fine as the timothy or clover hay of the 

 East. Withal, we have what appears to you to 

 be little better than straw. We raise the fast- 

 est horses in the world upon this very " straw." 

 It seems strange, does it not? Our hay. with 

 the exception of alfalfa, is raised without irri- 

 gation. If we were to irrigate our hay-fields 

 the stalks of hay would be as large as bamboo 

 fishing-poles. 



WHERE DIFFEKENT CALIFORNIA CROPS ARE 

 GROWN. 



The average Easterner, when he thinks or 

 talks of California, does not consider that, as a 

 general thing, diffei'ent sorts of crops are grown 

 in different portions of the State. The only ex- 

 ception to this may be said to be in n'gard to 

 oranges, which are generally believed to be 

 grown in the lower part of the State. This 

 fruit is grown as far north as Mt. Shasta, in 

 the extreme northern part of the Stale, some of 

 the finest orchards being in some of the coun- 

 ties above Sacramento; yet the great orange 

 district is in the lower part of the State. 



Grapes are grown all over the State with 

 perfect success; yet the products differ in this 

 way: The finest dry wines are raised in the 

 vicinity of San Francisco; that is, 40 miles to 

 the north, south, and fast of that city. This 

 radius may be eN tended KJO miles to the east 

 and south, and a good deal more north. From 

 the Fresno district south, the best sweet wines 

 are produced. The best raisins are grown in 

 the Fresno country, though excellent raisins 

 are grown in the more southern and even in the 

 northern counties. Thi^ great French-prune 

 district is in lower Alameda County and the 

 whole of Santa Clara County. 



The great bean district is in Ventura County. 

 The honey region is in the southern counties, 

 as is pretty well known; it is there, too, where 



most of the yellow corn is raised. The vast 

 onion-seed fields are in Santa Clara County; 

 the hop-fields are in Lake and adjoining coun- 

 ties in the north-central part of the State. 

 Cherries come to the greatest perfection in 

 Alameda, Santa Clara, and wSolano Counties. 

 They can not be grown with any degi-ee of 

 success in the southern part of the State; while, 

 on the other hand, apricots do better in the 

 southern counties than they do in most of the 

 counties further north. TIih finest peaches are 

 raised up in the foothill regions in some of the 

 old mining counties. Tlie great strawberry- 

 fields are in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Coun- 

 ties, where they are irrigated by means of ar- 

 tesian wells. The growing of English walnuts 

 is mostly confined to the lower counties, while 

 almonds are mostly grown in the counties ad- 

 jacent to the bay of San Francisco oi' those bays 

 running out from it on the north. The Liver- 

 more Valley, in Alameda County, is said to 

 produce the finest almonds. The best apples 

 come from the Sierra Nevada foot-hills, above 

 Sacramento County. Though potatoes are 

 grown abundantly about the bay of San Fran- 

 cisco and on the islands of the San Joaquin and 

 Sacramento Rivers, still the finest potato coun- 

 try is to be found in Humboldt County, while 

 Marin is not far behind it. These counties lie 

 north of the metropolis. The great dairy 

 ranches are along the coast above the Golden 

 Gate. The sheep ranges are to the south. 



This list could be extended; but the above 

 will suffice to show that certain localities seem 

 to be better adapted to the successful growing 

 of certain products than others. While this is 

 so, still a crop that may be raised in one part of 

 the State may be found growing in every one 

 of the counties of California. Dates have been 

 known to ripen in San Diego as well as in 

 Solano County, which is well north of the Gold- 

 en Gate. Oranges may be seen growing and 

 fruiting in almost every part of the State, yet 

 they do not do well for general purposes except 

 throughout the celebrated "orange- belt" of 

 the south, and that in the northern section 

 already referred to. W. A. Pryal. 



Norih Temescal, Cal., Aug. 28. 



NATIONAL GOVERNMENT APICULTURAL 

 STATIONS. 



THE OTHER SIDE ; AN ANSWER TO W. C. FRA- 

 ZIER, RELATIVE TO THE SUBJECT. 



I should like to say a few words in reply to 

 W. C. Frazier, page 700. It seems to me this 

 government has all the expense it can well bear, 

 without further burdening it with the expense 

 of swarm catchers, self-hivers, non-swarming 

 attachments, etc., which are not only as a rule 

 useless, but an expensive nuisance to the prac- 

 tical apiarist. I would not give a dollar for all 

 this class of articles ever manufactured. If 

 bee-keepers would let Nature take her course, 

 as far as practicable, I think the financial result 

 would be quite different, aside from saving the 

 expense of these patent humbugs, which are 

 manufactured, not for the advanc(Mnent of our 

 chosen pursuit, but for the money there is in it 

 for the patentee. What the government has 

 done for the farmer is for the protection of do- 

 mestic animals against contagious diseases, 

 which is perfectly right, and of general benefit, 

 not only to the farmer but also to the apiarist. 

 It takes no action as to the kind of barn, saddle, 

 harness, collars, pads, or other fixtures best suit- 

 ed to the proper manipulation of our domestic 

 animals. As to the number of pounds of honey 

 consumed in a year, it depends on the strength 

 of the colony, and especially the locality. The 



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