^6 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



"WILL BUCKW^HEAT CROSS? 



PROF. COOK GIVES US HIS OPINION IN THE 

 MATTER. 



EXTKACTOKS 



A FOUR-FRAME AHEAD OF A TWO-FRAME BY 3 TO 1. 



You ask if Japanese buckwheat will cross with 

 the other varieties, if grown side by side. Surely 

 there is every reason to expect such a result. The 

 fact that the fertilization i.s not close, that the sta- 

 mens and pistils do not mature at the same time, 

 and all plant analogy, would arg-ue that such cross- 

 ing is not only possible but exceedingly probable. 

 I should not wish to have other buckwheat grown 

 close beside my Japanese; for in such case I should 

 surely expect deterioration. I know that nature 

 is very curious in her behavior, often greeting us 

 with the most unexpected surprises, so we should 

 never be too certain of any special thing till we 

 have actually demonstrated it, no matter how 

 probable it may seem. I have just asked Dr. Beal 

 if the above view is scientific orthodoxy. He re- 

 plied quite emphatically in the affirmative. He 

 said he should certainly expect buckwheat to cross, 

 though actual experiment alone would make him 

 absolutely positive. We can not reason from the 

 cereals, or common grains, like wheat and oats, to 

 buckwheat. The former are closely fertilized, and 

 crossing is difficult and rare, while the latter is de- 

 pendent upon insects for full fertilization; and we 

 may thus conclude that close fertilization is not 

 good for the plants, is not conducive to proliflcness, 

 and so is not the rule. The practical conclusion is, 

 that we should keep varieties of buckwheat sep- 

 arated, or else we shall mix them, and lose the 

 value which we possess in any superior variety. 

 We will try to demonstrate this point the coming 

 season. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., Feb. 35. 



We referred the matter to Prof. Green al- 

 so, who replies : 



Mr. Boot;— I am unable to give you any informa- 

 tion concerning the crossing or mixing of buck- 

 wheat, nor can I find any one who knows any thing 

 about it. I will make further inquiries, and also 

 undertake some experiments in that line, if noth- 

 ing is learned from any one else. I judg e from 

 what Joseph Harris says in his catalogue, p. 13, that 

 he thinks the varieties will cross; but he may have 

 no positive knowledge on the subject. We had two 

 varieties (one being Japanese) growing side by side, 

 but no seed was saved. W. J. Green. 



Columbus, O.. Feb. 25. 



Well, now, friends, you may be right, but 

 I can not understand how it is that buck- 

 wheat will mix, and all these years have 

 passed and we have never found it out. 

 SilverhuU and the common have been 

 grown side by side for perhaps 15 years, but 

 I have never seen any thing that I should 

 call a cross between the two. The differ- 

 ence between the European silverhuli (a 

 very small grain, light in color) and the 

 Japanese (a very large grain, and color just 

 opposite the other) is still greater ; and al- 

 though we have had both for four or live 

 years, none has ever reached us looking 

 any thing like a cross between the two. We 

 have also had several reports where the two 

 were grown side by side in the same tield ; 

 but in harvesling the crop, nobody spoke of 

 seeing any thing that looked like a cross. 

 We are willing, however, to await careful 

 tests. 



I AM greatly interested in J. F. Mclntyre's re- 

 versible extractor, and I should like very much to 

 see it work. I am a '• doubting Thomas " in regard 

 to reversible machines, simply because I have seen 

 so many that were not practical. Still, I shall be 

 very glad to learn of a good reversible extractor. I 

 like the principle of friend Mclntyre's machine, 

 however. 



I used a two-frame Novice extractor for over 15 

 years in Wisconsin. 1 was satisfied with it, and I 

 really thought it far better than any four-frame ex- 

 tractor made, and I could take the honey from the 

 hives, and return the empty combs, and extract TOO 

 to 800 lbs. a day. But since I came to California 

 two years ago I have been convinced (against my 

 will) that it pays to use a four-frame extractor. 



In Wisconsin I was single and had to do the ex- 

 tracting alone; but now in California I have a wife, 

 and she helps me extract. We can bring in the 

 honey, uncap, extract, and return the empty combs, 

 and extract a ton of honey in one day (10 hours), 

 making a dift'erence of nearly three to one in favor 

 of the four-frame machine. The above Is no guess- 

 work but an actual test case. 



Now, a four-frame extractor is too heavy to be 

 stopped quickly with ease and safety by the gear- 

 ing, so we can qjieck the motion by the gearing 

 with the right hand, and with the left hand apply 

 the brake. 



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ARRANGEMENT OF BRAKE, FOR STOPPING A SIX- 

 FRAME EXTRACTOR. 



With the above brake, my wife handles a four- 

 frame extractor with speed and ease, and she 

 weighs only 99 lbs. too. Reese Powell. 



San Bernardino, Cal., Dec. 31, 1889. 



Priend Il.,no doubt your four-frame or 

 six-frame extractor is an advantage; yet 

 your reasoning, if I am correct, is not quite 

 clear. Had you and your good wife used a 

 two-frame extractor in California^ we could 

 tell something about it. You see, that little 

 woman who •• weighs only 99 lbs." may be a 

 good deal smarter than you are. I hope you 

 will not take offense at this suggestion ; and 

 1 tliink I may say, on general principles, 

 that any man, almost, can get more than 

 twice as much honey with the help of his 

 wife as he would if he worked all alone. 

 With these large extractors I feel pretty 

 certain that some sort of brake is needed. 

 When it gets such a great weight of ma- 

 chinery under motion, it takes time, neces- 

 sarily, to stop it, unless you have something 

 similar to the mechanism shown above. 



