356 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



ange-shed at Hawks Park, and had a little 

 chat with him at his home. He too has been 

 doiag fairly well with bees, even though many 

 claim that frost has about killed the industry. 

 Along toward night we called just long enough 

 to shake hands with E. A. Marsh, his wife, 

 and daughter. The Marsh people have one 

 of the neatest and prettiest honey-houses I 

 ever saw anywhere ; and I think it must be 

 all the time in apple-pie order, for I found it 

 that way six years ago, and it was just the 

 same then as on my last trip. Mr. Marsh has 

 quite a pretty little grove of Japanese persim- 

 mons, and he had managed to save one of the 

 beautiful fruits, and it was in nice order at 

 the time of my trip. The Japanese persim- 

 mon is peculiar inasmuch as it has no seed. 

 Just think of a plum the size of an apple, that 

 is clean plum all the way through — no seed or 

 core, nor any thing of the sort. 



A little later we called briefly on T. M. 

 Adams, who produced a crop of honey from 

 200 colonies that astonished everybody some 

 years ago. These good friends are located 

 near Oak Park, and we found lodging over 

 night with another nice family of bee-keepers, 

 Mr. H. S. Barker. One of our old-time boys, 

 who used to work in the factory with us here 

 in Medina, Mr. P. A. M. Feathers, is located 

 just across the way from Mr. Barker. He has 

 a very pretty little apiary for queen-rearing, 

 and also a nice little garden. 



The next morning I was obliged to bid my 

 good friend Detwiler good by ; and I confess 

 I felt lonesome for quite a little spell, without 

 him. By the way, I want to say that Mr. 

 Ditwilerhas a very pleasant place where he 

 entertains, not " summer boarders," but win- 

 ter boarders ; and instead of charging them 

 " five dollars a day and upward," as some of 

 the great stylish hotels put it, his terms are 

 only ^5.00 a week. When I remonstrated at 

 his exceedingly low prices considering the ex- 

 cellent table his good wife manages to get up 

 at every meal, he replied something like this : 



" Mr. Root, we tell all our boarders that, if 

 they stay with us, they will have to wait on 

 themselves to a great extent. We do not keep 

 a lot of darkies to chase around and wait on 

 folks. We have plenty of every thing, and 

 try to have it handy ; and it is understood all 

 around that, at our moderate prices, our board- 

 ers are to wait on themselves, at least to a great 

 extent. Of course, we tell them where every 

 thing is, and how to get at things." 



Mr. and Mrs. Detwiler have a very pretty 

 home ; have water all around them, and plenty 

 of fish ; stores, postoffice, depot, just a lit- 

 tle way across the water, and boats always 

 ready ; out you may have to take off your 

 coat and "paddle your own canoe" where 

 you pay only $5 00 a week. 



CONVENTION NOTICE. 



PLANTING AND HARVESTING SOJA BEANS. 



I have many letters asking me to give my method 

 of planting, cultivating, harvesting and thrashing 

 the soja bean. First, I prepaie the land for soja beans 

 as I do for corn. For seed, plant any time from the 

 last of April to July 1, in rows 3i^ or 4 ft. wide. I put 

 two or three beans in a hill, 12 or 15 in. apart, and 

 work as I do a corn crop. I let all the leaves shed so 

 the beans will get their full growth, and then dry. I 

 take my bramble-hoDk or mower and cut in the :norn- 

 ing while the dew is on them, because they will " pop 

 out" during the middle of the day. I rake them up 

 with a hay-rake, haul them up in the afternoon to 

 the barn or pound lot, make a rail pen, and thrash as 

 fajt as they are hauled. If I had plenty of barn room I 

 would haul in and thrash after I got through cutting. 



I plant soja beans, when wanted for hay, in 2 ft. 

 rows, four or five beans in hill, 12 to 15 in. apart, and 

 work twice with cultivator. I cut them any time after 

 blooming. For cow feed I cut with mower two rows 

 at a time, and let it cure as I would any other hay. I 

 plant a large patch of soja beans by the side of my 

 pasture, and find it a big help in August and Septem- 

 ber, when hot and dry. I cut them every morning 

 and evening and throw them over to the cows, hogs, 

 and stock of all kinds. They eat it as eaxerly as 

 green clover. They will do as well on it as on clover. 



I sow soja beans broadcast in my corn at the last 

 working, and gather my corn as soon as I can. Then 

 I turn in my cows, hogs, and horses. I let the cows 

 and horses stay in the beans only a short time the 

 first one or two days, for fear they will eat too much. 

 After that there is no danger of their overeating. I 

 use no manure or fertilizer of any kind for soja beans. 

 I often plant them on my thinnest land to improve 

 it. I turn the beans under or cut them early and 

 plant a second crop. It is a splendid crop to follow 

 Irish potatoes. I like soja beans better than any kind 

 of pea, because they do not rot easily when they get 

 wet and are left out for a short time. 



Norfolk Co., Va. • W. M. Wilson. 



The above I clip from the American Agri- 

 culturist. My special reason for giving it 

 here is because of what is said about cutting 

 it night and morning for stock when pastures 

 are poor. Soja beans will grow on almost any 

 sort of soil, as above mentioned, and severe 

 drouths seem to affect it but little. Of course, 

 the later kinds do not ripen seed here in the 

 North ; but the early soja beans, the one we 

 call coffee berry, will ripen seed perfectly any 

 season as far north as Ohio. 



ALFALFA. 



The spring meeting of the Eastern division of the 

 Northern Illinois Bee-keepers' Association will he 

 held at the residence of B. Kennedy, 7 miles south- 

 east of Rockford, 111., on rural route No. 5, and 3 miles 

 northeast of New Milford, 111., on Tuesday, May 21, 

 1901. All interested in bees are cordially invited to 

 attend. B. Kennedy, Sec'y. 



Our Ohio Experiment Station has just sent 

 out a press bulletin on alfalfa. We should be 

 glad to give place to the whole of it had we 

 space ; but we inust find room for the very 

 sensible boiled-down hints as follows which 

 they add at the close of their directions : 



NOW FOR A FEW "DON'TS": 



Don't sow alfalfa on poor soil. 



Don't sow alfalfa on wet soil. 



Don't forget to clip it three times the first year. 



Don't turn anv stock on it until the next May. 



Don't let alfalfa hay get dry before raking. 



Don't fail to cut your hay in time. That means to 

 be ready to cut by June first. 



Don't ever let stock on your alfalfa meadows in cold 

 weather. 



Don't sow alfalfa seed on unprepared soil, as you do 

 clover. 



If it fails with you, manure the ground, and try 

 again. 



Now is the time to sow alfalfa, or any time 

 during May. Sow 15 to 20 lbs. per acre on 

 good soil. When you once get a good stand 

 it is good for many years. 



