1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Bo 



tends to devote it. The air is extremely dry, clear, 

 and free from fog, frosts, or extremes of heat and 

 cold. Its medicinal springs, similar to those of 

 Newgate, England, are already attracting some at- 

 tention. The ranch is situated in the oil-belt, seven 

 miles from the largest, oil-well in the State, and 

 one-half mile from where wells are now being sunk, 

 and has oil and "brear" on the surface in various 

 places. Owing to mountain ranges, all travel from 

 the north for a large section passes through the 

 ranch, and the town site of Piru City is located on a 

 pretty piece of ground at the railroad crossing. 



I inquired of Mrs. Reasoner about bis 

 looks and actions. She says be is never 

 happy unless he is directing some new en- 

 terprise ; that it seems impossible for him 

 to sit still a minute. In the Sunday-school 

 he is a most vehement and energetic work- 

 er, although she said that some Sundays he 

 looked as if he were ready to drop, evident- 

 ly from overwork. If these words should 

 ever meet the eye of friend Cook I would 

 remind him that even the most enduring 

 frame may be taxed beyond its limit. 

 While he may thank God for the wonderful 

 endurance and business energy and capaci- 

 ty with which he has been endowed, he 

 should remember, ut What shall it profit a 

 man if he shall gain the whole world and 

 lose his own soul? 1 ' It rejoiced my heart to 

 see how the promise has been verified in his 

 case : 



Godliness is profitable for all things: having the 

 promise of the life that now is. and of that which is 

 to come.— I. Tim. 4:8. 



SKUNKS AND UEES. 



There is quite a little difficulty here from 

 these pests. At Mr. Marple's apiary we hap- 

 pened to pass a hive where the bees came out 

 so furiously it attracted attention, when Mr. 

 Reasoner examined the entrance, and at 

 once declared skunks had been troubling 

 them. The ground was dug up around the 

 entrance, and marks of their claws were 

 plainly visible. Friend R. directed the own- 

 er to put some strychnine in some comb 

 honey and place it at night near the en- 

 trance, to be removed next morning if not 

 taken. He said he had in this way killed 

 more than a dozen. Friend J. J. Cole, at 

 Tropico, where I am at present, says he has 

 been also annoyed, and he poisons them in 

 much the same way. At friend Marple's 

 apiary we found perhaps a dozen hives 

 where skunks had dug around the entrance. 

 Friend Cole thinks they scratch the hive so 

 as to cause the bees to come out, and then 

 kill them by mashing them in the dirt before 

 they eat them. 



On account of the late poor seasons, bees 

 are offered at comparatively low prices. An 

 apiary near San Diego was offered us at 

 $1.25 per colony. There were something 

 over 100 colonies, but they were in a poor 

 sort of hive. Here at Tropico over 100 colo- 

 nies, in very good two-story hives, are of- 

 fered at $2.00 per colony. In both cases the 

 owner wanted to give up the business. 



Dec. 6. — The sun rises upon me this morn- 

 ing at the home of W. W. Uliss, Duarte. 

 Friend Bliss is not at home, but 1 found that 

 his mother knows me well through Glean- 

 ings ; and as she is deeply interested in 

 poultry, incubators, etc., we passed a very 

 agreeable evening. I am glad I love all 

 rural industries and interests that take the 



attention of the inmates of Our Homes, and 

 Our Neighbors. All about me here are ex- 

 tensive orange-groves. Right near where I 

 sit writing is a great wagon full of crotched 

 poles, long and short, to prop the limbs of 

 the orange-trees, to keep them from break- 

 ing off. The soil here is almost clear pul- 

 verized granite, washed down from the 

 mountains. It is so soft, even before plow- 

 ing, that the foot sinks into it when you 

 walk. It cultivates most beautifully, and, 

 when worked and watered several years, it 

 seems like soft sand. Every thing grows in 

 it most wonderfully. Corn that has been 

 dropped grows right up, even in December ; 

 but I am told the nights are too cold for 

 corn to do well now ; but many plant it for 

 fodder, even in winter. Squashes, or Cali- 

 fornia pumpkins, grow all over the country, 

 in the greatest abundance, without any irri- 

 gation at all. and often without any cultiva- 

 tion. Day before yesterday I saw, on a 

 protected southern slope, great strong plants 

 just out of the ground. They are always 

 seen in waste places the year round, for the 

 very best place to keep them is right where 

 they grow, so that the new crop and those a 

 year old are often found in the same field. 

 I am now right in the narrow fruit-belt I 

 have before spoken of, that runs along at 

 the foot of the mountain. An orange-or- 

 chard, with the trees loaded so the limbs are 

 touching the ground, is one of the most 

 beautiful sights, and right here there are 

 miles of such. An irrigating stream, with 

 its pure clear mountain water, running over 

 a bed of gravel, composed of fragments of 

 gray granite, is also to me a most exhilarat- 

 ing sight. The roads here at Duarte are 

 broad, well traveled, and made beautifully 

 smooth with these same granite pebbles. 



.' o'clock.— To Hube®;— Papa has just visit- 

 ed what is called in California a '• chicken 

 ranch." Two young men have got some 

 land and put up little coops, or chicken- 

 houses, all over it. They have three incu- 

 bators, or machines to hatch chickens, at 

 work ; and day before yesterday one of the 

 machines hatched out 200. When the sun 

 goes behind a cloud they just peep, peep, 

 peep, for they haven't any mamma to keep 

 them warm; but when it comes out again, 

 and shines through the little windows, then 

 the chickens all crowd into the sunshine, 

 and are just as happy as can be. At night 

 they all go into a brooder that is warmed by 

 a big lamp. Just beyond these very small 

 ones are some chicks two weeks old ; and 

 further on some older still, and so on. The 

 largest ones, that have got their tails grown 

 out, run out in the field where they please. 

 Then they have ducks and turkeys too. and 

 the ducks have nice clear ponds to swim in : 

 and a lot of pretty springs in the hillside 

 furnish clear water for the ducks, turkeys, 

 and chickens. The real little ones are fed 

 about every hour on bread and milk. At 

 noon the boys had prepared a very nice din- 

 ner for us; and just before we sat down to 

 dinner, one of the boys bowed his head and 

 asked a blessing. I tell you, papa felt real 

 glad to see them do that, for he knew then 

 they were Christian boys who loved God 

 and were trying hard to do right- Their 



