GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



The spined soldier-bug- is one of our most impor- 

 tant predaceous insects. I have seen it dining on 

 the grubs of our common potato-beetles, and its 

 appetite is not easily satisfied; on the large fine 

 tent caterpillars, and on several others of our most 

 dreaded insect-pests. Thus in the future, when we 

 elevate our noses in contemptuous derision of all 

 bugs, let us bear in mind that some of them, nota- 

 bly the wheel-bug and spined soldier-bug, are our 

 good friends, even fighting to rid us of our foes. 



Agricultural College, Mich. A. J. Cook. 



CALIFORNIA. 



ITS WONDERFUL CAPABILITIES, AND ESPECIALLY 



THE DIFFERENT RESULTS OBTAINED IN LO- 



CALITIES BUT A SHORT DISTANCE FROM 



EACH OTHER. 



fRIEND ROOT:— Your travels in California are 

 quite pleasant reading; but, like all those 

 who have not spent years here in various 

 parts of the State, you generalize from par- 

 ticular instances much too freely. For in 

 stance, you say (p. 975), "A little neglect in irriga 

 tion, and your strawberries, corn, aye, and even 

 orange-trees, are 'gone dead,' " and several other 

 remarks of a like kind; yet at my place (near Santa 

 Paula) I could have shown you tons of fine corn 

 which never had one drop of water, from planting 

 to husking— either rain or irrigation. My ranch is 

 without water except what I catch in tanks and 

 cisterns. I can show you dozens of thrifty oranges, 

 lemons, pomelos, and other citrus trees that had 

 half a pail of water each when set out, and no 

 more, except the natural rainfall. We have toma- 

 toes every day in the year, without irrigation. Fig- 

 cuttings planted two years ago are now large bear- 

 ing trees, a foot in circumference. 1 have now 

 growing, since 1884, when I homesteaded my place, 

 the following fruits: Apples, pears, olives, quinces, 

 apricots, almonds, walnuts.flgs, nectarines, prunes, 

 plums, cherries, guavas, persimmons, and other 

 Japanese fruits, oranges, lemons, loquates, pome- 

 granates, pomelos, besides small fruits, grapes, 

 and some rare kinds like hovenia dulcis, zapote 

 blanca, etc., and all these are grown without irriga- 

 tion, almost at the top of a mountain. The secret 

 lies in thorough cultivation. Yet, as a paying crop, 

 I should never think of planting strawberries, for 

 example, though I could make them grow and 

 bear some, almost any time of the year. 



The truth is, one never knows what will do well 

 on a piece of ground until he tries it. Nor can you 

 be sure of varieties paying iu untried localities. 

 For example, take my nectarines. In 1884 I plant- 

 ed Hardwick, New White, and Boston nectarines. 

 In 188V, the Hardwick bore 150 lbs. to the tree. The 

 others bore not one. In 1888, the Hardwick bore 

 175 lbs. to the tree. The others bore a dozen 

 pounds. My peach-trees varied from 425 lbs. to 20. 

 My apricot-trees showed me that the Royal and 

 Hemskirk here bore almost ten times as much to 

 the tree (about 200 lbs.) as the Moorpark and Peach 

 apricot; yet 6 miles away the latter kinds are the 

 choice varieties. One mile east of me apricots do 

 little or nothing, while pears are a success. My 

 pears are a failure. I planted 150 trees in 1884, and 

 have got a dozen pears so far. So I might go on 

 through the lists of fruits, but one more example 



will suffice. In one part of my canon, near the 

 house, I have three English walnuts, not two 

 years old, from the nut, all over 9 feet high, and 

 one over 11 feet, an almost unparalleled growth. 

 Not far away I have three others in like gocd soil, 

 having had like care, and they are not three feet 

 high. Why this difference? The former had more 

 rain three or four times during the two winters. 

 In fact, they had what was equal to double the 

 rain of the others, owing to their situation at the 

 foot of a hill. I have 12 acres in English walnuts, 

 all growing very well indeed, yet I shall not know 

 whether walnuts pay in my cahon for eight or ten 

 years. I simply guess they will pay. Soil, rainfall, 

 shelter, location, all have a wonderful influence. 



Now about the chicken business, which looks so 

 profitable here to you. True, we can raise lots of 

 chickens every month in the year, and vermin too. 

 My next neighbor, last year, with 19 hens, raised 

 over 200 chicks with little care. But next month 

 she may have 19 left. One friendly cat (lynx) re- 

 duced my stock by dozens in a few days. I wake 

 at night and hear the chickens crying "badger! " 

 and see three or four dead in the hen-house. A 

 sportive cayote gobbles up a willful hen and her 

 chicks from their nest— hid from my eyes. A fat 

 squirrel runs for the egg when he hears a hen 

 cackle, and finds the egg half way down a gopher- 

 snake's neck. We have nearly as many hawks here 

 as chickens, and— we generally have enough eggs 

 to use, and we eat at least half as many chickens 

 as the " varmints " get, so it pays us to keep chick- 

 ens, though 1 believe bees pay better. 



Now a few words about our California names, 

 which are often very suggestive. The " Chollas " 

 (pronounced Ch6-y&) Valley was named from a kind 

 of cactus. Spanish double I is pronounced like "y " 

 by our Mexicans.* "Tia Juana," meaning " Aunt 

 Jane," is really a corruption of an Indian name 

 meaning "by the sea." Omitting the saints, more 

 than half those odd names are really Indian, and 

 more than half the Indian names have " water " as 

 a part of the word. Now. why so many saints in 

 California? The early Spaniards were very relig- 

 ious. They have one or more saints for every day 

 in the year. They discovered San Diego on St. 

 James' day, and San Dieguffo on the day of the 

 Lesser St. James. Tf they camped at San Luis 

 Obispo on the day of St. Louis the Bishop, that was 

 the name to give the place. Another day it was 

 St. Luis Rey (the King); another, the day of the 

 Queen of the Angels (Los Angeles); another, San 

 Jose (St. Joseph). Both Indians and Spanish were 

 extremely unimaginative in most of their nam- 

 ings. Valle de las Viejas (ve-a-has) sounds very 

 poetical, but it is simply "the valley of the old 

 woman;" that is, where an old woman lived. Arr- 

 oyo Burro is the creek where some one lost his 

 donkey. They get imaginative only when they get 

 scared. Thus, friend Wilkin's bees are at the 

 mouth of Sespe Creek, and the Sespe are devils 

 which they thought lived in those oil-springs and 

 spoiled the water. Further up is a " Devil's Po- 

 trero, " or pasture-ground. I made California 

 names a special study for some time, so if those 

 who are reading up the State want to inquire 

 about meanings or pronunciations I am " loaded 

 up." ________ 



*The Spanish It should be followed byy; hence 

 "Chollas" should be pronounced "Choal-yas." In 

 Spanish, ch is like ch in the English word chair. 



