GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. is 



come to the surface; lands had become val- 

 ueless, the owners sunk their all, and were 

 compelled to go to some other place or 

 starve. Here and there were foundations 

 that had supported g-ood buildings. Over 

 yonder was the site of a large warehouse 

 where tons and tons of grain had been 

 stored, raised on this very land that had 

 turned to brine. Mr. McCubbin told me 

 that the whole village had taken itself to 

 wheels. The houses were raised up and 

 put on moving-trucks, all to be moved to 

 some locality remote from the dread de- 

 stroyer of vegetable growth. This sight of 

 former glory and prosperity of old Mother 

 Earth, now all gone to ruia, was something 

 I shall never forget. 



I said, "Mr. McCubbin, how is one go- 

 ing to know whether apparently good land 

 he is thinking of buying may not some day 

 become worthless? " 



"He can not tell positively," he said; 

 "but there are certain indications now 

 known to practical men by which we can 

 determine with a fair degree of certainty 



whether the land will continue to be fertile, 

 and free from subsoil alkali." 



"But," said I, "how about the land 

 round about Reedley? Is any one practic 

 ally sure that t/iaf land, so productive as 

 to grow wheat and alfalfa in perfection, 

 will not in time sweat out the brine be- 

 neath, like that which almost borders on 

 it?" 



" While we can not be positive," said he, 

 " yet it has remained fertile and productive 

 for a good many years, and will probably' 

 continue to be so." 



On our long pleasant drive we passed 

 many and many irrigating-ditches — one 

 might almost call them fair-sized rivers. 

 Along their banks would be the beautiful 

 trees, so that one could see the line of the 

 ditches miles and miles away over that 

 level country. These water-ways go right 

 through some of these alkali tracts. I ask- 

 ed Mr. McCubbin whether it would not be 

 possible to reclaim some of that land. He 

 had a theory that certain kinds of| trees 

 might be grown in it, and in time i bring 



J. K. KLOKY'S AFIAKY UNUKK TKKES ABOUT TEN YEARS OLD. 



