944 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15 



Only about 35,000 acres of it is now under 

 cultivation. 



The general plan of opening- up this coun- 

 try was to put it in the hands of a board 

 of control, of which Mr. F. E. Dodge, at 

 Delta, is the corresponding- secretary and 

 treasurer. At the time of my visit there 

 were something- like 100,000 men at work in 

 tlie ditches. One ditch was 36 miles long 

 and the other 31. These ditches, when 

 completed, would make available for culti- 

 vation something like 50,000 acres, all of 

 which was in Delta Co. There are other 

 portions of Western Colorado that will be 

 opened up in like manner. Any one inter- 

 ested can correspond with Mr. Dodge as 

 above. 



Let me say right here, as I have said 

 from time to time, I am in no way interest- 

 ed in any land speculation; but I am anx- 

 ious to help our brother bee-keepers who 

 desire to find new territory not occupied 

 already. The region round about Delta 

 and Grand Junction is a fruit country; and 

 so long as one does not encroach on the ter- 

 ritory of another, he has a right to avail 

 himself of land now being opened up for 

 cultivation. 



I met at Delta Mr. Nelson, of the Delta 

 Fruit and Produce Co., who are also local 

 dealers in supplies in that region; and 

 here I subsequently met Mr. J. A. Harris, 

 the most extensive bee-keeper in that local- 

 ity. He came originally from the eastern 

 part of the State, starting about three years 

 ago with about a hundred colonies, and 

 paying $200 of borrowed money for them, 

 lie located in the vallevs and on the mesns 



in the region of Delta. From this invest- 

 ment of S200 he secured about S900 the first 

 year; paid back the $200 which he had bor- 

 rowed, for he had not a cent when he came 

 on that side of the Rockies; and with what 

 he could save he bought more bees until he 

 had 350 colonies. From these he took $2300 

 in clean cash the next year. From the pro- 

 ceeds of this $2300 he purchased bees until 

 he had 950 colonies. At the time of my 

 visit he had several yards, and was carry- 

 ing on bee-keeping on an extensive scale. 

 I was convinced from what I saw of him, 

 that, while he had a good locality, he was 

 also an exceptionally good bee-keeper. 



The land on the mesas had originally 

 been put into alfalfa; but the alkali due to 

 irrigation had forced its way up through 

 the soil, killing ofi^ the plant to a great 

 extent; but sweet clover had, strangely 

 enough, come in and taken its place. In 

 the vicinity of one of Mr. Harris' yards 

 there were hundreds and hundreds of acres 

 of sweet clover as well as bunches of alfal- 

 fa that had not been killed out by the al- 

 kali in the soil. The land had been aban- 

 doned for purposes of agriculture, and 

 would grow at that time nothing but sweet 

 clover and scattering bunches of alfalfa. 



When I visited Mr. Harris his comb- 

 honey colonies had four and five supers on, 

 and were still gathering honey from the 

 alfalfa and sweet clover referred to. But 

 the principal feature of this locality was 

 that the alkali, having pushed up through 

 the soil, had rendered it unfit for agricul- 

 tural purposes; and consequently the al- 

 fnlfa. where it mn'd rxist :\t all. would 



Ji)HX A. HARRIS AND FAMILY, FORMERLY OF DELTA, COL. 



