January, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



in any business to put up a motto like tliat 

 and then proceed to defraud and ciieat his 

 fellow-nien, especially if his business con- 

 tinued to grow and prosper year after 

 year? Falsehood, "camouflage," and some 

 others of these new things just started with 

 the war, deceive a good many and succeed 

 for a time, in the business of cheating and 

 swindling; but all such enterprises soon get 

 to the end of their string. 



As I write on this 2nd day of October, 

 Germany is fast approaching the end of 

 the string I have been speaking of. She 

 has managed to get along in her iniquitous 

 ways for an unusual number of years; but 

 her doom is now coming ; and, as I write, it 

 seems to be coming swifter and faster every 

 day. Dear reader, no matter whether you 

 are old or young, man or woman, boy or 

 girl, will it not pay you to remember the 

 legend on the coins in your pocket — "In God 

 we Trust?" and may this not only be writ- 

 ten and stamped indelibly in the innermost 

 recesses of your heart, but may it be your 

 constant effort both day and night to live 

 up to the little precept and to make the 

 great God, who rules in heaven as well as 

 here on earth, your daily confidant, coun- 

 selor, and friend. 



THE SUNFLOWER : NOT ONLY MILK AND 



HONEY, BUT PERHAPS BUTTER ALSO 



FROM THE SAME PLANT. 



The article in our issue for October in 

 regard to sunflower for silage has brought 

 foi'th quite a little correspondence. About 

 tlie first of Sei^tember I planted some seeds 

 of the Mammoth Russian sunflower to see 

 what it would do so late in the season. To- 

 day, Nov. 8, some of the plants are nearly 

 two feet high ; and one of our cows eats 

 them with avidity. I first gave her some 

 sunflower heads that I found in a neigh- 

 bor's garden. These she devoured eagerly, 

 and aftei-ward chewed up the stalks that 

 bore immature heads. After having got 

 this taste, she eats my young plants eager- 

 ly, and " calls for more." The other cow 

 (we have only two) does not seem to 

 " catch on," and the same is true of the 

 horses, from which I am led to think it is 

 somewhat of an acquired appetite like 

 sweet clover. 



A Government bulletin, No. 687, records 

 some experiments in regard to using oil 

 from sunflower seeds for human food. This 

 oil compares favorably with any other food 

 oil known ; and if it can be produced 

 cheaply enough, it would be very likely to 

 take the place of butter. Since butter is 

 so high just now (60 to 70 cents) it seems 

 quite likely the oil from sunflower seeds 



might be eatable. I found the clipping 

 below in the Plain Dealer: 



"We passed thru an immense field of sunflowers. 

 I looked inquiringly at Richter. ' We extract oil 

 from them,' he explained. ' You will see thousands 

 of fields just like this one all over Germany.' " 



I have read somewhere that in Russia 

 sunflower seed is a gi-eat staple, the people 

 using the meats in place of animal food, 

 and also using oil. We have some reports 

 in regard to 100 bushels of seed to the 

 acre. From what I can gather, my impres- 

 sion is that it is only occasionally that sun- 

 flowers yield honey in any considerable 

 amount. I shall be vei-y glad to get addi- 

 tional information. 



The Government bulletin, dated May 25, 

 reads as follows: 



" The crop was harvested for silage on September 

 22, at which time on about 50 per cent of the plants 

 the seeds were well formed and in the ' dough ' 

 stage, while the remainder were not so nearly ma- 

 tured. The yield from the plat in which the plants 

 were thinned to 15 inches was at the rate of 16.91 

 tons per acre, and from the plat thinned to 6 inches 

 the yield was at the rate of 19.42 tons per acre.." 



My little planting has demonstrated what 

 has already been said, tliat the sunflower 

 stands frost much better than corn. At 

 this date, Nov. 9, we have had no severe 

 frosts here in our locality; and light frosts 

 that cut down the late corn seem to have 

 had little or no effect on the sunflowers. 



THE ELECTRIC WINDMILL; FLORIDA GARDEN. 



Day after tomorrow is Thanksgiving 

 day; and it should be, and God grant that 

 it may be, the greatest icorld-wide Thanks- 

 giving the whole wide world has ever 

 known — a thanksgiving with less " booze " 

 than the world has ever known in propor- 

 tion to the population. Noav to come away 

 down to m7j little world, in my modest 

 Florida home you may care to know what 

 makes me more than ordinarily happy. I 

 found my good friend Kaiser had the' elec- 

 tric auto in fine trim, with the batteries 

 well stored and the windmill rejoicing (?) 

 in a new rubber endless belt. The common 

 belt wore out during the summer, and the 

 Goodyear R ubber Co. of A kron, 0., made us a 

 rubber belt which they think will stand Flor- 

 ida warmth and winters. Remember, this 

 is the second auto on the whole face of the 

 earth (so far as T have been able to learn) 

 that is propelled by wind power. I feel a 

 thrill every time I look up at the beauti- 

 ful windmill; and every mile I ride in the 

 electric auto I have a succession of thrills. 

 Both of these beautiful pieces of machin- 

 ery are but the realization and culmination 

 of the two playthings of my boyhood. 



I think I may confess to you, dear 

 friends, one more reason for thanking God 



