Jan. S, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



23 



branches of farming- may not reap similar benefit. Of 

 course, if they are less concentrated in locality, and have 

 not so intelligfent a conting^ent, they must wait longer for 

 this Rood fruit. 



HINDRANCES TO SUCCESS. 



There are serious inherent obstacles to rapid success in 

 these directions. Our farmers, including- apiarists, are 

 isolated. They are generally unacquainted with the meth- 

 ocls of trade, in these stirring times ; they are suspicious, 

 and fear to trust others : the3' often are very slow to give 

 their products into the hands of others to handle ; in short, 

 reluctant to do what the successful railroad and factory 

 must, and safely do in their operations. Our farmers must 

 be educated to see the necessity, safety and great wisdom, 

 of course. It will not be the work of an hour. Such ex- 

 perience, however, as that of Southern California Fruit 

 Exchange is a valuable object lesson and a quick teacher. 

 Are -not our bee-keepers sufficiently educated to organize in 

 like way ? And thus become the second teacher in this 

 great school of advanced and improved methods of business. 



A second embarrassment comes from the need of first- 

 class management. These combinations do a tremendous 

 business. This requires great integrity, push, business 

 sense, and breadth of mind and judgment. Such qualities 

 are not lying around hunting for employment, and must be 

 patiently sought for and generously recompensed. Rail- 

 roads appreciate this fact and act accordingly. Farmers 

 are not likely, from their very life habits, to appreciate 

 such business character rightly, are slow to acknowledge 

 its rarity, and are reluctant to recompense it as do other 

 lines of business. This is certainly a grave obstacle but 

 must be pushed aside, with more time and wisdom. Our 

 people must recognize the value of business judgment, and 

 must be willing to pay for it. A simple exercise of superior 

 business instinct may win or save many times a high sal- 

 ary. How short-sighted, then, to refuse it when large in- 

 terests are involved ! 



A MENACING COUNTERPART. 



A threatening companion of thiswise, competent mana- 

 ger is his cupidity. He may so fully appreciate his own 

 value that he himself will put an enormous price upon his 

 service. California has already suffered in this way. Mr. 

 Kearney, of the Raisin Combine, won a very large success 

 the first year of the organization. He was paid a very 

 large salary. No doubt it might have been better to have 

 retained him even at a much larger salary. It is not strange, 

 however, that the farmers chafed under a proposition to 

 increase the recompense largely. It has seemed strange to 

 me that men cannot be broad enough to see that there is 

 glory in such service far beyond the value of money. I 

 should suppose that Mr. Dennis Kearney, and the fine busi- 

 ness men that have helped to bring the Southern California 

 Fruit Exchange to such tremendous proportions and to such 

 gratifying success, would take such pride in their achieve- 

 ment that they would be more than content, and would be 

 the last to jeopardize the further success by any proposi- 

 tion of higher remuneration. I can but believe that men 

 will be raised up who will not only be able to push this work 

 to its highest accomplishment, but will also be more than 

 willing to accept salaries that will be tolerated, without irri- 

 tation, at least, by our most wise and progressive farmers. 



With this as an introduction I will leave the subject for 

 a time, when I will outline what seems to me, in view of 

 the experience already enjoyed in Southern California, may 

 be adopted in the marketing of our honey product. I have 

 a hope — not over sanguine, I must say — that with our excel- 

 lent bee-papers and wide-awake, intelligent beekeepers, we 

 may commence a work of education that will soon bring us 

 a honey exchange in California if not in the whole country, 

 which will rival in interest and value that of the Southern 

 California Fruit Exchange. There is every reason to be- 

 lieve that Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and very likel3' several 

 other States, will quickly fall into line even if they do not 

 lead California in this new enterprise. 



Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



Pear-Blight and Sowing for Bee-Pasture. 



BY J. E. JOHNSON. 



I AM enough of a fanatic to be cranky on two things. 

 The first is pear-blight, and second, sowing for beepas- 

 turage. I have made pear-blight a study for years, have 

 an orchard of 900 trees, and not the slightest trace of 

 blight, although neighbors around me have blight, some 



orchards being nearly ruined by it. Some might think me 

 wild to run up against such a high fence as the authority 

 of Professors Cook and Waite, but I ask for nothing better 

 than a severe criticising from either, as I believe I have ray 

 thumb on the blight question, and can prove them both to 

 be on the side-track. A Stray Straw in Gleanings says 

 Kiefler pears were fine this year from trees which bore 

 worthless fruit last year. They were not good last year be- 

 cause the trees did not contain enough blossoms to attract 

 bees from other trees. Kieflfers do not fertilize themselves 

 sufficiently to make perfect its fruit, but will set fruit well 

 unaided, but some fruit will always be ill-shaped, and not 

 good, (hence the grading of Kieffer from percent to 100 

 percent.) We have had ripe pears to eat from July 15 until 

 winter ; many trees were white with blossoms, and not one 

 twig of blight. 



Now I am going to criticise Dr. Miller, just a little. 

 Catnip does not grow better in the shade, nor as well as it 

 does in the full sunshine. It grows in hedges because of 

 leaf-mold and protection from the tramping of stock, not 

 because of shade. I had patches this year in places where 

 old brush-piles had been rotted down in the form of a wash- 

 pan inverted, from 3 to 7 feet high, thick and thrifty, and 

 alive with bees every day, wet or dry, providing it was not 

 raining or too cold for the bees to work. Now, from what I 

 know of catnip (not so very much), I would say that ten 

 acres, in addition to the other honey resources we have, 

 would, in most seasons, give us a good crop, whether it was 

 a wet or dry season. Without catnip, the same seasons we 

 would sometimes get no surplus, because the flow from 

 clover comes in jerks, (it is now you have it and now you 

 don't have it). I have figured it thus : If you go over a 

 white clover pasture and find one bee to every 10 feet 

 square, on an average, all through its bloom, would not that 

 be about right ? Now I have seen SO or more bees, as near 

 as I could count, on 10 feet square of catnip, in these same 

 old brush-piles, right in the sun. Now, according to this, 

 10 acres of catnip would equal 500 acres of white clover, be- 

 sides catnip yields wet or dry, nearly all summer. Is it 

 possible bees would work so eagerly on it if it did not yield 

 well, and of good quality ? 



I have one acre sowed in catnip, slightly mulched to 

 protect the young plants from the heat of the sun until well 

 rooted, when it will be able to look after itself, so I shall be 

 more able to know about this matter. 



I began to sow seeds of different honey-plants nearly 20 

 years ago, but only in waste-places, and during this time I 

 have lived in different parts of Illinois, as well as in Kansas, 

 but I now have a nice little home of my own (80 acres of 

 land). I will send you a picture of it this summer, if I live, 

 as well as some of our fine Spoon River scenery, and I shall 

 try to sift this matter of bee-pasturage to the bottom. Our 

 great bee-men have done much in solving questions in bee- 

 keeping, but did any bee-keeper east of the Mississippi 

 River ever try any honey-plant in suflScient quantity to 

 know any thing about it ? Or at least to j udge of it, that is, 

 for honey alone ? 



Now, with me, white clover always yields in dry 

 weather, if we have the clover, but this is the way it works : 

 When real dry we have not the clover ; when real wet it does 

 not "give down." I do not know which is the best, but 

 sweet clover is a stand-by, unless extremely wet. Alfalfa 

 is so closely related to it that I am positive it will act much 

 the same, from what I can learn of it in the West. I was 

 visiting in Kansas last fall; their soil is sandy, and the 

 roots will soon creep down 8 or 10 feet in the ground ; but 

 here it may take several years to become adapted, but when 

 it does you maj' be sure it will not disappoint us ; it is not, 

 however, a low-ground plant. 



Bee-pasturage east of the Mississippi River is the great- 

 est unsolved question in bee-keeping, and notwithstanding 

 all arguments to the contrary, I shall work at this one thing. 

 It would mean much for many bee-keepers who have had 

 failure after failure. Knox Co., 111., Dec. 16. 



Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor bee-keep- 

 ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the 

 names and addresses of such as you may know do not now 

 get this journal? We will be glad to send them sample 

 copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper, 

 and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of . 

 success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe, 

 send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of 

 the premiums we are constantly offering as rewards for 

 such effort. 



