Nov. 26, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



757 



son. or a good deal of th.: latter's work with bees in this Slate I have 

 been familiar, as I, some time aiico, collected all the information I 

 could about the early history of bees into this State. 1 am tjlad he 

 was " drawn out," as he had heretofore kept his " li^rht hidden under 

 a bushel.'' Little has he [,'iven to bee-keepers since he i)ul)ished his 

 book, the " Bee-Keepers' Itireetory." He has been a great bee-keeper, 

 and it is loo bad for the fraternity that he did not do more writing, 

 especially for the bee-papers. His book was a good one. While it is 



out of print, I have 

 seen a few copies of it 

 around some of the sec- 

 ond-hand book-shops. 

 That is where I pro- 

 cured my copy, as well 

 as one for a friend. 



1 notice, that Mr. 

 Harbison came to this 

 Slate in ls.>J, the year 

 my father came, I be- 

 lieve. Both were en- 

 gaged in the sauje busi- 

 ness, my father being 

 located at first in San 

 Francisco, and after- 

 ward in Alameda coun- 

 H', then what were por- 

 tions of Contra Costa 

 or Santa Clara counties. 

 .Mr. H.'s remarks about 

 t'etting $1.00 a pound 

 for honey reminds me 

 of some of the early 

 settlers telling me that 

 ibev saw a single peach 

 sold for SI. 00. My 

 father told me that he 

 ^old ordinary varieties 

 (if.'roses in the .Ws, in 

 I his city, for $10 the 

 plant. Strawberries 

 sold for more than $1 

 a pound in the early 

 w. A I'KVAL. days. All this seems 



strange to us Califor- 

 nians of the present day, when fruit Is about the most common prod- 

 uct of the soil we have, and can, at times, be had tor almost nothing. 

 And here honey has sold for less than it does in any portion of the 

 world, in all probability. 



Mr. Harbison voiced splendid advice when he called for the plant- 

 ing of honey-secreting plants. I have contended for a quarter of a 

 century — it begins to make me feel old when I speak of such a long 

 period of time — for the planting of honey-producing trees and plants. 

 It was in 1S?T, I believe, I drew attention to the fact that the eucalyp- 

 tus was a great honey-producing tree. This fact may have been noted 

 by others before I mentioned it in the bee-papers. I am glad that the 

 tree is now fully recognized as a boon to apiarists. 



I firmly believe that alfalfa will be one of our great honey-plants 

 scattered all over the State. I tind that it is now growing in all man- 

 ner of out-of-the-way places. Birds and other animals are sowing the 

 seed far and near. In time it will be found growing wild on the 

 highest hill-tops, as well as in the valleys. I find it growing in the 

 most unlooked-for places in Alameda and San Francisco counties. It 

 behooves bee-keepers to scatter the seed by roadsides and other places, 

 which will then become distributing centers, so to speak. A good 

 place to sow the seed is well up in the hills and mountains near a 

 stream. In this way the seed from the plants that will thus come into 

 existence, will work their way downward and edge the stream with a 

 garland of alfalfa for the bees to revel in — first, away up on the hill- 

 side (if it is a sunny exposure), and later in the valley below. 



There is no doubt in my mind but the whole of California is a big 

 bee-garden. The central and northern portions of the State have the 

 advantage, owing to the fact that they are better supplied with rain- 

 falls. While as much water-white honey may not be produced north- 

 ward at present. I believe the time is not far off when color in honey 

 will not cut much of a figure so long as the article is of good flavor. 

 To my notion, some of the amber-colored honey I have tasted sur- 

 passed any of the so-called white honeys. 



We are having nice rains. They came late this season. The grass 

 on the hills and valleys is shooting up rapidly. If you were here now 

 you would not find things as parched as they were when you were 

 here in August — in the middle of our dry season. Mind you, when 

 you saw some of the lower counties you saw but a very .■<mall portion 

 of our great State. .lust remember there are some valleys that are 

 green the year around. There is the Pajaro valley, about loO miles 

 south of here, in Santa Cruz and .Monterey counties, that is as verdant 

 the year around as the Emerald Isle, and where the fine apples that 

 tickle the palates of Londoners are shipped from, to a great extent. 

 Then its strawberries and other small fruits are favorities in the San 

 Francisco markets. 'Tis a great producer of sugar-beets, butler, 

 cheese, etc. Then portions of Humboldt county has its rich valleys 

 that never fail of crops. While the rainfall of the south end of the 

 State may be five inches, the precipitation in that County nray, as it 

 often does, amount uji to so or 90 inches. Wonderful things happen 

 in California! 



Then along the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers there are vast 

 tracts of land where wonderful crop-yields are harvested annually. In 

 these valleys bees are not known to die of starvation, so I have been 

 told. But once in a while they have been drowned by overflows. 



In mentioning the eucalyptus I may say, in passing, that I found 



the inclosed clipping in the editorial columns of this morning's San 

 Francisco Call. Yours very eincerelv, 



W. A. Pryal. 

 The clipping mentioned by Mr. Pryal reads as follows : 



TIMBEIt AND BBB-FEEU. 



The Pacific Fruit World turns to the varieties of eucalyptus tree 

 to insure in California the amount of bloom necessary for bee-feed. 

 The honey-industry Is a large one. Sometimes the fields do not sullioe 

 to make what is considered a full crop. How is this defect to be 

 reu)Bdiedf The Fruit World says simply that the planting of a 

 proper number of eucalyptus trees is all that is requisite. 



There is something novel in the proposition to cover the land 

 with trees of the size of the lofty eucalyptus to serve the minute, 

 buzzing honey-makers. It does not follow from this suggestion, that 

 because the idea is new, it is not practicable. Indeed, the Fruit World 

 cites facts that are at least interesting in support of its scheme. 



There are a sufficient number of varieties of eucalyptus known to 

 California to provide blooms during every season in greater or less 

 quantity. When the flower-bearing plants and shrubs fail to contrib- 

 ute their full quota of nectar, the eucalyptus would be invaluable, so 

 estimates the Fruit World. " It is possible," says the editor of the 

 journal, " to make such planting of eucalyptus trees as to secure from 

 them a succession of bloom which will, in addition to their use as 

 fuel, give ranges for the honey -gatherers." 



The Eucalyptus callophylla and the Eucalyptus acemenoides are 

 in flower from .luly to October. The first-named is the bearerof white, 

 blossoms. The Eucalyptus cornuta, which is well known by its atliu- 

 euce of yellow fiowers. follows closely after the callophylla in time of 

 blossoming. The Eucalyptus corymbrosia has the same season prac- 

 tically. The Eucalyptus exima, a low-growing tree, reigns florally 

 from Septeiuber to December. The Eucalyptus punctata, famed for 

 withstanding drouth, is an October bloomer. The most brilliant of 

 the euealptus family is the ficifolia, but its season is short. On tlie 

 adobe hills the rudis thrives. At all seasons the occidentalis proclaims 

 its name through its crimson adornments. Then there are the Leli 

 mellidora, that is rich in honey; the lehmani, the paniculata. 



Seeds and trees, it is said, are available to start all the plantations 

 that may be required. The eucalyptus has retained its popularity 

 variously in this State during many years. 



Tall groves make wind-breaks to shield orchards of deciduous and 

 citrus fruits in many localities. Long avenues of shade attest its 

 desirability in another use. Stout cord-wood it makes to enhance the 

 joys of home, as it is consigned to the open grate. Medicinal qualities 

 inhere in it, and many men bless its oil. It has been employed to 

 furnish material for cleansing the interiors of steam-boilers. Now, 

 humming through the ambrosial air of California, the nectar-gather- 

 ing bee may add its note of cheerful praise for the boquets of flowers 

 raised high above arid lands by the eucalyptus' aspiring and mast- 

 like trunk as a source of a table dainty. 



The above is right in line with Prof. Cook's article on another 

 page. Wherever the famous eucalyptus will grow, we should think 

 that bee-keepers would aid in planting it. Its honey is delicious, of 

 excellent flavor, thick in body, though rather dark in color. But as 

 Mr. Pryal well says, color in honey will be of less importance as time 

 goes on. Color in honey is now, and has been, a fad which we are 

 certain will pass away like many another senseless fad. 



A Califoi-nia Trip Correction comes from Wisconsin, in the 

 following: 



Dear Brother York: — Didn't that coyote "convention," the 

 altitude, heat, " Max Jenney's talk," or something, gel you a little 

 " mixed " when you announced in the American Bee .Journal of Oct. 

 1st, that you traveled through the New Mexico desert after leaving Wil- 

 liams, and through the Arizona desert after leaving the Needles, on 

 your way to Los Angeles ' Have traveled over the Santa Fe route four 

 limes, and never found it thus. Perhaps there has been a big earth- 

 quake since I was there. It used to be Arizona from Williams to 

 Needles, and California the rest of the way to the coast. Don't won- 

 der "Max'' failed to tell you that that ^50 miles of the worst deserty 

 kind of desert, from Needles to San Bernardino, was all California^ 

 beautiful, " blooming '' California— or that you failed to discover it for 

 yourself. Why, I lived in San Bernardino County more than three 

 years before I discovered it, or even knew that it was all San Bernar- 

 dino County from Needles to Los Angeles I There are some big things 

 in California besides trees and liars. 



Your description of " Max " was particularly good. Did you hap- 

 pen ('.) to meet his twin brother, "The Real Estate .\gent!'' Of 

 course you did ; the deserts are full of him. You were not there long 

 enough to stc and learn everything. Still I have known people to stay 

 there less than a week and know It all, or lliinL- they did, when, in fact, 

 the amount they did nutknuw would have made a large encyclopedia. 



There are some curious things growing in those deserts besides 

 yucca, cacti, horned-toads, etc. I am going to send you something I 

 "</)•(■ Hi" there, without any irrigating. I call it "A California Wel- 

 come." I hope you will excuse me for calling you " Brother," but, 

 the fact is, my husband is a bee-keeper, as was his father before him, 

 and bee-keeping seems to " run '' in the family. 



An Ex-Californian, with a big X, Mart B. Hall 



Yes, Mrs. Hall, you are right in your correction. 

 See page 7(52 for that " Welcome." 



