1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



931 



GLEANINGS FROM OUR 

 EXCHANGES 



By W. K. Morrison 



According to the best advices obtainable, the 

 sugar crop of the world is short, due to the 

 shrinkage of the Cuban output by 300,000 tons. 

 Corn is also high, so that glucose production 

 nuist be curtailed until the price of corn goes 

 down. The honey crops of Texas and Califor- 

 nia are considerably short of an average. 

 # 



The Texas Agricultural Experiment Station 

 has just issued an excellent bulletin on the hon- 

 ey-plants of the State. It is largely the work of 

 Louis Scholl, assisted by his brother, E. E. 

 Scholl. Professors Mally, Newell, Sanderson, 

 and Conradi also contributed. To the Texan 

 bee-keepers it will prove valuable, as they can 

 obtain the correct names of honey-plants by con- 

 sulting it. To students of honey-bearing plants 

 it must prove invaluable. 

 * 



MORE LAND FOR SETTLERS. 



Secretary Garfield has ordered opened for set- 

 tlement 18,000 acres of land embraced in the Sun 

 River irrigation project in Montana. Thisforms 

 what is known as the Fort Shaw unit, which was 

 withdrawn from entry while the canals were 

 building. The terms are somewhat the same as 

 for other irrigation projects built by the United 

 States government. Practically Uncle Sam will 

 give away 205 farms of first-class land. The 

 money paid is simply for the construction of the 

 v»aterworks. If you desire more information, 

 apply to the Statistician, United States Reclama- 

 tion Service, Washington, D. C. 

 # 



PARCELS POST AND GROCERS. 



At the recent convention of the National Gro- 

 cers' Association a strong])^ worded resolution 

 was passed against parcels post in any form. As 

 no one has proposed sending groceries by mail 

 except on rural routes it seems as if the grocers 

 went out of their way to take a slap at the farmers. 

 It would be well if more resolutions of this sort 

 were passed, for the farmers would soon be in a 

 position to know who are their friends and who 

 are their enemies. The special agent of the ex- 

 press companies in the national Senate, Mr. 

 Piatt, will soon retire (at the end of the term), 

 and ere long we shall know just who is against 

 this great improvement in our mail service, as 

 Senator Carter intends to force Congress either to 

 reject or accept parcels post. 



MAMMOTH CLOVER AS A SOIL-IMPROVER. 



In Michigan there is what is what is known as 

 the " jack-pine lands," which have proved until 

 lately a sort of white elephant to all who essayed 

 to work them. Experienced farmers with means 

 tried their hand at the problem of soil improve- 

 ment, always to meet with defeat. Recently it 

 was discovered that mammoth clover would grow 

 luxuriantly on these sandy lands, and this proved 

 to be the key to the whole situation. Growing 

 this clover for some time fits the soil for other 



crops, so that all the farmer requires to make a 

 fair start is a supply of mammoth-clover seed. 

 Michigan has some 2,000,000 acres of such pine 

 lands; Wisconsin an equal amount, and Minne- 

 sota even more, so that the value of the discov- 

 ery is considerable. Bee-keepers will be pleased, 

 as mammoth clover is a honey-plant of consider- 

 able value. The United States Department of 

 Agriculture has recently issued a bulletin cover- 

 ing this subject. We think it is free. 



A LESSON FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



The millers of the Northwest at their recent 

 convention decided to spend $100,000 in an ac- 

 tive campaign in behalf of white flour. They 

 say they were forced to do this by the oft-repeat- 

 ed assertion of the breakfast-food manufacturers 

 and others that fine bolted wheat flour, when 

 made into bread, produces stomach troubles, 

 whereas there is no truth in such a statement. 

 For years Americans have had it dinned into 

 into their ears that fine white flour is injurious, 

 with the result that the sale of it has been seri- 

 ously curtailed — at least the millers entertain 

 that opinion. Bee-keepers can learn a valuable 

 lesson from the millers as to the value of print- 

 ers' ink. They can learn another — not to allow 

 derogatory statements about honey to appear in 

 the public prints. After a while people get to 

 believe such statements to be true, and act ac- 

 cordingly. The net result is that the whole in- 

 dustry is hurt. 



* 



A NEW KIND OF WAX. 



Newspaper reports from Southwest Texas pro- 

 claim the discovery of a kind of vegetable wax 

 which can be extracted from a native desert plant 

 known as candalai, growing profusely on desert 

 lands in Brewster and Terrell counties in very 

 much the same manner as rubber is extracted 

 from the guayula plant in the same region. A 

 Mr. Willet, a mining engineer, claims the merit 

 of the discovery, and has just secured a conces- 

 sion from the Governor of Texas allowing him 

 to appropriate all the candalia-plants he can get 

 for five years. He proposes to erect extraction- 

 works at Sanderson, Texas, and interest local 

 capitalists in his enterprise. He claims there is 

 not less than 100,000,000 tons of this shrub in 

 sight in Southwest Texas. This is a rather high 

 estimate, for candalia is a small shrub, and grass 

 or shrub of any kind is not very common in 

 either Brewster Co. or Terrell. We shall awaits 

 further developments with great interest. 

 ^» 



BEES IN CALIFORNIA. 



Prof. Cook seems to feel rather "blue" about 

 the prospects for successful bee-keeping in South- 

 ern California. There are good prospects ahead. 

 Note the great Harriman project mentioned last 

 issue; also the Yuma project now being con- 

 structed, and the Phoenix project, which will be 

 finished next year. True, these last are not in 

 California, but they are not far away. Date cul- 

 ture, alfalfa-growing, and citrus crops will be the 

 main stays of the farmers there, very likely. If 

 so, bee-keeping will be a safe industry, as all 

 three are excellent nectar-bearers. Cotton-grow- 

 ing and cantaloupes will also favor bee-keeping 

 should the ranchers find these crops profitable. 



