124 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



GLEANINGS FROM OUR 

 EXCHANGES 



By W. K. Morrison 



THE COUNTRY LIFE COMMISSION. 



The report of President Roosevelt's Country 

 Life Commission has been handed to Congress. 

 It emphasizes the need of a parcels post, good 

 roads, agricultural local schools, co-operation, 

 etc. Bee-keepers will have no fault to find with 

 the report of the commission; on the contrary, I 

 think they will be a unit in indorsing it. 



PARCELS POST. 



Senator T. C. Piatt, the head center of all the 

 express companies, is down and out — for good. 

 Now parcels post will get a chance, as Senator 

 Piatt had the power to block all parcels-post leg- 

 islation. In his place we shall have Elihu Root, 

 who is strongly in favor of parcels post. He 

 told the New York legislators who elected him 

 that he was in favor of it, and asked them for an 

 expression of their opinion in regard to it. It 

 was the first thing he did after being elected. 

 <^ 



INFORMATION ON NEW IRRIGATION PROJECTS. 



Mr. Wesley Foster seems to think that more 

 definite particulars ought to be given in connec- 

 tion with irrigation projects managed by Uncle 

 Sam in person. What he says is true of projects 

 in Colorado, but not of the others. In fact, each 

 project is different. For example, the two in 

 Arizona, one at Yuma and the the other at Phoe- 

 nix, will be valuable to bee-keepers almost as 

 soon as opened. In fact, there is a honey-pro- 

 ducing flora there already. On the two projects 

 in the Pecos Valley, alfalfa had been grown be- 

 fore, so there was no need to wait. At Garden 

 City sweet clover was already well planted, so 

 that, too, was available at once. The projects in 

 Idaho and Wyoming are particularly desirable 

 for bee-keepers; and even if they have to wait, 

 the opportunity is worth waiting for. In a jour- 

 nal like this there is hardly room for any extend- 

 ed description of these projects; besides, a wise 

 man will go and look around before locating his 

 future home. One thing is fairly certain — bee- 

 keeping will be a feature on all these projects. 



"the MENACE OF THE ARID LAND." 



The DeLaval Separator Co. has kindly sent me 

 a copy of an interesting paper by Mr. Luther 

 Tucker, editor of the Country Gentleman. It 

 was read at the Farmers' National Congress. Of 

 course, it was sent by way of reply to what was 

 said on this page (Jan. 15) relative to the Country 

 Gentleman's statement in regard to reclaiming the 

 arid lands. Mr. Tucker thinks the govern- 

 ment is pursuing a ruinous policy toward Eastern 

 farmers, who, he claims, can not compete with 

 men who get land for nothing. 



Well, take the matter of honey. Eastern bee- 

 keepers have not been ruined by the alfalfa honey 

 of the West, though it would be easy to get up 

 a scare about it. Glucose and other vile imita- 

 tions of honey have done far more harm; in fact, 

 if it were not for imitation and adulteration hon- 



ey would command its full value in the open 

 market. What has hurt the poultry business, 

 but cheap preserved eggs which hardly deserve 

 the name of food products? It is the same in re- 

 gard to butter. The market has been depressed 

 by oleo, and " filled " cheese killed the trade in 

 cheese. It is the same in regard to fruit preserves, 

 jams, jellies, and butters; the farmer is deprived 

 of his market by inferior imitations. 



Another thing, the Eastern farmer has been 

 slow to reach the full measure of his opportuni- 

 ties. Solid train-loads of Western apples go 

 thundering through the State after a trip of 3000 

 miles. Train-loads of Illinois butter produced 

 on high-priced land are poured into New York 

 city, and yet the farmers complain of no market. 

 It is the out-of-date farmer who squeals. The 

 New York farmer has great opportunities. 



WHY BENZOATE OF SODA SHOULD NOT BE PUT IN 



FOOD PRODUCTS; DR. WILEy'S FIGHT 



FOR THE PEOPLE. 



A fierce controversy has arisen relative to the 

 use of benzoate of soda as a preservative of cer- 

 tain food products. This has aiisen over the de- 

 cision of President Roosevelt's Referee Board, 

 composed of distinguished chemists who have ap- 

 parently decided against Dr. Wiley. The differ- 

 ence is more fancied than real, as the board found 

 that benzoate of soda had some " very peculiar 

 physiological effects " on the human system which 

 it was unable to account for. Dr. Wiley went 

 further and found there was a " serious disturbance 

 of the metabolic functions." The difference in 

 the results may be due to the fact that Dr. Wiley 

 administered the benzoate of soda in capsules, 

 whereas the board used it mixed with the food. 



Dr. Wiley, however, opposes benzoate of soda 

 on even better grounds than its deleterious effects 

 on the human system. He holds that it is used 

 only when the fruits used are unsound or actually 

 bad, and glucose is used instead of good sugar, 

 or the conditions of manufacturing are unsani- 

 tary. He says (and it is true) good fruits put up 

 with gooA granulated sugar require no benzoate 

 of soda. He takes the ground that the public 

 should be protected, and that the use of benzoate 

 of soda is in the nature of an adulteration, and 

 the man who puts up good wholesome preserves 

 is entitled to the trade. The best manufacturers 

 agree with Dr. Wiley. Such great firms as 

 Heinze, of Pittsburg; the Franco-American Food 

 Co., and the Beech-Nut Canning Co., uphold 

 Dr. Wiley. Because they use only good materi- 

 als in clean, well-handled establishments, they 

 have no desire to use benzoate of soda. 



It looks as if Dr. Wiley were fighting the battle 

 of the people singly; but the forces of good are 

 steadily lining up behind him. He has practi- 

 cally the whole medical profession at his back. 

 The canned-goods men are vigorously supporting 

 him, and even the wholesale grocers. 



DR. WILEY SUSTAINED. 



In passing the appropriation bill of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, the House of Repre- 

 sentatives added a rider, to the effect that in fu- 

 ture there must be no interference with the work 

 of Dr. H. W. Wiley, the pure-food expert. It 

 is a great pity the House did not take this action 

 sooner. 



