186 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



HIGH-PRESSURE 

 GARDENING 



By A. I. Root 



Dear Sirs: — My attention was called to an article on page 

 1310, about alfalfa, in which you state " This knocks the bottom 

 out of the argument that alfalfa should be cut before it blooms." 

 Of course, we bee-keepers like to have alfalfa left to bloom; and 

 the prevailing belief is that alfalfa should be allowed to bloom 

 before being cut for hay. Now, the fact is, the first crop should 

 be cut just before it blooms. This hay would be of higher 

 feeding value then than if allowed to bloom. The alfalfa-plant 

 would a'so start the new growth quicker. We cut the second 

 crop, also, just before it comes to bloom, allowing the third cro") 

 to come in full bloom for the bees and seed. The alfalfa straw 

 is fed to horses, cattle, and sheep. An acre of third crop to seed 

 produces five gallons of extracted water-white alfalfa honey, 

 extra fine. The seed yields from one to six bushels per acre. 

 On other fields, hay only, we obtain four to five crops. All are 

 cut just before the plant comes in bloom. 



As I stated before, for the bee-keepers it is best to have alfalfa 

 bloom for bee-pasture; but for hay value and the good of the al- 

 falfa-plant, cut it just before it blooms. I know by experience. 



I should judge by your article you were " playing " for the 

 bee-keeper. Am I right, friend Root? 



Thrashed buckwheat yielded 33 bushels per acre, and sold at 

 1M cts. I shall have about 100 acres of it next year. It is a 

 good honey-plant, but I prefer alfalfa. 



The writer has had all kinds of experience in cleaning up and 

 getting in shape a run-down, weed-covered, and neglected farm 

 of 300 acres, bought six years ago, at from $20 to $45 per acre. 

 You can about form an idea of the condition that it is now in 

 when I tell you that $60,000 was refused, without buildings, not 

 even a fence-post on the place, as level as the floor. A part of 

 this year's crop was 500 tons alfalfa hay, worth $11.50 per ton; 

 3089 bushels seed wheat at $1.00 to $1.25 per bushel; buckwheat 

 seed at 2^ cts. per lb.; alfalfa seed at $11.00 per bushel of 60 

 lbs.; vegetables and seeds, oats, honey, etc. 



Hastings, Neb., Nov. 5. Chas. Winkler. 



Many thanks, friend W., not only for your 

 criticism, but for the report of your success. If 

 you will look again on page 1310 you will find 

 that our authority for the statement we made 

 was based on statements made by Joseph E. 

 Wing, who, without doubt, is the most success- 

 ful grower of alfalfa in Ohio, and I think that 

 perhaps a difference in locality may have had 

 much to do with it. Since you mention it, I re- 

 member that T. B. Terry has always taught that 

 timothy and clover, to be of most value to horses 

 and cattle, should be cut much earlier than 

 usual; and to prove his theory he fed a team of 

 big work-horses for months and years on his 

 "wilted grass," as his neighbors called it, with- 

 out any grain whatever. Very likely this is true 

 of alfalfa, although there seem to be extremes 

 both ways. Mr. Wing seems to think (and he 

 certainly ought to know) that alfalfa should not 

 be cut too early, even for horses. Yes, we are 

 bee-keepers, and we are interested in having al- 

 falfa, buckwheat, and every other crop, man- 

 aged in such a way as to favor the bees, not for- 

 getting the interest and well-being of those who 

 do not keep bees at all. I do not think you can 

 consistently accuse the editors of Gleanings of 

 being selfish as a rule in trying to teach improved 

 agriculture in all its different lines. 



alfalfa in drills ; EXPERIENCE FROM A WYO- 

 MING FARM. 



Inasmuch as alfalfa is now being extensively 

 grown over almost all of our land, from Maine 

 to Florida, we think the following will be read 

 (and I hope put in practice in the spring) with 

 much interest: 



I have read W. H. Jenkins' article on alfalfa in drills. 1 had 

 previously read an article by him, in Gleanings in Bee Cul- 

 ture, on the same subject, and have tried it on the so-called 



arid land of Wyoming. The land was plowed and harrowed for 

 the first time this spring. I raked over a plot about 30 by 50 ft., 

 and made drills some three inches deep in which I sowed the al- 

 falfa seed, covering with a common garden-rake, and walking 

 over the part sown to firm the ground. The seed sprouted and 

 came up finely, and is now in bloom. The rows are 28 inches 

 apart, and free from weeds. I had previously sown some broad- 

 cast alone, and some with oats, and hariowed it in. I have sown 

 it broadcast and raked it in, and it has grown well every way; 

 but I think the plan of drilling it in is a great improvement. 1 

 have sown it in drills running north and south, and in drills run- 

 ning east and west, and it seems to me the latter is the better 

 way. D. M. 



Arapahoe, Wyoming. 



Replying to the above, the editor of the Rural 

 adds: 



Has anyone noticed any difference '. We drilled alfalfa, Aug. 

 17, on well-prepared soil at the top of a hill. The drills weie 

 made about 18 inches apart. The alfalfa came up in three days, 

 and looks well at this time. 



A KIND WORD IN REGARD TO THE TOBACCO COL- 

 UMN OF YEARS AGO. 



If I were to undertake to put in print all the 

 words that were received, especially those from 

 the old veterans, at the recent National conven- 

 tion, it would take more space than we can spare 

 just now. But there is one that certainly de- 

 serves mention. A very nice old gentleman took 

 me by the hand and said he had been owing me 

 a debt of gratitude and thanks for a great 

 service I rendered him tn.venty-eight years ago. 

 What do you suppose it was.-' Why, he said 

 that through my talk and exhortations in our 

 journal he was induced, twenty-eight years ago, 

 to give up tobacco. His health improved right 

 away. He felt that he was growing younger in- 

 stead of older, and from that day to this he has 

 felt that he owed me a debt of gratitude because 

 of my earnest talks about o-i-'ercoming — especially 

 overcoming things that we ktioiu are bad habits. 

 Not only has it given him a new lease of life, but 

 he has been able to set a better example before 

 his boys, but to encourage, perhaps, many oth- 

 ers to give up a habit that always leads in the 

 downward path instead of the upward one that 

 leads from earth to heaven. I tell you there are 

 some very good people away over there in Cana- 

 da in the king's domains. I feel an especial in- 

 terest in that locality because it was the home of 

 our business manager, Mr. J. T. Calvert, before 

 he came to the United States and married one of 

 the " Root girls." 



PROPOLIS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOE-POL- 

 ISH, FURNITURE-POLISH, ETC. 



Arthur M. Peck, Sand Lake, N. Y., informs 

 me that a cousin of his some years ago made a 

 preparation, mostly ffom propolis, that had won- 

 derful "staying" properties for shining up shoes, 

 harness, and other leather work, but that, like 

 many inventors, he got after something else and 

 dropped it. As most of you have had more or 

 less experience in regard to the way propolis 

 "holds on," I think you will agl^ with me that 

 it ought to be collected and utilized. Quite a 

 little has been said about the " beeswax finish " 

 for houses. Well, will some one make a test 

 and see if propolis added to the wax and turpen- 

 tine will not make a harder or more lasting arti- 

 cle for finishing up woodwork.? How about a 

 "furniture polish " containing propolis.' 



