1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



265 



GLEANINGS FROM OUR 

 EXCHANGES. 



By W. K. Morrison, Medina, O. 



SOOLA CLOVER. 



That splendid publication, The Ne<iv Zealand 

 Farmer Stock and Station Journal, in its March 

 number gives two fine illustrations of soola clo- 

 ver. One is taken from a stem which grew two 

 feet in two weeks. For the South this is an ex- 

 ceedingly valuable plant, producing a crop of the 

 very best fodder — something our Southern States 

 are much in need of. It grows in England, but 

 would hardly succeed in Ohio or West Virginia. 

 It is cut twice a season, and will give about ten 

 or twelve tons to the acre if well cared for. 



-^ 



ALSIKE CLOVER. 



One of the most difficult problems in connec- 

 tion with agriculture is the introduction of new 

 plants. Farmers as a rule are very conservative 

 and doubtful about a new thing. In this con- 

 nection it ought to be known that Samuel Wag- 

 ner, of the American Bee Journal, was the first 

 man in America to press the claims of alsike clo- 

 ver. He kept up his agitation for years, and it 

 is only of late years that the bee-keepers have 

 begun to get the reward. It will stand a good 

 deal more advertising, and it is the bee-keepers 

 who should do it. It will grow over a wide ex- 

 tent of country, north, south, east, and west. 

 One of the best reports we have ever seen on al- 

 sike was from Tonnar, Mississippi. 



THAT NEW CLOVER. 



Already we have a report of the new clover 

 known as shaptal. It is by Albert F. Etter, of 

 California, in the Pacific Rural Press. Here is a 

 part of what he says: 



Like that of most clovers, the seed is a quick germinator. The 

 young seedlloes endure the (rests of winter here, but do not grow 

 much until the warm days of spring arrive. When sown in the 

 spring it develops rapidly and attains a height of ab' ut three feet. 

 I believe, tho'gh, that under more favorable conditions it would 

 grow somewhat taller, tor it is a rank grower. The size of the 

 stems would astonish one by their apparent coarseness; but they 

 are, nevertheless, tender and succulent, like a peavine, even 

 though they be nearly half an inch in diameter. 



In this shaptal clover 1 believe we have a promising thicg for 

 California. The plant is very nutritious if desired for feeding, 

 and the texture of the plant should make it desirable for a green- 

 manure plant; bat, what is a question of still more importance is. 

 Would it make its growth early enough in the season for orchard 

 purposes? On farming lands where it could be left to make a 

 more mature growth it might be valuable. If it will thrive well, 

 the ease with which the seed could be grown and harvested 

 woald make it a popular plant. 



BUYING FLAVOR BY THE CARLOAD. 



One of the features of the past maple-sugar 

 season was the heavy purchases by the glucose 

 trust. The syrup thus bought is to be used in 

 giving flavor to glucose, which has no flavor of 

 its own. It is said that the amount bought in 

 the Western Reserve of Ohio alone for this pur- 

 pose alone was .^5 carloads. 



At first sight this would seem to be a good 

 thing for the maple-syrup men, but they do not 

 so regard it. They say pressure is applied to 

 keep the price down to the lowest figure, thus 

 discouraging the growers. Standard Oil meth- 



I 



ods are used in bearing the market, hence a good 

 deal of discontent. But, what is worse, the val- 

 ue of the product is largely lost in flavoring glu- 

 cose ten times greater in quantity than the ma- 

 ple syrup. That is to say, the maple syrup 

 bought in the Western Reserve alone will proba- 

 bly be used to flavor 350 carloads of tasteless 

 glucose. 



AUSTRALIAN IRRIGATION-WORKS. 



The Australians are not slow to copy Ameri- 

 can ideas. Under the leadership of Mr. Elwood 

 Mead, who used to be chief of the United States 

 Reclamation Service, they are doing great things. 

 They have one immense project now under con- 

 struction, known as the Barren Jack Dam, which 

 will reclaim 1,500,000 acres of fertile soil under 

 a sub-tropic sun. This will offer great opportu- 

 nities for bee-keepers. Mr. Mead has been 

 teaching the farmers the American way of han- 

 dling alfalfa. They say they will keep him in 

 Australia. 



LOCUSTS AS HONEY-YIELDERS. 



A bee-keepers' association in Belgium has pur- 

 chased about fifty acres of land which will soon 

 be planted in acacia-trees (black locust). Their 

 intention is to discover the actual honey-yielding 

 value of the locust by a decisive test lasting for 

 years. Acacia, as it is called in Europe, is very 

 highly appreciated as a honey-yielder, and the 

 quality is considered to be of the highest. It 

 has been so extensively planted in some parts of 

 Europe that its honey is common in the local 

 market, where it commands a relatively high 

 price. There is some chance that the black lo- 

 cust will again come into prominence as a forest 

 tree in the United States, its native country. 

 The early settlers of Ohio, Indiana, and Ken- 

 tucky ruthlessly slaughtered these trees for fenc- 

 ing, so that it was the first tree to go. It has 

 been proved, however, that it will pay well to 

 grow them for timber right in Ohio, where land 

 is dear. The only obstacle is the locust-borer; 

 but, luckily, this pest is not serious in some lo- 

 calities. 



RECLAIMING THE WET LANDS, 



Gleanings has had a good deal to say anent 

 the policy of reclaiming the arid land by means 

 of irrigation-works designed and constructed by 

 the engineers of the federal government, while 

 but little or nothing has been said about the re- 

 verse of this policy, namely, the reclamation of 

 the swamp lands by means of drainage. 



Steady progress is being made, however, in re- 

 claiming our overflowed lands, more particularly 

 in Florida, where powerful dredges are cutting 

 canals or openings to let the surplus water run 

 out of the glades into the ocean. It is intended 

 to open a number of such watercourses from 

 Lake Okeechobee to the salt water, and in time 

 to reclaim a territory as large as Connecticut, 

 and much more valuable from an agricultural 

 point of view. It is so far south that even man- 

 goes, pineapples, avocadoes, limes, soursops, ba- 

 nanas, and similar fruits do well. The work is 

 being paid for by the State government; but Un- 

 cle Sam ought to help as he does in the West. 

 It will help bee keeping. 



