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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAl... 



cerne is in bloom. Then, besides its 

 virtue as a honey-plant, for a forage 

 plant lucerne is by far the most valuable 

 of anything that grows in this country. 

 While we do not pretend to affirm what 

 this plant would do in all parts of the 

 country, we are positive it will do well 

 any place south of Utah, especially 

 where it is moderately dry and warm. I 

 think it will grow all right in many 

 parts of the East and West, unless the 

 climate is very wet. But we find the 

 real trouble is, in a large portion of the 

 West and Southwest, the climate is not 

 wet enough. It looks to me that if 

 Western Nebraska, Kansas, and por- 

 tions of Texas could adopt a system of 

 irrigation, it would be of vast benefit to 

 them. It would have a tendency to 

 change the climate in those places, and 

 by planting trees after awhile they 

 could possibly have artesian wells where 

 there is no water now. Conditions have 

 changed to that extent in some places 

 here. 



Utah was less than half a century 

 ago a dry, barren, and forbidden waste, 

 left to the deer, the wolf and the bear, 

 and a few poor Indians who lived by 

 hunting the animals that I have named. 

 Utah was called the "Great American 

 Desert," and it was supposed to be an 

 utter impossibility to grow or produce 

 any vegetable life. When the first com- 

 pany of Utah pioneers passed through 

 what is now known as the State of 

 Wyoming, in 1847, James Bridger and 

 others told them that they were going 

 out on a desert to starve. He told them 

 that he would give them $100 for the 

 first ear of corn that they could raise. 



Contrast this with what we behold 

 now. The roses are in bloom, and the 

 earth is covered with trees, green fields 

 and fruits, and the little busy bees are 

 making things hum as they rush to and 

 fro to gather the sweets from the many 

 flowers. Thus we see that what was 

 once the " Great Desert," is now full of 

 life and animation ; and this system of 

 irrigation has been the main-spring 

 towards accomplishing these results. 

 Now, then, if it has done so much for 

 Utah and other places, could its benefits 

 not be extended to still other places 

 where it has not yet been tried? The 

 first 20 years in the history of Utah, be- 

 fore we had many trees, there was little 

 or no rain in the month of June, extend- 

 ing back to Nebraska and Kansas, 

 Would it not be possible to get water 

 out of the Platte, the Republican, or the 

 Arkansas rivers ? If it can be done, I 

 can assure our friends living there that 



it would be a good, paying investment, 

 and it would be worth trying. 



I believe that this system of irrigation 

 is still in its fnfancy, even here in Utah. 

 If some methods could be adopted to 

 save, to store, or to hold the waters 

 from running to waste, until it would be 

 needed for use, much greater results 

 could be accomplished. But as the peo- 

 ple become more interested, there is no 

 telling what may be accomplished. I am 

 not sure but that great, uncontrollable, 

 muddy Missouri, that is now runnirg 

 rampant down through the Mississippi 

 valley, could, perhaps at a great ex- 

 pense, be brought down through the 

 Dakotas, Western Nebraska, and Kan- 

 sas, and possibly down into Texas. If 

 this could be done, who could estimate 

 the millions it would be worth to the 

 country ? 



I notice some discouraging reports on 

 account of cold and wet weather. While 

 we are having an unusually wet June for 

 this country, there is no danger of get- 

 ting more rain than we need. The pros- 

 pect for a good honey-flow is encourag- 

 ing. 



Our bee-keepers are troubled with 

 ants and yellow jackets or wasps. If 

 any of our friends know of anything 

 that will destroy them, we would be very 

 glad to hear from them. We can keep 

 the ants off of the hives, but we have 

 too many to destroy by any method that 

 we have as yet heard of. 



Salt Lake City, Utah, June 19. 



"ADeartli of Honey"— SiiEeslions. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY "BEN THERE." 



That's been the cry nearly every sea- 

 son of late, and who's fault is it '? Now, 

 don't lay it to the weather, the rains, 

 the " cold snaps," or to any other nat- 

 ural cause than yourself ! The good 

 Lord has provided everything just as it 

 should be, for the good of man and bees; 

 the difficulty is to be found in the first 

 animal mentioned. 



It seems, in the majority of instances, 

 that the want of proper knowledge and 

 its judicial application is responsible for 

 the "dearth." Just take a look at the 

 premises of most farmers who aspire to 

 keep bees ! What surrounds them that 

 could encourage bees to do well — to lay 

 up for themselves and their keeper a 

 nice lot of exceedingly tempting honey, 



