824 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



spring; but as it feels soft and looks soft 

 along late in the fall, you may think they 

 are fit to eat, or that they will not keep 

 anyhow; but when the weather becomes 

 real cool they will stop rotting, and with 

 proper care they can be kept clear up into 

 June ; and after having thus preserved some 

 fine si^eeimens until May or June I have 

 frequently declared it to be the most lu- 

 scious apjole in the world. When it is real 

 ripe and mellow its insipid sweetness gives 

 place to a most delicious combination of 

 tart and sugar. 



Now, if you are getting to be an apple 

 crank like myself I may some time tell you 

 more about apples; for I feel sure that 

 both you and I will live to a greater age 

 by having apples take the place of at least 

 one meal in the day ; and not only that, you 

 will keep the use of all your faculties to a 

 greater period than with any other diet. 



Now, dear friends, do not imagine from 

 what I have written that it will be all right 

 to eat a big lot of apples after you have 

 already had a good hearty supper. It cer- 

 tainly will not work. Every little while, 

 especially when we have a picnic or social, 

 I eat "supper" like other folks, just to see 

 how it will work, and good old Dame Na- 

 ture makes a kick every time. Perhaps, 

 however, to be more truthful, I should put 

 it this way: My faithful old companion (all 

 my life thus far) gives me the "kick," and 

 says, "Come! wake up, 'old huz.' You are 

 having the nightmare." 



SWEET CLOVER AS A COVER CROP FOR APPLE- 

 TREES. 



We clip the following from the Inter- 

 wuuntain Fruit Journal: 



It would have been a crime some years ago to 

 have any thing but the very cleanest cultivation in 

 the orchard ; and the fellow who allowed a spear 

 of any thing green to show was not a good orchard- 

 ist. Now the fruit-growers have come to realize that 

 no soil is inexliaustible ; and when much is being 

 taken out from year to year something must be put 

 I ack. It was impossible to get commercial fertilizer 

 at a price that would permit its use, and there was 

 loo little stable manure available to do any good. 

 Then some one discovered that alfalfa, red clover, 

 cow peas, and even the once detested sweet clover 

 was a most excellent cover crop that could be grown 

 and turned under. This has been practiced almost 

 universally in this section, and the orchards all 

 show the results. Old trees that acted as if they 

 were hide-bound are making excellent growth tnis 

 year — proving the necessity of fertilization. 



If I am correct, the above is exactly in 

 accordance with the teachings of our Ohio 

 Experiment Station. The once detested sweet 

 clover is now gladly welcomed and wanted 

 everywhere. Did you ever? 



SWEET CLOVER AND THE DIFFICULTY OF GET- 

 TING IT TO GERMINATE THE FIRST YEAR. 



The following letter from an experienced 

 man illustrates the matter: 



In March, 1911, I sowed 80 pounds of unhulled 

 white-sweet-clover seed on 5 acres, and that spring 

 I got a very poor stand ; but I said I would let 

 it go, for there was plenty to seed the ground an- 

 other year. In the spring of 1912 there were three 

 times as many plants came up as there were in 

 1911. You remember the spring of 1912 was very 

 wet. I now have a splendid stand of clover on 

 these five acres ; part of it bloomed this summer, 

 and part will bloom next summer. This is the 

 reason I am anxious to have my seed hulled this 

 time. I think it will sprout quicker. I want to 

 sow about 1200 lbs. of white seed in the spring. 



Brooksville, Ky., Oct. 14. H. A. Jett. 



As our friend suggests in the above, 

 hulled seed is certainly more sure to ger- 

 minate than that with the hulls on; and a 

 process adopted by our Department of Ag- 

 riculture, mentioned on page 324, May 15, 

 treating the seeds with sulphuric acid where 

 a promjDt and full stand is desired, will 

 very likely be advisable. 



FARMING IN FLORIDA; BOTH SIDES OF THE 

 MATTER. 



I think you are wrong in printing that adver- 

 tisement about Florida. I have been there, and 

 know it is the poorest State for farming in the 

 Union. I came near being caught. Thank God. 

 He kept me from "land grafters." 



Compton, Cal. A. H. Nash. 



My good friend, if you mean to say that 

 the tvhole State of Florida is a poor place 

 for farming, you are making a big blunder; 

 but if you mean ordinary farming, such as 

 we have here in the North — growing grain, 

 for instance — you may be partly right; but 

 if you were to go down to Manatee Co. 

 just now and see what crops are being 

 grown, and the prices that up-to-date truck- 

 men get for their crops, I think you would 

 be obliged to change your mind about that 

 advertisement by the Seaboard Air Line. 

 There are, without question, places in 

 Florida where the land is very poor and 

 unproductive. Perhaps your visit was 

 made some time ago. Just now expert 

 gardeners are obtaining results in grow- 

 ing potatoes, and other articles of food, 

 that compare favorably with any other 

 spot in the world. May be you had better 

 make us another visit. 



THE BOY WHO SMOKES AND HIS CHANCES. 



I am sorry I can not tell where the fol- 

 lowing clipping came from. Does it not 

 about hit the right spot? 



The boy who smokes cigarettes need not be anxious 

 about his future, for he has none. — David Starr 

 Jordan, President Leland Stanford University. 



