California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



^:^} 



Short Crops East. 



The agricultural ri'turns saj'sthe S;m Fran- 

 cisco Midldin received at the Washington Bu- 

 reau up to October 1st, shows a great short- 

 age iu the wheat crop of this year. The 

 quantity in bushels is but 80 per cent, of the 

 croji of liSVi, and the quality is 14 per cent, 

 "below a sound condition." We do not 

 know whether this reckoning includes Califor- 

 nia and Oregon. If it does then the shortage 

 for the whole country foots up 6'2, 000,000 m 

 quantity, and other millions iu quality, and 

 ought to have the efl'ect of advancing jirice.s 

 in Liverpool. For the year ending June 30, 

 1874, the United States exported wheat to 

 all countries to the amount of 71,039,928 

 bushels; to England, 60,551,181 bushels. 

 This, of course, was the harvest of 1873, 

 which was a heavy one. The British imports 

 for that year from all other countries were not 

 nearly equal to those from the United States, 

 and the average price for the year ending 

 September, 1S74, was §1 84 per bushel. With 

 a short.age as to quantity and qualitv of not 

 less than 80,000,000 bushels in the" United 

 States this year, jjrices iu Liverpool are likely 

 to rule higher than thej' are now before the 

 opening of Siiring, notwithstanding the con- 

 siderable supply of old wheat on hand. The 

 barley crop is rated 13 per cent, and the corn 

 crop 4 per cent, short of last year's j^roduc- 

 tioii. Oats is the only cereal crop that shows 

 an increase. The agricultural returns for 

 October show that the wheat croji the present 

 year is a short one, and there is a marked 

 depreciation in the quality. The average 

 thus far reported is 80 per cent, of last year's 

 production. If this indicates the total de- 

 preciation, it amounts to neaily C'2, 000,000 

 bushels and gives the crop at '240,000,000 

 bushels. In ciuality the crop averages 14 per 

 cent, below a sound condition. 



so ♦ — ) 



^ 



Pacific Coast Bee-Notes, From Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal for November. 



^r^ 



fN answer to questions, we report as fol- 

 lows: 1. No Burjilus honey. Increased 

 from 78 to 101 swarms. 



2. There is no prosjiect for surplus hon- 

 ey; but enough to keep busy during the 

 ^winter for their own consumption. 



3. White sage, buckbush or berberiy, su- 

 mach. 



4. White sago blooms iu April. The ber- 

 berry blooms several times during the Sum- 

 mer. It is now in blossom in our canon for 

 the fourth time since April. Sumach gener- 

 ally begins with August and lasts a month or 

 more. Our ranch is within the frost-stricken 

 belt (frost of April .'Jth), which accounts for 

 the poor return. Beunk & Beuck. 



Los Angeles, Cal., Sept. 17, 1875. 



1. Very good. Hives that did not swarm 

 gave me one hundred pounds box honey. My 

 stock hives all gave two swarms each, and 

 some of them gave three. 



2. No more surplus honey this season: my 

 bees being kept m the city, I have not the 

 benefit of buckwheat. 



3. Dandelion, fruit and white clover. 



4. Dandelion blooms April 11th; fruit 

 blooms about the last of Ajird; white clover 

 blooms May 10th, and continues until about 

 August 1st. Thos. Braski,. 



BoiiTLAND, Oregon, Sept. 18, 1875. 



In compliance with ycmr request under spe- 

 cial ; 1 . We have had but few swarms, and 

 fr<.m 200 hives we have taken only 32 pounds 

 of hon<:y. 



2. We only expect to divide and make 

 swarms. 



3. Mountain clover, white sage and buck- 

 wheat are the tliree best honey-plants. Moun- 

 tain clover begins to bloom the last of March 

 and continues till the middle of Muy. White 



sage begins May 1st and continues until July. 

 Buckwheat begins about June 1st and contin- 

 ues till the last of October. 



Gko. B. Wallace. 

 San Been.^dino, Cal., Sept. 18, 1875. 



Pasturage for Bees. 



With the exception of nn occasional gath- 

 ering from honey-dew, bees gather the whole 

 of their honey from flowers, and consequent- 

 ly where there are no flowers they cannot 

 thrive. But the term flowers must be taken 

 in a broader sense than meaning such as wc 

 cultivate for garden ornaments or home deco- 

 ration. The inconspicuous blossoms of many 

 trees, the wee modest w'ild flower, scarcely 

 noticed by passers by, furnish abundant pas- 

 turage for bees. Many persons who have 

 lived iu the country all their lives, are scarcely 

 aware that our noblest forest trees have flow- 

 ers at all, but from the brave old oak and the 

 wide spreading beech, bees gather many a, 

 pound of honey. An avenue of limes or syc-- 

 auiores, a field of beans or white clover, form 

 a very El Dorado for the busy bees, their 

 pleasant hum on the snowy hawthorn or the 

 sweet-smelling sallow, (palm, as it is com- 

 monly called) is very noticeable when nature 

 is awakening from the gloomy sleep of win- 

 ter, and our thoughts and feelings are glad 

 with the prospect of returning summer. 

 Where large heaths abound the bees have a 

 second harvest, and it is a common practice 

 in such localities for bee-keepers to send their 

 hives to the moors for about two months, the 

 trouble and cost being amply rejjaid by the 

 immense weight of honey brought home, 

 which the common heather j'ieldsfreelj'during 

 August and September. 



In Scotland and on the Continent cartloads 

 of hives may be seen traveling to and from 

 the heather. Often they are looked after on 

 the sjiot by some resident cottager who re- 

 ceives a gratuity of 1 s. per hive from the 

 proprietors of the stocks. In the South of 

 England this practice is not pursued, although 

 I do not see why it should not be in many 

 places, there being miles of heather equally 

 available as in Scotland' On the Nile there 

 are bee-barges which travel only at night, 

 stopping in the day-time at any place that af- 

 fords abundant jiasturage for bees, and we 

 read iu I'Uirij that this was likewise the prac- 

 tice in Italy in his time. "As soon," says 

 he, "as the Spring food for bees has failed in 

 the valleys near our towns, the hives of bees 

 are put into boats and carried up against the 

 stream of the river in the night in search of 

 better pasturage. The bees go out in the 

 mcu-uing in quest of provisions, and return 

 regularly to their hives in the boats with the 

 stores they have collected. This method is 

 continued till the sinkiug of the boats to a 

 certain depth iu the water shows that the 

 hives are sufficiently full, and they are then 

 carried back to their former homes, where 

 the honey is taken out of them." And this 

 is still the practice of the Italians who live 

 near the banks of the Po, the river which 

 Pliny instanced particularly in the above- 

 quoted passage. It was the advice of Celsus 

 that after the vernal pastures were consumed, 

 the bees should be transported to places 

 abounding with Autumnal flowers, as was 

 done by conveying the bees from Achosia to 

 Attica, from Eubo.'a and the Cyclad Islands 

 to S<'yrus, and also in Sicily, where they were 

 brought to Hybla from other parts of the 

 island. What portion of our fertile land does 

 not aflord sustenance for bees'? Mr. Alfred 

 Neighbor, iu his work, "The Ajjiary," do- 

 votes a chapter to Bee-keeping in London. 

 Could «(• evia' imagine a more unpromising 

 field for honey-gathering'? — London ! Foggy, 

 smoky Loudon! But think a moment. Lon- 

 don has parks, squares, gardens, and each 

 of these has trees, flowers and shrubs. What 

 matter it the flowers be dirty —their nectaries 

 secrete the coveted sweet, and the natural fil- 

 ter of the bees will clarify it belter than any 

 artificial one could do. Only last year a lady 



living in Kensington told me she kept bees 

 there. They throve well and had furnished 

 her with a super of fourteen pounds weight. 

 It has been asserted that bees will fly five or 

 six miles for honey, if a su^jply nearer home 

 be not attaiuabte. They may, but such an 

 extreme labor would not allow the stock to 

 thrive. Too much time and muscular strength 

 would be consumed in making the jomney. 

 The great danger to bees is their liability to 

 be tempted into shops, such as grocers, con- 

 fectioners, etc., where they get bewildered, 

 fly to the window, aud in a vain attempt to 

 penetrate the glass, they die. Breweries are 

 also fatal places, the sweet work attracting 

 numbers which perish by drowning. 



Most bee-keepers have a garden, and in it 

 can be grown many flowers pleasing to the 

 eye, grateful to the nose and useful to the 

 bees. 



Mignonette, borage, honeysuckle, hyacinth, 

 crocus, laurustiuus, lavendei', lily, primrose 

 and many other flowers are visited by bees, 

 aud may well be cultivated with advantage. 

 The arable fields supply buckwhaat, beaus, 

 mustard, clover and lucerne, which all give 

 an abundant suj^ply ol honey; iind if we fol- 

 low America's example, we should sow, when 

 jjossible, special bee flowers. 



Borage has the reputation of being the 

 best of all bee flowers. It blossoms contiuu- 

 ually from June till November, aud is fre- 

 quented by bees even in moist weather. The 

 honey from it is of superior quality, and an 

 acre would supi)ort a large number of stocks. 

 Dwellers iu the country cannot fail to have 

 observed occasionally, that the leaves of the 

 trees aud shrubs have a gummy appearance 

 and are sticky to the touch. If a leaf so 

 covered be put to the tongue it will taste 

 sweet. This is honey-dew, and is a secretion 

 of some species of aphides, ejected from 

 their abdomen in little squirting streams. 



This substance the bees readily gather, and 

 when it is abundant make large additions to 

 their stores. It is generally most plentiful iu 

 June or July, and is chiefly found on forest 

 and fruit trees, although olten on low-growing 

 bushes. At the season of its greatest abun- 

 dance, the pleasant hum of the bees engaged 

 on it is very audible. — Manual of Mee-AtqAiig 

 by John llunter. 



How they Value Manure in Italy. 



When driving out of Borne one day in an 

 open carriage, the driver paused for a few mo- 

 ments at the outer edge of the city. Imme- 

 diately oijposite me on the left side there were 

 two women with white aprons on a piazza, 

 and in front of a house adjoining this several 

 men were at work. Suddenly the younger of 

 the two women came running to the carriage, 

 as I supposed probably to speak to the driver 

 before he started again. She, however, got 

 down on her knees, extended her apron for- 

 ward ou the ground, and with her hands rap- 

 idly lU'ew into it, fresh and clean as it was, a 

 pile of manure just dropped. As soon as 

 she had scraped in every particle of it, she 

 gathered up the edges of the apron and went 

 back with the load. I hoard a liuigh among 

 the men, and on looking towards them, 1 

 saw one of them who had a bucket and shov- 

 el in his hand, and who had started to secure 

 the nuuuire. The time he lost in getting hold 

 of his utensils enabled the woman, who was 

 already equipped, to ca.iry ofl' the prize, and 

 the laugh was wholly at his expenses. 



I had a momentary feeling of surprise, but 

 on reflection said, "this will pay." It would 

 not, perhaps, require; more than ten minutes 

 of labor to restore the hands aud the apron 

 to a condition of cleanliness, while the artick 

 sccured might be a dinner worth of vegeta- 

 bles for several persons. — Travels m Italy. 



A Montana paper says: "M. Stone, living 

 near Gaft'ney, cut this season lUO acres of 

 wheat, some of which yielded fifty buslu4s to 

 the acre. And yet people trudge ofl' to Cali- 

 fornia simply to raise wheat. 



