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40th YEAR, 



CHICAGO, ILL, MARCH 15, 1900, 



No, 11. 



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|i Contributed | 

 4 Articles ^ 



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Value of Bees in Fruit- 

 Orchards. 



BY J. B. CRANB. 



IT is not my object in this 

 paper to thrash over old 

 straw, but rather to gather 

 some golden grains of truth 

 from a harvest of facts that 

 has ripened since the memor- 

 able discussion of this subject 

 a few j'ears ago, and gathered 

 into a most interesting sym- 

 posium. 



Perhaps nothing in that 

 symposium was more noticea- 

 ble than the difference of 

 honest opinion held by many 

 intelligent observers, and for 

 good reasons as the sequel 

 will show. It is an interest- 

 ing fact that the new light on 

 this subject has come thru the 

 efforts of the fruit-growers 

 rather than the bee-keeper, 

 and that the solution of the 

 problem is a most complete 

 proof of the value of bees to 

 the fruit-grower. 



Before giving the new 

 facts that have come to light 

 on this subject, I must tell 

 how it came about. 



Many years ago, down in 

 Virginia, a farmer planted 

 out a large pear-orchard. As 

 he was a bright man he 

 thought he would make a very 

 profitable investment, and not 

 plant any unproductive trees. 

 As Bartlett pear-trees are al- 

 most universally known as 

 the most productive as well as 

 profitable, he planted his en- 

 tire orchard of this variety. 

 He cultivated his orchard with 

 great care, fertilizers were ap- 

 plied, and when he lookt for 

 fruit he found "nothing but 

 leaves." But he kept on until 

 his means were exhausted and 

 his place went under a mort- 



J>S The Effect of Cross-Fertilization in Enlarging Fruit as well as Seeds. ^| 



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